TLC: Lessons learned

The Intercultural Communication Institute

2009-06-26T09:09:00.009-04:00

This institute is held annually to increase intercultural understanding, and reduce conflict among different cultures. The most significant workshops related to cultural competence, film, conflict styles, and social justice relating to intercultural communication and relations. These particular sessions highlighted the need to consider intercultural concepts and models of instructional design to enhance cultural learning across disciplines. One workshop I attended related to intercultural conflict styles, which introduced participants to the Intercultural Conflict Styles Inventory (ICS). The workshop discussed various intercultural styles of dealing with conflict and explained the inventory. This instrument is designed to focus on how we communicate during conflict circumstances. Participants took the inventory and identified their cultural prototype. The session also offered strategies for successfully managing intercultural conflict.
Another important workshop linked social justice, intercultural relations, and intercultural communication in the global context. The session allowed participants to apply a theoretical approach to the complexities of globalizations across various disciplines and for community organizers.The next workshop I attended highlighted the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS). It focuses on the stages that people move through in their acquisition of intercultural competence. This workshop focused on intercultural theory and its applications for educators, trainers, consultants, and non-profit employees. It provided a theoretical underpinning for many of the workshops presented during the institute. The presenter then discussed the development through the ethnocentric stage (denial, defense, minimization) and through ethnorelative stages (acceptance, adaptation, integration). And finally, I attended a session on film-based approaches for intercultural education. With a variety of film clips, this interactive session explored sequencing films and facilitating discussions in a manner most likely to improve multicultural understanding and intercultural competence. The facilitators applied the (DMIS) model to film selection and analysis. They explained how the power of film can transform attitudes and the way people view the world. Facilitators encouraged participants to consider the following when selecting films: (1) Do I show the entire film? (2) How do I deconstruct the film so it is not taken out of context? (3) How do I set the film up? (4)What type of pre-context assignment should I give to students to help them be prepared to move more quickly along the various levels of the model? (5) What films take students across a great divide culturally? (6) What films explore deeper cultural context and does not perpetuate stereotypes? (7) What films challenges their belief systems yet help them develop interculturally? (8) Did I leave enough time to the process the film with my students? (9) Which stage in the DMIS model are my students currently experiencing? (10) Does this film help them progress to a higher stage in the (DMIS) model?

*Listed below are just a few of the suggested films for cross-cultural learning developed by the workshop presenters and the class:

Classics Old And New

Chairy Tale
Not In Our Town
A Class Divided/The Essential
Cold Water
The Way Home
True Colors
Tale of/Land of O's (Update)
Guess Whose Coming to Dinner
Blue Eyed
Ethnic Notions
Skin Deep
Powers of Ten

International

Kandahar (Afghanstan)
Himalya (Nepal)
Heaven and Earth (Vietnam)
Heart of the Dragon (China 12-part)
Ghandi (India)
Frida (Mexico
Dersu Uzala (Russia)
Search for the Afghan Girl (National Geographic)
Schindler's List (Germany)
Skyline (Spain)
Tompopo (Japan)
Three Seasons (Vietnam)
The Way Home (Korea)
Whale Rider (New Zealand)
Crying Game (Ireland)
Cry Freedom (South Africa)
City of Joy (India)
Heaven (Iran)
Chariots of Fire (England)

Domestic USA - African American

Amistad
A Raisin In The Sun
Boyz N The Hood
Color Purple
Do The Right Thing
Eyes On The Prize I and II
White Man's Burden
Crash (highlights several ethnic groups)
Fried Green Tomatoes
Glory
Ghosts Of Mississippi
Grand Canyon
Hoop Dreams

Domestic USA - Asian

Come See The Paradise
Daughter from Danag (PBS)
Dim Sum
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
Double Happiness (Canada)
Eat a Bowl of Tea
American Game Japanese Rules
Becoming American
Blue Collar Buddha
Carved in Silence
Great Wall
Green Dragon
Joy Luck Club
Karate Kid
Picture Bride

Domestic USA - Latino/Hispanic

Real Women Have Curves
Selena
Spanglish
Stand and Deliver
Tortilla Shop
West Side Story
Chicano! (4 part)
El Norte
Fools Rush In
La Bamba
Lone Star
Mi Familia/My Family

Domestic USA - Native American

Black Robe (Canada)
Dance Me Outside (Canada)
Dances With Wolves
Fast Runner

* I invite each of you to add films for cross-cultural learning.

2009 Aging In America Conference

2009-06-17T12:52:00.008-04:00

The Aging in America Conference is sponsored by the American Society on Aging and the National Council on Aging. This conference is held annually to demonstrate the best practices in education, professional development, research and businesses in the field of aging. The conference this year emphasized some best practices in a variety of areas; however I was most interested in information related to intergenerational exchange, the life course, health & wellness and women.

I attended health related workshops on training professionals and maintaining health & wellness. These workshops highlighted the need to appropriately train professionals and students working with older adults. There were concrete exercises and illustrations to demonstrated and provide an understanding of the significance of healthy living on the life course and older adults' choices. Some of these exercises could easily be incorporated into the classroom. For example in one workshop, one exercise illustrated the difficulty of decision making for older adults by providing a list of essential items for daily living and then giving specific circumstances by which items might be crossed off the list. For instance, the list may be a budget including prescriptions, produce, gas, co-pay for doctor's visits, etc. As an exercise, you would need to under specified circumstances that limited income or related to health prioritize the items on your list. In many instances, items may need to be removed from the list. This type of exercise could easily be altered and adapted to aging courses at all levels.

Another workshop attended related to incorporating technology and women's issues by accessing websites and agencies housing aging statistics and linking that to both in-class and online course materials. This would provide learning materials that are not only up-to-date but it would also allow students to concretely see how to link credible online source material with text and lecture information. Additionally, this workshop provided some ideas on classroom blogs and discussion board materials to enhance learning of age related concepts at all levels.

There were other workshops that demonstrated the best practices in business and clinical settings. These provided some useful information on how to help better train students for the field of aging. Health professionals and business owners discussed the need to train and educate a more compotent aging service provider. There were illustrations of program training that demonstrate where the field is going and what students will need to know. For instance, there were policy discussions in relation to health care reform and long term care that provided concrete examples of how to help professionals and students better understand the application in real world scenarios. This discussion also demonstrated the need to seek out internship and practicum opportunities with agencies and businesses representing the best in the field and local area.

While at the conference, I also gave a presentation on a collaborative senior level learning assessment that would require gerontology and music majors to work together to create a music learning program for older adults. The interactive audience provided valuable feedback on what types of activities might be most useful for both students and older adults. Additionally, suggestions for implementation and curriculum development were provided. The presentation undoubtedly will lead to the develpment of a better learning experience for students and will enhance the potential partnership between the music and gerontology programs.

Overall, this conference was really beneficial. Unlike more academically focused conferences, this conference brought together professionals, educators and business owners in a venue that allowed for useful exchange. In order to succesfully educate students to succeed in the field of aging, it is important to keep up with what is going on in all sectors of the field. Therefore, this conference by demonstrating the best practices in health, education, business and research provides numerous teaching and learning opportunities and other vital information.

Teaching and Learning at SECOLAS

2009-05-13T14:29:00.004-04:00

Thanks to the generous support of CETL, supplemented by personal funds, I was able to attend and present at the 56th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Council of Latin American Studies (SECOLAS) in New Orleans, Louisiana, on April 16-18, 2009. For a long time, I have been active in this organization, which brings together a wonderfully collegial group of scholars from the Southeast, provides a venue for a broad range of presentations, and is notable for nurturing both graduate and undergraduate student professional development. In the past, there have been one or two panels in which established and senior faculty share their best practices and materials for teaching Latin American and Caribbean Studies. There are also usually professional development panels on, for example, managing study abroad. This year, whereas there were panels on study abroad and publishing (which I attended), there was no pedagogical session as such. The panel on which I was placed and was asked to chair was titled “Teaching and Learning about Race in Latin America.” The panel presentations were three: “The Construction of Racial Categories in Latin America,” by Ivan Valverde, PhD candidate at the University of Florida; “The True Color of Crisis: Representations of Race in Veja Magazine, 1976 – 2000,” by Nicolette Wilhide, PhD candidate at Vanderbilt University; and my own, “Sharing the Riches of Afro-Brazilian History and Culture at HBCUs and Beyond.”

Mr. Valverde’s presentation was a very useful synthesis of the outcomes of “race” formation and racial projects in Spanish America, and his Power Point show would be usable and accessible in an undergraduate course. Ms. Wilhide’s presentation was from her promising work on representations of Brazilians of African descent in Brazil’s most widely read news weekly. This is difficult ground to tread because, in the last two decades, media representation and presence of Afro-Brazilians has received excellent attention from Brazilian and some non-Brazilian scholars. Yet, Ms. Wilhide stands to make useful contributions to the debate. For one student and, I think, for both, this was the first conference presentation, so this actually turned into a mentoring experience for me. Both were professional in every way, and it was a privilege to assist in their “maiden voyage.”

My presentation drew on my experience over about seventeen years, including here at WSSU in the teaching of Afro-Brazilian studies. My goal is to update the 2002 work of my colleague John D. French, whose “Sharing the Riches of Afro-Brazilian History and Culture: Undergraduate and Graduate Teaching Syllabi and Handouts” responded to growing curricular demands that paralleled, though lagged behind, the explosion of scholarship on Afro-Brazilian studies published in English since about 1993. That year, there were two crucial conferences on the topic in the United States at the University of Florida and the University of Texas. Then, in 1997, the V Congresso Afro-Brasileiro took place in Salvador, Brazil. The international scope of these meetings helped set the transnational terms of debate and the research agendas for the coming years. My presentation recapped the fruit of this scholarship up to the present, showed how one can map that content onto several sorts of Brazilian and Diasporic studies courses (on course mapping, see http://academics.georgiasouthern.edu/cet/workshops/mapping/index.htm), demonstrated how to align those courses with institutional goals, and, finally, ended with some perspectives on where the field is headed: There is ongoing binational federal support for program development. We hope that the FIPSE/CAPES US-Brazil Higher Education Consortia Program continues with US Department of Education funding. There is also a new initiative taking shape, with is the Joint Action Plan between the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil and the Government of the United States of America to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Discrimination and Promote Equality (JAPER). The plan’s MOU was signed in March 2008 between the US State Department and SEPPIR, the Brazilian federal antidiscrimination secretariat. By creating a civil society committee operating parallel to the government agency committee, the plan seeks to foster academic and NGO activity. We will see if (a) autonomy of the civil society committee can be maintained, (b) what the nature of collaboration among academic and activist/service organizations will look like, and (c) what scholarly and training activity, among other outcomes, grows out of the plan.

My presentation also discussed my Web-based project to build a community of and for teachers of Afro-Brazilian Studies. I had delayed posting this blog entry because I had hoped to populate and publicize this online community, and announce details here. However, I am only now having time to meet with Dr. Galvis at CETL for how to make the best use of Ning as an academic networking site. Soon, I expect to post all of my materials on Afro-Brazilian studies not published elsewhere and invite colleagues in the filed to so the same. I will announce the launch on this blog later.

A lively discussion with the audience ensued, including definitions and references of terms. Parenthetically, the term “Afro-Brazilian” is used in this field as a translation of the Portuguese afro-brasileiro for a range of reasons. “African Brazilian” does not resonate and is not used by either scholars or activists. Indeed, africano brasileiro or brasileiro africano would have other denotations in Portuguese. Alternate terms used by academics, activists, and the press include "African-descended / African descendent" (afrodescendente) or "Black" (negro).

From the other sessions that I attended, I got some good activity ideas from a short-term art history course in Mexico (“Study Abroad and Service Learning: Christopher Newport University and Mexico City,” Dr Elizabeth Morán, CNU). The ideas, which included basically a scavenger hunt and scrap book, are well suited for culture courses or academically-oriented tours in-country. This is an idea that can be incorporated into the Brazil exchange if we are fortunate enough to get another cycle of FIPSE funding. Since the theme of the conference was “Crisis and Recovery in the Americas,” so it was appropriate that there was a panel on post-Katrina recovery. The whole panel was excellent, but the pedagogical “take-away” from the panel was information about service-learning opportunities coordinated by Tulane but open to students everywhere. Information is available at Tulane’s Center for Public Service, http://tulane.edu/cps/ (“Post-Katrina Migration to New Orleans and Service-Learning Initiatives at Tulane,” Dr. Jimmy Huck, Tulane University).

Finally, I always feel that the local arrangements chair and staff deserve thanks for putting on any conference that I attend because it is exceedingly hard work. In this case, Dr. Jimmy Huck of Tulane and his team of staff and students deserve hearty praise. The SECOLAS Web site is http://www.southalabama.edu/secolas/.

Understanding how speakers use language

2009-05-08T11:30:00.001-04:00

I attended the Annual African Conference on African Linguistics (ACAL) between April 8th and 12th. This is a conference that brings together scholars who focus on African linguistics including the teaching and the acquisition of African languages. I presented two papers: the first paper which was co-presented with colleagues from the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign was on phonological borrowing from the English language into Logooli, an African language spoken in East Africa and the other paper was on the languages that the youths use in the rural and urban centers of Kenya. In my first paper I sought to find out what phonological rules the borrowed lexical items follow. Do they adapt to the target language phonological roles or do they impose their rules on the recipient language? The findings show that for the most part the tonal pattern rules of the receiving language takes over. However, there are still other cases which show opposite results.
In my second paper I examined language use among the youths in both urban and rural areas of Kenya arguing that language use among the youths is very dynamic. I showed that speakers’ perceptions on language use do not necessarily mirror the true language use. However, in order to fully understand the discrepancies one needs to examine other variables such as the topic, relationship between the speakers and other extra linguistic factors through a mixed methods approach.
I also attended several other sessions which focused on how students in American classes learn foreign languages. One paper by a participant from Michigan State University discussed how students whose first language uses the grammatical gender system have a problem learning foreign languages which use the noun class system. This was an important paper for me because it focused on Swahili which I teach at WSSU.

Increasing Student Engagement

2009-04-21T09:53:00.009-04:00

Notes from The International Conference on College Teaching and Learning in Jacksonville, Florida, April 13-17, 2009, by Joanne Chesley, Ed.D., CETL.

I attended several sessions related to student engagement/ student retention. Here is a summary of what I learned from the studies presented (which I will cite/detail upon request):

Student satisfaction impacts retention, even if it does not impact grades.
Students need deep integrative learning that they can apply to many situations. They need learning that helps them see the world differently.
To get a good picture of what high student engagement should look like, we should study 'educationally effective institutions' to discern the 7 best practices; 1) student faculty interaction 2) active learning 3)immediate feedback 4) time on task 5) high expectations 6) respect for diversity 7)enforced cooperation (can be achieved via team based /problem based learning).
The university should participate in one of the major satisfaction survey processes such as NSSE, National Survey of Student Engagement. These will let you know how engaged your students are in the academic life of the university as well as the social life. Only 13% of college students report participation in extracurricular activities. The more engaged, the better the student's grades. The more satisfied generally, the more they stay to graduation.
Students persist to graduation when they have: 1) excellent 1st year experience courses 2) common intellectual experiences 3)learning communities 4) writing intensive courses and 5) effective relationships with faculty/mentors. These are called high impact practices. These practices force interaction with peers and faculty, ensure more feedback from professors, encourage appreciation for diversity, encourage cooperation, and ensure the opportunity to have concrete experiences (vs. theoretical, nebulous, extraneous). These practices have an even greater effect on students who are considered to have high risk factors (for dropout).
At many universities, 10-15% of the enrolled students drop between registration and census date (10days into the semester). We should try to find out what this is all about. This may indicate something about the environment or the red tape they have been through, or the fear they are beginning to feel. Some of these same feelings will remain among those who choose to stay, but may continue to impact them negatively. Focus groups held with students who did quit prematurely report that relationships /rapport is the biggest factor missing in their early experiences on campus.
Successful completion (C or better) of well-structured developmental courses contributes to greater college success than that experienced by those who did not even take developmental courses.
Universities must experiment with a wide range of initiatives based on varying retention factors, in an effort to find what works. Some say that anything else equals malpractice. Refusing to change our teaching habits, curriculum assessments, and resources should not be an option.
The teaching practice most connected to student persistence is immediate and meaningful feedback to student work.

I also attended sessions on Team Based Learning, Client Based Learning, the Pedagogy to Androgogy continuum, and Using I-clickers for engagement, feedback and assessment.
I have tape recordings of most of these sessions, and will loan them at your request. I also have the compendium of selected conference papers that you may borrow as well.

US Youth Soccer Association Conference

2009-04-14T14:15:00.004-04:00

I recently attended and presented at the United States Youth Soccer Association (USYSA) Conference in San Jose, California. At this conference there are two types of presentations, one deals with new coaching techniques, and the other sessions deal with marketing and management issues about the sport industry in general.

I attended several coaching sessions out of curiosity, but did attend several administrative sessions as well. Yet, the most beneficial sessions I attended dealt with new marketing strategies that could help me improve my teaching and knowledge of that field, and bring it back to the classroom and to my students.

One of the sessions covered the importance of catchy phrases or slogans in order to create a marketing campaign. During the session the value of Nike’s “Just do it” campaign was analyzed and explained as to why it has been successful. After it was analyzed, it was compared to the different slogans and campaigns used by one of its competitors - Reebok - over the years, and why it has not succeeded as expected. This is important when students ask in the classroom for more concrete and practical examples, rather than just theoretical answers.

Another session I found interesting dealt with information technology and how it can be used in order to provide a better product or service to a consumer, it dealt mostly with what the presenter called “operational excellence”, and how organizations as well as teachers must be willing to change and adapt in order to create/develop a competitive advantage, or to simply stay ahead of the competition.

I attended several presentations, but overall the most important issues I learned that I can bring to the classroom are:

· Make learning fun and enjoyable
· Develop self esteem in each student
· Motivate the student to attain and achieve excellence
· Develop a desire for lifetime curiosity and learning
· Develop leadership skills
· Instill self-responsibility

My presentation itself deal with how important it is to integrate different target markets, in particular Hispanics, and how their culture and background is important to know when trying to reach and to educate them.

In short, this conference was indeed a worthwhile event for me to attend, and was grateful to have learned many aspects of the sport industry that can be brought to the classroom, and at the same time be put to practical use.

Southern Organization for Human Services

2009-04-13T10:52:00.003-04:00

I had the opportunity to attend the Southern Organization for Human Services (SOHS) 34th annual conference from March 25-28, 2009 in Tampa, Fl. SOHS is an organization devoted to helping educators and students in human service related fields increase visibility and hone their professional skills. This year's conference theme, New and Emerging Issues in Human Services, seemed very timely given the changes our Nation is going through currently. As president of this organization, I also had an opportunity to learn first hand some lessons in leadership. In addition, 7 students from WSSU attended, and 5 were able to present.

I have always viewed conferences as such an unique opportunity for students to learn about their field, network, and learn professionalism that cannot be taught in the classroom. As such, since I knew I would be attending the conference, I encouraged several students to consider attending. They went one step further and decided they wanted to present. I was thrilled, as this presented another teachable opportunity: what is a call for proposals; how to submit one; researching your idea; working collaboratively on your presentation; and finally, presenting in front of your professional peers. We had two proposals accepted. One on Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) (faculty lead of Dr. David Dawson), and one on the use of technology in teaching and learning (faculty lead-Shawn Ricks).

We spent several months preparing our research and fundraising for the conference. Both presentations were very well attended and well received. All of the students representing WSSU attended all breakouts and general sessions. They even had the opportunity to go to the University of South Florida to discuss Graduate school options.

The TBI presentation covered the longterm ramifications of Traumatice Brain Injury on veterans of war. The two student co-presenters presented their research along with Dr. David Dawson from WSSU. At the end of their presentation, they were encouraged to submit an abstract to the National Organization for Human Services' journal for publication!

The students and I also participated in a service learning project with a local head-start agency. The project tied in conference themes of pre-K education and community service. As an organizaton, we went to a headstart agency with a donated book for each child. While some students read to the children, others painted and planted flowers out back. The children were thrilled to have company and asked many questions during the stories and while working alongside the students and faculty that attended. For those of us who participated, it reminded us that we typically know very little about a community when we visit it for a conference. We were in the field actually doing what we were talking about in the field. It was the ultimate service learning project in my opinion. The feedback was unanimous--this was a pivotal experience for those that attended and everyone requested that we duplicate this experience at next year's conference.

Our recent conference experience reminded us of the many avenues in which transformational educational experiences occur. I am grateful for CETL's support and look forward to future chances to learn alongside my students.

GeographyConference - Las Vegas

2009-03-26T15:30:00.005-04:00

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the 2009 American Association of Geographers (AAG) Annual Conference in Las Vegas, NV. The conference included more than 6,000 geographers from around the world and is a mix of presentations on cutting edge academic research and sessions on best practices for teaching and learning.

I was able to participate in both aspects of the conference by organizing a session/presenting some of my research on local government boundary change and attending several session dedicated to teaching and learning. My session on boundary change was well received and included an opportunity for questions and answers that generate a lot of interesting discussion. Additionally, I was approached by a representative from the Planners Press to discuss publishing my work. This unique opportunity would not have presented itself if I didn't attend the conference. The funding that I received though CETL made this possibility and reality.

The teaching and learning sessions that I attended focused on a variety of topics. The one session that I took the most away from was focused on making geography come alive for students. The session highlight many new technologies that are available for use in the classroom and also discussed the use of relevant DVD's. Today's students are so interactive we can not just lecture and expect them to learn all they need to know. Students want to see, hear and feel the topics. So incorporating DVD's, the internet, and assignments that take the student outside the classroom are all important. Geography is all around us and part of our everyday life (whether we realize it or not) so it is important to provide real-world examples that students can connect with.

