What is learning? (revisited)

Based on class discussion, learning is not simply defined it is rather complex. From my previous blog, I would add more to the definition of learning.  Learning builds on prior knowledge and metacognition/reflection which was explained in Chapter 9 “How Students Learn”.

Also, for learning to occur there needs to be motivation behind it; meaning if a person wants to understand a concept in greater detail there needs to be a drive to go out and find more information on their own. When that learning occurs, then a transfer of that knowledge to the next application will potentially occur (How People Learn – Chapter 3). As an example, I use a graduate student. A graduate student reads a lot of literature to understand their project so that when a graduate student looks at their data there is a moment when there is a click in the brain. This is an understanding of why and how certain things are occurring in their data set.  This is because of the background knowledge that was read from the literatures.

For my definition, learning is a multiple process which builds on prior knowledge, is based on the individuals drive for information, incorporates metacognition, and incorporates new information.  

Teaching Philosophy Reflections

Each person’s teaching philosophy is unique to the individual and to the field but an overall a theme occurs. Critical, analytical, and problem solving thinking are in some way part of each person’s teaching philosophy.  It is great to see that all of these types of thinking are very important to the teachers!

A particular insight that I found valuable is to include repetition of important concepts into the lecture, practice examples, etc. This ensures that each type of learning style is addressed for each individual student and hopefully the concept will be understood by the student.  Some concepts are trickery than others so repetition would help to understand the material better.  I would include this in my teaching philosophy.

Another insight that I as a student prefer but never thought to include in my teaching philosophy but will next time put in my teaching philosophy is to provide notes ahead of time before class lecture. This way the student can focus on the teacher instead of just regenerating the notes off of the PowerPoint and not listening to the instructor. Instructors give insight which can include stories or tricks on how to remember the content.

One other insight that I liked and will include in my teaching philosophy is to observe the students.  This is something that I do automatically but I never gave it any thought to putting it into the philosophy.  I believe that observing students is important because you as a professor can gauge if the classroom is understanding the content by the looks on the students faces, the volume in the classroom, and who is just not paying any attention i.e. texting, chatting, surfing web, etc.

Overall, I enjoyed reading the other teaching philosophies.  The philosophies gave valuable insight and good guidance on how to improve my personal teaching philosophy. 

What is learning

What is learning?

            Learning is simply defined as acquiring knowledge or getting informed about things. The whole process of learning is not as simple as it is often defined. Learning comprises of many things for me.  Learning entails learning through examples given in class or lab or an experiment that was conducted through my research which generated data that leads me to produce questions and answers. In the lab setting, I learn often by teaching other students the protocols of an experiment. 

            Learning cannot be answered in a sentence. It is complex and is different for each individual. People learn in different ways and by different avenues.  My experience as well as practicing what I have learned plays a big role in my learning process.  Overall, for me learning is what do I want to achieve and how do I go about it.

Statement of Teaching Philosophy

Statement of Teaching Philosophy

Carrie Werkmeister

Statement of Teaching Philosophy

       Within the discipline of soil science, there are many sub-disciplines such as conservation, nutrient management, chemistry, pedology, salinity, etc. which creates an ever challenging job for an educator to instill overall knowledge needed to fully understand the field for each scholar. Within the last few years there has been a push to revive the younger generation to enter in the soil field. I adopt interactive teaching methods in courses to inspire students to consider soil science as a major field of study. People look at the ground and see dirt but I see an opportunity for classroom learning.

These days, less students have farm backgrounds so at the start of the semester, I will ask the students about their experience in the field of soil science and the reason why they chose soil science. I constantly ask the class for their inputs on course content through electronic service and modify the course depending on the backgrounds of the students.  This allows for clarification incase a key concept in the class was misunderstood. I believe this permits a warm and welcoming environment in and outside the classroom because students communicate through different means i.e. text, blogging, etc.

       I want the students to see how the classes can relate to real life situations and how classes will help them in their future careers. My major outcome of teaching is for each student to leave the classroom with a better understanding and comprehension of the content than when the student first entered the class. In addition, a key component is to develop teamwork skills through interactions during group activities which also help students develop good human relation skills that can aid in future job and/or graduate school. My values in teaching are deep rooted in hard work ethics. Only hard working teachers produce hard working learners.

       Within my classroom setting, I have lectures, classroom discussions, demonstrations of new software, field equipment, and use web soil survey. I typically have a group project because students learn by teaching others and also an individual project. The individual project involves solving a real life problem which includes critical thinking. Small projects make student take ownership in the class. For an example, the group project would be picking a section of land and doing a detailed description of soil analysis by a field trip which would include field sampling and then data compilation and analysis. A presentation by the students would be required. A second part of the project would be to study a ten year cropping system with best management practices to control disease, pests, weeds, and nutrients. For an individual project, I would give them a problem that occurs in real life, for example, iron chlorosis or a disease. The students would be required to make recommendations in a form of a written report on how they would go about managing the problem. I believe that selecting problems and examples with significant relevance will highlight the importance of the concept taught in the class.

By developing critical learning, student interactions, and problem solving skills as part of my teaching practice, I want to foster an interest in soil science to the next generation of soil scientist. In order for there to be success in academia it takes active participation of both student and the teacher.

Teaching College Science

The journal article by Markwell and Courntey on Cognitive Development and the Complexities of the Undergraduate Learner in the Science Classroom gave some insight on the undergraduate learner.   While reading this article, I was thinking back to my days as an undergraduate.  I remember going through the Multiplicity and Pluralism complex encounters.  The descriptions of the cognitive development in the articles are well established and these descriptions will aid teachers in modifying the science classroom to benefit the student and teacher both.

From the reading Science Teaching Reconsidered in Chapter 8, several interesting points were made. For me in specific, learning a student’s name makes the student feels less like a number and more like a human being.  I liked the suggestions about different ways in learning the students’ names.  As mentioned in the paper about science and math anxiety, I have notice that as I have worked with undergraduates through the years this anxiety tends to be true. It is very important to address this anxiety early on and find ways for the student to manage the stress. Overall, I found this article enlightening and useful.  The article gave some great suggestions and I plan on using them within the classroom.