I want to reflect and talk about two things; Devil in the White City and Blooms Taxonomy because I feel the strongest about these aspects of our course.
The Devil in the White City has been a breath of fresh air for me personally this semester. I expected to be reviewing some kind of text book that emphasized on engineering. When I saw our required reading for this course I was a little surprised. Not only was it a well written book, but it had loads of historical information and facts about the World Fair. At first I wasn’t sure how this would tie into our course work and how it would be incorporated into the curriculum. I have had to analyze the content in a different way (other than just memorizing and being tested on it) and try and dissect the characters underlying beliefs and values. It was a new and interesting way to learn about a historical event, especially about the specific individuals involved. I really enjoyed it!
Blooms Taxonomy is a new concept for me. I may have experienced it before without knowing it, but I am not familiar with this model of learning/teaching. In most of my pre-requisite courses I was expected to read the material, take notes, ask questions and then memorize for tests. Except for English style courses; find a topic, write a paper, revise the paper, and then hand it in. Very simple and streamline. This course was difficult for me, especially at first, because I had to change the way I was thinking and interpreting materials. I was forced to go beyond facts and instead answered questions such as; what did it represent? why was this done? what habits, beliefs, and values were represented by certain individuals? I don’t particularly like change, so it was a little difficult for me to get on board at the beginning to rethink the historical structures and events that we covered. However, after going through the course, I think it is an important way to learn and to apply critical thinking to history.
I think for my style of learning, this course would have been better taught in person. It wasn’t impossible and I was able to contact Professor Madsen-Brooks easily if I had questions. However, I think assignments such as; the concept map and final group project would have been easier to understand and complete in a face-to-face class. I think having an open conversation in person about each assignment would have been beneficial. I also think working in a group face-to-face is much better than trying to do it online. I feel this way because I am a visual learner, I like to see examples and I like to work out problems and ideas on paper. I am also not great with technology so online work can be daunting for me sometimes.