Confidence and Independence
To comfortably work with technology and to create and present work with confidence,
knowing the processes involved; to have the independence (along with feedback
and suggestions from me) to take a chance and explore new terrains.
Dr. Syverson's description:
Confidence and independence in our own reading, writing, and thinking abilities.
We see growth and development when learners' confidence and independence become
coordinated with their actual abilities and skills, content knowledge, use
of experience, and reflectiveness about their own learning. It is not a simple
case of "more (confidence and independence) is better." The overconfident
student who has relied on faulty or underdeveloped skills and strategies learns
to ask for help when facing an obstacle; the shy student begins to trust her
own abilities and begins to work alone at times, or to insist on presenting
her own point of view in discussion. In both cases, students develop along
the dimension of confidence and independence.
Skills and Strategies
To use what you learn in this class.
Dr. Syverson's description:
Specific skills and strategies involved in composing and communicating effectively,
from concept to organization to polishing grammar and correctness, and including
technological skills for computer communication. Skills and strategies represent
the "know-how" aspect of learning. When we speak of "performance"
or "mastery," we generally mean that learners have developed skills
and strategies to function successfully in certain situations.
Knowledge and Understanding
To understand the writing and speaking
processes through invention, organization, drafting, revision, editing, and
presentation.
Dr. Syverson's description:
Knowledge and understanding refers to the "content"
knowledge gained about new technologies, rhetoric, research methods, the topics
we write about, the methods of organizing and presenting our ideas to others,
and so on. Knowledge and understanding is the most familiar dimension, focusing
on the "know-what" aspect of learning. What is "persona"
in rhetoric? Where can I find reliable information on a particular topic?
What is a "home page" on the World Wide Web? These are typical content
questions.
Use of Prior and Emerging Experience
To value and build on the knowledge and the cultural and linguistic experiences
you bring to the class.
Dr. Syverson's description:
The use of prior and emerging experience involves the ability to draw on our
own experience and connect it to our work. A crucial but often unrecognized
dimension of learning is the ability to make use of prior experience as well
as emerging experience in new situations. It is necessary to observe learners
over a period of time while they engage in a variety of activities in order
to account for the development of this important capability, which is at the
heart of creative thinking and its application. In predetermined learning
situations we cannot discover just how a learner's prior experience might
be brought to bear to help scaffold new understandings, or how ongoing experience
shapes the content knowledge or skills and strategies the learner is developing.
Critical Reflection
To critically work through and evaluate arguments (yours, your peers, and
others). You will write for multiple audiences and purposes. For yourselves,
you will write to discover your own use and conceptions of language and to
discover your own critical thoughts on a variety of subjects and activities.
For others, you will write to inquire, persuade, convince, and negotiate.
By reading and writing reflectively, you can develop the critical thinking
skills necessary to have personal, social, and intellectual growth and economic
and academic success
Dr. Syverson's description:
Reflection refers to our developing awareness of our own learning process,
as well as more analytical approaches to reading, writing, and communication.
When we speak of reflection as a crucial component of learning, we are not
using the term in its commonsense meaning of reverie or abstract introspection.
We are referring to the development of the learner's ability to step back
and consider a situation critically and analytically, with growing insight
into his or her own learning processes, a kind of metacognition. Learners
need to develop this capability in order to use what they are learning in
other contexts, to recognize the limitations or obstacles confronting them
in a given situation, to take advantage of their prior knowledge and experience,
and to strengthen their own performance.