Category: Theories Policies Practices

I have had IT problems from the very start of this course; logging in to email, logging in to portal, accessing Moodle, accessing Canvas, Setting up Blog and Workflow. All of it has been nightmarish and I have found none of it straightforward but it’s with Moodle that I have found to be a consistent problem
Everything Everywhere All At Once is a great film title (and film!) but this is how I would describe Moodle. It has taken me the whole term to even begin to use it with any sense of being able to navigate the site; information is doubled up, or explained in different ways and located in different places and finding the right resources has felt like pot luck and delayed the actual joy of learning and getting into the PgCert, which I am only now beginning to experience. I’m dyslexic so I’m wondering if this is contributing to the difficulties I have found, in which case I don’t think that neuro-diverse people were considered when this site was designed, neglecting a commitment to Digital Equity
I do feel that the site sorely needs an overhaul but in the absence of this happening I will continue to get advice from my peers and also try using the Q&A forum, which I have not yet done and also flag up the issues I’m having with my tutor sooner

bell hooks: All about Love , new visions

This book is an interrogation and investigation of Love; what do mean when we talk about Love? From a starting point of hooks own experience growing up, and on into adult relationships, she moves on to question what messages we receive from society, culture and mass media and how this has influenced how we feel about Love; what does it mean to us, how does it show up in our lives, how can we be actively loving, not only to others but also to ourselves

“To teach in a manner that respects and cares for the souls of our students is essential if we are to provide the necessary conditions where learning can most deeply and intimately begin” bell hooks (2014)

I’m thinking about what Love means in the educational/university context; it feels that it is dangerous to talk about Love in regards to students, probably because of the narrow and limiting definitions that prevail in society that can often point to Romantic love
I feel an important aspect of student education is Pastoral Care and how we may support students and their individual approaches to their own ‘wellness’, or the daily lived experience of being Loving towards oneself. It is hugely important for students to engage in their own self care, especially as the implications of bad mental health also impact their studies and overall experience of their time at University. I feel as their tutors/lecturers we can easily have an influence in supporting students by introducing them to quick and simple self care techniques, enabling them to be more present in their classes and studies and enable them to have practical resources to help with anxiety, for instance. These will not only help them whilst at University but also gives them support skills as they move into the wider world.

References
hooks, bell (2018). All about Love: New Visions. New York: Harper Perennial.
Universities UK. (n.d.).

hooks, bell (2014). Teaching to Transgress. pg14, Routlidge

Stepchange: mentally healthy universities. [online] Available at: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/what-we-do/policy-and-research/publications/stepchange-mentally-healthy-universities.

Algorithmic vs. Heuristic Tasks

In one of the (older) Sparks Journals, I came across an issue called

Killing The Goose: Conflicts Between Pedagogy and Politics in The Delivery of an Arts Education (file:///Users/foundation/Downloads/Teaching%20methods%20in%20creative%20disciplines%20(Journal%20Article,%202005).pdf/ 02/02/2023/ Ruth Dineen & Elspeth Collins)

Within it was a part about Algorithmic and Heuristic tasks that helped me understand both what the different terms mean, and which approach I use in my teaching and why it works

Algorithmic tasks tend to be step by step routes leading to desired results; for instance when I observed James he was teaching a workshop called Trouser elements. He explained the steps from measuring the garment through to producing a zip fly for the students to then reproduce by copying his ‘steps’.

On the other hand Heuristic tasks don’t have to have an identifiable goal, although they may. Unlike the Algorithmic task the Heuristic approach has no road map; the learners navigate their own way through the territory, which maybe new to them, employing existing knowledge and experience and crucially creative intuition. They may have an idea of where they are heading but won’t initially know what steps to take or the know how to get there

Algorithmic Tasks don’t demand creative thinking, Heuristic Tasks do.

Algorithmic approach vs. heuristic approach

https://www.bioinformatics.org/wiki/Comparison_of_algorithms_and_heuristics#:~:text=An%20algorithm%20is%20a%20step,a%20guide%20for%20subsequent%20explorations.

When thinking about my Projection Workshop I see that it’s an Heuristic task that I am setting. I introduce a range of equipment, how to use it and encourage risk taking and ‘play’. This gives the students a sense of ownership as they direct the way they wish to work; the learners are fully involved in making and finding solutions to their ideas