Week 5 Reflection

This week we read and discussed effort. At first the topic surprised me. After doing some reading, I found that when it comes to effort we do not actually teach about effort. I see the effects of this everyday from an employment standpoint. Working with adults in a training environment, I find that we often expect adult students to take control of their own learning and make an effort to participate and learn. However, I have found that this is not always the case. My adult learners are very similar to school aged students in that a few of them want to be there to learn, a few are there because they have to be and a few even think of training as a mini vacation from work. As a result, their efforts are reflected as such. Some students put forth a significant amount of effort, a few put a minimal amount of effort and the last group puts forth no effort at all.
This lack variety of effort and the readings has caused me to re-evaluate my training classes and make suggestions for improvement. Students, regardless of age, should be held accountable for participation and effort. I especially liked the effort rubric (Pitler, Hbbell, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007, p157). Spelling out effort expectation normally would seem to me to be something that is common sense and not have to be shared. On the other hand, I now understand that it is difficult to expect a student to understand class expectations unless those expectations are outlined. If the student has not taken responsibility for their own learning and efforts, they need to learn somewhere. It is not different than employee feedback. Employees and students need to know what is expected and how to self-evaluate. If we do not explain or discuss efforts and expectations than a student or an employee will often do the least amount possible. If the only feedback you provide is negative they will do just enough to keep from receiving negative feedback. The effort rubric still requires the student to take responsibility; however, the chart helps them to evaluate themselves and determine what is acceptable and what is expected. Clear guidance and communication has always been the goal of my training sessions. This rubric will now assist not only my students (employees) but also myself.

Source:
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 155-164.