PSI Tutor:Mentor

Cyclone season in the North is a time of garden clean-ups and flood preparations. I was fortunate this time round that Olga did not wildly distribute the unharvested coconuts.  The sweat potato growing on the shed roof survived. And my trenches held (thanks to those coconuts I have harvested). My gardens are looking fantastic as housemates chip in time to clip and weed and of course, tie things down.

During the winds and rains I’ve been anchored to my keyboard, reading and responding to TESOL assessment criteria. What a fortnight! Days and evenings of just go-go-go, with work, household and socialising has really taken its toll with me.  By the time Olga was bidding us goodbye, I was finally finishing my final exams (I passed ~:-) I took a day of rest and am all set to start applying some of that new learnt knowledge.

I hope all who read now were safe and dry whilst Olga was visiting. Sometimes we forget the damage that occurs outside of our concrete jungles.

By the way~ if you are skilled at climbing and de-nutting trees I have two awaiting harvest ~:-) Trade of energy perhaps…?

And now to flood you with the value in seeking academic rigor as the new semester sets in~

The National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) notes that while many tertiary students expect their grades to be high, they are unaware of the high level of commitment and sacrifice that is needed to achieve such a goal.

And this is what defines academic rigor~ the ability to meet the standards set by the curriculum to become a competent human service professional. Embracing a philosophy of learning is a new experience for most uni and college students. To be able to think critically about the discipline you are studying within is an example of applying academic rigor.

Students can become more aware of academic rigor, or lack of it, through observation of teaching and admin staff:

In short, if we are serious about academic rigor, we must increase our own mastery of our discipline content, improve our ability to apply our learning, and model critical thinking for our students (NISOD).

Evidently, independent thinking and inquiry of the undergraduate builds on the encouragement of senior staff.

What can you do as a student to enhance your level of academic rigor? For a start, you can engage yourself in activities that cultivate the ideal academic culture you wish to thrive within. Open yourself to activities, workshops, seminars and networking that will provide you with experiences and exposure to values and expectations of rigor.

One way to do this is to create a personal honor code; “I take up the obligation to apply academic rigor to my studies.  Sacrifices in time, resources and social and personal activities will be made. With eagerness, I will source adventure in my learning and professional development.”

The Rest over at Super Cheap Teach suggests getting in contact with one’s inner Batman, and preparing a range of learning (as well as teaching) strategies. Student activation results from task engagement; strategies to leverage this process enhance the learning and retention of information. A range of strategies for learning enables the student to improvise across contexts. Application of learnt knowledge becomes a day-to-day practice. Academic rigor takes on an automatic response pattern, like kata in karate.

John Wood at the Pre-Design Forum states eloquently that,

The standard school essay implies a 180? relationship between authors and their unknown readers. It is profoundly linear, fact-based and rhetorical, therefore may be useful in the competitive culture of bureaucratic work. For this reason we need better practices of ‘self-teaching’ and ‘thinking-through’ to make the culture of [design] education a wiser one. Empathetic modes of writing – i.e. those with an author-reader relationship of less than 90? – enable designers to focus onto shared issues by ‘thinking-as’, ‘thinking-for’, and ‘thinking-into’ their nominated reader.

He continues with an in-depth and riveting interpretation of education (from the viewpoint of graphic design)~ his review is a must read.

Ultimately, it is up to you the student to implement damage control strategies for your learning career in tertiary ed. However, it is expected that the strategies you model will be those of your lectures, TAs and student peers. Thus, from a systems approach, each stakeholder in the academic framework of professional learning and development has an obligation to act with academic rigor.

What are your views on the subject?