Higher Education and Teaching Commons^™

Acct 301: Using Accounting Information — A Peer Review Of Teaching Benchmark Portfolio, Jill Trucke

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This benchmark course portfolio documents my process to evaluate and improve student learning in ACCT301, Using Accounting Information. This course is designed for non-accounting majors who desire to have a better understanding of different aspects of accounting that goes beyond the introductory financial and managerial accounting courses. It covers income taxes, financial statement analysis and internal controls. I had four objectives for this benchmark portfolio project:

1. To evaluate the quantity and quality of my assessments and course activities to ensure they are in line with the goals that I have for this course.

2. To ensure my goals are …

A Peer Review Of Teaching Portfolio — Stat 822: Statistical Methods Ii, Reka Howard

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

The peer review of teaching program gave me the opportunity to reflect on my teaching in terms of pedagogical goals and methods for the course Stat 822: Statistical Methods II which is offered to MS level students in the Department of Statistics. Even though the course is part of the list of required courses for MS students in the department, typically about a third of the students are from other departments. The portfolio describes details about how the course fits into the MS program in the Department of Statistics, the context of the course, the learning objectives, expectations from students, …

Course Portfolio For Mech 300: Thermal Systems And Design, Spring 2021, Mohammad Ghashami

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Thermal Systems and Design (MECH 300) is a three-credit course for junior students at the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering (MME) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, which is taught every fall and spring semester. The usual enrollment in this course is about 40 undergraduate students most of whom are junior or sophomore students from the MME department. This course plays a significant role in completing students’ learning from MECH-200 and linking that to more advanced systems and real-life applications. There are two purposes for this portfolio. The first aim is that this portfolio serves to collect and document the …

Fdst 403/803 – Food Quality Assurance, Byron D. Chaves

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Food Science and Technology (FDST) 403: Food Quality Assurance is an upper level required course for FDST undergraduate majors at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The course covers food safety regulations, food safety management systems, and statistical process control applied to food safety and quality in food manufacturing. This Peer Review of Teaching Portfolio documents the course analysis and reflection for spring 2021. Two mid-semester student course evaluations were performed on March 1 and April 5, the lecture immediately after the midterm exams. Anonymous paper and online surveys were filled out during class time asking students to reflect on the course …

Exploring The Benefits Of Asynchronous Online Learning In Mngt 360: Foundations Of Organizational Behavior, Amy L. Bartels

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This peer review course portfolio describes the shift from in-person teaching to an online, asynchronous format for MNGT 360: Foundations of Organizational Behavior. This course is offered in the Department of Management within the College of Business at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. My goal was to embrace the opportunities and tackle the challenges associated with online learning to generate learning opportunities outside the traditional classroom setting while concurrently creating an interactive environment to allow the students to learn from each other. I redesigned the group project to ease the challenges with online group dynamics and communication as well as the …

An In-Depth Review Of Alec 305: Presentation Strategies For Agricultural Audiences, Ruth K. Taylor

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This portfolio reviews the class, ALEC 305: Presentation Strategies for Agricultural Audiences. This is junior-level class required for students majoring in Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Communication (AESC) and is an elective for students minoring in AESC or in Leadership and Communication. The class was also approved as a required class for the Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication (ALEC) major that is anticipated to launch in Fall 2022. As a core requirement for ALEC, the enrollment is anticipated to increase from 25 students to 50 students a year. This class focuses on practical presentations strategies that connect to students’ careers. Learning …

A Hybridized Class Format For Apparel Product Development Ll Studio Course: Tmfd 212 Peer Review Of Teaching Benchmark Portfolio, Sandra Starkey

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

The benchmark portfolio for TMFD 212, Apparel Product Development ll, provides a broad overview of a studio course in Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design as well as a platform to document and evaluate the transition to a partially on-line hybrid course delivery format. In the past, TMFD 212 had been offered as a studio based in-person course. Due to the University’s restrictions in response to the pandemic, the hybrid format was adopted to accommodate students for classroom participation on one of two scheduled days a week and in response to guidelines for social distancing in the classroom. Three key components …

Peer Review Of Teaching Portfolio - Sped 990: Intervention Design Lll, Susan J. Loveall

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This portfolio documents the development of SPED 990: Intervention Design III, a doctoral course being taught for the first time in the Spring of 2021 in the Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders. The primary goals motivating my creation of this benchmark portfolio included: 1) deciding what to teach and how to teach it for the course’s first iteration, 2) understanding how this course fits into my department’s broader curriculum and doctoral training program, 3) upon completion of the course, reflecting on what worked and what didn’t to improve the course for future semesters, and 4) continuing my professional …

Fdst205 Food Composition Analysis — A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Mei Lu

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

The purpose of this peer review of the teaching portfolio was to document and evaluate the course activities that are aimed at improving student learning in FDST205 Food Composition Analysis. This FDST205 is unique that it is offered exclusively to the students in the 3+1 International Food Science Dual Degrees Program established between the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) and Northwest Agricultural & Forestry University (NWAFU) in China. Students that enrolled in this course were a cohort of 55 sophomores in the 3+1 Food Science Dual Degrees Program. In spring 2021, the lecture part of FDST205 was offered online synchronously, while …

Peer Review Of Teaching Portfolio: Learning & Motivation (Psyc 368), Jacquelyn Omelian

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This portfolio is a reflection and report on the peer review process undertaken during the Spring 2021 semester at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. The work presented here provides a description of the PSYC 368: Learning and Motivation course as it was delivered in an asynchronous, 14-week format as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This large (150 student) lecture-style course is open to any student who has completed Introduction to Psychology and attracts students from across multiple colleges and majors. This portfolio has a particular emphasis on a series of major assignments in the course and how they …

