Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be ...DOCUMENT RESUME ED 454 905 JC 010 490 AUTHOR Roueche, Suanne D., Ed. TITLE Innovation Abstracts, 2000. INSTITUTION Texas

DOCUMENT RESUME

ED 454 905 JC 010 490

AUTHOR Roueche, Suanne D., Ed.TITLE Innovation Abstracts, 2000.INSTITUTION Texas Univ., Austin. National Inst. for Staff and

Organizational Development.ISSN ISSN-0199-106XPUB DATE 2000-00-00NOTE 66p.

PUB TYPE Collected Works Serials (022)

JOURNAL CIT Innovation Abstracts; v22 n1-29 Jan-Dec 2000EDRS PRICE MF01/PC03 Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS Classroom Techniques; College Faculty; *Community Colleges;

*Educational Innovation; *Learning Strategies; *TeachingMethods; Two Year Colleges

ABSTRACTThis document is a series of short papers (47) on topics of

interest to community college instructors and practitioners. The topicscovered in the papers include: study and writing tips for students, teachingstrategies and tips, descriptions of innovative programs, using technology inteaching and learning, interacting with students, and institutionaleffectiveness. The majority of the papers deal with the teaching and learningfunction, teaching effectively, and the use of technology in the classroom.Titles include: (1) "Teaching in Chunks: Promoting Integration of Concepts"by Penny Zahl; (2) "A Teacher Writes to His Students: Top Ten Tips ForTackling Tenacious Tasks" by Al Trujillo; (3) "Rethinking a ScientificAssignment" by Tricia A. Reichert; (4) "Finding New Syllabi" by WayneGilbert; (5) "A First-Semester Learning Community for Adult Women" by DianeHorwitz; (6) "Concurrent Enrollment: A Strategy to Meet Urban EducationalNeeds" by Brian G. Chapman; (7) "Technology of Humanity: Instilling HighTough in High Tech Departments" by Earl R. Dodrill; (8) "Combining Literatureand Technology" by Phyllis Gleason; (9) "On Treating Students as Adults" byRichard A. Baker; (10) "Learning Styles across the College" by DianeCheatwood; (11) "The Brown Paper Paste-Up Analysis: An InstitutionalEffectiveness Model" by Miriam M. Baker; and (12) "Managing It All: ASystematic Approach for Allied Health Programs." (LD)

Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be madefrom the original document.

Innovation Abstracts, 2000

Volume XXII, Numbers 1-29January-December 2000

Susan D. Roueche, Editor

National Institute for Staff andOrganizational Development

(NISOD)College of Education

University of Texas at Austin

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONOffice of Educational Research and Improvement

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATIONCENTER (ERIC)

This document has been reproduced asreceived from the person or organizationoriginating it.

Minor changes have been made toimprove reproduction quality.

Points of view or opinions stated in thisdocument do not necessarily representofficial OERI position cr policy.

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TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCESINFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)

Volume XXII, Number 1

N/SOD INNOVATIONA

Published by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) College of Education The University of Texas at Austin

A TE ACH R W2rNS TO =flOSTUDM7S: TO T T 'FOR

TACICING ITMACJOUS TASKS

Successful students aren't just "smart." They employa variety of strategies to learn new information effec-tively. Using the following list of study tips will helpyou succeed in this class, as well as in many others. Youwill probably not need to use them, but take your pick,be prepared to put in some time and effort, and happystudying.

1. Attend class regularly: I spend a large amount ofclass time showing visual aids (slides, videos,overheads, demonstrations, and physical models). Youmust attend class to take advantage of this teachingtechnique. Make sure that you complete the videoworksheets and take notes on what you see in classbecause this information will be on the exams. We coversomething important every single class meeting.

2. Prepare daily (even Friday!): Make no mistakeabout it, school is hard work. To be successful, youneed to prepare before class and analyze informationsoon afterward. Make sure that you come to classprepared.

3. Take detailed notes: Try paraphrasing (taking notesin your own words). Don't just copy what is on theboardtake copious notes on what was discussed,what slides were seen, what you learned from a video,etc. Leave room to add information from other sources(e.g., the textbook) later.

4. Recopy your notes: Many students are convincedthat this is the most effective technique. At the veryleast, go over your notes nightly and use a magicmarker to highlight the most important points.

5. Read the book: Especially read the parts that Iemphasize. Mark in your book (this does not decreasethe resale value of your book...tearing out pages doesthat!). I suggest reading the book three times!

Scan it once briefly before the topic is discussed inclass so that you know a little bit about the topic.

Read it in detail after the topic is discussed in class,and highlight all important parts (these portionscan also be transferred to your notes).Before the exam, reread the highlightedportions of the text.

6. Use flash cards: List a key word on the front andwrite a definition or explain a process or concept on theback. They are great study guides at test preparationtime!

7. Allow ample time to study: This technique pre-vents cramming the night before an exam. For eachhour in class, at least three hours outside of class areusually necessary for proper study timemore ifscience is difficult for you.

8. Earn extra credit: Take full advantage of opportuni-ties to do extra credit assignments. Extra credit pointswill be added to your point total at the end of thesemester and may allow you to get that next highestgrade.

9. See a tutor: Available free-of-charge at the tutoringcenter, tutors have been selected from past classesbased on their academic performance and their abilityto explain concepts. Many of our tutors are consideringteaching as a career and are there to help you.

10. Here's the best one: Join a study group. Recentstudies document the effectiveness of study groups.They work because you have to explain concepts tosomeone else. If you don't know it, you can't explain it(it's as simple as that). I recommend meeting once aweek to go over notes and to quiz each other.

There is no doubt about it: THESE TIPS REALLYWORK!

Al Trujillo, Associate Professor, Earth Sciences

For further information, contact the author at PalomarCollege, 1140 W. Mission Road, San Marcos, CA 92069.e-mail: atrujillo@palomatedu

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD) 0 Community College Leadership Program

Department of Educational Administration ° College of Education, The University of Texas at Austin, SZB 348, Austin, Texas 78712-1293

3

THE SENTENCE GAMEThe Sentence Game helps prepare students for

writing error-free papers. The class is divided intoequal teams. Two students with the highest test scoresto date serve as moderator and scorekeeper, and earnfive points toward their final participation grades.

Each team selects a captain to serve as spokesperson;the moderator is informed of the name of each captain.The captain (with the group's input) decides the orderin which turns will be taken before the game begins.The captains consult and determine which team will gofirst in the Sentence Game.

1. Each team begins with six points.2. The moderator randomly selects a sentence from a

container holding 25 sample sentences and gives itto the first player. (The team determines the orderof players, but every team member has to receiveand respond to a selection.)

3. After reading the selection, the team memberelects to rewrite the sentence on the blackboard orto purchase a "problem definition" or "teamhuddle" for two points, with the agreement of theteam captain (points are subtracted from the teamscore).

4. The team member writes the corrected sentenceon the board.

5. At this point, the other team (through the captain)can decide to challenge the sentence.

6. If the sentence is not challenged, the judge cansignal to the scorekeeper if a point has beenearned.

7. Each correct sentence is worth one point to theindividual score and one point to the team score.

8. If there is a challenge, the captain of the opposingteam is to write the team's new sentence on theboard after huddling with team members. If it isdeemed successful by the judge, two points areawarded to the team score. If the challenger fails,the original team gets an extra point added to theteam score.

9. If the sentence is not challenged and not correct,no points are given; it is presented to the nextplayer on the team and so on until a correctresponse is written; then another teams beginsplay.

10. Play continues until rewrites of all the sentencesin the container are made or the judge determinesthe game is over. If the judge decides to end thegame, she has to say "last sentence" and alloweach team one more sentence.

Each student's total points are added to his or herfinal participation grade. The team points can bedivided equally among team members or distributed asthe team decides. However, all team members have toagree to the distribution; the captain has to put thedecision in writing and pass it to the judge. Thesepoints are added to final participation grades. Thewinning team is awarded a bonus of one point perplayer.

There are frequent challenges to rewrites. Typically,opponents challenge and try to rewrite even before asentence is written. I am impressed with the livelinessand the newfound pldasure students have in workingwith the language! Evidently, having the opportunity toadd points to their final grade gives them importantmotivation. Practice in working as a team is anotherexcellent outcome. Everyone's effort counts.

Students have been imprinted far more deeply withgame shows than with texts. This game works as aninteresting and effective instructional strategy.

Peggy L. Curry, Associate Dean, Off Campus Instruction

For further information contact the author at GeneseeCommunity College, Center for Business and Commu-nity Education, One College Road, Batavia, NY 14020-9704. email: PeggyC@sgccvb .sunygenesee.cc.ny.us

Suanne D. Roueche, Editor

January 21, 2000, Vol. )0(11, No. 1

©The University of Texas at Austin, 2000

Further duplication is permitted by MEMBER

institutions for their own personal use.

Innovation Abstracts (ISSN 0199-106X) is published weekly following the fall and spring terms ofthe academic calendar, except Thanksgiving week, by the National Institute for Staff and Organiza-tional Development (NISOD), Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, SZB348, Austin, Texas 78712-1293, (512) 471-7545. Periodicals Postage Paid at Austin, Texas.POSTMASTER4eAd address changes to Innovation Abstracts, The University of Texas at Austin,SZB 348, Austin TX 78712-1293. Email: [email protected]

Volume )0Cll, Number 2

NISOD INNOVATIONPublished by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) c College of Education c The University of Texas at Austin

"TEACIING IN CHUNKS":P'MMOTONG ONTEGRATION WCONCEPTS

My students frequently find it difficult to transferinformation presented in the classroom to practice inthe field. When I use the lecture method to deliverinformation, students' passive role makes them lessalert, reduces their comprehension, and decreases thechances that they can make future applications. Stu-dents are most attentive when they are in a settingwhich is stimulating, changing, novel, or motivating. Itis for this purpose that I recently began using a tech-nique called "teaching in chunks."

Teaching in chunks has been promoted as a means ofbreaking up a class period into manageable, and moremeaningful time-blocks of activities. This techniquemay be used to gauge the number of topics hat can becovered in a given time period and still keep students'attention. By breaking an hour into three to four"chunks" and presenting one or two concepts perchunk, the instructor can be reasonably sure that he orshe is progressing at a good pace. To keep students'attention and promote learning, students must beinvolved and provide feedback.

I applied the "teaching in chunks" technique duringa 2 1/2 hour lecture, to 17 nursing students, about howto care for individuals with musculoskeletal disorders. Iprovided information chunks in approximately 10-to-20-minute segments. The students then had 2 -to -5-minutes to organize their notes, collaborate withclassmates, and/or research major points in their texts.I provided these written guidelines which served asground rules:

stay in roomuse quiet voicesrelocate in room if necessaryshare experiencesdiscuss clinical applicationresearch in textdiscuss questionshi hli ht main oints.

During my trial of the "chunking" technique, Iassessed my students' prior and subsequent knowledgethrough a matrix-type tool. Students recalled morecontent and understood more of the primary conceptsthan had former students responding to my traditionallecture format. Positive comments included: "I had anopportunity to compare my notes with my class-mates'," "I felt less rushed," and "Providing informa-tion in shorter segments made it easier to understandand remember." Students also reported that they feltthe technique helped them remember and study thecontent in a more organized fashion, that conceptspresented in this style were easily compared andinterrelated. However, one student said that she wouldhave preferred previous knowledge of the content thatwas to be covered in each of the blocks; another felt thata less structured environment during the minutesallocated for review would have been helpful.

While the responses to my trial of teaching in chunkswere mixed, I plan to continue to experiment with thistechnique and refine it for future lectures.

Penny Zahl, Instructor, Associate Degree Nursing

For further information, contact the author atNorthcentral Technical College, 1000 Campus Drive,Wausau, WI 54401. e-mail: [email protected]

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD) ° Community College Leadership Program


LESSONS ON 5 RVIJCE LEARNNG

Mentioning service learning to faculty typically drawsthis confused and burdened response, " What is servicelearning and why do I have to do it?" As the servicelearning coordinator for my college, I hear these wordsand instinctively gear up for battle. I immediatelyprepare to attack on the grounds that service learning isnot just community service and draw my pedagogicalsword to defend to the death the importance of learningby doing. I stand, ready to fight for service learning asthe "be all to end all" method for teachingnot tomention the only way to total educational fulfillment.

Although I have lost many battles, I have continuedon about why one should do service learning, how itcould make both your life and teaching career morerewarding...blah, blah, blah.

It is obvious now why faculty buy-in remained low. Iwas professing, not teaching. I realized this when anunexpected allya math instructorcame to myrescue. After discovering that math instructors areamong the hardest to reach when it comes to servicelearning, her comment was received as a great gift.

"It's not that I am opposed to the concepts of servicelearning, I just need someone to teach me how to make itwork in my classroom."

Amid the fury of the debate that instructors havebeen engaged in for years about whether or not servicelearning is a valid teaching tool, perhaps we haveforgotten to employ its basic tenants within our ownfaculty communities. By giving faculty concrete meth-ods, not abstract concepts, for service learning, they areable to participate in the process of incorporating servicelearning into their classrooms.

It occurred to me that the key to reaching morefaculty members might be to offer instructional, ratherthan informational venues on service learning. There-fore, I designed a series of three "hands-on" workshops.

$fl Explaining Service LearningThis workshop allows faculty to explore service

learning as a new or different teaching method for theircourses. Faculty are asked to brainstorm service learn-ing project ideas that would fit their course content.Then, they are asked to exchange ideas and worktogether on constructing different ways to implementservice learning into their courses.

#2 Doing Service LearningThis workshop assists faculty in designing a syllabus

that integrates the service learning option. It alsoinstructs faculty about how to utilize the service learn-

ing coordinator, the service learning website, and otherresources provided by the college and the community.

#3 Expanding Service LearningThis follow-up workshop provides opportunities to

troubleshoot problems; learn about new ideas forexpanding existing projects; or initiate a service learningproject for themselves/colleagues.

Faculty participation and understanding haveincreased, and "peace time" has had its benefits. How-ever, students will be the greatest beneficiaries and,ultimately, will teach us by their service learningexperiences.

Darilyn Carroll, Service Learning Coordinator, andInstructor, Behavioral Sciences

For further information, contact the author at Commu-nity College of Denver, 1068 Ninth Street, P. O. Box173363, Denver, CO 80217-3363.e-mail: [email protected] orby website: ccdweb.ccd.cccoes.edu/serv_lrn


January 28, 2000, Vol. XXII, No. 2©The University of Texas at Austin, 2000



Innovation Abstracts (ISSN 0199-106X) is published weekly following the fall and spring terms ofthe academic calendar, except Thanksgiving week, by the National Institute for Staff and Organiza-tional Development (NISOD), Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, SZB348, Austin, Texas 78712-1293, (512) 471-7545. Periodicals Postage Paid at Austin, Texas.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Innovation Abstracts, The University of Texas at Austin,SZB Austin, TX 78712-1293. Email: [email protected]


N/SOP INNOVATIONPublished by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) College of Education o The University of Texas at Austin

PE L2SONAIL APPILDCATOONS

Introduction to Psychology can be a difficult courseto teach and an equally difficult challenge for students.Many students select this course to fulfill the generaleducation/social science requirement for their degree.Often, they attend class out of a sense of "have to"rather than "want to." They may not be highly moti-vated by the study of psychology nor extremely inter-ested in it. How can we make the sometimes "boring"study of psychology more fascinating and relevant toour students?

One method I have been using is the personal applica-tion. Personal applications are one page or less in lengthand can be handwritten. Students are asked to explainhow the information they are learning pertains orapplies to them, how they have used or applied thisknowledge in the past, or how they can use or applythese principles in the future. Grading is on a scale of 0-2 points-2 points if the student describes the topic andmakes a good application to his or her life, 1 point if thestudent addresses only one of the criteria, and 0 pointsif the student completely misses the mark.

Applications are made weekly for 10 weeks (for atotal of 20 points for all applications written accordingto the criteria). If there is any confusion about how theapplication should be written, it is usually gone by thesecond or third attempt. I critique the applications andprovide feedback. Almost all students receive the full 2points by the second or third application. Even mun-dane chapters/topics on scientific method or statisticslend themselves to personal applications. The studentsjust have to think a little harder and be more creative toapply them.

The purpose of these applications is threefold. First,the students are stimulated to think about the topic orchapter we are discussing in class. This helps them bemore prepared for class and stimulates some gooddiscussions. Second, by applying the topic to their lives,students develop a better understanding of the prin-ciples of psychology. Students become more aware ofhow psychological tenets and precepts are integralparts of everyday life; moreover, learning takes place

when these principles are applied to individual situa-tions. Personal applications incorporate a hands-onapproach to learning psychology. This makes thesubject matter more user-friendly, stimulates thinkingand discussion, and facilitates learning. Third, applica-tions give students additional writing practice.

Feedback on these applications has been verypositive. It is exciting (and personally rewarding) toread an application in which a student has applied aparticular principle to his life and has come to a newunderstanding about himself or about his friends,family, spouse, children, or situation. Students areconstantly commenting, "I never realized that before!"or "I really learned something about myself that I willbe able to use from now on!" or "I am going to try thaton my kids!"

Personal applications have been efficacious inteaching psychology and can be adapted to almost anyother course. Students taking an introductory course inpsychology may not have a grasp on some of the basic,foundational tenets needed to make personal applica-tions and may need some of the tools learned throughthe introduction to develop the introspection necessaryto write an insightful application. However, the benefitsof this exercise outweigh the difficulties; and theactivity has become a standard teaching tool in myclasses.

