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In reading about critical pedagogy this week, it was interesting to see many things related to teaching that I had heard anecdotally take place in a scholarly format. Freire seems to be somewhat of a trailblazer on this topic! One of the things that he said that stuck out to me most was that we […]

One critique I frequently hear about higher education and engineering is that it’s not like the real world. Rarely in industry will students ever have to write 10 page papers or solve problems from start to finish. The real world is not packaged neatly for us when we try to solve a problem so it’sContinue reading “Bringing Real World Context into Engineering”

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”

 My introduction to teaching was not being in front of a large group of students. I started as a preceptor in my senior year of undergrad. I was told that my role was to help students work through exercises in class. I came to learn that my intera…

I am a teacher but I had limited training on how to be a teacher. I have taught several times in the past and I am currently teaching a large undergraduate biochemistry course. I am passionate about teaching and I make sure to put my heart and effort in every single one of my course …

Continue reading “Being critical of my teaching”

Photo from pixabay.com I have this vision in my head of the teacher I want to be. I want to have the courage to love my students, as Darder encourages. I want to be a role model and a create … Continue reading →

As I continue to think about my teaching philosophy and pedagogical practices, I analyzed the differences between Case-based Teaching and Problem-based learning. There are multifarious ways to teach and learn, and I know this because I have engaged as a learner outside of these aforementioned styles. Case-based learning includes teaching using case studies from real-world …

Continue reading “Case-based Teaching vs Problem-based Learning: What’s the Difference?”

After reading Freire’s article, I realize different aspects of Critical Pedagogy that I have never thought about. Paulo Freire was a Brazilian educator, and he was seen as one of the founders of critical pedagogy. I just reflect from the readings some points could be helpful to understand the critical pedagogy. Changes the relationship between …

Continue reading “Blog Post #5: What does Critical Pedagogy Mean?”

The Trial and Error of Digital Pedagogy 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 …

Continue reading “Digital Pedagogy (Group Post)”

As I have read through readings and blog posts for this class, other classes, perused news articles and listened to conversations and debates recently, one thing has stood out to me. Everyone, whether by choice or involuntarily, is placed into groups by people from all sides. These groups are based on a vast number of …

Continue reading “Blog Post 2: On the Topic of Generalizations”

 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…

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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There seems to be an unspoken right for professors to call on students without warning. This I actually understand and sometimes do because volunteers sometimes take 5 minutes to push through silence (and there really isn’t time for that). While … Continue reading →

As a current graduate student and undergraduate teacher, I find myself oscillating between the two poles of student and teacher. I find myself constantly wondering how to approach the classroom and what I consider to be the most valuable aspects of teaching. I often ask myself what worked in my classes and how can I …

Continue reading “Discovering My Authentic Teaching Self”

This week’s readings on Problem-Based Learning (PBL) was really interesting to me as someone who is intrigued by pedagogical practices, however this is a concept that I think I would struggle with as a student and potentially as an instructor. One of the parts of PBL that I know I would struggle with stemmed from […]

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

This week’s readings went over finding your teaching voice as well as how to be yourself in the classroom. Having been a public speaking teacher to more than 240 students since my time began here at Tech, I found this reading to be very reflective of the lessons I had to learn along the way. …

Continue reading “Finding Your Teaching Voice”

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”

In continuing my quest to show people how vast the communication discipline is, I present case-based learning. Before I start, it should be noted that not all communication classes use case-based learning, and sometimes it is not appropriate. However, even communication undergraduate studies are not centered around memorization and tests, but rather focus on how …

Continue reading “Communication: A Haven for Case-Based Learning”

  Being a subject matter expert does not guarantee that the person can successfully transfer that knowledge to someone else and is no benchmark for being a great teacher. Great teachers have the ability to impart knowledge to their students in a manner that leaves an impression on their hearts and minds for life. My …

Continue reading “Voice of Enlightenment: Reflections On My Inner Teaching Self”

This week in Contemporary Pedagogy, I dedicated time to reading through the articles assigned to us regarding Digital Pedagogy. Honestly, I found the readings to be rather interesting seeing as we are currently in a purely online format, or at least I am. From here, I was not necessarily sure what to make of the …

Continue reading “Digital Pedagogy”

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”

 This week the readings focused on case, problem, and project-based learning. These three pedagogical approaches are all examples of ways to actively engage students in a classroom and there is a large amount of literature that focuses on these ap…

A lot of things in the introduction of the ‘Finding My Teaching Voice’ article by Sarah E. Deel really resonated with me, as my first experience lecturing was also a subject I never studied in undergrad. I felt like I

 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 […]

Paulo Freire’s vision for education is certainly compelling. Freire writes that too many teachers try to put themselves on a pedestal of invincibility from which they gaze arrogantly down on students. Many teachers assume that their job is to pass down information to students in a purely replicatory, rather than critical way. In this view,Continue reading “Critical Pedagogy”

As you can see, most education systems around the world are based on the one-size fits-all philosophy and rob students of their creativity and ability to view and evaluate problems critically. It is all the more prevalent in oppressed communities who have limited access to quality education. According to K12 Academics, “Critical pedagogy is a …

Continue reading “Critical Pedagogy: An Ode to Paulo Freire”

Case-based and problem-based learning are instructional approaches that encourage active learning and promote for a mindful teaching experience to be used in higher education. The motivation behind both methods is to challenge students with open-ended problems or real-life cases  to promote critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. By being exposed to new scenarios, student work in … Continue reading Active learning Strategies