A Benchmark Portfolio Evaluating The Fluency Disorders Components Of Slpa 967: Motor Aspects Of Verbal Communication, Naomi H. Rodgers

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

In Spring 2021, the Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders deployed the first iteration of a co-taught course titled “Motor Aspects of Verbal Communication” (SLPA 967). The students enrolled in this course were graduate students working towards a master’s degree in speech-language pathology. Historically, the topics in this course were taught in three standalone courses: fluency disorders, voice disorders, and motor speech disorders. In this newly developed course, the three instructors of those courses combined their expertise to engage students in an integrated course to promote critical thinking and clinical problem-solving. This portfolio documents the teaching and learning that …

Geog 181: Global Environmental Issues – A Faculty-Led Inquiry Into Reflective And Scholarly Teaching Benchmark Portfolio, Patrick Bitterman

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This benchmark portfolio is an examination of the structure of Global Environmental Issues (GEOG 181) and how the course materials facilitate student learning. The primary goal of this course is to investigate the nature of – and connections among - urgent global environmental issues in the context of geographic concepts and methods. As a large survey course, there are varied assessments that are punctuated with three summative exams. This portfolio assesses the current state of student learning prior to the addition of recitation sections. In doing so, it assesses exam performance over the course of the semester and by student …

Development & Evolution Of A Computer Science I Course, Chris Bourke

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

CSCE 155E is the flagship Computer Science I course in the School of Computing at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. A high-enrollment course with multiple sections in multiple delivery modes, this course serves as an introduction to problem solving using computers. This course is the first computing course for Computer Science and Computer Engineering majors and is a service course for a variety of other (mostly engineering) majors. The course was redesigned in fall 2018 with the goal of making it more scalable and improving rigor, student outcomes, and the learning experience. Though it has been a slow process, the course …

Course Portfolio For Cnst 489: Senior Capstone Project – Fall 2021, Matthew Barrows

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This portfolio analyzes CNST 489 – Senior Capstone Project a class in the construction management department of The Durham School at the University of Nebraska. The results of this analysis will be used to improve the content delivered in class and increase the effectiveness of how the content is delivered. This portfolio focuses specifically on how participation by the construction industry in the classroom can increase student learning during their graduating semester. The senior level capstone class is a semester long project based on an actual construction project that is broken down into three main deliverables through the semester. The …

A First Project Benchmark Portfolio Of Biochemistry Ii: Metabolism And Biological Information (Bioc/Bios/Chem 432/832), Xinghui Sun

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This portfolio has been developed for Biochemistry II: Metabolism and Biological Information (BIOC/BIOS/CHEM 432/832). This course is taken primarily by senior undergraduates with majors mainly in biochemistry. The objectives of this course portfolio are: 1) to provide a broad overview for this 400 level class; 2) to revise/refine the course using a backward design approach with clear student learning objectives; 3) to assess and reflect the instructor’s teaching approach; and 4) to analyze and reflect on student learning. The course structure was redesigned with three modules to support the learning objectives of this course. Course activities for each module include …

Stat 850 Course Portfolio, Susan Vanderplas

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Stat 850 is an introduction to statistical computing, providing students with the computing skills they need to do research, write papers, and succeed in statistics and quantitative fields. In this portfolio, I examine the impact of increased discussion of pseudocode and flow charts on students’ ability to solve multi-step problems. This additional scaffolding, while not completely effective, does seem to have resulted in lower student frustration, though it is not clear that this is a result of the intervention and not just a consequence of a different group of students with different experience in computational programming.

A Benchmark Course Portfolio For Slpa 453: Neurological Foundations Of Speech And Language, Yingying Wang Dr.

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This benchmark course portfolio reflects the iterative design process for SLPA 453: Neurological Foundations of Speech and Language. This course covers the foundational knowledge of neuroanatomy and neurophysiology of the central and peripheral nervous system and the neurology of the human communication processes, and the classification of impairments based on the lesion sites in the human brain. I analyzed student learning through various activities that align with two main course goals: (1) demonstrate knowledge of the neurology of human communication processes; (2) demonstrate the ability to integrate information pertaining to normal and abnormal human development across the life span. Based …

Setting The Foundation For Experiential Learning And Academic Success In Mbio 101: Introduction To The Microbiology Major, Brandi Sigmon

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Introductory courses for majors, typically completed by first-year students, are important to student success and retention as they set the foundation for students in their respective majors. At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Microbiology majors complete MBIO 101: Introduction to the Microbiology Major during their first semester as their introductory, foundational course. In this course portfolio, I chose to focus on investigating the impact on student learning of integrating more emphasis on experiential learning knowledge and acquisition within the course through the participation of students in a hands-on workshop and research symposium. Integration of these two events into the MBIO 101 …

Evaluating Quiz And Outline Assessments In Rhetorical Methods, Justin Kirk

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

In what follows, I lay out the structure and development of assessment design for one of the major methods courses in Communication Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. First, I describe the course including the goals of the course, the student learning outcomes for the course, a description of the course’s place in the context of the department and the university, demographics in the course, and other relevant details necessary to understand the pedagogical goals of research methods in communication studies. Second, I lay out the teaching methods, course materials, and outside activities used throughout the course and connect those …

Fdst 420: Fruits And Vegetables Technology – A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Charles Nwaizu

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

The aim of this portfolio is twofold: first, the portfolio serves to document the author’s approach to teaching while also providing necessary tools to revamp the course delivery methods to a more active learning format from traditional lecture format. Secondly, this portfolio evaluates the effects of students’ group lab discussion, students Interactive class trivia and interdisplinary students’ collaboration active learning approaches on student learning and performances in the course. The student group lab discussion activity involved modification of some of the lab tasks to include short questions listed under the lab procedure. These questions were discussed within the group and …