Finding a Balance

I saw a couple of pictures online that I wanted to share, to follow up on the Standard Core Curriculum post I wrote the other day.

 

All the assessments students are required to do, this must be how the students feel or at least how the teachers feel the students must be feeling. 

However, assessments are important part of decision making processes in education.

How to balance these two? 

When we have standards to keep, we need assessments, but tests after tests and just teaching to students to the tests are not the answer.  There is so much more to school than what can be tested.  As I went through high school and college here, I remember my mother commenting to me on how (compared to those in Japan) the people educated in the US tend to be more creative in their thinking and better able to think critically.  I think it's just a small example of what is positive about the US education.  Although we may want our students to have certain levels of academic knowledge, we need a balance so that we don't lose sight of those positive aspects of our current education system. 

What is college for?

As an advisor, I often get asked by students something like "what job can I get with this major"?  The Colleges of Arts and Sciences place a great value on its liberal arts education.  Our majors don't necessarily lead students straight into a career as the education major or nursing major, for example, may.  This can be a frustrating concept for some students, especially in this time and age when the jobs are harder to come by even for college graduates.  However, the Arts and Sciences curriculum provides students with much opportunity to gain the knowledge, perspectives, skills, and experiences that would be applicable not only to a variety of careers but also to students' lives in general. 

One day, I was asked by a student, a military veteran, "what is a college degree good for"?  I was going to give my "standard" answer about liberal arts education, but then I caught myself.  The "transferable" skills and knowledge that I talk about can be gained not only through college education/experiences but also through the military experiences as well.  Then I went on to explain that some jobs just require college degrees, which is true, but I felt silly as I was saying it.  The student even commented why that should be so and how he would probably be as good of a candidate for these jobs as those who just graduated from college.

This student was attending the university mostly because he receives VA benefits for college education, not necessarily because he had a purpose per se or an interest in a particular area of study.  This is NOT to say that all veteran students come with no interest (because many do!) and all non-military students come to college with much enthusiasm about a particular area of study.  I just think that there are students who are in college just because their parents want them to or because they just feel that a college degree is somehow needed to get a "good" job, etc. although they may best benefit from professional training or techincal schools, for example. 

What exactly do you think the employers are looking for in their candidates by requiring a four-year degree, especially when they do not necessarily require a certain set of field-specific skills (as in accounting or teaching, for examples)?  Do you think the 4-year requirement is warranted in all the jobs out there that are requiring such a degree? 

I just wanted to throw these questions out there for some food for thought. 

I strongly believe in the liberal arts education.  I am a product of it and currently work in a field that base its work on such education.  Although I may not have wanted to take some of the courses I had to take in college, I am glad I did because, as I got older, I very much appreciate the knowledge and perspectives I gained in those courses.  I really do think that my undergraduate education has given me so much that have benefited me in various facets of my life. 

Common Core State Standards

 

A fool with a tool is still a fool. A fool with a powerful tool is a dangerous fool.

~Michale Fullen (a renowned international authority on school reform)~

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/03/04/principal-i-was-naive-about-common-core/

 

This article is not necessarily about higher education, but it caught my eye and I wanted to share it with you because it has some issues that were brought up in class discussions. 

 

It may not be that the Common Core is not the bad guy in itself, however, how the standards are delivered in the schools and how the assessments are utilized seem to be some of the issues that are being questioned.  The author of the article, Carol Burris, mentions that she originally thought that "the Common Core would be a student-centered reform based on principles of equity".  It may be a good idea to have general standards for students/teachers, however, if that results only in assessments and teaching towards those assessments, the Common Core is not contributing to the education reform in a way that would help students develop the knowledge, skills, and personal characteristics/attributes to become contributing members of society.  According to Michael Fullen, a renowned international authority on school reform, "the Common Core standards will fall of their own weight because standards and assessments, rather than curriculum and instruction are driving the Common Core". 

 

Another issue that stood out to me was that there is a huge testing company not only making tests for a state but also making test prep materials.  Is education becoming all about monetary profits and politics?  (If you are interested, there is an additional article that I also found interesting: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/cuomo-common-core-and-pearson_b_1293465.html). 

 

What do you all think about Common Core?  These students will be coming into the higher education systems in the future.  What do we think the Common Core will/may influence curricula in higher education? 

Individual Competition vs. Group Collaboration?

