From Lectures to Learning Experiences: a Transition Mindset Justin Hodgson, Ph.D. | Miranda Rodak, Ph.D.

Workshop Goals

The goal of our sessions today is to help faculty embrace a transition mindset: reimagining their role from being teachers to being learning experience designers. This transition mindset is anchored across four types of transitions:

• Shift from focus on teaching to focus on learning
• Shift from banking model to building identity
• Shift from course expert to course architect
• Shift from content delivery to designing experiences

Agenda

• Session 1 [9:45 AM - 11:00 AM] - Identify the reorientations + high impact strategies that facilitate learning experience design.
• Session 2 [11:15 AM - 12:30 PM] - Move from high impact strategies to high impact practices in designing assignments, activities, and assessments that facilitate learning experience design.
• Session 3 [1:30 PM - 2:45 PM] - Begin mapping learning experiences and planning course revision.
• Report Out [3:00 PM - 3:30 PM] - Sharing out ideas / in-progress works.

Session 1 (75 min)

“I’ve backwards engineered my outcomes, now what?" A Shift Toward Learning Experience Design

Transition 1: Shift from focusing on teaching to focusing on learning

Engagement 1 - Looking Back to More Forward

Using the Transition Map provided, think about a course you teach and take 5 minutes to jot down the foundational building blocks of that course. This is a quick activity, so simply capture the big picture focus of your course goals and a few key highlights of your course scaffold.

A Transitive Orientation

By shifting from Teacher or Student centered classrooms to Learning Centered classrooms, we necessarily begin to understand our task as educators in different terms. We commit not to teaching as much as helping students learn; we prioritize designing engagements that lead to meaningful learning experiences.

Engagement 2 - Meaningful Experiences

If we want students to have a meaningful experience that aids learning and retention, then it's worth considering what constitutes a "meaningful experience." For this activity, think about positive, meaningful experiences you've had in your personal, professional, or academic life. What WORDS would you use to describe what made them meaningful? Take a moment to jot down a few ideas. Then, get ready to collaborate with group members and add words to the Padlet Board below.

• If you're in GROUP A, meet with your neighbors and brainstorm a list of words that describe the FEELINGS of a meaningful experience. Use this prompt to get started: A meaningful experience feels ______________ (fun, etc.).
• If you're in GROUP B, meet with your neighbors and brainstorm a list of words that describe the FEATURES of a meaningful experience. Use this prompt to get started: A meaningful experience involves ______________ (challenges, etc.).

Transition 2: Shift from "Banking Model" of Education to Identity Formation

Identify Formation: Giving Students a "Why"

If we want to invite students to inhabit the identities of our disciplines and engage in our courses in a meaningful, growth-minded way, then - first - they need to have a clear sense of why doing so matters beyond checking off a degree requirement.

Transparency in our courses is the key to helping students see why they should be in our classrooms and why they should embrace the ways of knowing, doing, and making that are key to our disciplines.

Identify Formation: Building Projective Identities

Part of the why includes helping students not only to understand the reasoning behind course tasks, but to also get a clearer sense of what it means to engage the world as a scientist, a musicologist, a historian, a sociologist, and so on. But the truth is that few students have had positive experiences with these subjects and so don't see themselves as being, becoming, or even pretending to be a scientist, musicologist, historian, etc.

Engagement 3 - Transparency & Identity (2 Options)

Think about your discipline and the course you teach and take a few minutes to work on either of the optional activities below:

1. TILT Engagement- Using the TILT Framework, jot down on your Transition Map aspects of your course that could better motivate students to engage in the disciplinary identity if the purpose, task, and criteria were more transparent to them. This could be at the level of the course, a specific unit (perhaps one that's proven especially tricky for students), or a specific assignment. Jot down ideas for the ways you'd like to TILT some aspect of your course.
2. PROJECTIVE IDENTITY Engagement - On your Transitions Map, jot down answers to the following questions: What does it mean to be a ___? What are the ways of knowing, doing, and making that are central to your field? How does a ___ think? How do they solve problems? See the world? Then, identify (in writing) places in your course where you could create activities or assignments that help students identify and then inhabit the traits of this prospective identity.

Engagement 4 - Where Does the Fun Live?

We can never underestimate the pedagogical power of FUN. So, where does the fun live in your course? Take a few moments to add a series of clouds to your Transitions Map. In these "clouds" indicate current activities, assignments, and experiences in your course that foster a sense of fun. You can also use these clouds to indicate potential areas that are ripe for infusing more fun.

• Use one color for the clouds that indicate where fun currently exists; use another color for clouds for potential areas of fun

Session 2 (75 min)

“From Low Stakes to High Impact: Assets, Activities, & Assessments”

Transition 3: Shift from Course Expert to Course Architect

Activity Systems (& Ecologies) vs. Scaffolding

Backward course design is a great place to start, but it only gets us so far when it comes to creating environments that foster learning experiences. We need to transition to toward thinking in terms of activities systems and ecologies.

