Choice = Voice
One of the key strategies for allowing learners to act and express themselves in ways that account for learner variability is to offer choice. There are many different ways to provide options: through modality or format, topic choice, question choice, and flexibility of timing. Having options can be richly rewarding for learners. Let’s hear from learners on how embedding choice into action and expression activities in their courses impacted their learning.
Three classmates discuss how having choices woven into their program has helped them focus on lifelong learning and critical thinking.
Dorcas, Tayla and Morgan Transcript
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>> Dorcas: Hi there. My name is Dorcas Soloman and I'm with Morgan and Tayla today to discuss how having a choice has impacted our learning. And, you know, for me I think I'm a huge believer in just enrolling in the journey of learning as opposed to just getting an education. And really I think the difference boils down to being able to be a critical thinker. I think really in education sometimes you may end up, you know, getting a diploma or a certificate which is great but at the end of the day it's about enrolling in that journey of -- did you actually learn? Was there value impacted? And once you go back into the real world, yes, an education, a diploma, a certificate will open that door for you at that firm you want to work at but when you're at the firm, can you actually make an impact? Can you add value to the team you're on? Can you add value to the organization as a whole? And you can only do that if you've enrolled yourself in this journey of learning, being able to absorb the things you've been taught. And I think it boils down to the fact that with institutions where the value is placed on just simply getting you an education, you're not being pushed to be a critical thinker. You're just being pushed to regurgitate whatever materials you've been taught and then, you know, write the exact same thing on the exam papers. In this program where we're given choice, we're given a choice to actually be critical thinkers, to apply ourselves to projects that we're working on which pushed us outside of our comfort zone most times and enabled [inaudible] people I believe that can make impacts in whatever organizations we are part of that can actually add value. And so yeah. So I think having that choice is huge for anybody, and I was really glad I was given that opportunity. So I'm going to pass it on to Tayla now.
>> Tayla: Yeah, I have to completely agree with you, Dorcas. I know when you look at the difference between theoretical learning and practical learning, I did a very theoretical degree. And I feel that the value that I have received in the last two semesters far exceeds the value that I got out of four years of a very theoretical-based degree just because you're built up to get that real-world knowledge, and I think that's the thing that's the most important for me. And what I've taken away out of this learning experience is the fact that they prepare you for the real world. You know you're not just, like you said, regurgitating what you're learning in lectures. You're actually taking what you've learnt and you're taking what's on paper and you're being pushed to use it in real-world situations. And on top of that, you're also being pushed to become someone who learns in a real-world situation. We are working on assignments at the moment where you get to choose how much you put into the assignment, how much you want to do, how far you push yourself, how much extra reading you do. And at the end of it, you grade yourself depending on what you feel you deserve based on the effort that you've put into it. And I think that's so reflective of the real world because in the real world, yes, there are deadlines; yes, there are projects that you have to complete but in the real world you have to choose how much you want to put into it and, at the end of that, who you're going to be on the other side because of the effort that you put in. So I think that's what's been really beneficial for me, just kind of curating the kind of person that I want to be going forward into the working world who goes above and beyond and who does more work because I want to improve myself, not because there is a big, shiny grade on a piece of paper at the end of it. So yeah. And I know Morgan's got some really great things to say as well so on to Morgan.
>> Morgan: And we're able to work on a real project for a real client in this strategic marketing project, you know, in class. It was amazing to get to work with a team throughout the entire semester and through each touch point be able to reevaluate each thing we submitted and then like, you know, put something back in with our instructor's feedback. But what was nice is we were never technically required to do that but we were given just the choice. Like we could redo an assignment. We could resubmit based on what he told us and I think that example was always -- it was always an opportunity to like re-evaluate how much effort we're putting in and be like -- how much more do we want to put in? What kind of students do we want to be? And that brings me to just my point of the independence that's gained from having this kind of -- having such -- so much more choice and how it affects our learning experiences. The choice to decide like what kind of student, what kind of person we want to be at the end of all this and if we want to be someone who's putting the B+ effort versus an A+ effort and then we're reminded just that we have that control and we're able to take control of our schooling, whereas in the past I think maybe some of us could've been considered more passive learners who just went through the simple motions and were told to hand something in. We were just kind of told what to learn, whereas now we get to decide what we want to learn, how we want to learn it, and exactly how much effort we want to put in. So I think overall just having choice, it just -- it gives us the opportunity to be completely in control of our learning experience.
