Deriving Insights of Value

#EdChat, Big Data, Data Science, Data-Driven Teaching, The Data Scientist 0 comments

Quartier de la Sorbonne, Paris, France

Photo by Jonathan Acuña (2018)

Deriving Insights of Value

A simple problem, but what’s the answer?

By Prof. Jonathan Acuña-Solano, M. Ed.

School of English

Faculty of Social Sciences

Universidad Latina de Costa Rica

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Post 333 / DS Log 5

As mentioned before, the data scientist teacher is someone who works with data in three different fronts simultaneously. That teacher is a miner, a cleanser, and an analyst. Let’s see his/her role in the following case scenario, a language school whose graduating population is not interested in participating in the institution’s graduation.

1	Problem Identification	In this case scenario the problem is not that only 53% of the possibly graduating learners want to participate in the end-of-the-course ceremony; the real problem to discover is why this is happening. The teacher has to find out the real question to ask to mine and explore data.
2	Data Collection	At this point, the teacher has to start collecting data from as many sources as it is possible including the school’s database, any economic report issued by the Ministry of Economy, printed press and news programs on TV/radio or social media.
3	Data Exploration	With all possible data coming from public or institutional databases, the teacher can start finding the pieces of the puzzle. Information can then be organized for the teacher to start finding commonalities, categories, or names for the reasons that are found.
4	Analysis of Data Collected from Various Sources	The teacher cannot only base the analysis of data from institutional databases. Some sort of triangulation is needed to match data to reveal connections never thought before but that may have a say on why some 43% of possibly graduating students don’t feel encouraged to attend a graduation ceremony.
5	The Storytelling behind the Data	Once the teacher lets the data speak by themselves, s/he listens to what all these is stating as to why learners are uninterested (or interested) in going to a graduation ceremony. Reasons can be triggered by different societal phenomena.
6	Taking Action	As soon as the data tell their story, the teacher has to talk to the institution’s stakeholders, directors, or departmental heads to discuss what needs to be done to either motivate learners to join the graduation celebration or to reconsider if the way the graduation ceremony is actually held should continue to be celebrated in the same way.

Though it is not yet clear why only 53% of learners who finish the institution’s program are willing to go to the graduation ceremony, the case is a good example as to how the “investigation” has to be carried out. And for a better understanding of these notes of mine, please take a look at the infographic that matches what each step of the data science procedure contains along with the case scenario.

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Why does Failure Stick Around Longer than Success?: A personal quest

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Bridge over The Long Water, Hyde Park, London, UK

Photo by Jonathan Acuña (2018)

Why does Failure Stick Around Longer than Success?

A personal quest

By Prof. Jonathan Acuña-Solano, M. Ed.

School of English

Faculty of Social Sciences

Universidad Latina de Costa Rica

Friday, July 26, 2019

Post 332

Have you ever wondered why it is that a feeling of failure is longer-lasting than what it is felt when one succeeds? Based on Ledgerwood (May 2013), the “blip of happiness” can take just a few hours to evaporate, but “pesky rejection” can last for several days. Waiting for the blip of refusal to fade away from our emotions can be something most people are not able to handle effectively in a short amount of time.

Some time ago I was asked to help with English language proficiency tests, and I had this unfriendly encounter with a colleague due to my expeditiousness in administrating oral exams. As a very seasoned teaching professional who has created proficiency oral exams and is very aware of the Common European Framework for Languages and its performance descriptors, I felt aggrieved by my peer’s comments regarding my quickness. And this feeling of “pesky rejection” inflamed by my co-worker accompanied me for quite some time, until I asked myself, “Why do I feel this way?” An incident like this should just be some bothering hot air that disperses quickly, but the fact is that it wasn’t just hot air.

“Do our minds get stuck in the negatives? (Ledgerwood, May 2013).” Well, based on data provided by Dr. Ledgerwood (May 2013) during a TED Talk at TEDxUCDavis, “our overview of the world has a fundamental tendency to tilt toward the negative.” Instead of moving away quickly, as it happens when we experience success, the “pesky rejection” stays for days and cannot be done away with by simply motivating our minds to have pleasant thoughts. The fact is, going back to my botheration with my colleague, it stayed with me for several weeks until I came across with Dr. Ledgerwood’s explanation.