TLC San Antonio

2009-03-25T12:19:00.009-04:00

I had the pleasure of attending and presenting at the Teaching and Learning conference in San Antonio, Texas. This conference is actually two events in one: One strand is for higher education and the other for business. Although these two disciplinary areas seem different, I found sessions in both areas that were beneficial to my academic practice. For example, use of the Socratic method in teaching the problem-solving and decision-making process was presented in the business strand, but I found it useful for one of the courses that I currently teach.

Essentially, that presentation proposed that students can be taught how to use the Socratic method to stimulate critical thinking and better decision-making in group situations. Students could use questions to:

Ask an individual to provide instances or justifications for the position advocated
Interject a counter-example in response to an individual’s position or point
Ask whether anyone in the group agrees with the position advocated
Suggest a parallel example
Illuminate a specific concept or position using an analogy
Play the role of devil’s advocate to an articulated position

In my own teaching experience, I have found that students sometimes feel frustrated when I (as the instructor) respond to their questions with more questions. I believe this is because students often want "just the answers" rather than having to think critically beyond the facts. Perhaps teaching them hows and whys of the Socratic method and actually having them implement it would motivate them to think more and be less resistant to questioning. I am looking forward to trying this out next semester.

Another session that I found useful was on Collaborative Learning. Specifically, it addressed the problems involved with group projects. The presenters offered the following suggestions for improving the group process:

Give students specific group management role and responsibilities, such as manager, encourager, cheerleader, coach, question commander, checker, or taskmaster.
Give each member of the team a different, interdependent research and problem-solving role. This can ensure that students work together rather than in parallel.
The instructor needs to have input into how the groups are formed; sometimes best friends make poor group members.
Low-ability students often benefit most when paired with medium-ability students rather than those of highest ability.
Train students in interpersonal communication skills ahead of time so that they know what behavior is expected of the group and require discussion of group functioning, focusing on how students should talk and listen to each other.
Consider assessment strategies carefully, looking for ways to reward the group while also emphasizing individual accountability. Avoid giving the entire group one grade.

Each semester, I teach a senior level research methods course that has a group project as a significant component. Effectiveness of the group process varies widely, as you can imagine. Some semesters, I have groups that function extremely well. Others can be experiences in great frustration. I have constantly looked for ways to improve the group process, and have resisted the temptation to eliminate the group aspect of the project. I sincerely believe that students should possess good groupwork skills by the time they graduate from a university. I have already implemented some of the techniques that were presented. For example, I have all group members submit a peer evaluation that helps me to find out who did what (and who did not do what). Part of a student's grade is based on her/his individual performance in the group. I found the concept of pairing low-ability students with medium-ability students (rather than high-ability) intriguing, and I now understand the rationale. Low-ability students often get lost when working with high-ability students, whereas medium-ability students motivate them to function at a higher level. Up to this point, I have let students choose their own groups, so I have had no control over how well the individuals are matched up. I will try to assign groups in the future based on the suggestions given and see what happens.

I attended several other sessions that provided useful information and tools for my teaching. Some, such as one on using PowerPoint games to develop vocabulary skills helped me to think of different ways to utilize familiar technology. Others, such as ones on leadership models and skills were useful for updating content in some of my courses.

I did make a presentation at the conference: "Knowledge about HIV/AIDS and resulting student behavior among students at an Historically Black College/University". It was well received, and fortunately, I was not asked any questions that I could not answer. The study looked at the level of of knowledge about HIV/AIDS among students, the differences in the accuracy of that knowledge by gener, and the relationship between knowledge and behavior. What we (myself and three other authors) found was that although students had a high level of knowledge (more accurate for women than for men), their behviors did not reflect that. Students practice high risk behaviors in spite of the fact that they know better. Our suggestions were to focus more on teaching about the consequences of high-risk behavior rather than just the factual information about the disease. We also felt that the role of the campus environment in encouraging high-risk behaviors needs to be investigated. We recommended that qualitative studies through focus goups be the preferred inquiry method for these investigations. I do not wish to delve further into the content of the study here, but if anyone is interested, you can contact me for more information.

Overall, this conference was a very worthwhile event, and I came back with much to think about and put into practice.

Himanshu

TL Conference

2009-03-25T10:34:00.003-04:00

I attended the TL Conference in Greensboro, NC and had the opportunity to present. The conference was very worth my time. I have already implemented some of the teaching strategies presented in one of the presentations. It came off as a blast! This was a wonderful opportunity.

Wanda Lawrence
WSSU, Division of Nursing

Reflections on Lilly Conference Presentation

2009-03-17T15:11:00.002-04:00

It was Friday afternoon at the Lilly Conference, which was held adjacent to a major mall. I thought that several of would-be conference attendees would take a long lunch or early dinner over in the mall. Each session time had about twelve or more presenters. So I was pretty blown away to see thirty-five faces staring back at me during my presentation in Greensboro last month. My subject dealt with preparing faculty to stay abreast with technology and how we "baby-boomers" are struggling to keep pace with our millennial college students, who use technology as easily as we used to use typewriters. Now theres a word you don't see often any more. As I looked out into the audience, I determined that most of the attendees in my session were boomers with a few youngsters (early thirties) sprinkled in. The sheer number of attendees was an indicator to me that a significant portion of our post-secondary faculty still struggle to keep pace with the technological developments that are now beginning to "wag the dog."

It has always been my contention that technology should be used to enhance our instructional delivery. Now-a-days, it appears that technology is driving the instruction. How do we prepare faculty to adequately navigate the latest technologies for instruction? The plethora of ancillary duties our faculty are strapped with beside their teaching load, committee work, advising and keeping up with the research in their content areas; finds the faculty member hard-pressed to do more.

There should be technology-on-demand sessions; where faculty sitting at their office desks can link to to teach themselves the latest technology and have guided and independent practice sessions. Help should be readily available from the technology staff, not just during normal business hours because most faculty work is done after hours on research and tinkering with the latest tech. tools. Adequate infrastructure is a necessity. Have all faculty been equipped with the soft and hardware to accomplish higher-level functioning with techno-platforms? What is the commitment of institutions of higher learning to prepare faculty; and also to monitor and then acknowledge in meaningful ways their progress and competency in learning new technologies? I had great interraction with the audience as I posed basic questions to them about how they are prepared to navigate technology waters at their institutions. It was good to know that many faculty are trying to get onboard with technology. Now the universities must do their part! Griff

Lilly Conference 2009 and the LERN Assessment Conference

2009-03-16T15:47:00.003-04:00

I am very grateful to both Dr. Cynthia Bell and my colleagues Drs. Coco-Ripp, Bradford, and Lawrence for including me in their panel on Action Research, as well as to the CETL office for financing our participation in the 2009 Lilly Conference. Since my degree is not in education, I have been trying to take advantage of the opportunities I've had for professional development, and I feel I have benefitted a great deal from my experiences with LERN, GOAL, the Action Research project, the OK Fellows, and the new write-to-learn project. I am particularly grateful to my colleagues in this case, as I have had a pair of unusually hectic and demanding semesters, and I was not able to contribute a great deal to the panel's preparatory work, or even see much of the conference.

While my Action Research project was personally very enlightening, I was a little anxious to see how it would hold up at the conference, as the attendees were sure to have broader experience in the field and a more sophisticated understanding of the process I had studied than I did myself. Our panel was well-received, however, and my personal feedback was generally positive. I was especially happy for the opportunity to "talk shop" with my colleague in theory and aural skills at Appalachian State. She has been involved in a very interesting study using Tablet PC's for dictation tasks, and I look forward to her presentation at the end of the week at the College Music Society's Mid-Atlantic Chapter Meeting, which I'll be attending.

I had hoped also to participate in the LERN online conference on multiple assessments during the first week of March, particularly since that has been the focus of my work in the current semester. I was informed, however, the institutional membership had lapsed, and, while I tried to see about to renewing it in time for the conference, this did not turn out to be feasible. I have enjoyed the LERN conferences in the past, but I understand that financial restrictions are becoming very tight, and it would certainly not be reasonable to renew the institutional membership for just one faculty member. I hope that in better times we can not only renew the membership, but also get more faculty involved in the LERN activities. I am particularly attracted to them since they're online and asynchronous. This allows me to listen to the lectures and participate in the discussions according to my schedule, as well as to pause and replay lectures to make sure I have understood all the important points. While many of the topics are intended for distance learning programs, there is a weatlh of useful material for face-to-face classes as well.

Once again I am grateful to my colleagues and coaches for the opportunity to participate in the many professional development programs here at WSSU, and particularly for my involvement in the 2009 Lilly Conference. I was impressed by the conference, and having had a positive experience, I'll certainly be interested in attending next year.

Lilly Conference 2009

2009-03-16T15:09:00.005-04:00

My presentation (Improving the Critical Thinking Skills of Psychology Students) was on Friday night at 5:45p. I think it was a decent crowd for a Friday night! The presentation went well, and there was some really good discussion afterwards about ways to help facilitate these skills with students in various disciplines. There were a number of faculty members present who indicated that critical thinking and writing skills are the two biggest barriers within their classrooms. I shared some of my techniques ("Dear Doc," Small group discussions, media integration) and those in attendance did the same.

On Satuday, two sessions that were particularly engaging were the "Hip-Hop as Critical Pedagogy" and "Service-Learning in the Social Sciences." The first session was interesting because it was very hands-on and exciting. Although I feel as if I already use hip-hop as a way to connect certain concepts together in psychology, it was good to discuss new ways to do that. The second session was very interesting because it was a step-by-step instructional session on how to develop, implement, and evaluate service learning projects. I am familiar with how to do them from the organizational standpoint, but wasn't as comfortable coming at it from the academic side.

Overall, I had a great time at Lilly (as usual). The food is always great!

Language and Culture for International Business Workshop

2009-03-16T14:31:00.003-04:00

I participated in a three day workshop on Language and Culture for International Business. The goal of the workshop was to help participants to understand the relationship that exists between foreign languages and international business. This was a very informative workshop where foreign language teachers from different institutions in the United States gathered to learn on how to create business language curricula that are geared toward making business students interested in international business degrees succeed in their internships and later careers.

The importance of structuring our syllabi to accommodate business and for business departments to collaborate with foreign language departments was particularly made clear in the two key presentations by Dr. Keida of the University of Memphis and Dr. Doyle of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In his presentation titled “International Business and Developing a Global Mindset.” Dr. Keida underscored the importance of understanding how the world is changing and the need for the USA to find ways to make their economic presence felt in other parts of the world. He noted that there are emerging economies such as China and India that are already playing a major role in the current global economy. Because countries such as China and other Asian countries are able to produce quality products in large quantities, it is important for the USA to consider not only quality but how affordable such products will be for the consumer. In his presentation Michael Doyle observed that knowing the language of your potential consumer is an important asset.

Within language specific workshops, we were challenged to focus constructing syllabi and programs that can prepare business majors to know how to deal with investors by introducing cultural as well as the language of the clients which is not always English. In fact, it was very clear from this workshop, that it is erroneous to presume that English is spoken and used everywhere in the world. Knowledge of a foreign language allows individuals to communicate effectively.

Finally, I also enjoyed the financial opportunities for foreign language instructors that the workshop availed to me. Such funding opportunities can be realized if foreign language departments work in collaboration with business departments. One classic example of this collaboration is the Wang ciber center at the University of Memphis which collaborates with the foreign language department to prepare students to go for internship to countries such as Germany, France, Japan, and Mexico where the speaking of the local language is critical. The experiences that those who had gone through the program shared with the participants made it a really worthy endeavor.
Leonard

2009 Lilly Conference

2009-03-12T09:50:00.003-04:00

I will share some of what we did in the PreConference.
Drs. Scott Simpkins and Karen Hornsby (NC A&T faculty) facilitated a session designed to introduce participants to the concept of SoTL. While most know that it is the process of inquiry into the teaching and learning that take place in the classroom (or virtual classroom), they may not know how to get started with that process. Essentially, we should think of it as conducting a study of our own teaching (or someone else's) without all the same scientific rigor of a more indepth quantitative investigation. There are a few requirements however. There is the research question, or we could refer to this as the ethic of inquiry, since this initial phase often is about more than the pragmatic--the question itself. it often entails asking "Why?", or "How useful...?", or "Who is being served?". There is actually a taxonomy of questions that helps the teacher to ask the right question (Carnegie Academy for SoTL). The right question is the first step toward change or improvement.
Following the question, the investigator (the professor) needs to consider methods. What procedures or processes will allow me to discover what I need to know? Mixed methods (methodological pluralism) are strongly recommended over a single approach, since teaching and learning are both extremely complex functions, requiring wide and multifaceted windows into the queries associated with them.
Participants worked in small groups to formulate a T/L question and to suggest appropriate methods. We also were asked to suggest what evidences would indicate a positive hypothesis vs a negative hypothesis. We then engaged in a Gallery Walk. In this activity, we were able to engage each other's groupwork that had been posted around the room. We used post it notes to add suggestions to any of the posted research plans. This kind of collaboration is encouraged in the SoTL process, and this particular learner engagement strategy worked quite well.

jc

Lilly Conference 2009

2009-03-11T12:42:00.001-04:00

Recently I had the opportunity to attend the Lilly Conference in Greensboro. Given the locality of the conference it was a great opportunity to socialize with WSSU faculty and learn more about their learning styles and interest. Attendees were readily available to discuss the sessions that they attended and the impact of the knowledge at WSSU. This gave me the opportunity to assess interest and knowledge levels for future programming at CETL. Although this is not always the intent of a conference it was a tremendous learning experience. Often faculty would come out excited about what they had been seen and in the back of my mind I would think that we are doing that at WSSU or that is in the works! Often individuals are more open to new ideas when they come from peer sources and this was the opportunity at Lilly. It was also great to see how many of our faculty was participating in the delivery of the conference.
My most enjoyable moment was the Explosive Pedagogy! When you have tried everything else the Explosive Pedagogy would be the option. The student (George) keeps acting out in class and you have had enough so you take a pile of books and slam them on the desk. Then you say…”OK, everyone out except GEORGE”. Of course everyone will leave but George will stay because he finally has his time to get the final say. Once everyone has left you pull up a chair in front of George and calmly sit down facing him. You say the following (calmly, gently), “George, I just do not understand. You are the smartest guy in class and why are you giving me such a hard time? Have I done something to offend you or how can I change what I am doing to make this work for you?” This will give George the opportunity to express his concerns and give you the opportunity to “fix” the problem. Then George can walk out of the room and when student ask what happened he can say…”
I cannot say that I have ever had the opportunity to use the Explosive Pedagogy but I will 

Highlights of Lilly 2009

2009-03-03T18:10:00.001-05:00

I presented a summary of my Action Research Project as part of a panel of faculty from WSSU at the recent Lilly Conference on College & University Teaching in Greensboro, NC. The title of the conference, Millennial Learning: Teaching in the 21^st Century, was truly reflected in the variety of sessions available to attend. After my presentation, I attended several sessions on Friday and Saturday.

Two sessions that I attended were presented by faculty in Criminal Justice programs at two different universities. Both also used role play as the main learning activity. One faculty used role play to help future police officers adhere to required legal procedures in responding to citizen complaints. The attendees at the session actually participated in the role plays as students might do. Discussion of the entire experience was extremely helpful to gain insight into the participants’ perspectives. Applying this type of role play for activities in some of the courses I teach will enhance the learning outcomes. The framework within which the role play was used in the law enforcement class can be adapted for such techniques as activity modifications or communication strategies in the WSSU Therapeutic Recreation classes.

The other session led by a faculty who teaches hostage negotiation used role play as a culminating activity for the semester. This eight hour role play activity involved outside participants as well as the students. It was carried out beyond the regular class meeting time and incorporated intense planning along with careful scripting and organization. The role play was presented through video and still photos with description by the presenter. Each attendee shared ways that this type of role play could be used in various classes such as nursing or sociology. Aspects of this activity that I found especially helpful are the intentional application of theory and knowledge. Another positive benefit to the activity presented is the reflective components. Students have several hours to debrief, process the entire experience, and receive feedback. Even though I may not be teaching hostage negotiation and have this much time for role play in one class, this session provided many ways for me to include experiential learning in classroom learning strategies.

There were other sessions I attended on use of blogs, flip video and peer feedback techniques. The final element that I want to share is the poster session. A new technique for the posters involved use of flip cameras. Volunteers were solicited to use the flip cameras available to record short interviews with designated poster presenters. This is an interesting strategy. It helps to share the session with persons who did not get to attend the poster session as the clips are to be posted on the Lilly conference site. This interviewing activity also focused the interaction with the poster presenter. As the chair of a poster session for my professional organization’s upcoming conference, I will consider using this technique. All in all, I think the Lilly Conference has the potential to be a very rich source of learning for instructor and the support team for college educators. I recommend participating if given the opportunity.

National Council of Rehabilitation Education (NCRE) Annual Conference

2009-02-27T10:24:00.003-05:00

I recently attended the NCRE annual conference, held once again in beautiful San Antonio, TX. I found this experience to be valuable for several reasons. This is the "academic" conference for rehabilitation counseling, meaning that all of the attendees are faculty members from all of the programs nationwide, including select international programs (this year, representatives were present from Puerto Rico, South Korea, and Mauritius). This is a great change of pace from the typical rehabilitation counseling conferences, which are more clinical in nature. Discussions are focused on rehabilitation counseling education trends, counselor training, program accreditation issues, and rehabilitation research initiatives. So, although I am always refining my counseling techniques and current understanding of the disability perspective by attending clinical conferences, NCRE truly is useful for becoming a better educator.

I attended several great discussions, including one addressing the pros and cons of implementing a spirituality course into rehabilitation counseling; the utilization of the EEOC disability discrimination data into current psychosocial aspects of disability curriculum; the value of using distance learning supervision models for praticum and internship students; the development and utility of asynchronous and synchronous modalities for collective research networking, and several more. As you can see, the content was vast and touched on multiple areas of rehabilitation counselor education. I feel that I walked away from the conference with many ideas to consider here at WSSU, both involving my instructional design and delivery.

I also presented my own research at this conference. My presentation was titled, "Work Comp and Weight Gain: A Growing Problem in the Workers' Compensation Rehabilitation System." Although my research was more clinical in nature, I had a great turn out for an audience. Most of the individuals informed me that they find it difficult to train their counselors in areas of private rehabilitation, as there are not many researchers out there focusing on the current trends of this specialization. I shared my clinical findings, and then opened the floor for a free discussion regarding how we as educators can keep our counselors-in-training informed on such a critical concern. The conversation was very insightful, and even I walked away with great ideas on how to deliver my own research to my students.

Overall, NCRE was and always is a success. It's always great to reconnect with colleagues across the country and, let's face it, I was in San Antonio on the riverwalk. But NCRE is a "must do" conference for rehabilitation counselor educators. I appreciated CETL's involvement in my attendance of this valuable experience.

Millenials

2009-02-24T11:29:00.002-05:00

My very favorite session from the 2009 Lilly Conference in Greensboro was titled: Active Learning, Constructivism and the Millennial Student: A Comfortable Marriage. The presenter began by handing out a worksheet for each participant to self-reflect on the classroom strategies they used. Mine indicated I use a mix of constructivist as well as more traditional methods. I found the parallels between this presentation, my own teaching philosophy, and my profession of occupational therapy are all pretty much in alignment with constructivism. What I had not anticipated (nor experienced) was that there were similar parallels to the Millennial Learners. On paper, I can follow the discussion that Millenial Leraners exhibit simiarities with constructivist tendancies , but in my practice I have not experienced the synchrony. This has, however, sparked an interest that I will begin journaling my beliefs and experiences in the classroom.

The Planary session during lunch on Friday presented "Student Issues" at local campuses. For the most part, I concurred with the various panelists that my experience here at WSSU was similar. One thing is clear: our students today have a tremendous amount going on in their lives. As our program deals with graduate students and adult learners it is very important to remember the context of our students learning and "living" and to approach them as individuals. One of the panelists presented more from a legal standpoint which I found very interesting and feel as faculty we need to know more about.

SoTL

2009-02-24T11:13:00.004-05:00

The 2009 Lilly Greensboro conference presented a wealth of information about the Millenial Learners, as the conference title suggested it would (Millennial Learning: Teaching in the 21st Century). On Thursday Feb 19th I attended a pre-conference institute on Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). The workshop confirmed the process I had followed during my "action research" project last fall. When one of my WSSU colleagues asked to describe the difference between Action Research and SoTL, the presenters replied that SoTL includes the "dissemination" aspect and often times AR does not....... We were given a copy of a book titled "Inquiry into the College Classroom: A Journey Toward Scholarly Teaching" by Savory, Burnett, Goodburn. From glancing through the book it gives goes through a very structured 9-Step process to classroom inquiry and then provides a checklist as well as wealth of samples (over a 100 pages of actual exhibits of all kinds from sample inquiry questions, to sample survey items etc). It also provides "commentary" throughout for the classroom research to compare their experience to. I am looking forward to using this as a guide for my next AR/SoTL project. The workshop also allowed for each participant to write up their own inqiry question/project and then we did a "gallery walk" and posted feedback to one-another's. This part was less helpful to me as the feedback was very "surface" and not as deep as I would have liked. Overall I felt is was a good session to confirm where I want to go next and how to proceed with a bit more rigor and efficiency.

