Coming next...
December 3: “Diversifying Your Classroom Delivery Methods,” facilitated by Emily Dane and Alan Pogroszewski (Basil 206)
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Learning Circles PETAL sponsors a limited number of learning circles for faculty and those staff who have teaching responsibilities. Learning circles promote faculty development by bringing together small groups of faculty for one of two goals: In the first type of learning circle, one or two faculty members lead the group, acting as mentors for their colleagues. In the second type, one individual acts as a “first among equals,” facilitating group exploration of the chosen topic. The following Teaching and Learning Circles (TLCs) are part of an effort from PETAL to create venues for ongoing, outcome-oriented faculty development at St. John Fisher College. On October 12th Dr. Char Smith from the Wegmans School of Nursing is presenting the summer 2008 Clickers in the Classroom Learning Circle project at the Turning Technologies National User Conference, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Members of the Clickers in the Classroom Learning Circle were: Dr. Michael DeBisshop, WSOPh, Dr. Amy Parkhill, WSOPh, Dr. Chinwe Ikpeze, SOE, Dr. Aaron McGowan, Physics, Professor Michael Fedoryshyn, Bittner School of Business, and Dr. Richard O’Brocta, WSOPh. Teaching and Learning Circles for Summer 2009Communication Across the DisciplinesFacilitator: Miri Pardo, Department of Communication/Journalism If professional competency is important for our graduates, the ability to deliver effective presentations is paramount. Rare is the career where employees will not be called upon to deliver a speech, run a meeting, or field questions. This instructor-led learning circle will focus on the development of speaking assignments across disciplines with the ultimate goal of improving student presentational, public speaking, and communication skills. Because academic disciplines require different styles of presentations, an emphasis will be placed on developing activities appropriate to instructors’ fields. Topics will include:
How Can Undergraduate Programs Contribute to Student Success in Preparing for Graduate and Professional Entrance Exams?Facilitator: Theresa Westbay, Department of Biology Preparing students to be successful in graduate and professional schools are among the goals of Fisher’s undergraduate academic programs. The application process for graduate and professional schools generally involves completion of an entrance exam (e.g., Medical College Aptitude Test [MCAT], Graduate Record Exam [GRE]). In the Biology and Psychology Departments, we have noted that the performance of many of our students on these entrance exams falls short of expectations arising from students’ undergraduate academic records. We are therefore interested in investigating why this is the case and in exploring ways in which our undergraduate programs can facilitate student preparation for these exams. We intend to:
Team-Based Learning and WorkFacilitators: Jill Lavigne, Practice and Administration, Wegmans School of Pharmacy and Amy Parkhill, Sciences, Wegmans School of Pharmacy The US economy is increasingly based on team production, leading to fundamental changes in how economists value individual productivity in industries ranging from insurance to construction to fast food. Across industries and federal agencies ranging from NASA to the Veterans Administration, quality improvement initiatives such as Six Sigma emphasize high performance teams. In higher education, students are also often expected to work in teams. Yet, assignments may provide little information about how the team was selected, how it should function or why team production is integral to the assignment. To save time, students may split up work assignments, collating work into a single product. As a result, students are surprised when they are held accountable for other team members’ work, particularly when a single student’s plagiarism or poor performance results in a “zero” for the team. Specific questions that will be discussed include, but are not limited to:
Using Popularizations to Promote Learner-Centered TeachingFacilitator: Kristin Picardo, Department of Biology This learning circle is meant to explore the use of popular works not always immediately recognized as connected with our course material, i.e. fiction, poetry, artwork, news articles, etc., in an attempt to demonstrate to our students how the course work is intimately woven into their day-to-day lives with a broader goal of instilling the information literacy skills necessary for life-long learning. We will explore the use of popularizations to engage students in course material, demand application of content learned in the course, and attempt to ignite interest in the topics covered throughout the semester. Learning circle participants will study the relevant pedagogical literature on this topic as related to their disciplines, design a new/improve an existing course assignment to be field tested during the fall 2009 or spring 2010 semester with meaningful revision based on feedback from members of the learning circle, and collect data from implementation of the new assignment (through the assessment of student work and attitudes). Goals and Outcomes:
Videomaking in the ClassroomFacilitator: Todd Sodano, Department of Communication/Journalism Digital media production continues to be a democratizing mode of communication in twenty-first century academia. One particular method of production is video making. More disciplines outside of communication and journalism are using video as a pedagogical tool. Fisher students already have been assigned video projects in which they shoot and edit their own production. These projects can be more meaningful if the assigning faculty know more of these concepts, technologies, and techniques as well. This learning circle will explore how various disciplines at Fisher can use video. Programs in the humanities, social sciences, and physical sciences all might benefit. This learning circle will explore the far-reaching influences of digital media creation and education.
