Week 11 Reflections

There are a few instructional designer, training manager, and competencies that I would to develop.  First, I would like to develop my “[application of] current research and theory to practice” and “apply basic research skills to design projects” (Reiser & Dempsey, 2007, p. 275).  While this is two competencies, the commonality is research.  I take in a lot of great research-based information via these Master’s courses, Baker College of Jackson professional development (PD), the Michigan Developmental Education Consortium (MDEC), and other professional, and sometimes personal, interactions.  I don’t however, always further consider and apply the information I’ve gained; the worst of all is that I cannot pinpoint why. I have restructured my course at the beginning of every quarter, so I’m not set in my ways.  I attend and now present PD at Baker College of Jackson, so I’m not reluctant to learn.  Or maybe I’m in denial.  I feel that this post is going to become very personal; maybe I should have started it with “Dear Diary...”. 

Second, I would like to develop my “[evaluation of] training and performance interventions” (Reiser & Dempsey, 2007, p. 275).  As I just mentioned, I attend and now present PD at Baker College of Jackson.  In the past few years, I’ve become more critical and demanding of PD.  Specifically, I want better PD, and more of it.  I always underestimated the value of my evaluation of the PD offered; I either attributed it to my lack of an educational background or the fact that others don’t learn technologies as quickly as I do and need the introductory training.  The question I often want to pose to myself and other faculty is “how are we challenging ourselves to become better educators?”  I feel incompetent to teach Health Sciences, Business, and Computer Information Systems instructors how to become better educators.  What I can do is provide PD that will encourage them to challenge themselves, and thus challenge their students.  I get into a rut every Spring Quarter and am sure that this happens to other instructors, too.  I want to recharge them, to challenge them, and myself, to be excited for and value PD for professional growth and (here’s my favorite line) an improved learning experience for our students.

A third competency (although there’s many more) that I would like to develop is my “develop[ment] and monitor[ing] of a strategic plan” (Reiser & Dempsey, 2007, p. 275).  Specifically, I want to focus on the monitoring of a plan.  I have learned great things and have the best intentions, but I have poor follow-through.  I need to learn to ask “why” after asking “what works and what doesn’t work?”  Eh, maybe I’m blaming this on my lack of pedagogical knowledge, but I don’t always see the value in monitoring my plan.  I’d even be happy if I kept a better record of the things I try in class.  As I mentioned, I restructure my course at the beginning of every quarter, because of what worked and what didn’t work.  I have my old syllabi and course calendars that have what we did, but I wish I monitor the effects, students’ reactions, and other plan-related events.  Hmm, in a nutshell, the competencies I wish to develop are research, evaluation, and monitoring.  So, I need to just use what I learn, see how it works, and record it.  "Thanks for listening, Diary..."