As a technician in the 3D workshop at LCC, I deliver teaching to students on many different courses. The workshop is open access and any student from any course can do an induction and use the space.
Every student gets an hour-long timeslot with me, this creates the challenge of building meaningful, trusting relationships, and trying to understand their diverse needs in a short time frame. Engaging with 5+ students an hour, the majority of whom I have never met, leads to difficulties in establishing connections. Therefore, I want to dedicate time at the beginning of each session to build a relationship and ensure I am aware of any needs they may have. I aim to tailor my teaching to suit each student’s diverse needs even under tight time constraints and high turnover.
Compared to academics who spend most of the time with the students, technicians may struggle to make them feel valued and understood due to the constant stream of engagements and the inherent constraints on personalisation. With the students being from such diverse cultural and social backgrounds building relationships can be hard. “Across the world, the composition of school and classroom populations is becoming increasingly diverse. Thoughtful educators recognize that considered collectively the diverse student populations (talented and gifted, multicultural, learning disabled, and speakers of other language) make up a majority rather than a minority of the students they teach” (Teemant, A. & Pinnegar, S. E. 2019). Something as simple as learning their names and courses can be a challenge with language barriers but is very important. To address these challenges, I committed to learning students’ names and investing the part of each session in self-introduction. This simple yet impactful step helps create a foundation for trust and connection between the student and teacher.
Due to cultural and socio-economic factors, the students’ needs vary massively with how they interact with the complex technology within the workshop. For some students, it will be their first time interacting with this technology and for others, they will have been using it since school. As the technology of laser cutting is surrounded by complicated technical specific jargon, this can make it even more complicated for students whose first language is not English. As an educator “clarity, simplicity and parsimony are ideals that authors [teachers] should strive for” when teaching complex topics. Certain signifiers such as the subject-specific language used by the student, observing their interactions with the equipment and software, and grasping their previous knowledge can help produce an understanding of their needs. I actively engage with my own terminology and language use and reflect on the interactions I make every day to ensure I am clear in my communication. To enhance comprehension, I created a video resource for laser cutting as a visual aid, allowing students to reflect and reinforce their understanding independently and visually. This is available online and via a QR code in the workshop and does not need to be consumed within the one-hour time constraint.
Recognizing and accommodating the variety of needs among students contributes to a more inclusive and equitable educational experience. As said in the Universal Design for Learning outlined by Rose & Meyer in 2002, the workshop is “to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible”. Implementing the time to build meaningful, trusting relationships and continuously assessing and adapting teaching methods can help create that inclusive environment.
References:
Oppenheimer, D. M. (2006). Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity: Problems with Using Long Words Needlessly. APPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
Appl. Cognit. Psychol. 20: 139–156. Wiley Interscience, (www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/acp.1178. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwj4-dWRuvGEAxVsWUEAHVQAD7EQFnoECBEQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcahill.people.unm.edu%2F480-21%2FOppenheimer-2006-Applied_Cognitive_Psychology.pdf&usg=AOvVaw3N2gqfUX-_ukaCDkNRaqis&opi=89978449.
Teemant, A. & Pinnegar, S. E. (2019). Inclusive Pedagogy: A Conceptual Framework for Educating Students of Diversity. In B. Allman (Ed.), Principles of Language Acquisition. EdTech Books. https://edtechbooks.org/language_acquisition/inclusive_pedagogy
Rose, D. H., & Meyer, A. (2007). Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning. Educational Technology Research and Development, Month Year of Publication, Page Range. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225336097_David_H_Rose_Anne_Meyer_Teaching_Every_Student_in_the_Digital_Age_Universal_Design_for_Learning
Burgstahler, S. (2009). Universal Design: Process, Principles, and Applications. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED506550