Why Teach a fish to swim? A design-based research study incorporating social media into the professional writing curriculum to shape professional practice and identity
•Télécharger en tant que PPTX, PDF•
2 j'aime•486 vues
Congruent with my status as a PhD student, I was an Assistant Professor in the professional writing minor program at Concordia. I had been asked by the department chair to update the course offerings. The courses were basically rooted in mid to late 20th century writing practices, with the bulk of the content being highly irrelevant, and more academic than practical. Having prior experience designing a social media component during my time teaching at Penn State, I was eager to get started; however, introducing social media is problematic in Quebec, primarily because Privacy Laws protect students having to participate in web 2.0 environments, to safeguard students from undergoing U.S. State surveillance. For this reason, I decided to run a study to determine how an instructional design could be effective and at the same time non-mandatory? The study took place over a four-year period from 2012-2016, involved 3 iterations of a yearlong course, and was followed by a retrospective analysis, which included a survey of participants 1-2 and 3 years after the course.
Recommandé
Recommandé
Contenu connexe
Tendances
Tendances (20)
En vedette
En vedette (20)
Similaire à Why Teach a fish to swim? A design-based research study incorporating social media into the professional writing curriculum to shape professional practice and identity
Similaire à Why Teach a fish to swim? A design-based research study incorporating social media into the professional writing curriculum to shape professional practice and identity (20)
Plus de J'ette Novakovich
Plus de J'ette Novakovich (16)
Dernier
Dernier (20)
Why Teach a fish to swim? A design-based research study incorporating social media into the professional writing curriculum to shape professional practice and identity
- 1. WHY TEACH A FISH TO SWIM? A DESIGN-BASED RESEARCH STUDY INCORPORATING SOCIAL MEDIA INTO THE PROFESSIONAL WRITING CURRICULUM TO SHAPE PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE AND IDENTITY Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education at Concordia University July 2016 © Jeanette Novakovich
- 2. “There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says "Morning, boys. How's the water?" And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes "What the hell is water?”
- 3. Introduction and overview: • Introduce the context • Explain the methodology • Review the literature • Provide a theoretical framework • Highlight some of the findings • Discuss contributions
- 4. Methodology: Design-based research Phase 1 Analysis of practical problems •Justification of the problem •Preparing the experiment in collaboration with educators and researchers •Placing the experiment in a theoretical context Phase 2 Development of solutions •Informed by existing design principles and technological innovations •Data collection takes the form of a literature review •A form of needs assessment that leads to the development of first prototype Phase 3 Iterative testing cycles •Testing of solutions in practice •Refine guiding design principles and research questions •Data collection: course artifacts, surveys, and interviews. Phase 4 Reflection •Conduct retrospective analyses •Produce design principles •Enhance solution implementation •Establish trust in the findings
- 5. Justification of the problem: • Challenges faced by professionals • Challenges presented by the technology • Challenges presented by learners • Challenges faced by academia
- 6. Analysis of the practical educational problems surrounding social media and the neoliberal paradigm: • Modern capitalism “demands the individual embraces mobility as a condition for progress and develops the capacity to continuously adapt to changing economic and social circumstances” (Patsarika (2014). • Flexible on-demand workers are removed from traditional labour roles and collectives and are “faced with having to make themselves up” (Jensen & Prieur, 2015, p. 3). • Education has taken on the charge of moving past classroom boundaries toward the professional world, with students navigating different identities, between the personal, the here-and-now, and the in-the-make professional (Pastarika, 2014, p. 527).
- 7. Questions addressed by study: • What problems might educators face when integrating social media practices into a professional writing course for multi-majors? • How can social media technologies facilitate professional identity formation to bridge the transition from the everyday practices of learners to professional practices?
