This TOPkit Digest issue is brought to you by Christopher Cachia (ccachia@torontomu.ca), Lecturer & Learning Strategist, Toronto Metropolitan University. He discusses how to "Implement “Biographical Disruption” as an Anchor for Critical Reflection in Online Learning."
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Video Tip - Implement "Biographical Disruption"
- Announcements - TOPkit Workshop 2025 Proposal Submission Deadline Extended; TOPkit Workshop 2025 Registration
- Top Tips - Critical Refections in Online Learning
- From the Community - Biographical Disruption in Course Design
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Ask ADDIE - Unlocking the Power of Quiz Analytics for Smarter Assessments
- Top Community Topics
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Chris Cachia discusses strategies and tips for implementing biographical disruption to foster critical reflection in online learning environments.
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TOPkit Workshop 2025 will be held as a live, virtual event for half-day sessions Tuesday through Thursday, March 25-27, 2025.
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Critical Reflections in Online Learning |
"Biographical Disruption" as Critical Reflective Anchor |
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A core challenge for online teaching and learning is the fashioning “of opportunities, structures and formats that increase meaningful interaction” (Joyner, 2012, p. 35) and relationship (Smoyer et al., 2020). Without intentional course design, online discussions tend to focus only on lower-level discourse (Christopher, Thomas, & Tallent-Runnels, 2004, p. 170). As such, structured anchors and frameworks for discussion and reflection should be implemented to increase levels of discourse, interaction, and relationship. Biographical disruption is offered as one such anchor that, by its personal nature, fosters reflection, interaction, and community. A term first coined by Bury (1982) to describe chronic illness as an embodied break with the experience of everyday life, biographical disruption considers the knowledge that underpins one’s experiences. The following strategies/tips capture how biographical disruption may be implemented as an anchor for (shared) reflection in the online learning environment, including reflection on both content and the (online) learning process itself. This anchor, coupled with the DEAL framework for critical reflection (Ash & Clayton, 2009), has been utilized as part of an engaging, integral, and powerful opportunity for student discussion and reflection.
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Use clear but open-ended and probing prompts/questions to guide. These prompts/questions may be bolstered by supplying further sub-prompts/questions for consideration. Moreover, such prompts/questions may be bolstered by explicit connections to key course concepts or themes. For example, in posing the overarching question, “How has arriving at university posed a biographical disruption in your life?,” a related sub-question might include: “What are the rational and emotional ways in which you are processing this disruption?” Given varying disciplines and subjects, connections could here be made to multifarious course concepts such as, in the case of a humanities or social sciences course, how scholars define rationality. For more on formulating effective and reflective discussion prompts, please see the following: Create Effective Discussion Prompts - TOPR.
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Link guiding questions to learning objectives/outcomes. For instance, in a social science course focused on students developing their agency as creative, methodical, and reflective thinkers, problem-solvers, and self-directed learners, the following question was offered: “How might you mobilize your learning in this course to make a difference in your life and the lives of those around you?” For more on creating effective learning objectives and outcomes, please see the following: Create Clear and Measurable Learning Objectives - TOPR.
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Foster peer feedback and interaction on reflections. To be sure, it’s important to consider who will be reading and/or commenting on students’ work. Will reflections be shared only with a learning strategist or instructor? Will they be read by other students? Will they be shared on discussion boards? How might power dynamics impact what a student chooses to share? Will those reading be able to comment on an individual’s writing? If so, are guidelines given for effective feedback? Will a reflection’s writer have an opportunity to respond to feedback? All considered, most often, best practice is to foster peer feedback and interaction. For more on fostering peer review using online discussion, please see the following: Foster Peer Review Using Online Discussion - TOPR.
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Formulate a detailed but clear means for (self-)assessment. Such assessment need not be related to grading. The key is to have clear criteria by which learners can critically reflect on their own work (and by which others may comment on a piece of writing). A sample tool for assessment based on the DEAL model is shared here: CACHIA -- CRITICAL REFLECTION RUBRIC.
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Be prepared to push students to articulate their learning. Generally, students do well to describe/document and analyze/examine their experiences but sometimes need further prompting to articulate what they’ve learned, why it matters, and what might be done because of their learning. This difficulty to complete the DEAL model may be related to how this aspect of the learning process is often underdeveloped within undergraduate education. For more on the DEAL model of critical reflection, please see the following: Apply the DEAL Model of Critical Reflection to Maximize Learning - TOPR.
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In sum, course designers, educational developers, and learning strategists implementing anchors and frameworks for reflection – and, especially given its personal nature, biographical disruption as anchor – should consider the power dynamics here at play. The nature of questioning calls for strong links to clear objectives and guidelines for effective feedback and (self-)assessment. As well, challenges to articulate one’s learning may be recognized as indicative of how knowledge production functions within undergraduate education.
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Biographical Disruption in Course Design |
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Strategies and Sample Artifacts |
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Unlocking the Power of Quiz Analytics for Smarter Assessments |
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Dear ADDIE,
I’ve been using quizzes in my online course to assess student learning, but I’m not sure how to make the most of the data provided by the LMS quiz analytics tools. I want to ensure my quizzes are effective and truly reflective of student understanding. What should I look for in the data, and how can I use this information to improve my quizzes?
Read more →
Signed,
Quizzer in Quandary
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Generative AI may have been used to retrieve relevant research, generate suggested language, and enhance original content.
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Bren Bedford, MNM, SFC®, Web Project Analyst II, Center for Distributed Learning, University of Central Florida
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Florence Williams, Ph.D., Associate Instructional Designer, Center for Distributed Learning, University of Central Florida
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