Digital Commons Network^™

Context Influences Preschool Children's Decisions To Include A Peer With A Physical Disability In Play, Karen E. Diamond, Soo-Young Hong, Huifang Tu

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Understanding children’s decisions to include a child with a disability in activities is an important component of the social environment of children with disabilities. We examined preschool children’s understanding of the motor and social competence of hypothetical children with a physical disability, children’s decisions to include or exclude a peer with a physical disability in play activities, and children’s justifications of their inclusion/exclusion decisions. Children understood that a peer with a physical disability would have more difficulty with activities requiring motor skills than social skills and were more likely to include a peer with a physical disability when the activities …

Utilizing Peer Interactions To Promote Learning Through A Web-Based Peer Assessment System, Lan Li, Allen L. Steckelberg, Sribhagyam Srinivasan

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Abstract: Peer assessment is an instructional strategy in which students evaluate each other’s performance for the purpose of improving learning. Despite its accepted use in higher education, researchers and educators have reported concerns such as students’ time on task, the impact of peer pressure on the accuracy of marking, and students’ lack of ability to make critical judgments about peers’ work. This study explored student perceptions of a web-based peer assessment system. Findings conclude that web-based peer assessment can be effective in minimizing peer pressure, reducing management workload, stimulating student interactions, and enhancing student understanding of marking criteria and critical …

Mr. Bell, You Are Destroying Our Children!, David Rock

Perspectives In Learning

Is technology the wave of the future? Society says "YES" when it is convenient and educators respond with a multitude of answers. The use of technology in today's classroom has become a controversial curricular topic for those inside and outside the classroom. Why? I am sure that many of the same arguments used today against the use of technology in P-12 education are similar to those used during the past 100 years. Imagine the thousands of educators a hundred years ago that said, "The use of this new invention will destroy the writing ability of our children. There will be …

Investigating Indicators Of The Scholarship Of Teaching: Teaching Awards In Research Universities, Stacie Badran

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Results from a nationwide study of teaching awards programs in mathematics departments of U.S. research universities show that only a small percentage even offers such awards. Those that do either use ad hoc procedures and criteria for making awards or prioritize curricular contributions over instructional and pedagogical knowledge in selecting award winners. In addition, mathematics faculty reserve the term scholarship for research in the discipline rather than research on teaching of the discipline.

Points Without Limits: Individual Inquiry, Collaborative Investigation, And Collective Scholarship, Richard A. Gale

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This chapter proposes that a scholarship of teaching and learning focused on collaborative and collective inquiry can be more effective and have greater impact on student learning and the advancement of knowledge than investigations accomplished by individual faculty and students working in isolation. This conclusion is arrived at as a result of examining the work of Carnegie Scholars and the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Campus Program participants since 1998.

Easing Entry Into The Scholarship Of Teaching And Learning Through Focused Assessments: The “Decoding The Disciplines” Approach, Joan K. Middendorf, David Pace

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Students’ difficulty in mastering material can motivate faculty toward the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) if instructors’ frustration can be framed as a researchable question, and they have practical models for assessing learning outcomes. The “decoding the disciplines” approach supports this shift from reflective teaching to SoTL. By focusing on narrowly defined bottlenecks to learning, faculty define researchable questions convincing to their disciplines. The specificity of these inquiries makes the assessment of learning much easier through the application of existing tools, such as those provided in Angelo and Cross’s Classroom Assessment Techniques (1993). Example of specific assessments are provided.

About The Authors, Volume 26 (2008)

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

About the editors and authors of volume 26 (2008) of To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development.

Faculty Development At Small And Liberal Arts Colleges, Kim M. Mooney, Michael Reder

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

The notable growth of faculty development programs and centers at small institutions warrants attention before their next stages of growth. We aim to capture and convey the central issues coalescing around the professionalization of teaching and learning activities and the work of faculty developers at small colleges. While this descriptive review draws direct comparisons to other types of institutions, particularly large research and comprehensive universities that serve as the norm for our profession’s faculty development practices, its main purpose is to address the distinctive characteristics of professional development at small colleges in general and liberal arts colleges in particular. Toward …

Credibility And Effectiveness In Context: An Exploration Of The Importance Of Faculty Status For Faculty Developers, Bonnie B. Mullinix

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This study documents an emerging profile of the faculty status of faculty developers as solicited, compiled, and interactively interpreted with faculty developer practitioners. It used integrated (mixed) methodology and participatory research strategies to gather data and it shares descriptive statistical information on the various positions held by faculty developer respondents; qualitatively analyzed impressions of the importance of faculty status to their credibility and effectiveness as faculty developers; and information regarding respondents’ institutional contexts. Findings are further disaggregated across institutional contexts and sex to explore trends, differential perceptions, and other emergent issues as identified by participant researchers.

