Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

A Semester In The Life: Reflections Of A Faculty Member, Theresa Tensuan

Teaching and Learning Together in Higher Education

No abstract provided.

Introduction, Alison Cook-Sather, Laura Perry

Teaching and Learning Together in Higher Education

No abstract provided.

From The Advisory Board, Dennis Thiessen

Teaching and Learning Together in Higher Education

No abstract provided.

Transformational Perceptions Of International Service Learning Projects: India And The Dominican Republic, Seth E. Jenny, Scot Rademaker, Geraldine Jenny

Winthrop Conference on Teaching and Learning

This presentation will share qualitative research regarding two distinctly different service learning projects from two diverse universities. First, participant voices will be presented regarding Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania undergraduate students serving at a home for poverty stricken lepers’ children in India. Post-hoc interviews focused on prior expectations, the reality of the experience, lessons learned, transformational change, and service learning outcomes. In addition, preliminary data will be shared regarding Winthrop University pre-service teachers perceptions from a short-term study abroad trip within the context of poverty of the Dominican Republic. These students served through leading small teaching episodes within Dominican public …

“Are We Playing A Game Today?” Classroom Engagement And Assessment Through Gamification, Tracy A. Hudson Ms, Kendall Lentz

Winthrop Conference on Teaching and Learning

Today’s classroom demands a different style of engagement and assessment, primarily due to the changing nature of today’s learners. In fact, according to Liz Dwyer in “How Gaming is Changing the Classroom,” by the time students are age 21, they will have participated in over 10,000 hours of video gaming. As a result, using traditional pedagogies and “skill and drill” teaching strategies aren’t as effective with students who are more inclined to favor a controller over a book. Therefore, regardless of the discipline, adding gamification to the classroom can dramatically increase student engagement and also provide instructors with instantaneous assessment …

Quantitative Reasoning For The Social Science Classroom, Maria Aysa-Lastra

Winthrop Conference on Teaching and Learning

Twenty five years ago the Mathematical Sciences Education Board (Scheaffer 1990) stated that “Citizens who cannot properly interpret quantitative data are, in this day and age, functionally illiterate” Quantitative reasoning then should not be reduced to the ability to perform arithmetic functions but must be conceived as “a habit of the mind, competency and comfort in working with numerical data” (AACU 2015). Moreover, quantitative reasoning is essential for the development of higher order level skills such as analyzing, evaluating and creating. In a world, in which data is produced more rapidly than it can be analyzed, employers note that …

Digital Badges As Micro-Credentials: An Opportunity To Improve Learning Or Just Another Education Technology Fad?, Patrick Guilbaud, Joyce Anne Camp, Andrew Vorder Bruegge

Winthrop Conference on Teaching and Learning

Digital badges are online records of achievements that are awarded to learners for mastery of a specific set of educational contents. Often referred to as micro-credentials, digital badges are being used by many higher education institutions to assess and validate clearly defined chunks of knowledge, competency, or accomplishment.

At present, the use of digital badges is widespread. As a result, the perception exists that digital badges might be over-sold and over-hyped, as an assessment tool. Instructional design practice, however, reveals that learning objectives are best attained when course contents are broken into manageable chunks. In this context, digital badges, serving …

Organizing The Online Course, Kathleen A. Burke Ms.

Winthrop Conference on Teaching and Learning

If you are new to online instruction or are a veteran looking for fresh ideas for designing your online courses, this presentation will demonstrate user-friendly design for online courses, including course menu links, instructions, content examples and tips for making the all-important first week of class work to make the whole semester more dynamic. Take away ideas to jump-start your course organization and create a meaningful learning experience for students.

