Christopher P. Long's ePortfolio: Comments

Comment on "Engaged Learning with Technology"

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:03:31 -0500

Coming from an engineering curriculum into a philosophy class I definitely approached this class with a different perspective that my other classes. First of all, the platonic dialogue requires more insight and different types of analysis than my usual work load does. No longer can I just look at input output of equations and come to a well established dogmatically agreed upon answer. No, this class is much different and employs a different kind of critical thinking that I'm not quite used to. I'll admit I wasn't used to the online dialogue and the free flow of class. I'm more used to a this is the answer and it will always be the answer type of class. Just regurgitation of facts is what I was molded to become accustomed to, and that is not what this class is. This class has been a breath of fresh air in my academic career, albeit challenging, it has made me think with a different perspective than I'm used to, and this is among other reasons is why I'd recommend this course to others.

- EDWARD JOSEPH MILY JR

Comment on "Engaged Learning with Technology"

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:45:39 -0500

Engaging in conversation in the classroom is sometimes found as difficult; the digital dialogue helps students ease their ideas and opinions into the mix. Setting aside this opportunity, the digital dialogue also offers students a solid way of conversing. Through this method of conversation, students are able to draw upon past posts, comments, or general ideas which enables the class to be subject to a wide range of conversational themes. These themes can be viewed as an enhanced educational conversation; one may critique another students point-of-view, while that student may defend his/her position. To limit the digital dialogue to these few, but important points, does not do this method of learning justice. I will admit that I was skeptical prior to engaging into a digital "blog", but the benefits that have come from this system highly outweigh the early ideas I had.

- JOSHUA RAY TESTA

Comment on "Engaged Learning with Technology"

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:45:48 -0500

What's great about this class is that no longer are we (the students) passive receptors of what our Professor feeds us. All too often do we simply go to a class, sit there and listen to the Professor's lectures, go home and regurgitate it in our homework/essays, and never really learn anything. With this blog though, and with the class in general, we don't just go to class, we ARE the class -- we are active participants. We aren't hollow shells waiting to be filled with the wisdom of the Professor; we are, in a sense, our own guides on the same journey together. And that's how higher education should be. I think William Butler Yeats said it best: "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."

As Professor Long mentions in this post, we as a class created a community TOGETHER. It's a rare thing to really call a class a community, especially at a huge school like Penn State. But I can honestly say that, in creating this living document together with my classmates, I have made connections that will go beyond the end of the semester. In the blog, everyone has their own part, their own opinions, their own personality to add to the overall community. It's great. I won't be surprised if months or even years from now, I find myself returning to the blog and re-reading some conversations. I really wouldn't be surprised at all. In contrast, how often will I return to my class notes years after I've taken a class? It's just not the same.

All in all, I think Socrates would have very much approved of Digital Dialogue and its blurring the boundaries between the teacher and the learner. I definitely recommend other classes to try blogging out as a new medium of learning.

- Pam Dorian

Comment on "Engaged Learning with Technology"

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:10:30 -0500

Thank you, Jingting and everyone, for these comments. I just want to clarify something Jingting said. She is right that more people review and comment upon each students work using this model, it is decidedly not less work for faculty. To remain engaged in a deep level with the ongoing blog conversation, to evaluate it and to integrate it into the ongoing discussion in class, is often more work than grading a set of papers three or four times a semester.

The main difference is, however, it feel a lot less like work because the teacher is learning with the students in the process.

- Christopher P. Long

Comment on "Engaged Learning with Technology"

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:09:50 -0500

I agree with much of what Cody said. I would add that the blog combines the best aspects of both the writing and speaking mediums: it allows us to formulate our thoughts in the clear, well-structured, and concise manner intrinsic to writing, avoiding the digressions and pauses innate to spoken dialogue, and yet it also allows us to respond to each other individually, to take each other to task, to respond relatively quickly, and to keep the tone conversational and organic. We quite literally hold written conversations, and yet these conversations are bolstered by our recourse to our texts for key quotations, the ability to contemplate our thoughts before expressing them, and the opportunity to edit our thoughts before publishing them, thereby offering us the opportunity to criticize and engage our own thoughts not just those of others. Moreover, in combining the best of these worlds, students who lack self-confidence are given a golden opportunity to say what they might otherwise say in class on our blog. In this sense, then, the blog encourages the widest possible array of opinions. I truly think that the virtues of this learning medium are such that it elicits the greatest response from what is always a multifaceted classroom.

- TONY JAMES ARNOLD

Comment on "Engaged Learning with Technology"

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:06:10 -0500

Digital dialogue helps students in 2 ways:

1] it encourages shy students, who do not feel comfortable expressing their ideas in front of the whole class to participate in the class. Digital dialogue not only gives them a chance to discuss their opinions with others, but also helps to make them feel more comfortable talking to their classmates; thus, they are more likely to actually talk in class as time goes by and as they know their classmates better. Most likely, those students tend to have very special views and ideas of what we learn in class. When they have a place to express their views, it also benefits the whole class.

