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Acknowledgments, Volume 29 (2011)

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Acknowledgments for volume 29 (2011) of To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development, by Judith E. Miller of University of North Florida.

Introduction, Volume 30 (2011), Judith E. Miller

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Introduction to volume 30 (2011) of To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development, by Judith E. Miller of University of North Florida.

Support Needs Of University Adjunct Lecturers, Sarah M. Ginsberg

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Little is known about the support needs of the part-time instructors on university campuses, despite the fact that they represent more than 50 percent of the instructors teaching in higher education. This study of adjunct lecturers investigated their support needs and their preferences for receiving support. Results indicated that adjuncts wanted information about their students and effective teaching methods beyond lecturing. They expressed frustration over the fact that there was no systematic approach to information sharing, particularly with the tenure-track faculty in their programs. They evenly favored resources provided either electronically or face-to-face.

The First Day Of Class: How Should Instructors Use Class Time?, Sal Meyers, Brian C. Smith

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Students and instructors rated first-day class satisfaction and completed scales assessing the time that instructors spent on introductions, course policies, procedures, and course content. For students, interest on or before the first day, and for faculty, excitement and confidence in students’ abilities, strongly predicted satisfaction on the first day. Student and instructor satisfaction also were positively associated with time devoted to hows and whys, content, and introductions. Findings contradict previous empirical studies of student satisfaction but are consistent with faculty development recommendations.

Forty Percent Of 2 Million: Preparing To Serve Our Veterans With Disabilities, Bruce C. Kelley, Emetta L. Fox, Justin M. Smith, Lisa A. Wittenhagen

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

On August 1, 2009, the Post-9111 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 was passed, and as a result, almost 2 million veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan will soon enroll in postsecondary education. Up to 40 percent of these veterans are estimated to have disabilities. This chapter examines some of the characteristics of this group, the challenges that veterans face as they transition into life as college students, and how faculty developers can help faculty better serve these incoming veterans.

Faculty Development As A Hazardous Occupation, Linda B. Nilson, Edward B. Nuhfer, Bonnie B. Mullinix

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

"Hazardous" describes events and conditions that produce an undesired, involuntary, career-changing disruption of a developer’s professional practice. While faculty development is an immensely valuable asset to an institution that knows how to make use of it, the unique nature off acuity development centers within varied academic institutions brings occupational hazards to those who direct or work in such centers. Our study synthesizes and identifies patterns among over thirty cases furnished by developers, primarily center directors, who experienced career disruptions. We conclude by offering evidence-based counsel on how to recognize the hazards and mitigate damage.

Difficult Dialogues And Transformational Change Through Cross–Cultural Faculty Development, Elizabeth Roderick

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Across the globe, our current way of life is taking us to the edge of the cliff The systems and consciousness that we have used to try to solve problems are not working. Young people need to think and work in new ways.

The Digital Academy: Preparing Faculty For Digital Course Development, Sunay V. Palsole, Beth L. Brunk-Chavez

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

New generations of learners necessitate new ways of teaching, and hybrid courses can help institutions leverage technologies to improve teaching and learning. The adoption of a new instructional paradigm, however, requires attention to the facuity’s ability to create and deliver effective courses. The University of Texas at El Paso has developed the Digital Academy to help facuity interweave online elements with face-to-face teaching. The model is pliable and portable in its application to other universities.

Preface, Volume 30 (2011), Judith E. Miller

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Preface to volume 30 (2011) of To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development, by Judith E. Miller of University of North Florida.

Weatherford: Undergraduate Catalog 2011-2012, Southwestern Oklahoma State University

Undergraduate Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Go For The Gold: Fundraising For Teaching Centers, Mark A. Hohnstreiter, Tara Gray

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

At New Mexico State University Teaching Academy, we have developed a comprehensive model to raise funds from faculty and others for our teaching center, which has resulted in a culture of giving. The payoff from a fundraising effort is huge, not only in terms of money, but in terms of the personal investment of participants, both valuable in difficult economic times. We explain in this chapter how to establish a fundraising program so that your teaching center can go for the gold.

Professional Conversations: A Reflective Framework For Collaborative Development, Peter Shaw, Bob Cole

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

A small team of faculty and faculty developers at the Monterey Institute of International Studies launched a professional development initiative by adapting Edge’s (1992, 2002) framework of cooperative development into a model they labeled the professional conversation. This structured interaction involves a speaker exploring a topic of professional and personal significance through the facilitation of an understander. The details of the model are presented, along with heuristics for practicing the two roles. Assessment data indicate that the struggle to master the model is judged worthwhile for community building, professional development, and, unexpectedly, pedagogical practice.