- 8. Review of the literature: • Pedagogy of writing: Kellogg, 2006, Hayes & Flowers, 1980, Ryan, 2014 • Transference theory: Perkins & Salomon, 1989 • Situated learning: Lave & Wegner 1991 • virtual Communities of Practice (vCoP): Nistor & Fisher, 2012 • Online identity development: Aresta, 2015, 2013; Handley, 2006 and others • Transformative learning: Archer, 2004; Bamberg, 2012
- 9. Theoretical framework: virtual Communities of Practice: Domain knowledge Time in virtual Community of Practice Development of expertise Participation Role in virtual Community of Practice Expert Status
- 10. How the course incorporated a virtual community of practice into the design:
- 11. Identity development: Adapted from Hanley, 2006 Identity development Identity regulation Identity work Development of practice Experimentation and feedback Adaptation and transformation Observation Participation
- 12. Development of design principles and interventions based on learning objectives:
- 13. Data collected: • Social media survey • Open-ended questionnaires • Google analytics • Twitter activity • Course artefacts • Social media project memo • Instructor observations on significant events during the year, what worked and failed • Course evaluations • Follow-up survey
- 14. 1st Iteration findings examined barriers to performance Fears Ruining reputation The unknown Lacking relevance Criticism Not being original Over- exposure Exposure
- 15. The 2nd iteration utilized narrative inquiry to establish a more transformative learning environment:
- 16. 3rd Iteration adjusted the course design to improve the cognitive load and frame the social construction of the technology:
- 17. Difference between the traditional composition process and the 21st century process: Traditional composition theory: • Lectures led by the instructor on the project and writing craft (no visual or digital tool lesson) • Learners brainstorm and write first draft • Peer draft workshop session with a focus on correctness • Revise and edit the draft • Turn it in to the instructor for feedback (grades) and might include a memo to the instructor regarding decisions made in the writing process. Revision composition theory: • Lectures led by the instructor on the project and by the students on writing and visual craft, and by either for the digital lessons (on demand and voluntary) • Learners brainstorm and write first draft • Two peer draft workshop sessions with a focus on correctness and one on the relational aspects of the writing • Revise and edit the draft • Publish on ePortfolio with a meta-cognitive memo for employers. • Receive feedback on portfolio piece from instructor. • Publish on community blog for feedback from readers (analytics as an measurement of success) • Perform a personal reflection, as a process piece, read by the instructor, grade given for completion, not for the public on professionalism, where you are today and where you want to be. • Participate in a social media session in classroom as a virtual community
- 18. Overall finding: Cyclical course design
- 19. The work of identity formation: Identity Possible self Reflexive self Now self Performative self
- 21. Contributions to the field of education: • Identified the appropriate learning theories and designed course artefacts that would inform social media competencies and shape professional identity formation • Explored the psychological, social and cognitive processes influencing social media practice in an academic setting • The course design illustrated how to establish an effective virtual Community of Practice in an academic setting • Operationalized a transformative learning environment, focused on being and becoming, rather than knowledge acquisition • Provided a template for a humanistic-neoliberal course design that presents the challenges of informing a self-reflective individualized professional identity
Notes de l'éditeur
- Today, I’m presenting on my dissertation entitled: …
- To provide context: Congruent with my status as a PhD student, I was an Assistant Professor in the professional writing minor program at Concordia. I had been asked by the department chair to update the course offerings. The courses were basically rooted in mid to late 20th century writing practices, with the bulk of the content being highly irrelevant, and more academic than practical. Having prior experience designing a social media component during my time teaching at Penn State, I was eager to get started; however, introducing social media is problematic in Quebec, primarily because Privacy Laws protect students having to participate in web 2.0 environments, to safeguard students from undergoing U.S. State surveillance. For this reason, I decided to run a study to determine how an instructional design could be effective and at the same time non-mandatory? The study took place over a four-year period from 2012-2016, involved 3 iterations of a yearlong course, and was followed by a retrospective analysis, which included a survey of participants 1-2 and 3 years after the course.