2] The second benefit of digital dialogue is that it gives students full control of their homework. Posting and Commenting are substitutes for homework in this class. Mr Long does not give us specific homework at all, for instead we are supposed to write regularly in this blog. Students are now responsible for their own homework- if they really like one topic, they can discuss it; and if they do not, they will see what the others think and get inspired. Unlike normal homework, which teachers have to spend nights and days grading and commenting on, students are now "checking" each other's work. Peer pressure really helps students to write more and think more thoughtfully. Sometimes students' comment can be more valuable- I am not arguing that students do not need teachers at all, I am simply saying: compared to only one commentary from a teacher, students now have 10 or 20 comments for their opinions. It really encourages students to participate more while freeing teachers from tons of work.

There are also other benefits associated with it, such as: if one person by chance misses a class, she or he can go to the blog and listen to the summery podcasts and still learn what we discussed during class.

- JINGTING ZHAO

Comment on "Engaged Learning with Technology"

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:37:22 -0500

This class is more challenging in comparison to most of my other classes because it requires participation through new ways--blogging and the podcast. Having such an on-going dialogue with other classmates helps bring forth arguments that I otherwise wouldn't have been aware of, and therefore my scope of learning has expanded considerably. In comparison to the usual writing assignments, participating via the blog is a lot more demanding. Since its not sufficient to sit one day prior to the deadline and get the paper done, one has to consistently keep writing and that makes it a lot more time consuming. Also, the fact that its an open dialogue, where other classmates can comment on your opinions, makes its competitive to a certain extent. In writing a paper, one just has to worry about putting forth their own understanding of the topic, which is very often the same as the interpretation other classmates might have. But with the blog, once an opinion has been put forth, it doesn't make sense to echo what's already been said, and you therefore don't get a chance to express yourself. I feel that while it is very beneficial to have such an open communitiy, but I'm not sure if it should be such a prominent part of a course for student evaluation.

- Bhavya Kaushal

Comment on "Engaged Learning with Technology"

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:08:26 -0500

This philosophy class has truly been the most different and unique experience I’ve ever encountered in my Penn State career. It is often difficult at a university this size to express one’s own opinion, to get to know your fellow classmates, or even engage with the material in a more profound way then memorization of facts. The blog remedies all three things I’ve mentioned. This format has forced me to reevaluate some of my own ideas on subjects ranging from political to philosophical and either confirms them to be true to change my mind. That constant challenging of one’s own opinions can be at time exhausting, but it is never boring and requires me to think critically and express my own point of view in a constructive and tactful way (tactful because I’ll have to see these people I converse with online twice a week for 75 minutes, so being polite and respectful is advantageous for one’s own personal safety). This is by far the most engaging and intellectually stimulating course I’ve taken at Penn State, although Philosophy is not my major nor would I describe it as necessarily an interest of mine overall. But the uniqueness of such a dynamic is so intriguing that one cannot help but become engaged.

- CODY JACOB YASHINSKY

Comment on "Time Management for Graduate Students"

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:12:14 -0500

These are great posts, and Penn State's graduate program is lucky to have so much guidance on what is a very tricky subject. All of the previous comments are extremely helpful, and I hesitate to add anything for fear of being repetitious. I think I'd just like to add something about what I see as the significance of concerning oneself with these kinds of 'practical matters.'

Part of "know thyself" is knowing the expectations that you have developed of what it would be to be a 'real professional philosopher.' It is important to have good examples of successful people whom you'd like to emulate, and good advice that stems from their experience, but in the end YOU are the only person who can determine what it will mean for YOU to be a professional philosopher. I myself have fallen into the trap of thinking that I wasn't doing it 'right' if I wasn't doing it in a particular way...this kills your confidence and becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Given this, I think one of the most important tasks of a philosophical education is to determine for yourself what it means to be a professional philosopher and what you think that should look like in your life. This will have something to do with the way that you prioritize the things in your life and the things in your work--as well as how you draw that distinction. It will also influence the kinds of structures you impose upon yourself for setting and accomplishing discrete goals.

In the end, this is a larger and harder thing to determine but one about which we would do better to be deliberate rather than haphazard. Determining one's self-understanding in this regard is, I think, the goal of the work of living and not merely of one's work life.

- Holly Moore

Comment on "Time Management for Graduate Students"

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:00:30 -0500

Great post, Chris. The capacity to face up to an enormous expanse of free-time and a potentially infinite number of useful and useless projects is the major obstacle to be surmounted in graduate education.