Based on Dr. Ledgerwood (May 2013), everything depends on how facts are perceived when they are being described or presented to people. As of this high school year in my country, e.g., the Ministry of Education is planning to have some new GED (General Education Development) test beginning in 2020. High schoolers have been demonstrating on the streets in their communities because they have been told that with these new GED exams, the failure rate is going to be much higher than with the actual GED summative assessments. But is all this true?

Paraphrasing Dr. Ledgerwood (May 2013) a little bit, trying to have someone, or even ourselves, shift their “loss frame” perception toward a “gain frame” is simply strenuous. And now that all these high school students are afraid that this new GED evaluation is going to trigger higher numbers of failing learners, taking them out of this perception of theirs (loss frame) will be a whole challenge. Moving these learners into perceiving the new GED testing as a better way to prepare them towards their academic life at the university (gain frame) is going to be a tough work for ministerial authorities.

Going back to my initial vexation triggered by my peer because of my hastiness when applying oral proficiency exams, my mind had shifted toward a “loss frame” that bothered me for days, as it is bothering high school students who are not yet processing the “right perception” of the new GED. As Dr. Ledgerwood (May 2013) explained, “Once the loss frame gets in there, it sticks.” And the only one individual who can overcome this feeling of rejection is but me (or “you,” depending where you are standing). As for now, I will conditioned my mind to generate more positive thinking and let these displeasing encounters with peers slip by as quickly as possible.

References

Ledgerwood, A. (May 2013). A Simple Trick to Improve Positive Thinking. [Video File]. Retrieved from TED.com at https://www.ted.com/talks/alison_ledgerwood_a_simple_trick_to_improve_positive_thinking

Friday, July 26, 2019

Teachers Exploring Data: The teacher as a data scientist

Big Data, Data Science, Data-Driven Teaching, The Data Scientist 0 comments

Hyde Park, The Long Water, London, UK

Photo by Jonathan Acuña (2018)

Teachers Exploring Data

The teacher as a data scientist

By Prof. Jonathan Acuña-Solano, M. Ed.

School of English

Faculty of Social Sciences

Universidad Latina de Costa Rica

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Post 331 / DS Log 4

Can teachers mine and explore data? A resounding yes as an answer needs to be uttered. Data Science (DS) is not exclusively connected to business management decisions; it can be perfectly manipulated by educators, who -in the search for answers- can make use of information to decide on various education issues. Though DS is not meant to be the cup of tea of every education professional, institutions ought to count with some to help in the visualization and explanation of behavior among students.

Educators interested in Data Science should look for a role in data visualization. These teachers need to encompass a set of traits that can make their mining of data easier:

a) The ability of manipulate data,

b) The talent to analyze data,

c) The capacity to come up with innovative solutions,

d) The skill to present findings, results, and suggestions,

e) The cleverness to tell the story behind the data, and

f) The knack to deal with other stakeholders.

Due to the importance of these traits, teachers playfully manipulating data to make sense of their reality also possess curiosity, analytical strength, excitement about data, and some sort of technical skills to work with data from a database.

Copy the following Google Drive address to see the original infographic and to enlarge it:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Jm1_QcrT48if_vWkB_LGSO-s2nTByDCW/view?usp=sharing

Are educators ready to explore data? No doubt that there are many teachers who already work with data empirically. And this empiricism is perfect because it is the basis for helping them develop their competence in this area. Conclusion: as Professor Murtaza Haider stated (2018), he can train someone to use algorithms and software to work with data, but curiosity and the desire to explore data cannot be taught.

References

Haider, M. (2018). Specific Skills to Hire a Data Scientist. [Video File]. Retrieved from Laureate Edcuation, Inc. at https://dtl.laureate.net/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?course_id=_165016_1&content_id=_801204_1&mode=reset

Thursday, July 25, 2019

What's Needed to be a Data Scientist?

Big Data, Data Science, Data-Driven Teaching, The Data Scientist 0 comments

Hyde Park, The Serpentine Lake, London, UK

Photo by Jonathan Acuña

What’s Needed to be a Data Scientist?

In language learning and education

By Prof. Jonathan Acuña-Solano, M. Ed.