A Spoonful Of Success: Undergraduate Tutor-Tutee Interactions And Performance, Jonathan Marx, Michelle Wolf

Winthrop Conference on Teaching and Learning

We explore how the dynamics of the tutor-tutee relationship influence student self- reliance, and ultimately course performance. We examine 333 tutor and tutee pairs at a student success center at a public, comprehensive, university of about 5,000 undergraduates in over 60 different courses during the spring of 2015. We find as frequency and quality of the interactions between tutor and tutees increase that the tutors increasingly foster independent study habits on the part of the tutees. The incorporation of independent study habits was then associated with better course outcomes. In other words, the development of a positive, sustained relationship by …

Blended And Flipped, Theresa Butori

Winthrop Conference on Teaching and Learning

STEM courses, in particular, challenge educators and learners to learn complex processes, much of which is not intuitive or outside their realm of experience. Blended learning and flipped classrooms allow educators to tackle the rigors of STEM education head-on (Bishop & Verleger, 2013).

Defining blended and flipped: “Course that integrates online elements into face-to-face delivery. Content and materials are available online and typically keeps all or most face-to-face meetings. The inverted, active learning classroom “flips” the in-class and homework activities, often by moving content lectures before class, in that students watch online lectures at home, while class time is spent …

A Case Study: Using Blackboard Tools To Measure Correlations Between Student Engagement And Student Achievement, Andrew Vorder Bruegge

Winthrop Conference on Teaching and Learning

The Blackboard course management system includes the tool "statistics tracking." An instructor can use this tool to generate a report that "displays the summary of usage for that content item and [the students] enrolled in the course. The access date, hour and day of the week are all reported for the selected item and [students]." In this case study the researcher will correlate aggregate data about students' visits to numerous content items in a course and their final grade in the course. The instructor will also correlate aggregate data from a study log created to track the number of hours …

Life Lessons Of A Co-Teacher, Donna Cherveny

Winthrop Conference on Teaching and Learning

Co-teaching is a common practice across schools. While research may be present regarding the effects of co-teaching, there is little literature that simply offers the perspective a co-teacher. As a former co-teacher of six years, I experienced various encounters and relationships that helped shape my current career as a professor of education. From these experiences, I have developed a list of “wisha wouldas” as a reflection. These “wisha wouldas” are basic things I wish I had done or experienced that I feel would have made me a stronger co-teacher. Included in my list of “wisha wouldas” are co-teaching contracts to …

Capstone Courses At Winthrop University: What Are They?, Marsha Bollinger

Winthrop Conference on Teaching and Learning

Capstone courses are generally considered high-impact and transformative for students. In the process of redesigning the officially-designated capstone course for the environmental sciences and studies program at Winthrop University, the author discovered that there is no clear definition of what this senior culminating experience should be. Formats at Winthrop range from community field placements to individual research papers; course goals range from integrative discipline-based learning to career preparation to program assessment. Using course syllabi, catalog descriptions, and a questionnaire for department or program chairs, an analysis will be presented of the variety of experiences, formats, and goals for all undergraduate …

Credits Earned, Credits Due: Forging New Degree Completion Pathways For Post-Traditional Students With The Aid Of Prior Learning Assessment Portfolios, Patrick Guilbaud, Greg Oakes

Winthrop Conference on Teaching and Learning

In recent years, there has been a surge in the number of adult students who have expressed interest in returning back to school to complete their undergraduate degrees. Research, however, shows that many adult students who start degree completion programs do not complete them.

An oft-cited roadblock to degree completion by adult students is lack of recognition of prior learning obtained on the job or through other means. As a result, prior learning assessment (PLA) has now become an important tool used by colleges and universities to facilitate access to higher education by adult students.