ASTE in Hartfort, CT

2009-02-03T03:12:00.001-05:00

I attended the ASTE (Association for Science Teacher Education) Annual Meeting in frosty Hartford, Connecticut, January 7th- 10th, 2009. You can find the conference program at: http://theaste.org/meetings/2009conference/ASTE%20Program%20Final.pdf
ASTE Mission Statement
The Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE) promotes leadership and support for professionals involved in the education and development of teachers of science at all levels. ASTE advances practice and policy through scholarship, collaboration and innovation in science teacher education across the world.
I have served this organization in various capacities for well over a decade and presently serve on its board of directors. One of my responsibilities as a board member is to attend as many presentations as possible, to ensure that a broad range of science education pedagogy and practice is being equitably represented at the conference.
Unlike the larger education organizations like AERA (American Education Research Association), which boast a ten thousand-member attendance rate at its annual meeting, ASTE has only several hundred members attend its meetings. This serves to make the conference much more intimate and allows for a great deal of collegial interaction. In addition to the fare you would typically expect from a professional conference, ASTE holds a number of pre-conference, hands-on workshops for science teacher educators. This year, science teacher educators were engaged in learning about such topics as responsible chemical management in K-12 schools, integrating environmental education in preservice science courses, the use of geometric principles in teaching and understanding scientific phenomena, developing leadership abilities and translating student questions into student-designed investigations.
One of the features that I most enjoy about this conference is the emphasis placed on collegial interaction. Interactive sessions are included throughout the program. At these sessions, several presenters provide a brief overview of their work around a particular theme. Then, the audience is asked to speak for the remainder of the session with the presenters directly and informally about their work. This allows for rich conversation and development of professional collaborations. Many graduate students attend and present these sessions and they are mentored by senior researchers and practitioners in science education. This helps to prepare them for the more formal presentations expected at NARST (National Association for Research in Science Teaching).
I also had the opportunity to meet with the other members of WISE (Women in Science Education). WISE is a group of female science educators who began their own organization in support of ASTE. At the annual dinner, WISE members shared their stories and celebrated their accomplishments since the founding of the organization. I was particularly gratified to see the increase of women of color represented. As you might suspect, the number of female science educators of color is extremely small but is steadily growing.
Of particular interest to HBCU faculty is the ASTE’s interest in the inclusion of scholarly research and practice emanating from HBCUs and Tribal Colleges and Universities. This conference attracts a broad range of people associated with science education. I had the opportunity to speak extensively with NSF (National Science Foundation) officers about securing funds for HBCU science education research. They seemed genuinely interested in making funding more accessible to HBCUs and in assisting faculty in seeking that funding. If you are interested in studying either your students or your own K-16 science teaching practice, I invite you to attend this conference. The strategies, tips and collegial spirit are invaluable in furthering your own professional practice.

IDI Qualifying Seminar

2009-02-02T09:52:00.006-05:00

I attended a three-day seminar (10/23/08-10/25/08) in Minneapolis, MN to prepare me to administer and interpret the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI). This 50-question inventory is the most widely used quantitative instrument for measuring cultural competence. The IDI is a scientifically valid and reliable psychometric instrument. It measures how a person feels and thinks about, and thus reacts to, cultural difference. Unlike many other instruments, it does not compare a person to typical behaviors and it does not analyze behavioral reactions. The IDI operates at the worldview level of how a person feels and thinks about cultural difference. This deeper level of one’s cognitive experience is what guides and limits behavior. As an IDI Qualified Administrator, I plan to use the IDI as a research instrument to measure the cultural competence of students who participate in the Global Understanding Program.

American Educational Studies Association (AESA) Conference

2009-01-30T09:22:00.004-05:00

I presented at the AESA conference held from October 29- November 2, 2008 in Savannah, GA. The name of my presentations were: "Graduate student experiences in a Majority "Minority" Classroom at a Predominately White University" and "Telling it true: The Rhizomatic Experiences of African American Women". This conference was outstanding in several ways: I felt re-energized by the company of so many passionate educators sharing their work; I learned several new and innovative ways of thinking about teaching and learning; and I heard from several students and faculty their strategies for academic success.

AESA was established in 1968 as an international society for students, teachers, research scholars, and administrators who are interested in the foundations of education. As such, the workshops covered a large amount of area including ethics, the globalization of education, addressing hegemonic systems within institutions of education, activism, and queer theory. I attended several workshops, mostly set up as panels discussions, that really enlightened my worldview as a teacher and provided me with more passion and energy to share with my students.

One of the keynote addresses was done by Gloria Ladson Billings, and she discussed educating students in a post-Brown era. This was one of the most riveting addresses I have been to, as she shared insights on how to creat passion and enthusiasm about social justice and education in an era that sometimes believes that racism is over. I had the opportunity to take a photo and chat with Dr. Ladson Billings and my time spent with her reminds me why I choose higher education as my profession.

I learned a lot from my brief time with the AESA group, and I highly recommed this conference for those interested in social justice. I am looking foward to attending next year's conference in Pittsburgh, PA.

2008 AACE eLearn Conference, Las Vegas

2009-01-29T16:30:00.005-05:00

The best two sessions in the entire conference were: 1) Instructional Design of Authentic E-Learning Environments and Use of Technology as Faculty Assessement. The former session specifically focused on authentic learning on the collegiate level,sharing that authentic tasks involve a problem, physical and social context, results, and criteria for evaluation. Although this was not new to me, it helped me solidify how to more effectively design the learning experience. The best part of this session was learning how to creatively incorporate technology in simulated task environments. Many of my colleagues could benefit from this workshop.
2)Use of Technology as Faculty Assessment focused on video taping teaching sessions, self critique, peer-review, and administrator assessment of teaching performance. The idea of the professor, a peer, and administrator integrating feedback for the teaching professor was novel. I could see that the narratives gathered from each source would be very helpful for refining, exploring, and acquiring new teaching skills. Also emphasized was the reflective part of the assessment. Using the video, the instructor could review for behavioral patterns that either enhanced learning or impeded it. The video could also serve as a baseline to be compared to a future recording delivering the same lesson using more effective strategies and teaching techniques. The whole university system would benefit from the exposure of the session's content.

CLA conference Iessons learned

2009-01-07T16:30:00.008-05:00

Last April 2008, I had the opportunity to attend the College Language Assosciation Conference (CLA) in Charleston, South Carolina.
One session particularly attracted my attention. It focused on:
THE WEST AFRICAN INFLUENCE ON LIFE , LANGUAGE, AND CULTURE OF THE NATIVES OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA LOW COUNTRY AND NEIGHBORING SEA ISLANDS (HISTORICAL ORIGINS OF THE GULLAH-GEECHEE IN THE USA).
The following is a synopsis of this interesting session.

The Gullah-Geechee can be considered as a group of Black people or a language. Both of them have strong African roots predominantly found in West and Central Africa. Because of the geographical isolations of the barrier Sea Islands, the Gullah people have been able to retain much of their African culture, Creole language, spiritual beliefs, ontology and cosmogony.

THE GULLAH -GEECHEE AS A GROUP OF BLACK PEOPLE
The Gullah are Blacks who live in the Low Country of South Carolina and Georgia, that is: the coastal plain and the Sea Islands. Historically, the Gullah area once extended from the North to the Cape Fear area on the coast of North Carolina and the south to the vicinity of Jacksonville on the coast of Florida. However, today, the Gullah area is confined to South Carolina and Georgia Low Country. The Gullah, as a Black community, distinguish themselves in terms of preserving more of their African linguistic and cultural heritage than any other Black community living in the United States. The first majority of Gullah's ancestors were brought to South Carolina, and Georgia Low Country through the ports of Charleston and Savannah as slaves circa the seventeen-century. They were from West Africa and especially from countries that are currently called: Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Guinea,Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau, and Ghana. The second majority of Gullah's ancestors were brought from modern Angola, Congo and West Indies. They were very good African farmers and especially excelled in the art of cultivating rice. Accordingly, they brought the skills that made rice one of the most successful industries in early America. For instance, South Carolina and Georgia were covered by a cornucopia of acres of magnificent rice fields. The Gullahs were also cultivating the "gumbo", that is: "okra". The word "gumbo" stems from the Umbundu language of Angola meaning "okra". It is noteworthy that African influences are found in every aspect of the Gullahs' traditional life style and predominantly in agriculture and cooking. Gullah rice dishes called "red rice" and "okra" soup are similar to West African "ouolof rice" and "okra soup". Actually, Ouolof rice was brought by the Ouolof and the Malinke peoples (Mande) from West Africa. African influences are also linguistic.

THE GULLAH-GEECHEE AS A LANGUAGE ENDOWED WITH AFRICAN ROOTS

The Gullah-Geechee language goes as far back as circa the end of the 16th century-the beginning of the seventeenth-century. African slaves brought to America felt the necessity to comunicate, exchanged messages without their master's knowing it. Thus, they created a unique language based on African languages from West and Central Africa: Ouolof (modern Senegal), Malinke (modern Mali, Guinea, Ivory Coast, and Senegal) and a modicum of Bantou languages (Bakongo, Umbundu) and English. This language evolved diachronically and over time became the Gullah-Geechee. It was created and effectively used by African slaves in the coastal region of South Carolina. However, when these slaves were moved in the hinterland, the Gullah underwent modifications and became the Geechee. Therefore, it is important to dichomize the Geechie from the Gullah semantically, morphologically and lexically. The Geechie was spoken in the hinterland whereas the Gullah was spoken in the coastal areas. Nevertheless, from a semantic, morphological and lexical standpoint, both of them stem from African languages: Ouolof (spoken in Senegal), Malinke/Mande (spoken in modern Mali, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Burkina-Faso), Bakongo, Umbundu (spoken in the two modern Congos and Angola).
I was amazed to find words very similar (morphologically and lexically) to those of my own language Fang-Beti which is spoken in modern Cameroon.

Therefore, through this session, I realized the important African, historical, and cultural legacy found through the Gullah-Geechee. The Gullah-Geechee has proven to be a powerful linguistic and cultural tool. Researchers, politicians, and decision makers should endeavor to preserve this powerful language and the culture subsuming it. It does subsume special connections between African and the USA. Nowadays, most social groups that had lost their roots are interested in decrypting them to assert themselves. It follows that revisiting the Gullah-Geechee legacy can prove to be a significant step towards such a heuristic undertaking. A number of Gullah scholars have worked in this direction by writing insightful books. Let us mention but a few:
-Creel, Margaret Washington. "A peculiar People: Slave Religion and Community Culture among the Gullahs", New york: New York University Press, 1988.
-Joyner, Charles. "Down by the Riverside: A South Carolina Slave Community", Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1984.
-Kiser, Clyde Vernon "Sea Island to City: A Study of St Helena Islanders in Harlem and Other Urban Centers", New York: Atheneum, 1969.

AACE E-Learn Conference

2008-12-09T10:01:00.003-05:00

I also had the opportunity to attend the AACE Conference in Las Vegas last month. I was very proactive prior to arriving in Las Vegas—I picked some sessions to attend online with the Personal Scheduler. However, it wasn’t until I arrived that I saw the overwhelming number of sessions available. While this may sound like a good thing, it turned out to be more of a distraction than anything. There were a number of sessions that were 20 minutes or 30 minutes and people were entering and departing constantly through the presentations. However, in the midst of all of that, I found a number of informational tidbits that were helpful to me:
Thinking about how we ask questions

Professors tend to use three types of questions: Horizontal, Non-Referential, and Referential. Our questions should be designed in a strategic way so that we have a goal of what we want the student to walk away with. Too many professors ask questions very haphazardly, and students do not obtain the anticipated results. Additionally, there was some discussion on how questions are processed (cognitively), and how to frame them in a way to get students to use higher-order thinking.

Developing hybrid courses

There was a couple of discussions on the benefits of hybrid classes versus traditional classes and online classes. This is something I have done at a previous institution, and would love for Winston-Salem State to adopt. I have had some push back on it, but I think students would really enjoy this online/in-person format. The presenters said they suggest listing the class as traditional, but a significant portion of the class will take place online. While the session was really informative, I did not get some of my questions answered by the presenters. For example, how do you market a hybrid class to your department or dean, when there is such a big push for student contact hours?

Effective and efficient ways to use discussion boards and blogs.

There were a number of presenters who spoke about using discussion boards and blogs in their classes. Much of the focus was on actual usage, but there were a few people who had good and fresh suggestions that made sense. One suggestion was to change the Required Posting format so that students have to post their responses prior to reading any other posts. This prevents students from *paraphrasing* another student’s response. Another suggestion was to do Fishbowl discussions online. Students are selected and assigned to a discussion, while other students don’t respond but read and reflect on the discussion that took place. Finally, the suggestions to post an article (news-related, pop culture, etc.) and have students respond to it on the discussion boards/blogs. While this is not innovative, the way in which the presenters set this up for their students was really cool. Perhaps the key to success is in the selection of material to post.

Using Wikis for Small Groups

The final piece of information I found helpful was about using Wikis. I already use Wikis in my classes, but they had some of the most elaborate Wikis I have ever seen. They used a template to create small group workspaces. I don’t believe we currently have access to this template, but if we did-- I think it would greatly improve student usage.

I did learn that Winston-Salem State is a bit behind in some of the technological tools that were on display during the conference. However, I also learned that our quality of teaching and presenting is probably better than most of those I came in contact with during the week. Overall, it was a great experience to see and hear some of the latest and most innovative ways to disseminate knowledge to our students. I will say the biggest disappointment of the conference was the organization. Hopefully in the future, more thought will be given to specific tracks for participants, or a re-vamping of how the presentation sessions are designed.

E-Learn Conference in Las Vegas

2008-12-03T11:50:00.005-05:00

I had an opportunity to attend the E-Learn Conference in Las Vegas, NV. I must say that with the long flight, time difference, long line at check-in and lack of food, I was extremely exhausted. After I had gotten over jet lag, I registered for the conference. I was excited to see the variety of interesting workshops in the registration manual. The global contribution to this conference was amazing. There were people from Japan, Australia, South Africa and a host of other countries who shared knowledge about there research in education.

The E-Learn conference was different from what I was used to. Instead of having thirty minute or hour long sessions, most sessions ended up being in twenty minute increments scattered across the conference area. Which I found difficult when trying to attend more than one session. Though frustrated, some of the sessions that I attended were enlightening and benefical. I especially liked the session on "Second Life," a virtual reality enviroment that uses "avatars"(virtual person) to relate or communicate with people. The facilitator began to show the audience how this program could be used to reach and connect with students. This website has virtual campuses such as: Michigan State University, Duke University as well as community colleges. I began to think, "Is Winston-Salem State University ready for this level of technology"? No, I think that we have a long way to go, but attending conferences such as this one, can start the thinking "outside the box."

The conference was filled with innovative ways of using technology and online tools to initiate response and promote learning.

13th Annual E-Learn 2008

2008-12-03T09:59:00.012-05:00

I attended the 13th Annual E-Learn 2008 World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, & Higher Education in Las Vegas. The reason I decided to attend the conference was my first online I teach this semester. Since this is the first time I teach any online course, I have had some difficulties in that class. Being a quant-oriented course wouldn't help me either.

While it was a great experience to see how others approach online courses, I was not able to find exact answers I was looking for. However, one thing is for sure in that online teaching may or will be the major part of higher education. For example, the State of Minnesota mendates 25% of courses to be provided online by 2015, and we know the UNC Tomorrow wants to increase online courses as much as 60% (if my memory is correct). As one of Keynote spear, Mark David Milliron, said, the "Next Generation" rely on cell phones & instant messages to communicate, build online communities, and spend much more time online, as much as 12.2 hours per week. As a faculty, I need to deal with future, or some current students who are so used to technology.

After attending several sessions, however, I realized Winston-Salem State University is way behind other institutions in terms of E-Learning. At the same time, I face a dilemma as a faculty whose job is research, teaching, and services. Even at a teaching-oriented university, research cannot be ignored since the productivity in research will dictate your marketability. In my experience, online teaching requires a huge commitment from faculty and can be really time-consuming at the expense of research. However, once a course is fully developed, I can see next time will be much easier, evidenced by the University of Pheonix.

As a closing remark, we live in a world where technology evolves in such a fast pace and the next generation will rely on new technology. In business, once a company, for example the Big 3, is behind innovation, it is very difficult to overcome the technology gap and to remain competitive. While I am not a big fan of online teaching, especially for my course, we must keep working on development so that we are not behind our peers.

JSK

AACE Conference in Vegas

2008-11-25T16:20:00.005-05:00

I will share my notes taken in this session. I hope they make sense!

Title: Intersections:Face to Face and Online presented by Dr Susan Miller, an Art Prof at SUNY

discussed the transition from face to face to online, especailly in an ART course!!!!
generally there is much resistance in this discipline, she said.
students upload their artwork for class discusssion
class participates via virtual discussion in Bb
would students develop the competencies needed with tools such as digital camera, scanners, microphones?
would they understand lighting issues so their work would show well (electronically)?
will they learn to use art media appropriately ("when I am not there to watch them")?

Susan showed about 10 pieces of these students' work---beautiful ! We saw the actual pieces and the same pieces photographed digitally and uploaded to Bb. She said that it is easy for the prof to know if the student did as requested, used marker vs pencil vs charcoal vs water color.....

Someone asked, "How do you know they are doing their own work?

A: "They submit a portfolio at the end with all of the same pieces they have uploaded. The portfolio is 25% of the grade!

Susan provides online handouts (posted to Bb). The handouts are on content and how-to's. Students are encouraged to print these out. They do online exercises from these. They turn these exercises in as components of the portfolio. They also do online critiques of art, narrated powerpoints, use Wimba voice tool, and use streamed video clips to demonstrate techniques.

Dr miller reported that the discussions online are much more honest and rich. Students don't hold back the same way they do in the classroom.

She says that the posted assignments, notes, and other info, allows for repetition. Many students learn better because they now have the opportunity to see the info again (and again).

They use a certain software that alerts them to plagiarized work.

Her paper is among the compendium of papers on the conference papers CD, which I have. If you want it pls let me know.

Joanne Chesley

Technologies to enhance higher education regardless economic crisis

2008-11-25T08:52:00.003-05:00

I had the opportunity to attend to e-Learn 2008, the World Conference on e-Learning in Corporate, Government. Healthcare, & Higher Education, organized by AACE (Las Vegas, Nov 17-21, 2008). It was a great experience, let me share with you my notes on Mark David’s remarks on seven elements that educators should consider dealing with multiple generations of learners simultaneously.

Beyond the need to consider multidimensional blending (online/onsite, portal/campus, LMS/classroom, repositories/lecturing, e-office/office hours, web 2.0 tools/books, open dialogue/open space) as a departure point to provide an appropriate scenario for each participating generation, Dr. David highlighted the need to enhance higher education settings with the utilization of mobile technologies (e.g., cellphones) as means to bring learners together, with the integration of new type of games (e.g., WII) to support new kind of learning (e.g, kinesthetic / performance based learning), with the intensive use of social networking tools (e.g., blogs, wikis, RSS feeds) to foster learning communities, with the inclusion of engagement technologies (e.g., holograms) to bring together co-learners, with the integration of analytic and diagnostic technologies (e.g., modeling tools) to support evidence-based education, all of these with social intelligence, that is, with involvement of co-learners in strategic decisions.

The question to solve is if we should wait for the economic crisis to be gone to start dealing with these issues in higher education, or if we should be creative and aggressive dealing with them in spite of the crisis. Let's be proactive.

Alvaro H Galvis,
Director CETL

2008 E-Learning World Conference, Las Vegas, NV

2008-11-25T05:46:00.005-05:00

Experience at 2008 E-Learning World Conference, Las Vegas, NV
November 18-22, 2008 – Dr. Janice Witt Smith, SPHR,

Associate Professor of Management, Dept. of Management and Marketing

Thanks very much for the opportunity to participate in this conference. I had never been to Las Vegas or to an e-learning conference, so I was very excited about both. I left less excited about Las Vegas but certainly very excited about the possibilities in distance learning. I am in the process of creating six DL Human Resource Management courses under a grant and was looking forward to new, innovative ideas that would enhance learning. I was pleasantly surprised and grateful to find that much of what I needed had already been provided at WSSU, particularly through the GOAL course and my interactions with Drs. Galvis and Anderson.

The primary reinforcement that I received was that distance learning tools should enhance the course by supporting (and not replacing) pedagogy and good instructional design. The technology should not drive content, it should support it and enable the faculty member to reach the instructional objectives for the course. The GOAL course at WSSU certainly kept this as its tenet, and I was glad to hear it reinforced over and over again. Additionally, in a number of the workshops, I found faculty from other campuses both domestically and internationally talking about things that we have been doing for the past several years. Many of their universities are just getting into the DL arena. In addition, there were DL directors and the like whose universities were light years ahead of us as well.

Several important concepts and ideas emerged for me:

(1) A team teaching approach could be beneficial to our students in the face-to-face classroom. A group from State Farm Insurance talked about their use of team teaching in delivering webinars through State Farm. They demonstrated the technique and provided and opportunity for us to engage in role plays related to it. While not immediately applicable in my current environment, it reinforced what had been intuition for me when I tried this in 1998 with a faculty member from another business area. Having us either (a) tag team approach where both facilitators are subject-matter experts and decide which portions of the content they will cover; (b) student advocate approach – one facilitator takes the role of the student who does not understand as much, summarizes, pulling along from subject to subject as if asking FAQs from student perspective; and (c) “morning drive” – this is like one of the morning radio shows which have a conversational tone and viewers can call in. Both facilitators are experts and they need to be able to respond to viewer inquiries quickly. They may have different opinions which surface during the exchange. The presenters equated interactivity with engagement, and that the facilitators needed to ensure that they provide personal stories that enhance the content and help them to build credibility with their audience. Because this is a corporate environment, they did not deal with issues such as ownership of content, workload distribution, etc.

(2) A second major “aha” was concerning the movement for open access education and several major repositories of academic content that is available to the world. The focal content was around (i) liberating textbooks and not have them bound but web-available, where faculty can pick and choose the modules they want and print on demand. (ii) Inviting participation in content development from a wide audience. Examples were MITopencourseware, wikipedia, and Public Library of Science.

The analogy was used to think of the music industry in which they (1) create, (2) rip; (3) mix; and (4) burn. Create – anyone can become an author and add to the content; Rip – anyone can translate or customize a course. Mix – the ability to rapidly configure own webcourse or textbook – to assemble a textbook. This is available in Connexions (Rice University Project) in 2009. Burn – anyone can print their own textbook – the print on demand capability, control the quality for themselves, use software such as Lenses and de.li.cious to filer, etc.

