I spend a lot of time worrying if my students are learning the complex topics that I teach them. This is especially pertinent when my students have to go out and use the skills I teach. This means that I must make sure they transfer their skills while they are learning. What a difficult task when you are teaching technology.
I recently finished teaching a wrap up class where my students in the Web Design Certificate program must create a web site using XHTML and CSS while using the programs Dreamweaver, Illustrator, Photoshop, and Flash. What a daunting task if you are not well experienced with this variety of programs and scripting languages!
Fortunately, I usually have a smaller class size for this wrap-up course. I spend a lot of time working one-on-one with students’ individual needs. I also usually end up teaching very advanced techniques. This last class, I taught how to use PHP to submit a form, CSS absolute positioning, and adding web mashup components like Google calendar.
I also taught very basic concepts like creating a new Photoshop fill layer and how to resize the canvas in Photoshop. I also had to teach simple concepts like the difference in canvas uses between Photoshop and Illustrator. These are very basic, noobie concepts that should have been covered in their level one classes.
I think the very basic classes need to be completely reworked. Our courses need to go through “radical course revision.” Julie Stout explains how to “radically” revise your curriculum in her article article on the National Teaching and Learning Forum’s web site called “Radical Course Revision: A Case Study.” The most important concepts I get out of this article is that we step back and totally rethink the goals of our courses. We need to look at the needs and expectations of our students, not what we think our students need.
Of course, we are the subject matter experts, but our students have a better idea of what skills and knowledge they need in the real world. You can then fit your expert knowledge with their needs. I think you may be surprised with the transfer of knowledge your students will experience if you really rework your curriculum and meet the needs of your students.
