7 Principles for Good Practice
I am going to relate Chickering and Gamson’s (1987) Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education to my teaching and the view from my students. Without even knowing it, I have tried to use most of these techniques (if not all) into my teaching practices. As I mentioned earlier, I heavily use PBL in my classroom as a way to deliver and assess the curriculum. I will outline how I have incorporated these techniques and where I might make changes and/or improvements.
1. Encourages contacts between students and faculty: Because I use PBL, it is essential that I get to know the student’s strengths and weaknesses before they embark on a project. When the students’ submit a proposal for a project and I’m not too sure of their skills and abilities, it is difficult for me to assess if he/she can not only complete the project but complete the project on time. With 30 students in a class, it is impossible to get to know them all in depth but by pre-assessment and observation in the first couple of weeks, I have found that I can get to know the majority well enough to know if their proposal is achievable.
2. Develops reciprocity and cooperation among students: This one is a little tougher to achieve as most of the students are on their Individual Learning Plans but collaboration and sharing is always encouraged and sometime necessary as I have experimented with group work where each student becomes an expert in his/her field and brings those skills to the group. That being said, I’ve had students go through my course without once talking to another student and I’d like to improve on that.
3. Uses active learning techniques: I don’t feel there is more of an active learning technique than Project Based Learning. The students take control of their learning (with my guidance), develop their learning plan and complete a project that I hope is relevant to them. There is very little “stand and deliver” teaching in my course and most is done at the beginning and has to do with the administrative structure of the course.
4. Gives prompt feedback: Another area that I feel I can improve on. With 30 students on 30 different projects, this is an area that is hard to monitor all of the students all of the time. Self-assessment and peer assessment are two techniques I use to help assist me in feedback but I’d feel more comfortable if I could do a few more teacher assessments throughout the course, rather than just at the end.
5. Emphasizes time on task: In order to complete the projects in the allotted time “there is no substitute for time on task”. I am lucky enough to work in a lab that is equipped with LAN School; a networking system that allows me to track what each student is doing from a central computer. With this as well as physical proximity (walking around the lab), I find that most of my students are usually on task. An incentive I give them to stay on task is “Games Day” Friday. After they complete their learning log and a peer or self-assessment, they can have the rest of the class on Friday at their leisure. Keeping in mind that they are still young adults that like to have fun, I have found this technique is quite effective in keeping students on task during the week.
6. Communicates high expectations: I try to keep my students motivated by two ways 1) showing them previous work by students who’ve handed in exception work and 2) bringing in guest speakers from industry and universities about the endless possibilities in technology.
7. Respects diverse talents and ways of learning: Another example of how PBL is beneficial for student learning is that it takes into consideration the talents and skills of the students. A student who is new to technology will not be punished educationally in my class for not having the same skills as a person that is more technologically savvy. Students set learning goals and projects based on their own talents and skills.
I really like the comment by Chickering and Ehrmann (1996) the context of technological change, especially with the advent of networked-based communications and multimedia, to consider how technology can be used to achieve the principles of good practice in undergraduate education. I think I have used technology and PBL to achieve these principles without even being aware of it; this is the first time I’ve been exposed to these valuable principles. I think teaching a course in technology has greatly been the driver in this.