There is a push to get NSF to open its archives so that more people have access to research information and there would be a reduction in the funding of a number of proposals looking at the same things. Some discussion about the use of linux 6.2 software which would help with publication, etc. Some of the key challenges with open access – (a) interplay between open education and open access – scholarly articles; (b)impact on promotion and tenure; (c) integration with intelligent e-learning systems; and (d) roadblocks – fragmentation of IP and technology. For more information on open education access, go to http://www.capetowndeclaration.org/.

Another workshop focused on: E-learning has the capacity to transform the university – on-line design and tools can create a mindset for evolvement. Introduction of discussion boards, chats, cell phones, blogs and wikis created a major shift at Abilene Christian University from teacher-controlled/learning managed environment to teacher-controlled open-ended environment. The university formed partnership with Embanet and had UVCMS who did a lot of their development. What came out of it was interactive e-portfolio. They shifted over to MOODLE from Blackboard because of the collaborative development. In the capstone class described, students had to demonstrate mastery over both course content and program outcomes. This focus required an extensive rubric system embedded in e-portfolios. http://test.uvcms.com/proddemos/user-demo

Melissa Engleman’s paper on increasing student engagement linked MBTI type and student learning style. In her study, 60% of the students had sensing learning styles in which they want direct communication; hands-on experience; moderate to high degree of structure; linear, sequential learning, and often need to know why. She suggested that students have difficulty with complex concepts; low tolerance for ambiguity; less independence in thought and judgment; and more dependent on ideas of those in authority. They are dependent on immediate gratification and exhibit more difficulty with basic academics such as reading and writing.

Other random thoughts and learnings – One presenter talked about use of HorizaWimba for synchronous learning environment. Another encouraged the increased use of avatars (animated characters) to guide the process. One presenter talked about the ADA compliance issues with which we should be concerned, particularly as it relates to hearing and visually impaired individuals. We cannot use only one technique thinking that we are reaching all of the students. We have to change the way we present material, having modules and well-defined syllabi, making everything transparent to the learner, and not assuming anything in terms of computer skills, knowledge of software, and the like.

Finally, I need to find more exciting, meaningful and engaging ways of using powerpoint. One workshop talked about ways to structure powerpoint, going beyond bulleted lists to linked powerpoints and provided research that suggested that this made a difference in learning outcome. The high tech component is an enabler, an enhancer, and has to be utilized by someone who knows the content. By itself, technology can do very little. All it can do is to present and enhance core information in the content. The presenter talked about neural learning facilitation, where today’s students require visual input – if they don’t see it, they cannot connect the dots. The presenter argued that virtuosity draws the student into visual learning situation. Tools suggested: foreground/background contrasts – dealing with perceptions; bright colors; use of text and sound; animations; digital scans; concept maps; and videoclips.

Implementation of improved powerpoint techniques requires one or more visual strategies to: illustrate, associate, demonstrate, concretize, identify, describe, initial discussion, link, connect, introduce, and integrate. The key is to decide how and where you create something to assist the learning.

e-Learning 2008

2008-11-24T16:42:00.003-05:00

I attended the E-Learn 2008 Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada from November 17-21. It was quite an enjoyable experience. In addition to presenting a paper on “Virtualization as a Means of Augmenting the Computing Laboratory Budget,” and mediating a session, I was able to sit in on a number of informative sessions.

The opening keynote address by Dr. Richard Baraniuk of Rice University was a very insightful presentation. Dr. Baraniuk discussed the changing nature of publishing with particular focus on text books. He noted the static nature of traditional text books, how expensive they are, and how difficult it is to recall mistakes, which are often found in them. Dr. Baraniuk advocated in favor of more dynamic and open access tools, such as Wikepedia and Creative Commons. He gave helpful examples of individuals who have pioneered the process of making their materials available around the world through the super text book process, and who have benefitted financially and by contributing to the body of information in their fields.

Other helpful sessions included one titled, “Faculty Acceptance of Graduates of Online Learning Programs for Faculty Positions in Higher Education: An Ethical Dilemma, by Dr. Larry Tinnerman of Indiana State University. This presentation addressed the other side of most of the other presentations which strongly advocated the benefits of E-Learning. Dr. Tinnerman on the other hand, pointed out that even though many institutions are pressing to put their courses online, many are reluctant to hire faculty with online degrees, and many businesses are just as reluctant.

There were other sessions I found very helpful, especially the keynote speakers, as well as sessions which dealt with Use of Web 2.0 tools, Virtual Classrooms, Second Life, and Assessment Strategies, but I have shared those which made a difference for me and which will guide some of my scholarly activities in the near future.

Educause Conference

2008-11-06T10:41:00.003-05:00

I recently attended Educause 2008 in Orlando Florida. The theme this year was "Interaction, Ideas and Inspiration". I attended several Teaching and Learning sessions. One very good one was by Charles Sorcabl a mathematics professor at Mt. San Antonio College. His topic was A complete Online Class: Course Management, Live Web Conferencing, and Teacher -Made Streaming Movies. He gave several strategies and tools on how to create links in BlackBoard to improve student retention and how to make your class as personal as possible.

Another good session was on having students create their own mashups to personalize their lecture.

Effective Observers

2008-10-29T08:53:00.004-04:00

One of the events at the POD conference discussed Faculty/Student evaluations of teaching. One of the discussions looked at ways of being an effective observer. Much can be learned from observation in the classroom (or through the campus for that matter). However, often observations are skewed by our vantage point or by the fact that individuals change behaviors when they know that they are being observed. Below is a list of characteristics of an effective observer which may increase the value of observations in the classroom.

Observation must be focused
Distinguish descriptive from judgmental
Get to class early; position self for best observation (back of room, for instance)
Note environment, physical layout of class, atmosphere of class, mood of students
Take notes on process, not content
Quantify as much as possible
Note facial expressions, body language of faculty and students
Watch how class disperses – what do they do? (rush out, crowd around faculty to talk, talk in groups)
Offer some positive reinforcement to faculty at end
Make appointment to go over observations later in detail
Be aware of own biases and limitations
Know if field has distinct ways of teaching
Know something about students (all majors, mixed, etc.)

(Information posted through the sharing of notes and discussions with other POD members. We all took notes and continue to share our experience at the conference via e-mail. Thanks to those willingly to continue to share the conference after the lectures have ceased.)

POD Website; (http://www.podnetwork.org/)

Marketing Suggestions from POD - That anyone in education could use!

2008-10-29T08:43:00.006-04:00

I had the pleasure of attending my first POD (Professional and Organizational Development). It was a GREAT experience and I enjoyed meeting others who work with faculty to assist them with common problems and issues.

One common thread between all the attendees was how to market services offered. Even though not everyone reading this Blog will have a need to market CETL much of the discussion would benefit any individual marketing any educational programs for faculty or students.

Marketing Strategies Utilized by Other Centers:

Faculty E-mails
Department Chair Involvement – design a program for the Department Chairs. If the Chair backs the program will gain more support.
Liaison/Advisory Committee
Save the Date Sections – send an e-mail out to advice to save the date.
Go to all Faculty Events – make sure that you are seen at campus wide and other faculty events. If Faculty know you they are more likely to seek your services. Visibility is everything.
Logo – Have one - Good way to involve students.
Slogan – Develop a slogan that can be utilized. One center using the slogan “For faculty – By faculty” - Good way to involve students.
Attend and participate in Campus marketing events.
Survey – Have individual interviews with faculty
Information gathering is marketing
Send personal invitations - Target groups: 1st year faculty and 1 year veterans
Newsletters – Monthly advising of CETL events
Sponsor Faculty Groups outside of Teaching and Learning. This helps develop communities which will help develop support for the center. i.e. Faculty Women, Faculty Moms , Faculty Dinner or Breakfast Club, Community Groups off campus. i.e. Faculty may live in an area and not know that they live close to each other. Target those groups.
Offer 1 on 1 session for faculty that cannot attend regularly scheduled events.
Use Outlook E-vits. When you use Outlook e-vits individuals have to decline the invitation!
Pipeline – Develop a pipeline of information.
Market to Alumni for funding for the Center
Market to Administration - Invite Provost to come to an event to speak.
If you invite Administration to come to an event have them come at the end of the event verses coming to the beginning. If they are there at the end they are more likely to talk with satisfied customers and learn about the value of the program.
Databases – start a database of individuals who have attended, not attended, responded etc.
Put an easel out in front of the door when hosting an event. That way others will see the event whether they attend or not.
Pair Disciplines together for events and projects.
Look at areas of high tutoring request as a possible target group for services.
“Think Tanks” – Get students involved by discussing their learning concerns.
Legacy Program – Ask faculty to develop their “last” lecture. What would they want to say if they knew it would be their last lecture? Helps them focus on what they might want to improve.

If you are marketing to students you can easily replace "faculty" with "student".

POD Website; (http://www.podnetwork.org/)

Learner-centered teaching and effective faculty professional development

2008-10-25T17:29:00.004-04:00

At the 2008 Joint Conference POD/NCSPOD conference (Reno, Nevada, October 22-25, 2008) learner-centered teaching and effective FPD were central topics. Let me share with you how this relationship was explored from different perspectives .

Learner-centered teaching and the scholarship of teaching and learning. Dennis C Jacobs shared in a plenary his ideas about "learning as a community endeavor". He illustrated how he has exploited collaborative learning and the use of clicker technology to simultaneously engage 200 students in making scientific predictions and defending their ideas; he shared research findings demonstrating that collaborative learning pedagogy led to greater student success and engagement among students at risk. He also shared his experience concerning learner-centered scholarship of teaching and learning, which has fine tuned tenure track requirements with effective teaching initiatives.

Learner-centered new faculty orientation. Networking is an outstanding resource, as you know; at the POD conference I was able to meet with different people interested in new faculty orientation. My conversations with Bonnie Mullinix from The TLT Group helped me realizing that the POD innovation award 2006 was given to Edward Nuhfer for his "Interactive Engagement Model for New Faculty Orientation" initiative which contrasts with content-centered new faculty orientation programs.

Learner-centered preparation of TA--teaching assistants. A Topical Interest Group on "Graduate Student Professional Development"--GSPD--at the POD conference brought my attention to the importance of helping TA assume their role having students' learning as the focus of their efforts. Based on feedback from TA and faculty members attending to open forums about their participation in their GSPD program, one higher education institution reported that efforts focused on helping TA acquire instructional skills were considered less effective to prepare prospective faculty members as learning facilitators than their active participation in reflective communities of practice among TA and mentors around student-centered learning problems. In the first case TA were required to attend to at least 70% of periodic teaching and learning sessions where they reflected on the topic of the day; in the second case TA were immersed in the preparation, implementation and evaluation of learning activities in collaboration with their mentors, as well as in the documentation of their learning process with a teaching portfolio. This institution considered that moving from a preservice content-centered to an inservice learner-centered GSPD model produced a significant change in TA preparation for teaching and that is worth doing, regardless it is demanding and difficult to sustain.

Learner-centered academic development. Tom Angelo shared his ideas about seven key concepts that he considers powerful "levers" to transform our thinking and practice to improve student learning. It is interesting his advocacy of "academic development" (AD), which includes both organizational development and FPD, since it recognizes the importance of aligning institutional strategies with FPD strategies; also it is interesting his focus on becoming scholarly learning communities both at the organizational level and at the classroom level. Reviewing his contributions I found two previous papers that will help exploring in more detail his thoughts: Angelo_1999, and Angelo_2000.

How do we know a Faculty Professional Development program is effective?

2008-10-25T09:21:00.007-04:00

Lessons learned from a one-day workshop, by Alvaro H Galvis, director CETL at WSSU.

I had the opportunity to participate in a NCSPOD/POD 2008 pre-conference workshop on evaluation of professional development efforts, co-facilitated by Dr. Cindra Smith and Michelle DeVol, coauthors of the Evaluating Staff and Organizational Development (2003, retrieved October 24, 2008) handbook. I got the following three key ideas:

Not every professional development program requires the same level of evaluation. Using Kickpatrick’s Four Levels of Evaluation model (1994, retrieved October 24, 2008) Smith and DeVol suggested to collect always data on reactions to the program (level 1) and to move into deeper levels of evaluation (level 2 = learning, level 3 = transfer, level 4 = results) when the professional development effort merits that. For instance, a brownbag lunch is worth knowing who came and whether s/he liked what s/he heard, but a summer institute with fall and spring follow up merits knowing also what people learned, how are they applying it, and what is the impact on students’ learning.
Professional development program evaluation should start with its design (“start with the end in mind” they say), as long as a clear understanding of why it is convenient / necessary to offer the program will lead to a clear definition of outcomes and strategies to evaluate whether they have been achieved.
Evaluation reports serve several purposes, being the most usual to demonstrate or justify what was done. Smith and DeVol have found “portraits of engagement”, i.e., one-page executive summaries are the most important dissemination piece of evaluation reports, since in many cases that is what people read from a report and what motivates (or not) further reading.

Workshop facilitators suggested complementary resources for professional development program evaluators, such as the following:

E-Lead. Evaluating professional development programs (retrieved October 24, 2008)
Guskey, Thomas R. "Does it Make a Difference? Evaluating Professional Development." Educational Leadership v. 59 no6 (Mar. 2002) p. 45–51.
Michigan State University, Faculty and Organizational Development Office (2005). Instructional development needs assessment. Executive summary and instrument. (retrieved October 24, 2008)
Walvoord, Barbara (2004). Assessment Clear and Simple: A Practical Guide for Institutions, Departments, and General Education. Jossey-Bass.

2008 IACIS Conference

2008-10-07T10:37:00.004-04:00

I attended and presented at the 2008 International Association for Computer Information Systems (IACIS) in Savannah, GA Oct 1 - 4, 2008. The conference was very informative and I along with Dr. Sylvia Bembry got several good ideas on how to improve the Microcomputer Application class that she teaches. Several of the sessions dealt with improving the entry level business course. The common thread was adding audio and video and keeping students engaged.

Kenneth Kaiser, Vice President of Corporate Systems Development, Target Corporation was the first keynote speaker. He explained how employees at Target stay connected by using SharePoint, Wikis, and virtual spaces. These are the skills that we need to teach our students so that they can compete in the workplace.

Michael J. Lynch, Manager, IT Advanced Personal and Workgroup Solutions, 3M was the second keynote speaker. He emphasised how 3M works electronically across time zones by using social networking, podcasts, audio/video and smartphones. He explained how Do It Yourself (DIY) videos were used to train the sales and technical forces.

A copy of the program and proceedings can be found at http://www.iacis.org/pdf/2008_Program.pdf. The paper I copresented with Dr. Bembry is on page 65.

The Technology and Philosophy of Teaching Online

2008-10-03T15:14:00.002-04:00

I had the pleasure of presenting at the 2008 UNC-TLT Conference in Raleigh (March 12-14, 2008). Dr. Dwedor Ford and I gave a presentation on "The Technology and Philosophy of Teaching Online". The presentation was unique in several areas. First, Dr. Ford and I had online experience in different fields (English and physics/physical science). Second, we used our TurningPoint "clickers" to get immediate feedback from our audience.

Our audience had a wide range of experiences. Approximately 40% had no previous online teaching experience, 20% taught once, 20% taught 2-5 courses, and 20% had "considerable" experience (more than 5 courses presented online). Seventy percent were interested in learning about methods they could use for online teaching. However, the inexperienced audience members were also equally interested in how to get started with an online course and how they could assess their students' work. Finally, 73% represented areas other than English or the physical sciences.

Our presentation began with a brief discussion of technology use in online teaching. It then proceeded onto the philosophy of online teaching. We discussed traits that students need to succeed in an online course, and how the instructor can best prepare students to succeed. We included comparisons of various topics as they are encountered in a traditional (face-to-face) vs. online course [sensory cues, synchronous vs. asynchronous learning, instructor accessibility, and other topics]. Finally, we discussed some of our experiences in course planning, content creation, testing, and student problems with accessing the coursework.

In conclusion, we had a small but diverse audience attend our presentation. Several of the "experienced" attendees added valuable insights from their own experiences. Almost everyone indicated that they had learned something that would help them as they plan for their next online course.

Embracing the Challenge of the Year

2008-10-03T12:34:00.004-04:00

The Developmental Education Conference held at Disney's Coronado Springs in March 2008 was rich in scope and design. The conference's host, Houghton-Mifflin, included a variety of sessions to meet the needs of all attendees. I attended several sessions; however, one session, "Embracing the Challenge of the First Year" stands out above all because of my interest in helping to advance University College. Dr. Mary Stuart Hunter, the session's presenter, focused one of the most important questions students ask when they begin college these days: "Why is the transition to college so difficult?" With this question in mind, Dr. Hunter shared theory, research, and promising practices as relates to the first-year college experience. She described a range of programs offered by college and universities and the role faculty can play in making students' first-year experience rewarding and memorable.

Dr. Hunter stressed the importance of

defining first-year student success,
planning early for assessment,
developing and communicating learning outcomes,
sending consistent messages to students and faculty,
communicating high expectations of students, and
using assessment results to improve teaching and learning.

As a result of attending this and other sessions, I came away with new insights on how WSSU can enhance its developmental education program.

Beyond Wrestling: Using Sumo Bots in the CS Classroom

2008-10-02T16:34:00.003-04:00

I attended the UNC Teaching and Learning Conference in Raleigh, NC on March 12-14, 2008. A colleague and I presented "Beyond Wrestling: Using Sumo Bots in the Computer Science Classroom". Our emphasis was on showing new and evolving trends in using technology to engage our "net generation" students.

What I learned as I attended other sessions was that the ever changing technology is dictating changes we as instructors need to incorporate in our classrooms. We need to evaluate new tools and software on a constant basis to make sure we are keeping up with this technological changing world for our students. We saw instant assessment tools, social networking sites, blogs and other things being incorporated into the classroom. The most prominant thing for me was the realization that we could become the dinasaur teacher quickly if we are not willing to change and adapt.

Teaching and Engaging Unprepared Students: Strategies for Promoting Success and Retention in Higher Education

2008-10-02T11:25:00.003-04:00

Teaching and Engaging Unprepared Students: Strategies for Promoting Success and Retention in Higher Education

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

First I would like to thank the CETL department for allowing me to attend my first Teaching Professor Educator Conference. The exposure was astonishing and allowed me to have a broad perspective on teaching and various techniques to utilize in all courses taught within my discipline. Each workshop was unique in its own way, diversified and tailored made to fit any courses taught at Winston-Salem State University.Yes, I attended workshops that interest me the most, including workshops on topics that would enhance my teaching techniques and strategies; most importantly, I was eager to attend those workshops that promoted growth within my department and the university.

The following workshop titled: Teaching and Engaging Unprepared Students:” Strategies for Promoting Success and Retention in Higher Education; was one of several, that enhanced my teaching techniques and inspired me to introduce innovative ways to engage student participation, decrease absenteeism and assist with student retention rates here at Winston-Salem State University.Kathleen Gabriel, a presenter from California State University, Chico discussed how colleges have diverse students, with and increase first-generation population students who may be at risk- students with learning disabilities and those who arrive unprepared for the academic rigors of college. Indeed, this is the case at most universities, however; Gabriel instructs professors in this workshop, to be prepared to reach all the students in their courses. When dealing with unprepared student, professors must use Lerner-centered educational methods as well as universal design strategies. If these areas such as methods for engaging and teaching peripheral students are addressed, research demonstrates that they have a greater chance of success according to Gabriel.Since the student population here at Winston-Salem State University is growing tremendously, the acquired knowledge of an educator should be the same. I deem it necessary to attend workshops and conferences of this sort, in order to do the following: gain knowledge on the various educational methods and strategies, engage in discussions with individuals with the same or opposing views, discover more strategies on how to use critical thinking skills, the value of small teams in the classroom, gather insights on how to promote technology usage throughout the courses in which I teach in Political Science and discover new ways in which collaborative learning can assist with student retention rates.

Noticeably, this was the conference for me, bottom line. The objectives were clear; the research presented from various professors demonstrated reliability and validity and an opportunity for you (the professor) to explore your teaching techniques, add or subtract what’s not substantial in the classroom and advance with the 21st century generation of students and academics. Again, thank you CETL, for an unforgettable life changing teaching exposure opportunity and I certainly look forward in participating in more conferences to come. As mentioned, this was a chance of a life time, one that I deem necessary in order to advance to the next level of 21st Century education with students, faculty and staff. The Teaching Professor Conference 2008, a conference of inspiration, motivation and determination for all; one in which I look forward in attending again and conferences in the near future through CETL at Winston-Salem State University.

Yolonda N. Childs MPA Department of Political Science Public Administration Winston-Salem State University

Web 2.0 Technologies and Social Computing

2008-10-02T10:20:00.011-04:00

I had the opportunity to attend and to present at the University of North Carolina Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) Conference (Raleigh, NC, March 12-14). There were presenters and attendees from across the country and from various disciplines. There was college faculty and staff, K-12 teachers, representatives from industry. It was a great opportunity to network with other users and to come away with information about new ideas and concepts.
Several sessions focused on web 2.0 technologies and social computing. One of the most interesting sessions dealt with how social computing technologies can improve the learning experience of students. The most interesting track at the conference was the TLT Pedagogy Track which addresses exemplary and effective practices in delivering courses and programs, instructional design, development of learning materials and resources in technology-rich teaching and learning. I was also captivated by several of the presentation and workshops particularly geared toward engaging the “net generation.” A phenomenon that also fascinated me was the wide use of open source technology in the educational arena.

I presented with a colleague on enhancing learning in the computer science classroom with robotics. We enjoyed the opportunity of sharing our ideas and thoughts on the use of technology to help student learning. This session was well attended. Some members in the audience were interested in pursuing research on using robots as teaching tools.