Teaching and Learning Circles for Summer 2008Clickers in the ClassroomFacilitators: Michael DeBisschop and Amy Parkhill, Wegmans School of Pharmacy Student response systems, or “clickers,” aim to promote student interest, engagement, and active learning in the classroom. Clickers have many potential pedagogical uses, including: assessing factual knowledge, gathering opinions, assessing problem solving skills, and promoting discussion. In addition, using clickers in the classroom allows for students to respond anonymously, get immediate feedback, and see how their classmates answered. The technology is relatively inexpensive, reliable, portable, and easy to use. Goals for this group exploration learning circle will be developed at the beginning of the program. However, some possible goals include the following:
Developing a Course Centered on Increasing Student Awareness of Career Options and Advanced Educational ProgramsFacilitator: Ed Freeman, Department of Biology This learning circle will guide faculty in developing a course centered on increasing student awareness of potential careers from any major as well as increasing student awareness of the requirements for admission to the advanced educational programs often necessary to pursue careers of interest. I have taught a student centered course with this theme for the previous three years for the Biology department (BIOL 349 – Junior Seminar). In this course students first choose careers and determine what they must do, prior to graduating from St. John Fisher College, to successfully gain admission to subsequent training programs (to prepare for those careers), or to successfully obtain employment. The BIOL 349 course can be easily modified to fit the structure of any academic discipline; the overall goal of the learning circle will be for participants to gain the tools necessary to establish their own unique versions of a career orientation course within their home departments. Themes and questions that will be discussed include:
Exploration and Examination of KnowingFacilitators: Michelle Erklenz-Watts, Kenneth Fasching-Varner, and James Wood, Ralph Wilson School of Education This learning circle will use self-reflection, cross-classroom critiques, and dialogue to examine and move beyond a singular positivist lens of knowledge. We would like the group to first deconstruct what is we, as instructors, know about knowledge (in general and specific to the courses we teach). We will then use that foundation to explore how students’ knowledge comes to be known. An essential question will be: can our students’ knowledge be known? Using this question as a catalyst, many philosophical, theoretical and pedagogical questions should be raised (e.g., How is knowledge created? What knowledge is fluid or static, or could it be both?) This learning circle will serve as a forum for such questions that will ultimately affect how we think about our own knowledge as well as our students. The overall goal of the learning circle will be to revisit, and perhaps revise, the structure and style of our courses. Mastery Learning and GradingFacilitator: Ryan Gantner, Department of Mathematical and Computing Science In this learning circle, we’ll explore the concept of mastery learning and grading, which describes a curriculum where students earn grades of “pass” or “fail” on a list of discrete topics. We will develop some background pertaining to what is known about the effects of a mastery learning system on students’ learning, retention, and engagement. Then we will spend much of the cycle identifying, addressing, and critiquing various logistical details on the implementation of such a system in a college course. In particular, we will seek to show how this might be used in a classroom, which disciplines and teaching styles are more conducive to this style of learning, and develop pointers for practical implementation. Finally, we will work together to design syllabi for fall courses which might be taught using these ideas. The facilitator will share his experiences with the topic, but does not consider himself an expert in the topic. Mentoring: More than Just A Welcome, Part IIFacilitators: Jim Seward, Department of Communication Journalism, and Alan Pogroszewski, Department of Sport Management This learning circle will focus on the practical implementation of a department or institutional-based faculty mentoring program. We will explore how to underwrite its costs, as well as a general format to the mentoring process. This will provide both the mentor and the faculty advisee the tools and support that will assist in providing the two a successful experience. We envision six separate sessions that will work as a springboard for departments to incorporate our findings and recommendations in implementing their own mentoring programs. Concepts that will be addressed are:
