Roger McKechnie -(Management Dept/Organizational Behavior)- Zicklin School, Baruch/CUNY
Baruch College (CTL Student Engagement Seminar) Session 3 Assignment
Assignment : Revised Artifact/Teaching Outcomes
Dear Team Colleagues,
Thank You for your time and attention in reviewing my “revised” Teaching Artifact/Activity, and the effort to connect it to identifiable teaching strategies; be they :Objective(s), Goal(s), Learning “Outcome(s)”. An Artifact is a narrowed, clearly defined/described- “DELIVERABLE”; an unambiguous product – the result of a PROCESS. A process with observable steps conducive to building (Scaffolds), where a learner can logically assemble the pieces: the knowledge, the insights, the activities that will constitute a “leaning outcome”- a (Deliverable).
My Teaching Artifact – in first attempt of development was “Large” and “Actually” unwieldy. It is intended as the core “Structure” for two Spring Semester class sections – both Hybrid – one 76 students and the other -45 students. I’ve taught at Zicklin for 15 +Years – teaching undergraduate: Conflict Mgt, Human Resources, Fundamental Management, Operations Management – an array of Independent Studies Topics and MBA Consultation Advising. Organizational Behavior is a teaching career – re-calibration – bridging careers in Psychology, Mediation with serial entrepreneur business ventures.
In joining O.B. and given “free reign” to “create” my version of People and Organizations, also taught by other instructors, my Artifact has been handily assisted by the choice of a “somewhat iconoclastic text” by Jone L. Pearce – Real Research for Real Managers. This text is a no-nonsense dedication, totally absent of patience for MANAGEMENT INFORMATION that is not firmly founded in RESEARCH/EVIDENCE BASED MANAGEMENT INFORMATION. Thank You. Sincerely, Roger
THE ARTIFACT
In short, the MBA Management section of 76 students; for example – will be divided into 12 groups of 6 students. The format will examine the TRADITIONAL PROBLEM AREAS that plague Managers in the effective Management efforts regarding their people and organizations. Such focal areas as: workplace conflict, hiring and firing, diversity/discrimination, team performance, motivation, etc.
The Artifact, as a “Deliverable” will be student designed and maintained HANDBOOK. The Handbook will be divided into the 10 KEY PROBLEMATIC AREAS listed in the Syllabus and noted as “focal areas”. The handbook will contain (for each focal point) written and video summary narratives that will detail the strategies and conclusive solutions of (the real life and real time) the product solutions can be derived from class team involvement or any other appropriate academic source. WORKPLACE PROBLEM(S)-unique to the given student’s career experience where that the student identifies and presents (options and corrections) as a result of the application of MANDATORY !!! EVIDENCE of RESEARCH/EVIDENCE BASED Solution Approaches.
To succeed in the accomplishment of “REQUIRED” Notebook Artifact, will require the following of specific (STEPS) that will be carefully presented in the Syllabus and identified as – (Research/Evidence-Based “Mindsets”) The primary “mindset” identifies the student as a (Professional Manager), analogous to a medical practitioner, carefully observing and noting people and organization behavior and events that constitute disruptive circumstances. A Rubric to guide the content and considerations regarding “DIAGNOSTIC APPROACHES” will presented in class, carefully discussed and clearly observed in the course TEXTBOOK to promote individual and team interaction to assist the accurate and Research/Evidence Based student generated narrative that will be documented and entered in each student’s individual handbook. This course Instructor will periodically review and for the first 3 focal point sections assist each student in achieving course objective quality narrative HANDBOOK entries. The remaining 7 sections will be graded as determined by the “Notebook Narrative Rubric” found in the Course Syllabus.
3 replies on “Roger’s letter and artifact”
I wasn’t sure exactly how formal would should be in terms of the cover letter, but I like the formality of a letter that is both properly formatted and written in the tone and structure of one.
I’ve not had to teach 76 students and I can see the absolute necessity of having various types of activities as a change up from lecture, to activities where they can engage in a different way and gain greater familiarity with each other in a way that is difficult given the size of the class. I suspect that the teams you set up to accomplish these tasks have a rough parallel to problem solving teams set up in the business environment?
I really appreciate your context: “Organizational Behavior is a teaching career – re-calibration – bridging careers in Psychology, Mediation with serial entrepreneur business ventures.” My ex-husband was a psych major, and I have only a vague memory of IO psych as a field.
I think, given the course you describe, that it makes a lot of sense for students to design and then maintain the handbook that you detail. Furthermore, I like the fact that the handbook will be multimodal to include both “written and video summary narratives”–given the structures of organizations today, allowing for video/the digital feels like it sets students up for success in their future jobs/careers.
This sounds like something students should have a strong interest in doing well, as it should provide them with something genuinely useful to refer to later. Collaborative exercises with fellow students and small-stakes scaffolded subtasks for each unit seem like a potentially fun way to make things more interactive and manageable/unintimidating as they build each unit.