Tom DeQuimpaul, Instructor, Psychology

For further information, contact the author at DanvilleArea Community College, 2000 E. Main Street,Danville, IL 61832.e-mail: [email protected]


Department of Educational Administration ° College of Education, The University of Texas at Austin, SIB 348, Austin, Texas 78712-1293

CUATM WRIIMM MA LUNG 7EIECONNECTON

What do Diana Ross and The Supremes have to dowith a poem written by Anne Bradstreet? What doesPink Floyd have to do with Washington Irving's "RipVan Winkle"? Or what about Hank Williams Jr. andMark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, or Menat Work and Christopher Columbus? In an ongoingeffort to keep students' interests alive and illustrate therelevancy of American literature, I implement a creativeapproach to writing about literature, using the rhetoricalmethod of comparison/contrast in an analytical paper.Students are given an assignmenta three-to-four-pagetyped paper comparing and contrasting a popular songof their choosing to a selection from the course anthol-ogy. The assignment following demonstrates the simi-larities and differences between a reading from thecourse's anthology in American literature and a popularsong.

DescripionOn one occasion, we were covering Hawthorne's

"Young Goodman Brown." I played "Puff the MagicDragon," by Peter, Paul, and Mary in Atlanta's ChastainPark, discussing how it was similar to and differentfrom "Young Goodman Brown."

Although the students were receptive to the generalidea and did well pointing out similarities and differ-ences between the story and song, they were not tookeen on my musical selectionit demonstrated thegeneration gap! However, a thematic approach waschosen, and the students recognized that both works ofart express the concept of journey and a loss of inno-cence, which can be seen as positive or negative, de-pending on one's point of view.

Brown takes a literal and metaphorical journey intothe forest; and little Jackie Paper, too, goes on a journeywith his friend, Puff, the magic dragon. Brown's newly-wed bliss fades, and he becomes aware of the evil inhimself, his family, and his society. He loses his inno-cence, but his loss can be a positive experience since heheightens his awareness; however, some students preferto see his loss as a negative because of his attitudetoward family and society after he returns to Salem.Jackie Paper, also, loses his innocence, as signified whenPeter, Paul, and Mary harmonize and sing:

"A dragon lives forever,but not so little boys.Painted wings and giant's rings

make way for other toys.One gray night it happened;Jackie Paper came no more,and, Puff, that mighty dragon,he ceased his fearless roar."

Again, one can see this change as positive or nega-tive. Jackie's growing up is a fact, but what seems sad isthat he loses his imagination.

After the illustration was completed, assignmentsheets were distributed. Students were told to selectsongs they liked, regardless of type. I asked that theybring a cassette or CD for me to hear or a printed copyof the lyrics for me to read and that they submit roughoutlines, describing the connections they see.

Findings and OmpOicailionsSometimes, I do not understand the music that

students bring to me, but I trust them enough to go withtheir choices. After I have reviewed their selections andtheir rough outlines, I write them notes and agree tomeet with them individually to answer questions orprovide other assistance. They show up at my office, notbecause they have a great many problems, but becausethey are excited about what they have found. Of course,musical selections are dependent on the persons makingthem, but they have included rap, religious, country,pop, hard rock, and alternative music. Sometimes, amore nontraditional student will select a 50's or 60'ssong to which I can relate.

Prior to this assignment, students often moaned andgroaned about having to write yet another paper andoften questioned how the readings were related to them.I have found students to be more interested in thereadings and to write better papers because they areenjoy seeing the various connections between theirfavorite songs and selections from the anthology.Comments have changed from speculation aboutrelevancy to amazement about connections. While thisassignment and method clearly are geared towardEnglish faculty, faculty in other disciplines who adoptthe methodology of writing across the curriculum mayfind this assignment to be practical, as well.

Niles Reddick, Assistant Professor, English

For further information, contact the author at MotlowState Community College, P. 0. Box 88100, TullahomaTN 37388-8100. e-mail: [email protected]


February 4, 2000, Vol. XXII, No. 3©The University of Texas at Austin, 2000



Innovation Abstracts (ISSN 0199-106X) is published weekly following the fall and spring terms ofthe academic calendar, except Thanksgiving week, by the National Institute for Staff and Organiza-tional Development (NISOD), Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, SZB348, Austin, Texas 78712-1293,1512) 471-7545. Periodicals Postage Paid at Austin, Texas.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Innovation Abstracts, The University of Texas at Austin,SZB 348, Austin, TX 78712-1293. Email: [email protected]


NISOD INNOVATIONPublished by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) c College of Education a The University of Texas at Austin

A MFINOLOGY ENMCIIMEN7COOPEWIVE

Butler County Community College embarked upon a$6 million multi-phase technology project to providevoice, video, and data access through informationtechnology for students, faculty, and college staff.Objectives included offering students optional enroll-ment processes, including enrollment via Internet orthrough a telephone voice response system; fasterresponse to financial aid requests; and an efficientprocess for degree audits, not only for students' aca-demic plans at BCCC, but for their transfer to otherinstitutions. Additionally, the plan was to support on-line coursework and training to business and industryin their work locations and to students in their homes.

During this time, the Information Services (IS)division, through funding from a U.S. Department ofEducation grant, added three computer technicianpositions. The division reorganized its staffing patternsunder the supervision of the college's chief informationofficer, another new position. However, it soon becameobvious that the work involved in building a newtechnological infrastructure, while maintaining routinetechnical service for classroom labs and faculty/staffoffices, was overwhelming.

The answer to this problem, of course, was to in-crease the number of staff in the IS division. However,that was a challenge at a time when personnel budgetscould not support additional payroll costs. So, ISgenerated a plan to train students as in-house computertechnicians to fill the gaps in staffing patterns. Conse-quently, BCCC joined a small but growing number ofeducational institutions offering computer training tostudents and then hiring them to decrease labor costsand increase in-house staff.

The Technology Enrichment Cooperative Employee(TEC-E) program was born with two objectives: toprovide an enriched learning environment for the TECstudents moving from high school to BCCC, and to helpmeet the service and support needs of the IS division.This program, although not limited to computer science

majors, provides daily application of classroom theoryand instruction to a hands-on work environment.

TEC-E consists of a one-week (40 hours), paidsummer institute that provides hardware/software andnetwork support training specific to the IS environmentat the college. The students who participate (TECEmployees or TEC-Es) agree to provide a variety of ISservices during their four semesters of enrollment. TheTEC-Es earn a differential student pay rate with regularincreases as their experience grows. Workloads are 15-25hours per week each semester.

Students applying for the TEC program must meetthese selection criteria:

An earned high school diploma or equivalentTEC application completed with an officialtranscript and supporting recommendations frominstructors and employersA demonstrated history of hardware/software ornetwork experienceTEC summer institute completedA completed financial aid applicationEnrollment in 12 hours or more.

The first TEC Institute was held August 1998. TheInstitute meets one week before fall semester classesbegin. The agenda includes intense one-on-one training,focusing on handling of the top 10 daily computer andnetworking problems encountered by faculty and staff.The morning sessions include lab demonstrations withthe afternoon sessions dedicated to fieldwork. Amongothers, students learn computer setup, troubleshooting,software installation, memory upgrading, sound cardinstallation, printer and computer care and mainte-nance, computer and network configuration, andcustomer service. TEC-Es act as resources for entry-levelusers trying to master Office Suite, browsers, and otherbasic applications. The latest challenge for the TEC-Es isto design, create, and staff a "help desk" for the college.

TEC is a win-win program. Students learn increas-ingly more complex applications. They have a guaran-teed job while they are enrolled at BCCC and a first-class resume when they leave. Their on-the-job experi-



ence, in relation to starting salaries, is in one of the 10hottest community college programs and in one of the25 hottest programs nationally. The college has a pool ofbright, motivated, inventive workers to help servicetechnical needs across the campus in student labs andfaculty, staff, and administrative offices. A visible resultof the valuable services of the TEC-Es is the diminishingstack of service requests from faculty and staff, as thecollege technical environment has improved andsupport services have increased.

Tom Erwin, Chief Information Officer

For further information, contact the author at ButlerCounty Community College, 901 S. Haverhill Rd., ElDorado, KS 67042. e-mail: [email protected]

MTh HONG FOR CELEBRATOON

Partnering can pay off! For the past two years, theCultural Diversity Committee and the Liberal ArtsDepartment have pooled resources to offer excitingprograms featuring artists from various ethnic groups.Our students, faculty, staff, and the community-at-largeattended these events free of charge. We filled the 400seat auditorium each time!

In all of our programs we try to celebrate diversity,increase a sense of community, develop linkages withother organizations, expose our students to publishedauthors and noted artists, and provide role models.

In spring 1998, we hosted two North Carolinawriters: African-American Lenard D. Moore and NativeAmerican Marijo Moore. Both college and communitywere invited to attend their readings and discussions ona Tuesday night. On Wednesday morning, the guestwriters participated in a panel discussion on "WritingFrom Your Origins," also featuring our Spanish teacher,a native of Cuba; a student, a native of Guam; and anEnglish professor of Irish extraction, from a neighboringcollege. Best of all, each writer visited two Englishclasses that day to interact with students. Our collegewas able to pay for the writers' two-day residencieswith a grant from the Education Foundation, funds fromthe Cultural Diversity Committee, and a special wind-fall from the college's 40th Anniversary Celebrationbudget.

In spring 1999, Liberal Arts and Cultural Diversityjoined again to present a one-woman show, "BalancingAct," starring Wambui Bahati, of Greensboro. On itsway to off-Broadway, the show was touring NorthCarolina through an A. J. Fletcher Grant. This time we

reached out to the local chapters of the National Alli-ance for the Mentally Ill and Mental Health Associationfor cosponsorship. Our funds paid travel and lodgingexpenses for Ms. Bahati, and, of course, our auditoriumrent was free.

Ms. Bahati's show dealt with her experiences as aprofessional actress battling bipolar disorder. Accompa-nied by a three-piece jazz band, she belted out songsand brought the audience to tears with scenes of herups-and-downs, from childhood to Broadway and backhome to a housing project. The next day, she visitedhumanities classes, engaging students in dialogue.

The visiting artists touched students in amazingways. For minority students, they served as role modelsfor success. All students caught a glimpse of the creativelife and the variety of backgrounds that produce it. Butthe most gratifying result of our cooperative culturalventure was the reaction of our faculty. Living, breath-ing artists on campus lifted and inspired us, and re-newed our efforts to enliven our classes.

Margaret Baddour, Instructor, HumanitiesAnnette D. Hawkins, Chair, Cultural Diversity

For further information, contact the authors at WayneCommunity College, Caller Box Number 8002,Goldsboro, NC 27530-8002.e-mail: [email protected]: [email protected]





Innovation Abstracts (ISSN 0199-106X) is published weekly following the fall and spring terms ofthe academic calendar, except Thanksgiving week, by the National Institute for Staff and Organiza-tional Development (NISOD), Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, SZB348, Austin, Texas 78712-1293, (512) 471-7545. Periodicals Postage Paid at Austin, Texas.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Innovation Abstracts, The University of Texas at Austin,SZB 348, Austin; TX 78712-1293. Email: [email protected]

i.

10

Volume )00, Number 5

Atisop INNOVATION

Published by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) o College of Education c The University of Texas at Austin

7

TEC

ECHNOLOGY 0

Un

F

GUNG H -OUCH [IN MEI

DEPARTMENTS

One issueIn the early 1990's, we saw a dramatic integration of

technology into our local industry and a parallel in-crease in instructional and assistive technology in theclassroom and laboratory. The need for advancedtechnology skills was evident and, once developed,immediately productive for both educators and busi-nesses. Technology had the immediate effect of sup-planting many mundane routines of humanity. Facultywas on a regular in-service training regimen for imple-menting many new strategies, as well as new softwareand hardware. While we were increasing our skilllevels considerably with integration of various technolo-gies, we were not improving our human skills forinstruction, advisement, and the sundry other duties ofstudent-oriented faculty. Faculty noted, "We are gettingfarther from our students, and they are getting fartheraway from us and one another"; "We have students thatcan 'word process' but cannot write or adequatelycommunicate with others"; and " I see people on ourstaff in the hallways whom I hardly know. Is it like thatfor our students and graduates?"

Technology faculties are some of the busiest people Iknowlearning new skills within an expanding disci-pline, implementing new software and hardware inlabs, while maintaining the integrity of their labs. It iseasy to lose contact with the rest of the campus.

A Mai-Faceted So0AortFirst, we set a divisional goal to increase our technol-

ogy (of humanity) skills. We planned workshops andseminars that emphasized alternatives for the high techin-service programs. "High touch" skills and attitudesbecame the focus of these alternative activities: problem-solving skills and their implementation in curriculum;Pryor Report seminars on personal skill development or

related issues; motivational books, videos, and publica-tions purchased, reviewed, shared, and discussed indivision meetings; bi-monthly publications such as TheProfessor (DeBruyn) and books such as The MonsterUnder the Bed (Davis and Botkin) and LogoLearning(Parnell) for interesting discussion. These in-serviceprograms appeared to be successful; so, the faculty, staff,and I began looking for other ways to improve our skillsand attitudes.

One strategy developed from the divisional goal wasto recognize excellence. Each divisional meeting beginswith recognition of articles published, awards received,professional activities noted by peers, and communityleadership efforts that improve quality of life.Collegewide recognition is an annual event, honoringoutstanding new faculty and an outstanding veteran offive years or more. Our division submits nomineesannually.

With such diversity in disciplines, curriculum and labdemands, and classroom schedules, faculty and staffoften feel isolated. We instituted a monthly social,hosted by individual departments; no business isdiscussed, and the emphasis is on camaraderie. Thesocial has been very successful, and departments taketheir turns hosting.

An annual end-of-term, one-day retreat is held eachyear. The retreat engages the entire faculty and staff invisioning, planning, and sharing ways of providing aneven higher level of service for our students throughoutthe following year. A planning team works to developan agenda of engaging activities to ensure fun andproductivity.

Finally, all faculty members are academic advisorsand may be asked to assist students with academicproblems. Sometimes, a student not yet enrolled in aprogram area will require assistance with developing asemester schedule and identifying the requirements ofthe selected program of study. Occupational-technicalprograms are dynamic in maintaining current standardsand remaining abreast of the evolution of technologyand thoughts or theories. So, a program of study canchange courses required for graduation, textbooks,content, or instructional delivery methodology regu-



11

larlyconfusing for part-time students and advisors notdirectly involved within the program or technical field.

In each monthly division meeting, a program of studyis showcased to assist with these advisement andassistance problems. Faculty will demonstrate or relateinstructional best practices. Changes in program re-quirements are illustrated and reviewed. New distanceeducation courses are introduced and reviewed by peersfor content, purpose, and delivery methodology.

The BeneficiariesThe students are the direct beneficiaries of these

activities. The curricula of all divisional programs haveadopted general education content requirements andadded problem-solving and critical-thinking skills. Asenior thesis has been adopted by two associate degreeprograms in which both research and writing skills areemphasized. Programs now require additional writing,speaking, and interpersonal or team-based projects. Asteady improvement in exit-test scores in writing andthinking skills has been documented. Graduate surveysindicate an increased appreciation for academic attain-ment. The nursing program reports steadily improvingscores on problem-solving and psychology skill seg-ments on the standardized tests for licensure. Follow-upgraduate and employer surveys indicate increasedsatisfaction with the "soft" skills for success in theworkforcee.g., interpersonal, communication, andproblem-solving skills.

Faculty and staff benefit from timely information sonecessary to improved quality of academic life, as wellas improved instructional and advisement strategies.Each person can learn more about neighbors' andcolleagues' pathways to success. Reducing isolation anddistance can bring in-touch humans to the technologyroundtable.

Earl R. Dodrill, Chairman, Applied Science and Engineer-ing Technology

For further information, contact the author at PatrickHenry Community College, P. 0. Box 5311,Martinsville, Virginia 24115-5311.e-mail: [email protected]

N SOD 2000The Twenty-Second AnnualInternational Conference on

Teaching and Leadership Excellence

May 28-31Austin Convention Center

Austin, Texas

Program Strands

*Teaching and Learning

"Career Development

'Leadership Development

"Teamship Development

General Sessions"What Works in College Teaching: Perspectives from a

Decade of NISOD Excellence Award Recipients"

"Teaching in a Future That Ain't What It Used to Be"

Annual Celebration of Excellence Awards Recipients

Further InformationMail NISOD Registration

The University of Texas at AustinGeorge I. Sanchez Building 348Austin, TX 78712-1293

Fax NISOD Conference Registration(512) 471-9426

Online www.nisod.org

Questions? (512) [email protected]





Innovation Abstracts (ISSN 0199-106X) is published weekly following the fall and spring terms ofthe academic calendar, except Thanksgiving week, by the National Institute for Staff and Organiza-tional Development (NISOD), Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, SZB348, Austin, Texas 78712-1293, (512) 471-7545. Periodicals Postage Paid at Austin, Texas.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Innovation Abstracts, The University of Texas at Austin,SZB 348, Austin, TX 78712-1293. Email: [email protected]

4'. 12


NISOP INNOVATIONas_

Published by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) a College of Education - The University of Texas at Austin

ALL TGIF Fla? W CA GET

About midway through the spring 1999 semester atHutchinson Community College, I was pleasantlysurprised to receive word from Buhler High Schoolthat I was being invited to evaluate two high schoolseniors taking my English Composition 1A course. Theevaluation form asked five questions, covering suchareas as attentiveness and current grade. While I havehad numerous high school students from differentarea high schools taking college composition, this wasmy first opportunity to communicate with high schoolofficials concerning the performance of their students.I responded to their questions right away.