Teaching and Learning Circles for Summer 2007Copyright Laws and Course MaterialsCo-facilitators: Michael Gibbons, Melissa Jadlos While most faculty are aware that copyright laws exist, there seems to be some confusion or uncertainty about what is permissible when a faculty member copies chapters of a book or provides content on Blackboard. This practice of copying materials is made more complicated when faculty involve either the Library or Central Duplicating. This learning circle will explore copyright law and aim to educate faculty and staff about copyright law and the concept of “Fair Use.” Its significance to teaching lies in the importance of complying with Federal Laws. Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976 sets out factors that aid in the decision as to whether the use of a copyrighted material is protected under the concept of "fair use." While the "Fair Use" guidelines have never been easy to interpret, recent changes in higher education pedagogy, brought about by a myriad of digital technologies, have made a good-faith determination of "Fair Use" even more complex. For example, distance education programs and course management systems (e.g. Blackboard) support the electronic distribution of course content. However, the ease with which digitized content can be shared has caused great concern among content providers, such as publishers and the music and movie recording industries. This was seen most recently when the Association of American Publishers (ASAP) threatened a suit against Cornell University for its electronic reserve practices. The concept of "Fair Use" in a digital environment rests somewhere within the intersections of the Copyright Act of 1976, the 2002 TEACH Act, and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. This learning circle will examine these laws and explore some of the suggested best practices within higher education. Culturally Relevant Pedagogy/Culturally Responsive TeachingCo-facilitators: Gloria Jacobs, Literacy Education, and Kenneth Fasching-Varner, Education Culturally Responsive Teaching as well as Culturally Relevant Pedagogy are educational theories inherently focused on a commitment to collective empowerment. Gay defines culturally responsive teaching as using the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, and performance styles of diverse students to legitimize the cultural heritages of different ethnic groups whilst building meaningful experiences between home and school. Despite over 10 years in the parlance of education, Culturally Relevant theories of instruction are often misunderstood by educators, and are disconnected from the larger political, pedagogical, and legal traditions that culturally relevant theories derive from. Critical Race Theory in Education is one such tradition that culturally relevant theories of education ‘calls home.”
Using Educational TechnologyCo-facilitators: Jeremy Sarachan, Communications/Journalism, and Rebecca Tiffin, Math/Math Center The Educational Technology Learning Circle will cover some of the technologies available to faculty at St. John Fisher College and explore the effective ways to utilize them for pedagogical purposes. We will focus on the use of personal web pages and Blackboard, while discussing other options (i.e. Powerpoint, video). While we will discuss techniques, we will also focus on how these technologies can be used in order to create a more effective and student-centered classroom. Issues that will be discussed include:
Given that Blackboard and a web site may accomplish some similar functions, this learning circle will be an ideal forum for discussing the advantages and disadvantages of each technology. Mentoring: More Than Just A WelcomeGroup facilitators: Jim Seward, Communication/Journalism, and Alan Pogroszewski, Sports Studies This learning circle will ask participants to establish a set of questions of fact, value, and policy regarding the implementation of mentoring programs. Once the questions have been identified, the participants will research their responses and report back to the group. A final report will be issued, with PETAL being the means of distributing the report to the wider community. Based on our experiences with two previous PETAL presentations, we envision two
Grammar Across the DisciplinesCo-facilitators: Deborah Uman, English, and Deb VanderBilt, English Many studies have demonstrated that teaching grammar (in the way most baby-boomers remember learning it with worksheets full of comma splices and subject-verb disagreement to be ferreted out and corrected) simply does not work, and, in fact, increases the incidence of grammatical errors in student papers. This learning circle will focus on what the research shows does work to improve mechanics in student writing. Research shows this teaching must be done continuously from the first class students take to the last before they graduate, and it must happen in the major as well as in core courses. Effective teaching methods are not long hours spent on drills-and-skills, but methods that can be incorporated into a few minutes of any class. English departments alone –in English 101 as well as with colleagues across the disciplines who teach 199 courses— will never be able to fix this problem, so faculty who want to help improve this aspect of their students’ writing are welcome to join and explore what we can do in our own classrooms to be part of the solution. The learning circle will:
