A Tool for a Future Job Hunt: Creating a Portfolio for the Final Project

As the title suggests, I have decided to do a portfolio for my final project. This is why I'm forgoing the other options:

1. I have two other research papers I'm currently working on (one in the data analysis stage, one in the lit review stage) for two other classes this semester. Voluntarily adding a third paper seemed less than intelligent.
2. Although the online certification sounds interesting, and I will likely look into it before graduation, I'm not sure that's a good focus for me currently given the syllabus portion of the option. To do a job I feel would be satisfactory to my personal standard and devote adequate time to my other projects, I would probably need to give up sleep or eating or something like that (especially since I haven't yet been responsible for a class of my own to have some experience from which to draw).

For my portfolio, I will be using either Google Sites or Wordpress. I realize UA has given us access to Portfolium, but I don't perceive that I have the time to spend learning it. I have used various website tools, though, and feel confident in my ability to turn out a fairly nice website. Google Sites is new to me, though I've used many Google programs (I don't imagine it's too different from anything else by Google or other similar programs) and already have an account. That's why it's my top preference. I have used Wordpress previously for a project with the Alabama Small Business Development Center. If Google Sites turns out to be less intuitive than I hope, I'll bite the bullet and create a new account with Wordpress (my previous work did not require I create my own account).

My portfolio will include the following pages:

• Homepage: an introduction to me and why I'm pursuing a PhD in Management Information Systems. This will also provide a brief overview of the content contained within the site. I may possibly do a video here, as well.
• Teaching Philosophy: I will adjust my philosophy post from the blog and include it on the website as its own page.
• Coursework: a listing of the courses I have completed thus far in the program, summarizing what was learned. This is unlikely to include examples of my work as the research papers are ongoing and the other courses used mostly exams and homework--most of which I would not consider substantial.
• Vita: a list of the hyperlinked subsections of my vita will be provided below my contact and educational information. Each major section of my CV will have a separate page.
• Teaching: although I have not yet had a class I was fully responsible for, I have done presentations for various reasons and have lectured occasionally in one of the courses for which I TA. This section will include the work I do as a TA given that it encompasses some tasks related to teaching.
• Research: my one conference proceeding and my ongoing projects will be listed here. I may also include a research statement.
• Service: although I haven't been as involved in service projects this year, I have participated in several during the MBA and before. This will provide a chronological listing of my service activities.
• Organizations and Honors: I am and have been part of several wonderful organizations that I want to acknowledge. I anticipate this being a relatively short page as I'll try to focus on the most important, but I do feel it is important to include.
• Other Experience: despite having little teaching experience currently, I do have extensive experience working with college students through my time in Residence Life and Admissions. I also worked for the Alabama SBDC throughout my MBA program, which involved a form of research. I've decided to include this section in order to highlight the work experiences I have had that do not fit elsewhere within my CV.

I don't see a point in adding an additional "Contact Me" page given that all the information to do so will be within the Vita. Although it is a lot of content, some of it is content I already have somewhere; this will provide a nice opportunity to gather it all in one place. Some of the content will be created specifically for this portfolio (such as everything for the Coursework page and a research statement). All in all, I believe it will be worthwhile to spend the time creating a really nice online portfolio that I can easily maintain over the next several years as I progress in my program. It's not something I've heard of others in my field doing as they go on the market, so it could help me stand out (in a good way) during my job search. Plus, having a website seems appropriate for someone in a technology field.

Examining Exams

We have all had that teacher who loved to write test questions where one answer was slightly more right than another or that had some trick of the wording. You may have even written some questions like this and have been very proud thinking you were so clever.

Full disclosure: I have written the tricky, "I'm so clever" questions, but usually for homework. I know better now.

But if we're honest, what is the point of an exam? If you said to stroke the teacher's ego and make them feel clever and smart:

Exams, quizzes, tests...these assessments should be used as learning tools. They are a chance to assess what has or hasn't been learned. They communicate to students what the faculty member expects them to be learning and understanding in the course. Students should feel like the exam is appropriate, useful, and fair.

Don't be like my exam last week where we had to learn material barely covered in class in order to complete the take-home portion. Still not amused.

It can be difficult to get out of our own heads and step (back) into the shoes of a student in our class. As such, there is a simple tool you can use to determine if your test is from the black lagoon: exam evaluations. This is no more than five (5) questions you ask students either at the end of an exam or as soon after the exam as possible (preferably before grades are released because, you know, perceptions).

