Introduction
MDDE 603 Foundations of Instructional Design: Systems Analysis and Learning Theories, with Dr Kennedy and Dr Sochowski, is an AU MEd core subject that provided me with the opportunity to delve into learning theories, current trends in education, and personal and professional introspection as to how these theories apply in my professional career as an educator. The artefact selected as part of this course, Personal Theory of Practice, is based on a short paper that allowed me to reflect upon and synthesize the theories covered, discuss and analyze their affordances and limitations, and if and how they apply in my own teaching and learning context. More specifically, the paper should include the following components: 1. My view of learning encapsulated in three learning principles; 2. A short description of each principle, including which specific learning theory or theories support each principle.
Why This Artefact
My choice of this artefact stems from my desire to open my educational context door and share and discuss my personal theory of practice in my teaching/learning setting and how MDDE 603 course helped me inform it. Additionally, a pleasant coincidence was that at the very same semester I had also taken MDDE 631 course, which explores inclusive educational practices, case studies, and the implementation of UDL principles. Therefore, this artefact is an opportunity to verify that theory is applicable in practice, which seems to be the hottest issue discussed by practitioners. To this end, the diversity of my students’ demographics in my multidimensional classes is described and the implementation of a student-centered, inclusive, and interactive instructional design to achieve the intended learning outcomes is analyzed, based on examples. While working on this assignment, I delved into theory and inform my practices based on an international, up-to-date, and close to the demands of a digitally connected world demands, in order to maximize opportunities for quality education for all my students. I was surprised to realize that behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism could all be present in my teaching/learning practices, complementarily applied, and encapsulated in three main principles, namely
a) to design a personalized and differentiated instruction that meets my learners’ needs;
b) to activate their own experiences, help them make meaningful connotations, and reach satisfaction;
c) to ensure rich learning environments that encourage critical dialogue, understanding, and skill development.
Above all, this artefact allows me to reflect on the process of composing my personal Theory of Practice, realized through a series of purposeful activities offered in the course.
The Process
More specifically, the series of course activities were so well-designed that they played a crucial role in my step by step shaping of my Personal Theory of Learning. As such, I had to:
Activity 1: Consider and share my personal view of the Teaching/Learning process.
Activity 2: Complete Pratt's Teaching Perspective Inventory (TPI) and reflect on the results.
Activity 3: Examine Learning Theories and how they apply in course design.
Activity 4: Design my teaching/learning principles and how they inform my teaching and shape my Theory of Practice.
Having to share my personal view of the teaching/learning process in the forum discussion proved to be the first and quite a demanding step of this process as it required introspection, reflection on my practices, and the overall ability to post it concisely yet explicitly.
The second step, completing Pratt’s TPI and sharing my results along with reflections in the forum discussion, built on my first step, was an “a-ha moment” of this process as I realized that my beliefs and intentions as a practitioner were not far from my actions as a teacher! As displayed in the following image, my practices were quite diverse with respect to learners' needs in specific educational contexts. This became explicit in the results…
Upon completion of TPI and receiving the results, I posted my reflection; though the Nurturing, followed by the Developmental perspective of my practices were dominant, all five perspectives were present at a close rate. I could clearly reflect on that and think of my actions as an educator. Having been teaching teenagers for over 20 years in public schools that involve enrolment of students from various socio-economic and cultural backgrounds and with different skills and attitudes, the following visual, an excerpt of my reflection post, justifies why all perspectives are so close to each other (3.1).
Dr Kennedy's response and comment on my reflection post was very enlightening. She resonated with my mentioning the interdependence and the complexity of the teaching/learning processes and encouraged me to keep reflecting on that throughout the course as to identify the factors that have to be taken into consideration when employing certain practices. In light of this, proceeding with the activities, Schunk's (2012) Learning Theories, the main course textbook along with all course materials, helped me delve into theory supported and at the same time analyzed with meaningful examples (5.4). Thanks to this process, it was much easier to reflect on my practices, inform them, and shape my Personal Theory of Practice, as analyzed on a theoretical and practical framework in the following section.
Comments
Brian Breivik
22 May 2019, 11:29 PM
Artifact 2
Hi Chryssa,
I'm enjoying reading your artifact! So far, I'm up to My Theory of Practice. I look forward to continuing soon. For now, I really have only been proofing and making some suggestions:
Artifact 2
…activities were so well-designed in the course that its progress …
I’m not sure that this is what you mean, but I don’t think that the sentence is well linked.
Instructional Design Principles and how they inform our teaching and shape our Theory of Practice. (???)
My having to share my personal view of my …
Having to share my personal view of the…
quite a demanding step…
… concisely yet explicitly.
…the results…
…reflections…(I don’t think “reflection” need be countable in this context but because it comes after results it seems to me to flow better.
my completing Pratt’s TPI and share results along with reflection in the forum discussion, building on my first step, was an “A-ha moment” of this process as I realized that my beliefs and intentions as a practitioner were not far from my actions!
