UHP Peer Leader Experience - Ongoing Reflection
What are you goals for this experience?
I have two primary goals for this experience: first, I want to educate the newest class of students in the University Honors Program of the benefits of joining UHP, and second, to improve my leadership and public speaking skills.
After week one, have your goals changed? What were your initial reactions to the first class?
I do not see much change in my goals after week one. This could partially be because one class is to less of a time to decide whether I want to change my goals and expectations regarding the class. I still maintain the same goals of educating this Gateway section about the UHP, and honing my leadership skills.
It was nice to actually go to the class and meet the students. Through the ice breaker activity, I noticed that the class is composed of students from various backgrounds and majors and that makes me excited about the potential discussions and ideas that will come out of this class. As I mentioned earlier, it is still very early to come to a conclusion, but as of now I am looking forward to the next set of classes on Tuesdays.
How has this experience allowed me to see myself as a leader so far?
Through this experience as a Peer Leader, I have recognized one quality that I carry as a leader: empathy.
As a third-year student, I have experienced college life and am comfortable with taking on all the challenges that come with this life. However, I still have the power to put myself in the shoes of the students who are freshmen and who have just started college. I am better able to serve as a leader once I know how my students are feeling. For example, I know how exhausting some of the discussion topics can get, so I try to keep my speech short and/or funny.
How can I best prepare for the one-on-one student meetings?
I want to have the meetings to be very hands-on and participatory from both side. Thus, I am not creating one master plan for all the meetings. Each student has a unique perspective and a different college experience than others. As such, I want each meeting to be tailored and personalized to benefit each student. Having said that, I will do my research on campus resources that would help students augment their learning in college. Also, I will make sure I am well versed with different types of honors experiences and the little details about each of it. This will help me discuss and answer questions about UHP and honors experiences.
How can I utilize my strengths in the one-on-one meetings and class sessions?
I have identified five strengths through the Gallup StrengthsFinder assessment. After looking at my five strengths, I feel that the following three would be most helpful during one-on-one meetings and during class sessions:
Relator
This strength is important in getting into the shoes of student and recognizing their learning needs. Also, through this strength I can get feedback on how the student is taking in the content being taught, and then I can tailor my teaching accordingly.
Communication
As a ‘Peer Leader’, I am both a peer to the students and a leader among them. This unique position is important as it is the middle ground between the instructor and the students. The communication strength would be helpful in acting as a liaison between the instructor and the students.
I can communicate the learning points to the students as the instructor deems fit and the can also voice feedback and concerns from the students to the instructor. Thus, the communication strength plays a key role here.
Adaptability
Unlike my other engineering classes, the Gateway class is very flexible in terms of learning and course content. It is one of those classes where both, the students and instructors, learn equally from each others’ ideas and thoughts.
The adaptability strength will help me tailor my teaching as the needs of the class change. As I mentioned earlier, each student has different needs and thus I need to adapt to each student and make sure I can assist the student fully during class sessions and one-on-one meetings.
What take-aways have you learned from the facilitation materials and experiences thus far in class?
One big take-away I have learned from the facilitation materials and class sessions is being neutral during facilitation and avoiding any bias in the discussion. A good facilitator recognizes that the discussion should not be affected by any bias. However, the facilitator should provide alternative thoughts and ideas to challenge assumptions being made in the discussion. This is done so that the audience is able to recognize all sides of the topic being discussed. In a nutshell, I learned that a good facilitator not only maintains a neutral discussion level but also plays the role of a devil’s advocate to push everyone to explore all sides of the discussion topic.
How has content facilitation gone? Are there things you want to change for upcoming lessons?
Content facilitation has actually been good so far. I have learned a lot from the class instructor, Jason during the class. One observation I made was that when a student gives her opinion, Jason forces the student to explore how and why the student made that particular opinion. This makes the student think deeply about the content and her own statement. I believe that gives the student a great chance to learn about the content being taught. The rest of the class also benefits by learning from the insights provided by the student being questioned. I think keeping the way things are currently is fine.
How does this compare with your 1-on-1 meetings with students?
Each meeting was different from the other. In meetings where students came with a lot of questions were generally very productive and conversational. In other meetings, I had to anchor the meetings and ask the students questions about their planned honors experiences and so on and so forth. One observation I made was that most of them were not aware of who their Honors advisor was. I think that means UHP should improve its outreach to current students so that they know who to contact in Honors and make the most out of their time in the University Honors Program.
What are challenges I’ve faced during this experience? How am I confronting them?
The only significant challenge I have faced is the one of continuing discussion when the receiving side is not involved much. This has bothered me from the start of the class. I am always wondering what to say to initiate and make the facilitation going on. But sometimes I feel that all efforts are in vain if the students choose to not get involved in the discussion.
To get better at facilitating discussions, I observed Jason more closely. My main target has been to figure out how he picks up talking points from the discussions in class and then uses them to facilitate more discussions that gets the class involved and actually benefits everyone in the discussion.
How has this experience impacted the way you articulate your UC story?
This experience is what brings some aspects of college life into a full circle. Two years ago, I was attending the Gateway to University Honors class and now I am one of the Peer Leaders helping the newest class to get acquainted with UHP and all the great things the program has to offer. Since I have come to UC, I have spoken to large crowds, done some amazing research, learned from the industry’s best in my coops, and made some long-lasting friendships. But in my UC story, I never got a chance of giving back to the students. This experience is the part in my UC story where I come back to the Gateway classroom as a Peer Leader helping students navigate UHP and helping the instructors get feedback and help improve the class. I am grateful to the Honors program for giving this opportunity to me. I hope to contribute more in the future.
