Carmita's Portfolio Page: A Pathfinder as a Coordination and Teaching Tool
Author: Carmita Sanchez-Fong
Go to: ETAP 623 Spring 2012
Go to the mini-course: The Pathfinder Building Blocks
A Pathfinder as a Coordination and Teaching Tool
The Pathfinder Building Blocks
This mini-course is intended as a response to, and concern for, some of the criticism higher education has received regarding the challenge of course coordination when several sections of a course are taught in the same semester by a combination of full-time and part-time faculty.
A pathfinder as a course coordination and teaching tool is an attempt at creating a virtual community of educators whose, accumulated and combined knowledge, will be brought together to contribute to the creation of a centralized source of organized resources to systematically support the delivery of well-coordinated, authentic, learning experiences in multi-section courses.
The following white paper is an overview of authentic learning for the 21st century. It provides a salient checklist of the 10 design elements of authentic learning that can be adapted across the disciplines. In this pathfinder, they will serve as essential support for the creation of a sustainable community of practice working to provide consistent, authentic, highly social, learning experiences across multiple sections of a course. It can be accessed in full text through:
Topics that will be covered include:
- Building a Pathfinder
- Course Coordination and Educational Quality
- Formal Curriculum vs. Enacted Curriculum
- Quality, Quantity, and Relatedness in the curriculum
- Instructional Scaffolding
- The Pathfinder Template (Sample Pathfinder)
Needs Analysis
- 1. Problem: Curriculum is established at different levels in a program; however, course content and delivery is the prerogative of the individual professor. When several sections of a course are are taught by various faculty; with different professional experience, backgrounds, familiarity with the different programs of study, teaching methodologies, and currency of technical skills, coordination is a challenge.
- 2. The Learners: The learners will be course coordinators at any level of a program, interested in creating a pathfinder of centralized, research resources that will allow all faculty teaching a course to critically choose from, add to, and comment on. The purpose then is to develop a common language that will strengthen and unify the curricular conversation among members of all sections of a course.
- 3. Goals: For course coordinators to develop a "community of practice" that will contribute to the development and maintenance of a pathfinder as the centralized source of relevant activities and resources that will bridge the gap and align faculty efforts so as to accomplish consistent teaching and learning across different sections of a course.
Objectives
- Through the planning of the pathfinder coordinators will reflect about the value, need, and complexity of course coordination. They will also choose the means and methods of gathering, evaluating, maintaining, and sharing the resources in the pathfinder.
- Through the development of the pathfinder coordinators will be able to create a “community of practice” that will be encouraged to reflect critically about their practice, the resources in the pathfinder, and the learning environments they want to create.
- Through the implementation of the pathfinder, coordinators will be able to improve communication among all participants in support of a deeper understanding of the learning process, and the need for consistency in the content delivery and desired learning outcomes.
Task Analysis
Course Purpose
The purpose of the course is to help coordinators develop a community of practice that will deliver consistent learning experiences across all sections of a course through the use of the resources available in the pathfinder. The pathfinder will be a centralize source of organized primary and secondary resources that will be, assembled, maintained, and shared, by and with, all participating faculty. It will serve as a tool for teaching and reflection in support of the creation of lessons that are thoughtfully guided by the course syllabus and supported by the rich informational research resources found in the pathfinder.
Learning Outcomes
Participants will be able to:
- Develop a community of practice that will facilitate the course coordination efforts by helping faculty to connect and develop a deeper sense of their discipline through the sharing of resources.
- Adopt a framework for the organization of the pathfinder that will support the sharing of knowledge and the development of effective teaching strategies.
- Reflect critically about the need and value of assessment and instructional scaffolding at every stage of the teaching and learning process.
Prerequisite Skills
- A deep desire to enhance the intellectual quality of student outcomes through the coordination of authentic pedagogy.
- Working knowledge of MLA style documentation system.
- Familiarity with Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education.
- Familiarity with the "21st Century Skills Incentive Fund Act".
- Of which items 3 & 5 read:
- “(3) Students need to go beyond just learning today’s academic context to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills, communication skills, creativity and innovation skills, collaboration skills, contextual learning skills, and information and media literacy skills.”
- “(5) Educators need to incorporate life skills into pedagogy, including leadership, ethics, accountability, adaptability, personal productivity, personal responsibility, people skills, self-direction, and social responsibility.”
Resources and References
Lombardi, Marilyn M. “Authentic Learning for the 21st Century: An Overview.” Educause Learning Initiative. Ed. Diana G.
- Oblinger. ELI Paper 1:2007. May 2007. Web. 16 Mar. 2012.
"21st Century Skills: Project Based Learning" Buck Institute for Education (BIE). Web. 29 Mar. 2012.
"Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education." The Association of College & Research Libraries
- (ACRL). 18 Jan. 2000. Web. 11 Apr. 2012.
"MLA Style Guide: Style Guide for Creating Works Cited Lists." University Libraries: University of Washington. 2009. Web. 10
- Jan. 2012.
United States. Senate. 21st Century Skills Incentive Fund Act. 110th Cong., 1st sess. S.1483. 24 May 2007. Web. 14 Mar.
- 2012.
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