Thank you CETL for your support!

Building Scholarship of T&L Communities

2008-09-30T14:54:00.003-04:00

JAMES ETIM
Posted September 30, 2008

I attended The Teaching Professor Conference held on May 16-18 In Kissimmee, Florida. There were very many interesting sessions which I attended, including “Building Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Communities: Methods of Engagement, Assessment and Reward “ and “To See the World in a Grain of Sand: An Approach to Educating our Students and Ourselves about Globalism and Diversity”. These presentations were lively, informative and engaging. In this section, I will discuss two papers that I found very interesting: the three person presentation by Dr. Ngoc-Bich Tran, Dr. James Baker and Patricia Petty titled “How to Succeed in First-Time Online Teaching: Top Ten Tips” and the presentation by Joan Flaherty “To See the World in a Grain of Sand…”.
In the past, I have done web-assisted instruction using Taskstream. However, given that I am trying to develop an online course, I was open to absorbing the information offered by the three educators who had moved from being novices a year or so earlier to being very adept in providing workable online courses for their students. Below, I present some of the things I took away from their presentation.
They began with the ten tips which are-
· Be open minded and enthusiastic when committing to teach an online course
· Be organized by planning and developing the course early
· Motivate your students
· Use available online resources
· Provide enhancement materials
· Provide clear and consistent instructions and feedback
· Keep open lines of communication
· Be patient and considerate of students
· Offer student support
· Enjoy it
In looking closer at these ten tips, bullets 2, 4, 7 are very useful as I begin thinking about my online course. Bullet 2 says- “ Be organized by planning and developing the course early”. This simply means that the course to be taught should be planned and developed at least one semester before it is taught, that the structure of each learning unit of the course must be designed and followed consistently and that students should be presented a calendar to follow as soon as the course begins. In terms of Bullet 4 that states that developers should use available resources online, this is a good advice since it will be easier to hyperlink or refer students to those online resources. The burden of copying materials, scanning them and or seeking copyright permission will also be lessened with this approach. Finally bullet 7 involves the following- set online hours, answer e-mails within 24 hours and be tone friendly in your e-mails since these are public documents. During the Question and Answer session, they pointed out that faculty must work closely with the Instructional Specialist in the college/ university to ensure a smooth process. These are useful as I begin thinking about using Blackboard to expand what I am currently doing.
The second presentation on globalization was equally interesting. To begin with, part of UNC Tomorrow states that “UNC should educate its students to be personally and professionally successful in the 21st century and, to do so, should enhance the global competitiveness of its institutions and their graduates” One way to implement this goal is that “UNC promote increased partnerships between its own campuses and international universities and enhance the global awareness of its faculty and students”. To enhance such awareness, I attended the presentation by Flaherty on globalism and diversity. The presenter began by defining globalism and diversity and pointed out that the world is now interconnected because of technology, economics ( free trade, oil, currency) and demographics( easy movement of people). Given this situation, there was the need for schools and universities to encourage “cultural intelligence”- the ability to adapt to a new and unfamiliar culture – so that graduates can possess the skills to be able to interact with others in the global community. The presenter also suggested that there was the need to internationalize the curriculum through encouraging students to travel internationally, bringing in international scholars and joint programs with universities in other countries. According to Flaherty, there were some obstacles to achieving the goal of internationalizing the curriculum- faculty resistance, finance, time, and administrator buy-in etc. However, she recommended the following for each faculty as he/she worked towards globalism and diversity in the curriculum-
a. Honor and listen to different perspectives
b. Include multicultural literature and texts (as applicable)
c. Honor other peoples background by having them talk about what happens in other cultures
d. Allow for journaling
I would say that there were many interesting presentations and the Teaching Professor Conference afforded me the opportunity to interact with others involved in the kinds of scholarly activities I am interested in. I would highly recommend that faculty from any discipline in the University attend one of these conferences. I guarantee they would learn something from the many presentations which will help in improving their teaching

Critical Thinking, Student Prep and Retention

2008-09-29T14:44:00.009-04:00

I found several of the sessions at the Teaching and Learning Conference in San Juan very informative and useful. Critical thinking was connected to Bloom's taxonomy in a session that also provided tools for its assessment. The formative evaluation techniques that were presented could be easily implemented in any course that proposes to improve critical thinking. Another session that I found particularly valuable was entitled "Preparing students to be global citizens". This was directly in line with the NC Tomorrow Initiative that we have been working with for the past several months. I discovered that the term "global citizen" really has no operational definition, but rather consists of elements that are subscales on the Global Citizenship Scale, an instrument developed by the presenters to assist in their research. The elements consist of environmentalism, social justice, and civic participation. I plan to incorporate this into an environmental issues course next year.

The sessions were not limited to the teaching-learning process; they also included sessions related to other aspects of the academy, including hiring and retention of diverse faculty. Since I have been active on search committees, I was particularly interested in that topic. Some of what I learned reinforced my own experiences, such as the importance of new faculty having a sense of belonging, feeling valued and supported, and being treated fairly. I also learned much about campus climate issues that affect retention of diverse faculty. These included the institution's goals for diversification, the provision of balance across the campus community, and the contributions new hires were expected to make to the department and campus.

All in all, this was a very worthwhile experience, and I look forward to implementing what I have learned in my academic endeavours at WSSU.

SAM Conference

2008-09-26T14:32:00.003-04:00

I attended and presented a workshop at the 2008 SAM Conference in Washington, DC. The conference is for professionals in business and is really an international conference. Dr. Sylvia Bembry and I presented a workshop on Technology for Business Professors that was well received. We illustrated how she has added videos and voice to her microcomputer application class to improve instruction. I also attend an interesting session on the evolution of family owner businesses in India and another session on how to infuse ethics into business courses.

Developmental Studies

2008-09-25T14:43:00.002-04:00

This conference which was sponsored by H & H Publishing Company, Inc. focused on helping students to get ready for college level classes by taking remedial work at the college or university. We discussed strategies to improve reading, writing, math and study skills. The workshops I attended dealt with study skills. Students have to have a study plan and faculty have to help remind them of their plan if they are to be successful. The hardest thing for any student is time management and students need to have a firm handle on their class and study times. Several methods such as a daily record they keep and analyze to find out where their time goes, meeting with tutors and teachers for help at the first sign of trouble understanding in class were discussed.

One-Minute Papers

2008-09-24T10:34:00.002-04:00

One of the most valuable skills I learned was the One-Minute Paper. Students are asked at the end of any given class to respond to two questions: What did you learn today? and What do you still question?Responses to the first question allow the instructor to guage student comprehension of the lesson. In other words, students should reflect the teaching goals for that particular class.In addition, responses to the second question prompt students to ask a question that they were perhaps apprehensive to ask in class. The instructor may then respond in the following class (raing it as an anonymous query), via email or in person.

The Clute Institute for Academic Research Conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico

2008-08-13T22:22:00.008-04:00

The Clute Institute for Academic Research
2008 Teaching and Learning Conference
San Juan, Puerto Rico
March 17-20, 2008

The Clute Institute for Academic Research Conferences take place in the United States and in exotic foreign locations. Puerto Rico was the destination for this teaching and learning conference this year. In general, this conference was very loosely organized with no opening or closing plenary sessions. The panels were combined with the IABR Business Conference and I found this organization quite confusing because participants interested in teaching and learning were forced to listen to business presentations. There were generally five to six panelist for each session and presentations were always rushed and had to be truncated. This structuring was very distracting and counter productive. Presentations such as “Rubrics: The Key to Fairness in Performance Based Assessments” by Carol Shepherd from National University was very basic adding nothing new to the literature and repeating what is generally considered to be standard fare in education. “Critical Thinking Made Blooming Easy: Using Blooms Taxonomy to Encourage Critical Thinking” by Amy Macpherson and Jennifer Mansfield was also very basic and common knowledge to all formally educated teachers. Critical thinking is inherent in Bloom’s Taxonomy. These presenters, however, did focus on the higher levels of the taxonomy: analysis, synthesis and evaluation and applied it to literature in the classroom demonstrating how the children’s story “The Empty Pot” by Demi Ping could be used to develop higher levels of thinking. This portion of the presentation was interesting. Other sessions that I attended—“Post-Secondary Education’s Role in Creating Global citizens by Jade G. Winn,” “Peer Assessment: Students Helping Students Learn by Melissa Marty, Jolen M. Henning and John T. Willse were very weak, and in my opinion, unscholarly. In general, I would not recommend this conference for participants who are seriously interested in teaching and learning. The destinations, however, are marvelous.

Mix it up: Creative Combinations for Learning in North Carolina

2008-08-13T22:12:00.004-04:00

The theme of the 2008 University of North Carolina Teaching & Learning with Technology Conference was “Mix It Up!: Creative combinations for Learning in North Carolina.” This conference is an annual event that focuses on technology use on the 16 constituent institutions in the UNC system. Featuring more than 120 presentations covering a multitude of topics: online quality, open source applications, learning objects and repositories and course redesign, The TLT Conference provided a forum for varied educational interests.

This year, I was both an attendee and a presenter at the conference. The title of my presentation was “The National Foreign Language Standards and the Fusion of the iPod in the Foreign Language Classroom.” My goal was to demonstrate how the iPod could be used in the foreign language classroom to address the learning styles and intelligences of the millennial generation and meet foreign language standards and competencies. I defined the millennial student and professor, illustrated the educational uses of the iPod, highlighted the “best practices” in the field of foreign languages and connected the uses of the iPod to the five “C’s” (Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons and Communities) of foreign language education. The unsolicited feedback that I received at the end of the session from the audience was very favorable.

As an attendee, I found the following sessions to be worthwhile:

“Engaging Students with Social Software Applications: Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and More!” was presented by Zahra Safavia, Director of Product Management at Learning Objects. The speaker discussed the powerful innovative uses of blogs, wikis and podcasts within the teaching and learning environments. She noted how wikis are are being used collaboratively to “build research projects, annotate works of literature and create course knowledge bases. Blogs are being used to collaboratively author novels, facilitate online discussion groups and practice reflective journaling. Podcasts are being used to deliver supplemental course information and lectures.” Ms. Safavia defined the new social tools, outlined their historical development (wiki means “quick” in Hawaiian) and listed their individual characteristics. A very informative introduction to the new 2.0 web tools. I strongly recommend this presentation.

“A Collaborative eLearning Environment: Using Wimba to Build connections, Enhance Learning, and Improve Student Outcomes” was presented by Seana Downing, Regional Sales Manager of Wimba. Ms. Downing noted that the mission of Wimba is to help people teach people. She outlined the history of the company and explained how Wimba’s Collaboration Suite of products empowers educators to enhance learning interactions across subjects and disciplines to build connections and community. Explaining how people teach and learn differently, the speaker noted how Wimba improves outcomes, increases student retention and enhances access and learning. As an effective learning program, Wimba also “creates an online learning community, engages students through action, provides prompt feedback, facilitates student to student communication and addresses diverse learning styles.” The Wimba Voice and Classroom tools create an effective and stimulating educational environment. Winston-Salem State University currently uses Wimba and I can personally attest to the value of this wonderful educational tool. An educator interested in improving and enhancing teaching and learning should attend this session.

“Promoting Collaborative Learning Environment in the Classroom using Mobile Tablet-PCs and Classroom Management Tools” was facilitated by Kuldeep Rawat from Elizabeth City State University. His focus was on using the Tablet PC and Classroom management Software to improve teaching and learning in the classroom. His new pedagogical approach “directly involves students in the learning process, increases their direct collaboration with one another in class, develops their note-taking abilities and promotes instantaneous sharing of data in real-time.” Active learning and technology integration are the direct outcomes of this new method. A very interesting and practical presentation. I strongly recommend this session.

The UNC-TLT conference is local but is growing yearly. For North Carolina educators it is a convenient conference to attend.

Structuring courses to maximize deep learning

2008-08-13T18:43:00.005-04:00

The Teaching Professor Conference
May 16-18, 2008
Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center
Kissimmee, Florida

The Teaching Professor Conference is a special opportunity for all those who care deeply about teaching and learning to network, to discuss and to attend sessions, workshops and exhibitions. It focuses on The Pedagogies of Engagement, Technology, Teaching Large Classes, Undergraduate Research, Faculty, Learning and the Scholarship of Teaching. If you are ready to be successful in academe and to educate, to engage and to inspire, this gathering is surely for you!

The following pre-workshops, sessions and panels were noteworthy at the Teaching Professor Conference:

“Structuring Courses to Maximize Deep Learning” facilitated by Dr. Barbara J. Mills from the University of Nevada (www.millis@unr.edu) was a special pre-conference workshop that I attended . She emphasized that faculty must “learn some key learning principles and some practical applications in the area of “How People Learn” and in “Deep Learning” in order to design better courses that foster inquiry and analysis , critical and creative thinking, written and oral communication, teamwork and problem solving.” Dr. Mills also illustrated how Deep Learning Research and “best practices” converge in the classroom and utilized specific classroom techniques based in cooperative learning and writing across the curriculum. Participants were encouraged to gain insights through modeled practices in the classroom and to reflect on their own approaches to teaching and learning. Her primary goal was to make it easier for instructors to think about teaching through cooperative learning and course design. Citing L. Dee Fink’s Taxonomy of Significant Learning in Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses, this presenter underscored how research has shown that we learn best by teaching others and that Deep Learning connects with deep foundational knowledge. A solid workshop; however, the title could be modified to reflect a very strong emphasis on cooperative learning.

Dr. Barbara E. Walvoord (www.walvoord@nd.edu) delivered a plenary on “Saving Time in the Grading Process.” Realizing that college professors just have too much work to do and too many papers to grade, she advocated reducing major assignments to one or two and brainstorming about other ways of achieving your instructional objectives. The key for Dr. Walvoord is to demonstrate mastery.
She emphasized that instructors should utilize rubrics, clarify criteria, guidelines and course standards to students, ensure commensurate student effort, offer more guidance, find out what the student knows and manage grammar and punctuation issues. Additionally, the speaker stated that instructors must change their paradigms and utilize time and space more effectively in the classroom and not edit student work since research indicates that it has little impact on students. Teachers should also count informal assignments, claim student time, tape lectures outside of class and only do major work in class. Finally, Dr. Walvoord affirmed that “the most powerful source indicating student learning is “student work.” The aforementioned plenary session was informative, especially for new and overworked instructors.

“Documenting Effective Teaching in a Scholarly Manner: Why and How” was presented by Janice W. Denton (Janice.denton@uc.edu) and Lesta Cooper-Freytag (cooperlj@ucrwcu.rwc.uc.edu) from the University of Cincinnati. These presenters concentrated on the importance of documenting college and university teaching as if it were traditional discipline-specific research and shared their model for this endeavor which is based on the work that originated at the American Association of Higher Education (AAHE). They noted that their model was divided into three parts: (1) strategy; (2) model; (3) product which include the following components:
• faculty peers
• three (3) prompts of faculty self-reflection
• faculty scholarly teaching committee
• written student learning outcomes
• syllabus as a learning tool
• Action Research in the classroom
• teaching artifacts
• formative feedback from peers

The presenters summarized their presentation by emphasizing that the model was very successful at their institution and that the most important aspects were the three prompts for faculty reflection, teaching artifacts and formative feedback from a peer. Great session! I strongly recommend it for individuals interested in creating portfolios.

Margo Bowman (man@wayne.edu) from Wayne State University and Debra L. Frame (debra.frame@uc.edu) from the University of Cincinnati presented a discussion on “Going Beyond Expertise in Content: Encouraging Instructors to Become Expert Educators.” This session was profound in the simplicity of its premise “Expertise in a content area does not necessarily transfer to expertise as an educator.” The presenters explained information storage, illustrated how novices (students) differ from experts (teachers) and gave examples of effective learning experiences. They noted how differences between the novices and experts can greatly impact learning and that students should be taught in a manner that encourages the neural networks of knowledge. Hence, information about the brain and how it functions when it comes to memory ( the mind can only retain seven items at a time) is essential for effective teaching and learning. The audience was engage in several exercises that demonstrated how the brain functions. The facilitators ended their presentation with several teaching implications: (1) Teachers should provide multiple experiences that encourage the recognition of meaning and patterns; (2)Teachers should organize basic elements into a larger structure; (3) Teachers should focus on a global context and patterns; (4) Teachers should make connections for their students; (5) Teachers should chunk their information; (6) Teachers should engage in peer review. I highly recommend this session. It was outstanding.
The Teaching Professor Conference was a great experience. Instructors can continue to stay abreast of all the latest developments in teaching by subscribing to the Teaching Professor Newsletter.

International Society for Technology in Education Conference

2008-08-13T13:50:00.009-04:00

International Society for Technology in Education Conference (ISTE)
Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center
June 29, July 2, 2008
San Antonio, Texas

Fantastic! Fabulous! Spectacular! are the adjectives that come to mind when I think about the 29th Annual Educational Computing Conference (NECC) held in San Antonio, June 29 through July 2, 2008 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. Presented by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) with the theme of “Convene, Connect, Transform” this affair was attended by over 12, 600 educators with 924 conference sessions, 115 workshops, 500 vendors and attendees from 57 nations. A total of 17, 600 educators and exhibit personnel were present. This conference is the premier membership association for any educator interested in improving teaching and learning through the effective use of technology. It is the home base of the National Education Technology Standards (NETS), the Center for Applied Research in Educational Technology (CARET) and the National Educational Computing Conference. It represents more than 100,000 professionals globally. It is extremely well-organized and presents a comprehensive platform of activities on virtually every aspect of educational technology from PK-12, teacher education and college. It is a“must do” conference. From the riveting Opening Keynote of James Surowiecki who discussed his book The Wisdom of Crowds and how groups make better decisions than individuals or experts to the Closing Keynote of Idit Harel-Caperton whose address “The Transformational Power of Social Media Technology in Learning: Inspiring Stories from the Classroom and Beyond!” explored how social networks, wikis and blogs are changing the information, social, political and educational landscapes, ISTE provided truly engaging sessions (many required laptops) that were complemented by a completely wireless environment and a Blogger’s Cafe.

I visited poster sessions, spectacular exhibits and attended illuminating lectures and panels. Conference highlights include the following:

Innovative Project-Based Learning: Strategies from Kindergarten to College was presented by Christy Keeler, Ph.D (www.christy@keelers.com) and Heather B. Rampton, M.Ed (www.hbrampton@interact.ccsd.net from the University of Nevada Las
Vegas. This session introduced project-based learning strategies that incorporated audio, video, slideshows, blogs, digital photography, page layout software and the Internet across grade levels and curricula. She discussed the elements of project-based learning noting that they are artifact driven, content focused, technology infused, collaborative, multi-disciplinary, long term and student centered. Dr. Keeler emphasized that students in the 21st century require the skills developed by this learning method. This session was very engaging and educators left with numerous practical strategies that they could immediately employ in their classrooms. I highly recommend this session.

Best Practices using Camtasia was a stimulating brief presentation given by Mr. Ryan Eash from Camtasia. He demonstrated how this screen recording software could be utilized in the classroom and shared with a wide audience. He gave four examples of how Camtasia could be used to support best practices: (1) Recording classroom lectures for review sessions and posting to a website; (2) Creating Flash Animation Tutorials that can be viewed on an iPod; (3) Generating student-produced items with students teaching students [www.mathtrain.com]; (4) Interactive Paper Grading. This last method has great practical value and educational ramifications for instructors who want to use technology in their assessments. Mr. Eash recommended that for more educational best practices attendees could visit the Camtasia website (www.techsmith.com/camtasia.asp ). A very good presentation.

Visual Literacy: Equipping Students for a Visual World was a “Spotlight” presentation hosted by ISTE’s flagship publication, Learning & Leading with Technology and hosted by Dr. Lynell Burmark of the Thomburg Center (lynell@educatebetter.org) . The presenter demonstrated how instructors could utilize the visual media for learning and earning. She noted that it was extremely important to select an image that conveys your message; it must tell the story. Stating that individuals want to believe what they see and that a picture is worth a thousand words, the speaker illustrated that images go to long term memory and that there are a million fibers connecting the eye to the brain. She also affirmed that individuals process visuals 60,000 times faster than text. To Dr. Burmark, “It is simply a matter of keyboard versus camera. With images, recall and retention rise 42%; the ability to transfer and apply increases 89%.” The speaker finally noted that the use of videos automatically meet this goal and this is why platforms like You Tube, Flickr, etc. are so effective. “The image always precedes the thought.” A truly provocative presentation.

Audio is Great! Video is Cool! iPods Can Do More was the theme of Learning in Hand’s Tony Vincent (www.learninginhand.@mac.com) . This presenter underscored the utility of the iPod as a motivating learning tool in the classroom. He demonstrated a plethora of uses that this MP3 player could be used for in the educational arena: voice recording, video capabililty, musical lyrics and songs, personal calendar, photo album, flash card generation, student tutorials, PowerPoints, portable hard drive, lesson planning, interactive storytelling, quizzing, podcasting, etc.) Mr. Vincent also supports a website (www.learninginhand.com) where educators may download his free ebook Podcasting for Teachers and Students. This site also contains a blog, articles, ebooks, discussion forums, lesson plans, and web links. An excellent presentation.

The aforementioned highlights are just a small portion of the many excellent panels sessions at the ISTE conference. Again, this conference is essential for any educator and all individuals interested in technology in the classroom.

ISTE Conference

2008-07-11T18:31:00.005-04:00

The 2008 ISTE NECC conference in San Antonio Texas was a very rewarding experience. More than 19,000 teachers from the USA and 50 other countries came together to share and experience the latest in technology for education. In addition to presentations, student showcases and research posters I attended several vendor and book dealer presentations.

