Critical Content: Enouraging
Critical Thinking in the Classroom
Scott Philyaw, History
As teachers we appreciate the skill of critical
thinking just as we value that of clear communication. As
with writing and oral communication, however, we are tempted
to avoid the actual teaching of critical thinking and devote
our time and energy to exposing our students to course content.
In this focus team we will explore approaches
to promoting critical thinking that encourage our students
to use content in meaningful ways. With the assumption that
we should both expose our students to content and focus on
what they can do with the content, we will examine the literature
of critical thinking, experiment with critical thinking exercises,
and develop our own discipline-specific techniques to use
in our classrooms.
Team Members: Bill McClendon, Eliza
Dean, Kathleen Brennan, Liz Simmons-Rowland, Peter Nieckarz,
Steve Forst, Linda Eargle
The Challenge of Creating
Learning for First Year Students
Nory Prochaska, Math & Computer Science / Director, Math
Tutoring Center / Coordinator of the University Experience
Course
Most of us are familiar with the disconnect
that occurs when we make our best efforts to share our intellectual
world with our first-year students and receive only blank
looks from them. This focus team is intended for those who
value first-year students and recognize that the discussion
of their special needs is important to our own development
as learning facilitators, as well as to the success of our
students.
In this focus team, we'll work to
(1) define for ourselves who today's first year student is
(2) examine how and why the disconnect happens
(3) share strategies that help build good connections
(4) ponder the Big Questions - are we going about this all
wrong??
Team Members: Heidi Buchanan, Jane
Brown, Jubal Tiner, Kathy Matthews, Lyn Lazar, Mike Arnott,
Sandra Saunders, Sarah York, Vera Guise
Developing and Implementing
a Research Project in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
John Habel, Psychology / Faculty Fellow for SoTL, Coulter
Faculty Center
A SoTL research project appeals both to our
desire to teach and to pursue knowledge and understanding.
We will design projects to implement in the fall semester.
Our first step will be to identify a good question in our
courses and with our students. Much of our work will be devoted
to the questions that characterize SoTL. These could include,
but are not limited to:
1. "What works?" questions that seek
evidence about the relative effectiveness of different teaching
approaches
2. "What is?" questions at describing the features
of approaches to teaching
3. "Visions of the possible" questions that lead
to inquiry about what is most essential about teaching and
learning in our discipline.
The outcome of our work will be a framework
for pursuing questions that really matter to us about our
teaching and our students' learning.
Team Members: Cheryl Clark, Dan Clapper,
John Sherlock, Justin Menickelli, Kristen Jagger, Liz Kelly,
Marsha Lee Baker, Mary Ellen Griffin, Pam Vesely
Innovative Uses of Instructional
Technology
Jessica Somers, Executive Director, Academic Innovation, Advanced
Learning Technologies, University System of Georgia Board
of Regents
In this focus team we will explore sound pedagogical applications
of technology, including web-based content engagement, virtual
learning communities, and learning objects. We will experience
a range of instructional technologies, from easy access, basic
applications, such as reusable learning materials from MERLOT,
to highly interactive, integrated approaches, such as WebQuests
or Vlabs. In addition, we will use a variety of tools including
WebCT discussion boards, freeware communication packages,
and/or blogs, to document team members' own learning experiences.
Outcomes for this focus team will be for participants
to match appropriate instructional technologies to desired
learning objectives and to effectively use a number of instructional
strategies to enhance student learning.
Team Members: Carrie Hagler, Carrie
McLachlan, Chuck Tucker, Kevin Lee, Laura Moushey, Linda Raxter,
Linda Venturo, Magaly DeCastro, Mary Teslow, Traci Settlemyre
Teaching Portfolios
Debra Randleman, Math & Computer Science / Instructional
Development Consultant, Coulter Faculty Center
What is a "Teaching Portfolio"? According to Peter
Seldin, a nationally known evaluation specialist, a teaching
portfolio is:
" A collection of evidence-based written documents
" Concise, selective details of current teaching accomplishments
based on student learning outcomes
" Documentation of effective teaching performance
" Reflective analysis and peer collaboration leading
to improvement of teaching and student learning
What is the evidence to include in a teaching portfolio?
How will developing a teaching portfolio enhance student learning
in my classes? Can a teaching portfolio be integrated into
the other required materials for evaluation, tenure and promotion
at WCU? These are some of the questions we will explore as
we develop a blueprint for constructing our own personal teaching
portfolio.
The emphasis of each of these focus teams will be on application-on
how we can use what we learn in one or more of our courses.
Each team's work will be intensive, hands-on and interdisciplinary.
Team Members: April Tallant, Brad Wardlaw, Carroll
Brown, Hollye Moss, Irene Mueller, Jane Eastman, Lou Ann Carden,
Mae Claxton
The emphasis of each of these focus teams
was on application-on how you can use what you've learned
in one or more of your courses. Each team's work was intensive,
hands-on and interdisciplinary.
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