…completing Pratt’s TPI and sharing my results with reflections in the forum discussion, built on my first step, and produced an “a-ha moment” of this process, as I realized that my beliefs and intentions, as a practitioner, were not far from my actions! (perhaps, “as a teacher”?)
I find this confusing. Do you mean, “my practices were quite diverse with respect to learners’ needs in specific educational contexts. This became explicit in the results…”?
“the results”
…”the main course textbook”.
:) Brian
Chrysoula Lazou
23 May 2019, 9:53 AM
Hello Brian,
Thank you once again!
I have taken your suggestions and made the changes.
Chryssa
mariap
02 June 2019, 8:35 AM
Hi Chryssa,
your Artefact is fascinating and I admire the wealth of information it includes and the combination of the theory and practice that you present! Well done! If I may point out somethings, I would say that you have omitted to include the UDL reference in the reference section. I have also spotted in the block "Why this Artefact" that there is a sentence that might need adjusting. You write: "As such, there is a thorough description of the diversity of my students’ demographics in my multidimensional classes is described" - I think you should omit the last two words "is described".
Thanks for sharing! You always have something worthwhile to contribute to our learning community!
Maria
Chrysoula Lazou
02 June 2019, 1:36 PM
Hi Maria,
Thank you so much for your kind comments and for taking the time to thoroughly read my work. I am happy that you liked it because I had some reservations on this artefact due to its thorough analysis of how theory informed my practices. Having worked with you so closely these two years, I am sure that your feedback will be meaningful and so will be your contributions! I have made the changes and...be my guest throughout my eportfolio completion!
Ευχαριστώ πολύ, Μαρία μου! :-) (Which means, thank you so much, Maria in Greek!)
All the best,
Chryssa
Pamela Walsh
08 June 2019, 3:57 PM
Pamela Walsh
08 June 2019, 4:04 PM
Hello Chryssa,
You have created an informative page and interesting page. You have many strong reflective passages and your takeaways are meaningful. It is clear that you have a well-developed theory of practice. Well done!
Consider that some of the important reflections on your learning may be lost in the descriptive content on this page. You do not have to describe or explain the theories or models in detail but you can reference them when you reflect upon how and why you developed your own theory of practice. Think about removing some of that descriptive information and place a sharper focus on your learning (how and why in addition to the what). For example, you do not need to describe Skinner's a to d of effective instruction but you can explain how/why Skinner's ideas/concepts contributed to "my" theory of practice...
You may first wish to provide a brief description of your theory of practice and then explain how and why your experiences in the course (theories, readings, peer interaction,) and your experiences in your practice (classroom events...) contributed to your personal theory of practice. You may consider consolidating and reorganizing these reflections under a single block with appropriate subheadings.
Also, consider a shorter version of your introduction and why this artefact and perhaps create some white space by removing one of your images.
Rita may also contribute her thoughts and ideas.
Thank you, Chryssa.
Pamela
Chrysoula Lazou
09 June 2019, 10:58 AM
Hello Dr Walsh,
I am so grateful for your thorough feedback! I absolutely agree with your comments and I will try to respond to all necessary changes. Thank you so much for your support and guidance!
Kind regards,
Chryssa
Rita Zuba Prokopetz
08 June 2019, 8:51 PM
Hi Chryssa,
I admire your commitment to your capstone eportfolio project, your hard work (I can see that you have been working long hours), and your enthusiasm – great ingredients for a successful project!
The time and effort that you spend in each of your assignments (chosen artefacts) are evident. Therefore, your focus now, as Dr. Walsh mentioned, is to present the knowledge you have gained rather than the knowledge itself (a passage I heard earlier today in the recording of the AUConvocation2019).
As you immerse yourself in deeper thoughts about each assignment (artefact), Chryssa, you will be able to articulate your learning more naturally (less academically and more reflectively). In consequence, you will be helping your readers understand the experiences of your learning about each theory or theoretical framework rather than the explanation about each one of them.
Dr. Walsh and I will continue to work with you during this challenging stage in your capstone project journey, Chryssa.
Thank you for all your hard work!
Chrysoula Lazou
09 June 2019, 11:03 AM
Hello Rita,
Thank you so much for the support and guidance. I will work on a new version of this artefact as to live up to your expectations.
Kind regards,
Chryssa
Pamela Walsh
10 June 2019, 11:04 PM
Hello Chryssa,
I see that you have made improvements to this page; well done! I have one more suggestion for now and that is to consider that you have mapped competencies to activities 1 to 4 without providing reflections and insights into how you were able to successfully complete those activities and why the learning that that resulted from the experience is important to your practice (it seems that, perhaps, you have mapped these competencies too early).
You are making meaningful progress Chryssa; dig a little deeper :-)
Thank you,
Pamela