I explored the new NETS for Teachers with a focus on how teachers are designing digital age learning and assessment tools. Several of the posters I attended were from HP Grants in Action and they included such titles as Throw Away the Keyboard- Enhancing Learning with Tablets, Modeling Our World, Math in the Real World: A Virtual Math Community. Math in the real world was abiout Teachers at James River Elementary who used technology to guide students in a journey through the entire 5th grade math curriculum. Students built a virtual math community, highlighting the manner in which the skills they learn will be applied in the professional world. http://tinyurl.com/64vyge
Students experienced real life examples in mathematics outside the classroom and had an unique opportunity to connect with professionals and service providers in our local area. Projects and experiences were shared with the community at an evening "Math in the Real World" Exhibition, as a capstone event for the International Bacclaureate Primary Years Programme (IBPYP).

One of the more interesting concurrent sessions I attended was Wonderful World of Wikis

This presentation discussed the effective uses of wikis in educational settings. Beginning with fundamental editing and basic principles of using wikis, VP of Wikispaces Adam Frey talked about basic wiki editing principles.

Another interesting session was Blogging Communities in the Classroom: Creating Engaging Learning Experiences. One of the focal areas of the presentation was its emphasis on literacy development and the positive impact of online communities of writers on student literacy skills.

Creating the Learning Environment of Tomorrow

2008-07-09T10:32:00.005-04:00

Drexel University Nursing Education Institute: Creating the learning environment of tomorrow

The College of Nursing and Health Professions of Drexel University sponsored its annual nurse educator’s conference in Atlantic City, NJ on June 27-29, 2008 at the Sheraton Atlantic City Convention Center. I was privileged to have attended the conference on 28th and 29th. Although I have attended nurse educators conferences before, this was the first time that I have gone through CETL to do so and hope that I will be given the opportunity to attend more in the future.

Each day the conference sessions began by 0645 and was over at 2pm which allowed plenty of time for leisure activity. The Sheraton Convention Center provided nice rooms and had several other accommodations such as a day spa, 2 restaurants, exercise room, free wireless on a designated floor and more. The best part was that it was conveniently located to shopping, food, and fun all within walking distance so there was no need to catch a taxi anywhere.

Now for Lessoned Learned

There were so many sessions to choose from that the worst part of the conference was deciding which session to enter. Every hour there were 5 to 6 concurrent sessions to choose from, fortunately a CD was provided that included all PowerPoint’s from all presenters for future reference.

The first session I attended at 0630 on Saturday morning was titled Using electronic resources to foster geriatrics in prelicensure nursing programs. The presenters of this session discussed how to incorporate technology currently being used in healthcare settings in the classroom. One example used was a software program that many hospitals use to determine the risk level of falls for patients, the same technology could be applied in the classroom when teaching assessment skills.

The plenary session that followed was on profiling violence. The speaker Paul Clements provided tips to consider when disciplining students, signs to be aware of such as subtle statements made by students such as “you do what you have to do and I’ll do what I have to do”. He also advised that office furniture should always be arranged so that the student is not between the professor and door in the event a quick exit is needed and if so plan student meetings in an alternative setting when there is a need to give bad information to the student. This was something I had never considered but will take it into consideration this fall when planning student meetings.

I attended three other sessions this day the topics were enhancing critical thinking skills of the baccalaureate nursing student; evaluation of students in the clinical setting; and the use of film as a teaching strategy. The session on use of film was very innovative. The speaker discussed how she would take clips from movies and apply it to the topic of discussion. For example, when she is teaching depression she would find movies that had characters with depression, after the students would watch a clip of it the professor would then start a discussion by asking a question like… “What classic signs of depression did the character display?” The goal is to help the students relate to something in order to retain the material longer.

Day 2 of the conference I attended three sessions prior to the closing plenary. Although each of the three sessions I chose to attend had different speakers and different viewpoints, all three were related to teaching strategies that promote learning when teaching the millennial generation. All presenters discussed the importance of using a variety of teaching strategies in the classroom with very little lecture. Youtube clips seem to the fastest growing strategy followed by virtual excursions and simulation.

This conference was very useful especially for me, a novice educator. I learned several strategies that I will gradually incorporate into my lesson plans. I look forward to attending this same conference next year and possibly being a presenter myself even if only a poster presenter.

Thanks again CETL for providing me with this opportunity.

Leslee Shepard
Division of Nursing

The Teaching Professor Conference - Kissimmee, FL

2008-06-05T14:21:00.004-04:00

Having attended my first Teaching Professor Conference in May really made me think...

Why didn't I know about this conference before now?

This conference was extremely interesting and helpful in so many ways. First, let me start by saying that the hotel - The Gaylord Palms - was extraordinary! The rooms were spacious, the decor was breathtaking and the service was first-class. The only problem I encountered was that it was a resort hotel. Being a resort hotel, it was in a fairly remote section of Kissimmee. If you wanted to save the $26.00 for the buffet dinner by grabbing something quick, you couldn't unless you wanted to catch a cab to the nearest grocery store.

Getting past the high prices for the food and shopping, we move to the conference.

The conference itself was very well organized. The conference staff was couteous, kind, obedient, cheerful...almost like Boy Scouts.
I attended a session on Friday titled "Saving Time in the Grading Process." I thought, "Hmmm...this should be interesting." It was facilitated by Dr. Barbara Walvoord - the same Dr. Walvoord that will be here at Ol 'SU in August. She talked about how to handle assignments students turn in and how to quickly return those assignments so the students receive timely feedback. She really confirmed many of the practices that I use in my classes.

On Saturday, I attended a few sessions. One was titled "Youtube and Facebook in the Classroom." Once again I thought, "Hmmm...this should be interesting." It was facilitated by Kathy Yamachita. More than anything, she explained terms to us that many of the participants were not that familiar with such as: Web 2.0, Metatagging, Viral Video, etc. Her presentation was very well organized, but did not seem to speak to using youtube or facebook across other disciplines. She gave us tips on how she uses youtube in her Art courses, but just using that example made it difficult to see how my colleagues could use the same technology in English, Landscaping, Engineering, Chemistry, etc.

The next session was titled "Integrating Technology to Engage the Student." If you can't see it by now, I am all about the use of technology for effective teaching. Upon reading the title of this session, I thought...well, you know what I thought. The facilitators were Kristina Drumheller and Gregg Lawler from West Texas A&M University. The bulk of this session focused on the use of a software called "Camtasia." This recording software allows instructors to teach in more of a virtual setting. Instructors can demonstrate how to apply certain concepts by recording the actions on the computer (along with voice) and even highlighting or creating tips for the students as they are watching. The information was good, but the session title was a little misleading.

The final session I attended that day was "Increasing Student Participation." This was yet another session that dealt with the use of technology in the classroom. The session was facilitated by Dr. Ken Alford of the National Defense University. The bulk of this presentation focused on another piece of software called "QuizShow." This is a Jeopardy-style application that allows instructors to hold review sessions, do concept quizzing, and invoke class participation by making a game of it. The class got a chance to participate and it was very entertaining. This was by far the most beneficial to me as I visualized how I could used this in my classes.

I was returning to Winston-Salem on Sunday, so I did not attend any sessions Sunday morning. Overall, the conference is something that I would recommend that many professors/instructors attend. It may seem as though the conference is for teachers who have not yet defined their teaching philosophy/strategies or that it is for teachers who seek guidance in their careers, but it is not that. If anything, it acts as reinforcement for beliefs and strategies you already employ. Particpants of this conference have the opportunity to get away from the stress of work, learn some new tricks, and be able to overly utilize the phrase "Hmmm...this should be interesting."

DMCureton
English & Foreign Languages

Online Teaching

2008-06-05T13:46:00.005-04:00

This was my first TLC conference. On the up side, many intersting topics. On the down side, too many concurrent sessions -which meant I couldn't attend everything I was interest in.

The sessions I did attend included Teaching and Engaging Underprepared Sttudents, Supporting Online Learners, Top 10 Tips For First-Time Online Teacing, Classroom For Clickers, Using Card-Sort Activities, and Simple Movements To Revitalize Teaching And Learning.

The sessions about online teaching will be helpful when I develop my first online course this fall. The session on clickers has motivated me to incorporate the use of our clickers into at least 2 of my classes. I have requested templates from the Card-Sort presenter and believe there may be an application in some of my classes. The Revitalizing session presented several simple exercises that actually improve focus and attention.

As a first TLC experience, it was enjoyable and informative. I hope to fit more of these into my schedule.

Managing difficult dialogues and confrontational moments in classrooms

2008-06-03T15:39:00.001-04:00

Last month, I had an opportunity to attend The Teaching Professors conference at Kissimmee, FL, USA (May 16-18, 2008). Conference (http://www.teachingprofessor.com/) was organized in the beautiful settings of Gaylord Palm Resort (http://www.gaylordhotels.com/ ). The conference was very well organized and provided opportunities to choose sessions of your choice from various concurrent sessions. A few presentations such as Preventing and Managing Challenging Class Room Situations, Saving time in the Grading Process, and No More sage on the Stage: Strategies for Active Learning in Blended Face-to Face and On Line Courses were very informative.
I took a liking for the presentation “WARNING-This Material is Intended for Mature Audiences: Managing Difficult Dialogues in the Large Lecture Classroom” by W. Mick Charney, PhD from Kansas State University. Dr. Charney dealt with issues of religious, cultural and social sentiments of students on controversial subjects or topics in his classroom. His discussion on “Why do challenging materials create difficult moments in the classroom” was thought provoking. The nature of strong stimuli, disrupted code deciphering skills, unrefined analytical tools and non-monolithic student populations were put forward as reasons for creating difficult moments. He provided a few tips as strategies to effectively manage such confrontational moments. For our reader’s benefit I am representing a few of those tips. They were;
1. Anticipate the types of negative reactions
2. Embed touchstone concepts or recurrent themes
3. Issue warnings and disclaimers
4. Open up clear lines of communication with administrators
5. Use clear and precise language
Overall conference was very enjoyable and provided opportunities to learn a new or reinforce our own concepts in effective teaching.

Dinesh K. Singh, DVM, PhD
Department of Life Sciences, WSSU (6/2/08)

Validation

2008-05-30T16:18:00.004-04:00

The workshop on 3 Step Lesson Plan was validation for me. The presenter shared a method of lesson delivery using 20 minute segments of highly student engaged activities. The focus on student involvement and accountability provided easy applicable ways to immediately incorporate this system. The instructor uses this method to conduct classes lasting one hour. My method is a seven step lesson which covers my four hour classes; I too create lessons that allow students to be accountable and engaged in twenty minute segments. The students emerge as truly active and responsible for their learning which achieves the learning outcomes for the courses.
Another workshop that I attended called Misperceptions of Teaching and Learning was very insightful. This presentation looked at a survey that matched faculty perceptions of what faculty perceived as teaching and student learning with students' perceptions of what good teaching is and what constitutes learning. The reason for the survey is to better align the perceptions of the faculty and students. A discussion about the results of the survey between faculty and students needs to occur to clear up misconceptions, usualluy undertaken at the beginning of the course.
I would highly recommend this conference to all who teach in higher education.

Teaching Professor Conference, Kissimmee, Florida

2008-05-30T10:35:00.003-04:00

I recently had the pleasure of attending The Teaching Professor conference in Kissimme, FL. The conference is designed to improve the teaching skills of professors in all disciplines, in both face-to-face and online teaching.

The conference opened with a welcome address from Barbara Walvoord on Saving time in the Grading Process. Dr. Walvoord's address reminded participants that as professors we should not spend more time grading work than student's have put into creating it! She also spoke about how to not get caught in a trap of "micro-grading", that is spending so much time correcting every grammatical error, etc., that when students turn in rewrites they have just fixed the errors, but not addressed any major writing issues. Her address started the conference out on a very positive note, and I am looking forward to her visit to WSSU on August 11 -12, 2008, for the Action Research Institute.

I attended a workshop by Keith Whittington from Rochester Institute of Technology called Simple Active Learning Activities Designed to Increase Student Learning and Satisfaction. Dr. Whittington shared with a very large group several activities designed to increase classroom interaction and to get accurate feedback from students. One activity he shared was to have students write down anonymously one thing they learned or one thing they liked the most or least about class or readings. He emphasized making it one thing, and providing absolute limits to help students focus their answers. You can collect them at the end of class, and structure your next lecture around the areas that are still unclear to students. A lot of the information he shared was based on research done by Angelo and Cross (1993). He also did a very interesting card activity in which he gave out cards from a deck randomly, grouped people by fours, and had us work on an assignment. We worked on the assignment by having one person start the answer, and we just kept passing it and adding on to it. It was a very non-threatening way to brainstorm, and it requires that everyone participate. When it was time to share, he chose cards from another deck to randomly select people to answer the questions. The audience really enjoyed this method, and I could see how this could be very effective with a large group.

I attended several workshops on how to create communities in online classes. One session, done by Lynda Nauright called No More Sage on the Stage: Strategies for Active Learning in Blended Face-to-Face and Online Courses, emphasized that faculty (and administrators) need to recognize that as our student population changes, so does the role of faculty members. She spends a lot of time trying to make sure her online classes work collaboratively, and when she places them in groups she tells them that their peers can decided to remove them from the group if they don't participate. If this happens, they are automatically removed from the course. This has only happened one time, but you can imagine what a discussion it started in our session!

Another session done by a very lively Economics professor, Dr. Ngoc Bich Tran, gave us How to Succeed in First-Time Online Teaching: Top Ten Tips. They are:
10. Enjoy it
9. Offer student support
8. Be patient and considerate to students
7. Keep open lines of communication
6. Provide clear and consistent instructions and feedback
5. Provide enhancement materials
4. Use available online content resources
3. Motivate your students
2. Be organized by planning and developing the course early
1. Be open-minded and enthusiastic when committing to teach online course

Her co-presenters also emphasized using the support of your institution's instructional designers and any offices with expertise in distance learning.

Finally, I learned a lot about my co-workers as part of this conference. WSSU had a strong presence, and having the opportunity to spend time with other faculty will allowed for increased chances for collaborations and increased collegiality.

I am grateful to CETL for providing this opportunity, and encourage all to utilize CETL as a resource to enhance your professional development.

TEACHING WITH TECHNOLOGY

2008-05-28T23:32:00.004-04:00

The most invigorating session for me was "Using Technology: Thou shalt and Thou shalt Not," led by Dave Yearwood, a professor of Technology in the Business School at University of North Dakota (http://business.und.edu/dept/technology/faculty.cfm). His basic message was that technology should enhance, not dictate, our classes.

Some key points from the discussion:

1) Question: When was the last time you saw a politician using PowerPoint? If you want to connect with your audience, maybe Powerpoint is not the best way.

2) Having students write their ideas down rather than just viewing bullet points on a screen is more helpful in retention and learning process.

3) Is technology helping or hindering learning? Do you really need to use technology?

4) Studies show that "online burnout" occurs at an alarmingly high rate in college courses. (70% of respondents in a survey reported burnout). So, minimize the amount of technology introduced into a course. (Recognize, too, that students have their own technological distractions/issues going on during class.)

5) Some audience members may expect/need a PowerPoint slide to make it a presentation complete. Consider ways to use PP to provoke emotion, draw attention, and start a conversation. Maybe show a picture or graph at the beginning of class, but shut off the projector and don't let the PP be the whole class.

6) There is not (or should not be) such a thing as "PowerPoint Presentation" any more than is a "Chalkboard Presentation" or "Overhead Transparency Presentation" or "Flip Chart Presentation." Technology should not become the center of attention.

Yearwood kept coming back to PowerPoint because it is the most pervasive hi-tech tool used in classrooms today, and just about every textbook comes bundled with PowerPoint slides. He suggested that instructors learn some effective and efficient ways to create and integrate PP and other technol. into their courses, but should be willing to forego tech tools that don't add value to the class.

Coming from a professor of technology, that's sound advice.

STUDENT ATTITUDE

2008-05-28T21:35:00.004-04:00

One of the pleasures (or pains) of attending a "teaching" conference is that every session forces you to reflect on your own philosophy and practice. Some sessions can make you feel hopeless and guilty; others make you want to say amen to every point the presenter makes; and there are some that cause you to immediately start rethinking/rewriting your syllabi.

The session entitled "Learning from the Learners" featured a panel of undergraduate students that shared their views on the classroom experience. Keep in mind that these students would have been more motivated than their peers to attend the conference. ["Dude, you attended a teaching conference with professors?!"] OK, throw in a mouse and some rides and they'll gladly take the trip...

Anyway, here are some points and tips they shared:

(1) Students don't come to class to LEARN; they understand that they need the degree to get a decent job so they "play the academic game." They know that most of the stuff they're learning they won't need in the real world.

(2) Professors should show a positive attitude ("even fake it") when they come to class; students can tell if professors don't want to be there.

(3) About 99% of students won't turn off their cell phones when asked to. It's their security and lifeline.

(4) It's more important to learn communication and teambuilding skills than all the information that's packed into the course. Much of the material will be forgotten after the exam, anyway.

(5) Writing is key to thinking and learning the material. Give students opportunities to write.

(6) Challenging courses, especially math and science courses, should be taught more creatively -- applied to real life situations as much as possible.

-----

The students' views fit the conventional profile of Generation Y or Millennials (born after 1982): impatient, coddled, multitaskers, IMers, me-oriented, etc. So I wondered about how I could redefine "learning" to attract student interest: Maybe integrate their favorite technolgies into my classes to provide the comfort and security they need and crave. Maybe allow them to wear earpieces and use cell phones ("You may text or make your calls discreetly."). I could give them more opportunities to have "fun" and write about it. The ideas kept coming...

Yet I am torn between teaching for the moment (the next laugh, the end of term student evaluations) and teaching for life (which was the philosophy I had adopted as a teaching-in-training 25 years ago). I know that those students on the stage will come back to the teaching conference in 5 years and say how they wished they had "learned" more, just as students who left my class hating all the useless writing they had to do ("busy work") and then came back after an internship or year of work to say that it was the best preparation for their jobs!

I keep looking for a middle ground.

What Technologies Are They Using?

2008-05-23T18:48:00.004-04:00

Another TLT session I wanted to mention briefly was one presented by Karen Smith-Gratto, Barbra Mosley, and Alecia Jones of North Carolina A & T. They were reporting on a study that asked students about what technologies (hardware and Web-based applications) they actually use. They were interested in finding out whether A&T students' technology use is similar to that described in national studies of college students' technology use or whether there are significant differences. (Unfortunately, I came in just late enough to miss the citation for the national study.) Among their findings were these:

About 40% of A&T students (as opposed to 20% in the national study) use instant messaging.

Whereas Boomers almost never use text messaging, the current generation uses it daily in overwhelming numbers. (Gen X also uses it.) You can tell I'm a Boomer--I'm sitting here wondering whether text messaging and IMing are the same thing!

Students didn't report much use of social networking sites, but the investigators suspect that they didn't understand what the question was asking about.

Overall, students may be less advanced and use fewer technologies than we think--but it is also possible that they are using some technolgies socially and do not want us invading their space! This reminded me of the looks of alarm I see on my students' faces when I mention that I have a Facebook page.

This struck me as a study it would be very interesting to replicate here. It would be particularly useful to know whether our students are really as technologically sophisticated as we sometimes think they are, and it would also be useful to have a clearer idea of how much their knowledge of technology varies. I suspect it varies a great deal--even some of the young students seem unfamiliar with word processing, while every class seems to include (thank goodness) at least one student who can help us get our technological tools to work.

Effective classroom interaction: Learning from the Teaching Professor Conference, 2008

2008-05-22T14:06:00.007-04:00

I attended the Teaching Professor Conference in Kissimee,FL. To say that this conference was outstanding, is an understatement! I learned so many different tools and strategies that I can use in the classroom. Being a new teacher of higher learning, I must admit that I kind of felt intimidated being amongst so many seasoned professionals. The conference didn't make me feel like I was a neophyte in the world of higher education, instead I felt amongst individuals who though had been teaching for years, were learning and listening for ideas, as though frustrated with the modern way of teaching. For once, I felt like I belong to a secret society of educators who were planning to take control of this world that we called higher learning. It felt so exhilarating and awesome. I had all of the confidence in the world take on the "politics" of standardized teaching. Everything about this conference was amazing! The hotel, the city and the true southern hospitality that I received. I would certainly like to thank CETL at Winston-Salem State University for providing me with opportunity to advance my teaching and learning skills.

This conference was just a confirmation for me that I belong in this career. I can't wait to take what I have learned and apply it to my curriculum for the fall. I especially liked the workshop that talked about incorporating YouTube and Facebook into the Curriculum (Katherine Yamashita). I thought that it was a great idea to get students excited about learning in their language. I am a visual learner like most of my students therefore this method of teaching would be very effective. I also felt like the "Pick a Card any Card: Using Card-Sort Activities to Combine Critical Thinking and Cooperative Learning " workshop (John Huss) was very informative. There are a couple of group activities in that workshop that I would like to use as well.

Overall, I would recommend to anyone to attend this conference. If a person really values teaching and really cares about their students, then this conference is perfect for them.

Thank you for the experience,

Niesha Douglas

Effective classroom interaction: Learning from the Lilly Conference

2008-05-19T15:48:00.005-04:00

This February I attended the Lilly Conference which was held in Greensboro, NC. Among the sessions I attended I was particularly interested in the session Sparking and Sustaining Classroom Discussion presented by Kimberly Cuny and Sarah M. Wilde. I would like to share a little what I learned from this session and beyond with my fellow colleagues.

Teaching is a multiside processing which is involving in both teacher and students, therefore effective interaction with students in classroom is critical for the classroom success. The session and my conversations with the presenters after session help me in improving my classroom communication skills, those are something I ignored before in my classrooms. Also I would love to recommendate two articles anthored by the presenters, linked via http://speakingcenter.uncg.edu/resources/immediacypapers/plepart1.html and http://speakingcenter.uncg.edu/resources/immediacypapers/plepart2.html.

