CHANGING HOW WE THINK
We have shared research here in the past about how the brain learns. Rachel Barry explains that she spent her summer reading John Medina's Brain Rules. She writes, "This book helped me to understand how our brain works and how our societal norms tend to go against the natural inclinations of the human brain. I also never realized how much I was creating my own frustrations: in work, school, and life. This book both confirmed and contradicted some of my beliefs and practices, providing years of research and clear examples to back their opinions." Click here to learn more about her thoughts on the book.
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT TIPS
It is about that time in the semester when some of our students discover that missing class is very detrimental to their grades and success. They often ask to meet and talk about how they can catch up. My answer is always the same. Get organized. I then help them do just that by showing them how to create a schedule on their cellphone or in their planner. I encourage them to spend some time writing down everything that they do during the week. I do this to help them discover free time that can then be used for studying. I also do this to illustrate that they are usually overestimating the time they thing they are spending preparing for classes. That is another thing. We need to remind them from time to time that the reading we require is actually a big part of their learning process and that class time should really be more about questions for clarification. Earlier this week I sent you a student success tip that I called the Weight Watcher approach to time management. I encourage you to take another look at that especially when your students come in and complain that they don't have enough time to be successful. Everything is a teachable moment.
WHAT IS TEACHING AND LEARNING
Dale Schlundt asks us to "consider the lessons we learn without being fully aware they are taking place. Take something simple, such as walking into a new building for the first time. With everyone and everything you observe, your mind is giving you feedback based on a multitude of judgments. These impressions, while sometimes incorrect, come to us with little effort. Yet they could loosely be considered teaching and learning without calling it either. I have found this to be a fruitful concept from a pedagogical standpoint. How many of us actively question this point to ourselves, “What am I teaching students, and what are they learning?” To continue reading his post, click here.
Showing posts with label teachable moment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label teachable moment. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
JE SUIS CHARLIE
The world is definitely flat, as Dr. Thomas Friedman so famously declared in his book of the same name a decade ago (can it be that 10 years have passed). The events in Paris that occurred last week demonstrated that in a tragic and vivid way. I hope that you join me in using this terrible occurrence as a teachable lesson with your students. Inserting the lesson into your class may be easier for some of us (history, political science, CSSK, art) than others (chemistry, math, welding, nursing) but there are ways to make it happen. If you decide to incorporate it into your class, maybe as part of the larger human rights project being led by Dr. Val Holliday in Philosophy, please share your experience with me so that I can post it here.
LOOK AT ME
Are you having problems capturing and keeping your students attention in class? Mary Loyd, with the journal Prism, has written an interesting column about this issue. She writes, "Ask instructors to name their biggest challenge, and classroom distractions very likely would top most lists. Even experienced engineering educators must compete for students' attention against social media and texting. Classroom management has become so vexing that ASEE's 2014 annual conference devoted several sessions to the topic, including Shepard's panel presentation, I Did Not Anticipate This: Experiences From the Early Years. Research has documented an increase in disruptive behavior and cheating by students over the past 20 years. And it's not just among weaker students." Take a look at the rest of the post here.
USING STARTERS AND WRAPPERS EFFECTIVELY
Faculty Focus provides a great article at the right time addressing effective ways to structure discussions in the online environment. The good news is that you can use Dr. Maryellen Weimer's suggestions for your face-to-face classes as well. She writes, "The use of online discussion in both blended and fully online courses has made clear that those exchanges are more productive if they are structured, if there’s a protocol that guides the interaction. This kind of structure is more important in the online environment because those discussions are usually asynchronous and minus all the nonverbal cues that facilitate face-to-face exchanges. But I’m wondering if more structure might benefit our in-class discussions as well. Students struggle with academic discourse. They have conversations (or is it chats?) with each other, but not discussions like those we aspire to have in our courses. And although students understand there’s a difference between the two, they don’t always know exactly how they’re supposed to talk about academic content when discussing it with teachers and classmates. Would providing more structure provide that clarity and make the value of discussions more obvious to students?" Read more here.