After returning the evaluation forms, I thoughtabout the merits of such intervention on the part ofhigh schools whose students participated in theseacademic collaborations. When I was a high schoolsenior in 1964-65, only a handful of exceptionallybright students were offered the opportunity to takecollege courses. But within the last decade, signifi-cantly larger numbers of high school students rou-tinely take courses for college credit. For variousreasons such as an onerous workload, poor studyhabits, or an inadequate academic preparation, someof them are unsuccessful. It was clear to me that thehigh school ought to know how they are faring, andperhaps interventions could be made to reduce thenumber of unsuccessful students.

According to the principal of the high school,"...the purpose in using this [evaluation form] is toenhance the probability that our students will take thisexperience seriously." When I interviewed him, heassured me that high school officials counsel studentswhose evaluations are unsatisfactoryan interventionstrategy that they trusted would help students bemore successful.

I share the five evaluation questions here; theyprovide the information necessary to assess perfor-mance generally and perhaps pinpoint some reasonsfor lackluster performance. Answering the five ques-tions was not time-consuming; however, a more

extensive list of questions could discourage collegeinstructors from participating in this evaluation proce-dure.

Does the student attend class regularly (not morethan 1-2 absences)?Is the student attentive in class, participates whenasked to do so?Is the student prepared for tests and other classassignments most of the time?Does the student appear to have a good backgroundof information and/or training in preparation forthe class?Is the student's current grade a "C" or better?

When I informed our college's president about theevaluation procedure, he shared my enthusiasm andexpressed the desire to inform other area principals andsuperintendents about the program. An open remark onthe evaluation form states that Buhler's purpose is "tohelp us encourage [students] in this important transitionand to evaluate our academic program...." I appreciateBuhler High School's concern. We need all the help wecan get!

Bob Gassen, Instructor, English

For further information, contact the author atHutchinson Community College, 1300 N. Plum Street,Hutchinson, KS 67501-5894.



13

UT P[IC-UlA POEM: ENIFIANCRIGAE STUDIO COURSES WITHPOPULAR WAGES A RAP MACS

Not long ago, one of my printmaking students cameup with a novel idea. He wanted to enter an MTV coverdesign contest for Korn, a popular hip-hop/rock/rapgroup that enjoys tremendous popularity among youngstudents today. He asked if I would allow him to workon the design of the cover during class time and if Iwould mind giving him pointers about the compositionand design. I thought that he should integrate theproject as one of the assigned techniques (relief printing)in printmaking, thus maintaining the integrity andscope of course objectives.

The student worked on a lino cut, which was theeasier technique by which he could graphically translatethe design. He not only created the image, but alsointegrated some words into it. As if Horace's dictum, utpictura poesis, "as in painting, so in poetry," had becomea truism, other students became intrigued with the ideaof connecting an image with words, and so the projecttook the form of a true "cordel literature," or literatureon a string.

Cordel, a 16th century Iberian art form now thrivingin northern Brazil, is the perfect vehicle for visual artstudents who want to expand their images with words.Relief illustration (woodblock or lino printing) has beenboth the craft and vehicle that provide the mechanics forthese perceptual "literary" flights of the imagination.My students have become adept cordel authors who arenot at all shy about performing their verses aloud, aswell as displaying the images hanging from a string.These works, however, have been designed/writtenmore for the eyes than for the ears.

With the intention of expanding the cordel idea of animage relating to a narrative, I have developed excitingprojects for my Design I students. These students havehoned their designing skills on projects as varied as aposter highlighting arts and letters day, a mural depict-ing the Hispanic heritage for a housing development inLittle Havana, and a mural on marine life for the MiamiMetropolitan Police Telecommunications Bureau.

The relationship between art and literature has beeneased on our campus. Once students see the validity ofobliterating the artificial barriers between disciplines, amulti-disciplinary approach to teaching/learning canbecome a reality. The English department and artdepartment faculties, as well as students, have beenworking together in Miambiance, an award-winning

literary/art publication. All of these projects, however,had "strings" attached: By melding the verbal and thevisual, the art students in the studio and the literaturestudents in the classroom have crossed unseen bound-aries together, without infringing upon their careerinterests. In fact, these literary/art projects have heldthese students and their audiences captive.

Albert Meza, Associate Professor Sr., Arts and PhilosophyDepartment

For further information, contact the author at Miami-Dade Community College, Kendall Campus, 11011 S. W.104 Street, Miami, FL 33176-3303.e-mail: [email protected]


February 25, Vol. XXII, No. 6©The University of Texas at Austin, 2000




0


N/S00 INNOVATIONPublished by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) College of Education o The University of Texas at Austin

URUTn ABOUT 'TEAC ONG

Don't let anyone ever kid you: teaching is not hardwork. It is exhausting, excruciating work. I had thehonor of being an adjunct faculty member for TunxisCommunity College during fall '99 semester, teachingthe first section of freshman composition. Even though Ihave spent a fair amount of time in the classroom overthe last 20 years, it has not been as a compositioninstructor. That was where I started in 1970, but thecircuitous career path I have taken over the years hasled me in other directions. Being in a compositionclassroom again, however, reminded me of all theemotions I used to experience every semestera rollercoaster of highs and lows, a swing between confidenceand self-consciousness, a single breath between know-ing and the panic of not- being- quite- sure but hoping-no- one catches -my- error... if- there was -one.

I had 15 students in this classsmall by most stan-dards and certainly a manageable size during paper-grading time. An evening class meeting once a weekwas a familiar pattern, and nothing seemed unusualuntil I actually got in the room and realized that I hadthree hours to make the class meaningful and enriching,rather than boring and potentially deadly. Yikes! Whatwas I thinking? Why did I agree to do this? I felt just likeI did that first semester out of graduate school when Iwalked into a class full of eager students, some of whomwere older than I was. (OK, so age is not an issue anymore....) Here are some of the thoughts I have aboutteaching after this experience:

You can fool some of the students some of the time,but not for long. They know when you are notprepared, intellectually engaged, or paying muchattention. They may be polite and not say any-thing, but they know.Most students do not expect you to be the expertall the time on every topic. They seem to enjoyteaching you something they know that you do notand really do appreciate you more if you are opento mutual exploration.

You get better answers to questions if you ask onlyquestions to which you do not already have a clearanswer formulated.It is OK to stray from a lesson plan if somethingmore important starts happening in the class. It isNOT OK, however, not to have a plan.There are few things more painful than a class thatbombs.There are few things more exhilarating than a classthat clicks.

I am certain that I was not discovering anything newabout teaching and learning during this semester.Furthermore, the circumstances in which I operated thissemester were not exactly typical. My students were allmales between the ages of 18 and 21. They wore uni-forms; I wore a body alarm. They were not allowed togo to the bathroom alone; I was told to make sure I hadaccess to the door at all times.

Our classroom was small and not elaboratelyequipped. We had no computers, no overhead projec-tors, only one white board, and a VCR that sometimesworked. Students were allowed to have limitedamounts of paper and a clear, plastic pen. They wereallowed to go to the meager library only once every sixdays, but could have magazines with them from time totime. They had access to television, but not to cable. No,this was not a local high school, but rather the MansonYouth Correctional Facility in Cheshire. All of thestudents had been sentenced there. One had been theresince he was 14 and will remain until he is 21. I have noidea what he did to earn that sentence. Another studentwas transferred out and had no choice about finishingthe class; he simply disappeared somewhere into theprison system.

In spite of the circumstances, most of these studentsseemed to be fairly typical of that age group. They werebright, and most of them actually wrote rather well inspite of limited mental stimulation. They were eagerstudents, for the most part, and appreciated anyonewho took the time to pay some positive attention tothem. One student told me that his mother wanted to bea lawyer and was a student at Manchester Community



15

College. She had a 4.0 average, and he was determinedto match her, A for A.

One thing that surprised me was that these youngmen all understood why they were there. Not onestudent played the victim or blamed anyone else for hisplight. They had strong opinions but were open to otherpoints of view and to grappling with the subjects athand. In other words, they were doing better with thiseducation thing than was their teacher.

As always, however, I had high hopes that because ofsomething they heard or read in this class, or perhapsbecause of (rather than in spite of) my efforts at helpingthem be better communicators, they would never againbe incarcerated. The danger, of course, is that once theyare out and return to the environments which contrib-uted to their arriving at Manson in the first place, theywill fall back into old patterns of thinking and behaving.There is a good chance that some of them will return toprison as adults. At least that is what the statistics tellus. It is small comfort to know that any who return willbe able to write complete sentences and well-con-structed paragraphs. So, I tried also to teach life skillswhich included communication, good decision making,rational thinking, and considering consequences whenmaking choices.

Teaching was simpler when I thought I was respon-sible only for subject matter, when my primary objec-tives were helping my students be better writers andmaking sure they could write about specific pieces ofliterature. Now I believe there are other issues withwhich we must concern ourselves, making that job ofteaching more complex and much more personal. I wantmy students to be able to communicate not only aboutspecific literature, but also about issues that concernthem directly, by analyzing what they read, what theyhear, and what they say.

Ultimately, the ability to think critically, solve prob-lems, and communicate with others will make it pos-sible for students to achieve their goals. Thus, it is ourrole to remember that we are at our best as teacherswhen we are more concerned about what students learnthan we are about what topics we teach. My incarcer-ated students may be in a physical prison, but that doesnot mean that they have to be in a mental prison as well.Helping them be better writers may open some win-dows, but helping them think for themselves may takedown barriers and permanently open doors.

No wonder teachers work so hardthere is a lot atstake!

Cathryn L. Addy, President

For further information, contact the author at Tunxis

Community College, 271 Scott Swamp Road,Farmington, CT 06032.e-mail: [email protected]


March 3, 2000, Vol. )001, No. 7




Innovation Abstracts (ISSN 0199-106X) is published weekly following the fall and spring terms ofthe academic calendar, except Thanksgiving week, by the National Institute for Staff and Organiza-tional Development (NISOD), Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, SZB348, Austin, Texas 78712-1293, (512) 471-7545. Periodicals Postage Paid at Austin, Texas.POSTMASTER:Send address changes to Innovation Abstracts, The University of Texas at Austin,SZB 348, Austin, TX 78712-1293. Email: [email protected]

16


D INNOVATIONPublished by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) o College of Education 0 The University of Texas at Austin

TGud MOWN PAPER PAMUPANAILMS: A INSTOMONALEFFC1VENIESS MODEL

Public sector enterprises are being pressed foraccountability data. Both governmental entities andpublicly funded educational facilities are experiencingthe accountability demands from the more vocalvoterwho is both a contributor to and consumer offacility services.

The Brown Paper Paste-Up Analysis (BPP-UA) is aninnovative institutional effectiveness model developedthrough a private-sector/public-sector partnership.The innovation was formulated by a team of volunteerbusiness leaders in a metropolitan municipality, incooperation with municipal employees. The problemto be solved was how to identify and mitigate theproblem of expensive, inefficient, duplicative, andtime-intensive transaction processing in a municipalfinancial services department.

The procedure involved wrapping inside corridorwall space of one entire floor of a city department withbrown craft paper. The long-term goal was to automateand integrate the financial functions of all departments.The short-term goal was to begin to understand eachdepartment's financial functioning, one procedure at atime. There were no extant procedure manuals, onlythe informal network of employees who could becounted upon to "walk through" important transac-tions, which required timely processing.

The outside business volunteers queried the work-ers in each area of the department, trying to ascertainthe area function, processing procedures, and the flowof documents. The oral procedures reported by thedepartment workers were often contradictory orinconsistent. The volunteers began to "paste up" eachdocument on the paper-covered corridor, visuallyrepresenting the handling it received (shown by ahandwritten notation explaining the processing, orwith a stamp, cover documents, or other indicators ofthe processing actions).

The process was tedious and often required a restartuntil both the workers and the volunteers learned towork with the brown paper process. Once one proce-dure was "pasted up," the department workers weresummoned to examine the depiction to verify that theprocedures were valid. Then, the discussions began.Why does this document go here? Twice! What happenshere? Where does it go next? Could this be done in amore effective way? The employees who performed theprocedure were the initial effectiveness analysts. Thisprocedure ceded to them the power to participate notonly in the analyses of the problems, but in the develop-ment of solutions to problem areas.

The placement of all of the documents and all of thesteps involved in transaction processing clearly illus-trated bottlenecks, redundancies, and unnecessarysteps. Placing the brown paper on the public corridorsencouraged workers to participate because they and thepublic were observing the procedure and were curiousabout its meaning and vocal about its progress.

Once all procedures were pasted up and had beencommented upon, and problem areas had been tenta-tively remediated by the area workers, the contents ofthe walls were flow-charted, with each component partlabeled. The flow charts allowed the information to beportable and to be shared more easily. The processallowed the tracking of documents through depart-ments. Similar pasting and analyzing occurred in eachdepartment until all had been brown papered.

The department management then analyzed inter-and intra-departmental flow. Common documentsbetween and among departments were identified, andmembers of all involved departments discussed theprocesses. The presence of the business volunteersassured that the territorial issues were minimized andthat the discussion focused on how to maximize pro-cessing.

Further, citywide meetings were convened, whererecommendations for processing were discussed.Documents listing the recommendations were prepared,and the problem-solving analysis entered an even morecritical phase.

In the municipal government environment, the BPP-



UA model led to citywide changes in the processinginfrastructure. That clarified, simplified, efficient flowcould then be integrated and automated. With integra-tion and automation came procedure formalization andstandardization, work area reengineering, and worktask redefinition. The departments became more effi-ciency-minded. They now had performance data whichcould be used for benchmarking.

This model serves as a nonthreatening, yet thoroughand accurate, instrument of analysis. The objective ofthe BPP-UA tool is to gather information on specificareas that interrelate directly with other areas. It affordsthe employee and the administrator a quantitative andqualitative perspective of the status quo, as well as adynamic format allowing for innovation and change.

Its effectiveness depends largely on employeeparticipation. Care must be taken to keep this tooleffective by avoiding overuse. Its success relies on thequality participation of an energized employee, amember of a problem-solving team. Similarly, theprocess must not be protracted. In the municipal gov-ernment application, the analysis was in clear sight ofcitizens who used the corridor for passage to other areasof the building complex, the mayor and the press,workers and administrators from other city divisionsand departments, as well as the workers from the areaunder study. A large part of its effectiveness was thefreshness and energy it generated with its "treasurehunt" nature and relatively short duration. (The actualbrown paper exercise was transferred to smaller, morereadable media; it was destroyed once its purpose hadbeen achieved and its results had been characterizedelsewhere.) The results of the analysis must be formal-ized (suggestions for change, improvements in process-ing flow, increased understanding and interworkingamong employees, for example) and shared with thegroup to allow all participants to benefit from under-standing and owning the process, to assure everyonethat the process is not a onetime occurrence and toemphasize that its results are pertinent.

The process itself is quite resource-independent. Noparticular supplies are needed, other than the brownpaper, expansive walls, and capable facilitators who areable to assist the employees in depicting the workflowsin a detailed, readable, and accurate manner.

The BPP-UA tool can be used in many environments.An important potential area for examination would bethe registration process at a community college. It mightbe accomplished by papering an institutional accessarea, which could be rendered both impervious tograffiti and vandalism, and readily available to students,faculty, administration, staff, and taxpayers. Partici-pantsstudents (student government representatives),

faculty (department advisors), administration (studentservices, counseling staff), and "gateway" or processingstaffwould be responsible for their own inputs/outputs. Other areas of analysis could lead to decisionsimpacting the improved self-management versus out-sourcing of various community college functions,student financial aid processing, purchasing procedures,and so on.

The Brown Paper process is a dramatic tool thatallows for the palpable depiction of a usually non-characterizable process. It affords an opportunity tofocus visually on the whole or a portion of a process. Itis an easy-to-understand, nonthreatening, and friendlymedium which can be utilized in extremely diversework settings. It is both motivational and enjoyable forthe participants, and effective and decisive in determin-ing the "next steps" to be takena win-win strategy.

Miriam M. Baker, Doctoral Student

For further information, contact the author at Commu-nity College Leadership Program, SZB 348, The Univer-sity of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-1293.e-mail: [email protected]


March 10, 2000, Vol. XXII, No. 8©The University of Texas at Austin, 2000



Innovation Abstracts (ISSN 0199-106X) is published weekly following the fall and spring terms ofthe academic calendar, except Thanksgiving week, by the National Institute for Staff and Organiza-tional Development (NISODI, Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, SZB348, Austin, Teyas.,7811112-1293, (5121 471 -7545. Periodicals Postage Paid at Austin, Texas.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Innovation Abstracts, The University of Texas at Austin,SZB 348, Austin, TX 78712-1293. Email: sroueche ©mail.utexas.edu


N/SOD INNOVATIONA

Published by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) a College of Education c The University of Texas at Austin

MU num! ABOUT nACR.

Don't let anyone ever kid you: teaching is not hardwork. It is exhausting, excruciating work. I had thehonor of being an adjunct faculty member for TunxisCommunity College during fall '99 semester, teachingthe first section of freshman composition. Even though Ihave spent a fair amount of time in the classroom overthe last 20 years, it has not been as a compositioninstructor. That was where I started in 1970, but thecircuitous career path I have taken over the years hasled me in other directions. Being in a compositionclassroom again, however, reminded me of all theemotions I used to experience every semestera rollercoaster of highs and lows, a swing between confidenceand self-consciousness, a single breath between know-ing and the panic of not- being - quite- sure but hoping-no- one catches -my- error... if- there was -one.