Lei Zhang

Teaching Portuguese Language and Brazilian Culture

2008-05-05T15:03:00.008-04:00

Generous support from CETL and the Department of English and Foreign Languages enabled me to attend the Ninth Congress of the Brazilian Studies Association (BRASA) in New Orleans, March 27-29, 2008. BRASA is the major international organization focused on multidisciplinary Brazilian studies. The conference had approximately 1,000 attendees from the US, Brazil, and other countries. Remarkable this time were the number of panels dealing with Portuguese language and culture pedagogy and related issues. This increase, I believe, has been stimulated by the steady expansion of Portuguese language instruction in the US (WSSU initiated its program in fall 2005), the publication of new and very good materials for beginning learners in the US, and the recent implementation of an internationally administered standardized, multi-skill proficiency test in Brazilian Portuguese. Aside from the shared theme of culture and language instruction, there were two threads that ran through these presentations were (1) the integral connections between culture and language and (2) the utility of the World Wide Web for both finding and storing relevant materials.

I attended one panel and presented in another on this broad topic. The first panel, "Questions of Identity in the Study of Portuguese as L1 and L2 ("Questões identitárias no estudo do português como L1 e L2") included presentations "Challenges for the Teaching of Brazilian Culture to Foreigners" ("Desafios para o ensino de cultura brasileira para estrangeiros") by Monica Rector (UNC-Chapel Hill), "Identity and Language: Matters of Usage ("Identidade e língua: questões de uso") by Ricardo Borges Alencar (Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro), "Portuguese in the Current Context Is Portuguese without a Text" ("Português no contexto atual é Português sem texto") by Regina Igel (University of Maryland, College Park), and "Active Poetry: Incorporation of Poems into the Teaching of Portuguese Language" ("Poesia ativa: a incorporação de poemas no ensino de língua portuguesa") by Sophia Beal (Brown University).

As far as the integral connections between culture and language are concerned, while language teachers have long taken for granted the importance of culture (broadly conceived) in language instruction, in the 1990s, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) lead the development of the Standards for Foreign Language Learning. The "five Cs," as these are known, are Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, and Communities. Teachers and authors of materials have felt emboldened since the publications of the standards to integrated language instruction with other dimensions of worlds in which languages are used. The integration and overlap of the five Cs lead us to inject thoroughly and systematically types of instruction into the earliest course in the language instruction sequence. Thus, while the vehicle of these is linguistic, the skills are cultural. Again, these contents are not new to instructors but integration into the elementary-intermediate curriculum often is. Two new textbooks, as well as supplemental materials, deal with these matters. Ponto de encontro: Portuguese as a World Language by Anna Klobucka, et al. (Prentice-Hall-Pearson, 2007) courageously brings both European and Brazilian Portuguese and formal and informal registers together in the belief that the learner should not have exposure restricted but should learn early on how to deal with these differences. Working Portuguese by Monica Rector et al. (Norton, forthcoming) as well as Prof. Alencar's presentation underscore the pragmatics of oral communication in Brazil, understanding of which is useful not only to Americans doing business in Brazil but also the general learner. Prof. Beal's presented ingeniously constructed lessons using canonical yet accessible Brazilian poetry to teach multiple language skills to elementary students. These lessons are supplemental to the regular use of Ponto de encontro. Finally, Prof. Rector's textbook is unusual in that it is explicitly informed by Paulo Freyre' pedagogy of the oppressed and "dialogue" adult educational practices synthesized by Jane Vella in On Teaching and Learning: Putting the Principles of Dialogue Education into Practice (John Wiley Sons, 2007) and previous books. In short, culture is not just an appendage of the language class, it is intertwined with it.

The panel on which I presented was "Innovative Strategies for Strengthening Portuguese Language Programs." We learned practical details about the design and administration of "CELPE-Bras Portuguese Proficiency Exam," from Mary Risner (University of Florida), who also presented an "Overview of Initiatives to Promote Portuguese." The CELPE-Bras test is an important breakthrough because, if students can get to testing sites, the test is free or very modestly priced, and it is widely acknowledged in the Portuguese-speaking world and among area specialists in the US. We got a window on "the making of" the video that accompanies Ponto de encontro from one of the co-authors herself, Clémence Jouët-Pastré (Harvard University. In both this and the previous session we had fruitful debates about the merits of both Ponto de Encontro and Working Portuguese because co-authors were present. Denise Gomes Leal da Cruz Pacheco (UCLA) presented on "Teaching Foreign Language and Didactic Materials in the Face of New Information Technologies" ("Ensino de línguas estrangeiras e os materiais didáticos face às tecnologias de informação e comunicação," which seemed to echo Prof. Igel's presentation and center on the obsolescence of the print textbook expecially for full integration of the five Cs. While it is good to be reminded of this, there is something to be said for the maintenance of the print text especially for teaching communications skills insofar as they are portable and unify the class tactically. I presented on "Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE): U.S.-Brazil Higher Education Consortia Program: Focus on the HBCU Experience." WSSU is a partner in two FIPSE grantee consortia, of one of which I am the PI. Insofar as these consortia are focused on student exchange and language/culture learning they have been crucial for leveraging on-campus interaction and co-curricular activity related to Portuguese and Brazil. One of my central points, based on WSSU student testimonials, was that, although the theme of the exchange was "The African Diaspora in Brazil and the US: A Comparative Approach," and although most of the coursework in Brazil and the US were centered on that theme, what the students remark at most is the experience of being taken out of a majority African American institution and going back into a majority white institutional context in Brazil, and then returning to WSSU. They also comment on how US Black identity is both mirrored and challenged by Afro-Brazilians' daily experience. One Fisk student, participating in a different consortium but studying in Salvador--one of our partner cities, summed things up: "[the experience] helped me understand the meaning of 'African Diaspora.'" From my perspective, I believe the study abroad experience in conjunction with coursework at the home institution is the best route to accelerated language proficiency and progress in all five Cs. I have a Power Point on the exchange that I am happy to present at WSSU.

In regard to the World Wide Web, we were given URLs for a number of useful sites for teachers in our field, including links to demos of Prof. Beal's classes. These are of more use to specialists, but I can provide these addresses upon request. We also learned of two useful print sources for teaching Brazilian culture: Gilvan Muller, "Language Policy in Brazil: Monolingualism and Linguistic Prejudice," Language Policy 3.1 (2004): 3-23, and Tracey Novinger and Donald Haughey, Communicating with Brazilians: When "Yes" Means "No" (University of Texas P, 2004).

21st Century Learning: a challenge to WSSU faculty and students

2008-05-03T11:50:00.005-04:00

I had the opportunity to attend to the Advancing Online Learning Conference II / AOLC II, a conference hosted by the Virtual High School—VHS (Nashua, NH, April 9-11). 21^st Century Learning was the central topic of the conference. The framework of the conference was secondary education. However I felt that all the ideas mentioned were very relevant in the frame of UNC Tomorrow, since WSSU is required to assume a significant role preparing professionals for 21^st century learning.

The kick-off conference by Dr. Mark David Milliron shared ideas about the new generation of learners ( see power point). He commented on the needs and opportunities that diverse generations and new technologies bring into education, and the challenge to create sustainable learning environments. He explored interesting topics such as blending, mobile technologies, gaming, social networking, Internet 2 and high engagement technologies, and the human touch that is needed to really benefit from these opportunities

There was a keynote panel to discuss how online learning specifically provides opportunities for 21^st century learning. The panel discussed results from Learning in the 21^st Century: A National Report of Online Learning (see report and power point), based on surveys completed by 232,781 K-12 students, 21,272 teachers, and 15,316 parents as part of Speak Up, a national research project facilitated by Project Tomorrow. Based on report findings panelists highlighted that using the power of technology, decision makers and teachers have an opportunity to engage students, prepare teachers, and connect with parents in a personal and individualized way. It was also underscored that both technology and curriculum and instruction departments must be on board with online learning to achieve success. They emphasized that technology reliability is as essential as teacher preparation and support.

I was enthusiastically surprised that, at the state level, there are initiatives that promote that all high school graduates ought to have taken at least one online course, several blended courses (online and onsite) and participated in global projects supported with technology. This is Michigan’s case, presented by Robert Currie (see power point).

What about us? What can we do to at WSSU to prepare our students to become 21^st century learners, and our faculty, to become 21^st century learning facilitators? I invite to discuss this, press COMMENT to share your ideas.

Alvaro H Galvis

Reflecting on presentations at Lilly South (Feb 2008) Conference

2008-04-28T12:37:00.012-04:00

This is my first blog anywhere!

I am revising my brief comments, initially posted on the date cited, about the Lilly South (Feb 2008) Conference, held in Greensboro NC. The website for the Lilly South conference is provided here.

I attended the entire conference, and attended a number of sessions, including the plenary sessions. I also presented a paper on Situational Leadership along with my coauthor, Michael Dutch of Greensboro College.

About my paper

The paper, entitled “Applying situational leadership in the classroom: Guiding the student to self-leadership," has since been revised and submitted to the Journal of Management Education. The paper (this latest version) is available from the following source.

Applying Situation...

Hosted by eSnips

A summary of the paper follows:

Situational leadership theory (SLT) is an appealing concept. While its application in industry presents challenges, the nature of the educational classroom further complicates its use. As currently developed applying SLT methods in the classroom could create issues with perceptions of fairness. Additionally, instructors may not have the means to appropriately determine each of their students’ ability and willingness for each learning event.

To counter these problems we suggest that the responsibility for the level of structure be given to the student. In this role instructors facilitate the learning while students have the ability to control the level of direction they receive. In doing so, we provide further definition to the concept of self-leadership and provide suggestions for its application in the classroom. Applications of SLT in a team setting are also discussed.

About selected presentations

There were many excellent sessions at the conference, including a number of plenary sessions. Currently, the program is still available on the web (click here). I will provide brief highlights of a few of the sessions which I found most helpful. I have handouts and notes from most of them, and would be happy to share and/or discuss.

Session #1. (Plenary) How to wake up your students: Getting started in active learning, by Ed Neal.

Ed prefaced the session by stating research showing that only 11% of college students have good sleep habits, as well as the fact that there are physiological limits on attention spans. An 8-question test brought home the severe weaknesses of the traditional lecture method, as found in empirical studies. Therefore a number of ideas for structuring the class for active student involvement were provided. Three preconditions are:

1. Preparation. Change student expectations on the first day of class, and reinforce with out-of-class assignments that prepare students for active learning

2. Motivation. Create challenging exercises—easy work is boring. Tell students the purpose, and require them to specify what they have learned at the end of class.

3. Absence of fear. Develop effective facilitation skills; reward students for their contributions; reward risk-taking.

The remainder of the session was devoted to Questioning Strategies, In-Class Writing Exercises, Classroom Assessment Techniques, and mini-Cases.

Session #21. The Graphic Syllabus, Linda Nilson.
Premised on the idea that standard syllabi present the course in a linear fashion, and don’t get much reading by the students. She came up with the idea of a graphic syllabus when she decided to share “the picture in her head” of the course with her students. A graphic representation of some sort is much more meaningful to students, and provides needed structure for the brain. I drew a map of my Business Policy class and explained it to the other participants.

Session #85. Facilitating student transformation by understanding the human change process, by Dianne Garret.
The session had the most emotional impact upon me. It cannot easily be summarized. Reading the PowerPoint handout would not convey the energy and excitement that was conveyed by Dianne. Some of the themes discussed were Why most change initiatives fail, Emotional intelligence, The impact of human energy, Emotional flow during the term, creating classroom climate, and many others. Very powerful.

In conclusion, I would highly recommend this annual teaching conference to those who are seriously interested in improving their teaching, and the learning of their students.

Unfortunately, this material has sat in a folder ever since the conference. How do we as faculty keep from being overwhelmed by service expectations, committee meetings and work, e-mail, numerous administrative and clerical requirements, and other things that eat up our time day after day, month after month, year after year? That is another issue! However, it is one that I wish to delve into from a research standpoint. How can we as faculty improve our productivity? And not just in research and writing, but in all or our activities.

Bob Herring

North Carolina Distance Learning Alliance (NCDLA)

2008-04-22T15:26:00.006-04:00

This conference was a wonderful experience for anyone interested in learning about a variety of issues related to Distance Learning. My interest stems from the fact that we are looking at increasing the distance learning component of the Physical Therapy curriculum as we prepare to transition to the DPT when approved.

Although the majority of academic institutions represented were part of the NC Community College system, I think that it is important for those of us in the NC University system to be aware of what types of services and facilities are available to facilitate student learning and student preparation to advance into the 4 year university system.

Of particular interest to me were the following presentations:

Simulation-Based Learning Using Interactive 3 Dimensional Objects. Fayetteville Technical Community College will house a new i3D facility which has tremendous implications for a variety of learning experiences with long range implications for enhancement of Workforce development throughout the state. Their target date for introduction to system schools is June 2008. WSSU needs to get involved because there are potential applications for a number of our undergraduate and graduate level program.
SACS/COC Friendly Distance Policies. This program was presented by the Distance Learning Coordinator at Bladen Community College. Given the activity on this campus related to our upcoming SACS review and on site visit, I found this program very informative. The presenter shared a great deal of information in the form of handouts and made herself available to assist anyone on system campuses as needed. Clearly, the Distance Learning efforts at WSSU must be coordinated and managed to be sure that we meet all necessary requirements, especially in terms of documents and records that we might need to have available.
The TEACH Act: Help or Hindrance? The presenter was Peggy E. Hoon, J.D., Special Assistant to the Provost for Copyright Administration at North Carolina State University. She discussed implications of the TEACH Act relative to copyright infringement and distance learning. This is certainly something that must be addressed as this university moves forward along that path. On the NC State website, there is a TEACH Act Toolkit available for anyone at any UNC system institution to use. Needless to say as WSSU moves forward with the development of distance learning, copyright laws will continue to be of great importance. This was a very informative and engaging presentation.

Dr. Yolanda Rainey

Blackboard's Competition

2008-04-21T16:40:00.005-04:00

The 2008 TLT conference in Raleigh was even better than the earlier versions of the conference that I have gone to, and there were many times when I had to choose one of three or more interesting-sounding sessions. However, one I particularly wanted to make time for was "A Study of Three CMS Systems: Blackboard, Moodle, and Sakai." The idea of open-source course management systems intrigues me, and I am very interested in alternatives to Blackboard.

The session presenters (Biwu Yang, Sharon Collins, Matt Long, and Ginny Sconiers) were from East Carolina University. They described a CMS platform evaluation project they are conducting, using all three CMS systems at once. They were able to recruit a number of faculty members to use Moodle, Sakai, and then Blackboard 7.2 in successive semesters. (This struck me as being so remarkable that I double-checked with one of the presenters afterward, to make sure I had heard correctly.)

The study is continuing, but the presenters reported that Moodle was challenging to get going, but users liked it for its "social feel": faculty said it "feels good." However, Moodle lacks a good conversion tool for moving materials from another CMS platform, and faculty needed a good deal of help in reformating their courses.

Sakai does have a conversion tool that reformats material from Blackboard. However, importing outside content, particularly tests and quizzes, presented some problems. The platform has only a few templates, and there are so many settings for tests and quizzes that learning to use the system is complicated.

I'm still shaking my head at the idea that faculty members taught their courses using three different platforms in three successive semesters, and it was clear that this test required a great deal of technical support, something that is probably more feasible for a large school like ECU. Therefore, I have no desire to see us try to replicate this study, but I do want to follow up on ECU's work and look for another report from them next year.

The ECU page describing the "CMS Platform Project" has links to more information about each system, a "contact us" link, and a search box (at the top) that can be used to find the presenters' e-mail addresses.

I found what seems to be Moodle's home page at http://moodle.org/, and Sakai is at http://sakaiproject.org/. Both these sites have demonstration courses and other materials describing the systems.

The presenters did mention that ECU is hosting Moodle sites for some instructors at other schools, but they didn't mention whether they are accepting any more applications.

(Re)Roots and (Re)Routes: Transatlantic Connections in Language and Literature

2008-04-14T15:27:00.006-04:00

First, let me thank CETL for assisting me in attending the CLA (College Language Association) Conference in Charleston, SC from April 10-12. (http://www.clascholars.org/)

The College Language Association is a professional organization that attracts teachers, scholars, and researchers from all across the United States and Canada. At the convention, scholars gathered together to share ideas and recent theories in the English field. Attending the conference provided me an excellent opportunity to network with peers, participate in workshops, and engage in interactive sessions. As an instructor of core courses at this institution and the director of a computer laboratory that serves the entire campus population, I am constantly looking for innovative ways to mobilize the English language. Educators and presenters at this convention stress the importance of bringing English “back to life” in our college classrooms.

CLA offered a wellspring for conversations centering on intellectual developments and innovative teaching practices. I attended sessions on Toni Morrison's Beloved and how the main character deals with trauma and also a session that looked at masculinity in literature and literacy. The latter session was specifically enlightening because it did not focus on masculinity or masculine themes within literature, but focused on how to look at literature and literacy in general through a masculine lens or through the eyes of prominent minority writers such as Frederick Douglass and W.E.B. DuBois.

I hope to attend this conference next year in Maryland and hope to learn even more and hear more from my distinguished colleagues in the field.

Thanx

Darius M Cureton

The NPTE Workshop for Faculty

2008-04-14T14:52:00.004-04:00

Thanks to CETL for supporting my attendance at the NPTE workshop for Faculty. One of the most difficult parts of my job as an Assistant Professor is constructing tests.

This conference focused the entire first day on the process of writing multiple choice questions. They presented the Principles of effective multiple choice item writing and reviewed the common terminology of test questions. The rules for writing items and adding levels of difficulty by changing the word order and the amount of critical thinking needed to answer the questions was also covered.

The conference also covered avoiding cues that may lead a good guesser to the right answer even though they may not know the material.

The second day of the conference covered the National Physical Therapy Exam for Licensure. The process of determining what is "entry level" knowledge and how this can be tested was covered. They defined the entire process from survey to item writing to question banks and then to pulling the right questions to produce different tests that are of the same difficulty was covered.

This was a fascinating workshop and since I am the Chair of the Comprehensive Exam Committee in the Physical Therapy Department of the School of Health Sciences, I will be able to use this information over and over again.

Thanks again for this opportunity.

Building a Study Skills Course from the Ground Up

2008-04-07T15:28:00.002-04:00

I attended a Developmental Education conference recently that was sponsored by Houghton Mifflin to help faculty meet the challenges they face when teaching developmental courses. One session dealt with building a study skills course. Of the lessons learned during this session the one that could be applied to any course is to get students to engage in their own learning. One school has a course that is team taught with an instructor and a student that is considered to be a facilitator rather than a mentor. The student is trained to help the instructor in the course by keeping the discussion going, writing items on the board and help with group work. The one thing that I found most interesting was that the student was allowed time at the end of selected classes to discuss student concerns without the instructor present. The general feeling was that students have concerns that they will discuss with peers but don't want faculty to know about such as financial problems, adjustment problems and homesickness. Their peers have possible experienced all of these and can better relate to the student. In selecting students for facilitators we were caution to keep in mind that the brightest student may not be the best facilitator. If they have never experienced failure they will not also be able to relate to students that are having a hard time. Most students will listen to some one that can say "I remember being in a similar situation and this is how I resolved it...".

Carolyn Anderson

Simple Media Creation for Librarians

2008-04-07T15:14:00.003-04:00

This was a very good session that was presented at the UNC TLT 2008 Conference. Although it is titled for librarians, everyone could benefit from using the tools that were presented. Audacity was used to create 5 minute updates on what is new at the library. It could also be used to create review sessions for classes or to introduce concepts before a class. Audacity is free and is available on the web at the Audacity website. Another tool that was presented was Photstory which allows you to create a movie from digital pictures. Photo Story is also free from Microsoft at the photostory website. If you want to spend some money Camtasia was also demonstrated. It allows you to do scrren captures of keystrokes which is good for creating training videos.

Carolyn L. Anderson

Developmental Education Conference

2008-04-07T15:13:00.003-04:00

Two weeks ago, I attended Houghton Miffin's "Meeting the Challenge, A Faculty Programs Conference on Developmental Education" at Disney's Coronada Springs. I attended sessions on Conceptualization in Basic Mathematics, Engaging All Students in Mathematics, and Teaching Study Skills for Mathematics. I also heard a keynote speech on Embracing the Challenge of the First Year.

In the Conceptualization in Basic Mathematics session, we examined exercises that would encourage students to apply and formulate mathematical concepts. The exercises presented were ones that asked students to determine impossible answers, to decide the operation required, and to explore the reasonableness of an answer.

In the Engaging All Students in Mathematics session, we discussed the importance of engaging all students in mathematics, and we looked at ways that we can ensure that all of our students learn mathematics.

The session on Teaching Study Skills for Mathematics was extremely informative. It focused on how math study skills can be incorporated into mathematics courses. We discussed student motivation, reading the text, completing homework, taking notes, test anxiety, and test-taking skills.

The keynote speech was given by Mary Stuart Hunter, the Director of the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition at the University of South Carolina. She shared theories and research about why students have such difficult times transitioning from high school to college. She described the role faculty can play in this transitional period, and she described various programs offered by colleges and universities.

This conference was great!

Helping student perform better in Science Courses

2008-04-04T14:20:00.006-04:00

Last month, I had an opportunity to attend a conference on Teaching and Learning (TLC) at San Juan, Puerto Rico, USA (March 17-20, 2008 IABR &TLC). A few presentations during conference reinforced my own approach to help student perform better in science courses.

