It's all about the process
The Educationalist. By Alexandra Mihai
Welcome to a new issue of “The Educationalist”! Our lives have become so fast paced and we often, too often find ourselves seeking quick results, counting our wins in *results* or *outcomes*. But aren’t we forgetting something? The process, going through the motions, is actually key to our success. If only we were paying enough attention to it instead of rushing through our days. I, for instance, could send out this newsletter with a higher frequency if I used some help (ehem… we all know what I am talking about) to get the text ready quicker. But I deliberately choose not to. Because I simply enjoy the process of writing it. Of seeing how my thoughts come together and take shape, of hearing my voice through it all. In fact I think this is the part I love the most, so there is no way I’d outsource it. But how can we get out students to focus on the process and to potentially start liking it too? Today I’m trying to explore this topic, looking into how we can design our courses and programmes to revolve around the learning process and not only count the products. I would very much appreciate your thoughts and experiences on this. Enjoy reading and have a nice weekend!
There is no secret that academia has a way of putting “the product” first, be it a published article, theses, essays or exams. In fact, the more measurable, the better, as it makes it more straightforward to evaluate. But especially in the past year we have become more and more aware of the pitfalls this approach has: AI made us feel that we are losing control on the thing that we seem to value the most- the final product could be totally disconnected from learning and thus not an effective way to measure it. So what do we do now? The answers ranged from panic to trying to safeguard academic integrity by buying technology to counteract technology, to reassessing assessment (but often decoupled from the rest of learning). What I find the most useful is the attempt to learn, together with our students (and hopefully with our institutions), how best to use the new technologies in the learning process.
Wait, what did I just say? The “learning process”. Let’s begin by acknowledging that learning is a process, and that, even though harder to measure, the process is at least as important as the product. In fact, for me personally, the most important aspect of learning is learning how to learn.
So let’s focus on the process behind it all. Take a moment to consider these questions (you can do it before reading further but also at the end, or, better, both):
How does learning happen?
How do we know it’s happening?
How can we support and facilitate it?
How can we measure it?
Why focus on the process?
If you know me by now, you’ll expect me to start with the “why”. And I will not disappoint. So, let’s have a look at some of the reasons why I think we need to pay more attention to the learning process:
Structure and consistency: by definition, a process implies a certain degree of structure and consistency. Moving between different steps, gradually building a knowledge base, being able to plan the way ahead, at least to a certain extent, enables students to go through courses and programmes more mindfully, instead of rushing towards the end goal. Yes, it does require a consistent workload (instead of cramming before the exam) but it also provides educators with more opportunities for scaffolding and support our students at different stages in the process.
Space for (deliberate) practice: valuing the process as a whole leaves more space for two things that I consider crucial for learning: practice and reflection. Giving students the chance to practice consistently and with purpose, and to learn from failure in very important for their development. Building in moments of reflection, and providing the appropriate amount of guidance and coaching can go a long way in helping them develop a healthy habit of taking things (i.e. their learning in this case) one step at a time and learning to own and to enjoy the process.
A great venue for formative assessment: if we put the process at the centre we create more opportunities for a more meaningful approach of assessment, leaning towards the formative rather than the summative. Of course, feedback plays an essential role, both in terms of us providing feedback and students seeking and integrating feedback in their future work.
Developing skills alongside knowledge: if we look beyond the final product, a whole new horizon of learning paths opens up. Students develop important skills in the process, like critical thinking, team work, communication or project management. All not immediately apparent in a final exam or essay.
Patience: a process takes time; this is something we all need to learn. By having students move through the various steps of the process intentionally, we help them train their patience, an invaluable tool we all could use more of on a daily basis.
Putting the process first requires a different learning design and a change in our mindset. I will explore each of them below.
Designing for the process
Here are some thoughts related to learning design that could help us centre the process a bit more. They apply both to course and programme level (perhaps the idea of process is even more important at programme level, as it needs to guide the alignment of different courses that students experience as a whole).
Rethinking our learning goals. The value of the process (as opposed to just the outcome) needs to be clearly mirrored in the learning goals. Think here about things they learn “along the way” (skills often fall in this category) and make them explicit. Maybe ask students to think along and set their own goals, as this gives them more ownership of the process.
Clear structure is the key. If we want students to understand and internalise the role of each step in the process we need to provide them with a clear structure. Pay attention to the sequence of activities, the balance between types of activities (individual and collaborative, acquisition and production, etc), be mindful about the workload required for each step. Create milestones (and celebrate them!), and design regular feedback moments (be it teacher or peer feedback).
Reflection is not an afterthought. Build in reflection opportunities at various places in the course. It can be anything from a few minutes at the end of class to learning diaries. In the best case scenario, students also could benefit greatly from having coaches to support them with reflection, as Niels van der Baan explains here.
Assessment that supports the process and not only evaluates the final product. Here we can try designing a series of smaller assignments that build on each other. They can be used mostly formatively, with feedback being the most important element. Not everything needs to be graded. Clearly this takes more time than one final assignment, but it’s a choice we have to make. Having all assignments in one place can really help us and our students to capture the process and see the progress. ePortfolios are of great help here.
Don’t forget about communication. Being clear and explicit about why the process is important, about how we capture and assess it, is key to students’ engagement. Make a point of marking the transition between modules, create visual timelines with the various steps- these are just some ideas.
Changing our mindset
Let’s remind ourselves one thing: what we try to do here is change a mindset- that what matters most is the final product-, and this takes time and patience. Moreover, it is a change of mindset for all actors involved. Students will need to put in consistent workload throughout the course and not only at the end. Educators will need to redesign their courses and potentially bring more work upon themselves in terms of guidance and feedback. Higher Education institutions will need to create new structures and policies to de-centre the final product.
So this will definitely not be a quick process. It may be painful, and painfully slow. Ditching the overreliance on the product, on the written word, is not something that will happen without resistance in academia. But it’s a process (!) and we’ll go through the motions and celebrate each small victory.
What we need to put our efforts into is creating mechanisms to support the learning process, instead of investing in the latest technologies to counter the negative effects of other technologies. Invest in learning design instead. Invest in teacher professionalisation. Invest in learning how to make the most of our limited time with our students.
Resources
Tips and Tricks for Spaced Learning, by Paul A. Kirschner & Mirjam Neelen- very useful tips on how to design effective learning experiences using the principle of spaced learning;
Learn how to Study Using... Retrieval Practice, by The Learning Scientists- an article that provides students with some great ideas on how to use retrieval practice in their studying;
Incorporating Principles in Cognitive Psychology to Improve Student Learning- some more ideas on how to use cognitive psychology principles in learning design;
Encouraging Metacognition: Helping Students Learn How to Learn- some techniques on how to encourage metacognition as a tool for learning.
