Education Commons^™

Moving From A Predominantly Teaching Oriented Culture To A Research Productivity Mission: The Case Of Mexico And The United States, Gus Gregorutti

Faculty Publications

This study qualitatively analyzes the culture conflicts professors in the United States and Mexico are experiencing with the increasing pressures to produce more research about higher education. The first dataset was collected from 36 faculty members from 12 small and medium sized private, doctorate-granting universities. These universities are located in 11 states across the United States. The remaining data came from 44 faculty members employed at four small and medium sized private, doctoral granting universities in four states across Mexico. Results showed that universities in the US are transitioning from a predominantly teaching college culture to a more research orientation. …

To Lecture Or Not To Lecture: Engaged Teaching And Learning, Wayne Roosa, Jay Rasmussen

Faculty Development Publications

This video and companion paper discusses the lecture as a teaching tool and features Professor Wayne Roosa (Art History) as he reflects on reasons for using lectures, the thoughts and processes involved in lecture design, and techniques that have proven successful. In addition to viewing a lecture in a 300 level course, hear Wayne’s thoughts about dealing with “too much material and too little time,” facilitating learning apart from the lecture, and preventing student boredom and information overload. (video length 51:09)

From the introduction to the paper: The lecture mode is certain to be included in your repertoire as a …

Using Critical-Thinking Skills To Substantiate Or Challenge Controversial Claims Endorsing A Myriad Of Weight-Loss Products, Teresa F. Degolier

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

This exercise engages students in critically evaluating weight-loss products and programs. Specific objectives are to investigate, analyze, and substantiate claims made by the weight-loss industry and interpret how these claims may be fraudulent, misleading, or perhaps even truthful.

From Walls To Steps: Using Online Automatic Homework Checking Tools To Improve Learning In Introductory Programming Courses, Dwayne Towell, Brent Reeves

School of Information Technology and Computing

We describe the motivation, design, and implementation of a web-based automatic homework checker for Programming I and Programming II courses. Motivated by a problem-based-learning approach, we redesigned our first course to have over 70 short programming assignments. The goal was to change conceptual "walls" into "steps", so that students would not feel overwhelmed at any point in time. At each step along the way, it must be clear where the student is and the next step must feel attainable. Over the last 3 years, we have learned much about proper "step-size" and sequencing of problems. We describe how current computer …

Nefdc Exchange, Volume 21, Number 1, Fall 2010, New England Faculty Development Consortium

NEFDC Exchange

Contents

Message from the President - Tom Thibodeau, New England Institute of Technology

From the editors - Jeanne Albert, Donna Qualters, Naomi Migliacci, Gouri Banerjee, and Deborah Hirsch

Fall 2010 Conference; Friday, November 19, 2010, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States; theme: Better Teaching – Better Learning: Reflective Practices for Faculty and Students; keynote speaker: Dan Willingham, University of Virginia

An excerpt from, Why Don’t Students Like School? - Dan Willingham, University of Virginia

NEFDC Fall 2010 Conference Agenda

Connecting with others

The Benefits of Formal and Informal Reflective Practices - Art McGovern, Nichols College

Seven Ways …

Dante, Existential Hero, Joseph L. Nagy

Presidential Seminar on the Catholic Intellectual Tradition

So much has been written about Dante's Comedy in the seven centuries since its creation that it is hard to imagine that there is something new to add. But like all great art, it harbors a mystery. By what magic did Dante create this wonder? Where in the labyrinth of the human soul did he find the inspiration to synthesize classical Greek and Roman philosophy and literature with scholastic theology to create a work that has often been described as the equivalent of a medieval cathedral?

Democracy In Teacher Education: Learning From Preservice Teachers’ Understandings And Perspectives, Allen Trent, Jaesik Cho, Francisco Rios, Kerrita Mayfield

Woodring College of Education Faculty Publications

This article provides an overview of a teacher education inquiry project focused on teaching in a democracy. The research was conducted by the faculty in a university educational studies/foundations department (EDST) as they engaged in a curriculum development and implementation project designed to better prepare teachers for democratic participation and teaching. In this context, ongoing curriculum examination and revision and embedded data collection and analysis are utilized as important activities in evolving a curriculum delivered to teacher education candidates.

