Education Commons^™

Habits Of Mind In The Classroom: Threshold Concepts, Instructional Philosophy, And Sotl, Alicia S. Hansen, Brad Petitfils Ph.D.

Staff publications

Students performing research in higher education, especially at the undergraduate level, is a progressively dazzling task in the universe of digital and print resources. Using sound pedagogy to create student confidence in approaching research, hand in hand with creating scholarship, is a challenge tackled well by librarians and teaching faculty together.

We will discuss three theories and their place in research methods, using ACRL’sFramework for Information Literacy as context. First, Mezirow’s Transformative Learning Theory. Second, Perry’s Epistemology of Learning: moving a student’s absolute belief in all things defined by authority toward a belief in his own values and …

Promoting Global Empathy And Engagement Through Real-Time Problem-Based Simulations: Outcomes From A Policymaking Simulation Set In Post-Earthquake Haiti, Chad Raymond, Tina Zappile, Daniel J. Beers

Faculty and Staff - Articles & Papers

We introduce a real-time problem-based simulation in which students are tasked with drafting policy to address the challenge of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in post-earthquake Haiti from a variety of stakeholder perspectives. Students who participated in the simulation completed a quantitative survey as a pretest/posttest on global empathy, political awareness, and civic engagement, and provided qualitative data through post-simulation focus groups. The simulation was run in four courses across three campuses in a variety of instructional settings from 2013 to 2015. An analysis of the data reveals that scores on several survey items measuring global empathy and political/civic engagement increased …

Are We Teaching Them Anything?: A Model For Measuring Methodology Skills In The Political Science Major, Christi Siver, Seth W. Greenfest, G. Claire Haeg

Political Science Faculty Publications

While the literature emphasizes the importance of teaching political science students methods skills, there currently exists little guidance for how to assess student learning over the course of their time in the major. To address this gap, we develop a model set of assessment tools that may be adopted and adapted by political science departments to evaluate the effect of their own methods instruction. The model includes a syllabi analysis, evaluation of capstone (senior) papers, and a transcript analysis. We apply these assessment tools to our own department to examine whether students demonstrate a range of basic-to-advanced methodological skills. Our …

Communication Practices In Technology Companies., Ruth Casey, Marc Gallagher

Teaching Fellowships

It is contended that the skills or competencies that are required of business graduates by technology companies, range from the ability to communicate complex information about global issues in ways that are accessible to and connect with the general public, to problem-solving and project-based interaction. This represents a shift in the type of communication practice that now characterises the technology company, with its main focus on “agile” frameworks of teamwork. This report examines the context for this development, and explores the role of assessment and pedagogy in preparing the student for these communication competencies, from the perspective of the technology …

Comm 286: Business And Professional Communication—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Katherine M. Castle

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This instructional portfolio is an inquiry into the a large, multi-section standardized course at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. This course was recently flipped into a hybrid design in order to improve consistency in learning objectives across course sections, streamline assessment processes, provide a better student educational experience, and to manage continued growth in the course. This inquiry examines the effectiveness of the course in meeting stakeholder needs, reducing communication apprehension, improving student confidence to communicate effectively in professional environments, and in teaching professional communication competencies. It is a comprehensive evaluation of the effectiveness of the course to include student, GTA, …