Game design principles offer a robust framework for turning our courses into learning ecologies (see James Paul Gee's 36 Principles from What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy).

Lowering Barriers to Success

Part of a creating an ecology where students thrive is lowering the barriers to success and giving students the tools to set goals and self-monitor progress. Specifications Grading (or "Specs Grading") is a powerful model for reorienting assessment away from the banking model of grades and toward assessment as a tool for supporting learning.

Course Tokens (one option)

Tokens are a course design feature that can help lower student anxiety about course work and foster a climate committed to taking intellectual risks. They function as a form of currency (given and earned) that can be exchanged for a number of uses.

Embracing Failure

• Fast failure is designed to get the bad (or less than ideal) ideas out of the way and to do so quickly. What matters here is not whether a student comes up with the right idea for a project or solution, or even the best explanation or approach, but rather a quick (low-risk) engagement to (1) get ideas into the conversation and (2) to filter out the ideas likely to bear less fruit so as to better focus energy/time.
• Fun failure focuses on celebrating, quite openingly, each others' innocent and incidental mishaps and miscues (technological, conceptual, or other): e.g., I often invite students to use the last or first 5 minutes of class to share their "fun failures" and I openly share my own (especially those of a technological variety). These stories, artifacts, and shared experiences become part of the course culture (and sometimes evolve into course memes).
• Formative failure is another name for drafting, iterability, or review (peer review as well as pre-grade instructor review). The reality is that most writing or making activities go through multiple 'final' versions before being done, publishable, etc. So rather than focus on failure as a shortcoming, treat this iteration as formative (or even as a series of formative failures) that shape the work / ideas toward a better end.

Engagement 5 - Where Are the Barriers to Success?

For this activity, we call 5-5-5, you'll have five minutes to work alone, five minutes to engage in a small group discussion, and five minutes for us all to discuss and share some high points.

• 5 MINUTES - ALONE: Reflect on a current course you teach. Where do you think there might be some barriers to success? Why are they barriers? How might you incorporate some of the features we've discussed today to lower those barriers and give students more room and courage to experiment without fear of failing?
• 5 MINUTES - SMALL DISCUSSION: Circle up with 3 to 4 neighbors and share some of your brainstorming.
• 5 MINUTES - LARGE DISCUSSION: Have one member of your group share something some of their group members brainstormed.

Transition 4: Shift from Content Delivery to Experience Design

• Multiple studies over multiple years show that students taught in active learning classrooms are significantly more likely to outperform their peers. But we have to do the work to prepare or train students to understand what we are doing (i.e., we have to work against their perception of good teaching: e.g., "sage on the stage") (see Ezarik, Inside Higher Ed)
• Bringing digital literacy/digital creativity practices in the classroom has a positive impact on student engagement, performance, and retention. This is even more pronounced (nearly 2 times more) for BIPOC and first generation students (Civitas, Adobe, and UT San Antonio, 2020).
• Students remember and value meaningful experiences. The experience of being in a class has significant impact on student motivation to attend and perform. Additionally, making the path the transparent and lowering the barriers to success help increase student participation.

ACTIVE LEARNING | 3 Orientations

“Active learning” is a methodology that insists learning is more effective and more likely to be retained and applied if students actively participate in knowledge creation. Keep in mind: active learning means engagement, not activity. Active learning can be oriented in three directions.

DIGITAL LITERACY | 3 Approaches

• ACTIVITIES | In-class engagements that get students involved with course content/ideas/issues in critical and creative ways, and doing so through the use of particular digital technologies and practices.
• ASSETS | Instructor-produced deliverables that guide students through content or practices, illuminate concepts or methods, set-up (or extend) in-class engagements, etc.
• ASSESSMENTS | Opportunities for students to create particular kinds of output and for instructors to assess student learning and development based on those outputs.

Engagement 6 - Integrating High Impact Practices

For this activity, you'll have a few minutes to choose your own adventure and brainstorm. Then, we'd like for you to share one of your strategies with the group.

• OPTION 1 - ACTIVE LEARNING: If you have access to the web, check out some of the strategies on the Overview guide above. Identify 2 Active Learning practices (from two different orientations) that you would consider implementing into your course. What do you like about these practices/approaches? Where do you see them fitting into your course (day, lesson, unit, etc.)? What do you imagine the student experience to be? Jot down ideas on your Transitions Map.
• OPTION 2 - DIGITAL LITERACY: Identify 2 ways you can integrate digital literacy into your work with students. What do you like about these practices/approaches? Where do you see them fitting into your course (day, lesson, unit, etc.)? What do you imagine the student experience to be? Jot down ideas on your Transitions Map.

FEEDBACK LOOPS | 3 Orientations

Personal/Self-Reflection

• LEARNING REFLECTION: Students identify (descriptively) what they have done (as part of an activity, engagement, assignment, etc.) and to explain what they (think they have) learned.
• SELF-ASSESSMENT Students evaluate their own work using the same assessment criteria as instructor, providing explanation/rationale for the quality of that work, its grade, and/or the degree to which they see it meeting the (assessment) criteria of the assignment/activity.

