Theodore Roosevelt made it clear that “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”. I am constantly reminded that students that I engage with are not where I was when attempted my tertiary studies. They face different challenges and are in a different context. If I don’t care about them within their context, why should they care about what I have to say.

I want my students to know that I am indeed on their side, because their success is consequently my success and so their outcomes and results are important to me. Therefore, it is important to foster an environment of trust, where students don’t feel overwhelmed or intimidated by the nature of the material being presented. There are no “stupid” questions. The information is usually right there in front of them, and I believe It is up to the student to harness, exploit and manifest greatness from it. With this being said students have to understand that they are ultimately responsible for their own learning experience (Rashid & Asghar 2016). It is my job to give them an appetite for education and nudge their curiosity in the right direction.

I believe students learn the best when they can actively construct knowledge and build on already existing knowledge. Sharing is caring and every year new students impress me with nuances and teach me simple things I may not have noticed. The balance is between being able to support and challenge accurate information and the ability to allow for a connection to new information (Cordingley et al. 2015).

The discipline that I find myself in is ever changing. Technology and software are continuously improving and updating, I feel a responsibility to equip students with the ability to solve problems and find the answers. It is vital as a digital designer to not only grasp the technological aspect of design and creativity but to develop the ability to reason. I am consistently thinking of strategies that will enable my students to develop a good sense of design balanced with being able to manipulate the software. I find importance in being able to combine the how and the why. Therefore, I attempt to provide problem-based learning formats which activate student learning. I strongly encourage open discussion in the classroom and often instigate peer to peer collaborations to stimulate students to draw their own lessons from what is presented, rather than simply relying on the lecturer to impart ideas. Scaffolding is a vital part of the learning process and I will ensure that students are presented with the opportunity to actively practice or master a specific skill.

I try and achieve this for my students by continuously going back to these three ideals:

Life-Long Learning

Use personal experience to teach relevance, exposing students to real life industry opportunities. Broaden their world view.

Collaboration and Communication

Allow space to let collaboration happen, set up actives and class work that fosters idea sharing to take place.

Classroom Management

Hold students accountable for the ownership of their education. Foster respect, responsibility and a readiness to learn

References:

Cordingley P, Higgins S, Greany T, Buckler N, Coles-Jordan D, Crisp B, Saunders L & Coe R 2015. Developing great teaching: lessons from the international reviews into effective professional development, Project Report. teacher Development Trust, London. Available from http://dro.dur.ac.uk/15834/1/15834.pdf.

Rashid T & Asghar HM 2016. Technology use, self-directed learning, student engagement and academic performance: Examining the interrelations. Computers in Human Behavior, 63, 604-612.