For the Semester to Come

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I could say many things about my first experience as a professor at Quinnipiac University. We are about to complete the academic calendar for the fall of 2015. I loved teaching this class. The vision and concept of the class fits perfectly with my experience, expertise, and preparation.  I had the opportunity to join a great faculty and to make new friends in the process.  I am proud to say that I had the chance to be the professor for a fine group of freshmen who I’m sure have a great future ahead of them. I’m pretty sure I’ll see them again. I was granted the opportunity to teach in the spring as well, and to join a great group of academic advisors. I am sure this is going to be another fantastic experience.

12091303_10150647909214956_5378018467843313266_oNow that the class is almost over, as an instructional designer I evaluate the processes and results, and the overall sequence and presentation of the class. I don’t only evaluate the performance of my students but also my own. I look through each lesson and how they connect on each phase towards the final product. This is also preparation for the semester to come. I moved lessons around on the calendar with the intention to build a solid foundation in the development of self-regulated, lifelong independent learners.

I hope my students have all the success in the upcoming years and that my participation at this stage of their lives had some significance. I also hope the next two groups are as exceptional as this one. I guess it is going to be almost inevitable to compare all other experiences and groups with the first, but in a good way. I can’t deny the mix emotions as I see these students go. It is a melancholic feeling, but at the same time I am happy for them, and I wish they look back at the experience with gladness, as I am.

Professor Status

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11988760_10150633681679956_6883456019591804743_nAugust has been a month of “firsts”. I had the chance to work on my first full body painting and today I had my first experience as a college professor. I like the professor status a lot. I love teaching. I have a great group of freshmen and I had the chance to welcome them for their first class as undergraduate students at this university. I also believe that this is the first time the students were asked by a professor to take a selfie. We all took a selfie with some of the students in the background behind each one of use while the people behind us was also taking a selfie. You might ask “Why?”

Our seminar is about developing a process of inquiry and a selfie allows people to understand our reality that we can only see things from our point of view as everyone else. Therefore, if we allow our assumptions and interpretations of the world around us to be challenged by the fact that there are other points of view we can learn to be unbiased learners. Moreover, it also helps people understand the need to communicate honestly and respectfully. We don’t have to attack people for what they believe or for what they say but we can challenge the statement. We don’t have to agree with everything people say or do, but we can understand why they say what they say and why they do what they do. Above all that, I believe we all need to learn how not to get offended every time someone or a statement doesn’t agree with us and how we see the world. We can also present our position with camaraderie with the intention to grow together as if all the selfies were part of one big picture without offending people.

September promises to be an interesting month. Things will only get more interesting as we continue experiencing the inquiry process in class. During this month I will continue experimenting and exploring more in body painting. In relationship to that, I will be body painting during an art show opening at the Gallery at Elemar in New Haven, CT (Friday, September 18: more details to come), and I will also be body painting the next day during the MAC Fest in Downtown Milford, CT. Don’t forget to also check out the sculpting and painting parties. Hope to see you soon in any of these events.

One of Those Weeks

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19607_10150561253524956_1804358799561093639_nHave you ever had one of those weeks? You might know what I am talking about here. There are weeks when a lot of things decide to happen together. Last week was one of those weeks for me when so many great things happened together that I am still trying to recount them all. I am so thankful for each one of this blessings. Among all those blessings, I had the opportunity to teach three nights, three different subjects: basic computer skills, painting, and sculpting. Of course, on each one many other teaching opportunities came along.  My wife says that no matter what I am doing I find the chance to teach something. I can’t stop myself from teaching something, because I learn through teaching.

11073071_10150564957424956_9088131320696504778_nBeing an educator is a challenge but it is also an amazing blessing. It doesn’t matter what the subject is. In ancient Greece the concept of subjects was technically the concept of branches of practice but it came from the three of knowledge and had to be connected to its trunk and rooted in practical life. Subjects were not isolated concepts. Specializations, so to speak, had a purpose in service. Switching subjects was a continuum. Math and music could be having a discussion together, and philosophy could assist the conversation inviting science to share its point of view while a poet put to rhythmic speech the historical account of the piece of art being created with the brush or under the chisel.

I see knowledge as one unlimited supply of interconnected events, points of views, interpretations, results from experience and experimentation, explanations of our surroundings, assumptions of what we don’t know based on the things we do know, and abstract descriptions of an idea. As I explained to one of the participants: “Everything we see, hear, and say is an abstraction of an idea”. Letters are the abstraction of the idea of a sound that we translate into a symbol, but that sound itself is an abstraction of the idea of that particular sound. Objects are abstractions of ideas producing symbols we get attached to. The object perish, and the symbol changes its value based on time and context, but the idea remains. Sadly, humans attach themselves to so many perishable abstractions instead of taking hold of the idea. Even more so, we often forget to rely on the source of life who put the idea into visual and palpable realization with just speaking.