Peer-to-Peer

Student-to-Student feedback loops can be critical in student learning and in building community. This kind of engagement is at the heart of group work, class discussions, and many of the active-learning strategies. The most recognizable feedback loop is peer review. Instructors should provide explicit guides to ensure meaningful and constructive engagement: e.g.,

• ROLES | Assign peer reviewers specific roles: content expert, design, flow, etc.
• STRENGTHS | Peer reviewers identify strengths and extrapolate on what makes those parts strong (or engaging or meaningful).
• PRIORITIES | When done reviewing/marking-up the work, the Peer Review should highlight one or two “must address” parts, offer a suggestion for how to best address those matters, and explain why those changes are important to the target audience.
• REVISION PLAN | Once the student has received feedback from their peers, they should draft a revision plan. This is not just a list of things to address, but a descriptive and strategic document outlining the act of revision and their approach.

INSTRUCTOR to STUDENT

In-Class Feedback Loops

• Pre-class/Post-class Conversation: informal engagements before or after class; personalize the learning experience and make connections with students.
• Eye Contact & Calling People by Name: make eye contact and refer to students by their name – this lets them know that you see them and they feel recognized.
• “Warm” Calling: use pre-class activities (discussion boards, social annotation reading activities) or in-class activities to invite students to say more about their work, comment, post, activity.
• Mid-Class/End-of-Class Check-in: Do a quick check during class or at the end of class to see what students are understanding and/or that they need help with (see 1-Minute Notecard below)

Out-of-Class Feedback Loops

Low Impact

• Assessment (grade)
• Generic comments (“good job”)
• Completion/Non-Completion Confirmations

Low-to-Moderate Impact

• Personalized and situated comments (“Great job, Sarah! I really like what you did with the first part of X")
• Generic comments with assessment (“Nicely done” + grade)

Moderate Impact

• Personalized comments with assessment (“Fantastic work, Sarah. While there were a few issues here, what makes your project stand out is X, Y, Z. Next time or during revisions, focus on ____.”)

Moderate to High Impact

• Audio/Video (or in person) personalized comments with assessment (grade)

High Impact

• Office Hours / One-on-One Conversations
• Post-Class Engagements: Do a quick check at the end of class to see what students are understanding and/or that they need help with and then find a way to address those areas (instructional asset, class time, additional resources, etc.). See “One-Minute Notecard” example above.

Session 3 (75 min)

"What else? And how do I get started?" (A Guided Work Session)

Engagement 7 - A Transformation Plan

• What you want to transform about your course in the fall? (Identify at least one transformation)
• Why do you want to transform it?
• How are you going to accomplish the transformation?
• What do you hope will come out of this change? (i.e., What is your goal?)
• How will you assess the impact/value of the change? To your teaching? To your students learning?

Engagement 8 - Options

Option 1 - Feedback Loop Worksheet. Work on completing the Feedback Loop worksheet provided.

Option 2 - Active Learning / Digital literacy. Choose 1 of the 2 Active Learning or Digital Literacy approaches you identified in the previous session and answer/complete the following prompts:

• Where does this AL practice or DL approach fit into your course? Be specific
• Write-up the practices/steps involved in implementation? i.e., What do you need to do/make to prepare for the activity? What will students need to know, view, read, practice, experience beforehand to be prepared to succeed? What are students to do as part of the activity? How will their effort/work be integrated into the experience? Discussion? Sharing? Assessment? etc.
• Write-up/Explain (in brief) what you hope the experience will be for students (and what you think will make it meaningful/engaging/fun);
• Identify what skills, abilities, practices, knowledges students will gain experience with through this AL/DL engagement?
• How do the things you identified in Step D relate to, connect with, support other parts, practices, and purposes in the course? (what is the activity system/ecology in which it participating)

Engagement 9 - Experience Mapping

Part 1 - Looking across all the work you have created today, start mapping the activities, the engagements, the feedback loops, the strategies to specific days, units, lessons, modules. Maybe you create a timeline across the page that branches up in-class experiences (e.g. activities and feedback loops) and down for out-of-class engagement (e.g., assignments/assessments). Maybe you work more in webs, nodes, and/or mind-map activities -- showing not only options but their connectivity. The goal is to just begin to make some commitments: i.e., identify one challenge, one meaningful engagement, one activity to include and to situate where those things will go in your course.

Part 2 - Begin to flesh out designated additions/elements. What are they? What do they involve? What skills/abilities will students learn? What else does this knowledge/skill/ability connect to (and how)?

This is first-draft thinking -- an attempt to begin to create something of an experience map. The purpose is to not only make some commitments but change the visual (and functional) shape of the course: from linear timelines and the boxes of instructional design to the webbing, pathwork, multiple strands, and overlap of learning experience design.