Team Mentoring: An Alternative Way To Mentor New Faculty, Tara Gray, A. Jane Birch

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Traditional mentoring programs usually have no mechanism for Protégés to learn from each other, and they often match protégés with mentors sight unseen. Team mentoring is a less hierarchical program in which protégés mentor each other in a group while searching for more permanent and personal mentors. In this program, protégés and mentors are arguably better matched because mentors are chosen by the Protégé. In addition, Protégés benefit by tapping into the wisdom of their peers. As a result, team mentoring is a viable alternative to traditional mentoring programs.

A Research–Based Rubric For Developing Statements Of Teaching Philosophy, Matthew Kaplan, Deborah S. Meizlish, Christopher O'Neal, Mary C. Wright

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Despite its ubiquity as the way that instructors represent their views on teaching and learning, the statement of teaching philosophy can be a frustrating document to write and the results are often uneven. This chapter describes a rubric created at the University of Michigan’s Center for Research on Learning and Teaching to help faculty and graduate students craft teaching statements. We describe the research that informed the creation of the rubric, talk about how we use the rubric in our consultations and workshops, and present an assessment that validates the use of the rubric to improve instructors’ teaching statements.

The Teaching Resource Portfolio: A Tool Kit For Future Professoriate And A Resource Guide For Current Teachers, Dieter J. Schönwetter

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Extensive annotated bibliographies have guided academic researchers over several years and in various disciplines, providing key resources to assist in the development of new ideas. However, less common are published annotated bibliographies on effective teaching resources, both general to teaching across various disciplines as well as specific to each discipline, that guide the academic in the teaching enterprise. This chapter focuses on a tool, the teaching resource portfolio, that helps the graduate student preparing for an academic career including teaching, the new faculty member desiring additional teaching resources, the academic wishing to have resources that support discipline-specific scholarship of teaching …

Breaking Down Barriers To The Use Of Technology For Teaching In Higher Education, Erping Zhu

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This chapter examines the most common technologies used for teaching on college campuses and the most common barriers to advanced uses of technology tools. Survey results consistently show that the major barriers to incorporating technology into higher education are lack of faculty time, faculty doubts about the relevancy of technology to disciplinary learning, and inadequate technical support for faculty projects and technology uses. This chapter, then, proposes several approaches developed and assessed by the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching at the University of Michigan for removing those barriers to technology uses in higher education. Although providing flexible technology …

Bibliography, Volume 26 (2008)

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Bibliography for volume 26 (2008) of To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development.

Collaboration In Schools: Creating Solutions To Complex Problems, Wendy Steelmon

Perspectives In Learning

Although the concept of cooperative teams is not a new one, Transformational Leadership is bringing collaboration back to the spotlight in the world of education. In this approach, the principal becomes a facilitator, teachers become professional colleagues, students are motivated by the mere joy of learning, and parents and the local community increase their involvement as stewards, resulting in the involvement of all stakeholders in the complex problem solving issues of the school. Collaboration requires trust and support among these team members and, though it takes time, yields much more effective schools and productive students.

Investigating Community Factors As Predictors Of Rural 11th-Grade Agricultural Science Students’ Choice Of Careers In Agriculture, Omolola A. Adedokun, Mark Balschweid

Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication: Faculty Publications

This study investigates the links between community contexts/factors and rural 11th-grade agricultural science students’ choice of careers in agriculture. A logistic regression model was developed and tested to examine the extent to which nine measures of community contexts (i.e., membership in FFA, membership in 4-H, community attachment, community satisfaction, length of residency in the community, positive perception of local community, preference for residing close to nature, and participation in volunteer activities) influence the odds of a student choosing a career in agriculture. The results show that the major community factors influencing the choice of agriculture related careers are membership in …

Bringing The Ivory Tower And Real World Together: Lessons Learned In The Collaborative Process Of Preparing Effective Teachers, Tina D. Butcher, Jan G. Burcham, Deirdre C. Greer, Mary Beth Hendricks

Perspectives In Learning

When the “ivory tower” world of educator preparation faculty collides with the “real world” of in-service teachers, the result can be a partnership that is committed to preparing teachers equipped to meet the needs of diverse learners in 21st century classrooms. The lessons learned in the development of such a partnership include a focus on: a) authentic engagement of all stakeholders; b) honest, diplomatic, and timely communication; c) support and scaffolding for pre-service teachers; d) a variety of authentic assessment measures; and e) assistance for new teachers during the induction period. Strengthening the bonds between university faculty and classroom teachers …

Teaching Basic Counseling Skills To Aspiring School Leaders: Active Listening Skills As Critical Components Of Team Building And Collaboration, Paul T. Hackett, L. Christopher Ross, Irene Asuncion

Perspectives In Learning

The preparation of school leaders in educational leadership programs provides multiple challenges in terms of a set course of study with discrete skills for the leader. Programs in educational leadership have been criticized for curricular disarray (Levine, 2005). Deficiencies cited by an American Enterprise Institute study of 31 educational leadership programs found that a small percentage of instruction in those programs focused on issues such as data analysis, public relations, marketing, and parent and school board relations (Hess & Kelly, 2005). A Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) study of educational leadership programs found that the majority of universities “fall short …

