TEACHING PORTFOLIO EXTRACT 2003-2004
Mark Floden
My philosophy of teaching is to facilitate learning. Recognizing that true learning starts from within the student, I might say that I am more interested in lighting a fire than in filling a bucket. I want my students to grow in confidence as well as in learning particular facts or skills or methods. I hope that I can contribute to them becoming more happy and useful citizens, possessing skills and knowledge enough to gain employment but also the confidence and desire to continue learning. To make this happen in the class I try to ensure that there are practical learning experiences for my students.
I want to help my students to find the tools they need to learn how to learn in their areas of interest. This requires giving them opportunities to develop leadership and real world experience. Ideally I would expose them to international influences.
I accept that the advancement of the new learning paradigm and focus on the end goal which is for the students to learn. Making this the means and the end of my activities which might not always be called teaching, but which I expect will always result in learning.
The graduate outcomes help me in focusing more on the student as a whole rather than just specific theoretical points. My hope is that by framing the learning experience in the context of the graduate outcomes the students will not only learn specific skills and knowledge but also grow as individuals. This is important to me. In order to better assess the individual members of a group, I use project discussion meetings. In these meetings I interview each student so this becomes a viva process.
I am very excited about using the new technologies (including my WebSite and discussion boards) in the learning experience to provide a blended learning that fits in with this philosophy to this end I use a web site and discussion boards to encourage a learning community and to provide a resource for student learning.
Goals in Progress |
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Statement of Goal |
Status |
Improve the technical quality of my teaching through technical training. |
Completed Semester 4 of Cisco training. Currently studying IT Trends in e-learning from Australian computer Society. Added to content of courses some material I gained through study. |
Develop problem based learning problems for ITEC205, improve the current problems for ITEC270 . |
ITEC205 problem is still building computer. Developed a nice bazaar based project for students last semester for ITEC270. Looking for a TST or AJZ problem in 2004-2005 |
Develop e-learning (blended e-learning for my courses) |
Completed the WebCT training. Built a website and discussion board for all my classes so students are participating in blended learning. Still plenty of scope for improving these tools. http://markfloden.com/dwc_courses.htm
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Course – Code and Name |
Term |
Semester 1 and 2 |
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Comp150 Computing for Health Students |
Semester 1 |
ITEC270 Financial Systems and Control |
Semester 1 |
Ecom410 Corporate Financing |
Semester 1 |
Semester 2 |
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Semester 2 |
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Semester 2 |
For example:
Team leader ITEC287, ITEC411, ITEC270 |
Responsible for DWC input to texts and course outlines. |
IA team committee member |
Responsible for Finances |
BIT team member |
Responsible to contributing to team efforts |
Review the student teacher classroom evaluations and summarize
I had a lot of good comments about my teaching style etc. for example “he is funny and makes the subject interesting”, “his way of teaching is great” etc. While these are nice as a confirmation that I am on the right track, in the interests of space and time I will focus on those comments that highlight an area where improvement is possible..
· Give more feedback on projects and areas where students have strengths and weaknesses (So I am implementing project review meetings to document how students are doing in their projects to give feedback and to act as a form of VIVA)
· Use games and competitions as a way to raise the interest of students
· Give more examples and explanations in the areas that are most important in the course (So I am introducing more industry cases)
· Use more teaching aids when explaining
· Give more practice to students
· Give a small quiz in each lesson
Suggestions for Improvement:
I agree with these observation notes and will endeavor to incorporate them into my teaching by involving more individual students in discussions, reviewing concepts from previous lessons at the start of a lesson, using PBL in case topics and using activities in to help students summarize their learning for the lesson.
Peer Observation
Person Observed and Course |
Reason for Observation |
Observe a technical presentation to see how students can learn in a structured technical course. Follow link at left for comments |
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Observe a technical lesson which uses technology to provide an innovative game experience for the students. Follow link at left for comments |
Feedback from Colleagues or others
Course |
Comment |
From |
Date |
ITEC287 |
Khalid Ansari |
7 March 2004 |
Critical Reflection on Teaching and Learning
Things I do well:
· I speak clearly and can make discussion easy to understand.
· I have good rapport with students
· I am able to develop innovative learning objects
· I personally identify with the importance of the learning that students are undertaking and I try to pass that on to the students
· I am enthusiastic.
· I am able to maintain and keep up with new methods and tools
Things needing improvement:
· In organisation. This is a matter of time and priorities and I am working on doing a better job here.
· In networking and developing ties and relationships that will bring more depth to my teaching. Again this is something that I am addressing
· In technical skills. It is always an area where more improvement can be made.
· Keep a constant edge by reviewing materials looking for different ways of presenting topics, giving more examples, more practice and using novel teaching styles including games and competitions.
· There is always room for improvement and I hope to continuously improve by referring to comments from others.
Summary of Professional Development Activities
Date |
Session |
Oct-Dec 2003 |
WebCT training |
Aug 2003 |
Cisco Semester 3 |
Nov 2003 |
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Dec2003 –April 2004 |
Highlight how your teaching and learning activities have supportED HCT/DWC Strategic Priorities ( for example embedding Graduate outcomes into curriculum and assessment)
fOR EXAMPLE:
Strategic Priority |
Incorporation of Learning Outcomes derived from Graduate Outcomes into Curriculum and Assessment |
Global Awareness |
In each of my courses I have included assessments where students have an opportunity to consider how business and IT are prosecuted in various other countries |
Communications and Information Literacy |
All my students in all my classes are required to participate in discussion boards. |
Critical Thinking; Problem-solving and interdisciplinary Exploration |
I have implemented and will continue to implement problem based learning in ITEC270, ITEC411 and ITEC287. I require students to produce reports on problem solving and decision making in ITEC270. I also require a learning reflective log in other courses. |
Information Technology |
I have implemented a blended learning in all my courses involving access of materials on a web site and the use of a discussion board. |
Self Management and Lifelong Learning |
I have required students to produce research reports. They learn from these how to gather information and make decisions based on research as a pattern for lifelong learning. |
Teamwork and Leadership |
Students work in teams on projects and have a chance to take a leadership role in aspects of the project. |
Vocational Competencies |
All the courses I teach are in the career stream and students have vocational objectives that define their learning. |
Professional/Teaching/Learning Goals for 2004-2005 Academic Year Highlight areas based on your experiences this year, that you have identified as requiring development and/or improvement.
Planned 2004-2005 (to be completed at year end) |
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Statement of Goal |
Rationale for this goal |
I study and gain CCNA accreditation |
Improve technical background for teaching in IT area |
I will continue with my ACS e-learning studies |
I want to be able to provide an enriched blended learning environment for students and to keep up with the latest trends in learning. |
I will develop blended learning for all my courses |
I want to put my new found knowledge into practice to benefit the students |
I will strive to improve student evaluations measures |
As an ongoing continuous improvement I will respond to student evaluations making adjustments as required. |
Other Relevant Data
I am very pleased to be part of the Dubai Women’s College and consider the project which we engaged in to be very important and meaningful. I am excited about learning myself and about seeing growth and learning in my students as they prepare to become leaders in the UAE. I am trying to improve my performance in this project and welcome any assistance that I might receive from the TPE process.
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Signature |
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Date |
Your teaching portfolio must provide evidence of all statements made in this document but this evidence does not form part of your TPE.