I was particularly impressed by the approach of William Amadio from Rider University in NJ who delivered a lecture on “Self Expression in Technical Courses: Making it Happen”. We had a lengthy discussion after his lecture and compared our approaches which were similar in many respect. As some of you may know, I am strong proponent of students taking ownership of their learning process. In the courses I teach, I facilitate team learning in the class rooms. Because this process provides me with the opportunity to observe possible flaws or need of improvement in a student’s learning. It also provides me with insight into their minds which some time is missed during formal class room settings. In all my courses, I include group projects, group research and presentations along with conventional lectures by me. I make sure that at least one lecture from the syllabus is taught by team of students. This activity in my classes provides students an opportunity to gather analyze and present information in a logical manner on their own (all higher level of learning). I have seen during student’s presentations, other students are better motivated to analyze and critique information presented to them which, they failed to do when a teacher is presenting the same information. This way I have found a way to interject analysis, synthesis and evaluation in student’s learning process.

This team learning activity also provides student an opportunity to peep into minds of their teachers during class room lectures and a basis for comparison to evaluate their subject matter presentation vis a vis of their teacher. William Amadio and I agreed that there are enormous advantages of team learning. We have seen best student work and best student-teacher and student-student interaction ever. Since students are working on their projects that might have sprung a few problems, their questions were always focused and they were highly motivated during discussion.

One thing on which we agreed to disagree, during our discussion, was team composition. I mix student from higher-medium and low GPA pools representing a team, where as, he believed forming teams from similar GPA groups. I believe a low GPA student can learn a lot from high GPA student on punctuality, study behavior, self motivation, responsibility for ones learning and better communication skills. It also helps a low GPA student to know why he or she may not be getting better grades. In my opinion this realization opens up ones mind to propel him/her for better learning. Bill thought it makes better sense to group high GPA student and low GA student separately. That way low GPA student is also forced to do their group project on their own and not be dependent on a high GPA student.

We also discussed about benefits of small groups, assigning professional level problems, student teach themselves and their participation in a community to make students more responsible individuals. Over all it was a very enjoyable conference which was organized in a beautiful setting of San Juan.

Dinesh K. Singh, DVM, PhD
Department of Life Sciences, WSSU (4/4/08)

Online Course Delivery Enhancement

2008-03-31T17:40:00.008-04:00

In March 2008, I had the pleasure of attending The University of North Carolina Teaching and Learning with Technology Conference. Currently, I teach online courses in psychology and am always interested in learning of new ways to infuse technology in the learning process. Recently I have become interested in course redesign which is a method for modifying courses using technology to increase student success. Course redesign was developed by the National Center for Academic Transformation. At the UNC TLT conference, I was a panelist in a session for course redesign. I wanted to take the opportunity to learn about the latest in educational technology and to consider how I could incorporate it into a redesign proposal.

One session that I found particularly interesting was on engaging students with social software applications such as: blogs, wikis and podcasts. As I further attempt to further infuse technological tools in my online classes and the online component of my face-to-face courses, I was intrigued by the possibilities social applications can offer. For example, blogs would be an easy way to include journaling on a course related topic throughout a semester. Based on the subject matter I could allow other students read and comment on each others entries or only view and comment on a student's entry myself. I also think wikis would be an excellent tool for facilitating exam reviews. Students could be assigned to groups and determine how they would contribute information for the review. Finally for the visual learners, podcasting would be an excellent way for them to view demonstrations of concepts.

There was some discussion about how to infuse social networking sites such as: MySpace and Facebook in courses. I am a little wary of incorporating those tools yet. Inclusion of such sites would have to be considered on a course by course basis. After informally asking a few of my students whether they would want a professor to join Facebook and contact them about school, there was hesitation and responses of 'no'. There are some social environments, I think, where students would not prefer to be contacted by professors for pedagogical purposes.

Finally, I was very impressed with the notion of using virtual worlds for instruction. Based on the demonstration I could see many application centered disciplines, such as health care fields, benefiting from this technology. I also think it would be a useful tool to train counseling psychologists. Meeting different types of clients in a virtual world could teach them about how to handle clients with various psychological issues. I believe that there are many new and exciting ways to use new technological advances to enhance student learning. However, I think we should always proceed with caution in what types of tools we use for the learning environment.

Smarthinking

2008-03-31T16:00:00.003-04:00

At the UNC Teaching and Learning with Technology 2008 Conference in Raleigh on March 12-14, 2008, Dr. Barry L.Berman presented research documenting the effectiveness of Smarthinking’s Online Writing Lab (OWL) online tutoring service used by students in over 1000 educational institutions.

Kapiolani and the Broward County Community College conducted a two-year study to document learning gains as a result of tutoring through Smarthinking’s OWL. Results published in the Journal of Applied Research in the Community College show student success rates in Developmental English class improved from 67% to 75%.

Additional data suggests that Smarthinking may have a positive influence on student retention. Sharon Bittner, Director, Tutoring Center at Des Moines Area Community College, Iowa, found that retention rates increase 10-12% for students who used Smarthinking.

Dr. Berman believes WSSU could achieve similar learning gains and retention improvement with Smarthinking. He notes that “It is more expensive to recruit a student than to retain one” and that increased retention rates at WSSU will generate more revenue for the university.

A new textbook, Evergreen: A Guide to Writing with Readings, 6th edition, by Susan Fawcett, was adopted this fall for the ENG 1300 Introduction to College Writing course. This book comes bundled with Smarthinking’s Online Writing Lab and allows students to submit papers for a professional tutor’s comments. Students may then revise the paper before submitting the final draft to the instructor. Overview comments are given in paragraph form and additional comments are embedded throughout the paper. A summary of revision steps is provided, along with additional resources in Smarthinking’s online library, including student handbooks with information about writing, grammar, and usage.

The Writing Center suggests that ENG 1300 faculty design their course syllabus with multiple due dates for drafts. This would allow enough time for students to submit an early draft to Smarthinking. Turnaround time may take upwards of 2 or 3 days. Students would then be encouraged to bring Smarthinking’s E-structor Response Form with embedded comments to the Writing Center at which point peer tutors in the Writing Center could provide additional explanations to help the student understand suggested revisions. Combining instructor guidance with both professional tutor and peer tutor input could provide significant critical thinking and composition support for our students.

Elizabeth S. Priest
Writing Center Director

3D virtual learning environments can make a difference in higher education

2008-03-31T11:19:00.009-04:00

Many people talk about 3D virtual environments in higher education but very few have taken the time to explore and integrate them into their teaching. At the 2008 Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT) Conference organized by UNC (Raleigh, NC, March 12-14, 2008) I had the opportunity to learn from pioneers in this field who shared their experiences and lessons learned. Let me comment on two of them.

Second Life has been a phenomenon in terms of engaging adults in “real life” experiences that occur in a 3D virtual environment in which users exist as an avatar and interact with other residents. In her presentation “3D Virtual World Learning Environments (i.e., Second Life) in blended and online education”, Victoria Lynn Walker shared her experience creating, implementing and learning from a pilot study in learning nonclinical counseling and group therapy skills. She states, “Virtual environments offer instructors the opportunity to make their classroom come alive. By using well-designed educational environments that match program and course needs, students can be inspired to explore learning and develop understanding of course content”. I was very pleased to realize there is a growing community of researchers who study the educational use of highly interactive technologies that students love using. I would be very interested giving support from WSSU-CETL to WSSU faculty members willing to participate in similar studies.

Google Earth has been also a great success, as long as it provides users with the possibility of easily and accurately exploring places on earth that are of their interest. It was announced that this tool “combines the power of Google Search with satellite imagery, maps, terrain, and 3D buildings to put the world's geographic information at your fingertips”. I had the opportunity to participate in a demonstration by a group of foreign language professors from UNC Charlotte in which Rosalba Esparragoza Scott, a Spanish teacher, shared her experience using Google Earth-supported web quests as a means of learning foreign language, literature, and culture in an effective way. According to her, “Students can annotate maps on Google Earth with vocabulary terms, historical facts, literary information, or write sentences in the target language describing virtual visits to foreign cities”. Way to go!

I got a couple of coincident clear messages from the above two presentations:

Integrating technology into higher education courses requires effort from faculty, in the exploration of educational potential of digital tools as well as in reengineering their learning environments.
Students love courses where faculty make sound educational use of digital technologies they use with other purposes; they become engaged and participate more effectively.

Alvaro H. Galvis
Director CETL
Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning

UNC-TLT: Lessons Learned

2008-03-24T16:59:00.005-04:00

I’m glad I had the opportunity to attend the 2008 UNC Teaching and Learning with Technology Conference in Raleigh. I attended several interesting sessions and picked up some innovative ideas. The conference provided a broad range of technological information for teachers in any discipline. Being in the comp/rhet field, I found “Taking Advantage of Technology in Structuring Online Rhetoric and Composition Courses,” most rewarding for designing a hybrid or 100% online course. In this session, the presenter demonstrated how teachers can move beyond the traditional course management system to design a course using http://sites.google.com/. The site allows a teacher to include icons strategically placed in a type of shadow box. These icons lead students to assignments, practice exercises, drop boxes, online class meetings, and tutorials. With the Google site tools anyone can easily and professionally design a virtual classroom. The nonlinear construction of the site creates a welcoming place where students can learn.

Helping faculty create their own online courses

2008-03-10T10:15:00.006-04:00

I had the opportunity to participate in a Faculty Development in Blended and Online Learning Institute (Academic Impressions, Atlanta GA March 5-7, 2008) that allowed me reflection on key aspects of our own faculty professional development strategy, and getting in touch with many other faculty development leaders and online course developers.

In this posting I want to share ideas that emerged contrasting our faculty development and course creation strategy with the Jump Start strategy, from Indiana University - Purdue University at Indianapolis—IUPUI. Anastasia S. Morrone, PhD, Associate Dean of Learning Technologies at IUPUI, shared this strategy. In both cases, the challenge is the same, to support faculty in the development of online and blended learning courses. Both cases demand a full immersion in the process, with consultation and production support.

The first great difference is who sponsors the effort: while at WSSU faculty development and course production is sponsored either by Distance Learning (for online courses) or by the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning—CETL—(for blended courses), at IUPUI, Jump Start participation demands investment from both Learning Technologies and the faculty’s member department or school, they share stipends to be paid to faculty.

Our approach is to help our faculty members redesign their courses growing professionally both in active learning pedagogy and in the use of web 2.0 technologies through the GOAL—Getting Online Active Learning—netcourse. After that, WSSU support faculty in the course creation process, by coaching them both pedagogically (CETL) and technologically (ITG—Information Technologies group); there are benchmarks that help controlling the quality of the process. We have learned that it is not easy to move faculty from conventional to active learning pedagogy, while they appropriate Web 2.0 tools, but it is viable. Time management has become an issue with faculty members that do not have enough support from their academic unit or that have not organized their agenda for effective participation.

At UIPUI there is a team approach for the design and production of online and blended courses: for each course there is a team including an instructional design consultant, an instructional technology consultant, a subject specialist librarian, a media production staff, and a copyright management consultant, in addition to the course author. UIPUI experience is that there is great commitment from the part of academic units to support their faculty when they are co-paying for the process and assuming the production process as an integral part of the academic load of course authors. They have also learned that the team approach is not easy to implement but it is worth following; it demands a change in organizational culture. They have learned that faculty should participate under a voluntary base and with continued departmental support; that faculty selection becomes a critical process, since faculty should understand time commitment, should feel comfortable and open to working as part of a team, and must be committed to developing appropriate documentation for courses being developed.

Let’s reflect on these issues and find out what might work for our case.

Alvaro H Galvis
Director CETL
Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning

Methods for Increasing Student Learning and Success

2008-02-25T07:50:00.004-05:00

Karen Hornsby (NC A&T) presented an interesting session on a strategy that she learned from Barbara Millis to increase student learning and success. Much of the session focused on a collaborative learning technique which places students in groups (with designated roles) to complete assignments. These groups are continued throughout the semester. I found this technique to be interesting and have tried to implement it in one of my classes. I know that it will take some time for the students to get used to, but I am already experiencing some social loafing and complaining within the groups. That doesn't really bother me because I keep reiterating the purpose and the benefits of the groups. I went back and read some of the suggestions given by Barbara Millis and Karen Hornsby, and I'm confident that the groups will see the 'big picture' soon. Additionally, Dr. Hornsby talked about a focus group technique they used to try and get to the root of the challenges of those students who were not passing a certain class. I have asked those of us who teach a general psychology class to think about asking for some focus groups to address issues that students in the D/F range are having. This is in hopes of addressing what we can, and maybe re-thinking how our general classes are presented and assessed. Overall, I thought it was a very interesting and informative session. I will definitely look into more articles/suggestions/techniques used by Drs. Millis & Hornsby.

Engaging Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligence Concept to Enhance Learner-Centered, Active Learning: A SoTL Teaching Project

2008-02-21T13:28:00.005-05:00

Have you ever wondered why students in your courses possess varying degrees of skill sets and would like to engage more of their competencies and enhance their learning in the process? Dr. Milton Cox of Miami University of Ohio utilizing Howard Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences (verbal-linguistic, mathematical-logical, visual-spacial, musical-rhythmic, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic, existential) and the methodology included in Classroom Research: Implementing the Scholarship of Teaching offers a possible approach instructors could use for classroom exploration. Focusing on scholarly teaching and the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), Dr. Cox demonstrated how awareness of the multiple intelligences and engagement in active classroom research could change our teaching and student learning. Citing specific examples of active learning and teaching/learning projects (identifying classroom problems, writing learning objectives, project opportunties/questions, creating assignments and examples, listing outcomes from the project), matching multiple intelligences to the learning objectives, assessing and motivating student deveopment, the presenter highlighted the importance of following these essential steps in the process. Finally, Dr. Cox listed the outcomes of his Calculus 151 course. This was a thought provoking session with applications for all instructors interested in improving teaching, learning and classroom research.

Brown Bag Lecture - Action Research

2008-02-19T18:28:00.006-05:00

Dr. Edwin D. Bell, a professor in the Education Department at Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) delievered the first Brown Bag Lecture for the 2007 - 2008 academic year. Dr. Bell's presentation on What is Action Research? was very informative. He presented background on how he got involved in action research, as well as, the steps faculty members should take to conduct their own research. The graduate students in the Masters of Education program conduct action research as part of their curriculum. You may view his presentation by clicking on the title of the lecture at his website or selectioning the link in the resource section of this blog.

Lessons from the Lilly Conference

2008-02-19T17:25:00.012-05:00

Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique (IFAT) is an low cost immediate feedback tool that can be used for quizzes (Low tech clickers). It is a scratch off card that reveals a star for the correct answer. The facilitator gave partial credit for 2nd chance answers. See http://www.epsteineducation.com/ for more information.

Familiarity Breeds not contempt but learning: The instructor set up a 'treatment' to facilitate student learning. The treatment consisted of : explaining to students why the course was important, that learning takes time, take the knowledge home and work with it, come to office hours and receive a gift, real life examples, learn students names quickly, give extra points for going beyond what is expected, teacher has a homework notebook, review sheets for every test, no pop quizzes, logical format for test (chapter questions are grouped together).

We try to entertain students in the classroom to keep them interested. Don't try to entertain students let them entertain themselves with assignments that really get them involved.: debates, video productions, presentations, rap, songs, commercials, etc.

Here are some tips on how to wake up your students: Change student expectations on the first day of class; require out of class assignments that prepare students for active learning in class; prepare instructions or worksheets for the exercises; create challenging exercises (easy work is boring); tell students the purpose for the exercise; require students to specify what they have learned at the end of an exercise; strive for a classroom in which risk-taking is rewarded not penalized.

Using the Case Study Method for learning: This is a method whereby a case study is unfolded and analyzed during class time. Many different points can be brought out and taught on the spot. This method takes a lot of time but very exciting and interesting for student learning and critical thinking.

Clicker Technologies as a Tool to Increase Student Engagement and Motivation

2008-02-16T07:38:00.004-05:00

Click! Click! Click! This sound was heard as Jennifer Diers introduced her session on the Personal Response System (clicker) and its pedagogical implications for the classroom. This small handheld gadget allows audiences and students to actively participate in lectures and presentations by submitting responses that are aggregated and reflected on a screen for all to see. It reminds one of the audience response system used in Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The "Turning Point Clickers" are low cost to students, have a seamless integration with PowerPoint and WebCT, are adaptable and sustainable across courses, have textbook and publisher collaboration, offer website support and generate reports for assessment uses. Additionally, clickers reduce anonymity in the classroom, assist with grading and reporting and give immediate feedback to the instructor. Pedagogically, the clickers can be used to poll students about anything, to review content questions, to conduct pre/post testing of knowledge, to set up a video or demonstration, to do case review questions, to do individual or team based questions and to review teaching practices. Students can also gauge their learning individually and holistically while becoming more engaged and motivated. Increased class attendance, improved student attitudes, the development of students classroom voice and improved student collaboration have been reported as corollary benefits to the use of clickers. References were provided. A very good presentation.

Encouraging and Developing Reflection for Improved Learning

2008-02-15T22:14:00.006-05:00

John Zubizarreta's session on the development of reflection in order to improve learning was an enthusiastic and engaging presentation. Highlighting the differences between thinking and reflection and indicating how the brain actually changes as we learn, Dr. Z emphasized that the instructor must make the students think about learning which occasions changes in the cognitive structure of the brain. Defining reflection as "considering the process of our own learning: metacognition" and listing guidelines for reflection activities: linking experience to learning, structuring activities, providing regular and timely feedback and clarifying values, Dr Zubizarreta strongly affirmed that reflection is true communication--learning about oneself as a learner. Self-awareness, honesty, openness to criticism, objectivity, curiosity, motivation, receptivity to different learning approaches and independence in learning are the most important characteristics of reflective learners according to the presenter. Stop talking and start reflecting" was the final mantra of Dr. Z. Ample resources on the power of reflection in learning were provided. A truly impressive demonstration.

Designing a Learning Environment for the Millennial Generation

2008-02-15T06:36:00.006-05:00

This presentation by Dr. Maria Yon from UNC Charlotte was very informative and explained many of the reason that we, as professors, think that our current students are different from previous generations--they really are. "Millennials," those students born between 1980-2000, learn differently. They are techno-savy, multi-taskers, creative, overprotected individual with overly involved parents. These students must be involved in the educational process in a different way. Dr. Yon emphasized that instructors must take the first step by learning to understand this new generation of students. We must also change our teaching to engage the student and enhance student learning. The use of technology, classroom structure, experiential activities, modified lectures, collaborative learning, immediate feedback and fun are some of the elements that will help us to achieve this goal. Dr. Yon also noted that the most important thing that a teacher should do is "not waste time wishing that millennials were different; they represent a different time and a different culture that does not reflect you." This presentation also explored the myths of the millennial student, offered tips for working with them and provided a very useful bibliography. A very good session.

Using Pictures to Take the Pulse of Student Understanding

2008-02-12T17:40:00.002-05:00

This presentation was an excellent way to use pictures to create student discussions. The presenter used pictures to engage the audience in expressing their feelings about given topics. We were asked to tell what a particular picture represented. Although the presenters discipline was business and so were most of the examples, I can see how this technique could be used in several other classes. For example having students pick a picture that represented the major theme in a reading class. Sharing their impressions with others in the group can help a faculty member gage the students comprehension of a concept without routine testing.

A Mathematics Faculty Learning Community to Improve Student Learning Outcomes

2008-02-12T17:31:00.002-05:00

One of the sessions that I attended at the Lilly Conference in Greensboro dealt with faculty designing a model to redesign selected freshman-level "gateway" courses in order to improve student learning and retention. The learning community was comprised of faculty from mathematics, chemistry as well as the teaching and learning center at NC A&T. The redesign not only involved a common syllabus, but also how to more actively engage the student in the learning process. Ideas concerning supplemental instruction and math workshops to replace graded homework were discussed. Dr. Dominic Clemence will be doing a Brown Bag Lecture on the concept this year.

Active learning, student-centered teaching, reflective practice, and ePortfolios

2008-02-12T01:20:00.004-05:00

The Lilly Conference on College and University Teaching (Greensboro, February 8-10) was a great opportunity to be in touch with colleagues who care about implementing powerful ideas for teaching and that do research on teaching. Just to get a flavor of the key topics, see the titles from keynote speakers presentations: "How to Wake Up Your Students" (Ed Neal), "A Portrait of the Student as a Young Dog: the Workshop - Using Canine Behavior Models to Increase Classroom Motivation" (Darby Lewes), "Creating Significant Learning Experiences Through Integrated Course Design" (Stewart Rose), "Using Academic Games to Promote Learning" (Barbara Mills). The common denominators: active learning, student-centered teaching, teachers as facilitators, intrinsic motivation and highly rewarding participation in course activities.

There were many interesting parallel presentations. Let me share what I learned about ePortafolios. Many of us are interested in the use to electronic portfolios to help students and teachers grow by means of reflection and documentation of their academic work. Interaction with John Zubizarreta and Laurie Richlin was very rich in this regard. John shared documents and experiences related to the use of this tool with students and faculty members (see paper and presentation from Zubizarreta). Laurie shared her experience concerning the use of ePortfolios for graduate student advising. My balance is that there are several ePortfolio free tools (see eFolio and zFolio links) but what matters is the method and strategy used in this reflective practice. I invite WSSU colleagues that might be interested in this type of faculty development activity to let me know, CETL will promote collaboration with experienced facilitators.

Alvaro H. Galvis

Director CETL

Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning

Sharing lessons learned from TLC events

2008-01-09T09:49:00.003-05:00

This is a collective blog area, in which WSSU faculty members can share information obtained while attending Teaching and Learning Conferences. Staff members from the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning create it as a means of networking.

Each of us will share with colleagues what we have gained from a given conference, in terms of ideas to enhance our teaching, research on teaching that could illuminate our work, new technologies that could be integrated to our F2F or online or blended teaching, URLs worth reviewing, contacts, and so on.

In the "Label" field please write the acronym of the conference and the date, for instance Lilly08, and other tags that will help others find the focus of our reflection.

Alvaro H Galvis, D.Ed.
Director CETL
Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning