I came to the ADL Program hoping to understand better what my students experience in online graduate programs at LU. I assumed that I might pick up a few technology skills here and there, but my primary focus was on having a first-person experience so that I could better relate. I have been blown away by the relevance and value that just these first three classes have provided to my daily job duties as an advisor. The most valuable aspect of this program has been finding creative ways to meet my students’ needs 24/7 via my Portfolio. I have developed my Portfolio as questions arise or when different semester times come near (i.e., final grades, graduation, etc.). The ability to make my projects authentic and valuable has been an unexpected and highly appreciated aspect of the program. The shift from regurgitation to real-life projects was not one I expected when beginning this academic journey. The COVA model has been the educational experience I did not know I was missing, yet one I have longed for my whole life. The ownership that comes from this real-life need, the choice in how I will present my information and learning, and the incredible personal voice that is developing through the process of reflection are not things I expected to find while working on a graduate degree.
This program taught me more about collaboration and mentoring, in just these first three courses, than I ever expected (or honestly wanted) to learn. I am finding that by helping others, I can help myself. I am learning to stop being the stubborn silent student who only focuses on getting their work done to be a valuable member of a learning community and class cohort. I have thoroughly enjoyed this aspect of the program.
The most significant aspect of the COVA Model I hope to incorporate into my ePortfolio is the ownership and choice aspects that allow my advisees to have their authentic path to degree completion. I want to develop resources that give students a choice on their preferred delivery method and equip them with information to make informed decisions along their academic path.
I can see that creating a Portfolio sheerly to meet this program’s requirements would lead to a lack of persistence. Reading the studies on Portfolio persistence makes me strive to keep this an authentic part of my personal and professional life so that my Portfolio can continue to grow and evolve to serve those I serve. I am lucky that our program allows us to use real-world learning situations to create a Portfolio that will help us for years to come, should we embrace it.
I think the most valuable personal lesson that I am carrying with me is the one of a growth mindset. I can learn to do anything I put my mind to if I remember that I don’t need to be perfect or know everything. There are so many opportunities that become available once the message of yet is accepted.
I look forward to my continued evolution as a learner, and I’m excited to see how that will impact my advisees.
Harapnuik, D., Thibodeaux, T., & Cummings, C. (2018). Choice, ownership, and voice through authentic learning. Creative Common License.
Getting my advisees to “plan and employ effective research strategies to locate information and resources for their intellectual or creative pursuits” is a current concern of much interest to me.
What an exciting time to be reflecting. I welcome this opportunity to dig deep and to think about my learning, as I just celebrated a birthday. What better time to think about why I am the way I am and why I do what I do.
If you would have asked me at age five, “Dawn, what do you want to be when you grow up,” advising would not have been my response. I did not consider myself intelligent. I only knew I would go to college because that was a message my mother instilled in me throughout my upbringing. When I went to community college, I remember having to jump through hoops and needing someone to sign some forms for registration, but I cannot remember advising per se. University life was much the same. Advising time would come around, and there would be a meeting with whichever faculty member pulled your file at your appointment time. It was not until my last few semesters that I was able to get advised by faculty members I had come to know during my studies. One day I was driving home, and I received a call from Dr. Espinosa, whom I had asked to advise me that semester, saying that if I added a science course to my upcoming semester, I could graduate at the end of that term. I was extremely excited about the prospect of graduating sooner than anticipated.
Passions, Beliefs, & Values
Fast forward a few years to my current profession, and I am happy to say I found a calling and passion as an advisor. I work hard to teach students how to navigate the systems used in higher education, to understand the policies and procedures they will encounter along the way, and connect them with resources for information as needed. I work to answer questions that students would not even know they needed to ask. Helping students find their way through university jargon to make well-informed decisions about their paths and futures is paramount to me. I want to ensure that everything I do helps move them toward their educational goals. My own experience receiving the call about my graduation reminds me that the advice I provide impacts students’ lives. I believe that I must conduct myself with the utmost integrity and generally live by the golden rule of treating others as I want to be treated.