I had 15 students in this classsmall by most stan-dards and certainly a manageable size during paper-grading time. An evening class meeting once a weekwas a familiar pattern, and nothing seemed unusualuntil I actually got in the room and realized that I hadthree hours to make the class meaningful and enriching,rather than boring and potentially deadly. Yikes! Whatwas I thinking? Why did I agree to do this? I felt just likeI did that first semester out of graduate school when Iwalked into a class full of eager students, some of whomwere older than I was. (OK, so age is not an issue anymore....) Here are some of the thoughts I have aboutteaching after this experience:

You can fool some of the students some of the time,but not for long. They know when you are notprepared, intellectually engaged, or paying muchattention. They may be polite and not say any-thing, but they know.Most students do not expect you to be the expertall the time on every topic. They seem to enjoyteaching you something they know that you do notand really do appreciate you more if you are opento mutual exploration.

You get better answers to questions if you ask onlyquestions to which you do not already have a clearanswer formulated.It is OK to stray from a lesson plan if somethingmore important starts happening in the class. It isNOT OK, however, not to have a plan.There are few things more painful than a class thatbombs.There are few things more exhilarating than a classthat clicks.

I am certain that I was not discovering anything newabout teaching and learning during this semester.Furthermore, the circumstances in which I operated thissemester were not exactly typical. My students were allmales between the ages of 18 and 21. They wore uni-forms; I wore a body alarm. They were not allowed togo to the bathroom alone; I was told to make sure I hadaccess to the door at all times.

Our classroom was small and not elaboratelyequipped. We had no computers, no overhead projec-tors, only one white board, and a VCR that sometimesworked. Students were allowed to have limitedamounts of paper and a clear, plastic pen. They wereallowed to go to the meager library only once every sixdays, but could have magazines with them from time totime. They had access to television, but not to cable. No,this was not a local high school, but rather the MansonYouth Correctional Facility in Cheshire. All of thestudents had been sentenced there. One had been theresince he was 14 and will remain until he is 21. I have noidea what he did to earn that sentence. Another studentwas transferred out and had no choice about finishingthe class; he simply disappeared somewhere into theprison system.

In spite of the circumstances, most of these studentsseemed to be fairly typical of that age group. They werebright, and most of them actually wrote rather well inspite of limited mental stimulation. They were eagerstudents, for the most part, and appreciated anyonewho took the time to pay some positive attention tothem. One student told me that his mother wanted to bea lawyer and was a student at Manchester Community



19

College. She had a 4.0 average, and he was determinedto match her, A for A.

One thing that surprised me was that these youngmen all understood why they were there. Not onestudent played the victim or blamed anyone else for hisplight. They had strong opinions but were open to otherpoints of view and to grappling with the subjects athand. In other words, they were doing better with thiseducation thing than was their teacher.

As always, however, I had high hopes that because ofsomething they heard or read in this class, or perhapsbecause of (rather than in spite of) my efforts at helpingthem be better communicators, they would never againbe incarcerated. The danger, of course, is that once theyare out and return to the environments which contrib-uted to their arriving at Manson in the first place, theywill fall back into old patterns of thinking and behaving.There is a good chance that some of them will return toprison as adults. At least that is what the statistics tellus. It is small comfort to know that any who return willbe able to write complete sentences and well-con-structed paragraphs. So, I tried also to teach life skillswhich included communication, good decision making,rational thinking, and considering consequences whenmaking choices.

Teaching was simpler when I thought I was respon-sible only for subject matter, when my primary objec-tives were helping my students be better writers andmaking sure they could write about specific pieces ofliterature. Now I believe there are other issues withwhich we must concern ourselves, making that job ofteaching more complex and much more personal. I wantmy students to be able to communicate not only aboutspecific literature, but also about issues that concernthem directly, by analyzing what they read, what theyhear, and what they say.

Ultimately, the ability to think critically, solve prob-lems, and communicate with others will make it pos-sible for students to achieve their goals. Thus, it is ourrole to remember that we are at our best as teacherswhen we are more concerned about what students learnthan we are about what topics we teach. My incarcer-ated students may be in a physical prison, but that doesnot mean that they have to be in a mental prison as well.Helping them be better writers may open some win-dows, but helping them think for themselves may takedown barriers and permanently open doors.

No wonder teachers work so hardthere is a lot atstake!

Cathryn L. Addy, President

For further information, contact the author at Tunxis

Community College, 271 Scott Swamp Road,Farmington, CT 06032.e-mail: [email protected]





Innovation Abstracts (ISSN 0199-106X) is published weekly following the fall and spring terms ofthe academic calendar, except Thanksgiving week, by the National Institute for Staff and Organiza-tional Development (NISOD), Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, SZB348, Austin, Texas 78712-1293, (5121 471-7545. Periodicals Postage Paid at Austin, Texas.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Innovation Abstracts, The University of Texas at Austin,SZB 348, Austin TX 78712-1293. Email: [email protected]

'T: t.


msa9 INNOVATION

Published by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) o College of Education o The University of Texas at Austin

A PROACTIVE CLASS

The levels of spontaneity, excitement, and sinceritygenerated when students become active in the learning/teaching process never cease to amaze me. In fact, whenthe students become creative and assume ownership oftheir work, the results are remarkable. The role thatcreativity plays in learning is best illustrated by one ofmy recent classes.

Each semester I require that students prepare an oralpresentation on some computer topic, which can betheir choice as long as I approve it. I know that in thebusiness world a programmer or analyst frequently hasto make presentations to management or instructionaltechnology users. The students are required to use avisual aid to help make their point. The aid can behandouts, transparencies, board work, posters,PowerPoint presentations, or any other tool they chooseto use. The students are usually very creative, and mostof them do an outstanding job with this project. Thestudents must listen closely because anything they hearin my class could appear on a test, which stimulateslistening, note-taking, and attentiveness.

Last semester one of the students gave a presentationon HTML programming. After a brief explanation of hishandout on language rules, he worked with the class onwriting an HTML program to create a web site for eachstudent. The class got excited, and learning becamepersonal! Where once this student had not had much tosay, there was suddenly camaraderie. He becameinteractive with all class membersastounding what alittle teamwork will generate.

After listening to students excitedly discuss HTML, Iasked if they wanted to consider developing a web sitefor our department. As this was a systems analysis anddesign class, not HTML programming, students hadseen about as much HTML as I had. They were awarethat the project would take extra effort and that wewould have to learn the language aspect together. Yet,they again were excited and willing. Our webmasterand administration permitted us to develop a website,although no department websites had been developed

at that time.I kept a diary of each class meeting to be sure that we

monitored exactly which responsibilities individualstudents assumed. This diary was not only for gradingpurposes but also to help keep the class on track withlesson plans for the analysis. Stephen Covey says, "Startwith the end in mind." That is exactly what we did. Wedecided we would end up with a departmental website.

We made learning fun. We started with the school'smission statement to be sure we considered the missionand students first. Interviews were conducted with thecollege's webmaster, teachers in the department,employers of our students, and previous students.Thank-you letters were written. Pictures were taken,and data flow diagrams were drawn. A decision treewas prepared. The results of 20 surveys from two areahigh schools were entered into the computer, tallied,graphed, and charted to demonstrate the needs ofprospective students. Teams of two worked on theprogramming, much of which had to be done outside ofclass. The webmaster for the college came to class andanswered questions about the programming. When wefinished, we had quite an impressive packet ofinformation, and we had a website.

My job as the teacher was to explain the analysistechniques and to guide the process. Every day wecovered work done outside class. The students had togive up ownership of each task in order to assumeownership of the whole project. Then we decided whatwas next and made plans for that part of the project. Thediscussion on some days would take the entire classtime. On other days we would work on the computers.Almost every student gave 100 percent. The project wassuccessful because the students wanted to learn andcreate, and most of all to be an important part of theproject.

In past semesters we had analyzed a payroll project,and the last time I taught the class we worked oncreating this website using HTML. This semester theclass has decided to make a club page for the same siteand to enhance the original work. I cannot wait to seeideas the students bring to class in the future.

When students feel creative and take pride in "their

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (MOD) ° Community College Leadership Program


21

work," they get excited. When they get excited, theybecome proactive; they want to learn.

Check out the site at www.icc.cc.ms.us. Then click onprograms, two-year technical, and computerinformation systems technology to see our work.

Gayle Hillhouse, Instructor, Computer InformationSystems Technology

For further information, contact the author at ItawambaCommunity College, Tupelo Branch, 2176 South EasonBoulevard, Tupelo, MS 38804.e-mail: [email protected]

00 NDONG" KUW SYLUN

I do my best thinking on walks along a tree-linedcanal path near my suburban home, so when I recentlyneeded to create two new syllabi, I decided to look forthem along the canal.

At first I was obsessed with content. What materialshould I cover? How would I cover it? How much was Igoing to have to read and study? What expertise did Ihave? I even imagined myself delivering long lectures,something I had not done in more than a decade!

Material with which I was not thoroughly comfort-able and familiar made me as panic-stricken as arookie! I could only imagine myself wrestling with theoverwhelming tangle of steel cable content whilestudents stared uncomprehendingly. I imagined Iwould have to untangle it by myself, and I would haveto use the heavy steel rope to weave all those hours andhours of class into a course!

A simple question broke my obsessive circle of panic:How could I free myself from the overwhelmingresponsibility for all that material and all those hours? Iadmit it was a coward's question, but it led to the next:Who else can take the responsibility?

The answer, of course, was obvious: students. Whatcould students do? This question opened the way forreal thinking and planningeven inspiration. Itmarked the real beginning of the syllabi-creationprocess and led me to ask the most important andproductive questions about objectives and purposes:

What activities and assignments could I transferfrom other classes I'd taught?What methods and techniques could I recycle?What assumptions and themes were translatable?

Before I could answer these questions, however, Ihad to ask others that were even more essential:

What do I want students to learn?What do they have to do to learn it?How will I support their learning?How will each of us (teacher and learner) knowthat learning is occurring?How will we know the learning has been accom-plished?Who will answer these questions? When? How?

These were the syllabi-creating questions! Theyenabled me to develop both new syllabi with an easethat made them seem "found" instead of developed.

I finished my walk and celebrated my readiness bymaking notes for this article in my teaching journal, thesecond best place for me to think. The syllabi nearlywrote themselves.

Wayne Gilbert, Instructor, Humanities and Fine Arts

For further information contact the author at Commu-nity College of Aurora, 16000 East Centretech Parkway,Aurora, CO 80011-9036.





Innovation Abstracts (ISSN 0199-106X) is published weekly following the fall and spring terms ofthe academic calendar, except Thanksgiving week, by the National Institute for Staff and Organiza-tional Development (NISOD), Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, SZB348,..,Austin, Texas 78712-1293, (512) 471-7545. Periodicals Postage Paid at Austin, Texas.POSTWSTER: Send address changes to Innovation Abstracts, The University of Texas at Austin,SZB 348, Abstin, TX 78712-1293. Email: [email protected]


arson INNOVATION

Published by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) o College of Education The University of Texas at Austin

PUBL IC SHAMING AD T1POWll OF PHSONALNAHATI1V

When books like I'd Rather Die Than Give a Speech arecommon fare in the marketplace, it's not difficult tounderstand the daunting challenges speech instructorsface. Not only do instructors have to give students thetools to walk through their fear of speaking, but mustteach students how to tap into and express their indi-vidual voices in a reasoned, rational, and passionatemanner. We are increasingly challenged to inspirestudents to understand the benefits of public speakingas an important life skill.

How can we help students move beyond their fearand become enthusiastic about public speaking? Part ofthe answer may be the use of personal narrative. Thepower of the personal narrative is not news to speechinstructors. Everyone has heard student speakers whogive speeches driven only by personal narrative. Theseare students who refuse to research their topic. Studentaudiences love these speakers until they learn moreabout the specifics of giving good speeches. Then, thestudent who relies only on personal narrative becomesthe center of the best constructive criticism. Duringfeedback sessions, he or she is hard-pressed to answerthe questions, "Who is your source?" and "Where didyou get your information?"

Yet, it is not news to speech instructors that personalnarrative accomplishes at least three important taskswhen incorporated into speeches: establishes commonground with the audience; helps create a sense ofgoodwill, which is an important aspect of credibility;and helps keep the attention of the audience.

From discussions with other instructors and studentfeedback, some of us came to believe that personalnarrative, especially biography, could be an agenda foroutside speakers in the classroom. Thus, the pilotprogram of the Community College of Denver SpeakerSeries was born. The three series speakers in fall 1997were given a simple task: Show the audience how

public speaking helped launch your career.The first speaker was Jeanne Faatz, the Assistant

Majority Leader to the Colorado Legislature and collegeprofessor who teaches communications at MetropolitanState College. She was able to incorporate many of theconcepts she taught in her beginning speech classes intoher speech. She spoke of her beginnings as "a shy, wide-eyed, young girl," and used the acronym "SMART" todelineate the five main points of her speech"S" fortransferable skills, working her way to "T" for criticalthinking. Jeanne also incorporated oral cites in herspeech and received high scores on her presentation.

The second speaker was Dani Newsome, televisionand radio host, and former civil rights attorney. Shetalked about her early days in court and how publicspeaking skills helped her through tough times in frontof judges. Because she was a civil rights attorney, shenever had to speak to a jury, but rather to judges. Shestood behind a podium equipped with a traffic light.When the light turned green, she could present her case.When the light turned red, she had to stop talking. Thejudges often sat above the attorney, so Dani addressedthe intimidation this situation could create for a speaker.She spoke about speech anxiety; and although herspeech was not as structured as the first, the studentsgave her high scores on the same standard evaluation.Students were most impressed with her ability to soundconfident and comfortableeven though she admittedat the end of her speech that she had been nervous.When asked how she managed to appear so confident,she said, "Be prepared and fake it, 'til you make it."

The largest turnout was for Heather McNeil, story-teller, author of two books on storytelling, and librarian.She opened her speech with a story that got the audi-ence focused on taking risks. This was a great segue toaddressing speech anxiety, because she then talkedabout her worst experiences on stage. She addressedaspects of delivery such as body language, dealing withhostile members of the audience, eye contact, and visualaids; and she closed her speech with another story.

Her speech was impromptu, but she pursued thestated goal. She had had training in theater and voice,and this speech was more entertaining than the others.



2

One particular comment about "looking at foreheads"instead of making eye contact was challenged by theinstructors, but discussing this aspect of deliverycreated more interaction. The students and faculty gaveher generally high marks on the standard evaluation.

The series would be considered a success if 60% ofthe students who were enrolled in beginning speechclasses at CCD attended the speeches. Of the 415students enrolled, only 73 attended (22.9%). Thereseemed to be two reasons for this low number: thespeaker who had the largest audience spoke in theevening, and speakers during the day were in competi-tion with others on campus; a calendar of all the speak-ers on campus for the semester had been distributed toall instructors and included serious competition.

CHANMINIG CHANNELS

Ray was coming my way, and a feeling of dreadspread through me. For two days, he had been comingto the tutoring lab in search of the key that would crackthe code to understanding set theory. After a fewquestions, I realized he didn't understand basic con-cepts, and I was failing at explaining them. I changedchannels and personalized the problem.

"Ray, you have a job, don't you?" He did a double-take but answered anyway.

"Sure.""Well, what do you do?""I do some filing and run errands." He started talking

about sales, production, and the company's structurewhen I broke in:

"Let's go back to this problem we were doing, andwe'll pretend it represents your company. Let's see now,here's set A. Those are the people who do sales. There'llbe 20 of them. Set B will represent the people on the linewho make the stuff. There're 35 of them. This areawhere the circles overlap will represent those peoplewho do both sales and production. There must be a fewpeople like that?"

"Yeah." he responded."Let's say there're 5 workers in this group. Now the

group on the outside will be all the people who workthere but aren't salespeople or line workers. That's thesupport staff like you and the bosses."

"There's the maintenance people too," he added."Yeah, let's say there're 40 people in that group. Now

how many people are in A?"He answered correctly and continued answering

correctly as we went through the next few questions inthe text. I noticed a smile spreading over his face as the

The series was a success in pushing students outsidethe classroom to evaluate speakers, and student reten-tion improved! Personal narrative as a rhetorical deviceis perceived in a whole new way because of the series.All in all, it was a great learning experience.

Mary S. Baker, Instructor, SpeechClare S. Lewis, Administrative Assistant, Teaching/Learning Center

For further information, contact the author at Commu-nity College of Denver, Arts and Humanities Depart-ment, 1111 West Colfax, Denver, CO 80204. e-mail:[email protected]

answers started coming faster and faster."What about this one?" I said, pointing to B'."Oh that's easy," he answered, as he tallied up the

sales people and support staff." A « B?" I asked."No problem. You mean once I understand this then I

can do probabilities, too?""Well, let's see. What's P(A)?""That's simple," and he calculated P(A). Calculating

P(A«B) and P(A«B') quickly followed. Now the onlyproblem I had was keeping up with Ray as he racedthrough problem after problem. His excitement and joywere contagious, and soon we were cheering everyanswer, checking to see if the book was "right."

Learning had happened, and I was part of it. It was afun learning experience that reminded me of a line froma recent play: "Insanity is doing the same thing over andover and expecting different results." Many of usdevelop our teaching methods and then expect them towork for every student. Sometimes we need to changechannels and try something different.