If you're concerned with anonymity, Blackboard and Google forms will let you set up questionnaires and collect data anonymously. Otherwise, it could be a separate sheet to submit with the exam.

This is best used with an assessment that will be given more than once during the course (so final exams are not ideal because there's no benefit to the students if they respond). The questions asked should be specific as it may be difficult for students to express answers that are helpful to improvements if the question is too broad. You should also only ask about aspects of the exam you're willing to change (such as format, question types, etc.), so it's helpful to consider beforehand how you might respond to comments--both in defense of the test and in possible changes to the next one.

When analyzing the feedback, it may be easy to tally answers to each question, but also be cognizant of the content of open responses. These answers provide insight into the frustrations students face (such as trick questions) as well as the perception of fairness of the exam (such as feeling as though the test content was a complete departure from their expectations studying). It is important to separate comments addressing fairness of the test as a learning instrument from those addressing fairness of the grading. While there may be valid points in the latter group of comments, this tool is primarily for assessing the former.

The next time you give a test, consider asking students what they think of it. And not just standing in front of the classroom asking how it went, because it's unlikely you're going to receive the honest, useful feedback you need. If you're serious about improving your assessments for the benefit of your students, it's important to do so thoughtfully and in such a way as to facilitate analyzing and contemplating the feedback.

Go on; let your students be Chuck Norris and help you learn how to improve your exam.

Reference

Angelo, T.A. and Cross, K.P. (1993). Classroom assessment techniques: A handbook for college faculty. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

Desire to Develop Confident Professionals Who Think Critically

The purpose of a business education is more than an introduction to core concepts (such as industry analysis, the marketing 4Ps, and Porter's Five Forces); it is about developing young professionals who can confidently enter the workforce with a basic understanding of business processes and the ability to learn about and adapt to their specific position and the greater environment. This is especially important in Management Information Systems given the rapidly changing technological environment and the varying systems employed within organizations.

Students learn best what they can apply to their lives and their environment. If they can take classroom concepts and apply them to a real-world project, the opportunity for deep engagement and learning is enhanced. Keeping apprised of current events can also make the classroom feel more relevant to life after college. This belief in application is based on my experiences as a student in the business school.

When I teach students in MIS, I have three goals:

1. To encourage critical thinking and creativity, particularly in regards to problem-solving,
2. To challenge students and help them realize a greater extent of ability, and
3. To assist in their development as young professionals.

Problem-solving requires some measure of creativity because the most obvious responses are often already addressed, especially when considering the business environment and how a company might proceed. It also requires the ability to analyze available information--in addition to acquiring or accessing that information--and evaluate alternatives. Thinking critically is necessary in justifying decisions and selecting the best alternative given what is known and the context in which it will be applied. A case competition or other project of similar scale and scope provides an opportunity to develop these skills and practice making practical recommendations. Case studies present a smaller scale and scope for practice, as well.

I believe we are never fully prepared for what life (or work) brings us. There will always be a challenge where we don't believe we have the skills or the knowledge to be successful. If we don't try, though, we don't grow. One of the safest places for a young person to stumble is the classroom. It is a disservice to students if we don't expect them to work at their education. As such, I believe in providing a substantial challenge--again, in the form of a project, though it can manifest in different ways. It could be thought of as a stretch goal, something achievable with some additional effort. The course is scaffolded to support students and build the skills and abilities required to tackle each aspect of the challenge. My intention is not for students to fail; while failure is a part of life and shouldn't be stigmatized, I want to build students up and show them they are more capable than they may believe. I include safety nets (deadlines for sections of the project) throughout the semester in order to evaluate their progress and look for signs of someone struggling or venturing off-course so I can provide additional support or direction. I want to boost their confidence, not destroy it.

Lastly, these are our young professionals. They need to be prepared for what comes after college is finished and they're working full-time. Developing young professionals, to me, entails fostering responsibility and encouraging an awareness of current events. The former arises in the form of deadlines, acceptable dress for presentations, and proper communication. Although I have set deadlines for parts of the project, there is some flexibility if the student is timely in raising concerns. The one deadline that cannot be moved is the end of the class. Deadlines also encompass exam dates, which can be flexible for timely excuses and (if requested) proper documentation, and assigned reading. Acceptable dress may be business casual or business professional, both of which can have complex guidelines (particularly business casual). Proper communication includes arranging for meetings outside of office hours, using proper grammar and email etiquette, and submitting requests over an appropriate timeline--i.e. requesting an extension a day or two before a deadline instead of two hours before the deadline.

