Overview: Practice Paradox

Structure your course clearly. Communicate your expectations regularly. And, then, be reasonably flexible when students come to you with concerns.

Practicing paradox provides students with empowering expectations/empowering support. Ultimately, student success is about student learning. Ask yourself:

• Do my expectations in this course, on this assignment, etc. empower students to learn the course outcomes?
• When issues arise in students’ lives and learning experiences, am I flexible so that students are empowered to learn the course outcomes?

I (Sally) think this is the hardest of the 4 Connections; at least it is for me. Finding the balance between structure and flexibility is most certainly a practice – an ability we develop and improve over time.

It may help to frame this as knowing when to adjust to better support student learning. Thinking about lesson planning, the ultimate goal is to facilitate learning so students can achieve the course outcomes. The structure provided should intentionally support student success related to the outcomes. Flexibility should thoughtfully support student success related to the outcomes. Life and school collide. The way a course is planned flops (formative assessments like Plus Delta can reveal this). What needs to be done to ensure all students meet the outcomes?

One way of practicing paradox in your classes is to use the Transparency Framework, a format for communicating assignment outcomes and expectations. You can learn more about it at on the University of Nevada Las Vegas TILT siteLinks to an external site. and on the next page in this module.

At LWTech, we also love use of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as a way to maintain rigor and offer additional support for student learning. UDL (admittedly overly simplified) provides students with multiple options for expressing their learning of the objectives/outcomes. Instead of just being asked to write a paper, they may choose to address the prompt and demonstrate their learning by creating a video, designing a PowerPoint, taking photographs, etc. To learn more about UDL, check out the SBCTC’s micro-course (this is a publicly viewable Canvas course; you do not need to be logged into Canvas to view it).

Additional Ideas from Faculty

Alternative Grading Processes

Faculty approach grading many different ways to build in flexibility from the beginning of a class.

• Contract-based gradingLinks to an external site.: Outlines a set of criteria/expectations student must meet to earn a 3.0 in the course (additional activities earn a 4.0). For example, a contract may state that students must attend every class session and contribute to discussion though sharing and listening well; they must submit all assignments on time; they must meet with the instructor during office hours, etc. All of these are practices that the most successful students do. The idea behind contract-based grading is that if students do these things, they will meet the outcomes of the course.
• Dropping the lowest test or paper score.
• Awarding the grade earned on cumulative/summative work at the end of the quarter as opposed to weighting earlier work equally. The next bullet point is one way to implement this approach.
• Portfolio-based grading: Students submit a collection of coursework, designed specifically to show how outcomes have been met, at the end of the quarter. If the portfolio demonstrates their learning well, the instructor adjusts their overall grade to reflect where they emerged in their learning (thus, not penalizing students for struggling early in the learning process).

Building a Classroom Community

On the first day of the quarter, have students set the behavioral expectations for the course. Ask them, “What can you do to learn best in this class and to help your colleagues learn well, too?” Record their responses. Then ask, “What can I as the teacher do to help you learn best in this class?” Negotiate and explain when an expectation needs to be adjusted or cannot be met (e.g., no homework ever!). Compile a final list and ask students to agree to it – a great way to do this is to add it to the syllabus before they sign a final copy. Sign a copy yourself. Revisit the expectations you all agreed upon as needed. Ownership in the norms of the classroom community helps address behavioral concerns before they start and encourages students to take responsibility and express authority for their own learning.

Research: Practice Paradox

Newly included by popular demand, the following references list relates to the fourth of the 4 Connections, practice paradox. Each of the 4 Connections modules will  include a similar list of research as available. Each list will change as new references are discovered. Contact Sally Heilstedt if you have a reference to add to the list.

References

Loes, C., Saichaie, K., Padgett, R., & Pascarella, E. (2012). The effects of teacher behaviors on students’ inclination to inquire and lifelong learning. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 6(2), 22. https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2012.060207Links to an external site.

Lundberg, C., Kim, Y., Andrade, L., & Bahner, D. (2018). High expectations, strong support: Faculty behaviors predicting Latina/o community college student Learning. Journal of College Student Development, 59(1), 55–70. https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.2018.0004Links to an external site.

Winkelmes, M.-A., Bernacki, M., Butler, J., Zochowski, M., Golanics, J., & Harriss Weavil, K. (2016). A teaching intervention that increases underserved college students’ succees. Peer Review, 18(1/2). https://www.aacu.org/peerreview/2016/winter-spring/WinkelmesLinks to an external site.

Winkelmes, M.-A., Boye, A., & Tapp, S. (Eds.). (2019). Transparent design in higher education teaching and leadership: a guide to implementing the transparency framework institution-wide to improve learning and retention. Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing.

This chapter is from 4 Connections course by Boyoung Chae. It is licensed under “Creative Commons Attribution“.