Ted Rachofsky, Instructor, Mathematics

For further information, contact the author at AustinCommunity College, 5930 Middle Fiskville Road,Austin, TX 78752. e-mail: [email protected]





Innovation Abstracts (ISSN 0199-106X) is published weekly following the fall and spring terms ofthe academic calendar, except Thanksgiving week, by the National Institute for Staff and Organiza-tional Development (NISOD), Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, SZB348, Austin, Texas 78712-1293, (512) 471-7545. Periodicals Postage Paid at Austin, Texas.POSTMASTERt:Send address changes to Innovation Abstracts, The University of Texas at Austin,SZB 348, Augtii0X78712-1293. Email: [email protected]


MOD INNOVATIONas_


A UST-SEMESTER UARMINGCOMMUNn FOR ADM WOMEN

As in so many other community colleges, adults havebecome a growing segment of our student population.Half of the students at Moraine Valley are over 25, andalmost 60 percent of these are women. They frequentlycome to the college experience with a host of concernsand worries: memories of negative high school experi-ences, rusty academic skills, low self-esteem andconfidence; they have fears of blending into a campuswith traditional age students, juggling their multipleroles, and balancing their incredibly demanding andbusy lives. Typically, re-entry students initially enroll fora part-time program. This often means registration bytouch-tone phone or on the Internet (convenient, butwith little access to more than the most perfunctoryinformation); they don't have to see a counselor or takeplacement tests (unless they are registering for a math orintroductory writing course); they can even choose tobypass orientation sessions.

In my almost 30 years of teaching at the college, Ihave found that many of these adult students have notassessed their skills, thought through an educationalplan, or have information about the many resources andsupport services offered by the college. Almost 70% ofour classes are taught by part-time adjuncts, so manystudents may not have contact with an instructor whoadvises or mentors.

The Returning Woman's Program is one response tothese barriers to success. Re-entry students spend threemornings (or two evenings) together taking a block ofcourseswriting, reading, sociology, and collegesuccess. Writing skills learned in communications can bepracticed in sociology papers, or in college successjournal writing. College success teaches study skills,explores individual learning styles and preferences,tackles the common problem of test anxiety, and encour-ages development of time management skills.

Study groups are formed early in the semester. Eachwoman has the opportunity to share her writing, studyfor exams, discuss problems in any of the courses, and

develop new ideas for learning in a smaller sub-group.One objective is to help students develop a self-aware-ness of the learning process and transfer these insightsinto other courses. In addition to working on skills foracademic success, attention and discussion are devotedto personal issues. Many re-entry women are dealingwith important life transitions, divorce, abusive relation-ships, economic hardships, and job decisions. Talkingwith a supportive group has been critical to theirsurvival in the college setting.

The instructor of the success course is a trainedcounselor who requires each student to have twopersonal counseling sessions during the semester; mostcome back for more. Support services are built into theprogram, including educational goal setting, careerplanning and development; tutoring services; a childcare center for pre-school age children. By the end oftheir semester in the program, students are aware of therange of support services available and have learned tonegotiate the college's bureaucracy. The faculty in theprogram are all strongly committed to the needs andaspirations of adult women students. They respect theauthority of their experience, acknowledge the manydemands of their complicated lives, and attempt toconnect the curriculum to personal issues. Collaborationbetween program faculty and student developmentpersonnel, complementary curricular experiences, and astrong support system among the students are centralcomponents to the success of this first-year experience.

Two longitudinal studies of program participantsfound that the retention and graduation rates of thesestudents far surpass those of more traditional students.For example, 78 to 90 percent of the students attendingbetween 1989 and 1993 registered for classes the semes-ter following their enrollment in the program. Theretention rate for all students during the same timeranged between 51 and 64 percent.

Over 1000 women have completed the program.Anecdotal reports, comments from the women, and in-depth interviews conducted for an ethnographic studyconfirm that this learning community is a successfulstart for their college experience. For many women, it isa life-changing, transformative experience, as well.



25

The development of a cohort group, a personalizedlearning community with intensive academic and socialsupports, can be effective with other students, too.While traditional-age students have somewhat differentneeds and issues, they too are dealing with personalbarriers to college success such as motivational prob-lems, poor academic skills, a lack of coherence in theireducational goals. Their entry experience at college canbe just as fragmented; many of my students have neverseen a counselor, thought hard about what they need todo to succeed, or understand the connections betweentheir various courses. Like many other communitycolleges, Moraine Valley now has plans to require aneight-week college success course for all entering

OEM MEIM Now

7ATION: 711, 1FU-URE

Broward Community College is committed to thedevelopment of the total student. Many of our studentsare not only first-generation in college, but also first-generation in the United States. They often arrive under-prepared in basic skills. It is our philosophy that acomprehensive orientation program can disseminatecritical information, promote self-sufficiency, and easethe transition into collegethereby increasing studentsuccess and retention. Most of our students participatein a four-hour new student advisement and registrationsession on campus. However, those unable to attend thecampus session must be welcomed, too.

BCC has responded to this need by providing infor-mation and a variety of services over the World WideWeb, via Cyber-Orientation, an orientation programwhich may be accessed 24 hours a day. Cyber-Orienta-tion acts as a substitute and/or supplement to our on-site program. The information it provides is relevant toall students: programs of study, the college catalogue,what to expect in class, appropriate classroom behaviorand decorum, academic standards of progress, balanc-ing school with work and family, course load, supportservices, course scheduling, and self-registering usingcampus computers or phones.

Students may choose native or non-native Englishspeakers to review test scores and determine propercourse placement. Students access specific degreerequirements and other information pertaining to thedegree or major they are seeking. The program culmi-nates with a twenty-question quiz to assess eachstudent's grasp of the information. New students,

students. While this is a good beginning to addressingthese issues, the learning community model, as devel-oped in the Returning Woman's Program, has the addedadvantage of combining college success skills withacademic courses that are managed by a collaborativeteam of faculty members who provide ongoing personaldiscussion and support.

Diane Horwitz, Professor, Sociology

For further information, contact the author at MoraineValley Community College, 10900 S. 88th Avenue, PalosHills, IL 60465. e-mail: [email protected]

distance learners, and returning students all benefitfrom this program initiative.

Since on-site and Cyber-Orientation have beenimplemented, faculty and staff have observed thatstudents are better prepared for the first day of class andtheir college experience. Attendance at workshops andutilization of support services such as tutoring andmentoring have increased 140%. Disciplinary referralshave decreased by 20%. Waiting times for advisementservices during peak registration periods have beenreduced by 25%. Students appear to have a betterunderstanding of degree requirements and are morelikely and able to self-advise. They are taking a greaterinterest in and more responsibility for their own aca-demic choices, progress, and performance. Conse-quently, we expect they will experience greater success.

Peter Barbatis, Dean of Student AffairsEric Ackerman, ProfessorRobert Bullard, Senior AdvisorMichael Tenenbaum, Senior Advisor

For further information, contact the authors at BrowardCommunity College, North Campus, 1000 CoconutCreek Boulevard, Coconut Creek, FL 33066.e-mail: pbarbati @broward.cc.fl.uswebsite: http:/ /terra.broward.cc.fl.us/north/advise


April 7, 2000, Vol. XXII, No. 11©The University of Texas at Austin, 2000



Innovation Abstracts (ISSN 0199-106X) is published weekly following the fall and spring terms ofthe academic calendar, except Thanksgiving week, by the National Institute for Staff and Organiza-tional Development (NISOD), Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, SZB348, Austin, Texas 78712-1293, (5121 471-7545. Periodicals Postage Paid at Austin, Texas.POSTMASTER: Send Oditss changes to Innovation Abstracts, The University of Texas at Austin,SZB 348, Austin, Email: [email protected]

V©ktme ;OM, Number 12

Published by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (lllSOD) o College of Education o The University of Texas at Austin

POW-WOW OPPOWRifiNG

RIUMITHS FOR

While journal writing has become a staple of Englishcomposition courses, traditional journal writing can beredundant and boring. A modification to journal writingwe call POW-WOW, an acronym for "Practice OurWritingWrite on Whatever," can help studentsapproach writing in a unique way.

By definition, a pow-wow is an American Indiansocial gathering. Dancing and socializing offer time forsharing lives and practicing traditions. POW-WOW incomposition class allows students time to write aboutwhat is going on in their lives, reflect on their writingand thinking, and practice their composition skills. It isa special unstructured time (the first 10 minutes of class)for students to compose at their computers.

My students write more now. E-mail and chat roomshave increased opportunities to write friends and theinstructors. They can ask questions of their instructorswithout risking peer judgments, and often preface theirquestions with, "I know this might be a dumb question,but...".

On occasion, outside events interfere with students'concentration in class. When students write about whatis on their minds, they sometimes get beyond theirconcerns and are more willing to concentrate on classactivities. One student commented: "POW-WOWprovides a good transition between talking to myfriends and getting into the learning mode for class."Some say POW-WOW time is a good outlet for stress,that participation in POW-WOW relaxes them. Onestudent likes to participate in POW-WOW because henever had the chance to "just write about stuff" that is inhis head. Plus, students have observed that POW-WOWprovides an opportunity to formulate other points ofview about an idea or activity instead of just talking tosomeone else about it.

POW-WOW provides opportunities for instructors totake attendance and return papers while students arewriting. Instructors can observe students' composing

processes in a casual and nonthreatening way and readwhat they are writing.

Composition instructors know that most students donot seize many opportunities to write or take time torevise their writing. However, composing for 10 minutesat the beginning of each class provides time to write andthink, work out topics, generate ideas, and define thestructure of assigned papers. It is a time when grammar,spelling, and mechanics take a back seat, and studentscan work solely on the message in their papers.

Instructors can get some additional help in identify-ing individual writing styles during POW-WOWsessions. Becoming more aware of students' uniquecomposing characteristics c-an alert instructors to anyattempts they might make to plagiarize the work ofothers.

POW-WOW increases student motivation and on-task work. Students often come early and begin to write,enjoying the opportunity to personalize the structure,topic, and style of their writing. Implementing POW-WOW time as a regular activity at the beginning of classimmediately engages students in composing activitiesand sets the instructional tone.

Stephanie Gaddy, Instructor, English

For further information, contact the author at LincolnCollege, 300 Keokuk, Lincoln, IL 62656.e-mail: [email protected]



DONMONS FOR IC UOMEMS

While trying to teach our Social Service Technologystudents about the homeless people in our community,it occurred to me this was an excellent opportunity tohelp develop their sense of caring for others. In additionto what was being learned in the classroom, studentscould respond to some community needs. I decided toinvolve students in a service learning project collectingpersonal items, hats, gloves, scarves, coats, toys, andcanned goods for individuals in homeless shelters.

Committees were formed during class time. Onecommittee made posters and signs announcing theproject and inviting everyone in the college (administra-tors, support staff, faculty and other students) to partici-pate. Another coordinated the collection. Yet anotherwas responsible for obtaining the collection boxes andplacing them throughout the college, collecting itemsfrom the boxes, and placing everything in storage untiltime for delivery. A transportation committee arrangedfor trucks and vans to transport the boxes and bags tothe homeless shelter. Another contacted the college andthe city newspapers about this worthy project beingcarried out by college students.

Feedback was solicited from the students, and theproject was critiqued for necessary refinements. Then,after all exams were taken, the students loaded trucks,vans, and cars and transported the many boxes andcontainers to the shelters.

Over the years, this service learning project hascontinued to be an overwhelming success. Many timesstudents have held bake sales to raise extra money fordonations, and they have collected items from theirplaces of employment, family members, and neighbors.

Community agencies currently receiving donationsare three homeless shelters (one founded and operatedby one of our graduates) and a battered women'sshelter. These agencies work in partnership with theUniversity of Toledo to provide training for our studentsthrough a Social Service Technology internship class.Many of our students also volunteer at these sameagencies, and many are able to secure employment thereafter they graduate.

This service learning project has evolved into aworking partnership between the University of Toledoand community agencies, and all benefit. The needybenefit through the hard work and generous donationsof the students. The students benefit by developing intomore caring, compassionate professionals and beinginvolved with key community agencies as part of theirservice learning projects. The agencies benefit from thedonations that help to lighten their operating costs. And

the Social Service Technology Program and the Univer-sity of Toledo benefit as these agencies partner with usin helping train our students.

Janice E. Carson, Assistant Professor, Health and HumanServices

For further information, contact the author at theUniversity of Toledo, Scott Park Campus, 2801 Bancroft,Toledo, OH 43606. e-mail: [email protected]





Innovation Abstracts (ISSN 0199-106X) is published weekly following the fall and spring terms ofthe academic calendar, except Thanksgiving week, by the National Institute for Staff and Organiza-tional Development.' Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, SZB348, Austin, Texav:i7-8712-1293, (512) 471-7545. Periodicals Postage Paid at Austin, Texas.POSTMASTER: Serid address changes to Innovation Abstracts, The University of Texas at Austin,SZB 348, Austin, TX 78712-1293. Email: [email protected]

VoDume X20, Number 113

N /SOD iNiNv4,,GPublished by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) College of Education 0 The University of Texas at Austin

2E EINICNIG A SCIENTIMICASSTGNMENT

Early in my career as an eager young college instruc-tor, I wanted to diversify the experience of learninghuman physiology. So I sent my students to the libraryto report on the latest scientific findings in our field ofstudy. Since I perceived this to be a conventional colle-giate activity, I thought very little of discussing specificparameters or expectations and merely emphasized thedue date of the assignment.

The resulting papers not only represented the ex-pected diversity of composition quality, but lackedconformity in format and content style. The gradingprocess was difficult, but I diligently undertook it tomake constructive comments on ways to improvestudent writing. I concluded the assignment was tootime-consuming on my part and promptly beganconsidering alternatives.

However, upon returning the research papers, I wasdumbstruck as one student announced that my assign-ment forced him to break his record of never havingbeen in the campus library. And yet another student,hands on her hips, loudly proclaimed: "You can't grade-me-down for 'incorrect spelling' and 'poor sentencestructure'; scientists DON'T DO English!" Hence, myscientific journal abstract assignment was born, orreborn, in earnest.

Communication is the key! I have found the studentsneed to be given clear guidance. And although somestudents may feel constrained by the rigid parameters ofthis assignment, many more welcome specific direc-tions.

Collect and read three research articles that emphasizethe topic of human physiology from three differentscientific journals available from the library from thefollowing list:The American Journal of Sports MedicineArchives of Physical Medicine and RehabilitationJournal of Orthopedic and Sports Physical TherapyThe Lancet

The New England Journal of MedicineScienceOnly select journal issues published since the monthof (month the last abstracts were due).Please allow the instructor the opportunity to approveyour article selections.Write your abstract as a comprehensive, objectivesummary of the scientific study; including who didthe study, the purpose of the study, the method of thestudy, details about the subject population, statisticalresults, and the researcher's conclusions.The abstract should be written in the past tense usingthe third person (don't use "I" or make references toyourself or your beliefs).Quotations should be limited and even avoided.Use careful attention to keep mechanical errors(spelling, grammatical, and punctuation errors) to aminimum as they will be considered in the overallgrade in addition to the actual content of the abstract.An abstract will not be accepted if any portion of thecontent is plagiarized.Each heading must include the student's full name,course title, and the journal referenced in APA style.Each abstract must be stapled to a photocopy of theentire original article.Each abstract must be presented separately, each on an8.5" x 11" sheet of paper.Each abstract's length is limited to one side of onepage.Each abstract must be typed. (Use of the computer isencouraged.)Please do not present the assignment in a folder orbinder.The entire assignment is due no later than (2 weeksbefore midterm).

The RasiondeBy utilizing current scientific journals, I am able to

expose my students to the most current research thathas not yet found its way into the textbooks or that, in afew rare cases, has actually nullified an accepted tenantof human physiology. More often than not, I hope theassignment simply will begin to demystify the scientific



29

process for students and allow them to see how scien-tific research rarely ever proves anything beyond ashadow of a doubt.

Since professional journals exist for most every fieldimaginable, I would presume this assignment could bemodified to fit most any field of study. With some minormodification, it could be tailored for either the second-ary level or the advanced pre-professional student.

I am careful to specify the titles and publication datesof the scientific journals that may be used for theassignment. This allows me the realistic opportunity toread ahead and be prepared for the students' interpreta-tions. Then by limiting the issues to those that have beenpublished since the last scientific abstract assignmentwas due, I can preclude the temptation of a studentsubmitting a graded assignment from a previoussemester.

I encourage students to bring photocopies of theirselected articles to my office for approval. Primarily, Isee this as an opportunity to get better acquainted withmy students. I can then access each individual's under-standing of the assignment and ensure each is gettingoff on the right foot by having selected articles that fitthe assignment parameters. Additionally, the photocopyof the article that is later submitted with the scientificjournal abstract allows me to search for and proveinstances of plagiarism in a judicious manner. Con-versely, on occasion the photocopy has actually exoner-ated a student I suspected of plagiarizing, but could notfind evidence to substantiate my claim.

Most college students have had more experiencewriting personal narratives, comparison/contrast,argumentative, and essay style papers than they havewriting technical objective summaries. Hence, thisassignment offers a valid venue outside of the tradi-tional English classroom to develop this writing tech-nique. And although I do not profess to be an Englishinstructor or even attempt to teach the nuances of thefield, I do evaluate the use of proper spelling, grammar,and punctuation!

I ask my students to document their references usingAPA style, principally for the sake of requiring them tostep out of their established MLA style high schoolcomfort zone and to follow the guidelines of yet anotherwidely accepted method of reference documentation.

