Author: tdickmeyer

by Rhonda McCreight and Diane Janes

Emotional Learning

The experience of both teaching and learning can feel like a roller coaster ride for both the instructor and the learner. In Pekrun’s book Emotions and Learning (2014), he prefaces the general anxiety and emotional state of learning across the board professing that “the classroom is an emotional place” (p.6). No matter what type of institution, delivery mode or learner demographics, as educators it is essential that we understand and embrace the emotional journey of learning so that we can truly engage the teaching and learning process. Here are a few tips and resources to consider in your journey towards understanding your students’ emotional learning needs.

Pekrun (2014) explores the topic of emotions and learning through a series of ten principles which are organized under three main concepts:

1. Understanding the nature and diversity of learner emotions – what emotions are and why they play a part in learning.
2. Addressing functions, antecedents, and regulation of emotions – the consequences of emotions in the classroom, what causes them and how they can benefit or create barriers to learning.
3. Understanding the role of education on modifying or influencing emotions in the classroom – how educators directly impact, mitigate or enhance positive emotional reactions in the learning experience.

He bases his research on four main types of learning-related emotions – achievement, epistemic, topic and social emotions (Petruk, 2014, p. 8). Achievement emotions relate directly to the success or failure of learning, such as a terrible exam score or a killer oral presentation. Epistemic emotions are the cognitive impacts triggered by a learning task such as delight at seeing a problem solved or curiosity to see how the lightbulb turns on. Topic emotions, conversely, are the emotions triggered by the affective domain like empathy for the main character of a book. Finally, social emotions are the human connections and relationships made within the classroom.

Each of these categories describes how or where the emotion is manifested. This resource, although ten years old, provides pragmatic suggestions for improving the “cognitive and motivational quality of classroom instruction” which in turn can lead to an “increase of self-confidence and enjoyment, and a reduction of boredom and anxiety” in the learner and fosters the ability to self-regulate their learning (Petruk, 2014, p.20).

Finally, as we navigate the post covid space, it has been observed that in today’s world “Emotional complexities are rampant. [There is] Declining wellbeing. Increased polarization. Burnout. Lack of retention. How can colleges & universities utilize social emotional learning to support students, faculty, staff & community to build a healthier context for learning and work? The last two years have brought to light key challenges in colleges and universities — given the emotional complexity of this moment, is it important that we infuse more emotional intelligence development?” (Six Seconds, 2022).

To help us examine what we are seeing in higher ed with respect to social emotional learning post covid, watch this panel of university and colleague educators discuss how to support themselves and their learners on navigating emotions and learning. Sponsored by Six Seconds, The Emotional Intelligence Network. Six Seconds is a global network with a mandate to help everyone grow their emotional intelligence. This video is 60 minutes long. Six Seconds Website https://www.6seconds.org/

• Social Emotional Learning in Colleges & Universities: Livestream https://youtu.be/V1tAGD0SDMY

If you are not able to spend time today on a longer video, then consider this shorter video produced by Edutopia. While it does focus on K-12 teaching, the conversations and ideas in this video are very translatable to the university classroom. This video is 4:28 minutes long. Official Website: https://edutopia.org

• Building Adult Capacity for Social and Emotional Learning https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cht0Lm0rBAY

 

As you plan your Fall and Winter terms, can you think of ways to engage your learners’ emotional journey in your classrooms?

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Resources

 

Edutopia. (2020). Building Adult Capacity for Social and Emotional Learning. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cht0Lm0rBAY

Pekrun, R. (2014). Emotions and learning. International Academy of Education. International Bureau of Education. Retrieved from https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000227679

Six Seconds. (2022). Social Emotional Learning in Colleges & Universities: Livestream. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1tAGD0SDMY

by Alexis Brown and Carolyn Ives

Teaching the Whole Student: Incorporating Spiritual Learning

Educators have long relied on learning taxonomies to help them determine and articulate what learners should be able to know, do, and value by the end of a lesson, course, program, or credential. One such taxonomy is one developed by Bloom (1956) and updated by Krathwohl, Bloom and Masia (1964), which outlines three domains of learning: cognitive, psychomotor and affective. It’s a taxonomy many at TRU use to develop curriculum.

At the Interculturalizing the Curriculum workshop offered by Kyra Garson in May 2019, I was introduced to a different taxonomy: noting a gap in the domains posited by Bloom, Marcella LaFever (2016) reimagined Bloom’s taxonomy and added a fourth domain — the spiritual domain — and aligned all four learning domains with the Medicine Wheel, explaining that the spiritual domain was “essential for balance in . . . support[ing] students in their learning goals” (p. 409). The levels of learning in the spiritual domain LaFever introduces include honouring, value/d, connect/ed, empower/ed, and self-actualize/d. The reimagined taxonomy appears on page 417 of LaFever’s article, and the associated verb list appears on page 418.