- INTRODUCTION Context of the study: Congruent with my status as a PhD student, I was also an Assistant Professor in the professional writing minor program at Concordia University. I had been asked by the department chair to update the course offerings. The courses were basically rooted in mid to late 20th century writing practices with the bulk of the content being highly irrelevant and more academic than practical. Having prior experience with the designing a social media component during my tenure at Penn State, I was eager to transfer some of our innovative instructional designs to our program. However, introducing social media is problematic in Quebec for a number of reasons: Privacy laws in Quebec. Received permission from various ruling bodies (Department, Teaching Excellence and Research Board) to integrate social media into the curriculum in spite of its disparity to the current course descriptions and run a study testing its effectiveness.
- This figure illustrates the phases for conducting a design experiment as proposed by Reeves, 2006. Anderson and Shattuck (2012) reported the following conditions for DESIGN-BASED RESEARCH: (1) being situated in a real educational context, (2) focus on the design and testing of a learning environment, (3) use mixed methods data collection, (4) involve multiple iterations, (5) involve a collaboration between researchers and practitioners, (6) employ an evolving design that leads to practical design principles and grounded theory, and (7) have an impact on actual practice. Amiel and Reeves suggest that our basic understanding of technology needs to shift and focus not just on the hardware, but also “on the complex interactions of human, social, and cultural factors” (p. 30). They noted that frequently educational technologies have failed to deliver in terms of impact on educational outcomes (p. 29-30). and believe that traditional investigative methods, such as predictive research, provide insufficient guidance regarding the use of such tools in educational settings (p. 30). Moreover, Reeves, Herrington, and Oliver (2005) found, “Many researchers continue to conduct studies that principally seek to determine the effectiveness of the delivery medium, rather than the instructional strategies and tasks” (p. 96). They further contend: “Indeed it would be idealistic to expect significant and transferable results from a one-time study of a technological intervention. Using iterative cycles of design and re-design allows for the investigation of these critical variables and limitations, generating more transferable and useful results” (p. 35). The objective of conducting design-based research is to solve complex problems in educational practice and advance knowledge regarding the process of designing and developing learning environments (van den Akker, Gravemeijer, McKenney, & Nieveen, 2006). Due to the complexities surrounding the practice of social media, a design-based research methodology was selected, allowing for a more careful and cautious exploration of the learning environment.
- INDUSTRY Social technologies are the most frequently used tools in corporate communication. (McKinsey) Organizations are primarily using social media to disseminate information, rather than engage interactively with users (Briones et al., 2011; Lovejoy, Waters, & Saxton, 2012; Waters & Jamal, 2011; and Xifra & Grau, 2010). Using social media strategically, rather than operationally, continues to be a challenge for practitioners (DiStaso & McCorkindale, 2012; Li & Bernoff, 2011; Paine, 2011). Corporate executives reported a number of risks associated with social media use, leaking confidential information, risk of inappropriate sharing of intellectual property, distracted employees, employees posting content that reflects negatively on the company, and inappropriate discussions using social technologies the bulk of information published advocating social media was promotional material and contained minimal reflection regarding the negative risks and issues. taylor & kent Corporations are reporting that there is a need for more employees with social media skills, and applicants with this type of skill set are preferred over applicants with work history. (Wegner & Owens) TECHNOLOGY: Educators and learners must recognize the reality that the current stakeholders in our educational systems are corporations (Krause-Jensen & Garsten, 2014). The use of digital technology in education is implicated in the struggle over the distribution of power” (Selwyn & Facer, 2014). Social media, although advertised as freedom devices, actual usage increasingly legitimizes surveillance and social control (Doran, 2014). Technology practice is socially constructed, based on perceived affordances and constraints. Pinning down how to use it is difficult for educators for this reason, not to mention, it’s a moving target… and