The world is definitely flat, as Dr. Thomas Friedman so famously declared in his book of the same name a decade ago (can it be that 10 years have passed). The events in Paris that occurred last week demonstrated that in a tragic and vivid way. I hope that you join me in using this terrible occurrence as a teachable lesson with your students. Inserting the lesson into your class may be easier for some of us (history, political science, CSSK, art) than others (chemistry, math, welding, nursing) but there are ways to make it happen. If you decide to incorporate it into your class, maybe as part of the larger human rights project being led by Dr. Val Holliday in Philosophy, please share your experience with me so that I can post it here.
LOOK AT ME
Are you having problems capturing and keeping your students attention in class? Mary Loyd, with the journal Prism, has written an interesting column about this issue. She writes, "Ask instructors to name their biggest challenge, and classroom distractions very likely would top most lists. Even experienced engineering educators must compete for students' attention against social media and texting. Classroom management has become so vexing that ASEE's 2014 annual conference devoted several sessions to the topic, including Shepard's panel presentation, I Did Not Anticipate This: Experiences From the Early Years. Research has documented an increase in disruptive behavior and cheating by students over the past 20 years. And it's not just among weaker students." Take a look at the rest of the post here.
USING STARTERS AND WRAPPERS EFFECTIVELY
Faculty Focus provides a great article at the right time addressing effective ways to structure discussions in the online environment. The good news is that you can use Dr. Maryellen Weimer's suggestions for your face-to-face classes as well. She writes, "The use of online discussion in both blended and fully online courses has made clear that those exchanges are more productive if they are structured, if there’s a protocol that guides the interaction. This kind of structure is more important in the online environment because those discussions are usually asynchronous and minus all the nonverbal cues that facilitate face-to-face exchanges. But I’m wondering if more structure might benefit our in-class discussions as well. Students struggle with academic discourse. They have conversations (or is it chats?) with each other, but not discussions like those we aspire to have in our courses. And although students understand there’s a difference between the two, they don’t always know exactly how they’re supposed to talk about academic content when discussing it with teachers and classmates. Would providing more structure provide that clarity and make the value of discussions more obvious to students?" Read more here.
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
KNOWING WHAT THEY DON'T KNOW
If it is the beginning of the fall semester, then it is time for Beloit College to issue its annual "Mind Set" list to "remind professors and administrators that their experiences are very different from those of the students who are starting off in higher ed (at least those who are coming straight from high school)." One item on the list that really stood out for me is "During their initial weeks of kindergarten, they were upset by endlessly repeated images of planes blasting into the World Trade Center." That sounds like a great teachable moment. I am certainly going to try to create a learning experience around this event. If nothing else, I think it is a great conversation starter to enhance my engagement with them. Another that caught my eye is "Women have always been dribbling, and occasionally dunking, in the WNBA." As the father of three daughters, I have to admit this made me feel somewhat better about our society. Now let's take a look at the salary inequity between our WNBA and NBA stars. As I enter my thirty-third year in higher education, I have seen a lot of change as well. Remember when there wasn't even an IT person, much less an IT department? Do you remember how protective you were of the font balls for the IBM typewriters and how we could never seem to part with the last one just in case? I also remember sitting in the LSU Assembly Center (now known as the Pete Maravich Assembly Center or PMAC) trying to convince students to take one of my computer punch cards for biochemistry. Most of them didn't even know what biochemistry was and they did not see it as an elective option. No problem; they came around when everything else was full. While nostalgia is fun, I am glad that we have seen such great inventions as the personal computer, cell phone, and Wi-Fi. It has certainly made our lives easier as faculty and made it simpler for our students to get the information they need. What do you think?
GAMES HELP STUDENTS LEARN
Do you use games to teach in your courses or have you ever wanted to learn how? James Lang has written an interesting article about just that for The Chronicle of Higher Education. Lang tells us about Reacting to the Past, a teaching methodology pioneered by Mark Carnes at Barnard College in the 1990’s, and now spreading rapidly across higher education RTTP assigns students roles in historical-simulation games in order to encourage intensive reading of complex texts, help students develop core intellectual skills (writing, speaking, thinking), and motivate them to take a deep approach to their learning. Although these games were initially developed for history courses, they now span the disciplines, in fields as varied as political science and chemistry. Faculty members and students play simulation games at institutions of every type, from community colleges to research universities. To learn more visit the RTTP website for information about existing games and those in development.