School of English

Faculty of Social Sciences

Universidad Latina de Costa Rica

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Post 330 / DS Log 3

After putting together all pieces of information in the infographic I created to see what’s needed to be a data scientist, lots of thoughts came into my mind as to how this relates to me as a language instructor and educator. What’s really behind all this new knowledge linked to Data Science (DS) and Big Data (BD)? Let me explore some of my ideas regarding DS and BG and their connection with education.

With a bit of curiosity, all teachers can become data scientists of their own data. Each of our courses is a unique situation that will generate data that must be comprehended to cater for student learning and coaching needs. Teachers have the capacity to analyze, provide solutions to class situations, and spot ways to interpret the data, e.g., exam results, platform grades and performance, etc. Basic statistical analysis is needed to go into mining data for analysis and interpretation, and in the end, we can provide better teaching and coaching to learners. Educators need to become data miners and explorers to provide students with ways to develop skills and competencies.

Mining our own data also reflects our ability to tell the story behind what is being analyzed and understood. In a school situation, where lots of data pertaining grades (and other pieces of information) is stored in a data base, a teacher or school administrator can analyze, interpret, and tell the story that data tell him/her. Finding ways to present discoveries among the analyzed data is something that with a bit of exercise any educator can do. The identification of new revelations in data can be a happy, joyful moment since it can be the identification of a path to follow to help students in their learning process.

Dr. Murtaza Haider (2018) stated that a great sense of humor is needed by anyone working as a data scientist, and I bet it is the same principle for any educator. The teacher can laugh at him/herself because of the “crazy ideas” that can arise from the interpretation of data in the school data base. Seriousness in data mining, interpretation, and analysis is not always good because humor can be a great part of team building that can erase worries from the face of educators. The teacher has to be good at laughing at his/her “odd” ideas that can help comprehend what is happening in a class, course, or school year.

There are more traits a teacher data scientist needs to embody. What was introduced here was a good account of characteristics needed by a miner in data science. It is our task to see how they become relevant to our teaching profession and how we can use these data to help the learners, the institution, and the educators with ways to correct paths and provide guidance towards success.

References

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Leadership Habits For Language Instructors

Community of Practice, Leadership, Reflective Teaching 0 comments

Ceiling at Le Pantheon, Latin Quarters, Paris, France

Photo by Jonathan Acuña

Leadership Habits

For Language Instructors

By Prof. Jonathan Acuña-Solano, M. Ed.

School of English

Faculty of Social Sciences

Universidad Latina de Costa Rica

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Post 329

One of the most interesting parts of being part of a community of practice is the chance one has to share with other members. Because of this symbiotic relationship that can be created among the member of this type of community, people can discuss “issues” pertaining the “tribe.” Recently, our lead teacher came up with an intriguing topic linked to attrition, student involvement in learning tasks, and motivation. And due to this lively and fruitful discussion with team peers, I bumped into an infographic, whose leadership principles I modified to link them to language instructors and to our empathy with our students.

Part of my participation in the community of practice’s discussion was to ask peers the following question: “How would you transform these features into a language instructor/leader's behavior to help learners grasp the gist of the content in class and in a course?” BBy answering the question, educators can -for sure- become more aware of their interaction with their students and how they are making them feel when being in class. Here you have mine!

- Make decisive decisions to always have students motivated in and out of class, especially when one teaches online students who happen to be in another country.

- Take immediate action when you feel one of your students feels like dropping out of the course. You can “rescue” a great student from failing because of things that can be talked over.

- Follow S.M.A.R.T. goals on your lesson plans to see them materialized in your students' performance with your language coaching and guidance.

- Be productive with your learners, not just busy especially when a learner reaches out for you and your help. Working on an online environment can make learners feel “isolated” and the helping hand of a teacher can be what is needed.

- Live out of your comfort zone and make learners feel that they are important to you as much as their learning. Creating a human bond with the student is a great way to make them feel comfortable with distance education and self-regulation.

- Make things simple to foster learning and enjoyment while learners are with you in class. Making things difficult for them can be counterproductive for the instructor and for the learner as well.

- Measure and track student progress especially when grading oral examinations and writing tasks. Discussing with them what they are doing well or wrong can be very productive for the learning of the student and for one’s teaching.

