How I stopped being a talking head

Looking back, I see that I was taught in the objectivism style. High school and college and grad school were full of lectures, readings, lectures, and more readings. My success at retaining and absorbing information was measured by term papers and blue books full of regurgitated facts. The only group experience I recall was writing a skit in 7th grade. Fortunately for me I am a reading/writing learner, and so I fared well in this structure.


Twenty years after completing my last college course, I am told I will be teaching a brand new, 1 unit, face-to-face course on research skills. I had a course outline of record for a resource. For 4 semesters I taught that course the only way I knew how to teach, by lecture and readings. “teachers teach as they are taught” (Hoover) One semester, over half of the students failed the midterm. I didn’t change my teaching methods; I just made the exams simpler. And I always had this huge dichotomy in my class which contained both Millenials and re-entry students.

And then, enlightenment. I attended a national conference for academic instruction librarians (yes, there really is such a thing) and was introduced for the time to the concept of Millenials and their unique learning style. Amazingly, I thought it was silly to change how one teaches just to get through to a group of students whose brains had obviously been damaged by video games. But I gave some of the methods a try, and most tellingly the classroom became more interactive, the students more engaged and I began having more fun as well. What I introduced to the classroom were collaborative projects, other media, and online tutorials. It wasn’t until the reading in this class did I understand that I wasn’t simply accommodating their ‘disabilities” but preparing them for the new global marketplace.

I’m looking forward to my research course starting next week as I already plan to incorporate the concepts of Constructivism to better reach the Millenials while also using the concept of Andragogy to better serve the re-entry students. Earlier in the course the learning style of millenials has been discussed (collaborative, exploration, etc), but the theory of Andragogy, developed by M.Knowles is equally important to the online environment. Simplified, andragogy addresses the instruction of adults in a way that recognizes their life experience and perceptions. Assumptions of this theory include the need to: explain why something is being taught; be task –oriented; take into account wide range of different learners and recognize that adults are self directed (http://tip.psychology.org/knowles.html)

Interestingly, Tennat believes that Knowles’ view is no longer sustainable in a world characterized by differences and diversity. (Rossiter) Even the concept of an adult learner is changing.

Instructors should be cognizant of the fact that adult learners “may lack online literacy skills, which include creating an online identity; communicating a cognitive presence on text-based screens; posting comments that reflect favorably on their image as competent and intelligent adult learners; and constructing their own learning from comments received from other learners, the materials, and the content.” (Stein)

I believe in Constructivism as an epistemology, a philosophy. In general, I do believe that knowledge is created by the student with the teacher acting only as a facilitator and guide. “focus on student-centered learning may well be the most important contribution of Constructivism” (Hoover)

However, as a methodology, I think we have to admit that some knowledge is objective, in math and science, for example. Whereas the meaning of a sonnet or the impact of a revolution can be debated and explored, 2 + 2 is always 4 and earth will always have gravity.

Cognitivism is also a valid theory to me. It recognizes that due to differences in learning styles, personality types, temperaments, and intelligences, students may take different paths, but the destination is the same, which makes it an objectivist theory.


As much as I have learned from the literature about what makes for successful online learning, I’ve learned more from just being in an online class. Occasionally I smile behind the monitor as I see how our assignments and activities are designed to give us exactly the experience we need to be effective online instructors. I feel like a clipboard carrying guinea pig, not certain if I am researching or being researched.

Specifically though, the main things I can do to improve student academic success are to
· Facilitate the development of groups and social capital
· Offer various projects that suit the needs of a variety of learning styles
· Make available, and encourage the use of, various modes of communications
· Be alert to signs that students are feeling distanced
· Stay alert to changes in group dynamics
· Provide prompt feedback



Hoover, Wesley A. “Practice Implications of Constructivism.” SEDL Letter 9:3 (1996) Print.

Rossiter, Marsha. "Possible selves in adult education." New Directions for Adult & Continuing Education 114 (2007): 87-94. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 11 Mar. 2010.

Stein, David S., Constance E. Wanstreet, and Jennifer Calvin. "How a novice adult online learner experiences transactional distance." Quarterly Review of Distance Education 10.3 (2009): 305-311. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 11 Mar. 2010.

Tennant, M. “Adult Learning for Self-Development and Change.” In A. L. Wilson and
E. R. Hayes (eds.), Handbook of Adult and Continuing Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2000.