FACULTY DEVELOPMENT ON TAP
Thank you to all of the faculty who participated in the Faculty Development Kickoff on August 21. I have tried to tailor that event to your specifications and always appreciate feedback on how we can better meet your needs. At your suggestion, we moved the event up a day from last year to give you more time to implement changes in your courses. I hope that you were able to add a few new tools to your teaching toolkit and I appreciate the enthusiasm and participation that many of you displayed that day. The Mentoring Program Kickoff will occur on Thursday, August 28 at 1:00 pm in the Teaching+Learning Center (T+LC). All mentors and mentees should have received an invitation for this meeting. On Friday at noon, we begin the first of two faculty learning communities planned for this semester. The How Learning Works FLC still has room for one or two more participants. Contact Academic Support Specialist Barbara Linder (linderb@mybrcc.edu or at 216.8228) to sign up. In addition, the first faculty development workshop of the semester takes place on Tuesday, September 2 at 1:00 pm in the T+LC (311 Magnolia). The topic is Designing Assessment That Measures Learning and will focus on testing, assessment, alignment, and more. Join the conversation by registering now.
If it is the beginning of the fall semester, then it is time for Beloit College to issue its annual "Mind Set" list to "remind professors and administrators that their experiences are very different from those of the students who are starting off in higher ed (at least those who are coming straight from high school)." One item on the list that really stood out for me is "During their initial weeks of kindergarten, they were upset by endlessly repeated images of planes blasting into the World Trade Center." That sounds like a great teachable moment. I am certainly going to try to create a learning experience around this event. If nothing else, I think it is a great conversation starter to enhance my engagement with them. Another that caught my eye is "Women have always been dribbling, and occasionally dunking, in the WNBA." As the father of three daughters, I have to admit this made me feel somewhat better about our society. Now let's take a look at the salary inequity between our WNBA and NBA stars. As I enter my thirty-third year in higher education, I have seen a lot of change as well. Remember when there wasn't even an IT person, much less an IT department? Do you remember how protective you were of the font balls for the IBM typewriters and how we could never seem to part with the last one just in case? I also remember sitting in the LSU Assembly Center (now known as the Pete Maravich Assembly Center or PMAC) trying to convince students to take one of my computer punch cards for biochemistry. Most of them didn't even know what biochemistry was and they did not see it as an elective option. No problem; they came around when everything else was full. While nostalgia is fun, I am glad that we have seen such great inventions as the personal computer, cell phone, and Wi-Fi. It has certainly made our lives easier as faculty and made it simpler for our students to get the information they need. What do you think?
GAMES HELP STUDENTS LEARN
Do you use games to teach in your courses or have you ever wanted to learn how? James Lang has written an interesting article about just that for The Chronicle of Higher Education. Lang tells us about Reacting to the Past, a teaching methodology pioneered by Mark Carnes at Barnard College in the 1990’s, and now spreading rapidly across higher education RTTP assigns students roles in historical-simulation games in order to encourage intensive reading of complex texts, help students develop core intellectual skills (writing, speaking, thinking), and motivate them to take a deep approach to their learning. Although these games were initially developed for history courses, they now span the disciplines, in fields as varied as political science and chemistry. Faculty members and students play simulation games at institutions of every type, from community colleges to research universities. To learn more visit the RTTP website for information about existing games and those in development.
FACULTY DEVELOPMENT ON TAP
Thank you to all of the faculty who participated in the Faculty Development Kickoff on August 21. I have tried to tailor that event to your specifications and always appreciate feedback on how we can better meet your needs. At your suggestion, we moved the event up a day from last year to give you more time to implement changes in your courses. I hope that you were able to add a few new tools to your teaching toolkit and I appreciate the enthusiasm and participation that many of you displayed that day. The Mentoring Program Kickoff will occur on Thursday, August 28 at 1:00 pm in the Teaching+Learning Center (T+LC). All mentors and mentees should have received an invitation for this meeting. On Friday at noon, we begin the first of two faculty learning communities planned for this semester. The How Learning Works FLC still has room for one or two more participants. Contact Academic Support Specialist Barbara Linder (linderb@mybrcc.edu or at 216.8228) to sign up. In addition, the first faculty development workshop of the semester takes place on Tuesday, September 2 at 1:00 pm in the T+LC (311 Magnolia). The topic is Designing Assessment That Measures Learning and will focus on testing, assessment, alignment, and more. Join the conversation by registering now.