The stringent format requirements compel thestudent to adhere to brevity and conformity whenwriting their scientific journal abstract. Most wouldagree that the task of writing succinctly often requiresmore thought and organization than simply allowingthe pen to flow. The issue of format conformity allowsgrading to be a bit more of a uniform process. The duedate of the assignment is generally two weeks before

midterm, thus allowing me plenty of time to grade andinclude them on the midterm progress report.

After the abstracts have been graded and returned, Iask each student to give an informal 3-5 minute oralpresentation about one of their abstracts. Initially, thiswas an opportunity for public speaking outside of atraditional speech class, but it has evolved into a type ofjournal club group activity. Sometimes, the studentshave criticized the design of a study and questioned theconclusions of the researchers. Many thought-provokingclass discussions and even a few impassioned personalstands have ensued. Empowered students who possessthe ability to think critically are a positive yet immeasur-able outcome of this assignment as well.

Each year the editor of our campus publication, TheColby Community College Collection, selects three or fourhigh-quality scientific journal abstracts that my studentshave written and I have submitted for the "WritingAcross the Curriculum" section. Consequently, theassignment affords students the opportunity and honorof being published.

The scientific journal abstract assignment has becomea work-in-progress for me. Generally, I find myselftweaking the rubric here and there to increase the clarityof the assignment, enhance the opportunity for learning,or prevent plagiarism and other types of academicdishonesty. Overall, it represents my continuing effort toincorporate a multitude of disciplines in the classroomand my firm belief that true learning is a synthesis ofour total educational experience.

As we find ourselves inside the threshold of a newmillennium with the information highway electronicallywhisking us all along, I have found myself clinging evermore tightly to the library. Throughout history, scholarsfrom all disciplines have found great academic inspira-tion and solace while working amid book-lined nooks ofthe library and breathing its vaguely musty aromas. Asinstructors we owe it to today's young scholars not onlyto guide them through the Internet's maze of wondersbut reintroduce them to the library and the art ofintegrating academic disciplines into a cohesive educa-tional experience.

Tricia A. Reichert, Instructor, Human Anatomy andPhysiology

For further information, contact the author at ColbyCommunity College, 1255 South Range, Colby, Kansas67701. e-mail: [email protected]





Innovation Abstracts (ISSN 0199-106X) is published weekly following the fall and spring terms ofthe academic calendar, except Thanksgiving week, by the National Institute for Staff and Organiza-tional Development (NISOD), Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, SZB348, Austin, Texas 78712-1293, (5121 471-7545. Periodicals Postage Paid at Austin, Texas.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Innovation Abstracts, The University of Texas at Austin,SZB 348, Austin, TX 78712-1293. Email: [email protected]

11)



SHORTENING TFIE MrANCE TOSUCCESS N DoLoGy

In an effort to shorten the distance between studentand instructor, I have implemented a new strategy thatmay be of interest to others. In the past, following thefirst major test, I would post the grades and ask stu-dents to come by my office if they wanted to look attheir test papers. I would make the common remarksthat if some of the students didn't start studying, theywere going to be left behind. So much for the pep talk.Very few students ever came by my office to look overtheir tests. I began to realize that I had to be moreassertive in my efforts to instill a bit more concern forlearning into the minds of my students.

So now, after the first and second tests, I post gradesas usual, with the following exceptions. Alongside theID numbers of students making an A, B, or F on the firsttest, I write "see Mr. Lay," instead of a score or grade. Ialso place a sign-up sheet on my office door wherestudents can schedule appointments to see me over thenext few days.

When a student who has made an F on the test comesin, I find his paper, give him a key to the test, let him seewhat he missed and ask questions if he wishes. I alsotalk about the amount and type of study that arenecessary to do well in this course. I try not to be toonegative after the first test and usually let the studentknow that turning things around right now is criticalpassing the course is still possible.

But I do not stop there. I have often felt that while weusually criticize those who do poorly, we do not alwayspraise those who have done well. So the studentsmaking A's and B's must come to my office to get theirfirst test grades, also. I give them their test papers andanswer keys for checking their responses. I then explainthat the main reason for calling them to my office is tothank them for their diligent work and congratulatethem on making a good grade on the first test. Some-times, the student is surprised. I've had students tell methat they thought they must be in trouble. I've also had

them tell me that they had never had a teacher thankthem for doing well.

I continue the same procedure for the second unit testwith the following exception; only students making A'sand F's are asked to come by. This time, I counselstudents making an F as I did after the first testunlessthey are "second timers." Then, I look at all of theirgrades, including lab, and give them an idea of theiroverall average and what will be required for theremainder of the semester in order to pass or make anacceptable final grade. I ask about study habits, workschedules, and extracurricular activities, then discussoptionse.g., dropping the class and trying again later.Scholarships and financial aid may complicate theseoptions. How about a tutor? We have tutors availablethrough Phi Theta Kappa. Is there participation in astudy group? I customarily divide my classes intostudy groups.

Students making A's are thanked again for their goodwork.

We are concerned about students' welfare and reallycare that they succeed. But, we must do more than justsay, "I care."

William E. Lay, Chairman, Natural Sciences

For further information, contact the author at ItawambaCommunity College, 602 West Hill Street, Fulton, MS38843. e-mail: [email protected]



C r

31

TEES UALLY OAAEO3 ANT?

"Is this important?" "Is this going to be on the test?""I missed a daydid we do anything important?"

These questions are disliked by teachers everywhere.One of my son's teachers had these and seven otherquestions listed on a wall poster, labeled "Don't EvenAsk These." But I had to wonder what students werereally wanting to know when they ask these questionsand why we respond in such a negative manner.

Perhaps all students are asking is for prioritization ofthe information we have presented. Teachers may haveprejudiced the way that the students ask. They mayhave used "it will be on the test" to provide a crudeform of prioritization of the information presented inclass and texta faulty method. What students reallywant to ask is more likely "how important is the infor-mation you gave just now compared to the otherinformation layered in text, lecture, or other sources?"Of course, students may not feel empowered to ask thisway, or know how to ask; so perhaps the more acceptedapproach is the "test" question.

Our response, unfortunately, is also preconditioned.We are angered or irritated that they are talking us intodoing some of their critical thinking for them. Theprecedent to analysis would be prioritization of infor-mation, and they want a shortcut.

Should we be angered or irritated? I suggest thatwhile this might be a natural response, another mightstimulate more learning. After all, in introductorycourses, particularly in general education classes such asthe ones I teach in history and government, some eventsand ideas truly are of more importance than others.

Someone applying for a job who does not know theparticulars of the Jacksonian Bank Controversy is notconsidered uneducated. However, someone who cannotarticulate the significance of the attack on Pearl Harboris considered uneducated, even if he passed all of therequired history courses. Those of us with multipledegrees recognize the_ importance of prioritizationimplicitly. So why do we bow our necks at students whoseek it?

I think we may see these questions as a threat to ourposition. Who among us has not wanted to say, "Ofcourse, if I said it, it's importantam I just flapping myjaws up here?" To respond from an authority position,however, misses the point, and may miss the questionsreally being asked. After all, in an hour-and-a-halflecture, did you say at least one thing that was lessimportant than the rest? Do you really put everything onthe test? Perhaps the best way to turn these questionsinto a profitable education experience is to direct

questioning responses back to the student.When asked, "Will this be on the test?" we could

ask, "Should it be?" The prioritization effort could drivethe class toward consensus.

If asked, "Did we do anything important in theclass I missed?" we should ask the class at the beginningof the next class period. Prioritization could be soughtfrom the whole class, asking just how important theinformation presented was to those who were present.Of course, care should be taken to avoid embarrassingthe student asking the question.

Of course, the instructor should structure the consen-sus-achieving mechanism so as to fit the lecture andgoals of the course; but a lively debate, even an unin-formed debate, can be used to enlighten.

Finally, I discuss the idea of prioritization with theclass. I am surprised when students demonstrate alimited knowledge of this concept, but they typicallyneed a name to attach to what they are attempting to doand are grateful for guidance. They want to know that itis acceptable to believe that some things are moreimportant than others. It gives them some freedom toset their own priorities about information they gather intheir classes and their texts.

William W. Gorden, Instructor, Arts and Sciences

For further information, contact the author at RedlandsCommunity College, 1300 S. Country Club Road, ElReno, OK 73036. e-mail: [email protected]


April 28, 2000, Vol. )0(11, No. 14©The University of Texas at Austin, 2000



Innovation Abstracts (ISSN 0199-106X1 is published weekly following the fall and spring terms ofthe academic calendar, except Thanksgiving week, by the National Institute for Staff and Organiza-tional Development (NISOD), Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, SZB348, Austin, Texas 78712-1293, (5121 471-7545. Periodicals Postage Paid at Austin; Texas.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Innovation Abstracts, The University of Texas at Austin,SZB 348, Austin, TX 7871.-2:193. Email: [email protected]


N/SOD INNOVATIONPublished by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) o College of Education o The University of Texas at Austin

LEARNEIG STYLES ACROSS THECOLLEGE

Respecting differences through learning styles hasbecome one of our greatest outcomes from investigatingand implementing the 4MAT Learning Styles System atthe Community College of Aurora. By law, communitycolleges in Colorado have an open-door policy. Thatmeans that we do not ask what a student's ACT or SATscore is, or even if that student completed high school;anyone over 16 can enroll in our classes.

Adults are generally not passive learners; they "votewith their feet." And if they do not learn, do not receiverespect, or do not find meaning in their classes, theysimply do not come back. Learning and using learningstyles theory has been a scientifically based, structuredprogram to help faculty, staff, and students learn aboutthemselves and others as learners, then put that knowl-edge into practice. At the end of a yearlong project onlearning styles, a science instructor wrote in his finalreport:

"Hearing the questions put forth by other students inmy classes or seeing others working on memorizingfacts while I struggled to understand concepts certainlyrevealed different learning styles. Since my own amal-gam of styles had proved so successful through myyears of learning, I suppose I felt that any other methodmust surely be inferior to my own. To speak with andperform exercises with the other learned professionalsin our group showed me that other styles cannot onlywork but work well. And if my colleagues do not dothings the same way I do, what of my students?"

Through learning styles workshops and ongoingsupport, our faculty have learned ways to honor theindividuals and meet the needs of a variety of learnersin their classes. We started with a three-day workshop inAugust 1993, which kicked off a yearlong project forabout 26 faculty. Our yearlong projects involve 18-20hours of workshops on a specific topic the first semester,then planning, implementation, peer coaching, evalua-tion, and final reports the second semester. We have

created wonderful successes with this change model inthe areas of ethics, critical thinking, writing across thecurriculum, diversity, study skills, and other topics. Buteven before the end of this project, we knew we allwanted to become more involved.

In August 1994, we followed up with four additionaldays of training. Near the end of this session, a coregroup brainstormed a one-and-one-half page, single-spaced list entitled "Learning StylesClassroom ActionPlan." Every item on this list, with the exception ofcontrolled studies in math classes, has been completedand expanded. A major change has been to move from aclassroom to a collegewide focus, including students,faculty, and staff.

Highlights of our accomplishments in the past fewyears include the following:

&Wen%In-house learning styles experts are available to

visit classes.Credit classes have been offered.CC Advocates and CC Ambassadors, student

leaders who receive credit for visiting high schoolsand conducting CCA tours, receive training inlearning styles and use it to plan their presenta-tions.

Our Learning Resource Center offers one-hourintroductory workshops in learning styles alongwith other student success topics about once asemester.

A one-credit class combining learning styles andBrain Gym® is offered to students with learningdisabilities.

After visiting a faculty workshop, our presidentrequired that everyone at the manager or above levelattend a four-hour session. A number of directors senttheir entire staff, including work study students, toattend learning styles sessions. A number of depart-ments have completed teambuilding sessions focusingon communication, problem solving, and customerservice based on learning styles.


Department of Educational Administration 0 College of Education, The University of Texas at Austin, SIB 348, Austin, Texas 78712-1293

33

FacukyLearning styles workshops for faculty have been

offered in four-hour, three-day, four-day, and five-day increments for novices through experts.

Follow-up workshops include Beyond Mid-Termsand Finals, Teaching Styles and Preferences,Learning Styles and Assessment, Learning Styles: ASecond Look Designing Courses with Style

A real change of compartmentalizing people: at onesession, we had a secretary, bus representative,accounts payable clerk, and three work studystudents in the same workshop with faculty. Atmost colleges this would be impossible!

A Friday Afternoon club meets about twice asemester for faculty to discuss their successes,problems, and questions about learning styles. Thisresulted from faculty demands at the end of ayearlong project that they have opportunities tofurther explore learning styles theory. It is a casualformat which allows faculty to set the agenda,rather than having a formal workshop.

Five faculty have written One Approach, a practicalbooklet providing information on implementinglearning styles at the college level. It is available onour website, cca.cccoes.edu/teachingforachange.

Four faculty have worked to create a basic guide toimplementing learning styles theory into distancecourses; this booklet is also available on ourwebsite, and both booklets are available for pur-chase.

CCA sponsors Teaching for a Change, an annualfaculty development conference. Prior to theconference each year, we offer an in-house workingsession to help CCA presenters employ learningstyles theory to create interactive, practical sessions.Some faculty request assistance in planning presen-tations at other conferences throughout the year.

At the Teaching for a Change conference, we haveoffered learning styles workshops andpreconference sessions with great results.

What's next? Faculty are interested in additionalexploration into assessment and learning styles as wellas continuing to offer workshops to newer faculty. Alearning styles quiz, suitable for students, faculty, andstaff, will be available soon on our website.

Throughout these activities, a major theme has beenthat learning styles are not designed to label people orput them into boxes. Rather, we have used learningstyles successfully to recognize, understand, honor, andeven enjoy their differences.

Diane Cheatwood, Faculty Development Specialist

For further information, contact the author at Commu-nity College of Aurora, 16000 East Centre Tech Parkway,Aurora, CO 80011-9036.e-mail: [email protected]


May 5, 2000 Vol. XXII, No. 15©The University of Texas at Austin, 2000Further duplication is permitted by MEMBER


Innovation Abstracts (ISSN 0199-106X) is published weekly following the fall and spring terms ofthe academic calendar, except Thanksgiving week, by the National Institute for Staff and Organiza-tional Development (NISOD), Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, SZB348, Austin, Texas 78712-1293, )512) 471-7545. Periodicals Postage Paid at Austin, Texas.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Innovation Abstracts, The University of Texas at Austin,SZB 348, Austin, TX 78712-1293. Email: [email protected]

341


N/300 INNOVATIONPublished by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) College of Education o The University of Texas at Austin

DUAL CUM TIANSAMON

Cedar Valley College's Automotive Career Technicianprogram has a solid history of success, but that did notstop us from shifting into a higher gear last summer. Aninvitation to conceptualize a way of offering this pro-gram to high school students from a southern indepen-dent school district in the Greater Dallas area met withopen arms and receptive minds. It required that werethink the traditional boundaries of both the dualcredit program, whereby high school students receiveconcurrent college credit for their classes, and theautomotive department. The result is a partnership thatredefines the scope of the technical/occupationalprograms in our district and their target populations.

The spark that ignited this partnership was a discus-sion between an instructional associate par excellence inour automotive program and a forward-looking admin-istrator at Wilmer-Hutchins High School. Wouldn't it begreat, went the musings, if the automotive shop at thecollege could be used to train high school students in askill that could keep them in school and help them getjobs?

The Propos& Baiting the HookThe details of the partnership were worked out

meticulously to accomplish multiple goals: to enticefavorable reaction from the high school principal anddistrict superintendent; to provide a cost analysis of theprogram; to establish a two-year curriculum for thestudents; to articulate responsibilities of both parties inthe partnership; and to establish a timeline for executingall stages of the agreement. A college team comprised ofthe director of high school programs, the dean ofbusiness, science, and technology, and all members ofthe automotive department put their heads together toanticipate costs, responsibilities, benefits, concerns, anda preliminary timeline.

Most critical to this proposal was a list of advantagesto the students themselves:

they would receive specialized advising andassistance;

they would gain an understanding of multiplecareer options;they would receive personalized instruction andhands-on learning;they would be part of a cohort learningcommunity during the entire program, workingtogether with other college students with similargoals and aspirations;they would take all courses on a college campuswhere they could interact with advanced studentscurrently working in the industry;they would receive a Level I Certificate withoptions for continuing work toward a Level IICertificate or an Associate's Degree, the latteravailable with three additional semesters of work;andthey would receive valuable work experience andjob placement services.

All costs for the program would be borne by theWilmer-Hutchins Independent School District and werecalculated based on the college's costs for facilities,supplies, equipment, textbooks, and tuition. The feewould be a lump sum for two classes of students with amaximum of 15 students per class. The proposal wasaccepted almost verbatim by the high school principal,superintendent, and board of trustees. The next stepwas the creation of a legal contract, hammered out bythe Dallas County Community College District legalcounsel.

The Contract: Deiineating ResponsibilitiesThe first year was considered a pilot for what could

become an expanded program the following year. Bothparties would evaluate the program after one year toassess its viability and cost-effectiveness. At that point,it would be renegotiated or renewed.

The high school would recommend students for theprogram; they would then be interviewed and eitheraccepted or rejected by the staff of our automotivedepartment. The staff was adamant that they have thelast word on individual acceptance, deeming it criticalto the success of the program. They would register



35

students and pay all fees, including tuition and text-books, with the funds provided by the school district.

An on-site reception and orientation would be heldfor the students and their families, attended by collegeadministration and faculty, and high school administra-tion and counselors. This evening event would intro-duce and welcome the students and garner supportfrom their families.