This week’s topic resonates well with me.  It talks about Inclusive pedagogy which focuses more on the constant reflection of how to make our learning environments places that are not only safe for diverse individuals but also places where issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion are at the uppermost importance. However, its hard to achieve […]

Critical pedagogy is a philosophy of education and social movement that developed and applied concepts from critical theory and related traditions to the field of education and the study of culture. Basically,  the teacher works to lead students to question ideologies and practices considered oppressive, and encourage liberatory collective and individual responses to the actual conditions of their own lives. Critical pedagogy is […]

The most common form of classroom teaching has always been a traditional form where the professor comes to class to deliver lecture and the student listen to take notes. This form of teaching has been in existence since time immemorial and has been very effective. However, with the ever evolving change in global technology, the […]

This week I am going to reflect on the concepts of problem-based learning (PBL) and case-based learning (CBL). PBL is defined as an “active learning pedagogical approach” that concerns producing and resolving a “challenging open-ended problem.”[1] This pedagogical approach is contrasted to more traditional classroom orientations, such as the lecture form in which the Professor, …

Continue reading “Thinking about ‘Teamwork’ in the Classroom”

After having read a number of my peers’ posts and having read several different perspectives on Critical Pedagogy, I thought I wanted to spend my writing time this week thinking through a concrete application for Critical Pedagogical theory. I generally find that I’m unhappy with the work I am doing when I don’t have a […]

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 […]

The first time I taught here at Virginia Tech, I was in charge of two lectures for a large class of 300 students. Back then, I had little teaching experience, and I decided to use the course instructor’s teaching style to deliver the material. I tried to follow his unstructured, figure-less and serious way of …

Continue reading “Finding my true teaching self: my past journey and my future path”

If not all educators are called to be pedagogues, then how do we hold (or expect to hold) educator’s accountable for sound pedagogical practices in a global environment where everyone is barely treading water? On the flip side of this coin (as if it’s really a coin), is the question of where the collaboration existsContinue reading “Digital Pedagogy”

After reading “The Case Method and the Interactive Classroom” by James Foran, I am inspired to try this activity in my classroom in the next few weeks. Foran describes how his students were presented with a vignette from the History … Continue reading →

I am discussing the article entitled “Decoding Digital Pedagogy, pt. 1: Beyond the LMS” found here by Sean Morris. The article decodes what actually digital pedagogy means and how it is practices, it adds some novel insights that we don’t usually consider.  We often imagine moving our lectures and slides online with the same configurations … Continue reading GRAD 5114: Online Pedagogy

I discovered early on that teaching is by far the most enjoyable activity for me. My favorite game was to gather children the same age and play the role of their teacher. I was lucky to have a younger sister … Continue reading →

Society, by common definition, is the aggregate of people living together for a particular purpose. A society also follows customs…

The first article I read this week was by Tauber (2013), in which they consider the future of online education. One point worth considering is the idea of personalization as a tool to facilitate student engagement digitally. For instance, massive open online courses (MOOC) are becoming increasingly popular among adults who want to learn a […]

Sarah Deel’s article was profound. She detailed some of the minutia many GTAs tend to overlook when first starting their assignment. The article was relatable; it was reassuring to know we posted similar questions. However, I still don’t feel confident enough to fully define my teaching voice. I’ve been a GTA for a few semesters … Continue reading What’s My Teaching Voice?

This week, I read Freire’s “Teaching Is A Human Act” document and found it quite poignant. The “Caring For Students” section resonated with me because I had recently discussed the semester with other GTAs in various courses. Although we serve in different capacities in different departments, we all concluded that instructional staff (GTAs included) are … Continue reading Reflections on Listening

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…

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”

Digital pedagogy is the study and use of digital technologies in teaching and learning. Some people will misunderstand the digital pedagogy and online teaching. During this pandemic, most of teaching activities are moved online and the online teaching is not equal to the digital pedagogy. On the contrary, I would view digital pedagogy as aContinue reading “GRAD 5114 Post 4: Digital Pedagogy”

I really enjoyed this week’s readings on inclusive pedagogy because I think it is something that we all have to consider as teachers, especially when it comes to implicit biases. We all have grown up with unique experiences, and those views without a doubt shape the way we teach. Understanding how we can be self-aware …

Continue reading “Inclusive Pedagogy”

Fostering an environment that is inclusive and accepting for all generates a safer and more productive atmosphere for learning. Diversity refers to the traits and characteristics that make people unique while inclusion refers to the behaviors and social norms that ensure people feel welcome (Source: https://builtin.com/diversity-inclusion). Diversity without inclusion does not work. If one does …

Continue reading “Blog 2 – Inclusive Pedagogy”

Culturally responsive teaching and inclusion is one of the topics always on table for discussion.  It has been incorporated in teaching strategies and preparations for years, yet there is an urging need to address it every time. I was watching the video recommended by Homero “Same differences: How microaggressions are like mosquito bites”. I think … Continue reading Inclusive Pedagogy

I have been thinking very deeply about inclusive pedagogy throughout my Ph.D. degree program in Rhetoric and Writing.  My views of inclusive pedagogy is not just understanding that we have implicit biases or that we are complicit in the system that we aim to deconstruct. I was hoping to understand how I have implicit biases …

Continue reading “Approaches to Inclusive Pedagogy”