Current events are important because the business environment is impacted by many external factors (i.e. politics, technological changes, consumer confidence, etc.). College campuses often become a bubble where the rest of the world can seem distant and irrelevant. However, part of being a young professional is understanding the environment around you and your organization. Current events are not just applicable after graduation; they can also be used to demonstrate course concepts in action. For example, when discussing security concerns and implications in information systems, a conversation including the Yahoo! breaches or the Wells Fargo accounts fiasco can help make the content more real and, thus, more memorable.

When I teach, I want to facilitate student learning. Not just of the course content, but of skills students can carry with them as they complete their degree programs and enter the workforce. My goal is for each student to grow as a confident professional who can analyze and adapt to their environment.

(**Please note: Other than lecturing a few class sections of MIS 200--which entailed following the already developed PowerPoint slides--I have not taught a class or been solely responsible for a course, yet. This is why this teaching philosophy statement lacks specific details. However, I drew on my experiences as a student in terms of approaches to which I especially responded well and on the reflections I've had in the past couple months in this course of how I intend to approach a classroom.)

A Recipe with Which to Play: Reviewing Barkley's "Handbook"

This was a much easier read than I thought it was going to be. The word handbook tends to bring to mind dry, prescriptive, almost commandment-esque writing. Barkley's text was conversational and the lessons from research were interspersed with opinion and anecdote. I also greatly appreciate the 50 tips and strategies (T/S) and 50 student engagement techniques (SET); particularly how they are clustered and easily identified to later skimming and idea generation.

Perhaps my favorite part of this text was Barkley's recipe simile. I think this is successful because it reaffirms that good teaching is tough and that what works for one person won't necessarily work for another. It seems, too often, teaching is reduced to this idea of being easy, that anyone could teach given the inclination. It often seems prescriptive: give so many tests, assign homework, prepare slides from the book, lecture, grade, answer emails. But even as people dismiss it as easy, they also caution that it is time consuming--or perhaps my advisor realizes I'd fall down the rabbit hole of spending tons of time preparing for every lesson, in part because I like trying new things (and this book has definitely given me plenty to think about implementing once I have a class of my own).

As I was going through the SET chapters, I found my mind wandering to possible applications in the class I currently TA and will eventually (more than likely within a couple years) teach. How I could structure the class to cover everything that must be covered given there are multiple on-campus sections and they need to be structured similarly in terms of content and grade composition--this is what I've been told to this point, though I suppose I'll know for certain when I'm listed as the instructor--but also how I could possibly free up some time for deeper learning and engagement with the material. The course is an introductory MIS class with predominantly business students enrolled, many of whom are in their last year of the program. I think there could be a lot of potential for deeper engagement given the ubiquity of technology in our day to day lives, particularly in the workforce.

Before I go on a tangent about the class and what I think I might change and why, I'll return to Barkley.

The other aspect of the book I appreciated was its broad applicability. Yes, it is focused specifically on college classrooms, but many of the SETs could be implemented in K-12 with some creative reworking. There are techniques and T/Ss that are utile in either (or both) large and small class sections. 

Although I really enjoy this book and find it a valuable addition to my library, there are a couple of ways I think it could be improved.

The first is the placement of the anecdotes. Barkley includes these following the foundational chapters for the book, but references T/Ss and SETs within each anecdote. My issue here is that the reader hasn't had a chance to flip through the chapters on tips and techniques before seeing these references. I believe it would be more effective to have the anecdotes come at the end as a way to see how you can incorporate several tips and techniques in a complimentary fashion. Either that, or including a chapter at the end that serves as a return to the anecdotes and identifying the tips and techniques there. 

The second (and last) is the purpose statement of each SET. For each SET, Barkley provides some highlighted summary information (individual or group, duration, focus, online transferability), followed by a combination of description and purpose in paragraph form. In order to promote the ability to reference these chapters more easily, I feel the author should highlight the purpose of each activity in a sentence or bullet point before the description. It might also be beneficial to have a short description for those with longer ones. Although some of the titles are self-explanatory, many are rather vague.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book and found it inspiring--or perhaps I'm just blinded by all the sparkly new possibilities before me.

Either way, this is bound to be a well-used, valued reference for me going forward, especially as I explore these techniques and start to creatively play with the recipes.

Motivated to Learn and Grow: A Self-Evaluation

The original self-evaluation I wrote was especially hard on myself. 