Friday, September 27, 2013
MEASURING THE EFFECTS OF TEACHING
One of the burning questions for us as teachers will always be "Are my students learning?" One of the ways we determine that is by assessing what we have taught. Good assessment provides the answers to the questions "Am I teaching?" and "Are my students learning?" The faculty development workshop set for October 17 is designed to help you create assessment instruments that can provide the data to answer these questions. Testing 101: Assessing Student Learning, to be held in the Teaching+Learning Center (311 Magnolia Building/Mid City Campus) promises to be an active learning experience. We will delve into the rich and interesting topic of testing on many levels. So let's take some of the guess work out of testing and assessment together. If you would like to join your colleagues for this workshop, register now.
DON'T LET TEACHABLE MOMENTS SLIP BY
Have you ever had a bird fly into your classroom while you were teaching? What about planning to show a really compelling video and having the technology malfunction? Do you remember what class you were teaching the morning of September 11, 2001? All of these examples provide a teachable moment. Don't get me wrong. I am not comparing the three incidents in any way. What I am urging you to do is to not let a change in your plans cause you to miss the great opportunity. Nothing resonates with our students like real life. Dr. Judy Willis says, "Rather than viewing a spontaneous teachable moment as a distraction, planning for these moments in advance facilitates making the most of a moment to engage students who are already at a heightened state of attention and awareness." She suggests you have your students write a quickwrite about how the experience made them feel. Quickwrites require students to write for three to five minutes without stopping. If their inspiration stops and they don't know what to write, tell them to write the last word over and over again until inspiration hits them again. After the time limit is complete, have them read what they wrote silently and ask them to underline one or two phrases they consider most important. You can then have them share those highlights with the class. If you determine that this really sparked great interest, you can turn this into a larger assignment and have them write an essay, expanding what they started in class. Teachable moments provide us with a wonderful opportunity to use a sometime emotional moment to build class community and make lasting connections.
CAN YOU BLACKBOARD
The turnout was terrific for the two Blackboard workshop sessions on Thursday. It was extremely nice to see some of our new colleagues from the former CATC on the Mid City Campus. The feedback was great as well. Sandra Guzman, science, wrote, "My lab reports are going paperless!" Barbara Hasek, science, wrote, "The presentation was very helpful and I will start using the due date feature immediately." Jessie Hornbrook, liberal arts, wrote, "I am definitely using this now to grade my 50+ student writing assignments in all of my classes!" Angela Pursley, business and social sciences, wrote that she likes using the "student view of the grade center." Darnella Jackson, nursing and allied health, wrote that she appreciates "how easy it is to create a course in Blackboard." The next session of the Blackboard Series is just around the corner. Gradebook: It's Not Just for eLearning Classes will occur on Tuesday, October 8 with sessions for the two levels of learners. The 3:00 PM session is for beginners while the 4:00 PM session is for advanced users. You can register for this faculty professional development opportunity now.
ARE YOU FRIENDS WITH GRANDMA ON FACEBOOK
Barbara Fister's recent post on her blog raises some interesting questions about college writing instruction in the age of digital overload. She writes, "How do we prepare students for a world in which so much of their writing will be digital and published in a fluid, communal, multivocal space? How do we talk about the rhetorical issues of purpose, audience, argument, evidence, and tone when we aren’t limiting ourselves to certain academic forms of writing? As the Stanford Study of Writing has shown, students may be better at rhetorical moves than we think precisely because they have practiced them in digital spaces with real purposes and real audiences. But given the complexity of modern forms of public writing, what issues beyond the usual writing issues might be worth considering? Should we be talking about the difficulty of self-representation in a space with multiple audiences, including your friends, your future employer, and your grandmother? Should we talk about who owns our texts online and what platforms such as Goodreads and Facebook can do with our contributions? Should we talk about balancing free speech and civility with case studies of people behaving badly online?"