This article includes an overview of theoretical perspectives that guide and inform teacher education efforts in this department and presents a …

Faculty Achievements, 2009-2010, Otterbein University

Faculty Achievement Reports

No abstract provided.

Nefdc Exchange, Volume 22, Number 1, Spring 2010, New England Faculty Development Consortium

NEFDC Exchange

Contents

Message from the President: Where would you be - Tom Thibodeau, New England Institute of Technology

From the editors -

Spring 2010 Conference, Friday, May 21, 2010, Westford, Massachusetts, United States; theme: Teaching for Learning; keynotes speaker: D. Christian Jernstedt, Dartmouth College, "How Learning Changes Brains"

A Book and Readings List for Thinking about the Human Mind - G. Christian Jernstedt, Dartmouth College

Embracing the Intimidating: Assessing Student Learning in a Non-major Online Science Course - Kristine Larsen, Central Connecticut State University

Save the date! 2010 Fall Conference, November 19, 2010, Westford, Massachusetts, United States; theme: Better Teaching, Better …

Art History In The Virtual Classroom: Developing A Visually Engaging Online Learning Experience, Kelly Joslin, Sally A. Struthers

Art and Art History Faculty Publications

Moving from the traditional classroom to the online environment presents faculty who wish to develop online Art History courses with unique instructional design challenges.

What steps should be taken to ensure a visually rich and engaging learning experience for students?

This session examines the development of ART 235, History of Photography as an online course and features the results of the faculty developers’ collaborative work with the college’s Web Development Team.

Producción Intelectual En Pequeñas Universidades Privadas Latinoamericanas: Una Situación Paradójica, Gus Gregorutti

Faculty Publications

Durante las tres últimas décadas, Latinoamérica ha experimentado un incrementovertiginoso de la educación privada superior, incluyendo a las universidades.Este fenómeno ha estimulado la creación de diversas agenciasacreditadoras que buscan certificar la calidad de los programas de esas universidades.Se exige, entre otras dimensiones, que haya producción de conocimientocomo una forma de originar cambios socioeconómicos. Así las universidadesse ven impulsadas a producir investigación. Este estudio busca sabercómo los docentes de ocho pequeñas universidades privadas latinoamericanasperciben el proceso de producción intelectual en el contexto de sus tareas profesionales.Con una metodología mixta, se encontró que los mayores factoresque afectan a la investigación están relacionados …

Foundation To Promote Scholarship And Teaching 2009-2010 Awards, Office Of The Provost, Roger Williams University

Foundation to Promote Scholarship & Teaching

Proposal abstracts of 2009-2010 award recipients in a wide range of disciplinary areas.

Reflections Of A Novice Sports Science Lecturer: Perceptions Of The Challenges And Sources Of Support, Gerwyn Hughes

Kinesiology (Formerly Exercise and Sport Science)

The aim of this article is to highlight perceptions of the main demands and challenges placed on a novice sports science university lecturer and consider sources of support available to assist a novice lecturer during the early stages of their career. A lecturer is typically required to perform the roles of administrator, teacher, personal tutor, researcher and consultant. Discussion is given to the specific challenges a novice lecturer is likely to face within each of these roles and possible ways to overcome these challenges. Finally, a number of sources of support are identified to ensure a novice lecturer maintains the …

Because You Can't Teach It All And They Won't Read It All: Student Response Systems Do Improve Learning, Steven G. Luke, Sarah Grison, Aya Shigeto, Patrick D.K. Watson

Psychology Faculty

In Introductory Psychology, 30 graduate TAs/faculty teach 2700 students annually. This year we developed an assessment program to improve student learning and graduate teaching training (Shigeto et al., 2010). Part of the program studied the pedagogical value of using student response systems to answer in-class multiple choice questions. Prior research lacks scientific rigor and provides equivocal evidence that SRSs improve learning (Caldwell, 2007).

Practice Makes Perfect: Improving Learning Of At-Risk Students, Patrick D.K. Watson, Sarah Grison, Steven G. Luke, Aya Shigeto

Psychology Faculty

29 graduate TAs and 1 faculty member teach 2700 Introductory Psychology students annually. This year we developed an assessment program to improve student learning and graduate teaching training (Shigeto et al., 2010). We studied the value of pedagogical tools developed for students in the Educational Opportunities Program (EOP). EOP selects students based on demographics and academic vulnerabilities for a special intro psych section. This section has an extra day per week for content presentation and additional student development support. These interventions have been demonstrated to enhance learning in minority students (Treisman, 1992).