I have two primary goals for this experience: first, I want to educate the newest class of students in the University Honors Program of the benefits of joining UHP, and second, to improve my leadership and public speaking skills.
After week one, have your goals changed? What were your initial reactions to the first class?
I do not see much change in my goals after week one. This could partially be because one class is to less of a time to decide whether I want to change my goals and expectations regarding the class. I still maintain the same goals of educating this Gateway section about the UHP, and honing my leadership skills.
It was nice to actually go to the class and meet the students. Through the ice breaker activity, I noticed that the class is composed of students from various backgrounds and majors and that makes me excited about the potential discussions and ideas that will come out of this class. As I mentioned earlier, it is still very early to come to a conclusion, but as of now I am looking forward to the next set of classes on Tuesdays.
How has this experience allowed me to see myself as a leader so far?
Through this experience as a Peer Leader, I have recognized one quality that I carry as a leader: empathy.
As a third-year student, I have experienced college life and am comfortable with taking on all the challenges that come with this life. However, I still have the power to put myself in the shoes of the students who are freshmen and who have just started college. I am better able to serve as a leader once I know how my students are feeling. For example, I know how exhausting some of the discussion topics can get, so I try to keep my speech short and/or funny.
How can I best prepare for the one-on-one student meetings?
I want to have the meetings to be very hands-on and participatory from both side. Thus, I am not creating one master plan for all the meetings. Each student has a unique perspective and a different college experience than others. As such, I want each meeting to be tailored and personalized to benefit each student. Having said that, I will do my research on campus resources that would help students augment their learning in college. Also, I will make sure I am well versed with different types of honors experiences and the little details about each of it. This will help me discuss and answer questions about UHP and honors experiences.
How can I utilize my strengths in the one-on-one meetings and class sessions?
I have identified five strengths through the Gallup StrengthsFinder assessment. After looking at my five strengths, I feel that the following three would be most helpful during one-on-one meetings and during class sessions:
Relator
This strength is important in getting into the shoes of student and recognizing their learning needs. Also, through this strength I can get feedback on how the student is taking in the content being taught, and then I can tailor my teaching accordingly.
Communication
As a ‘Peer Leader’, I am both a peer to the students and a leader among them. This unique position is important as it is the middle ground between the instructor and the students. The communication strength would be helpful in acting as a liaison between the instructor and the students.
I can communicate the learning points to the students as the instructor deems fit and the can also voice feedback and concerns from the students to the instructor. Thus, the communication strength plays a key role here.
Adaptability
Unlike my other engineering classes, the Gateway class is very flexible in terms of learning and course content. It is one of those classes where both, the students and instructors, learn equally from each others’ ideas and thoughts.
The adaptability strength will help me tailor my teaching as the needs of the class change. As I mentioned earlier, each student has different needs and thus I need to adapt to each student and make sure I can assist the student fully during class sessions and one-on-one meetings.
What take-aways have you learned from the facilitation materials and experiences thus far in class?
One big take-away I have learned from the facilitation materials and class sessions is being neutral during facilitation and avoiding any bias in the discussion. A good facilitator recognizes that the discussion should not be affected by any bias. However, the facilitator should provide alternative thoughts and ideas to challenge assumptions being made in the discussion. This is done so that the audience is able to recognize all sides of the topic being discussed. In a nutshell, I learned that a good facilitator not only maintains a neutral discussion level but also plays the role of a devil’s advocate to push everyone to explore all sides of the discussion topic.
How has content facilitation gone? Are there things you want to change for upcoming lessons?
Content facilitation has actually been good so far. I have learned a lot from the class instructor, Jason during the class. One observation I made was that when a student gives her opinion, Jason forces the student to explore how and why the student made that particular opinion. This makes the student think deeply about the content and her own statement. I believe that gives the student a great chance to learn about the content being taught. The rest of the class also benefits by learning from the insights provided by the student being questioned. I think keeping the way things are currently is fine.
How does this compare with your 1-on-1 meetings with students?
Each meeting was different from the other. In meetings where students came with a lot of questions were generally very productive and conversational. In other meetings, I had to anchor the meetings and ask the students questions about their planned honors experiences and so on and so forth. One observation I made was that most of them were not aware of who their Honors advisor was. I think that means UHP should improve its outreach to current students so that they know who to contact in Honors and make the most out of their time in the University Honors Program.
What are challenges I’ve faced during this experience? How am I confronting them?
The only significant challenge I have faced is the one of continuing discussion when the receiving side is not involved much. This has bothered me from the start of the class. I am always wondering what to say to initiate and make the facilitation going on. But sometimes I feel that all efforts are in vain if the students choose to not get involved in the discussion.
To get better at facilitating discussions, I observed Jason more closely. My main target has been to figure out how he picks up talking points from the discussions in class and then uses them to facilitate more discussions that gets the class involved and actually benefits everyone in the discussion.
How has this experience impacted the way you articulate your UC story?
This experience is what brings some aspects of college life into a full circle. Two years ago, I was attending the Gateway to University Honors class and now I am one of the Peer Leaders helping the newest class to get acquainted with UHP and all the great things the program has to offer. Since I have come to UC, I have spoken to large crowds, done some amazing research, learned from the industry’s best in my coops, and made some long-lasting friendships. But in my UC story, I never got a chance of giving back to the students. This experience is the part in my UC story where I come back to the Gateway classroom as a Peer Leader helping students navigate UHP and helping the instructors get feedback and help improve the class. I am grateful to the Honors program for giving this opportunity to me. I hope to contribute more in the future.