Category: Personal

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

Professional Learning Plans

The Advisor That Cares

In my quest for research for my action research literature review, I came across an article that immediately made me think of my professional learning plans. Specifically when looking to the future of professional learning and how an innovation to advising could transform advising interactions.

Screenshot of "Looking to the Future" section of linked webpage.

Academic Tutors/Advisors and Students Working in Partnership: Negotiating and Co-creating in “The Third Space”

I did not even realize it, but this is an exciting “perspective piece” to find as a wonderful confirmation of what I envisioned throughout my professional learning plans that include this type of peer partnership.

Reference

McIntosh, E. A., Steele, G. E., & Grey, D. (2020). Academic tutors/advisors and students working in partnership: Negotiating and co-creating in “The third space.” Frontiers in Education, 5. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2020.528683

Action Research, ADL Program, Advising, Evolution, Goals, Growth, Growth Mindset, Humor, Learner's Mindset, Learning, Personal, Reflecting, Research

Am I a researcher?

The Advisor That Cares
Image of authors workspace. A pair of reading glasses is resting on a spiral notebook with a background of a full box of pens, a highlighter, John Dewey's book, and a cup of cream topped coffee sits on a coffee warmer.

The strangest thing is beginning to happen. As I read literature, I recognize authors I have previously read, cited, and studied. This recognition of source material is a very entertaining phenomenon as I am reviewing and searching for new resources and information on my innovation topic.

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

Relevant Research

The Advisor That Cares

So I really feel like I have been on a quest for precisely the type of information I just found.

Transformations in academic advising as a profession

For the first time, I have found a recent piece of literature that connects directly to the goals of my innovation plan. Let me see if I can explain this connection and my excitement at finding it.  

I struggle to accurately explain why an innovation involving blended learning (Horn & Staker, 2017) could revolutionize advising. An advising innovation will impact students and advisors at my institution for all reasons cited in this body of work.

My innovation plan seeks to create more time and comfortable space within advising appointments for meaningful interactions (Troxel et al., 2021). Until we find an effective way to get the course registration and degree plan requirements out of the way, advising will continually miss potentially life-altering opportunities. 

My action research study will utilize a quantitative design to narrowly focus on any correlation between study agency over accurate course registration and a blended learning advising module on the same topic. 

  • Variable one:
    • A blended learning advising module covering how and where to find degree plan requirements, degree progression plans, course registration procedures, and other registration-related tasks such as holds, balances, or action items needed for course registrations. 
  • Variable two: 
    • Student agency, as evidenced by the ability to outline course plans accurately and effectively before the advising session for the upcoming registration period. 

Methods:

  • Student pre-advising Likert and Likert-like questions regarding upcoming course registration, advising module information, and overall perceptions of readiness for next semester’s course registration
  • Advisor post-advising Likert and Likert-like questions regarding the accuracy of course selections made by the student, the quality of questions students ask during advising sessions and the advisor’s perceptions of the student’s preparedness for course registration. Advisors will rank the accuracy of registration plans and relevance to the student’s degree program. Finally, advisors will rate the overall advising interaction and depth of conversation. 

References

Horn, M. B., & Staker, H. (2017). Blended: Using disruptive innovation to improve schools. John Wiley & Sons.

Troxel, W. M., Bridgen, S., Hutt, C., & Sullivan‐Vance, K. A. (2021). Transformations in academic advising as a profession. New Directions for Higher Education, 2021(195–196), 23–33. https://doi.org/10.1002/he.20406

Action Research, ADL Program, Advising, Evolution, Goals, Growth, Growth Mindset, Learning, Personal, Professional, Reflecting

Research Rabbit Hole

The Advisor That Cares

I am embarking on my second literature review ever in my forty-six years of life, and I am actually excited about it. We have been challenged and encouraged throughout the ADL Program to make our projects authentic. There is just something amazing that happens when your passion and your practice align.

(I reserve the right to panic and freak out at any moment)

The most significant benefit of making this learning journey authentic is the genuine excitement to learn more about what we are passionate about in life. I am incredibly passionate about empowering college students to take the wheel of their academic journey. I want them to ask informed questions and know where to verify information accuracy. Humans are flawed and inevitably make errors and assumptions or give inaccurate information. My passion is showing people the path and letting them set the pace.

My action research proposal is a big step away from this passion project in many ways. Instead of understanding the heart of students or advisors, I am focusing on how a flipped advising approach could create space in advising interactions for the truly impactful conversations that keep students engaged in the learning opportunities and face any challenges life throws at them through that process.

Deep conversations about life changes, evolving interests, overcoming mindsets, and setting goals for the future are life-affirming for advisors and students. The only way to get to this deeper level of conversation is to move the time-consuming registration conversations to a blended learning environment. If students can research their degree audits and know how to sequence their coursework to meet prerequisite requirements, advising appointments become spaces for forming trusted relationships.

