I found the learner-centered book chapter to be very interesting. Faculty tend to hold power in the classroom because they always have, that students cannot be entrusted to make decisions for themselves and because teaching makes us vulnerable (also discussed in Lang). Power sharing can benefit the students, teachers, and the classroom. I enjoyed that the author gave examples of how the power sharing was beneficial in the class. Sometimes the students had more strict guidelines for their class activities, participation, and assessments then the instructor did initially. Students also were more likely to follow the guidelines they set for themselves. Student collaboration is part of my teaching philosophy. I wouldn’t start power sharing in the classroom until I had a few years of experience, but I am interested in hearing more of what others have to say about power sharing. What are benefits and drawbacks others see of this method? Is it something you would consider in a classroom? The author mentions a syllabus in Appendix A and I was wondering if I could get a copy of that syllabus as an example of a power sharing class.
I also enjoyed Lang’s reading about “Student’s as People”. I really can relate to the idea that teachers are vulnerable (p. 186). This is exactly how I feel about stepping into the classroom. It is important to view students as individuals in our classroom. This is why we feel vulnerable because instructors are people too. Davis discusses student differences in terms of gender, ethnicity, disability, non-traditional status, transfer status, and academically. She also goes into different ways to reach these students, which is helpful, but I think she has left out a group of students who need attention. First-generation students have special challenges they have to face compared to their continual-generation students. These students have much higher expectations place on them because their families do not know the culture of college. First-generation college students are expected to continue life the way they did in high school: work obligations, familial obligations, student involvement, and academics in general. These students are also the ones who are more likely to drop out of college before obtaining a degree. Are there other ways these students could struggle in the classroom? What can we do as instructors to help first-generation college students succeed?
The remaining readings touched on the importance of incorporating a variety of teaching methods, activities, and assessments to reach all type of learning styles. There is one type of activity that several of us discussed in reading notes, but we never discussed in class. What do others think about service learning? I had one service learning project and it was a great experience. Our class assignment was to find a place to serve that made us work with families in environments. It has hard finding the time to devote three more hours a week to this class, but it was worth it in the end. It was a family communication class and I volunteered at an agency that helped homeless families find apartments. As eye-opening as that experience was, I actually found the best part of the assignment was the days we presented our project in class. I had a classmates work at a bike shop that gave bikes to the homeless, volunteer at a local church in outreach development, and interned at a law firm as a child advocate. I think I learned more from my peers and their assignments than I did on my personal project. I know I want to incorporate it into my class design. Are others looking at incorporating this? If so, how are they designing the assignment? How can this activity be incorporated into other disciplines other than social sciences? Any tips or comments would be greatly appreciated.
I am designing an upper-level undergraduate course in Social Identity and Intergroup Communication. Here are my course objectives:
After completing this course, you will be able to…
· Demonstrate knowledge of the theories of social identity and intergroup communication
· Understand the current research on intergroup interactions
· Identify how we categorize our world into social ingroups and outgroups and how those influence discrimination and prejudice
· Evaluate social issues through an “intergroup lens”
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