LaFever also notes the challenges of assessing these kinds of learning outcomes, and she offers possibilities, such as reflection work, oral storytelling, demonstrating a commitment to relationship-building, role-playing and articulated plans for self-growth (p. 419). As many of us are intentionally striving to teach the whole student, considering learner spiritual growth is one way to acknowledge that students have multiple dimensions of learning beyond the cognitive.

LaFever also acknowledges her positionality as a non-Indigenous researcher and shares her challenges of and approaches to doing this work (p. 410-11). However, if post-secondary institutions wish to decolonize the curriculum, it will have to be taken on as everyone’s work, not only that of Indigenous staff and faculty. Considering the spiritual learning of students is one such approach we all can take.

Link to LaFever’s article: “Switching from Bloom to the Medicine Wheel: creating learning outcomes that support Indigenous ways of knowing in post-secondary education”

The second resource we have selected for you in the spiritual domain is a video by Secwépemc storyteller Kenthen Thomas. Spirituality is the fundamental interconnectedness of all things, being attached to mother earth (RCMP Aboriginal Policing Services, 2010 as cited in Lafever, 2016). The domain of spirituality underpins and connects all other domains and is focused on rising above self to attend to others. Thomas’s video is a way to begin considering how to incorporate the spiritual learning domain through honouring Secwépemc teaching on the interconnectedness of storytelling and land, the laws that emerge from these stories, and how stories guide us to make ethical decisions in all disciplinary fields.

Link to Thomas’s video: Kenthen Thomas: Storytelling and the Link to the Land (youtube.com)

We’d like to invite you to consider one or more of the courses you teach:

Is there a way spiritual learning can be integrated?

If you’re designing a new course, could learning outcomes be included from the spiritual domain?

If CELT can support you in integrating learning in the spiritual domain into your courses, please reach out to us at celt@tru.ca.

References and Resources

Bloom, B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals. Longmans, Green, & Co.

CRICKET: Course renewal in a kit. (2019).

Krathwohl, D. R., Bloom, B. S. Bloom, & Masia, B. B. (1964). Taxonomy of educational objectives: The classification of educational goals. Handbook II: The affective domain. New York: David McKay.

LaFever, M. (2016). Switching from Bloom to the Medicine Wheel: creating learning outcomes that support Indigenous ways of knowing in post-secondary education. Intercultural Education, 27(5), pp. 409-424. DOI: 10.1080/14675986.2016.1240496.

Thomas, K. (2020). Storytelling and the Link to the Land. YouTube. Last retrieved July 3, 2024.

by Brett McCollum and Wei Yan, CELT

This week, we offer two professional development activities to rejuvenate your mind. Creating space in your mind to reflect on your teaching is a valuable practice for scholarly teaching. It is part of the cycle by which educators move from anecdote to evidence-based teaching. Whether you choose to engage with one or both of these activities, or select one of your own choice, we encourage you to create opportunities for you to improve your mindfulness.

The first activity is a mindfulness practice that you can easily fit into your day, anywhere that you can sit, rest, and breathe. This 10-minute guided meditation focuses on listening to your thoughts, acknowledging them, and then shifting your attention to sounds outside your mind.

With practice, you may find this exercise useful to draw upon year-round when you are finding it difficult to prioritize your actions and need to create some head space.

https://soundcloud.com/mindfulnessuvm/sets/resilience-practices?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

The second activity is called “Gratitude Giving”. Engaging in work-community gratitude is an effective strategy for conditioning your mind to see the positives in your work environment and bring that attitude into your classroom.

To help you with this activity you can use a pen and paper. Think of a TRU colleague (faculty, staff, or administration) who made a difference for you this past year. Write down their name. Now think about what they did and the reason behind your appreciation. Capture those thoughts in a sentence or two.

If you would like to, we invite you to send your message of gratitude to celt@tru.ca using the subject line “Gratitude Giving”. We will prepare a thank you card with your short message of gratitude and send it to the intended recipient by interdepartmental mail. Indicate if you would like your message of gratitude to be sent anonymously. We will continue sending your cards of gratitude all summer.

by Carolyn Ives and Rhonda McCreight, CELT

The Connection between Movement and Learning (Carolyn)

When I lived in Edmonton, I was a regular attendee at free outdoor workouts hosted by November Project, an international fitness and community-building movement. I noticed that although the workouts started at 6:00 AM, and even through the harsh Edmonton winters, people still attended in droves, so a colleague and I decided we could learn a lot about fostering motivation in the classroom from these gatherings. We decided to bring a group of faculty members to six November Project workouts spanning two weeks and, after each, host a workshop to discuss what learning from this community we can apply to classrooms. The workshops focused on the value of building classroom community, fostering student motivation, creating classroom rituals, integrating movement for deeper learning, and using the city as a living lab or classroom space—all things that had been modelled in the November Project workouts. We shared our results at the POD Network Conference in 2018. 

