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Reflective learning and student-instructor interaction through Blackboard

Conference Paper · October 2010

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2 authors:

Chris Emmons

Baker Center for Graduate Studies

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Marija Franetovic

Lawrence Technological University

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This is a presentation about an undergraduate course with an on-ground

class session design which is choreographed to include a mini-lecture,

followed by student presentations, and afterwards an appropriate small

group activity. Our class is set-up conference style, rather than lecture style.

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Discussion Board is a great tool to supplement in-class sessions. However, it

does tend to be more formal, it is public, and class norms and/or grading

standards are established. In this course design, there will be three

discussion boards. There will also be a research paper and one formal in-

class presentation.

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This instructor wanted to provide students with reflective learning

opportunities and increase the quality of the student-instructor interaction

beyond that which results from the in-class activity and the Discussion

Board. This presentation chronicles the strategies and challenges toward

integrating reflective learning through the use of the Journal Tool in

Blackboard.

We started out with:

“After each module, reflect on our readings and the class session. Use your

personal journal to record your thoughts on the following:”

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“1a) What is your comfort level with the materials (low, medium, high)? What questions do you have on the materials? What concerns do you have with the materials?”

This gives the instructor immediate feedback as to each student’s comfort level with new materials, a different learning strategy for students, and a new classroom environment.

“Well my comfort level with the class is increasing to high medium where I feel more relaxed and comfortable with my classmates. At the beginning I felt odd because they are new people to me; however after the class discussion and the group assignment all my fear and tension of not being accepted by them are gone. The atmosphere of the class gives me the feelings of comforting and belonging.”

“At first, I was intimidated by this course, however, now I am really starting to enjoy it. I was concerned about our class discussions. I felt that it was becoming difficult to respect everyone’s point of view. Topics started to become too similar. It’s ironic that we were discussing decision making when our class had to make an important decision. Most teachers are not willing to change their class structure.”

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“1b) What part of class session held the most interest or value for you? Why?”

This gives the instructor feedback on what attracted the student’s interest as well as their reaction to in-class activities.

“It was so interesting to watch the documentary and follow along with one of the biggest scandals in corporate America. Later on in the evening I was discussing the video with a friend of mine and he too asked me, so what did they even do? It was great to tell the story and bring someone else into the know about Enron.”

“I really enjoyed the dialogue that the class had on this subject. At a point it reached a climax in which Prof. Emmons had to intervene and regulate turns and comments. At any rate it was very helpful and educational to hear other individual’s ideas and experiences on the subject of organizational change, especially from the more senior members of the class.lol. As I reflected upon in my last journal entry, I find that verbal interaction is the best way for me to learn and remember what I've read.”

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“2a) How do these materials relate to you? Give an example of how the readings or the class session relate to your personal experiences with organizations. 2b) Explain how your increased understanding might prove beneficial to your future interactions in organizations.”

This gives the instructor insight as to how far each student is able to pull back the layers of the onion (concepts). What level of reflection is achieved?

“For example, after discussing my topic on stereotyping on Wednesday, I thought about it and it influenced me to perform my own test on stereotyping. On Thursday, I walked into the Michigan First Credit Union. I had on a baseball hat, baggy jeans and a polo shirt and some gym shoes. I tried to portray myself like I was really from the streets, when I walked in everyone kind of looked at me. I then asked to speak to a representative about opening account. When I met with her, I gave her firm hand shake, and introduced myself and explained my concerns about opening an account. She seemed really interested in me and she asked me some questions. I then went on and talked about how I attend LTU then I told her some of my goals, how I am really active in my fraternity and my future intentions. For some reason she looked shocked at what I was telling her and then when I left, she had a whole different kind of attitude towards me and I gained more respect from her.”

“In the future understanding about group behavior will help me run my restaurant better. It will help me understand group dynamics and the signs of unhealthy groups

being formed.”

“I enjoyed the conversation on interviews. I have never been very efficient in the interviewing environment so I think that today's discussion will help me in the future.”

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“3) At the end of the assigned chapter(s) there are discussion questions, a case, and a few exercises. Respond to one of the discussion questions OR one of the questions in the case OR one of the exercises.”

Due to the variety of options, the question the student chooses is also feedback for the instructor. A textbook question gives the student something more traditional than reflection. Textbook questions are more aligned with their past experiences as students. Yet, as most of the textbook questions are open-ended, they support the goal of reflective learning.

How comfortable or uncomfortable are you in making risky decisions? “I feel somewhat indifferent when it comes to making risky decisions. As Paul said in our last meeting, “You can’t win the lottery if you do not buy a ticket”. On one hand, I feel that it is important to take risks in order to succeed in life. If the risky decisions are not dangerous, then I am comfortable making them. However, if it is a risk that involves something that could be harmful to others or myself, then I would be very uncomfortable.”

Some people have suggested that understanding human behavior at work is the single most important requirement for managerial success. Do you agree or disagree? “I most definitely agree that the single most important requirement for managerial success is a good understanding of human behavior because everyone is different and one of your jobs are to find some ways to have everyone working

together. A good example of this would be the television series The Office. This should illustrate how an office environment can be without structure and a skilled manager. So yes, I do agree that understanding human behavior at work is the single most important requirement because otherwise you will have people doing whatever they want and it I probably make you look very unprofessional.”

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In addition to assisting with the concept and design of the journal tool, a

good course developer will alert the instructor on some of the details that

may still need to be considered. Marija posed these activity design questions

for Chris’ consideration.

In terms of implementation, Marija offered Chris further guidance when

issuing instructions to the student.

“Your journal entries should be completed by the end of each week (Sunday)

and range from 3-5 paragraphs of well-written reflection. Name your journal

entry with the name of that week's module. For example, your first journal

entry should be named "overview.”

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Trust

“I have a lot of respect for you, in offering to help improve our class discussions. The fact that you asked for our opinions on the matter meant a lot to me. This will improve everyone’s learning experience.”

Mentoring and Coaching

“I do not have many concerns as of yet but i was thinking about my paper what do you think about a paper reflecting the issues of email or other forms of electronic messaging and how it has an effect on the work place?”

“I want to start finding better articles. I am usually not satisfied with the article that I choose. I have been trying to use a wide variety of different online sites. Do you have any advice with regards to finding an appropriate article?”

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Too soon to tell (6 weeks) the impact of journaling in comparison to other learning

activities. Participation is active.

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