The Council for Adult & …

"Can We Talk?": Strategies For Successful Classroom Discussion, John Bird

Winthrop Conference on Teaching and Learning

We all recognize the value and importance of class discussion for student learning and engagement, but we have probably had uneven results when we try to hold discussions in class. Sometimes it goes great, but sometimes it fails, miserably. In this workshop, we will examine some of the problems with class discussion: students who won’t talk, students who talk too much, students who go off topic, silent classes, and so on. Then we will explore and practice some techniques that can solve those problems, including more effective question design, effective questioning techniques, the use of writing as discussion starters, and …

Engaging Students Into Lifelong Learning Using Social Media, Allison Gibson

Winthrop Conference on Teaching and Learning

We’ve all seen it: Students distracted in class checking their phones under a desk or with Facebook pulled up on their laptops. Social media can often serve as a distraction for students’ education, but when implemented carefully social media can also serve as an effective tool to bringing the “real world” into the classroom. This presentation will review current research and pedagogy on the use of social media in the classroom. The presenter will share practices utilized in preparing and implementing different social media tools as well as specific concerns and challenges that can be problematic in implementing such educational …

All Aboard, All Attuned And All Involved: Fostering Learner Engagement And Teamwork With Clickers In An Introductory Computer Science Course At Winthrop University, Patrick Guilbaud, Michael Whitney

Winthrop Conference on Teaching and Learning

Modern education technology tools and learning systems provide the means for faculty to develop courses that offer connected and engaging learning opportunities. However, many courses, particularly those in the sciences and engineering disciplines, are not often designed to encourage collaboration, cooperation and teamwork.

Given the presence of a global and interconnected economy, it is critical for students to interact with classmates who hold diverse perspectives, experiences and opinions. Moreover, research shows that students who have had the opportunity to participate in learning activities with heterogeneous teams --early in their college life-- are more likely to develop lasting relationships with classmates …

Critical Reading, Critical Research: Practical Strategies To Develop, Amanda L. Hiner

Winthrop Conference on Teaching and Learning

Perhaps no other skill affects students’ intellectual achievement more profoundly than the skill of critical reading. The analysis and assessment of written texts requires specific, learned skills in unpacking a text’s meaning, understanding its claims and implications, assessing its logic and coherence, evaluating its evidence, and drawing logical conclusions based on its claims. Both anecdotal evidence and qualitative research suggest that these skills are lacking in many high school and college students, and though teachers are intuitively aware of how crucial such skills are in the research and writing process, they often struggle to help students practice and apply critical …

Sjsu Erfa Board Minutes, February 1, 2016, San Jose State University, Emeritus And Retired Faculty Association

SJSU ERFA Minutes

SJSU ERFA Executive Board Minutes

February 1, 2016

Spectators Or Patriots? Citizens In The Information Age, Amrita Dhawan

Publications and Research

In theory, a strong democracy rests on robust citizen participation. The practice in most democracies is quite different. This gap presents a challenge, which can be narrowed by augmenting civic education to bring it up to date with the current information environment and thus give citizens the opportunity to participate. Robert Dahl’s work on democracy provides a model that looks at this problem structurally. He writes about the ideals and the actual institutions necessary for a democracy and if we situate his model in the modern information environment we get a better idea of how to improve civic education. Successful …

Middle School Pedagogical Order: Lecture Or Lab?, Barry R. Thompson, Thomas E. Deering

Journal of Research Initiatives

A study was recently conducted in a suburban middle school regarding two teaching strategies. Ninety-three eighth grade students were administered a pretest regarding plate tectonics. Forty-one of the students conducted an inquiry lab; they participated in a class discussion regarding the material. Forty-two of the students first participated in a class discussion regarding plate tectonics; afterwards they completed the laboratory exercise. A posttest was administered at the conclusion of the unit. Ten students were not in attendance for both the pretest and the posttest. Statistical analysis of the 83 remaining students through the use of t-tests indicates no statistically significant …

The Journey To The Top: Stories On The Intersection Of Race And Gender For African American Women In Academia And Business, Deanna R. Davis

Journal of Research Initiatives

This research study was designed to determine how the intersection of race and gender identities contributed to the elements of leadership development as perceived by eight African American female executives in academia and business. The researcher sought to explore strategies future leaders might utilize to address leadership development and career ascendency for African American females who aspire to leadership roles. A phenomenological research method was most appropriate for this research study to capture the lived experiences of individuals from their perspectives and to develop themes that challenged structural or normative assumptions.

