A Reflective Essay of a Conceptual Model for Self-Directed Learning for the Adult Learner

Of the many factors affecting our lives today, the ever-changing landscape of education is at the forefront. Learning is a complex behavior which involves cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains. While pedagogy is the art and science of teaching children, andragogy is the art and science of teaching adults. The term pedagogy came into use in the seventh century. It wasn't until the 19th and 20th centuries that what we know as traditional learning theories—behaviorism, humanism, cognitivism, social cognitivism, and constructivism—were recognized. They were derived from the investigative tools of theorists—Pavlov, Skinner, Piaget, Freud, Maslow, Rogers, and Thorndike—to understand the nature of learning. In 1970, Malcolm Knowles promoted andragogy as a model of assumption that serves as a basis for an emergent theory. Today, the way of differentiating adult learners from children learners is through the process of andragogy.

The Value of Citations in Academic Disciplines

The following reflective essay focuses on the use of citations within academic disciplines. It focuses on my experiences and how these experiences relate to published literature. Moreover, as an individual in the discipline of neuroscience, this essay will focus largely on how citations apply to the discipline of neuroscience. Specifically, how the act of citing develops an individual’s rhetorical appeal and connectivity to the individual’s discipline.

“Pacience is an Heigh Vertu”: Managing the Canterbury Tales Project Via Textual Communities

This article functions as both a reflective essay and a pedagogical account of the second phase of the Canterbury Tales Project and the various successes and challenges that unfolded throughout that process. Our focus is how the project both managed the transcription team working locally at the University of Saskatchewan and facilitated transcription workshops abroad. We detail our training process and the transcription workflow as facilitated via the Textual Communities environment. We also examine and evaluate the causes of the project’s challenges—often the result of institutional pressures or technological changes—and our reactions to those challenges, emphasizing successful strategies. Finally, we proffer future changes for the project that we believe would have made considerable positive impact if implemented from the outset of phase two and still have potential as helpful resources now. It is our hope that in detailing our process we can help other large DH projects mimic our successes and, perhaps even more importantly, avoid any pitfalls that challenged us.

Abhinaya as Practice-as-Research

What does a collaborative process of an artistic creation entail? How does the individual components of text, music, and dance weave in a solo choreography? This article brings together the voices of the dancer (Sarkar), the choreographer (Dandavate), and the music composer (Mirle) who has also sung and is the curator of the project called Nachi Meera. This project has commissioned multiple artists working in different dance techniques to present Abhinaya-esque (meaning expressive dance works) expositions on songs by the renowned historical saint-poet Mirabai. Sarkar, Dandavate, and Mirle reflect upon their collaborative journeys in this reflective essay where the process of creating an Abhinaya is theorized as research. The dance piece itself stands by itself as a scholarly product with historical, performative, and artistic research methodologies informing the process. This article documents the collaborative process borrowing from scholar Robin Nelson’s Practice-as-Research (PaR) methodology and argues how the artistic product weaves verbal, kinesthetic, and aural communication in an iterative process of ‘doing-reflecting-reading-articulating-doing” (Nelson 32). Movement layers the intricacies of South Asian aesthetics or the Rasa theory that governs the mood of execution by the dancer. Improvisation through choreography supplements Mirabai’s lyrics and Mirle’s musical composition.

Nursing Students’ Experiences of Gratitude Journaling during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Gratitude journaling has been used to improve grateful disposition. However, there is only limited data available on its application experience. This study aimed to: (1) explore the experiences of nursing students who have participated in gratitude journaling; and (2) assess students’ views of gratitude journaling as a nursing intervention. This study implemented an eight-week program of gratitude journaling with fourth-year nursing students who took a mental health psychiatric nursing course at a South Korean university. Following the eight weeks, students reflected on their gratitude journaling experience in a reflective essay. Using content analysis, 53 essays were analyzed. Five categories were identified from the reflective essay, as follows: “A new beginning”, “The engine that motivates continued participation: gratitude sharing”, “The process driving change”, “Changes brought about by gratitude”, and “Self-reflection”. Based on this experience, nursing students believed that it is important to promote steady participation when administering gratitude journaling as a nursing intervention. The study findings suggest that the gratitude journaling not only helped with nursing students’ perspective, emotional, and behavioral aspects and stress management, but also provided an opportunity to advance a step further based on self-reflection.

I Was Once an Oppressor, But I Found the Strength Within to Free Myself

In this short reflective essay, I share how I underwent a metamorphosis during the COVID-19 pandemic. For the first time in my life, I chose to use my education and my life experiences as a historically marginalized individual of color to decolonize my pedagogy. Thanks to the scholarship of Ladson-Billings (1995), I was able to transform my pedagogy into one where the cultural and racial identities and lived experiences of my students are acknowledged and validated in our classroom, one where my students—even just for a short period—can experience what it feels like to not be bound by the shackles of society’s oppressors.