Each class would meet two hours a day, five days aweek, for 18 weeks. The high school would providetransportation for both classes of students to and fromCedar Valley College every afternoon for the duration ofthe courses. Cedar Valley would grant seven collegecredit hours per semester for the courses according tothe guidelines established for dual credit classes by theDallas County Community College District, TexasEducation Agency, and the Texas Higher EducationCoordinating Board. Wilmer-Hutchins would grant highschool credit for the classes, according to TEA andTHECB guidelines. Field experience, job shadowing,internships, and co-op experience were built into theprogram.

The Resuks: A Cooper Wive ExperienceDuring a pilot of one academic year, the program

operated like a well-tuned race car. Classes were hands-on from the start, involving equal parts classroom andshop work. Working as a cohort helped instill confi-dence and reinforce positive behavior. Older students atthe college served as peer mentors throughout theprogram, modeling important skills such as shopetiquette and customer service, and providing valuablerole models for the younger students.

Twelve seniors and 16 juniors were bused to ourcampus every day for 38 weeks. One student droppedout of the program, and the other 27 received Level 1certificates. Some qualified students began working atarea auto shops during the second semester of classes.Four students from the program were placed directly infull-time summer jobs, with salaries ranging from $175to $300 a week. Ten of the 12 graduating seniors fromthe program stayed at Cedar Valley and enrolled in theprogram full-time, working toward an AAS degree. Theother two went into the armed services. One junior highschool student has enrolled in the summer AAS pro-gram.

We absolutely beam over the success of the first-yearpilot and are revving up the shop engines in anticipa-tion of the second year's cohort. What was the biggestproblem during the entire year? The high school is on ablock schedule with alternating A and B days. Busingtwo classes roundtrip while keeping in sync with every-

other-day schedules of both institutions proved to be achallenge, but high school administrators respondedeffectively. The buses were a few minutes late onoccasion. That is a resounding success by any standard.

Chris Lusk, Instructor, Automotive Department

For further information, contact the author at CedarValley College, 3030 N. Dallas Ave., Lancaster TX 75134.e-mail: [email protected]


August 25, 2000, Vol. )0(11, No. 16




Innovation Abstracts (ISSN 0199-106X) is published weekly following the fall and spring terms ofthe academic calendar, except Thanksgiving week, by the National Institute for Staff and Organiza-tional Development (NISOD), Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, SZB348, Austin, Texas 78712-1293, (512) 471-7545. Periodicals Postage Paid at Austin, Texas.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Innovation Abstracts, The University of Texas at Austin,SZB 348, Awstin, TX 78712-1293. Email: [email protected]

7'436


/V/SOD INNOVATIONABSTRACTS

Published by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) a College of Education o The University of Texas at Austin

NEGOTIATING LONG-TERMLEARNONG AGREEMENTS

My students and I recently developed the "long-termlearning agreement," a mechanism for achieving severallearning goals. The course was public speaking, but thestrategy is applicable to other disciplines.

Long-term learning agreements are compacts be-tween faculty members and students which permitstudents to "borrow" grades and pay to keep them bycarrying out specified supplementary activities for anextended period after an academic term ends. Theseagreements can combat grade inflation, reinforcestudents' self-confidence, and allow instructors todiversify and individualize the learning experiences andpathways available to students. The cost of theseagreements is negligible, their applicability throughoutthe community college environment is broad, and theirdimensions can be designed by instructors to meet anylearning objectives they choose.

Nature o the AgreementsStudents who feel their performance does not mea-

sure up to their own expectations by the approach ofsemester's end may join their instructor in signing apledge to carry out certain supplementary activitiesduring an extended period after the term ends. Thestudent agrees that the instructor will withdraw thepoints associated with the supplementary activities inthe event that the activities are not completed. Inessence, students borrow a final grade and pay overtime to keep it by demonstrating acceptable levels ofactivity and learning.

Instructors can structure and define the terms of along-term learning agreement any way they wish.Students might be expected to engage in required tasksthat are impossible to complete within the time con-straints of a standard quarter or semester. In my publicspeaking class, for example, one cluster of supplemen-tary extended learning activitiesvalued at 10 pointsout of 100 for the final gradeis to join a local Toast-

masters club, attend at least one of its meetings permonth for six months, and submit a confirming writtenstatement from the club president after each visit.

The range of assignments included in a long-termlearning agreement is limited only by the instructor'simagination. Following are just a few illustrativeexamples of what students might be expected to achievein agreements in various disciplines:

Science: Interview a number of authorities on atopic of contemporary interest, such as biotechnology,and prepare a report which summarizes and assessestheir perspectives.

Mathematics: Solve problems in an area which wasnot thoroughly covered within a course but about whichyou have demonstrated aptitude or intereste.g.,multivariate equations or fundamental topology.

Humanities: Produce a work of art, visit and assessthe exhibits of selected museums, attend a lecture series,or interview a speaker of another language in thatperson's native tongue.

Social Sciences: Serve as a volunteer in a politicalcampaign, or write an analysis of how effectively ajuvenile probation office achieves its mission.

Practic 0 AppNc tions/DmpOicationsBecause the agreement offers students an opportunity

to transcend the time boundaries and expectations of aparticular course in order to achieve a higher grade,instructors may feel less pressure to reduce coursestandards than they would otherwise during theacademic term. The likelihood of grade inflation in theactual body of a course may be diminished.

Some students are more extrinsically motivated thanothers, and the long-term learning agreement provides aspecial opportunity for those who are predisposed tostrive toward a particular required grade to achieve thatgoal through hard work. Realizing this opportunity mayreinforce students' self-confidence and help themmaintain progress in the academic environment.

Long-term learning agreements present a chance forinstructors to diversify and individualize the learningexperiences and pathways they create for students. The

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (MOD) o Community College Leadership Program

Department of Educational Administration o College of Education, Thi University of Texas at Austin, SIB 348, Austin, Texas 78712-12930 Ca

37

agreements breach rigid academic time blocks and mayallow students considerable latitude in how and whento accomplish tasks. Therefore, they may offer signifi-cant challenges and encourage independent personalgrowth.

Long-term learning agreements resemble an "incom-plete" grade, so students who encounter health orpersonal problems during a course and cannot completeall the required work by the end of the term will have anopportunity to do so. The advantages of signing long-term learning agreements, as opposed to receiving an"I" grade, are that they start with an affirmation ofstudents' abilities, incorporate a promise by the instruc-tor to act as a partner with the students to develop thoseabilities, and can result in a positive report on thestudents' transcripts.

Finally, perhaps the greatest implication and strengthof the long-term learning agreement as a pedagogicalmeasure is its potential to counteract the perennial

UCOGNEITOON AWARDS:ENCOAGNG NICELLEINM CE

THE CUSS DOOM

Since 1993, Lethbridge Community College (LCC)has recognized excellence by issuing awards, co-sponsored by the faculty association and the studentassociation, to those instructors who have best demon-strated teaching excellence.

Instructors are nominated by students and faculty.The categories of teaching excellence, professionalresponsibilities, and interpersonal skills serve as criteria.A requisite number of students and faculty are requiredto support the nomination. The instructors are notifiedabout their nomination and asked to submit theirphilosophy of teaching excellence, including examplesof how he/she has innovated curriculum, createdmaterials, or used teaching methods in ways to stimu-late learner curiosity about the subject. They also listprofessional responsibilities (e.g., served as faculty vicepresident) and describe how their interpersonal skillsallow them to reach out to the students.

Recipients of the teaching excellence award receivean engraved plaque at LCC's annual teaching excellenceaward ceremonies, held just before convocation. Instruc-tors receiving the awards are introduced and make ashort speech in the presence of friends, family, students,and colleagues. Then they receive the ovation that theyrichly deserve.

tendency of students and faculty members alike to"take" a class in the same way a person "takes" a doseof medicinethat is, to consume it as swiftly as possibleand then forget about it entirely. The long-term learningagreement, in contrast to this "medicinal" approach,may contribute to students' lifetime growth and devel-opment by focusing their attention, outside and beyondthe range of the academic environment, on the natureand value of a particular kind of knowledge.

Phillip N. Venditti, Director, Liberal Arts and Sciences

For further information, contact the author at WenatcheeValley College, 1300 Fifth Street, Wenatchee, WA 98801-1651. e-mail: [email protected]

At convocation, the president of the faculty associa-tion reads the positive commentaries provided by thenominees, then calls the recipients to the stage, wheretheir contributions to teaching excellence are acknowl-edged before hundreds of students and colleagues.

Reward ceremonies and plaques are inexpensive buteffective. It is recognition that really motivates employ-ees. Money and benefits keep them on the job, but theydo not invigorate nor do they exhilarate. It is the "pat onthe back," the praise, the acknowledgment of a job welldone that really ignite the human potential.

For educators, the need for recognition may well begreater than for tradesmen or artisans who create avisible, tangible product, look over their work, and seewhen they have done well. Feedback is vital, and awardceremonies celebrating teaching excellence are specialways to reward classroom excellence.

Lewis Callahan, Instructor, Management and Accounting

For further information, contact the author atLethbridge Community College, 3000 College DriveSouth, Lethbridge, Alberta T1K 3K7.e-mail: [email protected]


September 1, 2000, Vol. XXII, No. 17




38

Innovation Abstracts (ISSN 0199-106X) is published weekly following the fall and spring terms ofthe academic calendar, except Thanksgiving week, by the National Institute for Staff and Organiza-tional Development (NISOD), Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, SZB348, Austin, Texas 78712-1293, (5121 471-7545. Periodicals Postage Paid at Austin, Texas.POSTMASTER: Sencltiddress changes to Innovation Abstracts, The University of Texas at Austin,SZB 348, Austin,'.1)(178712-1293. Email: [email protected]


MSOD INNOVATIONA S

Published by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD). College of Education c The University of Texas at Austin

UNDHSTANIANG WHAT UT -AKTO SUCCEED

I have taught mathematics for years and am amazedat how we continue to reinvent teaching, hoping to findthe magic elixir that will help all students succeed inmath, or at least improve retention rates. I have tried myshare of teaching techniques, texts, styles, and models.

When I ask students about what attitudes andbehaviors are beneficial, and even necessary, for successin college math courses, I am always surprised to learnwhat students do not knowfor example, that attend-ing every class meeting is essential to success. Thesediscussion sessions remind me of a quote attributed togame show celebrity, Vanna White. When asked whatwas important in her job, she answered, "Well, you haveto know the alphabet really, really well."

As obvious as that knowledge is, I suspected thatperhaps the obvious needed to be spelled out. So Ideveloped an assessment tool to articulate the obvious.It allows students to define the attitudes and behaviorsnecessary to succeed in math class, but it could bemodified for use in any discipline.

What makes this assessment useful is that studentscan quantify their behaviors and attitudes. Often, astudent who has failed a test says: "But I studied all daySaturday for the test; I knew the material!" Even thoughI have discussed the importance of studying on a dailybasis, the impossibility of concentrating "all day long,"and other common myths, students often cannot graspthe fundamentals of achieving success without moredirect instruction.

Directions for creating and scoring a self-assessmentfor students in a math class follow (and are easilyadapted to other disciplines). This assessment can be awhole-class or small-group process and should beconducted soon after the course begins.

First, student groups submit a list of the attitudes andbehaviors they believe characterize successful collegestudents. Results are compiled and distributed to theclass; the class discusses the list and organizes theattitudes and behaviors within the following categories:

1. In-class style2. Out-of-class style3. Study-group style4. Physical style5. Attitudes toward self and math

Creafing the Assessmeng.Create a recipe by which each student can earn a

grade of B or better. Ask students to assign a percentageto each category that indicates its importance. Percent-ages should total 100% to the total effort.

After making the list and assigning percentages,students should create a table that summarizes all of theinformation. Make copies to distribute at the next classmeeting or have students download from yourwebpage. Students can now score themselves over aone- to three-week period, recording how often theirbehavior meets the established guidelines.

Examples from each category might include:

1. In-class styleAttends classSits in the front half of the roomIs prepared with text, paper, pencils and mark-ers, and calculator and calculator manualHas homework readyAsks at least two questions each class

2. Out-of-class styleHas a specific time and place to study mathReads the text before class and meets to discussthe sectionSolves problems three or four times each weekMakes notes while reading the sectionHas an organized notebook

3. Study-group styleMeets with study group one to two times eachweekSpends at least 80% of the time with the studygroup discussing and solving problems; lessthan 20% of the time spent socializingIs prepared with questions and has done the



homework problems before meeting the studygroupIs on time for the study groupAttends every group study session

o Participates by asking and answering questionsin study groupAsks members of the group if they havequestions, especially the quiet membersAlthough s/he may have a strong opinionabout how a problem or project is to be done,is willing to listen to others' opinionsDoes his/her fair share of any group problem orproject

4. Physical styleG Gets enough sleep so s/he can concentrate

Eats breakfast and lunch so s/he has enoughenergy to thinkExercises enough to be able to sit and concen-trate

5. Attitude toward self and mathSees math as a challengeEnjoys trying to solve problemsSees getting a problem wrong as an additionalchallengeSees risk-taking as positive

O Is not embarrassed by saying something that isincorrectKnows that s/he is intelligent and capable, andis able to learn and understand math

ScoringHave students score themselves over the next week

according to how often these behaviors occurred, usingthe following system:

Almost always 5 pointsFrequently 4 pointsSometimes 3 pointsOccasionally 2 pointsRarely or Never 1 point

Tabu Dag.ing [OdaTo tabulate the data, students should:1. total their scores for each category2. calculate the possible score for each category (five

times the number of items in each category)3. divide each score by the possible score in that

category (the percent of compliance for eachcategory)

4. multiply by the percentage that category repre-sents

5. total all points from all categories to determine thepercent of appropriate behaviors for each student.

Ask the class to predict class grades based on thebehavior all students are exhibiting.

Prediding GradesCollect a score from each student, and compare this

score to his/her final course grade. For your ownpurposes, conduct a regression analysis on assessmentand course scores to determine any strong positivecorrelations. Conducting this exercise again midwaythrough the course would make for an interestingdiscussion about behaviors, as well.

A M©k MewIt may be a grandiose idea to think that a young, or

an inexperienced, or a self-defeating student couldbecome enlightened and catapulted down the road tocollege success. I guess that hopefulness is now, andalways will be, a part of teaching. That is one of themagic elixirs of the profession, and I think we are underits spell...forever.

Gail Small Ferrell, Professor, Mathematics

For further information, contact the author at TruckeeMeadows Community College, Mathematics Depart-ment, Mail Stop F-50, 7000 Dandini Blvd., Reno, NV89512-3999. email: [email protected]


September 8, 2000, Vol. XXII, No. 18©The University of Texas at Austin, 2000



Innovation Abstracts (ISSN 0199-106X) is published weekly following the fall and spring terms ofthe academic calendar, except Thanksgiving week, by the National Institute for Staff and Organiza-tional Development (NISOD), Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, SZB348, Austin, Texas 78712-1293, (512) 471-7545. Periodicals Postage Paid at Austin, Texas.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Innovation Abstracts, The University of Texas at Austin,SZB 348, Austin, TX 78712-1293. Email: sroueche @mail.utexas.edu

41 1)


NISOD INNOVATIONABSTRACTS

Published by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) c College of Education The University of Texas at Austin

CONCURRENTSTRATEGY TO ME

EDUCATgONAL

EN ROMENM AET URBANEMS

A desire to collaborate with area high schools andenhance student learning led a team of urban commu-nity college leaders to design and implement a success-ful concurrent enrollment program in less than one year.A series of meetings involving administrators from highschools (that currently provided 50 or more first-yearstudents to the college annually) and Santa MonicaCollege representatives outlined courses the collegecould offer. Response was overwhelming and resultedin partnerships with 17 area high schools and an enroll-ment of 676 students during the program's first semes-ter. So far, the program has served more than 2000 highschool students in the Los Angeles area.

The individuals who led this project identifiedimportant strategies for initiating a concurrent enroll-ment program. Although this college is situated in alarge metropolitan area, these same concepts can beemployed by virtually any community college.

In this case, the program was established and imple-mented by a college team charged with building afoundation program. This cross-functional team in-cluded members of the faculty and representatives fromplanning and development, student affairs, and aca-demic affairs. Carefully communicating student goalsaided in creating a program plan, evaluating outcomes,and garnering campuswide support.

Involving a variety of stakeholders at the college andthe high schools from the strategy's inception was a keyelement. Planning and implementation included collegeand high school department chairs, faculty, counselors,admissions representatives, and administrators. Eachhigh school provided an on-site liaison to coordinateacademic calendars, facility requirements, instructionalneeds, and organizational procedures. Prior to develop-ing a plan, it was important to address policy andprocedural issues that might create barriers, including

difficulties regarding attendance reporting, transcripts,schedules, and other related issues. The college facili-tated the admissions and registration by providing anadmissions/registration liaison to each high school.These individuals, trained in all aspects of the collegeadmission and registration process, provided thenecessary information to instructors regarding classrosters, drop deadlines, final grades, and other relatedprocedures. The college provided support through theassignment of an outreach liaison to each high school inorder to facilitate direct communication.

A test program of at least one semester of limitedofferings at each high school proved beneficial. Programexpansion could then be managed in future semesters,while considering the specific needs of each high school.A formal feedback session for college and high schoolofficials was a viable way to evaluate the program.

The success of this program has been attributed, inpart, to the focus on enhancing high school curriculum,enriching students' knowledge, and creating studentswho are better prepared for college. The concurrentenrollment program is not designed to compete with orsupplant high school curriculum. Considering theunique needs of each high school's student populationhas been essential to creating a collaboration that iswell-received and courses that are useful additions tothe high school's programs. For example, a high schoolwith a strong life science curriculum and advancedplacement courses in that discipline may not needcollege-level biology classes. In contrast, a high schoolwithout a physics professor or with limited art offeringsmay want courses in these disciplines.

