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The Resourceful Pack Rat: Collecting and Sharing a Multitude of Information for Rich Classroom Discussion

George Harding

Adjunct Faculty

Graduate School of Management and Technology

Published: July-August 2009

Category: » Online-pedagogy » Teaching-strategies

In my academic, industrial, and military careers, I have always been somewhat of a pack rat, collecting bits and pieces of information that I felt would be of benefit to me at some future date. This tendency has proven to be of particular value to me in my educational career. Whenever I run across materials (newspaper/magazine articles, a passage from a book, etc.) that I believe may be of value in my classes, I create a Microsoft Word file to store the tidbit. These files are stored in a responses directory on my PC for reference when the item becomes a topic of discussion in one of my classrooms, which in all likelihood it will because the same topics keep reccurring from semester to semester. Each time I access one of these tidbit files, I tend to update/enrich it with applicable new information contributed by a student in the class. My response to a student will reference pertinent parts of his/her response along with comments from my tidbit file.

My tidbit files tend to accumulate, and presently I have over 450 mini-lecturettes available for responding to students when a specific topic arises. Although class materials change over time, much of the material in my tidbit files is classic managerial principles and practices that are applicable to most classes. Each semester, about 30%-40% of this accumulated knowledge is used.

Learning from Students/Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)

Acknowledging that I may not be a true expert in all of the topics discussed in my classes, each semester I tell my students that I learn as much from them as they learn from me. This may not mean much to them, but it is very applicable to me because most of my students are SMEs in their chosen professions, making them more knowledgeable in their field of expertise than I. Often their postings on their specialties are very astute. Where applicable, I incorporate the knowledge they contribute in their classroom postings into one or more of my tidbit files and use their materials along with the other information that I have collected on the topic the next time I respond on the subject. In many cases, a number of files have been composed on specific themes which enable the discussion thread to be elongated with a series of responses. Tying my tidbits (mini-lecturettes) to comments provided by my students makes the material relevant and interesting and enhances student interaction in classroom discussions.

Citations

Care must be taken to ensure that materials used in the classroom are properly cited. In most cases, students are citing the material of others, so the source citation is used.

Having a large number of cites in my postings has a secondary effect of encouraging students to perform independent research to support the information in their own postings. This independent, reflective research is one of the advantages of online courses (the students have time to research and include meaningful cites into their classroom responses). In face-to-face classes, students tend to respond with top-of-the-head superficial responses. Being able to support a position with citations (standing on the shoulders of those who have explored the topic in the past) makes the online classroom learning experience more significant.

Retrieval and Use of Tidbits

It is difficult to remember all the topics in each of my tidbit files, so I maintain an index file with the title of each file and its main focus. In the first paragraph of each file, I record the last time the file was referenced. This reminder helps avoid redundancy, where I might reuse a file because I forgot that it had already been used in this course during this semester. When the item bears repeating in a later week's conference, this reminder enables me to cite the week and conference in which the item had previously been discussed. When the index file does not enable me to find the particular material for which I am looking, I can perform an electronic search of the directory to find a key word/phrase.

When a topic applies to multiple classes, I will note in the posting for the additional classes: "In one of the other classes I am teaching this semester, one of the students commented: ~~~" followed by: "To which I responded: ~~~." This approach ensures that most of the applicable major topics within my tidbit files are covered in each of my classes each semester.

Active Learning

One of the most powerful ideas for teaching/learning that has emerged in the last decade is active learning. This concept emphasizes that students learn more and retain the learning longer if they acquire it in an active rather than a passive manner. Toward this end, I challenge each of my students to consider himself/herself the instructor in the course, bringing his/her special knowledge, experience, and research to his/her fellow students. My role in this environment is that of a facilitator (guide on the side, rather than sage on the stage), ensuring that all aspects of the topics are covered and contributing my own knowledge, experience, and research to the learning process. This approach encourages student participation in the weekly discussion conferences and results in an interesting and meaningful learning exchange for everyone involved. When it comes to knowledge acquisition, the Chinese proverb TELL me, and I'll forget, SHOW me and I'll be entertained but INVOLVE me and I will learn is very apropos.

At the end of each semester, I receive comments from my students about how rich the discussions in my classes have been. Little do they realize that this richness has been supplemented by information supplied by students/SMEs from previous classes. I recommend this approach to all online instructors as a best instructional practice.