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Dorcas, Tayla & Morgan talk about choice - Runtime 6:04 min
https://youtu.be/L6qTTN-Cang
In her book on the intersections of antiracism and UDL, Andratesha Fritzgerald (2020) writes: “Antiracist teachers understand that there is more than one way to communicate and they empower learners to understand the nuances and implications of the choice that ultimately rests with them.” When students choose to participate in their own learning, in their own way, deep learning can happen. Offering choice and flexibility for action and expression helps learners with a variety of identities and experiences express how what they’ve learned can be applied to their lives and goals outside the classroom. It is a way to distribute power and privilege to the learners. With this power, students have the agency to develop their strategic, goal-directed, lifelong learning skills.
Let’s listen to Andratesha Fritzgerald describe what it means to design learning experiences with power compared to learning experiences with honour. She asks us to consider who has control in learning spaces and explains that giving choice honours learners and acknowledges students’ goals and cultures.
George Brown College’s 2021 UDL Conference Keynote Speaker Andratesha Fritzgerald
>> And so, I want you to think about your course syllabus or your class expectations. Are they rooted in power? Or are they rooted in honour? Power means I've already decided for you what assignment you're going to do and how you're going to do it. There is one way to gain points. There is one way to get access. It's one way. Honour means there are multiple ways that I've designed this course for you to take the learning in and there are multiple ways for you to show what you know that meet with your career goals, with your culture, with your past, with what-- the supports that you need and then you can choose from these supports in order to move forward. Does your syllabus say, “I am in control” or does it honour the learners to say, “You have a say about how you interact with this course”.
Andratesha Fritzgerald: Moving from Power to Honour - Runtime 0:55 min
https://youtu.be/vJ9J3MBVP3g
Supporting Choices in Action and Expression
Educators can become overwhelmed when considering choice in their course and assessment design, particularly regarding format options. Some wonder how they can become experts in a variety of different modalities.
This comic strip from artist Rebecca Burgess explains neurodiversity and possible impacts on action and expression.
Research suggests that postsecondary learners need a gradual and supportive process when learning to express themselves optimally. This can be done through scaffolding elements in the course such as formative activities and connection opportunities. Offering choice to learners from the beginning of the course helps them to practice different modes of expression before choosing a format for higher-stakes assessments. For example, offering the choice of written word, spoken word, or visual modes for self-introductions is a low-stakes way for students to explore different formats early in the course or learning experience. It also allows not only educators but also learners to adjust and acclimatize to multiple means of action and expression before engaging in higher-stakes assessments. Recommendations for utilizing choice for learners in the classroom include (Patall, Cooper, & Robinson, 2008):
- reducing the labour involved in the choice. Although it is important that individuals feel that they are autonomous and have authentic choice, choices that are highly effortful, perhaps due to the importance or consequences they carry, may diminish the positive effect of choice on motivation.
- providing opportunities for students to make choices across the unit of study
- presenting choices as equally valued and valuable
- avoiding overwhelming students with too many choices. Following a meta-analysis, Patall et al. (ibid.) suggest a maximum of five choices when first acclimatizing students to the idea of choice.
- avoiding incentivizing any particular choice. The positive effect of choice on motivation may be diminished, indeed reduced to zero, when rewards external to the choice are also provided. For example, offering bonus points for choosing a particular format.
Myth: If I offer my students choice in how they express what they value, know, and can do, I decrease the academic rigour of my course.
"To educate" has Latin roots meaning ‘to draw out.’ When we support students through multiple means of action and expression that align with our learning outcomes or objectives, we’re not giving them some advantage; we’re trying to draw out what is already inside them that has been inhibited by exposure to socio-psychological underminers.