Student Performance With And Attitudes Toward Electronic Distributed Assessment In First-Year Composition Classes, Annette Arrigucci

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In Fall 2008, UTEP's composition department implemented a pilot program to test a redesign of English 1312, their second-semester freshman composition course. In addition to a redesigned curriculum, a system of electronic distributed assessment was implemented in ten sections of English 1312. Instead of the traditional format of a class where instructors grade all student assignments, a group of teaching assistants graded student writing anonymously using standardized grading rubrics. The system, which has been used at Texas Tech University since 2002, was put in place at UTEP in order to enhance efficiency and consistency in the teaching of this course. …

"Spotlight On Earth Science" Symposium: An Overview, E. Pyle

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

On September 18-19, 2006, James Madison University (JMU) hosted a one and half day symposium entitled, “Spotlight on Earth Science,” highlighting current resources and technology available for earth science teachers, and invited teachers to share effective practices learned in their program coursework through the two Mathematics and Science Partnerships (MSP) funded by the Virginia Department of Education. The symposium supported a pooling of expertise among participants to initiate the definition and resolution of the persistent issues in earth science education in Virginia. A total of ninety-six teachers, university faculty, curriculum supervisors, policymakers, and business/government/industrial representatives participated. Three themes were addressed: …

Nsu Fischler School Of Education And Human Services Special Education [2008], Nova Southeastern University

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice College Archive

No abstract provided.

The Graduate-Mentor Project In Visual Arts Education: Mentoring Within The Western Australian Curriculum Framework: A Study Of The Impact Of Mentoring On Beginning-Teachers' Perception Of Their Success In Visual Literacy Education During The First Year, Lisa F. Paris

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Western Australian tertiary graduates who enter the visual arts education profession are often well acquainted with the theoretical underpinnings of the Western Australian Curriculum Framework. This knowledge base, in combination with their own visual arts training, typically enables them to enter teaching theoretically well equipped to support students in the development of arts ideas and studio works. The important outcome areas of visual arts history and visual arts criticism often present major challenges for graduates. In the absence of significant post-university support and more importantly, within the context of limited pre­service training where visual conceptual understandings and studio skills repertoires …

The Believing Game Or Methodological Believing, Peter Elbow

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Three arguments why we need the believing game: to help us find flaws in our thinking, to help us choose among competing claims, and to achieve goals that the doubting game neglects.

Front Matter

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

No abstract provided.

The Rhetoric Of Empathy: Ethical Foundations Of Dialogical Communication, Nathaniel Teich

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Peter Elbow's "Believing Game" can function as an ethical strategy and can be understood in terms of humanistic rhetorical traditions from Martin Buber to Carl Rogers and Michael Polanyi.

Jaepl, Vol. 14, Winter 2008-2009, Kristie S. Fleckenstein, Linda T. Calendrillo

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Essays

Peter Elbow - The Believing Game or Methodological Believing

Nathaniel Teich - The Rhetoric of Empathy: Ethical Foundations of Dialogical Communication

Mary Rose O'Reily - Splitting the Cartesian Hair

Patricia Bizzell - Faith-Based World Views as a Challenge to the Believing Game

Gina Briefs-Elgin - Lessons With the Mystics: Refreshing Our Vision in Mid/Late Career

Gesa E. Kirsch - Creating Spaces for Listening, Learning, and Sustaining the Inner Lives of Students

Sue Hum - The Persuasiveness of Pleasure: Play, Reciprocity, and Persuasion in Online Discussions

Reviews

Brad E. Lucas - Teaching Multi writing: Researching and Composing with Multiple Genres, …

Creating Spaces For Listening, Learning, And Sustaining The Inner Lives Of Students, Gesa E. Kirsch

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

This essay explores what it takes to "create a space in the classroom that allows students the freedom to nourish their inner lives," an issue raised by Mary Rose O'Reilly in Radical Presence. The author draws on work in composition studies, education, and her own teaching practices to illustrate the importance of creating such spaces.

The Persuasiveness Of Pleasure: Play, Reciprocity, And Persuasion In Online Discussions, Sue Hum

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

This essay explores the role of pleasure in facilitating diverse modes of rhetorical participation in online discussion.

Reviews, Brad E. Lucas, Heidi Estrem, Yufeng Zhang, William Fitzgerald

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Brad E. Lucas - Teaching Multi writing: Researching and Composing with Multiple Genres, Media, Disciplines, and Cultures

Heidi Estrem - CoUege Writing and Beyond: A New Framework for University Writing Instruction

Yufeng Zhang - Reading Chinese Fortune Cookie: The Making of Chinese American Rhetoric

William FtizGerald - Geographies of Writing: Inhabiting Places and Encountering Difference

Inside Unlv, Grace Russell, Diane Russell

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.