This class has helped me immensely as I am a current TA for two classes and as I am preparing to apply to teaching positions for the summer. I appreciated the applicable topics and the way the assignments all were targeted towards helping with the final project. Throughout this class, I have enjoyed comparing what we are learning in class to what I am seeing in my TA classes and what I would like to include and remove from a course I am teaching.
One of the biggest lessons I learned is the importance of feedback and honoring the feedback received from the students. As described when discussing a non-graded class, where the student will give themselves a grade, most students are honest with their feedback and don’t necessarily want the class to be easier. From my experience as a student and as a TA, students are taking classes to learn material and skills as they prepare for post-graduation goals. Just as we were working through the feedback and rubric module, my TA class asked for three suggestions for improvement and three suggestions for what has been going well. This feedback was given through in-person written responses with no identifiable information. After getting all the feedback, I needed to summarize the top suggestions. Being a TA in the class, overall, the feedback was reasonable, and I could see changes making the classes stronger and more interesting for students. However, once giving the feedback to the professors, they basically disregarded the feedback given by students and made no changes to the way the class was being handled. For example, students suggested that due dates be consistent on Canvas to ensure that dates are not missed. The professors argued that the due dates they had set up were the most helpful and they weren’t willing to change it. As noted in the module, I felt the class deflate as they were asked for feedback, but that feedback was ignored. As a professor, I would want to ask for feedback and integrate it into making my class better. I may have an idea of what would best work for a class but that doesn’t always mean it is best for the students.
Another lesson I learned in this course is importance of having all materials and the class itself be as inclusive as possible and follow universal design of learning as much as possible. When I first was learning about this, I felt that it would be overwhelming to make a class completely inclusive – especially when it comes to offering variations or options on assignments (ex. verbal discussion instead of a written one). However, after going through the course, I learned that it doesn’t need to be a full rework of a class, but instead making small meaningful changes throughout the course. For example, I love the idea of including a graphical syllabus to an existing syllabus to make it as understandable as possible for all students. I also appreciate the use of alternative formats for Canvas pages being available for easy saving and more options for learning that material.
A final lesson I learned from the class is to make a class learner focus and not lecture/professor focused. I want to ensure that my assignments are helpful to the students and can show them broad applicability of course material and teach skills that will be helpful outside of the class. One example of this is using generative AI in an assignment. I believe that part of my role of a professor is to help prepare students for careers outside of their classes – including helpful skills such as communication, writing skills, and problem solving. As AI is becoming more common, I believe that this will be an evolving skill used in the workplace and therefore should be embedded in my courses. Just as the use of computers and internet were slowly embedded into courses, I see this happening with AI as well. I liked the ideas presented throughout the class, such as setting up a debate against AI or comparing AI feedback to peer feedback and reflect on positives and negatives of human feedback compared to AI.
Overall, this class has been extremely helpful and has helped me produce a product – the ePortfolio – that I will be able to use to apply to jobs and goes above and beyond just a CV or resume. I plan on continuing to evolve the ePortfolio as I apply to more positions and treat it as a living document.