Teaching, Learning and Wellbeing
Many of you are well into your academic term, while others are aggressively planning to begin soon. Regardless of your schedule, it seems clear that this term provides different challenges for us all. Each university is offering programs and support to help faculty update their instructional approaches to assist students in a much broader way than previously (online, hybrid, begin offline then transition to online or vice versa, etc.). I would like to share a pre-COVID article on Closing the loop between teaching, learning, wellbeing and support by Stallman and King (2016), which offers ideas that may help us connect to our students, wherever they may be - physically, intellectually, financially, emotionally, etc.
Even before the pandemic, the authors remind us of the connection between teaching, learning, support, and wellbeing to help students maximize their educational outcomes. The theoretical underpinning of this approach is to develop students’ capacity for self-regulation (I actually wrote about this concept for online learning in higher ed 20 years ago, The Self-Regulated Learner Advantage: Learning Science on the Internet, 2000). Self-regulation is a student’s ability to “guide his/her goal directed activities over time and across changing circumstances." Appropriate use of technology can enable a synthesis of data to evaluate student learning, monitor and improve teaching and support students in a way that is inclusive and respectful of student autonomy.
The author's summarize the major concepts as "teaching is most frequently measured using student evaluations of teaching. Learning is something students generally do on their own, which is assessed throughout the semester. Support services are often offered as an adjunct, requiring students to find services, self-identify, make time to use and access to benefit from them."
The authors approach moves away from the notion of “good teachers” (Clayson, 2009) and towards “effective teaching practices.” Effective teaching involves well-defined and aligned learning outcomes (LOs), assessment tasks that accurately measure how well LOs are achieved and the appropriate use of evidenced-based learning activities for each LO. Rather than labelling a teacher's individual worth, this approach creates the opportunity for within-department discussions about the applicability of LOs, the usefulness of aspects of the learning environment, the relevance of learning activities and the assessment of the LOs.
The goal of this research provides a platform for students to complete real-time online surveys evenly spaced throughout the term. The surveys encourage them to reflect on their learning (progress towards LOs, usefulness of resources and the environment) and wellbeing. Based on this information, each student receives feedback on their progress, including strategies and links to resources. Instructors are provided with aggregate data during the course to help them redirect and at the end of the course for potential redesign of subsequent courses.
References
Stallman, H. & King, S. (2016). The Learning Thermometer: Closing the loop between teaching, learning, wellbeing and support in universities, Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 13(5). Available at:https://ro.uow.edu.au/jutlp/vol13/iss5/22
Clayson, D. (2009). Student evaluations of teaching: Are they related to what students learn? A meta-analysis and review of the literature. Journal of Marketing Education, 31(1), 16-30.
Hargis, J. (2000). The Self-regulated learner advantage: Learning science on the Internet. Electronic Journal of Science Education, 4(4).
