Category: ADL Program

Action Research, ADL Program, Advising, Growth Mindset, Learner's Mindset, Learning, Tips

AR – Back to Basics

The Advisor That Cares

So I feel like I’m playing a bit of a game… two steps forward, one step back in my new Adventures in Action Research. You see, I thought I had developed my action research topic/question and identified my research method, but I can’t help but ask myself, do I even care. The more I think about the original problem that drove me to my innovation, the more I feel like I need to refine and finesse what I’m interested in finding out.

So in my typical fashion. I’m going back to basics. My basics. As you might remember, if you’ve read any of these prior ramblings, finding additional sources online always helps me process the information I have been reading and studying.

As I review different sources, I find different nuggets that help me understand the task at hand. I am really trying to put in the maximum amount of time, effort, and due diligence into this initial planning stage so that once I prepare my Action Research Outline, I will be well on my way to the foundation for my Action Plan.

The Short Version:

John Spencer. (2017, January 11). What is action research? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov3F3pdhNkk

While I was still searching for Learner’s Mindset Discussions on the topic, I came across a lovely video series on action research. This is a really nice overview of the Action Research process.

The Long Version:

Conexiones: The Learning Sciences Platform. (2019, September 24). Action research: How to conduct action research, by Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa, Ph.D. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWaVbxGMeVI

I hope it helps as you wrap your mind around this new adventure too.

Action Research, ADL Program, Advising, ePortfolios, Goals, Growth, Growth Mindset, Humor, Innovation Plan, Learner's Mindset, Learning, Personal, Professional, Reflecting

ADL and AR

The Advisor That Cares

Reading Action Research: Improving Schools and Empowering Educators by Craig Mertler has me reflecting upon the ADL program up to this point. We have poured blood, sweat, and tears into our innovation project. Now we are asked to research the validity of some aspect of our innovation or the innovation itself. I don’t know about everyone else, but I am freaking out at the possibility that I could determine my innovation is garbage!

I am wrapping my head around evaluative validity concerning qualitative research and am honest enough to acknowledge that remaining “unbiased” while reporting data is a tall order (Mertler, 2019, p. 142). I will keep reading in hopes that through this process, I will learn to be objective and see the greater good of refining my innovation, but in the middle of this book, I will honestly report that I am a little freaked out.

Reference

Mertler, C. A. (2019). Action research: Improving schools and empowering educators (6th ed.). SAGE Publications, Incorporated.

Action Research, ADL Program, Learner's Mindset, Learning, Reflecting

Personal Empowerment

The Advisor That Cares

Working my way through Craig Mertler’s book Action Research: Improving Schools and Empowering Educators, I decided to jump online and see what I could find to better wrap my mind around the concept. A few of my favorite quotes, as related to the ADL program, are found below.

“Gathering evidence of the effectiveness with which this new strategy works for us also empowers us to make our lives better. We’re not waiting for someone else to tell us if the learning that they imposed on us works. We’re in charge of that part of the process, as well” (TEDx Talks, 2019, 3:45).

“Finally, I think reflecting on this entire process of identifying something that we want to change, finding a different way of doing it, and then trying it out. Gathering evidence of the effectiveness but then making a plan for where we go next. is this the solution, or do we need to keep looking. All of this empowers us to make our lives better” (TEDx Talks, 2019, 4:08).

“Using this idea of personal empowerment in a continuous improvement manner, the idea that we use this every day as a mechanism to find little ways to improve our lives and make us better people” (TEDx Talks, 2019, 8:38).

“Empower ourselves to take control over our own learning” (TEDx Talks, 2019, 9:28).

Reference

TEDx Talks. (2019, March 20). Personal empowerment through reflection and learning | Dr. Craig Mertler | TEDxLakelandUniversity [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzDsT-25w14

ADL Program, Contributions, Growth, Growth Mindset, Innovation Plan, Learner's Mindset, Learning, Learning Community, Professional Learning, Reflecting

Contributions, 5389

The Advisor That Cares

Professional Learning Course

  • Spring 2023
  • Course Number: EDLD 5389
  • Course Title: Developing Effective Professional Learning

Contributions to learning and learning community.