My passion is people. I genuinely enjoy building relationships. I believe in being as helpful as possible to those around me. Loving people is not always easy. Humans are complicated creatures, and our responses to stressful situations can bring out the worst. Therefore, I work hard to win the trust and to hear my students’ and colleagues’ frustrations. Then I seek out information or solutions to problems. I work to resolve issues and prevent others from facing them. It is important to me that I keep that fresh perspective to help in the fight against the status quo. I try to remember what it was like when I was going along, trusting that someone would tell me if I needed to know something. I must advocate for my students and colleagues until they learn enough to advocate for themselves. I aim to provide a clear path through the maze of higher education terminology and policies while providing support. I believe that even if I can only make a slight difference in a student’s academic journey, I can significantly impact the world. I believe that I have an opportunity to make a difference in the lives of those around me. I have the privilege of being a very personal part of people’s lives for a season. I have been honored to celebrate success and provide comfort through losing dreams, friends, homes, and loved ones.
Guiding Principles
While preparing for this reflection, I surveyed a few of my colleagues in hopes of getting objective assessments of myself professionally.
One of my colleagues describes me as a seeker of truth, a collector of knowledge for empowerment. They say I have a heart that wants the best for those around me and that I love my family, friends, colleagues, and students. That, I love.
Another confirms this assessment, saying that I seek knowledge and love to share it. I care and embrace qualities that make those around me feel seen and heard.
A third colleague describes me as patient, kind, understanding, knowledgeable, and able to explain things without making a person feel dumb. This person says I have a gift for encouraging, uplifting, loving, and always trying to make people see the best in themselves and their situation.
A final colleague explains that I am collegial, always there, and volunteer to do extra to help others. This colleague says I pay attention to detail by always looking out for my students, seeking opportunities, and ensuring they stay on track with meeting guidelines and benchmarks. They say I am always willing to expand my knowledge base, pushing my comfort level when working with others. This colleague’s final assessment is that I am a model and trainer for other advisors across campus.
I am honored by these summaries of my professional and personal passions and beliefs. These are my guiding principles. I became proficient at explaining things from multiple perspectives through my early education learning challenges. I am a patient teacher to my advisees and colleagues. I have an instinct for when someone looks confused and an ability to explain things differently. I seek to explain systems and policies to the teams I have served since I believe anyone willing to learn can do so. I believe in hiring dedicated, hardworking, caring people who can learn to do a job over people with glowing resumes who lack those traits. You can teach people a job; it is much harder to teach people to care. I believe that we each have an opportunity to play a valuable role in our students’ journey.
I learn everything I can about the interconnectivity in higher education to best assist students and colleagues. I schedule tours of departments and express sincere interest in understanding the inner workings of departments, systems, and processes. I seek relationships with people across campus, and through these relationship-building efforts, I gain a big-picture understanding of campus. I strive to point out the unintended impacts of decisions made in one area to another. Through my natural inclination for information seeking, I have become a reliable contact for friends and colleagues across campus.
I take Drew Dudley’s call to action to heart, as he declares, “if you change one person’s understanding … of what they’re capable of, one person’s understanding of how much people care about them, one person’s understanding of how powerful an agent for change they can be in this world you’ve changed [the whole world]” (TEDxToronto, 2010, 5:44).
As an advisor, I have the privilege of encouraging students, supporting my colleagues, and trying to make a difference to my fellow human. I remain in the advising profession despite the challenges of dealing with people because I value my role in others’ lives.
One of the most significant challenges I face in assisting students along their academic path is the lack of ownership some take over their Education. As I began my current advising role, this entire portfolio was born out of a desire to resolve student complaints, issues, and perceptions of a lack of information. In addition, I am finding that some students still are not reading the presented information. I must seek engaging multimedia solutions to this problem. I take decentralized information from various resources and break it down into smaller sections on a single advising tips page to prevent information overload. I struggle with how to guide students to accept ownership of their learning and program requirements.
I remain in advising and seek ways (like this program) to improve each person’s experience at the institution. I am an efficiency expert at heart, so I continually evaluate processes to see where they can be improved. I revise and refine my message with the hopes of providing clarity. I remain an advisor so that I can make a difference. I believe my learning can lead to contributions to the advising community through professional learning networks and organizations.