One of the burning questions for us as teachers will always be "Are my students learning?" One of the ways we determine that is by assessing what we have taught. Good assessment provides the answers to the questions "Am I teaching?" and "Are my students learning?" The faculty development workshop set for October 17 is designed to help you create assessment instruments that can provide the data to answer these questions. Testing 101: Assessing Student Learning, to be held in the Teaching+Learning Center (311 Magnolia Building/Mid City Campus) promises to be an active learning experience. We will delve into the rich and interesting topic of testing on many levels. So let's take some of the guess work out of testing and assessment together. If you would like to join your colleagues for this workshop, register now.
DON'T LET TEACHABLE MOMENTS SLIP BY
Have you ever had a bird fly into your classroom while you were teaching? What about planning to show a really compelling video and having the technology malfunction? Do you remember what class you were teaching the morning of September 11, 2001? All of these examples provide a teachable moment. Don't get me wrong. I am not comparing the three incidents in any way. What I am urging you to do is to not let a change in your plans cause you to miss the great opportunity. Nothing resonates with our students like real life. Dr. Judy Willis says, "Rather than viewing a spontaneous teachable moment as a distraction, planning for these moments in advance facilitates making the most of a moment to engage students who are already at a heightened state of attention and awareness." She suggests you have your students write a quickwrite about how the experience made them feel. Quickwrites require students to write for three to five minutes without stopping. If their inspiration stops and they don't know what to write, tell them to write the last word over and over again until inspiration hits them again. After the time limit is complete, have them read what they wrote silently and ask them to underline one or two phrases they consider most important. You can then have them share those highlights with the class. If you determine that this really sparked great interest, you can turn this into a larger assignment and have them write an essay, expanding what they started in class. Teachable moments provide us with a wonderful opportunity to use a sometime emotional moment to build class community and make lasting connections.
CAN YOU BLACKBOARD
The turnout was terrific for the two Blackboard workshop sessions on Thursday. It was extremely nice to see some of our new colleagues from the former CATC on the Mid City Campus. The feedback was great as well. Sandra Guzman, science, wrote, "My lab reports are going paperless!" Barbara Hasek, science, wrote, "The presentation was very helpful and I will start using the due date feature immediately." Jessie Hornbrook, liberal arts, wrote, "I am definitely using this now to grade my 50+ student writing assignments in all of my classes!" Angela Pursley, business and social sciences, wrote that she likes using the "student view of the grade center." Darnella Jackson, nursing and allied health, wrote that she appreciates "how easy it is to create a course in Blackboard." The next session of the Blackboard Series is just around the corner. Gradebook: It's Not Just for eLearning Classes will occur on Tuesday, October 8 with sessions for the two levels of learners. The 3:00 PM session is for beginners while the 4:00 PM session is for advanced users. You can register for this faculty professional development opportunity now.
ARE YOU FRIENDS WITH GRANDMA ON FACEBOOK
Barbara Fister's recent post on her blog raises some interesting questions about college writing instruction in the age of digital overload. She writes, "How do we prepare students for a world in which so much of their writing will be digital and published in a fluid, communal, multivocal space? How do we talk about the rhetorical issues of purpose, audience, argument, evidence, and tone when we aren’t limiting ourselves to certain academic forms of writing? As the Stanford Study of Writing has shown, students may be better at rhetorical moves than we think precisely because they have practiced them in digital spaces with real purposes and real audiences. But given the complexity of modern forms of public writing, what issues beyond the usual writing issues might be worth considering? Should we be talking about the difficulty of self-representation in a space with multiple audiences, including your friends, your future employer, and your grandmother? Should we talk about who owns our texts online and what platforms such as Goodreads and Facebook can do with our contributions? Should we talk about balancing free speech and civility with case studies of people behaving badly online?"
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
THE DAY THE WORLD STOPPED TURNING
For the past 11 years, we have commemorated of one of the most tragic of days in our nation's history. We join with people around the world who mourn the losses we incurred that horrific day. As educators it is certainly an opportunity to engage with our students about the events of that day. While it easy to imagine tackling this topic in history or political science, there are just as many opportunities to create a discussion in biology, English, or psychology. However you choose to approach it, I hope that you take some time today to honor the memories of all that lost their lives on September 11, 2001.