- Have positive outlook despite the mistakes students make because you can help them improve. A bad attitude on one’s part can make our learners run away from class and from all course-related activity.

- Learn, evolve, grow, and develop yourself to better cater for student learning needs. Every single class one teaches can also provide us with something new we can learn to become a more seasoned, round-up professional.

- Be consistent, character, credible, trustworthy because learners do rely on you. Feeling betrayed by a teacher can be one of those “traumatic experiences” learners will have trouble overcoming.

- Connect, care, and communicate with your students especially when you feel they are to drop out of the course, or they feel they are having a hard time trying to understand basic concepts or content of a course. We have all been in that position when a helping teacher can help us become successful in our developing of new skills and linguistic competencies.

- Walk your talk, otherwise students will not believe any word that comes out of your mouth. What you will tell them you will do for them, do it. Don’t make them feel betrayed.

What you have found here is just a mere reflection of a teacher’s beliefs in terms of leadership in the online classroom. You can complete them otherwise to have your teaching principles and habits shine among your statements. And if you are wondering about the colors, it is simple: a) black is what is stated in the Infographic (Improveon 2018), b) my writing in blue was what I originally shared with my peers in our community of practice, and c) dark green is what I, after reading my own ideas, wanted to share with my blog readers because they are part of what I believe as an educator.

References

Improveon (2018). "Infographic: Leadership Habits." Retrieved from Improveon.Co.Uk at https://www.improveon.co.uk/www/services/leadercanbe/

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Sympathy for the one Who Writes?

Reflective Journaling 0 comments

Grasshopper at Norfolk Park, Paddington, London, GB

Photo by Jonathan Acuña

Sympathy for the one Who Writes?

What’s really going on?

By Prof. Jonathan Acuña-Solano, M. Ed.

School of English

Faculty of Social Sciences

Universidad Latina de Costa Rica

Sunday, July 14, 2019

Post 328

Sympathy can be defined as “the perception, understanding, and reaction to the distress or need of another life form. This empathic concern is driven by a switch in viewpoint, from a personal perspective to the perspective of another group or individual who is in need” (Wikipedia.Com, 2019). But should sympathy be called as so when you start trying to perceive, comprehend and react to the distress you may be undergoing?

As a very season educator, who has been in the teaching business for over 25 years, I have come to a point in my career that it seems like a stuck and stagnated spot in my professional life timeline. It looks like there are moments in which the life of an expert becomes a void, a sort of an empty cavity that cannot be filled with just being in a classroom for a monthly wage. This vacuity is just taking over your great moments in class when teaching, and then everything is nothing but a puzzling crossroad that presents a dilemma for you to solve to go on. Have you felt like this before?

I’m not sure you whether you have listened to the 1968 song by Rolling Stones, Sympathy for the Devil (Jagger & Keith, 1968), but if you have, revisiting the lyrics can be a good moment to realize a few things. Not certain if my reader can be a religious person or an atheist, you get to a point in which you question why it is that everything you are trying to materialize is not yet happening or is somehow slipping away. The lyrics of the song refer to a “puzzling game” and what its “nature” is, a game that is driving you off the wall because you cannot really identify a way out. But is this “puzzling game” just a fancy, an urge of your imaginative brain and mind that everything is really going wrong? And for those of you who are religious, is this a caprice of the devil, who simply wants to make you feel that your life is going downhill?

Why am I talking of all these things? The answer is simple; at some point we are bound to feel that things are not OK and that everything is doing down the drain. Yet, this is not true. As someone with a growth mindset, you just have to look for ways to make your professional life shine again and make your teaching life more enjoyable than before. And in my very personal case, going back to my writing, learning something new while taking a course, working hard to achieve professional goals, and discussing academically with peers can provide us with a new sense of fulfillment.

Do we then have to be sympathetic with ourselves? Sympathy is a human need, and there is no reason why we cannot be sympathetic and empathic with what we perceive and comprehend and how we react to the distress one undergoes. If you are a religious person, prayers can be good for our souls, especially when you family and friends can also give you a hand. And if you are an atheist, this is just a vacuum that can be cleaned with some positive thinking where family and friends can also be handy.