Earlier this summer, I decided to embark on an educational experiment: I wanted to create a version of the independent study groups that I used to co-teach when I was at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, in which students would work on a mapping project, and meet weekly for feedback. My version of this “class” just wrapped up, so I want to reflect a bit on how that experience went, especially because I think it would be great if some of you out there wanted to organize something similar!
Choosing a Group
Over 150 people filled out my initial form indicating their interest, which was far beyond my expectations. I had intended to have a group of only four students, so that our meetings would have a manageable size that left room for lots of individual interaction. Unfortunately, there was no easy or fair way to choose such a small number from such a large pool, so I began making arbitrary cuts. First I settled on a particular day/time for our meetings, which eliminated about half of the pool — applicants had already filled out a scheduling poll so that I could easily see what groups were available at what times.
Then I began looking at backgrounds. This was the only thing I’d asked people about, besides their name & email address: “Briefly tell me about your background (training/experience) in mapmaking up to this point.” People answered in a variety of levels of detail, and pretty much all of them sounded like they would be great to work with. While I hadn’t asked about it specifically, some people also mentioned what country they were from. In the end, I decided it would be valuable (to me, and to the students) to focus on bringing together a group of people from around the world, so I began factoring that into my decisions about whom to pick.
I decided to do this because I have the impression that a lot of us are siloed. Maybe that’s me projecting my own experiences onto others: I tend to interact mostly with cartographers from the United States and Canada, despite there being a whole other world of mappers out there. I wanted a chance to reach out a bit more, and also to offer my students a chance to make some distant connections if they were also lacking those. So, I ended up with a group of five (one more than I initially planned, because it was so hard to leave people out), hailing from the United States, Brazil, France, Kenya, and India.
Meeting Setup
The initial plan was to meet weekly for about 75 minutes (I figured 15 minutes of time per student), for six weeks. I grappled a bit with what technology to use for our meetings, but settled on Google Meet, because there’s no software to install or update, and no real setup. You just drop a link in a browser and you’re in the meeting. It also allows screen-sharing, which was an important part of what we’d be doing. It’s free, but if you have more than two people, your meetings can only be an hour long, so I paid Google for a plan that would allow a larger group to meet for longer. That’s where support from all my wonderful Patrons comes in.
Now, I’m a shy and socially anxious person, and meeting strangers is challenging. I was admittedly worried that it would feel awkward, or that internet connection problems would get in the way, or that differences in English skills might pose a barrier. Or that it simply might not be fun or interesting for me to participate in. Anticipating some of that, I gave myself an escape hatch when I announced the course: “Because it’s free, I am placing a priority on my own comfort and convenience. I like helping people, but if this effort accidentally stresses me out, I may cut it short.” I actually thought about including a known colleague in the class, just to help me feel more comfortable.
But in the end, everything turned out well (as I figured it would — my anxiety is loud but usually inaccurate). Everyone was kind and friendly and cooperative, and we made the best of our weekly time together. We did often have absences, and usually only 2–3 people were there in the latter weeks, but that’s not out of line with my experiences in an actual university classroom.
The entire course was project-driven. In the first week, students planned out a mapping project that they wanted to accomplish during the summer, and each week thereafter was simply to show their progress and to get feedback or ask for advice on their next steps. Seeing what students were working on, I would give impromptu lessons on aspects of Adobe Illustrator, or point people toward certain websites, or otherwise share knowledge. Students, too, were sharing resources, offering good feedback, and asking questions. In all, it was exactly what I was hoping for, and I learned from them as they did from me.
Everyone wanted to produce a large wall map full of details and terrain, and no one finished their projects. I even extended the timeline out a bit and we met eight times in total, rather than the planned six. If I do this again, I would steer students toward choosing a level of ambition that matches the timeframe. When I taught an introductory cartography course at UW–Madison, students had to come up with an idea for a final project, and I would always ask them to have backup plans for how to cut back on their initial idea if it turns out they began to run out of time (and also how to expand it, if they finished early).
The Joy of Sharing
I embarked on this project because I missed having a chance to give impromptu lessons to colleagues, as well as to be inspired by and learn from whatever they were working on. It was a great success, and I got exactly what I was hoping for. It was fun, and helped me feel impactful in a way that I often haven’t since I left UW.
The students seemed pleased, too (even the ones who couldn’t make it to class often), and commented during class that they had learned useful things as a result of our time together. A few days ago I circulated a survey at the end asking for anonymous feedback, though I am presently still waiting to see if any shows up. If so, it might give me a sense of anything that I might need to improve from my end, that someone wasn’t comfortable voicing during our meetings.
Meanwhile, members of the group have said that they’ll still be working on their unfinished projects, and will email everyone else to show how they turned out. I look forward to seeing the results, and I also hope that the group will draw some continuing benefit from the connections we’ve formed.
Because this was a success, I may embark on some other educational experiments this year. At NACIS 2023, I’m hoping to hold “Office Hours,” where I’ll set aside a time and location and people can come up to me and ask for advice, tutorials, or feedback. And I am also thinking about doing this online, as well. Perhaps I can share a Google Meet link at some particular day/time, and see if people want to show up to ask question and/or watch me answer others’ questions. I do worry a bit that either too few or too many people will appear. But it’s probably worth trying out.
If I do hold office hours online, I’ll post about them here. Given that Twitter is slowly crumbling, it’s getting harder for people to find me there. So, if you’re not subscribed, please consider doing so, which will ensure that you don’t miss out. You can sign up to get emails of each my posts, or you can subscribe to the RSS feed.
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