Tag Archives: University

Listening AND doing⤴

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Image from Wikimedia
Recently I’ve been over-exposed to the picture above. I’ve been to a slew of talks and presentations where well-meaning people have used this picture on  slide and told me that lectures are outdated and all the best teachers nowadays engage their students in active learning. But, of course, it’s not as clear cut as that. In a paper that, in my opinion, is one of the most important pieces of writing about teaching and learning, Anna Sfard highlights the importance of not rejecting acquisition as a useful form of learning: On Two Metaphors for Learning and the Dangers of Choosing Just One. Recently there has been a tendency for educators to opt for participatory models of learning – often called ‘active learning’ . However, as Sfard says, it’s not the only way that people can learn and we should be careful of black and white dichotomies. A couple of months ago I participated in an #LTHEChat on Bluesky on the topic of Team Based Learning, and wrote a blog post as a result of a conversation I had during that chat – basically arguing against the idea that being a ‘guide on the side’ was better than being a ‘sage on the stage’.  You can read the whole blog post for yourself and admire the artwork that goes along with it 🙂

Walking around Glasgow⤴

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I know that people have strong opinions about all of the building that is happening at UofG, but personally I love the juxtaposition of old and new buildings, and views like this one, with the tower behind the crane for the Keystone building:

The old and the new
The old and the new flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

I had a meeting with a friend this morning, and after that I decided to walk down to Partick, do a bit of grocery shopping, and grab a sandwich for lunch.  I almost decided to walk down to the Riverside Museum and see the tall ship:

Tall Ship
Tall Ship flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

But instead of turning left I decided to turn right and sit down by the flats on the Clyde. Many gulls shouted overhead, and I was careful not to wave my food around:

Gull
Gull flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

To the west the day looked sunny, and the Barclay Curle Crane was looking good:

197/365 Barclay Curle Crane
197/365 Barclay Curle Crane flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

Over the water on the South Side, though, there were dark clouds looming:

Govan Old Church
Govan Old Church flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

I checked my weather app, and it said there was no chance of rain, but I wanted to get home in time to catch the monthly Blogging Community of Practice, so I packed up my sandwich wrapper and headed back up to Partick to find a bus stop.

And waved goodbye to the Uni tower again.

Partick
Partick flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

UofG Chapel⤴

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I was feeling pretty low yesterday, but it was a lovely day and I was glad to travel up to uni for a couple of meetings. As I got off the bus I stopped to look over the Kelvin at the UofG Tower

UofG across the Kelvin
UofG across the Kelvin flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

Then walked up the path, past the caged  flowers 😉

Caged Campion
Caged Campion flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

At the top of the hill I made a diversion to look at the Lion and the Unicorn

Lion and Unicorn
Lion and Unicorn flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

And then, as I still had a few minutes before my meeting, I stopped at the Chapel to reflect for a few minutes

UofG Chapel
UofG Chapel flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

I’m not religious, far from it, but I remember bringing my parents here many years ago, and it helped to feel close to them yesterday.

UofG Chapel⤴

from

I was feeling pretty low yesterday, but it was a lovely day and I was glad to travel up to uni for a couple of meetings. As I got off the bus I stopped to look over the Kelvin at the UofG Tower

UofG across the Kelvin
UofG across the Kelvin flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

Then walked up the path, past the caged  flowers 😉

Caged Campion
Caged Campion flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

At the top of the hill I made a diversion to look at the Lion and the Unicorn

Lion and Unicorn
Lion and Unicorn flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

And then, as I still had a few minutes before my meeting, I stopped at the Chapel to reflect for a few minutes

UofG Chapel
UofG Chapel flickr photo by NomadWarMachine shared under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license

I’m not religious, far from it, but I remember bringing my parents here many years ago, and it helped to feel close to them yesterday.

JOMO – The Joy of Missing Out⤴

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As a bricoleur I have cultivated a habit of saying “yes”, and “yes, and …”, and this has opened me up to many wonderful experiences. Saying yes has helped me to:

  • learn new skills
  • meet interesting people – including a community to base my PhD on
  • discover things I didn’t know that I wanted to know
  • and more …

Of course, sometimes I still say no – and there’s a fine line to be trodden between accepting everything because one never knows what might come of it and saving some spare time in case an unexpected opportunity arises, but this is my spare time and I can use it pretty much as I like. However, this ‘just say yes’ attitude can lead me to be very stressed and overworked when I allow it to spill over into my working life, as it inevitably does.  I’ve written before about my institution’s obsession with meetings, so I won’t repeat that rant.

Today I want share with you the relief that I have been experiencing since realising that I do have the right to say “no” sometimes, and the joy that I have been feeling when practicing that right. We’re all familiar, I think with FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), so maybe you’ve heard of its counterpart JOMO (Joy of Missing Out). In the same way as a smile is a frown upside down, these are often the flip sides of each other. So here’s some times recently that I’ve turned my FOMO into JOMO:

  • Instead of being upset because a submission to a conference or journal has been rejected, rejoiced that I have the time free to do something more enjoyable
  • Instead of worrying that I forgot to complete a Doodle for a meeting, happy danced that it was organised for a time that I couldn’t attend – thus letting me off the hook for further work
  • Instead of feeling FOMO for a workshop on a ‘hot topic’ that I didn’t sign up for, notice that I have space in my working day to eat lunch

So here’s to more FOMO.

JOMO – The Joy of Missing Out⤴

from

As a bricoleur I have cultivated a habit of saying “yes”, and “yes, and …”, and this has opened me up to many wonderful experiences. Saying yes has helped me to:

  • learn new skills
  • meet interesting people – including a community to base my PhD on
  • discover things I didn’t know that I wanted to know
  • and more …

Of course, sometimes I still say no – and there’s a fine line to be trodden between accepting everything because one never knows what might come of it and saving some spare time in case an unexpected opportunity arises, but this is my spare time and I can use it pretty much as I like. However, this ‘just say yes’ attitude can lead me to be very stressed and overworked when I allow it to spill over into my working life, as it inevitably does.  I’ve written before about my institution’s obsession with meetings, so I won’t repeat that rant.

Today I want share with you the relief that I have been experiencing since realising that I do have the right to say “no” sometimes, and the joy that I have been feeling when practicing that right. We’re all familiar, I think with FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), so maybe you’ve heard of its counterpart JOMO (Joy of Missing Out). In the same way as a smile is a frown upside down, these are often the flip sides of each other. So here’s some times recently that I’ve turned my FOMO into JOMO:

  • Instead of being upset because a submission to a conference or journal has been rejected, rejoiced that I have the time free to do something more enjoyable
  • Instead of worrying that I forgot to complete a Doodle for a meeting, happy danced that it was organised for a time that I couldn’t attend – thus letting me off the hook for further work
  • Instead of feeling FOMO for a workshop on a ‘hot topic’ that I didn’t sign up for, notice that I have space in my working day to eat lunch

So here’s to more FOMO.

Listening AND doing⤴

from

Recently I’ve been over-exposed to the picture above. I’ve been to a slew of talks and presentations where well-meaning people have used this picture on  slide and told me that lectures are outdated and all the best teachers nowadays engage their students in active learning. But, of course, it’s not as clear cut as that. In a paper that, in my opinion, is one of the most important pieces of writing about teaching and learning, Anna Sfard highlights the importance of not rejecting acquisition as a useful form of learning. However, as she also says, it’s not the only way that people can learn.

Image from Wikimedia