Greetings all! I don’t usually have time to do a newsletter before summer, but so much is happening, that I wanted to get it out there!
In this issue:
Faculty Innovation Projects:
1) Course in College Teaching Part II – Read descriptions of faculty projects completed during the spring. This model of small groups (4-5 faculty members) meeting regularly and sharing different projects – including bringing activities for the group to try out – was very engaging and rewarding and could be replicated and on-going. The diversity of projects and content areas made it most interesting for everyone. We used a private Yammer group as a place to store resources and conversations in -between sessions.
Fred Haag: Encouraging creativity and risk-taking in art projects
Kerry Magni: Getting students to develop a “Plan B” in their career considerations
Jorge Santiago-Blay: Motivation: Getting to the heart of the matter in course design
Suzanne Shaffer: Reflective “Toolbox Assignments” that challenge student attitudes and behaviors towards learning
Noel Sloboda: Incorporating surprise and poetry into instruction
2) Other Innovation Projects Happening on Campus
Effective student/instructor communication video project
Deb Eicher-Catt & Brittany Lynton: Student independent study in support of the work of the RAPS sub-committee on the faculty role in student retention.
Flipping Q & A Sessions for Increased Engagement
Chuck Gaston
Augmented Reality in the Visual Arts Club Student Art Show & Art 100
Fred Haag
Using Adaptive Learning Technology and Reflective Exercises on a Mobile Device to Improve First-Year Success in a Paired Developmental College Reading/Environmental Science Course
Suzanne Shaffer, Jorge Santiago-Blay, Barb Eshbach, Cora Dzubak, Loren Brewster – grant application in the works through COIL
Making Instruments in World Music Class
Priscilla Howard
Charlotte Danielson’s Teaching Evaluation Framework
Mary Nardo
“Speed” – A peer review model in 2 English courses
Jennifer Nesbitt & Noel Sloboda
Math Innovations
Joan Smeltzer
Chemistry Lab Videos
Fulgentius Lugemwa
A few weeks ago, Noel Sloboda led participants in the Course in College Teaching Part II through a wonderful reflective exercise about teaching – writing a poem about an object of importance to their teaching. It provided a wonderful moment of reflection and memory about the many students and contexts in which we have taught. I don’t like to re-cycle, but that exercise reminded me of something I wrote at the end of the spring semester 2007 about staying motivated and recharging over the summer – it starts with 2 of my favorite teaching stories and why I think today’s students need our help more than ever http://bit.ly/104d4qb. Thanks Noel for prompting some powerful memories!
