Week 11: Continuing Forward

Week 11
Image Credit: @snapsurveys

Wow... I cannot believe it is week 11 of the course and we are completing our 11th reflection. Time moves so fast. While it is the 11th week of the course, I feel like I have very little to report on this week. It's not that I have not been doing anything... on the contrary... I have been busy. It's just that all my work and experiences this week are a snapshot of things that I have discussed in previous weeks. In essence, it has been a standard week answering questions, grading, and providing support for all my students. Nevertheless, I am going to provide an update on where we are in the course and then provide a short reflection on a few things that occurred this week.

Goodbye Module 4, Welcome to module 5

Sunday marked the end of module 4 and Monday started the class on a new journey. This is actually my favorite time in this course. We move on from background information on the immune system and identifying and classifying microbes and move into the diseases caused by microbes and how they effect each system of the body. This is the part of the term that students really love as well. I love talking about infectious disease and all the "gross" stuff that happens. This is also the time when students feel a stronger connection to the material. This is the part of the course where they learn symptoms of various infections and how they will diagnose or treat these infections in their future careers. I have designed this course to be taught and set up by "body system". There are two ways microbiology can be taught: "by disease" or "by body system". When I was a professor at Lenoir Rhyne, I first taught the course by disease. I soon realized that it really helped students if the material is presented by body system. There are many reasons for this, but one of the main reasons is that they are taught Anatomy and Physiology by body system and it helps if this class is set up like A&P as well. I learned, early on, that many of my students are taking this class along with A&P 2 (students cannot take this class unless they pass A&P 1 or General Bio 1). So, I learned very quickly that this class should resemble other medical courses they are taking. 

Examples of Different Body Systems
Image Credit:  @wisegeek

While students are learning the same information, presenting it in a different way really helps them progress through the material. I think some of the courses in the OTID program have demonstrated this concept as well. Many of the assignments in the courses build from one course to another and many of the projects overlap. While I know this happens in science, it is great to see it in other programs. Seeing how it is done in the OTID program has helped me understand other ways at organizing course information. I may be a child of two different fields, but I can use aspects of these two fields to build upon each other. So, Module 5 marks the intro to disease by body system. We start with the integumentary system and move into the nervous system.  This helps the students keep in line with what they learn in the A&P courses and continues to let them learn with a similar mindset. 

A light-hearted look at grading.
Image Credit: @PhDComics

More Grading

Since it is the beginning of a module, it means another module just ended and much of my time is spent grading. While grading seems like a never ending job, the end of the modules are loaded with grading. While the comic at the left is just a funny comic about teaching and grading, it is important to note that grading is an intense and serious activity. I feel like I spend lots of my time grading. I will say, this program has changed the way I approach grading. Since starting this program, I have been more detailed and even encouraging in my grading. After taking a few courses in the OTID program, I now make sure to point out some things students did really well. Before, I focused on the areas where students needed to improve. Now, I realize it is important to point out to the students where they really shined and succeeded. I still also point out where and how they can improve, but I make sure to point out some strengths as well. I think that has helped the relationship I have with my students. While this is a personal opinion, I feel like students talk to me more now that I have improved my feedback. My guess is that it makes the students more comfortable with me. I want to make the learning experience a positive one (if I can) and I feel this has helped me improve my interaction with my students.

Now on to week 12. I hope to have enough responses from my midterm survey to be able to report on those next week. :D