{"id":34725,"date":"2020-05-04t08:52:05","date_gmt":"2020-05-04t13:52:05","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/?p=34725"},"modified":"2020-05-05t11:22:30","modified_gmt":"2020-05-05t16:22:30","slug":"teaching-innovations-at-vanderbilt-leah-marion-roberts-and-student-driven-course-goals-and-expectations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.imrbdigital.com\/2020\/05\/teaching-innovations-at-vanderbilt-leah-marion-roberts-and-student-driven-course-goals-and-expectations\/","title":{"rendered":"teaching innovations at vanderbilt: leah marion roberts and student-driven course goals and expectations"},"content":{"rendered":"

by faith rovenolt, cft undergraduate intern<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

during spring 2020, the teaching innovations at vanderbilt blog series will highlight teaching innovations that cft staff have implemented and evaluated in their own courses. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

as a student, i find it helpful when a course has clear goals. but while that helps guide student learning, what\u2019s equally, if not more important is actually having students take ownership of their learning to engage with the material. that\u2019s why in leah marion roberts<\/strong>\u2019 hodh 3201: introduction to human services course, she has the class participate in setting course goals and expectations.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>roberts\u2019 philosophy for teaching centers on creating a collaborative, student-driven classroom environment. additionally, inspired by wiggins\u2019 and mctighe\u2019s backwards design<\/a> process, roberts has clear learning goals set and in the syllabus. in order to cultivate a culture of collaboration in relation to course goals, at the beginning of the semester, roberts has students brainstorm what they expect of themselves, other students, and the instructor and what their goals for the course are.<\/p>\n

roberts first asks students to consider these questions alone, then to discuss and come up with a concrete list in small groups while she leaves the room to allow them to express themselves freely. she then has each group write their lists on the board for the categories outlined above. as a class, they then discuss their collective expectations with the goal of finding a final list of goals and agreements.<\/p>\n

the discussion highlights potential conflicts, and gives the class an opportunity to discuss resolving individual differences within the class. a common disagreement roberts sees is that some students expect group work and hope to learn from it while others prefer individual work.<\/p>\n

the class-generated expectations and goals are then added alongside roberts\u2019 own in the class syllabus. these expectations and goals are referred to frequently as the course unfolds. for example, roberts\u2019 uses them to solicit feedback during mid-term and end of year evaluations. students are asked to evaluate the instructor, their peers, and themselves in relation to the mutually agreed-upon expectations they set. further, they are asked to evaluate the course alongside the specific<\/em> learning goals that were set (rather than generically reflecting on their learning in the course).<\/p>\n

some other examples of common student-generated expectations:<\/p>\n