Learning
Through the ADL Program, I am reconnecting with a passion for learning. I believe any day when I learn something new is a good day. I believe everyone can reignite a love of learning regardless of past educational experiences. I believe a hunger for learning can make for a more enriched life. We are all presented with an opportunity, should we embrace it, to reevaluate everything we currently think about learning. Through this program’s content, I can see how the current model of Education leaves students behind (myself included). For the first time in my academic history, I can see how claiming ownership of learning revolutionizes the entire process. Learning solely for the outcome of a grade prohibits deeper learning.
Unlike any prior education, now I have choices. My projects and assignments are my own. This authentic learning environment allows me to voice what is important to me. I seek to be open to the learning opportunities presented through the resources and content shared and the projects I create. I seek to be a catalyst for change through each of these projects. I intend to embrace each opportunity to the fullest, knowing I can and will return to previous content with new perspectives.
The Future of Education
I believe that Education needs to redefine success. Standardized testing has killed creative content development and delivery for the instructors, and the students have lost their love of learning.
To fix Education, we must spark the inquisitive mind in learners again, at all levels. Students must learn to adopt a growth mindset as they approach their education. To embrace learning, students at every level need the opportunity to fail, revise, and fail again. Education currently penalizes a student when they do not understand concepts or content. As explained by Sir Ken Robinson (2016), Education has “become preoccupied with the yield and output … with data-driven outcomes, and along the way, we have lost sight of the natural processes of teaching and learning” (ARC, 2016, 8:17). A shift in education that affords multiple attempts, multiple delivery options, and multiple supports will help encourage students to continue to try and try again until they succeed.
By embracing more blended learning methods of learning and changing our ideas of instruction, we have the opportunity to enhance education. We can meet our learners where they are at but refuse to leave them that way. By openly sharing research and transformative successes, every Education system worldwide can improve learning outcomes for primary, secondary, post-secondary, and post-graduate students. Education worldwide must embrace the opportunities for digital innovation afforded through the reliance on distance learning caused by the 2020 global pandemic. We must move away from the current Industrial model of education toward a New Model in Education. By reevaluating the status quo, education has an opportunity to advance through digital learning.
Digital Learning
I believe that digital learning allows 24-hour access to resources. Digital learning provides students choice on how best to approach learning by utilizing multiple content delivery formats. This shift in ownership allows students to seek alternative paths on their journey to understanding. Students become empowered to make meaningful connections and deeper learning through active engagement. Support resources such as YouTube, Khan Academy, TED Talks, and many others allow digital learners a limitless library of content.
Emerging digital learning issues, from an advising perspective, involve meeting the on-demand needs of digital learners. Often asynchronous learners select online programs due to their need for alternative options and approaches. To promote their learning, we must find ways to deliver information in engaging ways. We must research and employ advising styles that allow connection and engagement despite asynchronous digital interactions. Many complete course requirements and make inquiries during non-business hours.
As we work to revolutionize education, we must also work to revolutionize advising. Through technology, we can now have unlimited access to resources via our digital devices. The primary goal of this portfolio is to provide 24/7 access to an advisor’s knowledge and information.
I believe digital learning can:
Revolutionize education and my advising relationships
Tap into unmet potential and innovative ideas
Meet the needs of learners worldwide
Ignite a passion for lifelong learning
Provide learners equal access through a universal learning design
I hope to impact the advising profession and my organization by collaborating through professional organizations and learning networks. I intend to share best practices, experience, and research to advance the advising profession.
Furthermore, I intend to impact my organization by improving the student experience by increasing their access to information. I also hope to impact the lives of my colleagues by inviting them to join me in innovating advising.
The idea of feedforward is very appealing as it focuses on the future and what is still within the realm of change. Feedback on the other hand focuses on the past, which cannot be changed.
In the ADL Program we are encouraged to build trusted relationships with our classmates in order to improve our projects. Through these collaborations we are able to receive support and feedforward in order to revise and improve our coursework. We are all learning to give effective feedforward as well as accepting feedforward.