What we learned from this project about movement and learning is supported by research, which has shown that physical movement can have a profound impact on learning (Ferrer & Laughlin, 2017; Medina, 2014; Hrach, 2021; Ratey, 2008). In her book Minding Bodies: How Physical Space, Sensation, and Movement Affect Learning (2021), Susan Hrach argues that we should no longer treat students as “brains on sticks” (ix)—meaning rather than focusing on only their cognitive engagement, we should approach learning holistically, engaging students in their bodies as well as their minds to support deeper learning. MacLean’s magazine has posted an article about this book, called “Why Movement Is Critical to Learning.” 

Although Hrach’s book isn’t available as an open access resource, there are several online sources for ideas about how to incorporate movement into your classroom. While some of them focus mainly on K-12 classrooms, some of them, such as this page from the University of Michigan and this article from Times Higher Education, offer strategies appropriate for a post-secondary classroom. 

Additional Examples of Integrating Movement into Learning (Rhonda)

The use of gaming in educational development has been widely researched and celebrated for its ability to engage learners in the kinesthetic domain, amongst other significant attributes (Hu-Au & Lee, 2017). The educational YouTube video What can teachers learn from gaming design? challenges the viewer to consider “how game design helps us fundamentally understand classroom design.”   

Hu-Au and Lee (2017) describe virtual reality (VR) as “an immersive, hands-on tool for learning that can play a unique role in addressing passive and disengaged students” who may otherwise struggle to see the value of what they are learning (p. 217).  VR can address essential skills in the learner such as “empathy, systems thinking, creativity, computational literacy, and abstract reasoning” (p. 217). 

Here is an introduction to some VR training videos that you might consider in your curricula: 

Electrical Safety 

Intracellular Journey 

Fire & Evacuation Safety 

Chemistry Lab Overview 

 

How Can This Work for You? 

The resources linked below include strategies you can use in your own context. As you plan your courses for the fall semester, consider how you might take advantage of the deep learning that can accompany movement: How might you incorporate movement into your classroom? 

 

References and Resources 

Braybrook, S. (2022, Mar 22). Why and how to bring physical movement into the classroom. Times Higher Education. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/why-and-how-bring-physical-movement-classroom  

Digital Engineering Magic (2020). VR Safety Training for Electric Power Industry.  Retrieved at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5AsksACwdDE 

Ferrer, M.E., & Laughlin, D.D. (2017, Feb. 26). Increasing college students’ engagement and physical activity with classroom brain breaks. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 88(3), 53–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/07303084.2017.1260945 

Hu-Au, E. & Lee, J.J. (2017) Virtual reality in education: a tool for learning in the experience age. Int. J. Innovation in Education, Vol. 4, No.4.   

https://sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/cte/teaching_resources/docs/virtual_reality_education_tool_learning_experience_age.pdf 

Hrach, S. (2021). Minding bodies: How physical space, sensation, and movement affect learning. West Virginia UP.  

Human Restoration Project (2022). What can teachers learn from video games? https://www.youtube.com/@HumanRestorationProject  Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMCpT671c9k 

Kong, S.L. (2021, July). Why movement is critical to learning. MacLean’s. https://macleans.ca/education/why-movement-is-critical-to-learning/  

The Learning Centre. (n.d.). Movement and learning. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. https://learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/movement-and-learning/  

LSA Learning & Teaching Technology Consultants. (2021). Using movement to increase student engagement and learning. LSA Technology Services. University of Michigan. https://lsa.umich.edu/technology-services/news-events/all-news/teaching-tip-of-the-week/using-physical-movement-to-increase-student-engagement-and-learning.html  

Medina, J. (2014). Brain rules: 12 principles for surviving and thriving at work, home, and school. Pear Press. 

Random42 Scientific Communication (2019). Intercellular – an interbody VR experience. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aogLFedcnTI 

Ratey, J. (2008). Spark: The revolutionary new science of exercise and the brain. Little, Brown, & Co. 

Stem-urpbl (2020) VR Chemistry lab overview.  Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md-ijiH9Q_0 

1000 realities studio. (2020) Fire and Evacuation VR Safety Training. EHS Virtual Reality Training. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VizQzKjzUHk