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In “Teaching As An Act of Love: The Classroom and Critical Praxis,” Antonia Darder (2002) draws from Paulo Friere’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, and the concept of teaching as an act of love is directly connected to educators who have passion for teaching to the extent that they may have had a lifelong dream to …

Continue reading “Critical Pedagogy: This is Real Life!”

Several religions and schools of thought have emerged throughout the history of mankind. Almost always, religions attract followers by the promise of giving meaning to human lives, which serves to help them make their peace with the fact that they … Continue reading →

This week in our contemporary pedagogy class, we were encouraged to reflect on the concept of critical pedagogy. First, I had to understand the concept of “critical pedagogy.”  What does this mean? I read two articles that focused on the work of Paulo Freire. I first read Freire’s article, “The Banking Concept of Education.” TheContinue reading “GOT ¿CONSCIENTIZAÇÃO?”

I think we have a fundamental problem in education. Much of this problem comes down to one fundamental idea: the misalignment between how we teach and how students learn. If you were to choose a random class on campus and walk into one of the lectures, chances are you would find the instructor standing at […]

Airbus A321neo Taking off at Ronal Raegan International Airport (DCA). Photo by Dr. Antonio A. Trani, 2019. Problem-Based Learning (PBL) This week’s topic is one of my favorites, maybe because I am an engineer and naturally a problem solver! I think that PBL is a powerful way of learning especially for applied sciences such as … Continue reading Ready for Takeoff: Problem Based Learning →

I did not know how to feel when I found out that I would be a graduate teaching assistant teaching a public speaking class comprising of approximately 80 students. I had never imagined that I would teach in any setting. However I come from a family of teachers, so maybe it was something that I …

Continue reading “Discovering My Authentic Teaching Self”

In December 2018 I was still working in industry, yet I was wrapping up applications to a number of colleges and universities, hoping to start back to school in the Fall 2019 semester. I knew that going back into academia … Continue reading →

To progress as a society, we need to rethink the way we educate our students. This begins at the most basic level: the teacher-student relationship. The “banking” model of education is a pervasive issue throughout academia that has defined this relationship for far too long. In this approach, students are conceptualized as receptacles into which […]

My closest experience to a case-based class was a graduate class at Virginia Tech on Decision Analysis. It was more of a flipped course in which we had to prepare for the material and were handed a related challenging problem … Continue reading →

 According to The Teaching Commons, “inclusive pedagogy is a is a method of teaching in which instructors and classmates work together to create a supportive environment that gives each student equal access to learning” (The Teaching Commons, 2020…

This week, a group of students from the Contemporary Pedagogy class at VT got together to discuss digital pedagogy. In this blog post we are going to address the use of technology in the class, be it digital devices or educational tools. A thorough analysis of the pros and cons of different technologies will be […]

 I believe to prepare students for jobs that haven’t been created yet, we need to teach them how to be great problem solvers so that they’ll be ready for anything. One way to do this is by teaching content and skills using real-world case studies, a learning model that’s focused on reflection during the problem-solving […]

In my education as a teacher, I have learned the importance of active learning and problem based learning in the classroom. I also reflect in my time as a student, and in retrospective I learned the most when I was challenged with applying my knowledge in to a problem or a case study. This is …

Continue reading “Applying problem based learning in a large class”

It was interesting to me that the article “On Banning Things in Classrooms” by Jon Warner was part of the reading materials for this week on Digital Pedagogy. Although I think that this discussion is more related to traditional pedagogical

Online education has been on the rise in the past decade and has taken the world by a storm, primarily because of its global reach coupled with interactive and on-demand learning. Through this blog post, I would like to introduce the concept of MOOCs and address the issue of MOOCs as a potential replacement for …

Continue reading “MOOC: The Future of Education Or Not”

I read John Foran’s “The Case Method and the Interactive Classroom” and Stanford University’s “Problem-Based Learning”. This topic was super interesting to learn about because I have not often been in classes where this sort of teaching style was implemented,

Inclusivity is vital more now than ever. A learning environment should be a safe space. My intent as an educator is to create a learning environment characterized by a positive outlook. I, too, am concerned about our world and our society, and am deeply disturbed by what I see. However, I have made the personal … Continue reading How To Adopt Inclusive Pedagogy?

