- How realistic is it
to expect all students to become self-authored?
GO>>
- Does self-authorship
mean publishing original scholarship in
national peer-reviewed journals? GO>>
- Are students that are
the same age or at the same level of education
at the same developmental point? GO>>
- How can I work with
a group that has students at various levels
of development? GO>>
- What do I as an educator
gain from fostering self-authorship among
students? GO>>
- Haven’t we as
educators at Miami already been using
pedagogies and practices that promote
self-authorship? GO>>
- What can I do when
students are frustrated that I will not
simply give them the answers they are
looking for? GO>>
- If I share authority
with students in learning settings, will
I lose “control” of what they
are learning? GO>>
- Will engaged learning
work in my discipline where I must ensure
students gain enough information to advance
to the next level and/or take a standardized
exam? GO>>
- What if I do not teach
courses? Do I need to be concerned with
engaged learning? GO>>
- Aren’t
“co-curricular activities”
just for fun? How do they relate to engaged
learning? GO>>
How
realistic is it to expect all students to
become self-authored?
All students are capable
of reaching self-authorship when they experience
the appropriate balance of challenge and
support that progressively fosters intellectual,
personal, and relational growth. Yet, self-authorship
does not happen automatically or easily.
To become self-authored, students must undergo
a journey in which they gradually let go
of relying solely on others and viewing
all knowledge as certain and instead embrace
the ability to author their own knowledge,
relationships, and identities.
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Does
self-authorship mean publishing original
scholarship in national peer-reviewed journals?
No. Self-authorship does
not refer to a specific accomplishment or
skill. Rather, self-authorship is the developmentally
based capacity to critically evaluate evidence,
construct new knowledge, make informed judgments
and act ethically. Thus, it is an overarching
way of making meaning that underlies a broad
range of college learning outcomes.
Back to
Top>>
Are
students that are the same age or at the
same level of education at the same developmental
point?
No. Self-authorship does
not equate with age or level of education,
so whether students are self-authored depends
on a complex mix of individual and environmental
factors. In fact, research shows that high
school students who have faced and worked
through particular challenges (e.g., being
the first one in their family to apply to
college) may enter college with self-authoring
capacities. Regardless of how old they are
or how much education they have, self-authoring
students are able to reach conclusions and
make decisions by consistently questioning
and analyzing external sources in the context
of their own beliefs and values.
Back to
Top>>
How
can I work with a group that has students
at various levels of development?
The characteristics of
generative educational experiences foster
growth among students at any level of development,
so focusing on learning, asking questions,
and developing responsibility represent
best practices for all students.
Back to
Top>>
What
do I as an educator gain from fostering
self-authorship among students?
Fostering self-authorship
among students can be as transformative
for educators as it is for students. Using
a discovery-oriented paradigm allows educators
to reflect on their assumptions about teaching
and learning and develop rewarding ways
of connecting with students. As Rebecca
Mills and Karen L. Strong, who initiated
a re-organization of the student affairs
division at the University of Nevada, Las
Vegas, state, understanding how to foster
self-authorship “provide[s] a foundation
from which organizations may humanize bureaucracy,
deconstruct mechanical ways of working,
and, ultimately, serve students more effectively.”
Back
to Top>>
Haven't
we as educators at Miami already been using
pedagogies and practices that promote self-authorship?
Yes, many faculty and
staff have been using pedagogies and practices
that are developmentally sound and that
promote self-authorship. Their students
have been the beneficiaries of a rich learning
environment. Yet, there is always room to
improve in our consistency and intentionally.
If each educator works to more fully align
his or her pedagogies and practices with
a learning-centered philosophy, Miami as
a whole could provide a richer environment
for all students.
Back to
Top>>
What
can I do when students are frustrated that
I will not simply give them the answers
they are looking for?
First, be patient. Getting
students to understand and accept some responsibility
for their learning takes time. Second, try
to get them to verbalize their frustration
to you so that you can help them process
it and discover the root of it. If you believe
your students are ready to be challenged,
you could even ask them why they just want
the answers. Third, there might be times
when you wind up “giving” the
answer, but you do so by showing in detail
how you arrived at the answer and inviting
students to explore with you other viable
ways to achieve the answer.
Back to
Top>>
If
I share authority with students in learning
settings, will I lose “control”
of what they are learning?
If by “losing control”
you mean having students interpret some
knowledge in ways that differ from you as
the authority, then the answer is “yes.”
However, if by “losing control”
you mean jeopardizing the degree to which
students learn, then the answer is “no.”
You will not lose control of the learning
process; rather, you will be sharing the
responsibility for learning with students;
in essence, you are letting go of some control
so that students can gain some control—or
ownership—and thereby take more responsibility
for their own learning.
Back to
Top>>
Will
engaged learning work in my discipline where
I must ensure students gain enough information
to advance to the next level and/or take
a standardized exam?
Yes, it will work. Engaging
in learning-centered education does not
mean you are not providing students with
information about your discipline. Students
still need to learn how to conduct an experiment,
what a sonnet is, take a derivative, learn
German words, and so forth. Students need
requisite knowledge in order to take future
courses. Engaged learning allows students
to more effectively synthesize, apply, and
evaluate this information—which ultimately
leads to informed judgments, new knowledge
construction, and critical thinking about
the subject matter.
Back
to Top>>
What
if I do not teach courses? Do I need to
be concerned with engaged learning?
Yes. Learning does not
just take place within the traditional “classroom.”
Learning takes place outside the classroom
as well, and those with responsibilities
outside the classroom can apply the principles
of engaged learning to these educational
efforts as well. For example, administrators
in a variety of settings can frame student
employment as an opportunity for engaged
learning.
Back
to Top>>
Aren’t
“co-curricular activities” just
for fun? How do they relate to engaged learning?
Certainly co-curricular
activities have aspects that are considered
“fun” such as meeting new people,
learning new skills, and so forth. However,
even though activities might be labeled
“fun” (just as courses may be
labeled “interesting”), co-curricular
efforts are designed to help students make
connections between what they are learning
in their courses with how this material
applies in their communities, their relationships,
and their personal development (i.e., who
they are and who they are becoming). “Fun”
may be a characteristic, but it is not the
main purpose, of co-curricular efforts.
Back to Top>>
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