Student Agency in Education
Brandon Haas
Spring 2019
Heading out of a difficult last year, the CPLC is what is energizing me for the coming year. Going into the May session, I was not sure exactly what I was most interested in. All of the facets of Cluster Pedagogy provide such great opportunities that I often find myself overloaded with ideas to the point of spinning in circles. I think that I’ve found myself thinking the most about Open and coupling it with PBL. I want to create assignments that are meaningful and authentic. It is also providing me a space to think about how such assignments could also serve as a means of civic engagement. I’m interested in bringing YA Lit into some of my courses as an accessible way for students to make connections to current social and political issues and having students consider ways to use their own learning to bring these conversations to their community through different mediums.
Another area that I’ve been thinking about lately is accessibility and inclusivity in class and out of class. Until Matt Cheney’s discussion on syllabi, I had not really stopped to consider the reality that this is the entry point to our courses for most of our students. What messages does it send? In having that discussion, I was turned to Pat Cantor’s post in the Wicked Track and her syllabus that is so thoughtful in its construction. In looking at this and thinking across the CPLC, I also realized that some of Hannah’s points have resonated. It is important to make all aspects of our class accessible. One of the ideas that I’m thinking about for the Spring is to create an interactive syllabus using Domain of One’s Own. I have to do some research and thinking about what this may look like, but I think that it could be a good option for students.
Until recently, I had only been thinking about this work related to our undergraduates. What about graduate students and courses? How will/does Cluster Pedagogy provide benefits and challenges for this audience since graduates are in a different place and often have different needs than undergrads. I imagine that the benefits are similar, so I guess I’m wondering more about challenges.
As a whole, I am excited to continue these conversations and to see all of the amazing ideas and work that will be coming out of the CPLC. More importantly, I’m looking forward to hearing from our students.