September 2007 Petal Fall 2007 Events
A Word from the Director‌
My name is Rob Gray, and I have recently become the new Director of PETAL. I am looking forward to getting to know and working with the faculty here at USA to help them to improve their teaching. Primarily, however, it is my sincere hope that PETAL’s primary function will be to make critical reflection on teaching strategies and practices a more conscious part of the daily routine of all faculty, as well as a more prominent place in the discourses, the very culture, of the University. However, the success of PETAL will ultimately depend not on any particular advice or wisdom imparted from our staff or our guest presenters at PETAL activities, but rather in the interactions and dialogues between faculty members at and as a result of those activities. PETAL is offering a large number of faculty roundtables and brown bag lunches this year, as well as many workshops on integrating technology into the teaching process. We are also introducing a new activity, the PETAL Panel Discussion Series, which will feature important issues or innovations in Teaching and Learning, so please visit the newly redesigned PETAL website often for the most updated schedules and resources. Finally I have also created a blog on our site that I plan to post to at least once a week. Please visit regularly, and, more importantly, please feel free to make the blog a truly dynamic and interactive space where teaching and learning happen in both directions, much like a good classroom should.
Visit the web site of the Program for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (PETAL) for the full schedule of Fall 2007 events, teaching tips and links to web resources www.southalabama.edu/petal
Advance Registration by phone or email is encouraged Phone: 461-1563 Email: PETAL@usouthal.edu
September Seminars - New Faculty Development - Library 181 Wed 12 3 pm - 5 pm Thurs 13 1:45 pm - 3:45pm Wed 26 3 pm - 5 pm Thurs 27 1 pm - 3 pm
Course Design & Development Course Design & Develop.ment Motivating Students Motivating Students
Litchfield Litchfield Litchfield Litchfield
September Workshops - Library 123 Tu 4 Wed 5 Tu 18 Wed 19
10 am - 12 pm 3 pm - 5 pm 10 am - 12 pm 3 pm - 5 pm
The Clicker Workshop The Clicker Workshop Turnitin Workshop Turnitin Workshop
Gray Gray Gray Gray
Roundtable Discussion Writing for Publication: Tips on Disseminating the Results of Research Dr. Richard Wood Dean of University Libraries September 10, 2007 2 pm - 3 pm Room 181 University Library
Dr. Wood will cover the initial steps involved in choosing a topic for research, selecting a journal or other format for publication, and writing a proposal to the publisher. Editing, copyright, and writing tips will also be discussed.
Brown Bag Lunch Student Oral Reports: Utility, Futility and Futurity Dr. Zohair Husain Political Science September 21, 2007 12:00 to 1:00 pm Room 181 University Library
Dr. Husain will share his insights on how to effectively use student oral reports as a teaching strategy.
Normally my role in this newsletter is to format the text, but I’m just this once going to jump at the chance to introduce you to the new PETAL Director. In the past two months I’ve had a chance to work with Rob Gray and observe his interactions with administrators, faculty, university employees, and students. I am convinced that we are very fortunate to have him leading PETAL. His background has prepared him, perhaps uniquely, for this position. An Alabama native, he studied English at the University of Alabama (I won’t hold that against him). He’s a gifted poet and an excellent writer whether he’s reworking a teaching handout or parsing literary theory. His many years of teaching composition and literature inform his views on teaching and learning and his presentations are therefore more facilitative leadership than simply verbal flip-charts. I’ve said elsewhere that vision, by itself, is useless. Vision, talent and timing, however, are a winning combination. I suspect that the best preparation for his role at PETAL might be his experience as a talented bass guitarist. Having learned to absorb himself in the rhythm of an experience, he is quite able to respond to whatever situation arises in his role as facilitator of PETAL activities, whether it’s jumping in to design the new website in just a few days time, consulting with faculty, rewriting a 28 page handout, editing the content of the Teaching Excellence Award booklet, or devising an exciting new schedule of events that not only enhances the teaching experience but offers new and innovative ideas for programs to challenge even the most comfortable among faculty members. A dozen years ago I read a book entitled Thinking Together that focuses on the concept of rational discussion, which it defines as engaging in a “process of inquiry,” a process of “defending and challenging your opinions as well as others through a “dialogue of discovery.” They suggest that the primary responsibility of a discussion leader (or instructor) is to “guide discussion by asking questions, by anticipating replies, and by listening and responding to others,” and define six roles of a discussion leader: “the directive role, the influential role, the persuasive role, the instructional role, the facilitative role, and the collegial role.” Rob will excel in all six as he brings insight, experience, vision and, yes, talent, to those roles.
The Clickers are HERE! Regular readers will remember that we’ve been featuring articles on various Personal Response Systems that have been used on this campus and others, and we are very happy to be able to say that USA has adopted the Interwrite PRS for use campus -wide. (See Summer 2006 and August/September 2006 PETAL Newsletters.) Starting September 4 and 5 we will be conducting workshops in the PETAL lab for faculty who wish to begin using Clicker in their classrooms. What is Clicker? The Clicker is a student response system that allows faculty to easily and efficiently do the following:
How does the Clicker work? Clicker responses are gathered and tabulated by the presenter’s computer; however, the Clicker software and hub must be installed on the presenter’s computer before Clickers can be used. Clicker questions can easily be built-in to a PowerPoint presentation, created in the Clicker software, or administered on-the-fly. How do I start using the Clicker? Let the Bookstore know that you plan to use the Clicker so that they will have enough for students. Let the PETAL office (PETAL@usouthal.edu or 6-1563) know that you plan to use the Clicker, and we will have InterWrite provide you with your own Clicker and hub. We can also get a hub for the computer in your classroom. Attend a PETAL Technology Workshop on the Clicker or schedule a one-onone tutorial.
By the end of the semester, I’ll be addressing him as Dr. Gray, as he’s about to complete his Ph.D. in Instructional Technology. Reading his dissertation (“Towards a Writerly Conception of Online Courses: A Critical [Re]figuration of Interaction”) was key to my deciding to continue working with the PETAL program, as I found the ideas presented there exciting and essential to transforming education in a rapidly changing, digital world. His thoughts on collaborative learning will inform his response to new tools that we as an academic institution must grapple with, and his experience in the “real world” of eCollege and other venues will mean that PETAL will be focused on tangible results in both teaching and learning. So grab a seat. It’s going to be a fun journey. Susan Hales, PETAL assistant. Thinking Together, Making Meetings Work, written by V. A. Howard, Ph.D. and J.H. Barton, M.A., was published by Harvard University in 1992.
Take attendance Give quizzes Collect homework Create “teachable moments” Increase classroom interaction