Education Commons^™

Nefdc Exhange, Volume 27, Fall 2014, New England Faculty Development Consortium

NEFDC Exchange

Contents

President's message - Deborah J. Clark, Quinnipiac University

Embracing the Changing World: Incorporating Team-Based Learning in an Upper Level General Education Course - Mei-Yau Shih, University of Massachusetts Amherst and Susan Han, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Information Literacy: From Today’s Critical Challenges to Tomorrow’s Critical Thinking Opportunities - Kisha G. Tracy, Fitchurg State University and Jennifer Fielding, Northern Essex Community College

Preparing Future Faculty: By Chance or Design? - Keith Barker, University of Connecticut

Encouraging Crosstalk: What Higher Education Can Learn from the Next Generation Science Standards - Tracie Marcella Addy, Quinnipiac University

Spring 2015 Conference Announcement

The College …

An Investigation Of The Soar Study Strategy For Learning From Multiple Online Resources, Tareq Daher

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation investigated the effects of the SOAR study strategy for learning from multiple online resources. SOAR includes the components of Selection, Organization, Association, and Regulation. In past research, the effects of SOAR training were investigated with one online resource and with students studying provided or partially provided materials following training. This dissertation examines the effects of SOAR when learning from multiple online resources and when students create their own study materials following training and thus addresses this research gap. One hundred thirty-four (134) college students were assigned randomly to the control or experimental groups. All students participated in online …

New Literacies Integration By Student Teacher/Cooperating Teacher Dyads In Elementary Schools: A Collective Case Study, Laurie A. Friedrich

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Situated in Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) and collaborative inquiry, this collective case study examines new literacies integration by student teacher/cooperating teacher (ST/CT) dyads supported by a coach in elementary schools. The study took place at a large Midwestern public school district where many STs from a large Midwestern public university complete their student teaching experience. Through detailed vignettes of five ST/CT dyads, this study provides an explicit view of varieties of dyad collaboration when a new literacies emphasis is included in the student teaching semester. Research questions prompt the examination of dyad new literacies integration through (a) enacting professional …

Not Designed With Us In Mind: Exploring The Experiences And Needs Of Adult Learners At A Public Research University, Stephanie N. Meyer

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Adult learners are a rapidly expanding student population, constituting more than 40 percent of college students today (Stokes, 2006). Research on adult learners has historically focused on their experiences within adult-centered institutions where they make up the majority student population. Although older students challenge the status quo of higher education, traditional institutions continue to dismiss their needs in the development of policies and practices. The structure of higher education is historically designed to serve youth and assumptions are often made about students that often overlook the needs, availability, and interests of adult learners. For many adult learners who prefer the …

Student Experiences Of The Community College Developmental Writing Classroom, Janet Kirchner

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The low success rate of students in community college developmental education classes has caused not only institutions and their instructors but also those outside of the classroom to search for alternative programs and delivery methods to improve student outcomes. As college completion rates become increasingly tied to state funding, many community colleges are re-thinking their programs, considering acceleration of coursework, learning communities, and supplemental instruction as replacements for the traditional developmental sequence. While these programs have shown success in some community colleges, much of the research is quantitative in nature and based on completion rates. The purpose of this study …

Nefdc Conference Program, Spring 2014, New England Faculty Development Consortium

New England Faculty Development Consortium Conference Programs

New England Faculty Development Consortium Moving from STEM to STEAM: What Really Works

Conference Program

June 6, 2014

Roger Williams University

Bristol, Rhode Island, United States

Keynote address, Tom Pilecki

Planning And Enacting Mathematical Tasks Of High Cognitive Demand In The Primary Classroom, Kelly Georgius

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study offers an examination of two primary-grades teachers as they learn to transfer knowledge from professional development into their classrooms. I engaged in planning sessions with each teacher to help plan tasks of high cognitive demand, including anticipating and planning for classroom discourse that would occur around the task. A detailed description of the planning and teaching that took place during the study provides information about how a teacher can learn and what a teacher learns to consider in order to plan and implement meaningful mathematical lessons. This design experiment describes the work of two teachers who participated in …

Aecn 399: Commodity Market Analysis—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Fabio Mattos

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

I have been teaching for a few years, in different universities and different courses. I have taught large classes (over 100 students) and small classes (approximately 10 students), introductory courses and advanced courses, and in 4-year programs as well as 2-year programs. Although I believe that principles of good teaching can be applied to any course, I feel that teaching methods may need to be adjusted to different courses, different student population and distinct class size. So I welcomed the opportunity to participate in the “2013-2014 Peer Review of Teaching Program” because it gave me a chance to join a …

Teac 452v/852v: Curriculum Principles And Practices—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Elizabeth B. Lewis

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Objective: My goal for this teacher action research project was to better understand how to improve students' learning of how to teach science through active and inquiry-based learning experiences.

