Inspired

Inspired The current affect domain descriptor for the RSD facet 'embarks on research and clarifies need for knowlege & understanding' is //inspired//.

On the bottom of this page are dozens of words on affect that connect with research skills; these have emerged in workshops over the past 2 years. You may put up a case that one of those words is better than //inspired//, or even suggest one yourself. Either way, you can modify this wiki page to showcase the new word. Keep in mind the criteria below (or change the criteria).

__Criteria for affect descriptors__
 * 1) An affective edge e.g. //systemati//c doesn’t have one, //harmonising// does
 * 2) Predominately used in a positive way, so it is typically desirable e//g determined//. //Scheming// is perfectly descriptive for ‘organise and manage’, but typically used negatively and so is not suitable.
 * 3) Epitomising the affect realm of cognitive couplet as elegantly as possible eg //discerning// is a great example of 1, 2 & 3.

__Inspired__ A student may come to class with an internal drive to embark on research into a specific phenomena/issue, or possibly more likely, be quite apathetic about commencing an active process whereby he or she has to work to develop knowledge and understanding. If the former, the inspired student is self- starting, and the question is whether that student has a sufficient skill set to pursue research. If the latter, your job as an educator is to help him or her to be at least a little more motivated, to see the purpose in learning opportunities presented. Often for a student like that, he or she can become inspired as a result of engaging in research processes.

This means that being inspired may be a //drive// to research for some students and an //outcome// of research for others.

Making the affect domain explicit is not about assessing whether a student is inspired; we can stick to assessing the more cognitive dimensions most of the time. Making affect explicit is more about clarifying teaching intentions, and to provoke thought about what will engage students in the related cognitive processes, in this case embarking on research.

All the best with that! If you have some successes inspiring students with or through their engagement in research processes, let me know. Soon, we will have some video footage from Oral Health students who were 'compliant' in the commencing of their research, but ultimately were inspired by their involvement in it.

__Workshop(27 September, 2011) suggestions__ for an adjective that captures the affect side of 'embarks on research and clarifies need for understanding.'

Passionate Driven Obsessed Infatuated Curious Engaged Focussed Open (open-minded) **Inspired** Attentive Motivated – self – task – extrinsic Entrepreneurial ‘Sisu’ – absolute persistence (Finnish). <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Bold <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Creative <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 90%;">Innovative <span style="font-family: 'Arial Narrow','sans-serif'; font-size: 11px;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Complian t

Over to you

John