Samples of Work
Icebreakers & Openers
One of the first assignments of my Masters program required that I develop two icebreakers or openers. Icebreakers are a fantastic way to engage learners, encouraging them to connect with the content on a personal level, while setting the tone for the learning activity to follow.
The first icebreaker I proposed, "Brick Barriers," draws upon the four constructs of Wlodkowski (2004) and Ginsberg's Motivational Framework for Culturally Responsive Teaching: establishing inclusion, developing attitude, enhancing meaning, and engendering competence. This icebreaker aims to help a small group of adults identify barriers to specific health behaviors. Each learner is asked to share their own barriers to achieving the health behavior, and collectively, the group's barriers are visually represented as a "brick wall" between the learners and the desired behavior. These learner-identified barriers then drive the following discussion about ways to achieve the health behavior until each "brick" has been knocked down.
The second icebreaker, "Acute Reflection," is proposed as a way to introduce a learning event on plain language communication for health professionals. The icebreaker asks health professionals to follow a series of simple instructions that are presented quickly and in technical terms. This is designed to allow the professionals to experience a sense of the confusion and frustration many patients feel while trying to navigate the medical jargon and procedures with which the professionals have become so accustomed. The icebreaker engages and challenges learners, again drawing from Wlodkowski (2004), while also creating an experience--a point of reference--upon which to reflect, aligning well with Mezirow's (1997) transformative learning and Dewey's (1938) experiential learning theories.
One of the first assignments of my Masters program required that I develop two icebreakers or openers. Icebreakers are a fantastic way to engage learners, encouraging them to connect with the content on a personal level, while setting the tone for the learning activity to follow.
The first icebreaker I proposed, "Brick Barriers," draws upon the four constructs of Wlodkowski (2004) and Ginsberg's Motivational Framework for Culturally Responsive Teaching: establishing inclusion, developing attitude, enhancing meaning, and engendering competence. This icebreaker aims to help a small group of adults identify barriers to specific health behaviors. Each learner is asked to share their own barriers to achieving the health behavior, and collectively, the group's barriers are visually represented as a "brick wall" between the learners and the desired behavior. These learner-identified barriers then drive the following discussion about ways to achieve the health behavior until each "brick" has been knocked down.
The second icebreaker, "Acute Reflection," is proposed as a way to introduce a learning event on plain language communication for health professionals. The icebreaker asks health professionals to follow a series of simple instructions that are presented quickly and in technical terms. This is designed to allow the professionals to experience a sense of the confusion and frustration many patients feel while trying to navigate the medical jargon and procedures with which the professionals have become so accustomed. The icebreaker engages and challenges learners, again drawing from Wlodkowski (2004), while also creating an experience--a point of reference--upon which to reflect, aligning well with Mezirow's (1997) transformative learning and Dewey's (1938) experiential learning theories.
To view the full assignment, including instructions and rationale for each of the icebreakers, please download the PDF:
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Gamification Mini Project
Gamification is the use of game design and game elements in non-game contexts, such as education. Public health efforts and distance learning have both become increasingly gamified, and I was excited to explore this topic during my Teaching and Learning at a Distance course.
Perhaps my biggest takeaway from the project was the amount of educational theory involved. While gamification may seem like all "fun and games," designers are taking great care behind the scenes to create meaningful learning experiences. In fact, the success of a gamified learning activity depends heavily upon the designer's understanding of the learning goals and learner motivations. Not all learning should be gamified; however, when gamification is used appropriately, it engages learners and can yield fantastic results. I especially love the example from the University of British Columbia's adult education course. Click here to view my Prezi and see for yourself!
Gamification is the use of game design and game elements in non-game contexts, such as education. Public health efforts and distance learning have both become increasingly gamified, and I was excited to explore this topic during my Teaching and Learning at a Distance course.
Perhaps my biggest takeaway from the project was the amount of educational theory involved. While gamification may seem like all "fun and games," designers are taking great care behind the scenes to create meaningful learning experiences. In fact, the success of a gamified learning activity depends heavily upon the designer's understanding of the learning goals and learner motivations. Not all learning should be gamified; however, when gamification is used appropriately, it engages learners and can yield fantastic results. I especially love the example from the University of British Columbia's adult education course. Click here to view my Prezi and see for yourself!
Instructional Design Project
The instructional design course I took allowed me the opportunity to gain hands-on experience as I walked through the instructional design process from start to finish. Over the course of a semester, I followed the Dick and Carey model as I researched and reimagined the education provided to expectant parents on childbirth and newborn care.
To investigate the need for an instructional fix, I began by surveying parents about their childbirth class experiences. I then reached out to would-be learners, those currently expecting or hoping to conceive, to further understand their learning needs. Both the needs assessment and learner analysis guided my development of a proposed course, from its learning goals and objectives to its format and materials. The end result was a proposed five-week course that took advantage of the best of both face-to-face and online learning. While the course I developed was hypothetical in nature and has not been implemented, I left no step of the instructional design process untouched, as I included plans for both formative and summative evaluation.
To explore my journey through the instructional design process and my proposed course, please click here.
The instructional design course I took allowed me the opportunity to gain hands-on experience as I walked through the instructional design process from start to finish. Over the course of a semester, I followed the Dick and Carey model as I researched and reimagined the education provided to expectant parents on childbirth and newborn care.
To investigate the need for an instructional fix, I began by surveying parents about their childbirth class experiences. I then reached out to would-be learners, those currently expecting or hoping to conceive, to further understand their learning needs. Both the needs assessment and learner analysis guided my development of a proposed course, from its learning goals and objectives to its format and materials. The end result was a proposed five-week course that took advantage of the best of both face-to-face and online learning. While the course I developed was hypothetical in nature and has not been implemented, I left no step of the instructional design process untouched, as I included plans for both formative and summative evaluation.
To explore my journey through the instructional design process and my proposed course, please click here.
Workforce Education Research Paper
For the final elective of my Master's program, I enrolled in a course on workforce education. While I was pleasantly surprised at the breadth of knowledge I gained throughout this course, I was also very glad that the last assignment of the course was a research paper that allowed me to explore in greater depth a workforce education topic of my choosing.
I chose to focus on professional continuing education. Specifically, I argued that our current methods of continuing professional education, which tend to be extremely passive and are typically very isolated, fall short of the professional development intended. More meaningful learning and greater professional development would result from a shift toward more contextualized, practice-based learning, an idea supported by the works of Dewey (1938) and Boud and Hager (2012), among others. Such a shift will likely meet resistance on many fronts, including the continuing professional education industry that has developed (Cantor, 2006); however, such a shift is a worthwhile endeavor. I hope to be a part of it.
For the final elective of my Master's program, I enrolled in a course on workforce education. While I was pleasantly surprised at the breadth of knowledge I gained throughout this course, I was also very glad that the last assignment of the course was a research paper that allowed me to explore in greater depth a workforce education topic of my choosing.
I chose to focus on professional continuing education. Specifically, I argued that our current methods of continuing professional education, which tend to be extremely passive and are typically very isolated, fall short of the professional development intended. More meaningful learning and greater professional development would result from a shift toward more contextualized, practice-based learning, an idea supported by the works of Dewey (1938) and Boud and Hager (2012), among others. Such a shift will likely meet resistance on many fronts, including the continuing professional education industry that has developed (Cantor, 2006); however, such a shift is a worthwhile endeavor. I hope to be a part of it.
To read my paper, please download the PDF:
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