According to Marshall Goldsmith (2014) here are the rules to feedforward:
Rule 1 – No feedback about the past
Rule 2 – You can’t judge or critique ideas
I’m trying to think of ways to provide feedforward within my advising relationships. Due to the asynchronous online environment of most of our interactions, it is sometimes difficult to build a trusted relationship so that my advisees will be in a position to accept feedforward from me. That is honestly a big goal of this Portfolio. I hope that directing my advisees here will allow them to get a greater sense of who I am and that I am looking out for their best interests. I do not provide much in the way of feedback but instead outline options forward in varying circumstances.
I am definitely trying to find ways to incorporate growth mindset language and information into both my interactions and this Portfolio. Since my current role is limited within an enrollment until it can be difficult to find ways to get on board with a mindset shift.
I’m always looking for ways to “[point] to opportunities and [provide] pathways for improvement and growth” as recommended by Dr. Harapnuik (2020).
One of my previous supervisors tried to teach one of my previous advising departments about advising theories when she joined our advising unit. I remember how often she would say that Learning Style theories were debunked and invalidated through research. I remember how offended I felt at these claims because I had fully embraced that myself as a visual learner.
I just came across the following on Dr. Harapnuik’s portfolio and finally felt ready to tackle this issue once and for all, for myself (admittedly I was ready to be offended again).
Finally, the concept of multimodal learning makes the most sense to me. In college I would write lectures by hand or later by using a laptop. Then I would come home and read/record my notes to a mini-recorder. Then I would listen to these tapes (yes mini-cassettes then later on digital recording devices) on repeat day and night (in the shower, as I slept, in the car, non stop). This method of my personal multimodal learning was in no way “visual learning” but somehow I completely embraced my identity of being a visual learner.
What is more accurate is the cited finding that “people learn best when they are actively thinking about the material, solving problems, or imagining what happens if different variables change” (Vertasium, 2021). This is an interesting finding within the context of the ADL Program where we strive to become catalysts for change by leveraging technology to improve learning outcomes.
What we really need to ask ourselves when we implement educational technologies is will “this revolutionize education” (Vertasium, 2014)?
Throughout the ADL Program we are asked to think about learning, to reflect on our own learning experience, to be willing to stretch ourselves.
As I begin reflecting on the benefit of networking and what learning networks I would join, I had some difficulty. I realized I needed to do a little more research to determine what is considered a learning network so I started by performing an internet search.
Stanford Social Innovation Review says “Learning networks are a form of collaboration that enables groups of stakeholders to cultivate connections across communities and organizations, and to strengthen a whole system simply by focusing on the potential for participants to share information and learn from one another” (Ehrlichman & Sawyer, 2018).
As soon as I read this definition, I immediately realized that I am already actively participating in several learning networks through my professional organization. I am currently a member of the following learning networks:
The purpose of NACADA’s Technology in Advising Community is to help academic advisors, faculty advisors, and advising administrators understand the impact of using technologies in advising, including:
Online communication & virtual advising
Degree audits & web registration
Student information systems & electronic advising notes
Social and connected spaces for innovative staff/faculty resources
Understand the ideas and trends of how technology is being utilized in higher education
Our activities include:
annual review and sponsorship of national conference proposals
solicitation of national and regional conference presentations and workshops
compiling web resources for advisors, arranged by topics
organizing Twitter chats throughout the year
This community seeks to serve as a central resource and clearinghouse for information about innovations and issues in academic advising technology. Through our webpage, listserv, and our social media platforms including our NACADA Technology in Advising Facebook Group, on Twitter (using the hashtag #AcAdv or #AdvTech), and at national and regional conferences, we actively seek to encourage NACADA members to engage in topical discussions and activities related to the uses of technology in advising.
The Well-Being & Advisor Retention Advising Community community exists to encourage advisors to address wellbeing and self-care with their students, while also encouraging the same for advisors. This community thus hopes to decrease burnout amongst advisors and increase retention in the field. This community views wellbeing as a holistic and human need for students and advisors alike, and views self-care as ensuring student and advisor needs are met. This community hopes to encourage discussion among advisors about integrating wellbeing and self-care into advising appointments with students, while also encouraging institutions to consider the needs of their advising staff, and advisors to consider their own self-care. This community will do this by conducting research of both advisors and students, and considering and creating innovative approaches for both students and advisors.
