Section 1
A. One thing that I took from this section was how was the
example of the concepts of developing goals and interventions within the
syllabus. The part that really resonated with me was regarding how much that
process looks like a treatment plan. This really helped me understand how to
look at a syllabus for my own learning as well as for instructing students in
the future (Svinicki & McKeachie, 2014).
B. One lingering question that I have from this section came
from the West, Bubenzer, Cox & McGlothlin, 2013) was in their discussion
about using a variety of fonts and layouts. I question how much of this should
be considered and even appropriate.
Section 2
A. In the West et al (2013) text I really liked the idea of
the Bafa Bafa game when addressing multicultural comprehension. I have never
heard of the game but look forward to implementing it with training my team of
crisis clinicians.
B. When discussing problem based education and the idea that
“problem solvers will seek and learn whatever knowledge is needed for
successful problem solving” (Svinicki & McKeachie, 2014) I wonder if how we
can prevent the problem solvers from overshadowing those who are not problem
solvers.
Section 3
A. I really enjoyed the section in the West et al (2013) text
that discussed how the student and teacher relationship should appear similar
to the relationship between counselor and supervisor. I also liked how the
section addressed the boundaries are easily understood by counseling students
because of their previous training of the expectancies between supervisor and
supervisee.
B. One unanswered question that I have after reading Chapter
13 in the Svinicki & McKeachie (2014) text is regarding dealing with
students who have emotional reactions to sensitive topics. While I understand
that not all of these potential reactions can be controlled for I wonder if
there should be more discussion prior to the open conversing of these topics to
help with prevent emotional reactions.
Section 4
A. In the Svinicki & McKeachie (2014) text I really enjoyed
the section in chapter 22 addressing the ethical understanding of encouraging
the free pursuit of knowledge. This section really impacted my thinking as the
understanding of having an ethical responsibility to encourage the free pursuit
of learning. A large part of why this affected me is because through all my
education I seldom run into a teacher who puts a large emphasis on this.
B. While our professional vita contains some of the items
outlined in chapter 9 in the West et al (2013) text I wonder if there are any
future plans to mandate this on our doctorate program.
Section 5
A. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire section in the West et al
(2013) text. This section really gave me a new perception of the purpose of
homework. Often times I believe that I fall into the cultural view of homework
and not the profession educator view of the assignment.
B. One of the lingering questions that I have left from
chapter 10 of the Svinicki & McKeachie (2014) text is regarding the sections
on grading. My question is why there is not more movement towards a pass/fail
type system. More specifically why that is not in higher levels of learning
such as in the doctorate programs. For me I would see it as either you
understand or you do not.
References:
Garzon, F. & Hall, M. (2012). Teaching Christian
integration in psychology and counseling:
Current
status and future directions. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 40 (2),
155-159.
Malott, K., Hall,
K.H., Sheely-Moore, A., Krell, M., & Cardaciotto, L. (2014). Evidence-
based teaching in higher education:
Application to counselor education.
Counselor Education and
Supervision, 53, 294-305.
Svinicki, M., McKeachie, W. (2014, 14th or later
edition). McKeachie's teaching tips:
Strategies,
research, and theory for college and university teachers. ISBN:
9781133936794
West, J., Bubenzer, D., Cox, J., & McGlothlin
(2013). Teaching in counselor education:
Engaging
students in learning.
Response to Section 1:
ReplyDeleteHey Mike! So glad to see you in class again. It seems that that suggestions made by the authors about preparing a syllabus line up with their ideas from the next chapter (Chapter 3) about providing aesthetics when preparing a lecture. Personally, I love when fonts distinguish one section or idea from another. The difference in appearance helps me to distinguish ideas from one another in my brain! Additionally, I love the diversity that West et al. (2013) suggest for lecture by using storytelling, literature, poetry, and art (p. 31). It seems that this type of creative presentation and learning can help certain students better comprehend and retain syllabus and lecture information. If I give any handouts for my lecture, I'll be sure to make yours all one font! :) Thanks for your thoughts.
Thanks for your thoughts Ashlee! I could see your point regarding the idea of having different fonts as a way of keeping engagement in a syllabus and changestablished in contact tent within the syllabus. My research mind is wondering how this idea would correlate with different genders and personality types. Thanks for stimulating my creativity!
DeleteResponse to Section 2
ReplyDeleteMike your question makes a lot of sense. It would be challenging to observe that students who take longer to solve problems would have their cognitive process dwarfed by quick processors!
Svinicki and McKeachie (2014) suggest a very helpful tool to allow cognitive growth for both groups; one minute papers (Anderson & Burns, 2013). When engaging through one minute papers students have individual opportunity to engage with the material and their own problem solving without outside interference.
Svinicki, M. & McKeachie, W. (2014). McKeachie's teaching tips: Strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.
Anderson, D., & Burns, S. (2013). One-minute paper: student perception of learning gains. College Student Journal, 47(1), 219.
I really liked that idea as well Kerley. I would like to see how that works in a classroom. It would be interesting to see as well as participate in. Thanks for your thoughts.
DeleteHello Mike, I really liked the question you posed for section #5. Svinicki and McKeachie (2014) discussed the idea that student who primary focus on grades are more literal-minded and most likely not willing to try anything new and will tend to focus on the familiar so they can be successful. A study done by Rohe et al. (2006) indicated that pass/fail grades reduced stress; it also increased group cohesion and student intrinsic motivation. It appears that moving to a pass/fail system might be beneficial for student active learning without worrying about grades.