Abstract: I framed the course under study around an essential question which was: How does a scientific classroom discourse community support student learning? Inquiry-based instruction is a cornerstone of science teaching, thus I investigated preservice science teachers' learning about how to teach science through inquiry-based instruction. By the end of the course all of the students had improved their understanding of inquiry-based instruction and were able to generate better science lessons …

Meng 4200: Heat Transfer—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Yuebin Yu

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

The main goal of attending this course review project is to improve my teaching performance of technical courses so that both the students and I can enjoy the mutual-learning process. Teaching to me is really rewarding. I believe teaching is an art, which can be continuously improved through learning from the peers, collecting and analyzing students' feedback and practice, regardless whether it is technical or practical. With good teaching, any course can be taught in a joyful manner. The specific objectives of the course portfolio include the follows: 1. Document the main materials for future refining through the documentation process …

Mued 403: Student Teaching Seminar—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Inquiry Portfolio, Dale Bazan

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This course is taken during music education undergraduate students' student teaching semester, which occurs after completion of all coursework in the Bachelor of Music Education degree. While students work full-time in elementary and secondary schools, they participate in on-campus seminars and workshops. These meetings include presentations and discussion sessions led by the instructor, area school district administrators, and UNL Career Services counselors. Sessions explore online and print resources for professional advancement in the field of music teaching. There are several assumptions made about college students, and more specifically undergraduate music education students. It is assumed, in general, that adolescents and …

Metr 341: Synoptic Meteorology—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Inquiry Project, Matthew S. Van Den Broeke

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Synoptic meteorology is foundational to atmospheric science, and it is critical that students strengthen their ability to think critically and independently in this course. Anecdotal evidence from teaching similar courses, and from education literature in the physical sciences, has pointed to the value of problem solving using data from real events. This inquiry project allowed further investigation of optimal instructional methods for this particular course, and led to the qualitative and partially quantified conclusion that hands-on in-class activities seem to support the most significant learning gains. In addition, this project led to the conclusion that a high degree of peer …

Agen/Bsen 344: Biological And Environmental Transport Processes—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Shadi F. Othman

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

The course I am providing a portfolio for is BSEN/AGEN 344 which is a required course for all our undergraduate students. The Department provides an assessment for the course to align itself with the ABET's Accreditation Process. I taught the course in Spring 2012 adapting a new Team Based Learning Approach. I have three main objective from my portfolio: (1) refine my methods in documenting the linkage between my course goals and assessment measures, (2) document the efficacy of team based learning approach, (3) refine team based learning approach for the current course and adapt the approach to future courses, …

Bioc 435: Advanced Topics In Biochemistry—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Edward N. Harris

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

BIOC 435 or Advanced Topics in Biochemistry is an ACE 10 (Achievement centered education)course for students in their senior year. This is a capstone course for Biochemistry majors and is the last of several biochemistry courses that they will take in their undergraduate enrollment. The course is also open to non-majors in a related science such as Biology and Biological Sciences, although these students typically do not do as well as the majors. Students who take this course should be well-prepared in the basic concepts of biochemistry with regards to nucleic acids and proteins as well as some familiarity with …

Agro/Hort 403/803: Scientific Writing And Communication—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Brian M. Waters

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

The course portfolio overviews AGRO/HORT 403/803: "Scientific Writing and Communication”. This course combines science disciplines with English and communications. The course has 3 subsections. In phase 1, students learn to read and critically evaluate scientific literature in Plant Biology. In phase 2, which is the bulk of the course, students write a research paper based on their own original research, and peer-review research papers of fellow students. In phase 3, students present their research in a poster format. The overarching major goal for this course is to use the formal scientific research paper format to provide a framework for student …

Alec 397: Media Literacy And Popular Portrayals Of Agriculture—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Annie R. Specht