11150225_10150566159194956_8952423942549070099_nOn that thought, I begin my week still in awe and spiritually refreshed after witnessing how 43 individuals made a profession of faith last night through baptism at City Church. It is such a fulfilling experience to hear each story towards transformation. It is also great to share this experience in community with a bunch of strangers that become family in Christ. This week we just began can be one of those weeks too if only we focus on being thankful, on keeping the faith with patience to see the fulfillment of the promise of God.

April is almost coming to an end but there are still things to do and classes to teach. I continue the computer class at The Literacy Center of Milford, and if you are missing on all the fun of the painting and sculpting parties, we are going to be sculpting at The Grove in New Haven, Friday, April 24. The events for the month of May are listed also so you can RSVP with time. You can also request private sculpting and painting parties, as well as art lessons.

What is Instructional Design?

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Instructional design or instructional system design is the systematic decision-making process and design of how instruction is going to be delivered. Instructional design draws knowledge from different sciences like psychology and neurology to develop an understanding of how to effectively use teaching strategies and methods. It is the formal process to design training.

instructional designWhile most people know me as an artist, I am also an instructional designer. In my research I contend that in order to provide effective learning solutions it is necessary to perform a learners analysis beyond the knowledge pre-assessment alone. Yes, understanding what people know before entering a specific learning endeavor is very important, but most important is to know the aptitudes and attitudes towards the new experience.

In many of my posts I talk about self-efficacy beliefs or the self-perceptions of skills to achieve a specific goal. This is a learning psychology concept in social cognitive theory developed by psychologist Albert Bandura. People conceive the likelihood of success based on perception of  their skills and past experiences. These perceptions then determine their motivation to pursue a goal. This information facilitates the instructional design process and helps develop strategies not only for learning but for improvement of self-efficacy.

Instructional design also takes in consideration the objective of the instruction and the conditions in which the learning content is intended for delivery to ensure it is effective. This includes instructional time, delivery methods, teaching tools, materials, et cetera. The instructional designer takes all this elements to design a learning solution for a specific learning need. Instructional design is much more than just providing training or teaching a class.

If We Only Knew We Could Predict Behavior

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Learning and teaching are complicated endeavors. Every component of a purposeful learning process is important to achieve results. However, there are so many factors and variables to consider that it is almost impossible to count them all. As educator and instructional designer I aim to provide effective learning solutions. Some people might think that an effective learning solution is to provide all the possible answers to a given problem. I prefer to think that guiding people to find the answers for themselves is a better approach.

How can we accomplish this? We must draw knowledge and tools from other disciplines. Psychology for example provides information to facilitate learning, or as Howard Gardner suggested, it provides an understanding of the conditions where education takes place and of the recipients and practitioners of knowledge. If we only knew how people would behave in a specific learning environment, won’t we make sure to be ready to suit the needs accordingly? Understanding what people think of themselves and their skills to succeed in specific learning endeavors can provide instructional designers with direction to design learning goals and instructional strategies that aim not only for the acquisition of knowledge but also providing for a transformative learning experience. Knowing how learners perceived their likelihood to achieve success also provides for a better understanding of the constraints and opportunities of a proposed learning solution.

In my research, I explore self-efficacy beliefs as entry behaviors. Self-efficacy beliefs are personal perceptions of the skills to achieve a goal. If we only knew that self-efficacy beliefs could provide hints not only in how people will approach a learning situation, but to us to be prepared to teach or guide accordingly, won’t we take time to know our students better? According to the results of the study, people not only approach a task according to their self-efficacy, but they also behave as predicted. This provides a better idea of opportunities and constrains in proposed learning solutions.

Confronting new challenges brings consciously or unconsciously the need to assess and balance skills with requirements. Individuals consider what is required to achieve a goal and examine if they have the skills to achieve it. They also consider if they have the skill to learn the skills required to achieve the goal. Task engagement, performance, anxiety, stress, persistence, and coping skills are also affected by self-efficacy. Knowing this before hand prepares instructional designers to create learning solutions accordingly and to provide a transformative experience through the learning process.

In order to provide learning solutions of transformation it is necessary to know what needs to change. This is another way to measure success. Let’s call it “base line”. Assessing previous knowledge is important. However, knowing how people feel about the knowledge and skills they possess can make a great difference in how they approach a task. The act of teaching and guidance could be designed and approached based on learning strategies design to fit the specific needs. We could also be changing lives. Instructional designers could be helping to improve self-efficacy along with providing effective learning solutions.