Discussion Post - ETEC-578
Introduction
For one of my initial posts in ETEC-578, I reflected on whether my stance was primarily positivist, relativist, or contextualist (or hermeneutical).
- Contextualists believe that truth or knowledge is relative to context rather than individual, subjective understanding.
- Positivists believe that the only truth or knowledge is objective.
- Relativists don’t believe that objective truth is possible, and all knowledge is subjective to perception or relative to a particular frame of reference.
For this assignment, I was charged to identify an instance when my perspective as a learner conflicted with that of my instructor (a grade assigned or a difference in understanding of a concept). Next, I described the conflict I experienced and analyzed whether opposing epistemic stances may have been at the heart of the conflict. Then consider whether my analysis gives me any new insight into who (or what) was right or wrong in that situation.
As I thought about and personally explored the views of the various stances, I am between relativist and contextualist. It is often vital through the learning process to understand that each learner obtains, grasps, and acquires knowledge and skills differently and that learning is relative to the learner of its information, knowledge, and abilities. In turn, I have also experienced throughout my lifelong learning that info, skills, and knowledge are often relative to context rather than the person learning the content. I have also known through time that this is equally important to become familiar with as a lifelong learner.
Throughout my half-century of lifelong learning through various teaching methods, I have learned that it is important to understand what is taught and whether the information gained is best suited for a relative or constructivist perspective. One experience that comes to my mind vividly was during the semester in 2003 of a premed organic chemistry course (known for being the premed weed-out course), when the professor took the opening moments of a post-exam class period to discuss the grades of that recent exam where only one individual (whom she acknowledges publicly) earned an “A,” while the rest of the class didn’t fare so well or, they failed miserably. She went on to state that if Suzy Q. could do well and “ACE” this exam, then there was no reason the rest of us couldn’t do better or even excel learning the same information throughout the remainder of her course, etc. As grades matter to a class primarily full of premed students, the rest of us (me included) were devastated, especially knowing that our lifelong dreams (if you will) were in her hands (and not a reflection of the information we all had learned and knew well). Well, to put things in proper “context,” this instructor was nearing the end of her forty-year academic career, she had gained all of her formal content, knowledge, and skills by antiquated, teacher-centered traditional means, and her basic teaching philosophy was “if I had to struggle to learn information, through the tough, old-school traditional means, and I still achieved my career goals, then you can too!” For those of you who have never taken an organic chemistry course, it involves complex concepts with math, geometry, and touches of physics in it, and students are often very intimidated initially to register for such a course. Not to mention those of us who have math and geo-relational weaknesses. Furthermore, the method of instruction that this professor was quite proud of in 2003 was to use textbook publisher-created PowerPoints where she lectured to those PowerPoints for each lecture course throughout the allotted class time without coming up for air, asking if there were any questions. In addition, she never once worked out any chemistry (math/geo-relational) problems with us. When the occasional student was bold enough to raise their hand, stopping her PowerPoint flow to ask a question during class, she responded consistently, “read the textbook.” Also, the student mentioned above, Suzy Q., who was consistently getting straight “A’s” throughout the course, often boasted to classmates during study sessions (we all collaborated faithfully to learn said material elsewhere) that this was the only course she was taking during this semester, she was not working outside of school. She lived alone with no home life interruptions (if you will). Our classmates took at least twelve credit hours for that 16-week-long semester. We were working jobs and had home-life responsibilities affecting most of our ability to have valuable chunks of additional study time needed to absorb and digest such difficult information. We had to learn everything without the professor's help. So, upon learning this added information from classmates and friends during study groups, etc., I was one of many classmates to put this learning experience into the proper context, which at least gave us more confidence in learning that Suzy Q. didn’t have external obstacles that were interfering with her learning experience and she, opposed to the remainder of her classmates, had nothing but uninterrupted time to acquire and digest this important complex information in preparations for applying to medical school. This was a luxury that the rest of us did not have, which in turn affected our ability to learn the information taught (if you will), though not optimal or student-centered learning that was also an obstacle to our learning experiences within that course as well as affecting our ability to succeed. So, moving forward through the course, and again another post-exam instructor commentary/scolding where the professor announced that Suzy Q. aced the exam, and the rest of us didn’t fare so well. The instructor continued that if Suzy Q. could do well, there was no reason we couldn’t either. Disheartened, frustrated, and even fuming for myself and many other classmates, I raised my hand, stood up (without being called upon), and stated publicly to the professor and class of roughly 25 students, “with all due respect, Professor B., if the rest of us were in Suzy Q.’s shoes taking only this course this semester, who does not work outside of school or home life, and she does not have any homelife responsibilities, then yes, we all could do much better. These are luxuries that the rest of this class aren’t afforded!” I stopped there, as I knew that Professor B. oversaw my grade until the last day of that course and not wanting to further contribute to those obvious subjective, traditional, old-fashioned teaching methods she was so proud of and grading measures too. Finally, the brutal conditions and semester ended, and most of my study group classmates earned a “B,” and yes, Suzy Q. earned an “A” as well.
Reflection
Reflecting on this learning experience, it helped me and my classmates who were heading off to medical school, who all survived this required course, that there are numerous factors involved in teaching and learning, as they relate to each learner’s capabilities and how each individual perceives information, conditions of learning environments, as well as each individual’s frame of references (teacher and learners) are all vital considerations in the teaching and learning process. Overall, this was a valuable learning experience (at no additional charge) for my classmates and me as we persisted and persevered through this antiquated, etc. learning experience, which was one of many more challenging learning experiences yet to come. We learned that putting things in proper context through these lifelong learning experiences was comforting, knowing that many factors are involved in shaping individuals learning experiences and that the grade should never be the sole reflection of knowledge, content, and skills gained within any course. This was an eye-opening experience and fruitful insight for our entire class, Suzy Q. and Professor B. (I hope).
Reflecting on this learning experience, it helped me and my classmates who were heading off to medical school, who all survived this required course, that there are numerous factors involved in teaching and learning, as they relate to each learner’s capabilities and how each individual perceives information, conditions of learning environments, as well as each individual’s frame of references (teacher and learners) are all vital considerations in the teaching and learning process. Overall, this was a valuable learning experience (at no additional charge) for my classmates and me as we persisted and persevered through this antiquated, etc. learning experience, which was one of many more challenging learning experiences yet to come. We learned that putting things in proper context through these lifelong learning experiences was comforting, knowing that many factors are involved in shaping individuals learning experiences and that the grade should never be the sole reflection of knowledge, content, and skills gained within any course. This was an eye-opening experience and fruitful insight for our entire class, Suzy Q. and Professor B. (I hope).