ReplyDeleteReferences:
Rohe, D. E., Barrier, P. A., Clark, M. M., Cook, D. A., Vickers, K. S., & Decker, P. A. (2006). The benefits of pass-fail grading on stress, mood, and group cohesion in medical students. Mayo Clinic Proceedings ,11, 1443-1448.
Svinicki, M. D., & McKeachie, W. J. (2014). McKeachie’s teaching tips: Strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth /CENGAGE Learning.
It would definitely be interesting to see in action Maria. I would really like to see where assignments are graded through quantitative assessment while the overall grade is more qualitative. It would be interesting! Thanks for your thoughts.
DeleteMike you made an important point in your question (Section 4B) of having us (doctoral students and future counselor educators/professors) document our professional involvement in our professional vita. Lee, Na, and Pebdani (2013) outlined what the counselor educator’s professional involvement can look like, including active membership in professional organizations like the ACA. Active membership can include leadership, service, advocacy, and scholarship/research, in addition to teaching in counselor education programs.
ReplyDeleteRegarding your question specifically, our Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision Program presently asks for many, if not all of these requirements as outlined in the Program Handbook 2016/2017 (Department of Counselor Education & Family Studies, 2016). Under section 2.14 Doctoral Professional Identity Competencies (p. 19), we (current doctoral students) are required to provide evidence of ten items in the Candidacy Exam Portfolio. Some of these requirements that line up with the writings of Lee at al. (2013) include: 1) membership in professional organizations; 2) state or national level involvement in legislative or social advocacy; 3) attending conferences; 4) present at conferences; 5) peer-review manuscript publication; 6) mentoring others; and 7) graduate-level teaching. As you can see, Mike, our doctoral program has already “mandated” us to meet/fulfill these competencies prior to moving into dissertation. It allows us to develop a robust counselor education portfolio for employment purposes, and fosters our development as future leaders in the counselor education field.
References
Department of Counselor Education & Family Studies. (2016). Ph.D. in counselor education and supervision program handbook 2016/2017. Lynchburg, VA: Liberty University. Retrieved from https://www.liberty.edu/media/1118/PhD_Handbook_2016-2017.pdf
Lee, C. C., Na, G., & Pebdani, R. N. (2013). Teaching to encourage professional involvement. In J. D. West, D. L. Bubenzer, J. A. Cox, & J. M. McGlothlin (Eds.), Teaching in counselor education: Engaging students in learning (p. 115-124). Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.
Thanks John! I don't know about you but I have started adding to my vita and it is filling quickly. It is amazing how much we do as doctoral students. If I waited to the end of our program I am sure that I would not be able to remember it all. I look forward to finally meeting you in class.
DeleteHi Mike,
ReplyDeleteIn response to your question for section 1, I was also surprised and a bit confused by Cox’s (2013) idea to use multiple fonts. I have never seen a syllabus like that (at least not that I can remember). I am thinking this probably ties into engaging the students, setting the tone for your teaching style, and making the syllabus your own (Cox, 2013). Perhaps by several fonts, a professor could make a syllabus more interesting to look at. I am also thinking it might provide an easier way to organize it by topics when students are referring to it later. The nagging question I still have about this is would it look professional (if different fonts were used)? If part of the purpose of a syllabus is to be a contract or agreement between a professor and students, it seems that a syllabus would need to communicate this through its format too. I would want to error on the side of looking professional rather than too creative, especially if I am teaching at a graduate level. One last thought I had about this is that counseling students are probably handing in syllabi to state licensure boards or even PhD programs, so I would want to make sure my class content seemed sufficient. Would the use of different fonts throughout the syllabus convey this?
The idea of using different layouts makes sense to me more. I have looked at previous syllabi lately and it does seem like different layouts can be helpful. Our department seems to use tables for rubrics. Some syllabi seem to have calendars in them, which seems helpful. Other than that, there is not a lot of variety in layouts. I looked through a few syllabi on the ACES Syllabus Clearinghouse and did not see many different layouts either. On one hand, I think it makes sense not to reinvent the wheel; I would prefer putting any extra time into planning the first few classes well, like Svinicki and McKeachie (2014) recommend). On the other hand, having a fun syllabus could be a great way to engage and motivate students from the very start of the class.
The more I think about your original question, I am guessing it is a matter of personal preference, continuing to modify the syllabus a little each year, and creating balance between making it a useful document as well as something that grabs and keeps students’ attention.
I’m looking forward to seeing you again in class!
-Lucy
References
Cox, J. A. (2013). Creating a syllabus and course anticipation: Early engagement of students. In J. D. West, D. L. Bubenzer, J. A. Cox, & J. M. McGlothlin (Eds.) Teaching in counselor education: Engaging students in learning (pp. 13-24). Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.
Svinicki, M. D., & McKeachie, W. J. (2014). McKeachie’s teaching tips: Strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers (14th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Thanks for your thoughts Lucy! One of the things that gets me hung up on the idea of using different fonts in a syllabus may stem from the consistent accountability we have as students regarding APA and professional writing. I can see how it may be fun to try and engage a student with fun fonts but I question on how appropriate and professional that would be. Personally, I feel that if I received a syllabus during our doctorate program that had whimsical fonts, different point fonts, or colored fonts I would really question the maturity of the professor. I do, however, see the benefit of changing a font with a more professional appearance as a way to stress some important information. I also look forward to seeing you in class again. God Bless!
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