Donna Schendel, our new Human Resources director, presented on the need for effective performance management, its characteristics, and its benefits.
The focus on positive elements of performance management put such activity in a much needed positive direction. Performance management needs to grow people so the team can grow together. Coaching, mentoring, regular communication, positive feedback should be emphasized and supported in all team activities. Training has so many opportunities to bring people together for a common purpose in such a human way. Leaders must do this in the service of others.
Relationships and communication are central to performance management. We cannot grow and grow together without knowing each other. We need to talk to know where we are going and why. We need to celebrate achievements. We need to tackle issues and overcome challenges together. I was glad to see so many friends in the room.
The case studies brought out discussion among the leaders in the room about key issues: such as staff personal interactions affecting work and conflict. Leaders in the room had different responses but the same general aim. Deborah turned the responses into a positive dialogue: dialogue being the essential element in finding positive resolutions. It even broke out into role play and ensuing hilarity. We need to have crucial conversations.
In the end, leadership is being a good person, being charitable to others. You need to encourage positive people and you need to respectfully support people causing unhealthy conflict.
The workshop was engaging, comprehensive and thought-provoking. It was a good starter for future dialogue on the most critical activity for the college as it grows and move forward.
Photographs, drawings, and videos all have the ability to help learners understand course content better - when used appropriately. Part of our aim with the Media Development Project is to help instructors understand how to use visuals effectively. This post captures some key elements from chapter one in the research-based book Graphics for Learning by Ruth Colvin Clark and Chopeta Lyons (2004).
The Unrealized Potential of Visuals
Have you designed a handout for your class and at the last minute added some clip art in the corner to make it look nicer? Clark and Lyons note that visuals are often an afterthought added to instructional material used to add visual interest. Unfortunately, this means that the true learning power of the visual is not used - and, worse, some visuals can actually interfere with learning.
Three Factors of Effective Visuals
1) Function
Surface features - the features that stand out when looking at a visual, such as whether it is a photo or an illustration, a video or an animation. Research found that surface features do not impact the effectiveness of learning; basically, people can learn from all types of visuals depending on the other factors.
Communication function - what are you trying to communicate with the visual? The authors present seven different communication categories (p 15).
decorative - used to make something look good or add humour
representational - used to show something as it really is (as with a photograph)
mnemonic - used to provide retrieval cues for factual information
organizational - used to show qualitative relationships
relational - used to show quantitative relationships
transformational - used to show changes in objects over space or time
interpretive - used to illustrate a theory, principle, or cause-and-effect relationships
Psychological function - how visuals can support the learning process. This can be done in six separate ways (p 16).
support attention - by drawing attention to important elements and minimizing divided attention
activate or build prior knowledge - by engaging existing mental models or providing an overview to support learning of new information
minimize cognitive load - by minimizing unnecessary mental work and working memory load
build mental models - by helping construct new long-term memories
support transfer of learning - by promoting deeper understanding and realistically showing key features
support motivation - by making material interesting but not depressing learning
2) Instructional Goals and Lesson Content
Not all visuals match all instructional goals. Certain visuals will provide memory support, some visuals will assist in creating relationships between pieces of information in the lesson and thus help learners build mental models. These concepts are expanded on in a later chapter in the book.
3) Learner Differences
Not all learners will glean the same information from the same visual. Both prior knowledge of a subject and one’s spatial abilities influence how helpful a visual may be to a specific learner. These concepts are expanded on in a later chapter in the book.
Choosing Instructional Graphics
The authors provide three guidelines for choosing effective graphics.
Graphic effectiveness depends on graphic functionality - focus on the communicative and psychological functions rather than the surface features
Guidelines for graphics should be based on research evidence - their guidelines are based off of research, most of which was done with college-age people
Context will influence use of visuals - graphic selection needs to be based on the entire instructional landscape (ie: delivery mode, budgets, etc.). This concept is expanded on in a later chapter in the book.
Want more details? This article talks about much of the same content as this chapter of the book.
I’ve kept track of some exciting HRSDC-funded research taking place at George Brown College, located in downtown Toronto, entitled “Understanding Individual Numeracy: How Are We Doing? Does it Matter?”. See below for an email I sent to math instructors in 2009 while I was Math and Science Curriculum Lead Hand that has some background about Jump Math as well as the research project.
Taras Gula and Carolyn Hoessler of George Brown College are presenting the results of the study at the XVI Annual Conference on Research on Undergraduate Mathematics Education (2013), hosted by SRUME (Special Interest Group of the Mathematical Association of America on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education).
Research Abstract
Many first year college students struggle with foundational mathematics skills even after one semester of mathematics. JUMP math, a systematized program of teaching mathematics, claims that its approach, though initially designed for K-8, can strengthen skills at the foundations college math level as well. Students in sixteen sections of Foundations Mathematics at a college in Canada were randomly assigned to be taught with either the JUMP math approach or a typical teaching approach. Students were measure before and after on their competence (Wechsler test of Numerical Operations) and attitudes (Mathematics Attitudes Inventory) to identify any improvements. Results showed that students in JUMP classes had modest, but consistently higher improvements in competence when compared to students in non-JUMP classes, even after controlling for potential confounding variables, while improvements in Math Attitudes showed no differences. (From http://pzacad.pitzer.edu/~dbachman/RUME_XVI_Linked_Schedule/rume16_submission_107.pdf )
XVI Annual Conference on Research on Undergraduate Mathematics Education (2013)
A couple of years ago, a Jump Math representative at the MCATA Conference gave me some copies of the Jump Math workbooks to look at. These are great materials for grade levels 1 to 8. Kids and instructors love them. I was surprised to see a booth at the ATA Science Council Conference: we now have a Jump Math representative based right here in Calgary.
Jump Math is a registered charity funded by TD Bank, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) (Bow Valley was just approved as eligible for funding from NSERC), and many others. Jump Math was founded by Dr. John Mighton, an Adjunct Professor in Mathematics at the University of Toronto, Order of Canada, an Ashoka International Fellow, winner of two Governor-General's Awards for Drama and the prestigious Siminovitch prize.
Jump Math isn’t just for kids. George Brown College in Toronto is piloting Jump Math with adult students.
Research is being conducted that is verifying the effectiveness of the Jump Math materials. Preliminary findings from a randomized controlled study by the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, and the University of Toronto “found that the math knowledge of children using JUMP Math grew twice as much as that of children using the incumbent program.”
Since 2007, JUMP Math’s National Book Fund has helped hundreds of teachers bring JUMP Math to schools serving thousands of students in the First Nations, rural, inner city, low income, ESL or special education communities.
As a successful applicant, you will receive the following free of charge:
• A set of JUMP Math Assessment & Practice books (Parts 1 and 2) for each student
• A Teacher's Resource for each grade (up to two grades) being taught in the classroom
• SMART Board lessons for one grade
• Unit Tests
• Answer Keys
• Professional Development
• Support from JUMP Math
Information about eligibility, program requirements, evaluation, and the application process can be viewed at the JUMP Math website at http://www.jumpmath.org/cms/book_fund_intro
Each application consists of separate submissions by a teacher and their principal. Application forms can be submitted online, and it is possible to save your work and complete it in stages.
Teachers’ application: http://www.formstack.com/forms/?1395306-7EexYsiOTH
Schools’ application (to be completed by principal): http://www.formstack.com/forms/?1395346-7EexYsiOTH
If you do not have reliable access to the internet, we will fax you a copy of the application form upon request. Please e-mail noreen.mclean@jumpmath.org or fax us at 416-596-1208.
Completed applications must be received no later than 11.59 pm on Thursday, March 28, 2013.
(Email from Jump Math, 2013)
