deciding your course pathway 3

Pathway & course overview | Paul Raper | October 3rd, 2004

Hi Pinkies,

I can see you are all very busy and I thus hope you will forgive my imposition here.

Do any of you have any recollection as to what is required in these two regards? Do we have to simply, in an informal way, have to describe why we want to follow the paths we are choosing and then give an informal critique as to what we have gained from the foundation course?

I appreciate that on Monday we will get the materials for real, but I am of the opinion that for this, old hands are better at describing what is required than any one.

I am certain that I am not the only one chewing this one over in my mind.

Paul

Re: Pathway and Course Overview | Nur Hooton | October 4th, 2004

Hi Paul and Everyone,

As one of the FND tutors, thought I'd write and answer Paul's query this time.

In a nutshell, yes. Have a look at Unit 10 (the one I sent to all the new FND group early September - that was the final version of the Unit, i.e. the version that is on the CD-Rom).

As is stated on p 312, you are asked to demonstrate an ability to "relate (your) proposed study plan to (your) professional life and to come up with a well-argued progression".

You will then be evaluating the FND by reflecting back on what you believe you have learnt/ achieved by doing the module. I know that, Paul, you are keeping a detailed diary - so presenting some extracts from the diary will be excellent for this. And remember there is no right or wrong way of responding - everyone will develop their own way of responding though it is almost inevitable that the response will be quite informal.

You will be asked to do the core module of the program you are signing for but apart from that you are not committing yourself to anything unalterable when you fill in the MSc pathway. It is intended to help you structure, and of course monitor, your own learning.

Hope this response has helped clarify some of your queries.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend - whatever is left of it! I've just come back from a nice 2-day trip to a small town called Newton Solney, near Burton-upon-Trent. It was a nice break away from city life.

All the best,

Nur =)

Re: Pathway and Course Overview | Richard Goldie | October 4th, 2004

Hi,

Paul, if you're talking about the FND module tasks .... then I can tell you how I understood it. The Pathway task I understood as simply requiring you to articulate which order you wish to do the modules in and why. You can mention advice you have had and work considerations. You can also mention how circumstances may affect things.

The Reflection task I found uncomfortable, partly because I had not been able to live up to the implied model of the "ideal" candidate described in the module itself (e.g., not being able to do all the readings suggested, starting but not maintaining a diary). But in the end I just put down what my experience was - I understand the task not so much as informal as subjective, i.e. reflective.

Both tasks are personal and I'd say word / structure them well but don't spend too long on them at all!

If you're not talking about FND, apologies!

Richard Goldie

How do you choose courses? | Jerry Talandis Jr. | October 4th, 2004

Hello Paul & others,

Regarding this issue of deciding one's course pathway, it's a big one that keeps coming up. I had similar concerns as you, Paul, back in 2001 when I was doing the FND. I brought it up for discussion on this list and got lots of good advice. For those who haven't read this, go here.

At the time I wasn't so concerned with writing up the task as I was over the larger issue of figuring out which courses to take next. Various ideas were put forward, which I summarized as follows:

Thanks all of you for your advice on which course to take after FND. Your different perspectives have given me something to think about. It's interesting to see two basic strategies happening: one way is to go about getting a foundation laid in with TDA and IIC before heading on to other stuff. I like this idea - it seems logical. On the other hand, while I found those units interesting in FND, I can see the advantages of Francesca's way of focusing on getting off to a good start. Both strategies have merit, and I'll be thinking hard about it over the next few weeks.

This seemed to be the crux of the matter- do you start off with an "easy" module and get some momentum going, or do you jump in at the deep end and get the tough ones over with first? I chose the "easy" way, and it worked out ok. When I got to IIC (now called ASI), however, I had wished I had taken it earlier. Still, recalling the fragile state of my confidence then, I probably would have panicked at all the heavy terminology.

There's also another discussion about choosing modules at the DL Archive.

This one focuses more on answering deeper questions, like these posed by Raymond Sheehan:

I did wonder what sources and what principles underlie module choices and sequencing: is it a question of "I know a lot about that already, so it'll be easy?" Or the opposite "I know nothing about that and I really need/want to learn"? "I'll start off with what interests me the most" or "I'll keep what I think will be the really good stuff for last"? Or principled selection such as "Building a linguistic foundation should come before practice"? What other principles might apply?

So, Paul, how do you (or anyone else) answer these questions? Would you be willing to share some of your thinking with us? The only "correct answer" is the one that makes best sense for you, so don't be shy. If you can write out an answer for this list, you can nail that portfolio task with flying colors!

Peace,

Jerry
Japan

Re: How do you choose courses? | Joe Alvaro | October 5 th , 2004

Hi, everyone.

It has been great to see the current flurry of activity on the list lately. I have been on vacation in Canada for the past month taking it easy -- but at the same time, have enjoyed reading the exchanges.

This particular thread is interesting to me as I can really relate to the 'struggle' of the FND. It was during that time when I found out the value of a tutor. Steve Mann was very encouraging and helped me to persevere until the successful completion of that module. My pathway choices were actually discussed with Phil Quirke who was also very helpful. I found that it was useful to bounce an idea off someone who has gone before as it gives you a better perspective. Perhaps not knowing better I chose IIC, jumping in at the deep end. But as it turned out, I loved it and got great results on my paper. Next up was TDA, which I have just finished. Again, the journey was tough but so so rewarding.

If there is any advice I can give to new participants (please correct me if I'm wrong) it is that each module is like an overview or a even a catalogue of possibilities that lie within the field. There was no way that I could learn everything in the module and I had to reject that feeling of pressure and stress that seems to come when you realize the vast amount of stuff you have to read. But in each case, at some point within those 10 units of the module, there was something that turned my key. Finding a question or focus that really interested me was the solution to doing focused research and producing the final papers.

I think discussing your choices with an experienced participant (you don't have to do it in public on the list if you prefer to keep it private) is helpful. You can ask questions and raise issues that may not be apparent in the module descriptions.

Anyway, all I can say is that this is what worked for me.

All the best,

Joe Alvaro
Guangzhou, China

Re: How do you choose courses? | Jerry Talandis Jr. | October 5th, 2004

Hello Joe,

Thanks for your advice about choosing courses on this program. I agree with everything you said. It's really important to talk about this subject with someone.

Another idea that occurred to me was the "integrated approach" way. This is where you use more than one course to look into a specific topic (usually something related to your work situation). For example, if the main problem you are having in your classes is that students fare poorly in group or pair-work activities, then you could make a deep investigation of that over the course of several modules, each one delving into some aspect of the problem. You could start off with ASI, learn about the nuts and bolts of doing classroom research, make some recordings of group conversations, then use that data as the focus for an assignment. Next, you could come up with some intervention, apply it, then discuss the results of that for your MET assignment. By now you have this mountain of data, references, and insight. Your next step could be CMD, where you design some teaching materials based on all your research to date. Toss in another module along the way somehow, and voila! You're nearly done. Then, for your diss, you could look at all the work you've done on this topic and go even further with it. After all is said and done, you've become a total authority on your topic, and have made a tangible improvement in your daily work situation. Sounds good to me!

Just an idea to throw out there...

Jerry

Japan