Free 'Clickers' for All: Using Google Forms to Survey Your Students

Free 'Clickers' for All: Using Google Forms to Survey Your Students written by Michael J. LaGier, PhD and retrieved from Faculty Focus.

What a fantastic way to gather formative assessments from students without any cost to them.
 Check out this great article on how to create, deliver and share the results of your survey. 

TPI

Teaching Perspective Inventory

Thanks for taking the TPI Survey on 01/29/2016.
Group: PIDP - Provincial Instructor Diploma Program (VCC).
Specific learners focused on: Vocational/Technical.
Group Size: 2-9.
Your results can be viewed at Your TPI Survey

Calculated survey results:
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Transmission Total: (Tr) 37.
B = 13; I = 11; A = 13.
Apprenticeship Total: (Ap) 38.
B = 11; I = 14; A = 13.
Developmental Total: (Dv) 32.
B = 12; I = 11; A = 9.
Nurturing Total: (Nu) 38.
B = 11; I = 14; A = 13.
Social Reform Total: (SR) 25.
B = 8; I = 7; A = 10.
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Beliefs total: (B) 55
Intentions total: (I) 57
Action total: (A) 58
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Mean: (M) 34
Standard Deviation: (SD) 5.02
Dominant Threshold: (HIT) 39.02
Recessive Threshold: (LOT) 28.98
Overall Total: (T) 170

This was a revealing exercise.  My viewpoints are quite strong except for social reform and there is little differentiation between the transmission, apprenticeship and nurturing perspectives.  My dominant perspectives are apprenticeship and nurturing, with scores of 38.  The backup perspective is transmission sitting very close with a score of 37.   This makes sense to me with regards to learning Esthetics.  The developmental perspective ranked in the recessive area, but the most recessive by quite a lot is the social reform perspective.  This was a surprise for as one of my main motivating reasons for moving towards Esthetics teaching is to improve the quality of the cosmetology industry.  The TPI shows my lack of attention to this area, with a clear discrepancy between my intention and actions in regards to social reform. 

In the transmission perspective my beliefs, intention and actions align but in all four other perspectives there are some inconsistencies.  This may be due to focusing on the student’s skills with performing services to a high degree and their theoretical knowledge.  Or it may be me being wishy washy about my beliefs, I do change my mind a bit!  The highest sub-scores (14) being intention, occur within my dominant perspectives of both apprenticeship and nurturing, and are followed by a similar action sub-score of 13.   I am happy to see these are aligned and I am following thru on my intent. 

Overall this profile is how I see myself as an educator.  I would like to give more attention to strengthening the developmental and social reform perspectives.  I will be interested to take this exercise again in the future and see where there are differences. 

Brookfield Chapter 1

How refreshing to read that there are some instructors who feel like “Impostors” (Brookfield, 2006) in the teaching world  .  I have never heard another instructor talk about these personal feelings before and I find it somewhat reassuring to know that I am not alone in my thoughts of this nature.  While being prepared and knowing “my stuff” I have experienced more feeling of inadequacy than I really care to admit.  I am new to the instructing arena and while I try not to be to brutal in destroying my fragile and inexperienced teaching ego, I am constantly aware of how much I have to learn to be an effective and “skillful” instructor.

I experienced the best and worst moment thus far in my short teaching career two years ago.  Coming off a bout of food poisoning, off to class I go.  I had diligently prepared my lesson plan and gathered my visual aids for a Brazilian waxing class and demonstration.  The theory based section of the class went well and it was time for the demo.  As I began, I quickly realized I had not used the particular kind of wax I had to use and it was performing vastly different from what I was familiar with.  In my 20+ years doing this service (hair removal is my specialty), I was struggling.  Both my poor model and I experienced painful and uncomfortable moments as I exposed her nether regions to more discomfort than necessary and I tried to overcome my humiliation at my technical difficulties and unpreparedness.  How had I missed this vital element in my preparation for this class?  I hadn’t given the wax a thought and so was forced to figure out how best to use this product before my eager audience.  It was my worst teaching experience because I was so embarrassed.  It was also the best because I learned a valuable lesson.  I will address and prepare for all elements of the lesson. 

Now I am grateful for this fully exposing teaching moment even thou I still shudder at the humiliation I felt, I actually think it was good for the students to see me struggle and figure out how to properly use this product, as they themselves will encounter a similar experience at some point in their Esthetics career.   They won’t always be familiar with every product out there and even being an expert, some days we will struggle. 

Brookfield, S. (2006). Skillful Teacher: On Technique, Trust, and Responsiveness in the Classroom {Jossey-bass Higher and Adult Education Series ; 2nd Ed.}. John Wiley & Sons, (US). p 12.

PIDP 3260

Hello, my name is Samantha Schroeder.
Well this is my final PIDP course before beginning the capstone.  I have learned so much from the previous courses and am continuing to grow in my role as an educator. I am taking this program to gain and build on the skills and knowledge required to best serve students, teaching facilities, and the general public.  My desire is to enhance the cosmetology industry of which I am a dedicated member.  I believe it is a responsibility of the therapist or Estethician to strengthen the quality of our industry, and I am happy to be a part of this process thru education.
I  am quite new to the formal teaching arena and want to have the correct knowledge and effective tools in my toolbox to best manage challenging situations.  I look forward to learning many of these tools in the 3260 course.

Sincerely,
Samantha