SCHEDULE OF EVENTS THIS MONTH'S LINEUP FROM THE LEARNING - L
First Tuesdays
Educause Webinar
Developing Effective Community-Based & Service-Learning Projects March 2, 2010 11:40 – 1:00 p.m. Faculty Senate Chambers JUB 100 This second part of the First Tuesday Series on Experiential Learning describes the types of projects suitable for an EXL course. You’ll learn the importance of developing ideas, working with nonprofits and community organizations, reflective writing.
Team Based Learning March 8, 2010 Noon – 1:00 p.m. Walker Library Rm 475 CAUTION: Group assignments often do more harm than good. The most common sign of trouble is when students (especially the better ones) feel like they must choose between doing more than their fair share of the work or risk getting a bad grade. When that happens, the real cause usually isn't the students—it's almost always what the teacher is asking them to do.
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In this session, you will be introduced to Team-Based Learning, an instructional strategy that essentially eliminates the most common problems with learning groups. (more) Al Whittenberg,host
Laura Clippard, Judy Campbell, Ron Kates, leaders
eLearning Social Networking Tools March 19, 2010 2:30 – 4:00 pm Faculty Senate Chambers JUB 100 If you are teaching an online or hybrid class, or preparing to do so in the near future, then you shouldn’t miss this session. The presenter will demonstrate how some of the most popular social networking tools can be used with students in the educational environment to enhance learning. Tips and Tricks and Good Practices will be shared. Bring your laptops if you want to participate. Brenda Kerr, leader
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TEACHING EXCELLENCE SHOWCASE
Dr. Matt Fisher
Inquiring into Our Students’ Learning: The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning March 3, 2010 3-4:30 p.m. Faculty Senate Chambers Dr. Matthew Fisher, chair of the chemistry department at St. Vincent College and senior fellow for the SENCER Institute will lead this interactive session to provide an overview of the scholarship of teaching and learning & help participants develop an understanding of the importance characteristics of this work. Participants will also think about questions they wish to study and evidence that might help in exploring how the impact of learning affects both community and scholarly concerns. For more details, click here.
LEARNING - L TEACHING TIPS Getting Students to Read. College teachers can reduce their own and students’ frustration about course-based reading if they will consider students’ full range of educational needs and expectations as they make decisions about course structure (Lowman, 1995). • Tip 1 – Not every course is served by requiring a textbook. Consider not having a required textbook if (1) course structure duplicates text material; (2)No available text offers a good fit with the course. Instead use custom publishing options to create a course reading packet tailored to the course; (3) If the textbook is not absolutely essential, use reading lists and library reserve. (click here to finish reading the tip)
A Checklist for Facilitating Online Classes. There are two common assumptions about teaching online that can sink even the most well-meaning neophyte. One is that “teaching is teaching” regardless of whether it’s face-toface or online and there’s no reason to deviate from the proven principles that work so well in the traditional classroom. The second assumption is that teaching online is all about the technology, and if you design your course properly, it pretty much runs itself. Of course both assumptions are false, but where does that leave online instructors looking for guidance on the right way to teach an online course? A new research-based tool developed at Humboldt State University can help. Assessing Online Facilitation (AOF) can serve as a valuable guide to best practices in online teaching. It lists the four main roles of an online facilitator – pedagogical, managerial, social, and technical – and the associated tasks of each role. These tasks also are broken down according to when they should be done – before the course begins, during the first week of class, throughout the course, and during the last week of class. (click here to finish reading the tip)
RESOURCES & TOOLS Emergent by Design: 85+ Resources –Educators’ Guide for Integrating Social Media An excellent guide providing information and links to for those teachers new to social media technologies who want to know how to integrate them into the classroom. LEARN MORE>
The Torch or the Firehose: A Guide to Section Teaching, by Arthur Mattuck. Originally published in 1981 as a guidebook for teaching assistants at MIT, this long revered publication was recently for broader distribution. With good humor and sound advice, Professor Mattuck offers both novice and seasoned recitation instructors guidelines on how sections can best serve as a complement to lectures, how to help students become better learners, and how to enjoy their experience as recitation teachers. Lecturers claim they have learned something from it, too. Free publication available here.
APRIL EVENTS IN THE LINEUP Developing and Marketing Your Major as EXL
Faculty Learning Community on Civic Engagement
Teaching with Online Tools
ltanditc@mtsu.edu
494-7671