All week long, I participated in the Course Design Institute (CDI) at school. The goal was to awaken us to a Learning Centered approach to teaching. I am not against such an approach, but I learned that I am not as learning centered as I thought. I usually think:
- Are students studying?
- Did students do the reading?
- Are they writing their paper?
Of course, implicit in this attitude is the hope that student are learning.
But instead of focusing on what I want them to do--study, read, write--I should have focused more on what they want to do:
- Are they learning?
- Are they thinking about (engaged in) the topic?
- What can I do to facilitate their comprehension of the subject?
Well, I addressed my own demons, and focused on the issues that my students should address in my class on The Genji. Based on the ideas and feedback I received from my colleagues, I reworked my current syllabus and submitted it this morning and... I ended up with the second best syllabus/course design for the Institute this week! Woo hoo!
This is not official and the recognition comes with no prizes, but it was nice to be recognized by my peers and colleagues anyway.
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