Teaching and Learning Circles for Spring 2006Web Design WorkshopFacilitator: Jeremy Sarachan Participants will learn information design and technical skill (using Macromedia Dreamweaver) to develop their own faculty or staff websites. We will examine existing sites to create a toolbox of ideas and learn how to compile and compress images, prepare files and folders, set up the server space, use style sheets for layout and text, and create links and navigation. Teaching and Learning Circles for 2003-2004The Role of Academic AdvisingFacilitator: Doug Howard This Teaching & Learning Circle will investigate the advising program at SJFC from a variety of different perspectives. Its interests will include the Freshmen advising program, advising for transfers, advising in the major, and graduate student advising. The group will study models of advising at other schools as it considers such issues as its effect on retention, the role of advising in salary, promotion, and tenure decisions, who should serve as student advisors, and how advising should support learning outcomes. The group will consider convening focus groups with targeted student populations and should seek to establish clear expectations and responsibilities of both advisors and students. Pursuing Grant OpportunitiesFacilitator: Tim Franz What potential external funding sources might be available to both individuals and the institution? How do we locate these sources? What type of timeline would we need to cultivate and solicit grants? What might be our priorities in the pursuit of grants and how would we go about establishing them? How do we spread the word internally about grant opportunities that exist? How do individuals and/or departments or programs go about writing grant proposals? Are there models or templates that we can locate? How can we coordinate faculty and staff to best work on grant proposals? These are some of the many questions that this group will consider in its exploration of grant opportunities – an area of current interest for many in the institution. Connecting Learning Outcomes in General Education to the MajorFacilitator: Deb Vanderbilt This Teaching & Learning Circle is designed to better define the relationship between courses in the major and courses in general education. In the current core, that relationship is often tenuous and not spelled out as strongly as it needs to be. This is especially a problem with the assessment of our general education program, which is non-existent with the current core, and which will need to be clearly defined within a revised core. Moreover, while the revised core proposes an assessment system for Tier One, the assessment for Tier Two remains distinctly open and to be determined. This Teaching & Learning Circle will go a long way toward constructing an effective assessment system that is connected to clearly articulated learning outcomes for both general education and the majors. As the Core Revision Committee writes in their recent proposal, “Middle States distinguishes between assessment on three levels – the institutional level, the program level, and the individual course level. The assessment of general education occurs on all three levels.” In defining learning outcomes in all three levels and then constructing an assessment system to determine the level of effectiveness, this Teaching & Learning Circle will play a powerful role in instituting rigorous change. Using Writing as a Tool for Teaching Content and/or Enhancing Interdisciplinary ConnectionsFacilitator: Theresa Nicolay This learning circle will explore the various ways writing can be used to enhance course content, improve learning, and make interdisciplinary connections to other courses, disciplines and/or life experiences. This circle is open to any educator interested in incorporating writing as a tool for learning into their course. Teaching and Learning Circles for 2002-2003Information Technology and Information LiteracyCo-facilitators: Lori Wagoner and Greg Austin The participants in this circle will work together to develop a better understanding of the state of technology use in higher education and how it can best be blended with more traditional and face-to-face classroom experiences. Building on the groundwork outlined in the Information Technology and Information Literacy Team's (ITILT) White Paper, and on the skills incorporated in the objectives of the Freshman Learning Community and Freshman Seminar classes, this group will consider ways to integrate the use of resource-based learning situations where students are responsible for gathering, evaluating, and presenting appropriate information-into the educational environment at Fisher. A tiered approach toward skill acquisition and implementation will be explored, where student abilities will ideally become progressively advanced in the utilization of technologies to locate and manipulate data and then to create an intellectual product. The group will collect and review materials to be included into a "Best of ..." archive to be made available electronically and which will include best practices, research findings, instructional suggestions, and other materials. The members will also consider and recommend types of support that could be provided to assist faculty in the assessment and promotion of student learning, especially in technology-enhanced environments.
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