Steering the Nexus: iZindaba Zokudla and Governing for Sustainability

“iZindaba Zokudla” means we talk about the food that we eat. iZindaba Zokudla is a public innovation lab that uses stakeholder-engagement methods to create “opportunities for urban agriculture in a sustainable food system.” iZindaba Zokudla is presented as an extra-institutional means to govern the water, land, energy, and waste nexus. This reflective essay critically describes iZindaba Zokudla and applies this to the design of institutional steering mechanisms to govern the food, water, land, and energy nexus towards sustainability. Governance is an intersubjective and interactive process between the subjects of governance and governance itself. Sustainability, as an interactive process, implies the creation of autocatalytic and symbiotic communities in society that integrates diverse actors and stakeholders, inclusive of scientific and lay actors, and ecosystems. iZindaba Zokudla is a means to govern and create such communities, and this article describes and reflects on how iZindaba Zokudla has created and managed such symbiotic communities or autocatalytic networks in the food system. The article generalises how the activities conducted in iZindaba Zokudla can be used to govern the water, land, energy, and waste nexus for sustainability. The article shows how iZindaba Zokudla has realised a progressive governance through the facilitation of its Farmers' Lab and website; how it has created opportunities for participation; and how it enables critical reflection in society.

The Role of Educational Communication in Promoting a Student-Centered Learning Style in Multicultural Classrooms: A Reflective Essay on Learning and Teaching in Higher Education

This is a reflective essay on my own experience while learning and teaching in multicultural classroom in higher education in the UK. It emphasizes the indispensable relationship between the two fields of teaching–learning and communication processes in such heterogeneous environment. The essay focuses on how, in such context, teachers are key players, focused on excellent critical learning and teaching skills; these involve more than content expertise, or traditional methods, but becoming a student-centred, flexible and innovative teacher, going beyond the evaluation of feedback, to constantly exploring gaps in the learning and teaching process, and adjusting their teaching methods accordingly. Key emphasize is on how two-way, open communication endorses teachers’ awareness of discrepancies within their student groups and offers alternative individualized learning styles. Reflecting on my own experience, outcomes form focus groups, and qualitative interviews, the paper concludes with that, by meeting essential physiological, pedagogical as well as belonging needs and esteem, educational communication leads our efforts in optimizing teaching technique in class management, students engagement, also guide our efforts to attain a motivational climate for interactive learning. Best practices in educational communication can boost teachers’ efforts in employing the educational goals of HE, and recognize their societal impact.

Education in Times of the Pandemic COVID 19

In this reflective essay, I want to show the situation that I experienced in the last semester of my career, which was the investigative pedagogical final practicum at the Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia. I started developing this last stage in the “Escuela Normal Superior Santiago de Tunja”. Then, I had to change the institution, and I finished my practice in the “Institución Educativa Libertador Simón Bolívar”. In this process, the COVID 19 pandemic was expanding in almost every country, and the world stopped the normal development of activities, which included the academic institutions. For that reason, I decided to reflect about education around the world and some of the challenges that are always present. Also, I wanted to talk about the new difficulties related to the virus and the ways teaching could implement technological devices and internet connection. Finally, I write some of the implications that I consider important in these difficult times in which education will not stop.

TANTANGAN DAN PELUANG PENGEMBANGAN MATAKULIAH KEANEKARAGAMAN TUMBUHAN DI ERA DISRUPSI DARI PERSPEKTIF CALON GURU BIOLOGI

Abstrak. Matakuliah Keanekaragaman Tumbuhan (KT) memainkan peran penting untuk membekali mahasiswa mempelajari prinsip taksonomi. Taksonomi merupakan salah satu upaya konservasi. Di saat era disrupsi seperti saat ini, konservasi merupakan masalah global yang mendesak. Namun, banyak penelitian yang melaporkan bahwa matakuliah KT sulit untuk dipelajari, sehingga mahasiswa menjadi tidak tertarik untuk belajar. Penelitian ini ditujukan untuk mengeksplorasi minat melalui persepsi mahasiswa calon guru biologi tentang tantangan yang terjadi selama perkuliahan KT berlangsung, serta solusi yang dapat digunakan untuk mengembangakan matakuliah KT. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah metode penelitian kualitatif. Teknik pengumpulan data berupa reflective essay yang dianalisis menggunakan analisis tematik. Hasil eksplorasi persepsi mahasiswa calon guru biologi berupa tantangan dan peluang selama mengikuti perkuliahan KT. Tantangan yang dialami terangkum dalam empat tema: kesulitan pemahaman materi; keterbatasan media pembelajaran; metode pembelajaran kurang efektif; serta kesulitan management waktu. Peluang untuk mengembangkan matakuliah KT terangkum dalam empat tema besar: penguatan materi; optimalisasi media pembelajaran; optimalisasi metode pembelajaran; dan optimalisasi kegiatan praktikum.Abstract. Plant Diversity course (in Bahasa Keanekagaraman Tumbuhan) plays an essential role in facilitating students to learn taxonomic principles. Taxonomy is one of the conservation efforts. In this disruptive era, conservation is an urgent global problem. However, many studies have reported that this course is difficult to study, so that students are not interested in studying. This study is aimed at exploring interest through the perceptions of prospective biology teacher students about the challenges that emerge during KT course, as well as solutions that can be used to improve KT course. The research method used is qualitative research methods. The data collection technique was a reflective essay which then was analyzed using thematic analysis. The results of an exploration of the perceptions of biology teacher candidate students in confronting challenges and opportunities during KT course. The challenges experienced are summarized in four themes: difficulties in understanding the material; limited learning media; less effective learning methods; as well as time management difficulties. Meanwhile, the opportunities to develop KT course are also summarized in four major themes: strengthening material; optimization of learning media; optimization of learning methods; and optimization of practicum activities.