I am giving myself a score of 96 out of 100

Crediting Core Group Members: Adrianne Ortiz, Annababette Diemecke, Ashleigh Carter, Kristin Winzer, Patrick Rodriguez, and Valary Patterson

Crediting Collective Members: https://advising.blog/collaborations/

Key and Supporting Contributions

Key Contributions

This, my sixth ADL program course marks over the halfway point in my graduate school journey. Several of us have been taking classes together for the last few semesters by this point in the program. We have maintained our collaborative group through a Google Drive and a GroupMe chat.

Our learning community members are always ready and willing to support one another. The ADL Collective GroupMe chat allows members to reach out for feed-forward almost anytime, day or night. I, too, always ensure that I provide helpful feedback to my core collaboration group and all the members of that collective.

As I progress through the program and my professional role continues to evolve, I am revisiting and revising all assignments throughout this course and this program. The more I live and work with my innovation, the more it grows and gains momentum for success.

I always complete all assigned course readings and follow links from those materials to enhance and deepen my learning. The ADL program is structured, so I wonder how someone can be successful without embracing the self-directed learning opportunity we are given here. Our experience as learners is meant to shape the learning experience we create for our learners.

I always met the course activity deadlines outlined in the course content and syllabus. As well as posting discussions promptly so that my classmates and I could engage in a dialog about the professional learning opportunities we have been creating in this course.

Supporting Contributions

I have taken an active role in my and my classmates’ learning by participating in every opportunity to learn.

When the session began, I again created a course calendar I shared with the ADL Collective. This was a format I adopted from Dr. Grogan in 5313 that I modified slightly for 5304. It kept me accountable for those reading-intensive classes, so I continue to utilize a modified class calendar for accountability.

I contribute to class call discussions, add commentary on all discussion prompts, and provide feedback to my classmates and groupmates near critical deadlines.

I cite source material in my blog postings and class discussions whenever possible and relevant. Additionally, I seek additional sources of information to further my understanding.

I constantly reflect on my learning process and embrace the learners’ mindset. I accept challenges and try new things readily. For example, this semester is the first time I have utilized Google Classrooms or created a Google Form. However, I embraced the opportunity to teach myself how to do these things as the most effective way to structure my Professional Learning opportunity.

I am so excited to have the extraordinary learning experiences provided by this program. Seeing my innovation plan coming to life as I work through this program is truly unique. I am learning and doing things I never dreamed I could do.

Reflection

What Worked?

The ADL Cohort Collective GroupMe chat is still the thing that is working best regarding my learning. I created this group chat when my learning community from the first course fizzled out, and I was desperately trying to fulfill the learning community part of the program. Once I learned about the New Culture of Learning, I updated the group to reflect the nature of a collective. Not everyone is active all of the time, but there is always someone engaged in the group. It has been a beautiful support system for all of us. When we felt stressed out and overwhelmed, someone in the group was ready to support us. When we have successes to celebrate or professional challenges to overcome, the group is there for each other. I continue to help create a welcoming and supportive environment for others to participate. Many have joined, saying, “finally, an active group!” which makes me happy.

Actively blogging through is another factor that is working. I have seen less blogging participation in my learning cohort when there are no specific requirements for blogging. Still, I have elected to continue the practice based on Dr. Harapnuik’s recommendation that it helps you solidify your thoughts and work through the metacognition we are doing throughout this program.

What could be better?

As learners, we seek and await our instructors’ approval of our work. I waited to begin on some projects hoping to receive instructor feedback. I found myself in fear of moving forward if I was heading in the wrong direction. I had to stop and give myself a pep-talk about halfway through the session because the amount of work needed to create the Professional Learning Outline was not conducive to waiting on final grades for the Call to Action – Alternative PL. Similarly, the workload required for the final PL strategy/plan was not conducive to beginning after receiving feedback on the outline.

It took me a while to remind myself that I am a self-directed learner. While feed-forward from my peers and coach is helpful, my work is my own, and I must be true to that process. I even shared my blog post on the topic with the ADL Collective group chat in case others in our cohort needed that same gentle reminder.

I am recording this as something that could be better because coming to this realization from the get-go would have spared me a lot of stress and worry during those waiting periods.