It was interesting how each group decided to play the game Dr. Collins assigned engaged us in our last class. Our group decided before it began that we will equally “win” and decided that we each throw out a “Y” every time. I suggested the idea, thinking “why not all of us get equal points so no one has to lose?” People in our group was willing to try this method, and we all followed the rule all through the ten attempts so it worked out, but someone in the group, at any time, could have decided not to follow the rule, to gain an individual advantage. 

Although I come from a collectivistic culture, I can be a competitive person so if the game was done in different circumstances, I may not have offered the suggestion of all of us getting the same amount of points. I think I felt comfortable with the people in my group and I trusted them enough that I thought it would work. I don’t think I would’ve felt the same way with total strangers, and even with the group I had, I may not have felt that this method would work if the class atmosphere was a competitive in nature and the instructor emphasized on individual achievements rather than group collaborations.

At the end of the game, Dr. Collins showed us that, although no one person won the game, we accumulated the most points as a group. I think it is a great refection of learning that takes place in a collaborative, group-centered atmosphere. We tend to be competitive in educational settings because that's what we are used to, but group learning can be more meaningful, deepens our understanding, and be more fun as well!  Thanks to my group (Jason, Meghan, and Duane) for trusting each other and for Meghan's suggestion of giving the winning back to Dr. Collins for Mateo's college education fund. That was a fantastic idea!

Our Education System

I saw this posted on Facebook, and it immediately made me think of what we discussed in our last class!!  It really makes me question the current education system and also the systems I have gone through growing up. 

My family and I moved to the US when I was in middle school.  I went through 8^th grade in the Japanese school system; I attended high school, college, and graduate school on the mainland; and after taking "a few years" off from taking classes, I have been continuing my education at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa.  Even just from the first couple of classes, it has already intrigued me and made me want to find out more about the differences between the education systems of Japan and the US.  Maybe a possible topic for the paper assignment?

When Dr. Collins talked about the forced-curve grading system, it reminded me that that was the grading system that was used when I was in middle school although, from my understanding, it is no longer the case in most schools in Japan.  It makes me wonder what kind of impact that type of grading system has had on my and the other students’ learning experiences, self-efficacy, motivation, etc. 

Another thing that resonated with me was from the reading, in which it talked about how some of the Asian societies value and encourage efforts vs. the American society places it's value more on talents and innate abilities.  Growing up, I was always told to work hard; I was taught that if I put efforts in and be persistent, I would be able to improve my skills, understand something that I didn’t before, or learn to perform at a high level.  As a child, I was not a fast learner per se, but as I was encourage to keep at it, I have gotten to be a decent student in middle school, in high school, and then in college.  If I or people around me had concluded early on that I did not have the innate abilities to do well academically, I probably have not gotten to be where I am now.  I am grateful to have been in the environment growing up in which the hard work was also valued, not only the talents and innate abilities one possesses.   

Grading and Learning

My apologies to all!  I posted this yesterday, but I accidentally deleted it so I am posting it again...  I don't know much about blogging and blogger.com so I may need your help as we go... (Thanks to Megan for helping me change my background picture!)

First class sure was very interesting!  I did note except to be given a choice as to how we would be graded.  My first reaction was, “oh I am not sure about that…!”, but as I thought about it more and listened to others’ arguments for and against either of the options, I started to lean towards favoring the group grade.  Like everyone else, I want a good grade, and it seems riskier for a grade to hinge on the performances of a group of people, however, I thought the opportunity like this would not come often (or would not ever come again) that I wanted to be able to see what the learning experiences would be like for a class without an individual grade.

 

While the discussion was going on, I remembered the time when Dr. Museus asked last semester, who in the class did not really like group projects, and I was one of more than half of the class who raised their hands.  He mentioned how we all have to be able to work in groups in whatever field in which we choose to be.  I typically do work well with others, and I enjoy it, however, I do not really care to do so for class when a grade is involved so I was not all that thrilled about having to write two group projects for that class.  I was fortunate, though, to have good group members.  We complimented each other’s strengths well, and personally, I felt that I was able to learn much from the other members.  I appreciate the different perspectives and unique writing styles they brought to the table, and I was able to gain much from the group experiences that I would not have otherwise.

Having that said, I look forward to more of such learning experiences from this class!  I can tell already that everyone in the class has much to bring to the class.  Although I was worried about the grade at the beginning, I have a sense that as we focus on the learning, the grade will follow, rather than the other way around.  I look forward to experiencing the process and all that we are going to gain from each other through this class and having chosen a group grade option.  Lastly, I was appreciative of Megan who suggested the majority vote and her explanations for not voting for the group grade.  I understand where she was coming from, and I respect her for standing her ground on this matter.