Our Advising Community has identified the following areas of focus:
Research – Coordinate academic research and review existing works for the committee’s use
Innovative Practice: Students – Focus on new/emerging practices in incorporating wellness/wellbeing into the advising relationship, contributing to student retention/success
Innovative Practice: Advisors – Focus on new/emerging practices in incorporating wellness/wellbeing into an advisor’s work, contributing to staff retention/success
Regional Liaisons – Connect with regional chairs and conference chairs to incorporate wellness/wellbeing into regional events/planning; reach out to region chairs to find out what the region needs are in the areas of wellness and retention and the ways our community can assist them.
This community is dedicated to providing advisors with resources and insight into best practices relating to distance advising in online education. Advisors within this community can network with professionals who are responsible for providing advising services to students whose primary method of instruction is online.
Establishing an essential relationship with a student can be difficult in the online world of advising and distance learning. The Advising Community on Distance Education Advising hopes to become the community where advisors in any discipline can come network and share best practices regarding advising students whose primary method of instruction is online.
Goals:
Recruit members for the community address book and utilize these individuals to assist with research, writing, and presentation proposals for NACADA conferences.
Create an interactive online advising guidebook and publish sections to the commission website.
Host at least three webinars for the 2016-2017 year relating to advising online students.
Create a Facebook page to increase commission awareness and inform advisors of best practices relating to distance advising for online education.
In addition to these communities available through NACADA, I also frequently participate with TEXAAN. Both of these professional organizations believe strongly in connecting advisors with others within the advising profession. Some are professional advisors, some are faculty advisors, and still others are administrators; but we all find ways to learn from one another. For example, both these organizations and individual learning networks try to hold monthly coffee and connect sessions where topics of different interests are covered. These learning networks have been extremely helpful, especially through the shutdowns of 2020. Our communities have held frequent webinars about how each of our institutions was addressing technology concerns, how we were helping our students navigate online learning, and pushed one another to remember self-care through such a challenging event. I have participated in several online discussions within my profession.
The benefit of these learning networks cannot be expressed enough. These networks provide us with a safe space to share the challenges (and victories) we each face guiding students through their academic paths. We have collaborated on solutions and new perspectives by maintaining a safe space to bring our challenges to one another.
As I continue to invest in my Growth Mindset with a goal toward developing a Learner’s Mindset, I will continue to share my experience, reflections, and challenges.
In the ADL Program, we have been asked to create our own growth mindset plans. As a follow up to my last post Growing your Mindset, I am going to attempt to answer the questions posed as openly and honestly as possible.
Reflections
Reflecting on the statements proposed by Dr. Carol Dweck’s (2016) book Mindset, I must admit growing up I completely believed “you can learn new things, but you can’t really change how intelligent you are” (p. 12). As I shared in my Getting Personal post, I did not have the best childhood experience in relation to school. I truly believed back then that “your intelligence is something very basic about you that you can’t change very much” (Dweck, 2016, p. 12). Thankfully, I had a much better college experience (studying psychology) and realized that my ideas of being “stupid” must be mistaken because as my coursework advanced my grades got higher. In chapter 3 of the Mindset book, when Dr. Dweck (2016) talks about the student who said “you mean I don’t have to be dumb?” my heart dropped because I felt exactly like that student in my grade school years (p. 55). I worked very hard to hide how truly stupid I believed I was as a result of learning disabled labels that were applied to me at a very young age. I definitely never volunteered to go to the board, those were mortifying reinforcements of everything I believed about myself. I was extremely shy. I believed that teachers didn’t like me.
Fortunately I survived elementary school, squeaking by in junior high and high school. I became involved in things like drill team and FFA which gave me outlets that boosted my confidence in other areas. As I learn about mixed mindsets, it is very interesting to reflect on my ability to try a dance routine over and over, making mistakes until perfected, performing for large groups of people but doing the same for academics was never on my radar.