How Mature Teaching And Learning Centers Evaluate Their Services, Susan R. Hines

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This study investigated facuity development program evaluation practices at thirty-three established, centralized, university-funded teaching and learning centers (TLCs). My prior statewide study (Hines, 2009) revealed that limitations of time, resources, and assessment knowledge resulted in superficial evaluation practices. Since the majority of respondents in the previous study were part-time faculty developers with limited funding and staff, I assumed that established, centralized TLCs would have the knowledge and resources to conduct a more rigorous evaluation. This study reveals that established centralized TLCs have significantly stronger practices for evaluating their services.

My Kanawha, Anne Dipardo

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

A longtime English educator revisits James Moffet’s notion of “agnosis” as she discovers her West Virginia ancestry.

Being The Unbook, Being The Change: The Transformative Power Of Open Sources, Elizabeth D. Woodworth

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

A director of composition tests and advocates “open education sources” for the development of curricula and programs.

Notes From Teaching At The Ends Of The Earth, Colette Morrow

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Third-world teaching enables one feminist instructor to revitalize her instruction in American universities.

Book Reviews, Judy Halden-Sullivan, Julie J. Nichols, Mary Pettice

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Book Reviews

Judy Halden-Sullivan - Evolution and Criticism

Julie J. Nichols - Boyd, Brian. On the Origin of Stories: Evolution, Cognition, and Fiction. Cambridge: Belknap Press of the Harvard University Press, 2009.

Julie J. Nichols - Zunshine, Lisa. Why We Read Fiction: Theory of Mind and the Novel. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2006

Mary Pettice - Dutton, Denis. The Art Instinct: Beauty, Pleasure, and Human Evolution. 2nd edition. New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2010. Print.

Front Matter

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Editor's Message

Writing And Time, Time And The Essay, Douglas Hesse

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Writing requires time, thought, and most of all, discovery—despite a high-tech world that can’t be bothered with it.

Playing The Believing Game With Dr. Seuss And Reluctant Learners In Science, Kym Buchanan, Perry Cook

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham offers insights for teachers trying to overcome learners’ reluctance.

Suffering And Teaching Writing, W. Keith Duffy

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

How can spiritual texts help us respond to the burn-out we sometimes experience in our roles as literacy teachers?

Front Matter

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Editor's message.

“Poetry Is Not A Luxury”: Why We Should Include Poetry In The Writing Classroom, Nicole Warwick

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

How can poetry transform academic writing’s “masculine” ways of knowing and communicating into transnational exploration?

Back Matter

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

No abstract provided.

Jaepl, Vol. 17, Winter 2011-2012, Joona Smitherman Trapp, Brad Peters

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Essays

Cristina Bruns - Immersion, Transformation, and the Literature Class

Anne DiPardo - My Kanawha

Kelly A. Concannon Mannise - Who Cares? Exploring Student Perspectives on Care Ethics

Kym Buchanan & Perry Cook - Playing the Believing Game with Dr. Seuss and Reluctant Learners in Science

Elizabeth Woodworth - Being the Unbook, Being the Change: The Transformative Power of Open Sources

W. Keith Duffy - Suffering and Teaching Writing

Helen Collins Stitler - Perfect

Nikki Holland, Iris Shepard, Christian Z. Goering, & David A. Jolliffe - We Were the Teachers, Not the Observers: Transforming Preparation through Placements in a Creative, …

“We Were The Teachers, Not The Observers”: Transforming Teacher Preparation Through Placements In A Creative, After-School Program, Nikki Holland, Iris Shepard, Christian Z. Goering

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Teacher preparation at one university shifts pre-service observation to hands-on integration of the arts in an after-school program called Razorback Writers.

Who Cares? Exploring Student Perspectives On Care Ethics, Kelly A. Concannon Mannise

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Care ethics are influenced by conflicts between crafted theories and how students read those theories in practice.

Perfect, Helen Collins Sitler

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Perfectionism can be a form of trauma that composition instructors should be aware of in some high-achieving students.

Connecting, Helen Walker, Jan Buley, S. Rebecca Leigh, Christopher M. Bache, Bette B. Bauer, Rachel Forrester, Laurence Musgrove

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Connecting

Helen Walker - Teaching/Seeing Jesus

Jan Buley - The Realization

S. Rebecca Leigh - Celebrating Ways of Learning

Christopher M. Bache - The Opening Question

Bette B. Bauer - Teaching as a Spiritual Practice

Rachel Forrester - Appalachia Finally in the Spring

Laurence Musgrove - Syllabus

The Performance Production Process Of An Outstanding High School Choir, Kathy K. Rolsten

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite the interest in and importance of producing high quality choral performance, the question "How is superior performance produced?" has not been addressed in a holistic and naturalistic way. A synthesis of previous research findings suggests that a combination of actions, interactions, relationships, and conditions produce superior choral performance. Yet a holistic examination of this multi-faceted production process has not been conducted. In order to identify all factors contributing to the production of superior performance and how these factors work together, I comprehensively examined an extreme case of superior performance. This extreme case of superior performance was one high school, …