By Maristela Petrovic-Dzerdz, Instructional Design Coordinator, EDC
Research tells us that one of the most important factors influencing motivation for learning and succeeding in an academic environment is relevance. If students cannot see a connection between what they are learning in class and the outside world, their own lives or their future careers, their motivation will be challenged.
Recently, I was interviewed on CKCU’s Midweek along with some fellow colleagues about how professors can address tragic global events with students. The interview got me thinking about the topic, and I thought it was important to explore it in more depth.
When some major event happens in the world or a local community, and in particular if it is in any way related to course content, the first thing I would suggest an instructor do is acknowledge it. If there is a live class very soon after the event took place, the instructor should carve out some time at the beginning of class to acknowledge what has happened. If the next live class is days away, or if the course is online, the instructor can use the announcement tool in cuLearn to create a post, which will automatically generate an email to all students in the class.
In this first acknowledgment of the event, the instructor should model a behaviour for students – reminding them that the first information shared by mainstream or social media is incomplete, often contradicting, and not necessarily from very reliable sources, and that it is too early to start sharing opinions on the still developing situation. It sometimes takes hours, days, and even weeks before there is credible and reliable information available about the event. This is the first “teachable moment” – advising students to very critically assess information they are presented with, and to be patient until a more complete picture of the event is available, before passing any judgments.
Teachable moment: “the moment when unique, high interest situation arises that lends itself to discussion of a particular topic” (Lozo, F. (2005). The Project Gutenberg eBook of Sequential Problem Solving)
However, the instructor should enable the opportunity for a conversation, whether in a live class or in an online format, and waiting too long to address the situation is not advisable either since students will find different platforms for conversation outside of the class. When setting the stage for this conversation, it is very important to remind students of the expectations for proper communication in the academic environment – that although the topic is sensitive, the exchange, whether oral or written, has to be respectful, and that arguments should be supported with facts, knowledge and research, rather than only with personal beliefs and opinions. The preservation of the learning environment as a “safe” space that everyone feels welcome and comfortable in should remain a paramount objective.
Maintaining the discussion at the expected level can be challenging in an online environment. In a live class, a comment made in the heat of a discussion might get immediately corrected, apology made, and “lessons learned” under the careful guidance of the instructor. But in an online environment, if the discussion is asynchronous, the written word could be taken out of context by someone who has just joined the discussion, igniting further the exchange and quickly steering it in a wrong direction. Furthermore, the students who ignited the conflict might delete their previous posts, making it hard to objectively analyze the situation post factum.
This is why the online discussion on a sensitive topic has to be closely monitored and guided by the instructor, who should read all posts, jump in and intervene if needed, with more information and guidance. If an inappropriate comment is made, it is very important to immediately react and make the post invisible so that it doesn’t continue to have a negative impact, to comment about the inappropriateness of the post which will not be tolerated, while keeping it as evidence to use in further communication with the student who made it.
Giving students an opportunity to practice engaging in challenging but constructive discussions with individuals who have, potentially, diametrically opposed opinions and beliefs, is another “teachable moment.” It is a skill they will be able to utilize when they are talking with their family or friends around the dinner table, or engaging in online discussions, and it will last them a lifetime.
If we accept that the purpose of education is to help us comprehend the world, in all its complexity, to find our own place and role in it, and to learn about the ways in which we can each contribute towards a better society, then educators should try to incorporate unique moments when the academic and real world collide into the teaching and learning process to help students make a step forward in their educational journey.