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

My goal is to disseminate this portfolio as a guide for other instructors who are interested in using media literacy as a guiding pedagogical principle for new courses as well as those who wish to incorporate popular media in existing curricula. My objectives for this Peer Review of Teaching benchmark portfolio are:

1. To produce a detailed overview of ALEC 397-001: Media Literacy and Popular Portrayals of Agriculture with extensive attention paid to text selection (identifying and choosing the proper materials to best enhance student learning outcomes).
2. To assist future instructors interested in media literacy with designing and implementing assessments. Assignment …

Just Ask: Using Faculty Input To Inform Communication Strategies, Krista Hoffmann Longtin, Megan M. Palmer, Julie L. Welch, Emily C. Walvoord, Mary E. Dankoski

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Faculty members today are bombarded with information, yet limited in time and attention. Managing communication with faculty is an increasingly important function of faculty development offices. This study explored how communication frameworks can be paired with web design principles and attention economics to increase the effectiveness of communication with faculty members. We developed and tested communication approaches designed to enhance faculty members’ identification and involvement with our programs. The advantages, disadvantages, and effectiveness of each model are presented. Ultimately, the study reframed our understanding of communication strategies, not as static tools, but rather as opportunities to engage faculty.

Mapping Classroom Interactions: A Spatial Approach To Analyzing Patterns Of Student Participation, Sophia Abbot, Alison Cook Sather, Carola Hein

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This article explores how mapping patterns of student participation in classroom discussion can both illuminate and complicate the dynamic relationships among identity, physical position in the classroom, student engagement, and course content. It draws on the perspectives of an undergraduate in the role of pedagogical consultant, a faculty member who worked in partnership with that student, and the coordinator of the program through which this collaborative exploration unfolded. The authors provide multiple angles of vision on the impetus behind, approach to, results of, and interdisciplinary possibilities of mapping classrooms and offer recommendations and cautions regarding the use of mapping.

Developing Scholarly Teachers Through An Sotl Faculty Fellowship, Beth A. Fisher, Michelle D. Repice, Carolyn L. Dufault, Denise A. Leonard, Regina F. Frey

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

The increasing interest in incorporating evidenced based teaching in higher education has created a pronounced need for faculty to learn the theory and practice of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). This article describes a program designed to prepare faculty to (a) draw on existing SoTL studies when designing and implementing evidenced based teaching methods, (b) design SoTL studies to test the effectiveness of those methods, and (c) integrate their new knowledge of SoTL into the practice of “scholarly teaching.” This program has proven to be a successful model for incorporating evidenced based teaching into undergraduate science, technology, engineering, …

Emotion In The Classroom: An Update, Janine Bowen

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Fourteen years ago, POD member Edward Vela drew attention to the role of emotion in learning. In particular he emphasized the need for faculty to express positive emotions in the classroom. Since then researchers continue to measure the effectiveness of positive emotion in student learning but the field of emotion in the classroom has expanded since Vela's essay. The purpose of this article is to not only update Vela's citations on emotion and learning but to provide a broader perspective on the topic and assist faculty developers. Ashkanasy's five level model frames the discussion.

Sequential Online Course Redesign: When “It Just Takes Time” Works No Longer, Genevieve G. Shaker, Sarah K. Nathan, Elizabeth J. Dale

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Despite the increase in formats of online education, evidence suggests that the academic achievement gap could widen without iterative adaptation. This comparative case study analyzes the implementation of an online undergraduate course delivered consecutively in hybrid and fully online formats. Student feedback and instructor reflection address adaptive processes for online learning and adjustments to enhance the second course following a sequential redesign. Results include students’ challenges with technology and workload, benefits of cross course collaboration, instructor efforts to mediate challenges without sacrificing rigor, and advice for educational developers as they support online teaching through rapid adaptation by design.

Peer Collaboration: Improving Teaching Through Comprehensive Peer Review, Shelley L. Smith

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This article includes a brief rationale and review of the literature on peer review of teaching (PRT). Based on that literature review, it offers a proposal for an optimal formative review process that results in a teaching portfolio that would reflect a faculty member’s efforts and successes in a critically reflective PRT process, and contributes to ongoing teaching improvement. It then looks at potential areas of faculty resistance and concern and offers a discussion of potential strategies to overcome those concerns.