ADL Program, Advising, Evolution, Goals, Growth, Growth Mindset, Influencer, Leadership, Learner's Mindset, Learning, Learning Community, Personal, Professional, Professional Learning, Reflecting

Change hurts

The Advisor That Cares

My department is going through so many simultaneous changes right now. It is difficult for many to adapt and adjust. Still, I am doing what I can to share my heart, highlight the opportunities, and allow everyone to propose solutions.

I have witnessed firsthand the panic caused by sit-and-get training. Over the last several weeks, individual teams have come together to receive an overview of each other’s degree plans and departments and to build a collaborative network of support by grouping majors into career clusters and communities of interest, also known as meta-majors. This change poses a complete shift in everything our advising unit has ever done. It requires that advisors expand beyond specializing in one to a few majors to an entire catalog of majors based on four broad categories (arts, communication, and education; business and industry; public service; or science, technology, engineering, and math).

Add to this challenge that our office desperately needs more staffing due to several departmental challenges, including a complete restructuring and new leadership.

Change heals

The restructuring has provided leadership opportunities at every level. Some have arisen to the challenge, and I can hear hopefulness in their voices again. Some are still overwhelmed and doing their best to hold on for the learning ahead of us. Our advising unit has a long history of high turnover. Party because only a few people understand what goes into academic advising and the high demands of the profession. Others are looking to begin a career at an institution of higher learning, and advising is a common entry point for those with a degree. Many in our advising unit are working outside of their degree areas. Several advisors are either working toward, hold a graduate degree, or have multiple degrees because they understand the value of an education. They flourish as the leaders and teams embrace the opportunity to build solutions to advising challenges.

As I watch the team members working together, I see healing happening. I see a positive workplace culture forming. I see such great brainstorming and communication happening all across the advising unit. I see individuals that no longer feel like separate islands doing their own thing. Instead, I see warriors dressing for battle, determined to make it through the challenges and frustrations that change brings to make things even better than they were before.

Change

As advisors find hope in a supportive environment, I see a team that will embrace change in the future as an opportunity.

“There is nothing permanent except change”

— Heraclitus
ADL Program, Advising, ePortfolios, Growth, Growth Mindset, Growth Mindset Plan, Influencer, Innovation Plan, Leadership, Learner's Mindset, Learning, Personal, Professional, Professional Learning, Reflecting, Why

Advisors as Learners

The Advisor That Cares

I am well into my graduate program, and I see with clarity how well-designed this program has been crafted. We are living-learning opportunities that we can apply to our specific situation (Principle 5, by the way). Throughout every step of the program, I have reflected that I feel torn between two audience options (students and colleagues).

My innovation was selfishly born out of my desperate need to meet the needs of my learners (students/advisees). Feeling worn out, abused, disrespected, and undervalued as a knowledgeable resource to many frustrated students and as a professional – I desperately wanted to increase student motivation to seek information for themselves. Acknowledging the often complicated and multi-sourced ways to process information and situations, my ePortofolio sought to provide an easy-to-locate resource that consolidated all those sources by topic and included personal tips and advice that I would give during an advising appointment on the subject. I found myself so inspired (and challenged) by the UbD Template. Building understanding and intrinsic motivation into my advisees/learners through the design of every interaction opportunity. Creating a resource that is available when common questions arise to create a ubiquitous resource available anytime (i.e., peak advising season when I could have slower response times or in the middle of the night on a drop deadline).

As much as I advocate for students, I also have an advocate’s heart for my fellow advisors. I cannot even begin to describe the amount of information advisors relay. The unfortunate reality is that sometimes these professionals are underprepared and uninformed, thereby affecting students in their learning journey. I want advisors to be knowledgeable, and I want them to have connections across the institution so that we can guide students in their academic journey. As I begin to plan how to utilize going training and continual support to truly innovate advising through this first of many professional learning opportunities.

I have tried to describe my innovation to others and wondered if it is innovative. However, as I approach this professional learning task, I am seeing exactly what I had in mind for my innovation idea. As advisors experience choice, ownership, and voice through an authentic learning environment, they will have a greater opportunity to provide that for their learners/advisees. I see now that my learners are a team of advisors who have a wonderful opportunity to impact the lives of their learners. They can change the world one learner at a time.

