students teaching students - isetl teaching students ... who am i? texas a&m university...

Students Teaching Students

Designing high-impact experiences within a peer education model

Kris Muir, Ed.D.

Who am I?

Texas A&M University [Business School]

● Teach courses on entrepreneurship, sustainability, leadership, self-awareness, reflective writing, decision making

● Coordinate course facilitator program

[email protected]

Challenge # 1: Visual Storytelling

1. Find a picture on your phone that can give some insight into you. It can be anything, really.

2. Find a partner.3. Share the story with your partner. And

listen to their story.

What does a peer education learning lab look like?

High-impact practices (HIP)

National Survey of Student Engagement (2008)

Significant time on purposeful task

Engagement with difference

Substantive interaction with faculty and peers

Engage higher-order thinking

Frequent feedback Capacity to be “life-changing”

Rationale for our model

● High-impact practices (HIP) are rooted in effortful problem-solving that leverages peer collaboration and the power of reflection (Nelson, Chen, & Kuh, 2008)

High-impact practices through teaching

● Students become course facilitators by designing significant learning experiences using evidence-based theories (Fink, 2013; Bain, 2004; Jensen 2005)

Mentorship

● Course facilitators work directly with a mentor, learning about pedagogy and building substantive relationships over an extended period of time (Kuh, 2008)

Details: Curricular logistics● Course facilitators always have

faculty-of-record in classroom● 1-credit-hour seminar courses (electives)● Courses count toward Medal of Excellence,

graduation-day distinction● Compensation: $500 scholarship or

3-credit-hours of directed studies

Our model

Student impact

2008 8/semester 100/semester 70

Our model

Our model: Applied Business Competencies

Our model

Our course facilitators in action

Impact of experience on course facilitators

“This has been a concrete, 10-week, experimental lab where I am constantly learning, so it is probably the

most significant developmental point for me.”

-student that participated in competitive Business Honors Program, elite Fellows leadership program, and

attended study abroad program in Spain

Our model

Semester #1: Course Development and Delivery


● Framework of Integrated Course Design (Fink, 2013)

● Metaquestions & essential questions● Experimentation with learning outcomes,

assessment, feedback, active learning strategies, & micro-teaching

FIDeLity framework of feedback

● Frequent: Give feedback daily, weekly, or as frequently as possible.

● Immediate: Get the feedback to students as soon as possible.

● Discriminating: Make clear what the difference is between poor, acceptable, and exceptional work.

● Loving: Be empathetic in the way you deliver your feedback.

Semester #1: Observation Feedback Framework

● What was one key learning insight that stands out to you?

● What was the best thing that you saw/felt/experienced?

● What is one piece of critical feedback?

Challenge #2: Reflect and discuss domains

Which of the domains do you underscore the most in your own classes?

Active Learning

Challenge #3: Active learning strategies

What are some of your favorite active learning strategies?


● Goal of effective teaching = accomplishing the learning you intend for most students, most of the time


● Expectations● Space● Comments as ...

Future Course Facilitators

Our model

Semester #2 and #3: Teaching 1.0 and 2.0

● Course facilitator works with mentor● Mentor gives feedback within

framework○ Good Job○ Concerns○ What if ?

Reflective Thinking & Writing

● Built into all of our peer-taught courses● Effective tool to enhance the metacognitive

processes that lead to more self-directed learning (Ambrose, Bridges, DiPietro, Lovett, & Norman, 2010)

Why does reflection matter?

So, really, why does reflection matter?

Our model

Semester #4: Peer Mentorship

● Original course facilitator mentors new course facilitator

● Mentorship serves as an essential marker for student success (Kuh, 2008)

Post-Teaching Insights● “Passion is sometimes enough to qualify you”● “It’s good to celebrate”● “Different students respond to different

challenges”● “Writing assignments are great for reflection, not

so great for grading”● “Teaching is as much a personal journey as it is a

journey for the students”

Challenge #4: SWOT Analysis of your class/program

Course example: Non-profit Enterprises

● One of our first student-created courses● Led to creation of Non-profit Certificate

that incorporates internship● Led to creation of 3-credit-hour Strategic

Philanthropy course that donates $50,000 to local charities

Course example: Entrepreneurship

Example Courses

Non-profit Enterprises Camp Leadership

Advanced Excel Dialogues

Business of Sports Strategic Gaming

Entrepreneurship Theory of Knowledge

Models @ other universities

Rice University Student Taught Courses

U of Maryland Innovo Scholars

Others? ?

“Many people fail to achieve originality because they generate a few ideas and then obsess about refining them to perfection.”

Challenge # 5: Creational thinking

1. Think of a problem that you need to solve in your teaching or work life.

2. Brainstorm all the possible alternatives.

3. Don’t stop writing.

volume > quality

“Across fields, the most prolific people generate their most original output during the periods in which they produce the largest volume.”

Conclusion

ReferencesAmbrose, S.A., Bridges, M.W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M.C., & Norman, M.K. (2010). How learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Bain, K. (2004). What the best college teachers do. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Fink, D. (2013). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to designing college courses (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

Jensen, E. (2005). Teaching with the brain in mind (2nd ed.). Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).

Kuh, G.D. (2008). High impact educational practices: What they are, who has access to them, and why they matter. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities.

Nelson Laird, T. F., Chen, D., Kuh, G.D. (2008). Classroom practices at institutions with higher-than-expected persistence rates: What student engagement data tell us. New Directions for Teaching & Learning, 115, 85-99.

Questions?

[email protected]

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