Deeper and deeper down the research rabbit hole, I am thankful that I get to research two topics near and dear to my heart: advisors and students.

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

Topics for AR

The Advisor That Cares

Here we are on the due date of the first assignment for the Action Research course, and I am still refining and finessing my action research question. The book and my literature review have made it clear that pinpointing the action research topic is critical. Failure to do so effectively will make me evaluate the wrong data or jump to faulty conclusions. I am doing my best to remove bias from my topic question (which is difficult to do when considering your passion project). I am really narrowing in on the topic to isolate specific variables. The vital behaviors process keeps coming to mind as I identify precisely who, what, when, and how this action research process will unfold.

In reflection, as I finalize my action research question, I thought I would share some of my questions:

What might I be able to do differently with my advisees that could facilitate agency and preparedness for advising appointments/course registration?

What might I be able to do differently with my advisors that could facilitate their knowledge, accuracy, and confidence?

Is there a difference in advising effectiveness between traditional and flipped advising for freshman and sophomore university students?

To what degree does the use flipped advising tools and strategies impact student readiness for advising.

Does a flipped advising module on how to read your degree audit increase student agency in course selections?

To what degree do advising ePortfolio resources impact students’ progress through their degree plan requirements?

What are the attitudes of students toward the use of advising ePortfolios/Flipped advising tools/strategies? (Qualitative study option)

What is the nature of the relationship between college students’ academic course selections toward degree completion and their advising experience?

What is the effect of flipped advising techniques on incoming cohorts of college students on the development of student agency?

What advising practices are most closely associated with effective advising? (too broad)

How does a personally curated advising ePortfolio improve student preparation for course selections made during advising appointments? (rejected for bias)

How does using advising ePortfolios increase student agency over course selections during course registration advising sessions? (rejected since we don’t know if it will increase agency)

How will using an advising ePortfolio stimulate student agency for/over/in first-year course selections?

How does the use of flipped advising (blended learning) increase student agency in course selections made by first-year college students?

In what ways is student agency impacted by a flipped advising module on degree requirements as evidenced by accurate curricular choices?

In what ways does a flipped advising module on degree planning impact student agency in making curricular choices?

In what ways does a flipped advising module on degree planning facilitate student agency in making curricular choices during the first year of college?

Action Research, ADL Program, Collective, Contributions, Evolution, Growth, Learner's Mindset, Learning, Personal

Plan-Do-Study-Act–ion Research?

The Advisor That Cares

I sincerely cannot accurately outline my learning process. Still, I could post a screenshot of the number of tabs I currently have open with articles, search terms, and related content as I wrap my head around the process of Action Research. I would like to share some interesting findings about one of these search trails in hopes of returning to it or having it be helpful to another.

I found this webinar and related resources in my search for literature on “student agency,” may it be useful to you.

Maximizing Student Agency
Implementing and Measuring
Student-Centered Learning Practices

https://www.air.org/sites/default/files/2021-06/Maximizing-Student-Agency-NICs-Report-Oct-2018.pdf: Plan-Do-Study-Act–ion Research?

As you will see, the Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles outlined in this framework, sound just like the phases of action research we are currently working through in the ADL program.

Maximizing Student Agency
Implementing and Measuring
Student-Centered Learning Practices
TECHNICAL APPENDIX

https://www.air.org/sites/default/files/2021-06/Maximizing-Student-Agency-NICs-Technical-Appendix-Oct-2018.pdf: Plan-Do-Study-Act–ion Research?

Beginning on page 35, there is an example student survey, and on page 42 an example teacher survey.

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.

Goals, Influencer, Leadership, Personal, Professional, Professional Learning, Reflecting, Why

Redefining Leadership

The Advisor That Cares

“Are you a leader” (TEDx Talks, 2010)?

Are you an important person in someone’s life? Maybe you need a new definition of leadership. In the following TED, Drew Dudley illustrates how powerful you might be in another person’s life without knowing it.

“Every time you change one person’s understanding of the world. One person’s understanding of how many people care about them. One person’s understanding of what they are capable of. One person’s understanding of how powerful an agent for change they can be in this world. And more importantly how powerful an agent for change they can be in their own life. Every time you change one person’s understanding of the world, you change the whole world” (Speakers Spotlight, 2019).

Leadership is about “how many [lollipop moments] you empower other people to create for themselves” (Speakers Spotlight, 2019). I plan to carry this definition of leadership with me as I create professional learning opportunities and move forward with my innovation plans.

I want to help create lollipop moments.

References

Speakers Spotlight. (2019, July 19). Recognizing the Power of Lollypop Moments | Drew Dudley [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU06fAhLKvU

TEDx Talks. (2010, October 7). TEDxToronto –  Drew Dudley “Leading with Lollipops” [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVCBrkrFrBE