My teaching philosophy (TP) begins by describing learning as a shared process, sometimes beginning with one-way knowledge transfer but with the aim of increasing independence. This can be seen in all my lessons, but a the example I have chosen to video is in the Multimedia Development course where I explain some concepts and then get the learners to build on these by doing research of their own. They share this in an online forum, and then I go through it with them to solidify and confirm the learning.
In this lesson are some glimpses of the coaching metaphor from my TP, but I found this a bit difficult to film. Nevertheless, the second half of the video shows me attending to each student in turn, giving verbal feedback and helping to identify areas for improvement. Learners also help each other, bringing in a glimpse of constructivism (e.g. Piaget, 1971; Vygotskiĭ, 1978) which is also mentioned in my TP.
Although this is covered in more depth in the evidence and reflection section, examples of principles used in this lesson include using active learning techniques and time on task. This is seen in both the activities—one where learners conduct and share research (also an example of encouraging independent learning) and the other in which they practice animation skills.
I would rather spend less time talking in many of these sessions (although for some topics it can’t be avoided) however, in previous iterations of the Multimedia course, in particular, when I tried to adhere to my TP even more, feedback from learners was that they would prefer more passive learning and less independence. Therefore, I am trying here to find a balance that still integrates principles of effective teaching while also leaving the students with an impression of “value for money”.
Finding the balance between learner perceived satisfaction and genuine learning is the biggest challenge for me. The most successful mix seems to be a bit of traditional teaching to make the learners feel at home and a bit of modern teaching practice to trick them into learning something anyway. The true mix that I use is not shown in the videos because there would be a lot of film of students experiencing group work. The real part I play in that process is carefully curating the task, the groups and the tools (as mentioned in my TP), which doesn’t happen in the classroom but during planning and learning design.
When I was new to teaching I always used the INTROSH format, including a stimulus to begin the lesson and a formal assessment of the learning outcomes at the end. However, as I have become more experienced at teaching I feel that this approach becomes rather formulaic, and so I vary which lessons contain interest grabbers, which have peer assessment etc. I find that students very quickly tire of too much peer assessment and that formally assessing every activity is not sustainable.
Although a lesson near the end of semester did not provide the opportunity to demonstrate my very best teaching, I feel I facilitated an inclusive, learner-centered environment and promoted learner engagement very well. My classroom management was effective, though it mostly shows in these videos as an absence of disruption.