Page 51 - Campus Technology, January/February 2019

C-Level View
moment of connection. Connections are not always strong, or persuasive, or helpful, or even true. But that fundamental act of connecting, and the strong surge of energy that results, is essential to learning. It’s the “aha!” moment of understanding, which [psychologist] Jerome Bruner defines as “going beyond the information given.”
I strongly believe that education fails when it does not provide space and opportunity for these acts of connecting — these insights — to occur. In The Relevance of Education, Bruner writes about a pattern game he used to help students understand parts of speech. The game requires that students discover the pattern for themselves, which means it also requires that teachers wait for students to discover the pattern for themselves. Otherwise, Bruner writes, the students “will become obedient and non-comprehending.” That space of waiting and the art of encouraging students to look closely and consider what they are seeing work together to foster insight instead of mere obedience.
Unfortunately, the current emphasis on education as “content delivery” that must happen “efficiently” (and thus in standardized and predictable ways) has undervalued or at times actively damaged the space and time insight requires if it is to emerge.
CT: Is assessment another factor that should be considered in this space?
Campbell: Across the disciplines, we should ensure that assessment is not only quantitative but also qualitative. We should ensure that there are spaces available for unscripted, even unprompted reflection to take place, ideally within a connectable platform such as a blog. Different disciplines will have different tasks for learners, and there will always be
“It is rare that faculty have the opportunity or encouragement to consider larger questions about the nature and purpose of the work they do.”
the need for a diversity of approaches across disciplines as well as across learners themselves. But without the space I’m describing, and modes of assessment that reflect and help us understand the value of these spaces, the intensely personal element of learning cannot be expressed and the thrill of individual discovery will be reserved only for the hardiest and luckiest of learners, while everyone else simply takes their content in and regurgitates it when it’s time for the test.
CT: Do faculty benefit by considering higher values alongside operational and technical details in faculty development programs?
Campbell: Given the chance, faculty do benefit from opportunities to consider what we mean by learning and education, to review approaches to curriculum along a wide range of possibilities, and to reflect on their own experience as learners and teachers.
But much faculty development is devoted to specific operational concerns such as classroom management, syllabus preparation, and institutional policies and procedures ranging from how to put a book on reserve in the library to how to assemble a portfolio for tenure and promotion.
These are, of course, vital and important things to know. That said, I have to add: It is rare that faculty have the opportunity or encouragement to consider larger questions about the nature and purpose of the work they do. Sadly,
it is also very rare for faculty to learn about, and enjoy as colleagues, the intellectual work their colleagues are doing in different disciplines.
CT: Do you have a concrete example of faculty
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CAMPUS TECHNOLOGY | January/February 2019