Introduction to Pedagogy

Design Forward

An emergent exploration of critical instructional design.

DF Home » Modules » Introduction to Pedagogy » Dispatches » Monday, September 23

Weekly Dispatch: Monday, September 23

Each week, the Dispatch provides suggestions about what to focus your attention on. You may use it as a kind of weekly syllabus, with a suggested topic to explore, resource to read and annotate, questions to answer, and activities to complete. However, you should also feel free to deviate as you like from the suggestions; we want your participation in this module to reflect your own goals and interests.

We encourage you to choose at least one “engagement” a day: join a conversation by responding to a question, complete an activity and share it in your portfolio, or choose a resource to read and annotate

Welcome to Week One of Introduction to Pedagogy! This week’s dispatch can hopefully serve as a menu or map to guide your participation this week. Feel free to start with the topic we’ve suggested and the related questions, resources, and activities. As always, you’re welcome to deviate from the path and follow your own interests wherever they take you. We do encourage you to engage at least once a day with the module by answering (or asking!) a question, completing an activity, or annotating a resource. If you have any difficulties or questions, feel free to let us know in our Teams channel.

If you haven’t done so yet, make sure you’ve updated your profile with your avatar and Hypothesis userid. You can find the “Update Your Profile” button in your Portfolio.

Topic in Focus

What is Pedagogy?

No matter where you are in your career, you have no doubt thought about your teaching: the structure of your courses, the kinds of assignments

December 17, 2021 No Comments

This week, let’s dive into the question of “What is Pedagogy?” Take a look at the topic page and explore the slides and video. As we get started, we invite you to consider what your pedagogical approach is right now. What values do you embrace in your teaching? Through your work in Design Forward, we hope you’ll get a chance to think more deeply about this and develop a more nuanced approach to your pedagogy.

Suggested Resources

For resources this week, we’ve highlighted two of group readings (which everyone should read and annotate) and two of the choice readings (everyone should pick one from this category). If you aren’t interested in the choice readings we’ve selected, feel free to find another one!

Group

Rethinking Education as the Practice of Freedom: Paulo Freire and the Promise of Critical Pedagogy.

Giroux, Henry A.

Group

Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom

Chapter 1 (“Engaged Pedagogy”) in hooks, bell

Choice

The Case Against Grades

Kohn, Alfie

Choice

Who’s Teaching the Teachers?

Alsop, Elizabeth

Tell about yourself in a few sentences! Who are you and why are you here? (Intro to Pedagogy, Fall 2024)

Latest Comment from Tyler Wilks (September 25, 2024): “Awesome! I definitely plan to stop by the Colab as soon as I can and look forward to a chat!…” More >>

Question submitted on September 22, 2024
by Martha
3 Comments

Do you have a pedagogical approach and, if so, how would you describe it?

Latest Comment from Robin (October 5, 2024): “Curious how you structure a discussion so that it is effective and engaging? I think most instructors at PSU consider discussion to be the center of…” More >>

Question submitted on December 17, 2021
by Martha
16 Comments

What did your preparation for teaching look like? How well did it prepare you?

Latest Comment from Martha (October 1, 2024): “Four new preps is so much!! You are doing great and, yes, it will get easier and better!…” More >>

Question submitted on December 8, 2021
by Robin
14 Comments

Suggested Activities

Below are three activities we’ve chosen for this week. These are an opportunity for you to practice and further explore the week’s topic. We also invite you to take some time early on to set some goals for yourself for your participation in this module.

On the module home page, you can see recently contributed activities (at the bottom of the page). Take some time to review what others have shared; you can comment on activities as well!