This research study examined leadership development of eight African …

The Role Of Black Colleges In The Development Of Mathematicians, Viveka Borum, Adriel Adon Hilton, Erica Walker

Journal of Research Initiatives

Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are home to almost 400,000 of the nation’s college and university population and account for nearly 25% of degrees conferred to African Americans, according to Hale (2006). They have been the launching pads for three-fourths of African Americans who hold doctorate degrees, three-fourths of Black officers in the military, and four-fifths of African American federal judges (Hale, 2006). In addition, fifty percent of African American faculty in predominantly White research universities received their bachelor’s degrees at an HBCU (Hale, 2006). These are significant percentages given the relatively small number of Black colleges and universities …

The Motivational Factors Of African American Men Enrolled At Selected Community Colleges, Ted N. Ingram, Lavon Williams, James Coaxum Iii, Adriel A. Hilton, Ivan Harrell

Journal of Research Initiatives

This manuscript is designed to call attention to the realities that are specific to African American male community college students. Using a qualitative research design, focus groups were conducted with 14 African American male students enrolled in an urban community college. This study uncovered that their educational experiences are consumed with personal challenges and academic obstacles. Students were asked to explain their motivation toward persistence at the urban community college. Participants within the study noted that motivational factors such as: (a) improving their life status, (b) societal pressure, (c) “man of the house,” and (d) faculty and staff encouragement, provided …

Friendships And Retention At A Historically Black University: A Quantitative Case Study, Mondrail Myrick, John A. Gipson Jr, Donald Mitchell Jr.

Journal of Research Initiatives

The retention and graduation rates of underrepresented minority, first-generation and low-income college students persist as problems in U.S. higher education. While researchers have documented the ways in which minority-serving institutions have been successful in serving these students, little is known about how friendships influence retention at these institutions. This study examines retention factors of first-year students who began college with close friends at a historically Black university. The researchers used exploratory factor analysis and binary logistic regressions to determine the factors and significance. In addition, the researchers used linear structural relations to estimate hypothesized causal models. Results of the study …

Realizing The Dream: African American Males’ Narratives That Encouraged The Pursuit Of Doctoral Education, Ted N. Ingram

Journal of Research Initiatives

This article used personal narratives to discover factors affecting the decision of African American males to consider doctoral education. This study was based on qualitative interviews with 18 African American male doctoral students enrolled at predominantly white institutions as they reflected on their reasons for pursuing an advanced degree. The following were found to influence their decision: (a) need for faculty encouragement, (b) motivation to pursue a doctorate, and (c) their personal motivations. Recommendations are offered for increasing the numbers of African American male doctoral students.

Fostering An Inclusive Stem Workforce, Cary A. Supalo Dr.

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

The following keynote address was delivered by Dr. Cary A. Supalo at the 2015 Training Workforce and Development and diversity conference which is one of the divisions that is part of NIH’s general medical sciences. This conference was attended by over 500 program directors from all of the T32 sponsored projects in 2015. This presentation discussed the importance of a full inclusive STEM workforce that includes persons with disabilities

Min-Lin Lo Tssa Winter 2015, Min-Lin Lo

Teaching Skills Study Awards (TSSA) Reports

Enhances faculty's teaching by attending a conference devoted to university teaching, a high-impact practice, evidence-based practice or a newly developing teaching practice.

Brains In Pain Cannot Learn!, Lori Desautels

Scholarship and Professional Work – Education

Educators want nothing more than for our students to feel successful and excited to learn, and to understand the importance of their education. We want our students' attention and respect to match our own. I believe that most if not all of our students desire the same, but walking through our classroom doors are beautifully complex youth who are neurobiologically wired to feel before thinking.

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 …