So I scrapped it. I was hard on myself because the video failed to live up to my imaginings in my mind. In part because I was overly ambitious with the content, and in part because the imagery wasn’t what I had initially hoped it would be. However, I realize now that there are several things I did of which I am proud.

The first is that I didn’t write a script. It was important to me not to sound scripted. Yes, that meant I occasionally used filler words, or misspoke (several of the misspeaking clips were re-recorded), but it meant I was able to (I think) sound more enthusiastic and natural in my delivery while working from a set of notes to keep me on track.

The second is that my presentation doesn’t include a lot of text. Especially if I’m in a classroom, I hate slides that have too much text on them because it’s not a good presentation tool; I spend more time reading what’s on the slides or writing everything before the next one comes up to listen. Although these make for good study tools later, they’re ineffective to me as a classroom tool. That aside, I also feel really clever for how I organized the images and linked them to create the M in my final image. It’s cheesy, but I’m proud of it.

The third thing is I covered what I wanted to cover. I feel I gave a pretty comprehensive overview of motivation and how different people might apply varying techniques to motivate a class. It is not as deep as I wanted, and there aren’t as many anecdotes (I love my anecdotes) and self-reflective questions as I had originally planned, but I at least touched on everything. Hopefully, the brief introduction and the links inspired someone to go learn a little more and go digging.

Now, the things of which I’m less proud.

First (if you couldn’t tell from the blog post), going over time. I really had intended to stick to the 6 minutes. Looking at it now, I could have cut sections from the beginning and ended up with a decent video. At the same time, seeing that many of my classmates also went over makes me feel a little better in that I’m not alone in being overly ambitious.

Second, agonizing over the length in both the video and blog post. I’m hard on myself. Sometimes I forget not to be so vocal about that. I know apologizing doesn’t help, that it can damage how people perceive you and your work, but I can’t seem to stop. It is something my fiancé is working with me on because it annoys him to no end. (Believe it or not, I am better than I used to be about it.)

Third, I didn’t really summarize the presentation at the end. Yes, I returned to the learning objectives and talked through what I hope had been gleaned, but that isn’t really a summary.

The last thing isn’t really here or there, and I’ll explain. I feel I may have spoken a bit too quickly in the video. Ever since 10^th grade when I had my first speech class, the unanimous criticism was I speak too quickly. I was even told senior year that I recited Hamlet’s third soliloquy astonishingly fast. The more excited I get, the faster I talk. I have greatly improved in this, though. In large part from talking with people and doing presentations all the time for two years, followed by an MBA program and case competitions. I still speak faster than many people. I accept this about myself and have come to accept that there is a level of slow that I cannot do without losing my train of thought. And that is one thing for which I’m done apologizing.

Overall, it isn’t what I had imagined it would be, but I wouldn’t say it’s bad, either. You live and you learn and hopefully improve along the way. I look forward to learning from the feedback you all provide.

Motivation Module: Why some learn and others just pass

Hello everyone,

I present to you the motivation learning module:

I know this video is just over 8 minutes and the goal was to be under 6. The original video was much longer, so this was pared down from where I had wanted it to be; I suppose I fell victim to being overly ambitious (or eyes bigger than mouth syndrome). I did feel it was important to address the points included in order to give you a basic foundation in what motivation entails and to introduce some different leadership styles so as to demonstrate why there isn't a standard formula for motivating students. I hope you find the information in the video helpful.

Here is the Prezi, in case you'd like to scroll through at your own pace.

As promised, here are some additional resources if you'd like to read more and see where I sourced different information for my presentation:

General Motivation Topics

http://study.com/academy/lesson/the-importance-of-motivation-in-an-educational-environment.html

http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/motivation/motivate.html (This one is rather detailed and contains more information on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs)

https://www.education.com/reference/article/motivation/

https://www.education.com/reference/article/motivation-affects-learning-behavior/

http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-motivation-in-management-definition-process-types.html (This one also has information on Maslow's Hierarchy, as well as Expectancy Theory and Equity Theory)

http://www.forbes.com/sites/glennllopis/2012/06/04/top-9-things-that-ultimately-motivate-employees-to-achieve/#1526ae14fa7f (This is the employee motivation list; I changed some of the language to be more generally applicable)

https://www.psychologytoday.com/basics/motivation

Progress Principle

https://hbr.org/2011/05/the-power-of-small-wins

Leadership Styles

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/managers-different-leadership-styles-motivate-teams-10823.html (Based on the description, I referred to Quiet Leadership as Facilitative so as to improve the descriptiveness of the label)

Motivating Students

https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/motivating-students/

https://teach.com/what/teachers-change-lives/teachers-motivate/

http://www.unl.edu/gradstudies/current/teaching/motivating

(Given the observation from these readings and the class readings, I tried to determine which motivators were commonly recommended, and which may be well suited to certain leadership styles.)