I started to believe in myself and my ability to learn in college but reflecting now I can honestly say that I think I was just waiting for the truth to be exposed. I think I believed that through some strange fluke I was learning and doing well, but I completely felt like a fraud. Reflecting now, I have a feeling that this is why transpersonal psychology appealed to me so much. We started every class with a meditative session. We learned about accepting ourselves just as we are in each moment. I found peace and freedom in learning how to just be.
Questions and Answers
Q: Why is the growth mindset so important?
A: I am living proof that the growth mindset is very important because students can get stuck living a fixed mindset life, believing that there is no means to improve and better themselves. Assisting students in their academic pursuits requires that students learn that intelligence is something that can be improved over time with effort. College and life inevitably come with hardships and challenges. Students with a fixed mindset may never bounce back from those experiences. I have a whole section on my portfolio called When Life Happens to guide and assist students with their options along their academic journey. I hope to add growth mindset language throughout my portfolio and in my correspondence with students to fortify their growth mindset and to help develop it for those who do not currently have one. As cited by Scott Jeffrey (2020), “Dweck has found that just learning about the growth mindset can cause major shifts in how people view themselves and their lives.”
Scott Jeffrey’s guide How to Establish a Growth Mindset proposes this four step process to changing a fixed mindset to a growth mindset:
Step 1: Learn to hear your fixed mindset “voice.”
Step 2: Recognize that you have a choice.
Step 3: Talk back to it with a growth mindset voice.
Step 4: Take the growth mindset action.
Q: How will you incorporate the four steps?
A: I will admit that I still have to really pay attention to my inner dialog and recognize that fixed mindset voice identified the first of these four steps, because old habits are hard to break. If I still struggle with hearing my fixed mindset voice and recognizing I have a choice, then I can safely assume my students do too. Some students may have survived their whole primary, secondary, and post-secondary education without ever knowing about the growth mindset. I want to incorporate a mini course or some means of exposing students to the growth mindset concepts to help them begin to respond to their educational journey and challenges with a growth mindset voice.
Q: How will you communicate the message of “yet” to others?
A: By utilizing Dr. Dweck’s TedTalk The power of believing that you can improve in welcome emails at start of online graduate programs. By utilizing encouragement throughout program completion that focuses on progress. I will communicate the message of yet to my students, by acknowledging their challenges as opportunities. I will direct student to course correction strategies and remind them failure is a normal part of progress toward difficult long-term goals.
Q: What resources (content, video, media, etc.) will you use to promote the growth mindset?
Q: When and how often will you promote the growth mindset?
A: I feel that the growth mindset should be introduced to all students upon admission but should be further reinforced when students reach out about dropping, withdrawing, or when students face academic standing issues. I will strive to include “growth mindset message[s that include] phrases about the universality of challenges (this is incorporated with the phrase, ‘‘all students struggle’’), and nods to the importance of effort (e.g. “help your hard work pay off’’), strategies (‘‘learning strategies,’’ ‘‘I’m happy to strategize with you’’), and help-seeking (“I’m glad you reached out’’) for success” (Kyte et al., 2020).
Q: How will the growth mindset influence or impact the way you approach your work in this course and the program?
A: I must approach new content with a mindset that holds excitement for what new knowledge I will learn that can later be implemented into my Advisor’s Tips Page. I must continue to recognize the fixed mindset behaviors and thoughts from the past. I can only continue gains toward the learner’s mindset by replacing those old habits with new growth mindset thoughts and actions. I must acknowledge I have a choice about how I approach new challenging content. When I struggle and fail, I must regroup and search for the lessons learned through the attempt. I must seek feed forward from trusted relationships as encouraged by the COVA model either from my classmates/learning when course related and from my team when professional. As I recognize my fixed mindset voice and choose to replace it with a growth mindset one, while implementing growth mindset actions it is important that I continue to find ways to share the mindset message with my advisees continually improving my portfolio.
References
Dweck, C. S. (2016). The Mindsets. In Mindset (Updated Edition). Ballantine Books.
Kyte, S. B., Collins, E., & Deil-Amen, R. (2020). Mindset messaging: Fostering student support and confidence through micro-messaging in advisor communication. NACADA Journal, 40(1), 36–48. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.12930/NACADA-19-08
The Advisor That Cares 