Left Behind: Despite Positive Attitudes, Learning Is Modulated By Prior Academic Achievement, Aya Shigeto, Sarah Grison, Steven G. Luke, Patrick D.K. Watson

Psychology Faculty

In our Introductory Psychology (Psych 100) program, 30 graduate TAs/faculty teach 2,700 undergraduates annually. While the program has received many accolades and TAs are often recognized for their teaching skills, we have not systematically investigated the program’s strengths and weaknesses. Accordingly, in Fall 2009, we studied 3 questions: 1. What are students’ attitudes toward the course? 2. Do students in Psych 100 learn the core psychological concepts? 3. Are there differences in learning based on students’ characteristics?

Building Better Scientists Through Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration In Synthetic Biology: A Report From The Genome Consortium For Active Teaching Workshop 2010, Michael J. Wolyniak, Consuelo J. Alvarez, Vidya Chandrasekaran, Theresa M. Grana, Andrea Holgado, Christopher J. Jones, Robert W. Morris, Anil L. Pereira, Joyce Stamm, Talitha M. Washington, Yixin Yang

Biological Sciences Research

A common problem faced by primarily undergraduate institutions is the lack of funding and material support needed to adequately expose students to modern biology, including synthetic biology. To help alleviate this problem, the Genome Consortium for Active Teaching (GCAT) was founded in 2000 by Malcolm Campbell at Davidson College to bring genomics into the undergraduate curriculum. GCAT’s first tangible activity was to serve as a central clearinghouse both for the purchase and reading of DNA microarrays and for information on how to execute genomics experiments at undergraduate institutions. In response to the evolution of molecular biology in the last decade, …

Usability Of Peer Review Workshops, Margi Fox, Jennifer Jacobs

Writing Research Fellows

Research Question: What happens in a 300-level technical writing class when various peer-review/editing approaches are used?

We were interested in examining and enhancing the effectiveness of peer review/editing workshops in English 302, Introduction to Professional and Technical Writing. We explored several aspects:

• Factors impacting student confidence in their responses to peers’ writing
• Influences of types of workshops, size of groups, type of responses assigned, etc.

Method: During winter quarter 2010, we gave three questionnaires exploring the efficacy of different styles of peer review workshops. A total of forty students from two English 302 classes participated. Workshop types included “speed dating” …

Efficacy Of Interactive Journaling As An Undergraduate Teaching/Learning Device, William Lay, Annemarie Curd, Shanyese Trujillo

Writing Research Fellows

Research Questions:

1. What is the impact on learner attitudes and behaviors revealed by the Karchmer/Bauer study when peer read/respond interaction is used as an instructional technique in journaling?

2. In the perception of the learner, what is the impact on the degree of concept reflection and depth of concept understanding when peer read/respond interaction is used as an instructional technique in journaling?

3. In the perception of the learner, what is the impact on the development of critical thinking skills and achievement of course goals when peer read/respond interaction is used as an instructional technique in journaling?

4. What …

Analyzing Reflective Writing, Ray Wolpow, Jody Bault

Writing Research Fellows

Research Question: What happens in a Secondary Education undergraduate and graduate course(s) when we use a reflective writing rubric that addresses both cognitive and affective capacities/skills in order to demonstrate the proficiency necessary to meet standards for certification?

Method: After examining relevant literature, we defined reflection to be “a careful examination and evaluation of experience, beliefs, and knowledge.” We found that a careful examination and evaluation of an experience, when compared to one’s beliefs and prior knowledge, was considered by most to be the deepest form of reflection. Using a model based on Bain et al. (1999), we found that …

Seeing You, Seeing Me: Social Perspective-Taking As Learning, Terry J. Burant, Francisco Rios

Woodring College of Education Faculty Publications

This paper examines the use of social perspective-taking as learning in an education course in an undergraduate teacher education program. Using curriculum documents, student writing, field notes, faculty journals, and focus group interviews, the study identified the foundational/multicultural content understandings and the emotional responses that social perspective-taking activities promoted. Implications of social perspective-taking in teacher education courses and broader programmatic questions about social perspective-taking pedagogy for teaching and learning are addressed.