Inclusive Pedagogy is a new trend based on the increased diversity happening in the classroom. Nowadays, differences in races, origins, sexual preferences, and backgrounds enrich learning experiences and developments in the arts and sciences. However, although being beneficial for learning, the problem remains that these differences remain not clearly addressed in pedagogical approaches. Because ofContinue reading “Inclusive Pedagogy as a result of Increased Diversity”

I am grateful to learn about problem-based and case-based learning in this class. In the class I will teach in the spring, I previously planned to have students hear stories written by disabled writers. Although I may still incorporate some…

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I will start off by saying how insightful and painful it was to read Decoding Digital Pedagogy. This isn’t because wither Stommel or Morris were reproachful of those generations of educators thrust into digital learning environments, but moreso their apt, yet scathing, review of the misconceptions surrounding the nuance of digital pedagogy. And I willContinue reading “The Handfasting of Education and the Digital”

Since I was a former math teacher, I was interested on employing different instructional methods that engage my students in learning process. The methods helped me to convey concepts and mathematical theories to them. I have learned more about different instructional methods, delivery mods, media attributes, etc. during my studies as a graduate student in …

Continue reading “Blog Post #3: Problem-Based Learning with Teaching Mathematics”

If everybody blindly conforms to some role pushed upon them and accepts whatever narrative that is thrown their way, there would not be enough motivation for anyone to push the boundaries of science and philosophy. Living in a world that … Continue reading →

Two years ago, when I heard the words “diversity,” “equality,” or “inclusion,” my mind immediately went to including people of minority backgrounds on the table, or reaching the “number” that would “solve” underrepresentation in any fields or settings, or focusing on accommodating minority to help them succeed. Only after I started reading about critical paradigms …

Continue reading “The Inherent Intentions behind Inclusive Pedagogies”

The readings this week, like many readings I have encountered over the years, confirmed my opinions on our education systems. The systems that see students as consumers and “to be taught”. The systems that aim to “process” these students to make sure they have a role in this society. The systems that constantly reproducing the …

Continue reading “Realizing Critical Pedagogies”

I get to design and teach an online course for Spring 2021 for my Graduate Assistantship. I will teach a Pathways course, Educating Exceptional Learners, so I will have undergraduate students from various majors. I hope to motivate students to…

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As a Ph.D. student in Human Development and Family Science, I thought it would be interesting to apply this concept to my discipline. Case-Based Teaching This article discusses the application of case-based learning in a sociology class at the University of California – Santa Barbara. The author uses this pedagogical approach because they “want to […]

Diversity is natural but inclusivity is not because of prejudice. The day we give up our inhibitions and instill inclusivity in our soul, the world will become a better place. I am not asking to neglect differences, instead I encourage to embrace our differences positively to help each other, without judging or discriminating against each …

Continue reading “Inclusivity in Diversity: It Is Ok To Be Different”

As we discussed during the class learning is a process of connecting between what is already known or understood and new information. Merriam Webster defines learning as “gaining knowledge or understanding of or skill in by study, instruction, or experience”. So, learning happens when people use their experience to deal with new situation, develop their …

Continue reading “Post #1 The Psychology of How People Learn”

Problem-Based Learning is at a very important position, especially in Engineering programs. In this blog, I am going to talk about a Senior Project course at my former department (Industrial Engineering) to draw the importance of factors that are impacting the success of the course. I was on the committee of that course for three […]

While I was reading the article of Ladson-Billings about culturally responsive teaching, the reaction of teachers to her advice made me think: what is good teaching? Culturally responsible teaching is good teaching, but is it “just good teaching”? Is good teaching equivalent to culturally relevant teaching? Does culturally relevant teaching require more than “just good teaching”? […]

Group post by Chris Clements, Austin Garren, Jazmin Jurkiewicz, Andrew Knight, Malle Schilling, and Brittany ShaughnessyWhat do we mean by digital pedagogy?Digital pedagogy presents a unique set of issues that one may not think of when first stepping f…

This Semester I am taking a class on Contemporary Pedagogy from the Graduate School at Virginia Tech. Part of my work will be to do blog posts about contemporary education and my experiences in education overall. The topic of this week is about discovering my teaching person. This topic reminds me of the Harry PotterContinue reading “Discovering my Teaching Self”