FREE WEBINAR OPPORTUNITY
There is still time to register for the free webinar How To Help Students Discover Their Ideal Learning Environment that will be held on Thursday, September 13 at 2:00PM. This webinar will focus on a new program being implemented at Colorado State University, called LifeTraits. This innovative 20-question assessment is designed to profile both students and staff to map their individual personalities to their ideal environments. Unlike other personality profiles, LifeTraits helps students express the needs and wants they seek in their surroundings and gives staff a vocabulary to aid in that approach.Some of the specific topics scheduled to be covered include: understanding which students are most likely to drop out and identifying behavior indicators prior to a stressful encounter; identifying the ideal environment/stressors based on student and staff personality; developing strategies for adapting to the environment to promote learning; and, using student personality data to better reach and communicate with students.
ONLINE COURSE REDESIGN TIPS
If you are looking to revise a current or create a new online course, we recommend Dr. Robin M. Smith's book Conquering the Content: A step-by-step guide to online course design (LB 1044.87 S617). Dr. Smith developed and directed the Center for Web-Based Learning at Southern Arkansas University Tech and was the first WebCT trainer in the South Central United States. Not only is her book filled with useful advice, she includes templates and forms that help guide you to create an online course of excellence. Each chapter begins with learning outcomes as she models the behavior she is championing. Levin, Cox, Cerven, and Haberler in their article The Recipe for Promising Practices in Community Colleges identify and examine the key practices of California community college programs that have demonstrated success in improving (or that have shown significant potential to improve) the achievement of underrepresented groups. They note, "Programs in our study were prepared to work with the students they served while addressing their surrounding social, geographic, and economic contexts. The college program with promising practices, often as a result of faculty behaviors, develops and maintains relationships with local communities, industries, institutions, and agencies."
For the past 11 years, we have commemorated of one of the most tragic of days in our nation's history. We join with people around the world who mourn the losses we incurred that horrific day. As educators it is certainly an opportunity to engage with our students about the events of that day. While it easy to imagine tackling this topic in history or political science, there are just as many opportunities to create a discussion in biology, English, or psychology. However you choose to approach it, I hope that you take some time today to honor the memories of all that lost their lives on September 11, 2001.
FREE WEBINAR OPPORTUNITY
There is still time to register for the free webinar How To Help Students Discover Their Ideal Learning Environment that will be held on Thursday, September 13 at 2:00PM. This webinar will focus on a new program being implemented at Colorado State University, called LifeTraits. This innovative 20-question assessment is designed to profile both students and staff to map their individual personalities to their ideal environments. Unlike other personality profiles, LifeTraits helps students express the needs and wants they seek in their surroundings and gives staff a vocabulary to aid in that approach.Some of the specific topics scheduled to be covered include: understanding which students are most likely to drop out and identifying behavior indicators prior to a stressful encounter; identifying the ideal environment/stressors based on student and staff personality; developing strategies for adapting to the environment to promote learning; and, using student personality data to better reach and communicate with students.
ONLINE COURSE REDESIGN TIPS
If you are looking to revise a current or create a new online course, we recommend Dr. Robin M. Smith's book Conquering the Content: A step-by-step guide to online course design (LB 1044.87 S617). Dr. Smith developed and directed the Center for Web-Based Learning at Southern Arkansas University Tech and was the first WebCT trainer in the South Central United States. Not only is her book filled with useful advice, she includes templates and forms that help guide you to create an online course of excellence. Each chapter begins with learning outcomes as she models the behavior she is championing. Levin, Cox, Cerven, and Haberler in their article The Recipe for Promising Practices in Community Colleges identify and examine the key practices of California community college programs that have demonstrated success in improving (or that have shown significant potential to improve) the achievement of underrepresented groups. They note, "Programs in our study were prepared to work with the students they served while addressing their surrounding social, geographic, and economic contexts. The college program with promising practices, often as a result of faculty behaviors, develops and maintains relationships with local communities, industries, institutions, and agencies."
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