Research-Based Strategies To Promote Academic Integrity, Michele Dipietro

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

A cursory glance at the literature on cheating paints a bleak picture. In the past decades, the prevalence of cheating has hovered at discouragingly high level, with about 75% of students admitting to some sort of cheating, and with peaks of over 90% in some prevalence studies. Given these figures, where does a wellintentioned instructor start? A good place to start untangling this complex problem is to understand it better. Academic dishonest behaviors vary in their frequency, seriousness, and motivations behind them, but they have been extensively researched, and we can abstract general principles to conceptualize this problem. Once we …

Deep/Surface Approaches To Learning In Higher Education: A Research Update, James Rhem

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Instead of looking at and trying to adjust to differences, the deep/surface researchers concentrated on observing commonalities. How did actual students actually study and what were the environmental cues that prompted them to take the approach (“deep” or “surface”) they chose? This research and renewed awareness of it here have had a powerful influence on thinking about teaching and learning in higher education in the United States especially with regard to assessment. Why? Because the research has found that students’ intention in studying/learning relates strongly to their perceptions of what they will be assessed on and how they will be …

Using Undergraduate Students As Teaching Assistants, Joseph "Mick" La Lopa

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Given the procedure for recruiting and selecting undergraduate students to be teaching assistants (TAs) and the pros and cons mentioned, there is every reason to continue using them to help administer my classes. I completely trust undergraduate TAs to keep an accurate record of attendance, grade assignments based on the rubric, and adhere to the course policies concerning attendance and assignment deadlines. Other educators should consider using the recruitment techniques suggested in this essay to select bright undergraduates to serve as a TA. They will reap many benefits from their work.

Facilitating Group Discussions: Understanding Group Development And Dynamics, Kathy Takayama

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Facilitating discussions requires the ability to engage different perspectives and skills in response to the needs of the group. How well a group works together depends upon the dynamics among participants and the ability of the facilitator to gauge and respond to these dynamics. An effective facilitator works to create an inclusive learning environment while being prepared to set boundaries and rules when necessary. Yet, even experienced facilitators can be confronted with situations or individuals that prevent the group from functioning. Such situations are even more daunting for new faculty and graduate student Teaching Assistants (TAs) who are new to …

The Value Of The Narrative Teaching Observation, Niki Young

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Narrative teaching observations allow educational developers to document a variety of teaching behaviors and, by framing these behaviors with the appropriate vocabulary, to highlight their pedagogical functions. We use the vocabulary not to obfuscate good teaching in educational jargon but to illuminate effective teaching behaviors using an agreed upon professional vocabulary and to make the teaching process more transparent (Hatzipanagos ND Lygo-Baker, 2006). Similarly, through its examples of narrative teaching observations, this essay adds to the literature by making our contribution as faculty developers more evident and making our professional practice more explicit.

Transparent Alignment And Integrated Course Design, David W. Concepción

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

This essay addresses ways of making learning goals, and ways of reaching those goals, more transparent to our students, through a process called ‘alignment.’ After defining key terms, I illustrate integrated course design with an example from my Introduction to Philosophy class.

About Us And Not About Us: Theorizing Student Resistance To Learning About Race And Racism From Underrepresented Faculty, Eve Tuck, Karanja Keita Carroll, Michael D. Smith

Publications and Research

Three early-career scholars write across their experiences as underrepresented faculty who teach required diversity courses to future educators in a predominantly white, small, state college. The authors theorize student resistance to course material and to faculty of color teaching about race and racism in a series of tableaus of their classrooms. They examine the ways that students' tactics of avoidance, consuming the Other, and "I won't learn from you" are simultaneously ''about us and not about us," unmasking uneven assumptions about the role of diversity courses in teacher preparation programs.

A 21st Century Communication Sciences And Disorders Program, Judith Montgomery, Janet L. Dodd, Sallyann Giess, Kamica Barnes

Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Articles and Research

The focus of graduate programs in communication sciences and disorders has changed greatly in the last decade to reflect changes in society in general. Newly formed graduate programs must account for these societal changes as they prepare students for practice in the 21st century. This article will discuss what is expected of new graduates, how teaching philosophies influence course content, and how a new graduate program in communication sciences and disorders came to be.

Creating The Credit Il Course In A University Setting., Catherine A. Cardwell, Colleen Boff

USF St. Petersburg campus Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.