Echoing what others have said, treat it like a job. Work it eight to ten hours a day. (Admittedly I work a lot of weekends, too.) Set limits and schedules and stick to them. Avoid "crunch mode" and avoid slacking off. If you have an office or study cubicle at the library or favorite coffee shop, go to it, work, and then leave at the end of the day. It took me a long time to even get close to this goal, and I still struggle with it. When I manage it, however, I'm a lot more productive, and I notice a similar productivity in my colleagues.

A lot of us got into philosophy because it seemed to promise a job that was also a lifestyle or a mode of being. This may well be true, but as others here have mentioned, you have to know how to turn it off if you're going to be able to turn it on dependably.

- Joshua A. Miller

Comment on "Time Management for Graduate Students"

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:38:58 -0500

I enjoy having this blog on time management. Thanks, Dr. Long!

I would like to share a writing tip that has worked for me.

As I am writing for the initial draft of my paper, I have at least two or three mini drafts along the way. When I reach a draft point, I print it for my review. As I review these drafts, I ask myself: "What should I write to give my paper better structure?"

Mini drafts help me stay motivated and see my progress as I write. Here is a concrete example of this tip for a 15 page paper:

1st draft-2/3 pages
2nd draft-10/12 pages
3rd draft-15+ pages

These first three drafts are "rough" drafts. As such, I have paid no attention to spelling and very little attention to coherence, etc.

4th draft-coherence, major revision
5th draft-typos, grammar,etc.
6th draft-typos

At this point, I generally submit the paper to my professor for comments. I find that having done all of this work makes the draft that he/she has commented on much easier to deal with.

Happy writing!

- JAMELIAH INGA SHORTER

Comment on "Time Management for Graduate Students"

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:50:55 -0500

Thanks for these excellent suggestions, Dr. J., Jill and Marina! The students found this very helpful. They had a number of suggestions of their own that were insightful.

My hope is that they will submit some of them as comments here and we can have a running discussion of good time management strategies.

- Christopher P. Long

Comment on "Time Management for Graduate Students"

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:16:50 -0500

I agree with the advice offered so far--especially watching out for email as a distraction. I will also add, as a woman who had a baby two weeks after defending a dissertation proposal, who then wrote the dissertation over the next two years with baby in tow: make a schedule and stick to it. I wrote my dissertation along with parenting essentially by swearing by a schedule to write a certain number of pages every day, four days a week, whether they were "good" or "bad" pages--revision came later. It's served me well now when I juggle far more as a prof than I ever did in grad school.

I also agree that good boundaries about being at work vs at home are helpful. To some extent, being a mom was a help to my writing, as it gave me time to be away, to enjoy life, and to recharge my batteries, and limited the hours that I could work (thus making me extra focused when "at work" writing) and less stressed when not "at work" and enjoying the family.

- Marina McCoy

Comment on "Time Management for Graduate Students"

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:58:05 -0500

Great advice, Chris. I also wholeheartedly agree with the advice given above by Dr. J about segmenting your week or day. You will definitely be more productive.

I would like to add two comments. The first is that, no matter how much or how hard you think you're working now, when you get your first academic job, you'll wonder how you could have thought you were working hard in graduate school. Those first few years in an academic job are excruciatingly intense, and developing good time management skills in grad school will be essential to coping with several new course preps and all the other demands that will be made on your time. So, now is definitely the time to be thinking about developing good time management skills.

Second, I would like to recommend that you make a transition from thinking about graduate school as "being in school" to thinking about it as "having a job." That transition will result in something like what Dr. J. describes, and I think the shift in consciousness can't be overestimated. Think of coming in to work each day and doing your job(s) (your own course work, dissertation, teaching, etc.) While it's true that we typically feel that we're never "off" work as academics, we need to gain a deeper sense of what being "at work," means in order to create the boundaries between work and other aspects of our lives that provide good mental health.

- Jill Gordon

Comment on "Time Management for Graduate Students"

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:09:35 -0500

Very good advice, Chris.

As a kind of supplement to your suggestion #6 ("Down Time"), I would suggest something that has been very helpful for me over the years: "OFF Time."

One of the difficult things about academia, unlike other jobs that have more structured work days, is that one can feel as if one is NEVER "off" work. Even when I'm not teaching, or in meetings, or in my office, I still feel as if I ought to be reading, writing, or prepping... which is, of course, always true. We never "clock out" and our work is never "finished."

However, there's a point at which this approach to work renders diminishing returns. Even if it is a forced or arbitrarily determined time, I find that I need time in which I don't feel obligated to do work. When I was in graduate school, I made this time "Sundays." Now that I've got a job, my off-time is "after 7pm." It's a difficult limit to respect sometimes, but I simply don't work when I'm "off."

My experience is that this practice has made my "work-time" much more productive and structured, even if only because I know that whatever there is to be done MUST be done in that time. And, equally beneficial, it has made my off-time actually relaxing and restorative, as opposed to only slightly-less-stressed.

- Dr. J