As I've mentioned, there is a great deal of research in management (though also within other business areas) regarding motivation, and I believe much of it could be applicable to the classroom setting. There is also a great deal of research in education literature, given several resources here and generally available from online searches regarding motivation in the classroom. This list is far from comprehensive, but merely reflects the resources I referred to in building this module.

Again, I'm sorry it ran a bit long, but I hope you found something valuable in this module.

The Plan: Why Do Some Learn and Others Just Pass?

I’m sure there is a great deal of research into the above question within the education discipline, just as I’m sure this entails a multi-faceted and complex answer. Perhaps the simplest answer (or at least one of them) is motivation. Motivation is precisely the topic of this soon-to-be teaching module.

Because who doesn’t need an adorable penguin cheering you on?

Being from the business school, motivation is a topic we tend to cover a lot (see: things managers should know). I’m sure it is covered in other disciplines as well (like psychology, since I imagine that’s where management found it given they “borrow” often from psychology), but just to be sure, that’s where the module will begin: defining motivation. Now, this is easier said than done because motivation is rather complex. After consulting several resources, there are a few common threads in the general definitions provided. While this overall definition will be our starting point, we will also explore the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

Additionally, we will also look at three (of many) aspects of motivation. These are the Progress Principle, Expectancy Theory, and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs. Briefly (because I’d hate to spoil the module too much):

Progress Principle: making progress, even just a little, boosts motivation, emotions, and perceptions. Woo!

Expectancy Theory: the reward/punishment should fit the effort expended.

Maslow’s Hierarchy: we must satisfy more basic needs (such as hunger and tiredness) before we can pursue higher needs (such as being the next Aristotle or Steve Jobs)

Given that I have a feeling at least some of us have had prior exposure to many of these concepts, that shouldn’t be it. Why? A few reasons.

1. If you have studied motivation before, six minutes of this will bore you.
2. If you haven’t studied motivation before, you may be wondering how to use this newfound knowledge.
3. This is a course about teaching, and it would probably be a more meaningful module if motivation was tied back to the overall course.

So this means good news for you; everything discussed for the module to this point should take (with careful practice) about 3 minutes, meaning we still have three minutes to talk about students. That’s right, we’re taking the general concept of motivation and throwing it in the classroom.

I’m sure we’ve all been (or at least seen) this student at least once

This last half of the module has two foci: what motivates students and how teachers can motivate students. These go hand in hand as understanding what might motivate someone enables you to take steps to try providing that motivation. However, some tactics will work better for certain people depending on their leadership style (yay, more management concepts). Now, you could run a search for leadership styles and wind up with any number of styles from four to about 12, maybe more. But this isn’t a management lesson; it’s a module about motivation in the classroom, so there’s no quiz at the end. We’ll cover four leadership styles along with how teachers in each of those styles might work to motivate students in their classes.

Now bear with me. I’m sure you’re looking at our intended journey and wondering how this is going to happen in six minutes or less. The answer is: trust me. As I’ve hinted at, motivation is a huge topic in and of itself, as are many of the subtopics. The objective is not expertise or mastery; it’s introduction, exposure. There are countless resources available regarding motivation, its various subtopics, and how to motivate/what motivates students. This is a starting point for further exploration (and I’ll even provide hyperlinks to my sources in the blog post for the module).

I believe I mentioned I’m pretty up to date on kids’ movies

Here are the questions we should be able to answer by the end of the module:

• What is motivation?
• What are some factors contributing to or influencing motivation?
• How might you motivate students in the classroom?

The final aspect of the plan is how to deliver the module. I’ve already referenced that it will be six minutes or less; I haven’t yet said it will be a video (but you probably figured that out already). However, I will not be using PowerPoint. I will be using Prezi as it better facilitates the use of multimedia. That’s right; this module is going to be visual and use text only as needed. This will hopefully keep your attention on the dialogue instead of reading ahead. In addition to more visuals, I intend to provide anecdotes, as well as pose questions for self-reflection as we go.

This will be a challenge to accomplish well, but I’m motivated to tackle this module. I hope to deliver a great video learning experience that encourages you to look more into this complex subject and to consider your own approach in the classroom.