Developing as an Instructor
Very informative-we can always use additional suggestions and examples to improve our instructional abilities.
Hi Patrick,
Great job of doing some analysis and critical thinking to incorporate what appear to be external concepts into your curriculum. You have demonstrated the value of this content in such a way that it is now a part of course content. You have to feel very good about the strategies that you used to bring this about.
Gary
I remembered critical race theory and the writings of John Dewey from my master’s, so I decided to look at what it would be like if we infused in the criminal justice system these concepts: participatory democracy, contested knowledge of critical race theory, the true history of ‘race bashing,’ much like I did with the MPD. Not only did those ideas form the basis of the dissertation, I was also able to introduce them into the curriculum at Marian College.
I completely agree. Information also gets updated as we discover new information so we should always strive to keep current.
I am a math teacher too, and I tried something similar recently on a test. For extra credit, I constructed an open-ended question on a math-related topic that students could answer with one or two sentences. It was a break from straight calculations only, which they seemed to appreciate.
Many times as instuctors we get into a rut teaching the same classes over and over. My suggestion is to try something new each term. Make notes of what works and what doesn't and build on that. You might change the way you grade homework or conduct group work. You might add a new and unexpected assignment. For example, I am a math teaching and sometimes I will give writing assignments.