Tracking Pod's Engagement With Diversity: A Content Analysis Of To Improve The Academy And Pod Network Conference Programs From 1977 To 2011, Stacy E. Grooters

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This study examines the degree to which sessions from the annual Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network Conference and articles from To Improve the Academy engage questions of diversity. The titles and abstracts of 3,946 conference sessions and 560 journal articles were coded for presence and type of diversity. A significant variation in inclusion of diversity over time was found for the conference sessions (p < 0.001) but not the journal articles. Overall, the findings suggest that the organization has been inconsistent in its scholarly engagement with diversity and should work to encourage more regular engagement with diversity by its members.

Tracing The Evolution Of Educational Development Through The Pod Network's Institute For New Faculty Developers, Michele Dipietro

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Educational development is a unique professional field in that it is not defined by content taught in a single degree that qualifies individuals to be in it. The resulting heterogeneity in newcomers’ knowledge and skills is addressed in different ways by different national networks. Since 1997, the POD Network has held a biennial Institute for New Faculty Developers, geared toward socializing new professionals into the field. An analysis of the evolution of the Institute, therefore, focused on understanding how educational development has represented itself to newcomers, can chronicle the trajectory of the field and generate conversations about its future.

Measuring The Promise: A Learning Focused Syllabus Rubric, Michael Palmer, Dorothe Bach, Adriana Streifer

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

To enrich the resources for measuring the impact of educational development work, we have created a rubric to assess the degree to which a syllabus achieves a learning orientation. The rubric provides qualitative descriptions of components that distinguish learning focused syllabi and uses a quantitative scoring system that places syllabi on a spectrum from content focused to learning focused. It is flexible enough to accommodate a diverse range of levels, disciplines, institutions, and learning environments, yet nuanced enough to provide summative information to developers using the tool for assessment purposes and formative feedback to instructors interested in gauging the focus …

Preparing New Faculty For Leadership: Understanding And Addressing Needs, Anne Kelsch, Joan Hawthorne

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

A perceived decline in effective faculty participation in campus leadership and governance is well documented, both in the literature and via anecdote. Characteristics common within the culture of higher education make nurturing campus “citizenship” among junior faculty challenging. This essay describes findings from an interview based study of junior faculty in which understanding of professional responsibilities beyond teaching and research was explored. The study documented the deep sense of unpreparedness with which new faculty approach key issues in higher education, including those associated with governance and leadership. Two possible strategies for redressing that unpreparedness, both showing preliminary but positive results, …

Stereotype Threat–Based Diversity Programming: Helping Students While Empowering And Respecting Faculty, Isis Artze Vega, Leslie Richardson, Adrienne Traxler

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

As college student populations grow increasingly diverse, centers for teaching and learning are often charged with promoting inclusive teaching practices. Yet faculty cite many affective barriers to diversity training, and we often preach to the choir. These challenges led us to seek alternate routes for diversity programming, and stereotype threat has become the centerpiece of our endeavors. This chapter describes stereotype threat and related interventions, outlines our efforts, and offers evidence of its surprising impact. It also identifies the features of stereotype threat that appealed to faculty, led them to make pedagogical changes, and inspired them to spread the word.

Reflections On The State Of The Scholarship Of Educational Development, Deandra Little

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Introduction to volume 33, number 1 of To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development from 2014 by managing editor Deandra Little of Elon University.

Cheating In Business Online Learning: Exploring Students' Motivation, Current Practices And Possible Solutions, Martonia Gaskill

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Cheating has been an area of concern in educational institutions for decades, especially at the undergraduate level. A particular area of concern is the increasing reports of the rise of cheating behaviors and the perceived cheating potential in online learning. As online learning continues to grow and become an integral part of education, concerns exist regarding academic integrity due to anonymity and the isolated nature of online learning. The purpose of the current study was to analyze cheating behaviors in an online environment, and determine students’ perceptions and motivation towards cheating. Another aim was to understand how and why online …

Why American Higher Education Needs Parasitologists, John J. Janovy Jr.

John Janovy Publications

Addresses four topics that characterize the discipline of parasitology and are largely missing from our national conversation in the United States about education, especially at the college and university level. Those topics are the production of transferable skills; our perceptions of the world, especially the natural world; access to reasonably difficult problems in natural settings; and intellectual epidemiology, or the movement of ideas, innovations, and cultural items through populations. These topics have been a part of the author's discussions with fellow parasitologists for at least half a century, beginning with his choice to pursue a graduate degree under the supervision …