While reading on problem based learning, the idea of real world problem solving within the classroom is incredibly valuable to students. Sure, these are just college kids right now, but the end goal is for them to enter the workforce with abilities that would allow for a more informed decision making process based off of …

Continue reading “Problem Based Learning & Case Pedagogy”

It was interesting, both through the readings and through class discussion, to consider the usage of laptops/cell phones in class. During undergrad, I used both laptops and cell phones for both helpful (i.e. looking up things, taking notes) and hurtful

This week’s topics centered around the idea of Inclusive Pedagogy, a term I was previously unfamiliar with. However, after reading more I really like that it’s a all hands on deck, community effort. Both the students and instructor have to work together to ensure that inclusive pedagogy is possible and actively implemented. While I really […]

Online courses sound like a very recent phenomenon due to the pandemic, and it really is – even the most anti-online professors had to transition to the online context. I bet it would be very difficult for a professor who teaches the same material for the last 20 years with minimal virtualization. However, as Todd […]

This week in the Contemporary Pedagogy class, the topic for our blog is “Inclusive Pedagogy.” After reviewing the Georgetown University Center for New Designs in Learning & Scholarship website, which by the way, is a great resource whose mission is “to support teaching and learning at Georgetown means intentionally and explicitly supporting inclusivity in education.”Continue reading “Creating an Inclusive Classroom”

Despite the growing demand for digital pedagogy and the creation of a massive amount of online courses over the web, most universities still prefer the traditional in-class style of teaching. Nonetheless, as I explain in this short essay, adding the … Continue reading →

I always thought that teaching was an inherently performative activity. Therefore, I assumed that to be considered a good teacher you must conform to be an actor and entertainer in the classroom. These assumptions were built by watching both teachers a…

For this week’s blog, the focus is to reflect on the topic of inclusive pedagogy. As sophisticated this term is as complicated this conce…

This week’s focus was critical pedagogy, a philosophy of education grounded in critical theory. Paulo Freire believed that “teaching should challenge learners to examine power structures and patterns of inequality within the status quo” (Currell, 2020)…

At the time of writing this post, I have not taught a college class before, however, I am on my third semester as a Graduate Teaching Assistant (GTA). I believe that the journey of realizing someone’s authentic teaching self is a process that could start way before they formally become a teacher. I have always practiced … Continue reading Finding My Authentic Teaching Self →

Implementing active learning has proven that it has a positive impact on student engagement and learning. Reading about the benefit of the Problem-Based Learning approach has assured me of what school of architecture has given me. The cased/problem-based pedagogy is driven by challenging, open-ended problems of multiple right answers designed on making students work as …

Continue reading “Problem-Based Learning (an example from Jordan)”

Implementing active learning has proven that it has a positive impact on student engagement and learning. Reading about the benefit of th…

 As I was making my way through this week’s readings, I couldn’t help but combine the idea of communication in learning in the context of classrooms to communication and learning as it pertains to social conversations. Freire’s (1970, 1993) statem…

I consider teaching an honorable and rewarding job and I passionately immerse myself into it.  In my beginnings, I started as a high school teacher. For three years, I taught technology related courses and my students varied from 14-18 years old. In recent years, I taught undergrads for two years as instructor of record in … Continue reading Me, the “Cool” Teacher

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) is a pedagogical approach and curriculum design methodology often used in higher education and K-12 settings [Savery, J. R., & Duffy, T. M. (1995)]. In this method, the teacher exposes the students to “challenging, open-ended problems with … Continue reading →

Based on the definition, active learning is “an approach to education that does not consider students the passive recipients of knowledge transmitted from an expert, but rather, active agents in their own learning.” The approach of active learning offers two … Continue reading →

 By Source (WP:NFCC#4), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45639990Many of the readings for this week’s topic, case-based and problem-based learning, suggested that instructors take their introduction into using case-based learni…

Group post by Chris Clements, Austin Garren, Jazmin Jurkiewicz, Andrew Knight, Malle Schilling, and Brittany Shaughnessy What do we mean by digital pedagogy? Digital pedagogy presents a unique set of issues that one may not think of when first stepping foot in the classroom. Digital pedagogy hosts a myriad of definitions for different people. AsContinue reading “The Trial and Error of Digital Pedagogy”