ADL Program, Advising, ePortfolios, Goals, Growth, Innovation Plan, Learner's Mindset, Learning, Personal, Professional, Professional Learning, Reflecting, Why

Gentle Reminder

The Advisor That Cares

This weekend has been a productive weekend of reminding myself that I am a self-directed learner. You see, I have gotten myself into a stagnant rut waiting for a piece of feedback, thinking that the outcome of that decision determined whether or not I could move on to the next. You see, I had shifted my learning focus to look for the sage on the stage.

I stopped to think back on my learning process. I remember that when I encounter new material in the ADL program, I typically go to YouTube and search for videos on the topic. I typically start with the Learners Mindset or Dwayne Harapnuik channel and then branch out on tangents. In my searching and video watching on the topic of Professional Learning, I found my way to a playlist LMPL (Learners Mindset Professional Learning). This was a bit like watching a clip show because I recognized so many conversations, but it was exactly what I needed to get my head straight again.

While the guide on the side would be a welcome addition to my learning journey, it is not how I learn. Learning is up to me. I accomplish my goals by focusing on my audience, why, and innovation. Going through this playlist allowed me to think about my professional learning opportunity and really translate how I can utilize COVA+CSLE and everything I have learned and created up to this point to put together a cohesive Professional Learning Plan.

This is an overwhelmingly huge task because of the scope of my innovation project and my department’s current restructuring. There are many unknown factors, an entire culture to help build, and so much trust to win. Nonetheless, what better way to make this a truly authentic task. Not to mention having an immediate impact on my organization. Moving forward in this endeavor, I am keeping Dr. Thibodeaux’s advice in my mind. Hearing her reassurance that I “don’t have to have everything planned out perfectly” and her confirmation that I will “make adjustments as [I] go” as I identify “what works [and] what doesn’t work” finding my way as I learn “how to work with other people” (Learners Mindset, 2020, 8:40). This is something that we get to create together. It will evolve as we go, but I do not need to wait for confirmation and feedback to move forward with creating my outline and looking ahead to my professional learning plan.

Reference

Learners Mindset. (2020, May 25). LMD EP18 COVA professional learning [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved February 11, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpBIGWgMfLY

ADL Program, Advising, ePortfolios, Goals, Influencer, Innovation Plan, Leadership, Learner's Mindset, Learning, Personal, Professional, Professional Learning, Reflecting, Why

A Call to Passion

The Advisor That Cares

“A call to passion” is exactly what Developing Effective Professional Learning means to me. I am so excited to share professional learning with each of you! We have the overwhelming honor of helping others utilize their passions through the adventure of learning. Together.

As a student, beginning a new chapter of life can be overwhelming. You are an adult, which you have been looking forward to for as long as you can remember. But you are also stepping outside of your comfort zone. Really finding yourself. Discovering who you want to be without the primary inputs that previously surrounded you.

As advisors, we are honored to help guide students as they begin University life. My research shows that the advising relationship is significant to students’ perseverance through what can be a challenging adjustment. Nevertheless, how many times has this significance escaped you? How often have you felt like a broken record? How exhausting can it be for you and the student as you frantically attempt to cover so many things? Just a few examples come to mind like the university’s policies and procedures; system access and onboarding; information about the program, department, and academic college; outlining course options, prerequisite sequences, and electives selections; confirming career goals for major alignment, not to mention informing students of the multiple support resources and offices across campus. How often do we find ourselves desperately trying to get to know our students on the walk to our office or in the brief moments before or after the information download I just described? When are we supposed to find that moment to connect with them so that we can help them make meaning of their learning, struggles, and opportunities to grow?

We can embrace professional learning by moving away from the current professional development model. We can find personal relevance and engage passions as our mission resonates. Doing so requires that our support be ongoing. We want to give good training, but don’t want to stop there. We want to build teams with peer coaching that happens throughout implementation. We can encourage active engagement, and we can model our new skills. As we do these things, we will see an increase in adaptability to our specific situations and even more adoption of our innovation. We need frequent communication to know what is working and what needs improvement.

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As we embrace this new professional learning model, we will find success in addressing challenges, improving delivery methods, and creating time and space for advisors to do what they do best, connect with students.