a “disruptive” one. LEARNERS: Students rarely participate in sophisticated uses of web 2.0 (Burhanna, 2009; Corrin, 2010; and Jones et al, 2010. Lack the skills to create quality User-generated content effectively engage and grow networks Learners clear about their beliefs regarding the separation of education and social spaces, they also have concerns regarding privacy issues (p. 531). The integration of social media into the curriculum is problematic for a number of personal reasons (Burhana, 2009; Carr et al., 2013; Friesen & Lowe, 2012; Vance, 2012). ACADEMIA: Research has found a limited number of business communication courses offer significant coverage of social media (p. 32). Moshiri and Cardon (2014) reported, “Memos and letters continue to be the forms of written assignments more common than online discussion, blogs, wikis, and other social tools” (p. 32). Moshiri and Cardon voiced concern that instruction was not including enough social media and online content to provide learners with the necessary skills for the 21st century workforce (p. 32). Moshiri & Cardon (2014) Educators neglect to do the following: Understand the relevance of the tools The criteria to determine social media content Identify barriers to performance Gain competence in social media practice Choose appropriate pedagogies to introduce it
- Because social media tools are implicated in power struggles and pose a risk, students self determined participation in the social media component of the course. This study has also taken charge, moving past traditional classroom boundaries, by systematically examining how to integrate a “mobility’ component into the curriculum, through social media, in the form understanding and implementing online professional online identity development. Thus, Doran observed, “The neoliberal citizen is thus a paradoxical figure; at once “free” – that is, self-managing and autonomous – while at the same time subject – and subjugated – to a governmental power that regulates and manages conduct through the strategic deployment of such freedom (p. 68). Jensen and Prieur (2015) describe this change as paradigmatic and societal with an effect that the well-being o the individual relies not just on their competitiveness, but also on the commodification of the personal, which has become central to establishing the labour market value of human beings (p. 6). Thus, Jensen and Prieur (2015) note, “The neoliberal ideology brings about the conception that individual traits, characteristics, choices, and efforts determine individuals’ success” (p. 6). Flexible on-demand workers are removed from traditional labour roles and collectives and are “faced with having to make themselves up” (Jensen & Prieur, 2015, p. 3). The prevailing ideology driving this focus is the libertarian belief of the primacy of the individual (Foucault, 1991), an ideology that largely draws on John Locke’s theory on control for action coming from within the individual and the organization of society on merit, resulting in themes of personal responsibility and self-management, with limited intervention from the state. This libertarian belief system has not only been highly adaptable and resilient; it has become a powerful social imaginary with deeply embedded political values, shaping educational policy for the past four decades, and has led to a marketization of education in the form of a business model approach as opposed to education’s traditional role model as serving and acting as a public good (Selwyn, 2013; Hyslop-Margison & Naseem, 2010; and Jensen & Prieur, 2015). This form of governance enacted “via our hearts and minds and the technologies of neoliberalism closes down dissent and the perception of alternatives”, and many researchers argue that it is not possible to resist neoliberalism without being, in effect, a neoliberal subject (Archer, 2008; Beck & Young, 2005, p. 193; Davies & Petersen, 2005; and Jensen & Prieur, 2015). Thus, education has taken on the charge of moving past traditional classroom boundaries toward the professional world, with students navigating different identities, between the personal, the here-and-now, and the in-the-make professional (Pastarika, 2014, p. 527).
- Within the framework of higher education, social media can perform two roles for learners, beyond serving as a means to foster workforce competences; participation on social networks can also serve to shape the professional identity of learners prior to graduation (Benson, Morgan, and Filippaios, 2014; Greenhow, Robelia, & Hughes, 2009). Insert QUESTIONS! Academic research into the usage and best practices for social media component for the curriculum will serve both the profession and academia. The study examined in three phases the psychological, social and cognitive factors impacting performance on social networks and addressed the following research questions.
