The Stanford Design Thinking Model is a toolkit that encourages you to engage in several different mindsets and experience things from your audience's perspective. This allows you to develop new ideas and solve problems in innovative human-centric ways. Using the Design Thinking framework I was able to create a professional development program specifically for my fellow veterinary technology faculty members. This essay is my reflection of the application of this framework and explains how, by engaging in each of the model's mindsets, I was able to design an effective and successful professional development program for my specific audience.
Technology integration can be a tricky thing to do and in this case, a school district was struggling to implement a new plan of action for technology integration in the school system. I first analyzed the case, identifying any problems that I saw, and then I developed a strategy to create stakeholder buy-in. This included professional development for teachers utilizing PD geared towards technology integration, as well as instruction for the parents and students focusing on technology integration for education.
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Next, I chose three of the standards from the International Society of Technology in Education: Standards for Administrators, and discussed how I would apply them to my community of practice, to demonstrate how I would inspire a shared vision and encourage development, implementation, and communication of any technology-infused strategic plans within my college.
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Read the case study here
TEACH
Modeling is one of the most powerful tools in an educator's toolkit, and in a program that produces medical professionals, modeling the standard of care is essential. I created a model that shows an “ideal” anesthetic event for a canine patient, which allows students to visualize a successful event and observe the simulated team members executing tasks and utilizing skills that the students have learned and practiced themselves, and will be asked to perform in the future. Successful modeling will illuminate unforeseen problems, which can then be addressed with a better understanding of what has to be accomplished and allow for exploration of the different team member perspectives. The creation of this video, allowed me to embody the student perspective and understand the importance of providing students with the opportunities to observe other perspectives besides their own.
This is an instructional unit for use in any veterinary medical course that requires critical thinking through required and anticipated nursing or patient care. The unit utilizes a framework that was developed as a schema to facilitate students with chunking the immense amount of information that goes into nursing care, into manageable chunks. By presenting authentic cases and demonstrating how to work through the application of the framework and what the standard of care would be in certain situations, the students are able to observe the thought process and application of the framework as presented by a model or expert. Once the students have mastered the framework and its application in order to ensure that they are providing optimal care for a patient, they are able to manage additional and novel information with ease and confidence; critically thinking through situations and creatively problem-solving. Through the development of this unit, I have gained a better understanding of how I can assist learners in information management and foster their abilities to organize, represent, and interpret information in their environment.
The veterinary medical profession requires team members to adapt to a multitude of situations, contend with infinite variables, and flexibly work within a diverse team. In this white paper, I discuss the cognitive tools of creativity and how they can be employed in veterinary medical education to teach students how to explore and innovate solutions to problems within a team. Teaching creativity affords the development of transferable skills to be used across any discipline thus creating a superior professional who will thrive in any team that they are a part of.
LEAD
Leadership styles should be adapted to the particular demands of the situation, the particular requirements of the people involved and the particular challenges facing the team. This assignment was an exploration of several different leadership styles, specifically how these leaders might respond to different fictitious scenarios via Twitter. Through this exercise I was able to gain a better working knowledge of leadership styles and how to effectively adapt and employ them.
Educating requires the transformation of content and this is best executed by integrating digital technologies for pedagogy centered around a specific subject matter. Through exploration of my personal community of practice, I was able to identify how and what types of technology the faculty was using in their classrooms and what types of technologies they are interested in exploring. I also uncovered what types of professional development would be most useful for the growth of their personal technology integration skills. By researching within my community of practice I was able to get a deeper understanding of how to facilitate technology integration with this specific audience.
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In veterinary education, laboratories are learning experiences where students learn and sharpen skills, practice working as part of a team, and practice the practical application of information learned throughout their courses. As an instructor, I’ve observed many students going through the motions and performing their assigned tasks, but I’ve often wondered if during these authentic learning situations, more meaningful learning could be taking place. Through a research study, I plan to investigate a potential framework that would assist in the development of learning experiences that would allow for deeper understanding and better student learning outcomes in laboratory situations.
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Showcase of my work
The courses in my Master of Arts in Educational Technology (MAET) program focused heavily on the foundations of pedagogy and helped develop and cultivate my skills as an innovative educator. This page features a sampling of projects that highlight three areas of focus in my courses. Learn, Teach, and Lead. By examining factors that affect learning and by identifying and solving problems of practice, I have learned how to develop my courses and materials to maximize effectiveness through thoughtful design and assessment. Beyond the classroom, we explored communities of practice and developed into leaders who champion effective technology integration and assist others to use technology in their own practice. Each artifact below has a short description and associated links you can click on to see my work.