The Maricopa Institute for Learning (MIL)

Viewing The Scholarship Of Teaching And Learning From The Back Of The Room
Nancy Siefer and Elizabeth Skinner, 2001 MIL Fellows

The goal of our MIL Fellowship project was to explore and promote more meaningful communication about learning and teaching among students and their instructors. We believe that meaningful communication is a prerequisite to the establishment of a "community of learners" in which instructors learn to see their classrooms from the viewpoints of their students and students better understand the perspectives of their teachers. Only in such a community can effective instruction and valid assessment occur.

Our project was designed to support the three essential criteria of the scholarship of teaching and learning: public discussion of classroom experience, critical review by peers, and a willingness to use shared experience to change as teachers. We worked as partners to do our research and to take an in-depth look at teaching and learning in a psychology course taught by Skip Pollack. One of us gained an "insider" perspective by taking Skip's class as a student for one semester, while the other gained an "outsider" perspective by interviewing students and the instructor throughout the semester.

Nancy had the luxury of reentering the classroom as a student and observing the dynamics from the back of the room. Elizabeth was able to listen to students' voices describing the classroom from their points of view. By comparing and integrating the information gained through these insider-outsider roles, we began to define a common framework within which meaningful dialogue about learning can occur. The discussions of what we observed involved not only the two of us but also Skip and Maria Chavira, the MIL Faculty Chair, and as Skip commented, "provided a safe place to talk about the process of teaching and to look at my own skills." Through ongoing dialogue, we created a community where we became comfortable with being uncomfortable about our teaching; or as Maria said, she was "lifted out of her seat" by our discussions. This shared experience also provided us with a unique opportunity to reflect on our own teaching.

Each of us has changed as a result of being part of this community of scholars. We reexamined our assumptions about our role as teacher, such as the presumed need to make learning "easy and fun." The details of classroom interaction became more meaningful. We learned, for example, that the types of questions students ask -- and don't ask -- reveal their level of knowledge. Skip has become more sensitive to how her use of technology, such as PowerPoint, may sometimes shift ownership of deep learning from student to teacher. Maria has observed how her behavior may either encourage or inadvertently discourage student questions. Nancy, by giving up the role of final authority and acknowledging she doesn't always have the answers, has found that students' discussion and inquiry have deepened. Elizabeth, becoming comfortable with the role of conflict in learning, has noticed an increase in students' willingness to challenge each other and the teacher.

This community is just the beginning for us. It serves as a basis for expanding our experience on our individual colleges and across the District. Without public discussion with our colleagues, any improvement of teaching and learning will remain at a superficial level. We need a new way to explore why we do what we do and why we love what we love.