- Hayes & Flowers: Writing is an Ill-structured task. Kellogg identified a number of overlapping skillets that foster expertise—- across all fields of writing: • Problem solving. • Language use. • Managing cognitive load. • Domain specificity. • Rapid access to long-term memory. • Relationship of the readership. • Managing the Emotional Challenges A number of researchers have found that the problem is with A number of studies have established that classroom settings fail to transfer the skills that are required for practicing communication (Dias, Reedman, Madway & Par, 1999; Freedman & Adam, 1996; Henry, 2000; and Kramer-Simpson, Newmark, & Ford, 2015). Perkins & Salomon transference theory, 1989: Lave and Wenger’s (1991) social theory of learning argues that social participation is at the center of the learning process. In this sense, community, according to Lave and Wenger (1991) “Communities of Practice” or (CoP), or individuals joined by relationships that share common practices and activities. Furthermore, Nistor and Fisher (2012) incorporated the concept of how identity in the CoP the activity of the individual shapes social elements within the community and foster identity and expertise Nistor and Fisher confirmed that domain knowledge predicts participation. The importance of Nistor’s finding is that educators can now move past learning analytics as predictors of behaviour to utilizing learning analytics to understand ways to design instruction in vCoP that fosters expertise and ultimately identity.
- Figure 1: CoP model. The graphic illustrations how a member’s role in a vCoP combined with domain knowledge and levels of participation and time spent in the community shape the development of expertise, which leads to the negotiation of a central role. (Nistor & Fischer, 2014; Lave & Wagner, 2006) Furthermore, Nistor and Fisher (2012) incorporated the concept of how identity in the CoP has both an individual and social component in the sense that the activity of the individual shapes social elements within the community. In a preliminary validation of their model Nistor and Fisher confirmed that domain knowledge predicts participation. Nistor et al were able to confirm a CoP in the vCoP setting, using learning analytics (Siemens & Gasevic, 2012). The importance of this finding is that educators can now move past learning analytics as predictors of behavior to utilizing learning analytics to understand ways to design instruction in vCoP that fosters expertise and ultimately identity.
- The course designed included three virtual realms….The first one included a community website for publishing projects, the second one involved social media applications and networks, and the third one was located on the course website where process/product portfolios were developed.
- Online presence is classified into three permeable categories: personal, professional and organization (Fraser, 2009). Personal presence involves interacting with friends and family and has the highest level of concern with regards to privacy and safety concerns (Fraser, 2009). Professional presence involves using networking sites to discuss professional and academic achievements, including the presentation of portfolios and involves issues related to reputation and credibility. And lastly, organizational presence involves the use of tools and platforms on the behalf of the employer. Online identity can be understood as a continuum of information referred to and published by the individual that validates the self (Aresta et al, 2015), including, for example, profiles (Boyd, 2008; Cover, 2012; Greenhow & Robelia, 2009), content (Coiro, Knobel, Lankshear, & Leu, 2008; Costa & Torres, 2011; Greenhow & Robelia, 2009; Greenhow, Robelia, & Hughes, 2009; Zhao et al., 2008), and authenticity (Buckingham, 2008b; Childs, 2011).
- Learning objective: Students will strive to establish expertise in one specific domain area. Design Principle: Domain experts have an advantage over generalists (McCutchen, 2000). Intervention: Students will select one topic to write bout the entire course, and based on this interest, will join or found a blog to publish projects. Measured outcome: Google analytics
- Trustworthiness and credibility of the results Triangulate data---to confirm findings Second coder utilized to interpret qualitative data Outside researcher distribute consent forms and collect and withhold sensitive data until grades were turned in.
- In terms of data triangulation: While the learners reported great results in their end-of-year social media project memo, the data from the questionnaires and Google analytics argued otherwise. The course design was a fail. And in other respects a success since it identified the gap in performance between everyday practices and professional ones and the barriers to performance.
- This iteration applied Archer’s social theory on reflexivity and agency to guide and frame reflexivity, in order to enhance learning. It proved beneficial as it turned the focus of education to “being and becoming” rather than solely on the tools, knowledge and skills embedded in the majority of course content objectives (Barnett, 2009; Case, 2015; and Dall’Alba & Barnacle, 2007). Archer’s work was appropriate since it was focused on the reflexivity of self-conscious social subjects committed to the achievement of their personal projects” (Herepath, 2014, p. 9). It also introduced a “strategy as practice” approach, which considered the positionality of learners and was well suited to promotional social media practice (Herepath, 2014).
- The third iteration looks good, not just based on paper reports, but through analytics.
- The cognitive load is enormous when you introduce virtual communities and digital tools.
- The final course design utilized a more organic and cyclical approach. Six projects, six cycles, with all of the components enfolded into the process, i.e. social media became a process and not a product. More effective overall. Participation became professionalism since that was the overall goal… professionalism in the classroom to facilitate a thriving community.
- The first iteration was focused on the performative aspects of identity and neglected the reflexive self. By fully incorporating Aresta’s model, and utilizing a more transformative pedagogy, focused on being and becoming, students were able to participate more fully and confidently in a virtual community of practice and shape their professional identity.
- The following guiding design principles were supported by the findings: Experiential learning provides learners with opportunities to practice authentic work skills (Boone, 2011). Writing expertise is more effectively developed through situated learning in a Community of Practice (Kellogg, 2006) Managing cognitive load is key to developing expertise (Kellogg, 2006) A deliberate practice environment improves performance (Ericsson, Krampe & tesch-Romer, 1993) Approaches to effective learning should involve a pedagogical approach that is relational between teachers and students (Bolstad & Gilbert, 2008) Domain experts have an advantage over generalists (McCutchen, 2000) Effective instructional design considers the impact of social interaction and psychological safety on knowledge development (Xu & Yang, 2010). Innovative learning activities should be designed with the wider context of the course in mind and the relevance or purpose effectively explained to learners (Price & Kirkwood, 2011). Reflection promotes learning and the transference of mental models to long-term memory (Lombardi, 2007). Negative emotions can break patterns of habitus when spurred by internal conversations and these same conversations can promote a higher level of consideration and respect of other users online (Holmes, 2015). Constructing and developing agency for professional purposes, will help provide students with skills that are required for everyday survival (Biesta & Tedder, 2006; Gregory & Jones, 2009). Reflexivity practices benefit students during the revision stage of the writing process and will help foster agency when writing (Ryan, 2014). EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING: Furthermore, Alon and Herath (2014) reported that global corporations seek graduates who are able to use current technologies to solve real-world problems (p. 44). Experiential learning, “in which students experience a direct encounter with the phenomenon under study, reflect on that experience, draw general conclusions, and test their newly acquired knowledge through subsequent performance” (Boone, 2011, p. 2), is an effective means to establish technological skills (Boone, 2011). DELIBERATE PRACTICE is another essential design principle incorporated into the course design. Ericsson, Krampe, and Tesch-Ro ̈mer (1993) identified the following characteristics of deliberate practice: striving to improve performance, intrinsic motivation, practice tasks within reach of the learner’s current ability, feedback that facilitates understanding of results, and frequent repetition” (p. 396). Limitations of the study include having utilized a convenience sample. Yearlong course…. Sustaining attention and interest was difficult. Perhaps, more follow-up questions should have been conducted to further clarify student responses. There are individual differences in participants’ ability to express themselves A number of biases are related to self-reporting, including, selective memory, telescoping, attribution, and exaggeration. Instructor and researcher bias
- The notion that there are no alternatives to neoliberal frameworks is in and of itself a neoliberal notion. Academia must address and incorporate neoliberal professionalism, but at the same time recognize that academia’s objectives remain relevant and can provide alternatives and amalgamations to neoliberal concepts. It’s time to recognize this as being so, and address neoliberal concerns in academia and strive to find a way forward past its limitations. …..:)
- May you, the committee, be blessed and give birth to many PhD’s. Thank you!