One factor to consider in planning to implement aconcurrent enrollment program is developing coursepackages, in advance, to provide each high school witha realistic view of curricular offerings that can bedelivered at off-site locations. Packages should includetransportability of the class, availability of faculty inspecific disciplines, and geographic constraints of theinstructors. Offering the broadest set of options to highschool decision-makers will afford choice and opportu-nity to match needs with available services.



Focusing ©l Oudity and StudentOne of the primary goals of the concurrent enroll-

ment program is to provide college-level instruction thatis representative of the same quality and academic rigorafforded to students enrolled in classes on the collegecampus. Every attempt should be made to schedule thehigh school-based classes in a manner consistent withthe college's schedule of classes. This allows students togain the experience of a college scheduling pattern andprevents overlaps in an instructor's daily schedule. Allcollege-level classes are offered outside of the students'regular high school class day. Students enrolling inconcurrent courses are assessed by the same measure-ment tools used for all entering students at the college.The results of the assessment are used for counselingand placement. College personnel work closely withhigh school counselors to identify interested studentsand students who demonstrate potential for success incollege-level course work.

One goal of the program has been to minimizeexpense for the participating high school students; as aresult, many disadvantaged urban youth have gainedaccess to college-level courses. The college's commit-ment to this goal resulted in waivers of all tuition andfees for participating students. Textbooks are theresponsibility of the student; however, the college hasdeveloped a pool of funds to assist financially needystudents with the purchase of books, and the collegebookstore has donated earlier editions of books. Highschool administrators have used discretionary funds,booster club funds, and other traditional fund-raisingefforts to purchase books to loan.

Faculty who participate in the concurrent programmust meet the same hiring qualifications for any incom-ing college faculty. Many who elect to teach in theprogram are already affiliated with the college as full-time or adjunct faculty members.

Measuring ha ResubsStudents evaluate their instructors at the end of each

semester, just as they would on the college campus. Atthe end of the pilot semester, college administrators hosta feedback session with high school representatives todiscuss program outcomes. This collaboration has led tothe improvement of student recruitment strategies andthe development of new offerings.

The college academic departments provide evalua-tions of the participating faculty members in a mannerconsistent with campus guidelines and the conditions oftheir employment with the college. Additionally,ongoing contact between campus liaisons, administra-tors, and faculty provides opportunities for sharing

timely information and improving the program.A follow-up study at the end of the first semester

indicated that concurrent course completion rates,course success rates, and grade point averages werereflective of the college student population at-large.

Reaping the BenefitsWithin a one-year period, this urban community

college implemented a program that developed mean-ingful K-12 partnerships, assisted in meeting the educa-tional needs of the community, and established greatercommunication and articulation between K-12 faculty.Additionally, the program has enhanced high schoolcurricula while decreasing students' time and cost.Faculty members reported they gained a greater senseof K-12 educational issues and developed a deeperunderstanding of urban issues in general.

Brian G. Chapman, Enrollment Advisor, Columbus StateCommunity College, Columbus, OH

For further information contact: Jefferey Shimizu, Deanof Instruction, Santa Monica College, 1900 Pico Boule-vard, Santa Monica, CA 90405-1628.e-mail: [email protected]


September 15, 2000, Vol. )0(II, No. 19©The University of Texas at Austin, 2000



Innovation Abstracts (ISSN 0199-106X) is published weekly following the fall and spring terms ofthe academic calendar, except Thanksgiving week, by the National Institute for Staff and Organiza-tional Development (NISOD), Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, SZB348, Austin, Texas 78712-1293, (512) 471-7545. Periodicals Postage Paid at Austin, Texas.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Innovation Abstracts, The University of Texas at Austin,SZB 348, gs'tfn', TX 78712-1293. Email: [email protected]

42'


msoo INNOVATIONABSTRAC S

Published by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) . College of Education . The University of Texas at Austin

2Q0N1ING [INSTRUCTORS TO TEACH

°MUNEIn spring 2000, Bronx Community College/The City

University of New York offered a web-based distance_learning course for the first time, entitled Introductionto the Internet and Web Page Development. As part ofthe collegewide Faculty Development Initiative Pro-gram (FDIP) in Technology, a faculty workshop and adiscussion forum were created to support online teach-ing. At the workshop, faculty accessed the CUNYnetworked system and received a step-by-step guide forbuilding course components, including planning,layout, typing materials, learning the managementprogram, and adapting materials from conventionalclassrooms for online use. The BCC faculty developmentprocess helped enhance pedagogical theory related todistance learning; increased faculty members' technicalskills and improved their mastery of distance learningtechnologies; explored the potential of online communi-cation, collaboration, interactivity; and covered otherrelevant topics.

Seep One: Learning Courselnfo from BOackboardFeatures

We use Courselnfo (from Blackboard Inc.), a tool forcreating web-based courses that runs on any operatingsystem. It is a structured software program that allowsany content expert to load materials and create discus-sion questions, assignments, and quizzes. Faculty havecomplete control over creating websites, adding content,and administering user accounts and security on thesite. The most important component in step one is thedemonstration of online courses during which newfaculty can see what a complete course looks like.

Course materials can be Hypertext Markup Language(HTML) text, audio, video, Word documents, orPowerPoint presentations. At the workshop, faculty aregiven user names and passwords, and introduced to theprogram, including tools of the Courselnfo template:

Announcements: information faculty want studentsto see immediately

Course Information: course description, objectives,evaluation, standards, calendar, required materials, andquick tips

Staff Information: e-mail address, office hours, andother important information that students will need

Course Documents: weekly lecture notesAssignments: weekly assignments and activitiesCommunication: tools with which instructors and

students can contact students via e-mail, conduct a chat,and participate in online discussions including private,small-group discussions

Student Tools: the DropBox, used to exchange files,uploads files from a disk or a computer to a centrallocation for downloading to work locally

External Links: links to sites that encourage studentinquiry and research

Control Panel: a site editing and administrationarea for instructors including assessment, grading,recording student log-in dates, times, and activities

Step Two: Converting Traditiond CourseMaterid for the Web

CourseInfo allows the instructor to construct thematerials for the course website without learningHTML. Faculty develop their syllabus, class schedule(15 weeks), weekly assignments, and weekly class notes.Course documents are to be completed on the day thecourse starts, but they are to be posted on a weekly basisand integrated into communication and assessmentactivities.

Faculty can decide if their courses will be asynchro-nous or will require a real-time component. They can beavailable to their students at scheduled times onlinethrough e-mail and virtual chat. Many options andresources are available in an online environment toprovide a rich learning experience for students.

Students do as well in distance learning as in physicalclassrooms if they are carefully chosen and advised ofthe characteristics of a successful distance learner,


Department of Educational Administration o College of Education, The University of Texas at Austin, SZ8 348, Austin, Texas 78712-1293

43

including being a strong self-starter, self-disciplined,knowledgeable of the technology requirements of thespecific format, and able to meet other students andfaculty in a virtual environment (not face-to-face).

Step Three: h110emen4ation/CourseManagement.

The Initial Class Meeting: A necessary and vitalcomponent of an online course is the initial meetingwith students, during which faculty can review thecourse objectives, layout and syllabus, expected out-comes, instructional materials, course schedule (weeklyassignments/activities), and the Course Info program. AUserld and password, e-mail account, and informationabout browsers and Internet access are assigned anddiscussed.

Interaction: Responsiveness is the key to successfulcourses. Engaging students online is facilitated byadding interactivity to a course. Interactivity comesfrom the interplay between course documents, commu-nication tools, and assessment tools. When faculty add anew course document, they are posting a new topic inthe communication that refers to the document and maycreate a quiz or survey in the assessment area thatmeasures the student's critical understanding of theinformation in the document. Common ways to addinteractivity that are unique to the online experienceinclude announcements, e-mail, discussion board, andchat. The following strategies have increased participa-tion and learning.

Make class participation a significant part of thestudents' grades (30%). Communicate expectations as toacceptable quality and quantity of participation. Forexample, students may be required to respond to aquestion the instructor poses and to the responses of atleast two other students.

Notify students of changes in assignments or duedates, and highlight new information on your site.

E-mail correspondence person-to-person or instruc-tor-to-students.

Ask open-ended questions in bulletin boarddiscussions and post to discussions frequently. Topicsfor forums can include Q & A, assignments, and peerreviews (assign students the task of responding to twoor three peer responses).

Have students post biographical information to thediscussion board at the beginning of the semester. Thisnetworking often results in student/student mentoring.

Provide an overview of assignments due eachweek. This weekly agenda will help keep studentsworking as a cohort.

Use virtual chat as a tool to enhance and encouragea sense of community in online classes.

Group projects using e-mail, chat rooms, and grouppage will improve group collaborative experiences.

Evaluation: The Course Info testing feature allows theinstructor to schedule exam dates and time restrictions.Students have a limited time to log on and take tests.The testing feature offers automatic grading of futuretests and posting of grades to an online gradebook. Avariety of materials can be used for evaluating studentsand determining grades, including peer-reviewed work,class discussion responses, and writing samples.

CondusionOnline courses, using this model, allow for greater

access to courses as time and place constraints areremoved. However, faculty spend more time preparingthe first few versions of an online course when themedium is new and they must adapt or adopt newstrategies, new technologies, and effective teachingstrategies.

Well-designed and carefully implemented onlineinstruction can provide an effective educational environ-ment and be an enjoyable experience for students andinstructorsespecially if the students are motivated andself-disciplined and the instructor maintains continuousinteraction with them.

Marcia Keizs, Vice President of Academic Affairs

Kwi Park-Kim, Associate Professor, Business and Informa-tion Systems and Coordinator, Faculty Development Initia-tive Program (FDIP) in Technology

For further information, contact the authors at BronxCommunity College, The City University of New York,University Avenue and West 181 Street, Bronx, NY10453. e-mail: mvp @bcc.cuny.edu or [email protected]


September 22 2000, Vol. XXII, No. 20©The University of Texas at Austin, 2000





IV/SOD INNOVATIONABSTRACTS

Published by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD). College of Education o The University of Texas at Austin

TIANNG RISTUCTOn TO MCONLM

U

In spring 2000, Bronx Community College/The CityUniversity of New York offered a web-based distancelearning course for the first time, entitled Introductionto the Internet and Web Page Development. As part ofthe collegewide Faculty Development Initiative Pro-gram (FDIP) in Technology, a faculty workshop and adiscussion forum were created to support online teach-ing. At the workshop, faculty accessed the CUNYnetworked system and received a step-by-step guide forbuilding course components, including planning,layout, typing materials, learning the managementprogram, and adapting materials from conventionalclassrooms for online use. The BCC faculty developmentprocess helped enhance pedagogical theory related todistance learning; increased faculty members' technicalskills and improved their mastery of distance learningtechnologies; explored the potential of online communi-cation, collaboration, interactivity; and covered otherrelevant topics.

Step One: Learning Courselnfo from BlackboardFeatures

We use Courselnfo (from Blackboard Inc.), a tool forcreating web-based courses that runs on any operatingsystem. It is a structured software program that allowsany content expert to load materials and create discus-sion questions, assignments, and quizzes. Faculty havecomplete control over creating websites, adding content,and administering user accounts and security on thesite. The most important component in step one is thedemonstration of online courses during which newfaculty can see what a complete course looks like.

Course materials can be Hypertext Markup Language(HTML) text, audio, video, Word documents, orPowerPoint presentations. At the workshop, faculty aregiven user names and passwords, and introduced to theprogram, including tools of the Courselnfo template:

Announcements: information faculty want studentsto see immediately

Course Information: course description, objectives,evaluation, standards, calendar, required materials, andquick tips

Staff Information: e-mail address, office hours, andother important information that students will need

Course Documents: weekly lecture notesAssignments: weekly assignments and activitiesCommunication: tools with which instructors and

students can contact students via e-mail, conduct a chat,and participate in online discussions including private,small-group discussions

Student Tools: the DropBox, used to exchange files,uploads files from a disk or a computer to a centrallocation for downloading to work locally

External Links: links to sites that encourage studentinquiry and research

Control Panel: a site editing and administrationarea for instructors including assessment, grading,recording student log-in dates, times, and activities

Seep Two: Converting Traditiond CourseMaterial for the Web

Courselnfo allows the instructor to construct thematerials for the course website without learningHTML. Faculty develop their syllabus, class schedule(15 weeks), weekly assignments, and weekly class notes.Course documents are to be completed on the day thecourse starts, but they are to be posted on a weekly basisand integrated into communication and assessmentactivities.

Faculty can decide if their courses will be asynchro-nous or will require a real-time component. They can beavailable to their students at scheduled times onlinethrough e-mail and virtual chat. Many options andresources are available in an online environment toprovide a rich learning experience for students.

Students do as well in distance learning as in physicalclassrooms if they are carefully chosen and advised ofthe characteristics of a successful distance learner,



4 5

including being a strong self-starter, self-disciplined,knowledgeable of the technology requirements of thespecific format, and able to meet other students andfaculty in a virtual environment (not face-to-face).

Step Three: DmpOentenittion/CourseManagemerg

The Initial Class Meeting: A necessary and vitalcomponent of an online course is the initial meetingwith students, during which faculty can review thecourse objectives, layout and syllabus, expected out-comes, instructional materials, course schedule (weeklyassignments/activities), and the Course Info program. AUserld and password, e-mail account, and informationabout browsers and Internet access are assigned anddiscussed.

Interaction: Responsiveness is the key to successfulcourses. Engaging students online is facilitated byadding interactivity to a course. Interactivity comesfrom the interplay between course documents, commu-nication tools, and assessment tools. When faculty add anew course document, they are posting a new topic inthe communication that refers to the document and maycreate a quiz or survey in the assessment area thatmeasures the student's critical understanding of theinformation in the document. Common ways to addinteractivity that are unique to the online experienceinclude announcements, e-mail, discussion board, andchat. The following strategies have increased participa-tion and learning.

Make class participation a significant part of thestudents' grades (30%). Communicate expectations as toacceptable quality and quantity of participation. Forexample, students may be required to respond to aquestion the instructor poses and to the responses of atleast two other students.

Notify students of changes in assignments or duedates, and highlight new information on your site.

E-mail correspondence person-to-person or instruc-tor-to-students.

Ask open-ended questions in bulletin boarddiscussions and post to discussions frequently. Topicsfor forums can include Q & A, assignments, and peerreviews (assign students the task of responding to twoor three peer responses).

Have students post biographical information to thediscussion board at the beginning of the semester. Thisnetworking often results in student/student mentoring.

Provide an overview of assignments due eachweek. This weekly agenda will help keep studentsworking as a cohort.

Use virtual chat as a tool to enhance and encouragea sense of community in online classes.

Group projects using e-mail, chat rooms, and grouppage will improve group collaborative experiences.

Evaluation: The Courselnfo testing feature allows theinstructor to schedule exam dates and time restrictions.Students have a limited time to log on and take tests.The testing feature offers automatic grading of futuretests and posting of grades to an online gradebook. Avariety of materials can be used for evaluating studentsand determining grades, including peer-reviewed work,class discussion responses, and writing samples.

CondusionOnline courses, using this model, allow for greater

access to courses as time and place constraints areremoved. However, faculty spend more time preparingthe first few versions of an online course when themedium is new and they must adapt or adopt newstrategies, new technologies, and effective teachingstrategies.

Well-designed and carefully implemented onlineinstruction can provide an effective educational environ-ment and be an enjoyable experience for students andinstructorsespecially if the students are motivated andself-disciplined and the instructor maintains continuousinteraction with them.

Marcia Keizs, Vice President of Academic Affairs

Kwi Park-Kim, Associate Professor, Business and Informa-tion Systems and Coordinator, Faculty Development Initia-tive Program (FDIP) in Technology

For further information, contact the authors at BronxCommunity College, The City University of New York,University Avenue and West 181 Street, Bronx, NY10453. e-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]


September 22 2000, Vol. XXII, No. 20©The University of Texas at Austin, 2000




46


mscto INNO VAT I NABSTRACTS


RMARCHNG arUMLT ACTThe textbook for my western humanities survey

course covers significant cultural developments inreligion, philosophy, literature, music, visual arts, andtheir historical settings, from approximately 1400 to1900 A.D., in one-half inch of an 8 1 /2 x 11-inch text-book! With such a daunting amount of material to coverand a textbook that can devote only two paragraphs toRembrandt and four to Mozart, I found myself seeking acontext that would connect this vast collection ofpeople, places, things, and events to a frameworkrelevant to my students. The words of an old Simon andGarfunkel tune, "The Dangling Conversation," tor-mented me:

And you read your Em'ly Dickinson,and I my Robert Frost,And we note our place with book markersthat measure what we've lost.

With each exam, I felt certain that we had marked,measured, and lost another century.

A few semesters ago I hit upon an introductory lessonthat helps students better understand how the eventswe cover are linked and related, that they are notarbitrary events plucked from thin air. The lesson is adelightful icebreaker that helps set a collaborative tonefor the rest of the semester. Additionally, it gives me ahandy frame of reference for future lectures,discussions, and exams.

I give students our definition of culture for thesemester: "Culture is the sum of human endeavors,including the basic political, economic, and socialinstitutions, and the values, beliefs, and arts of thosewho share them." We discuss in some detail the compo-nents of the definition. I ask them to think of things weteach our children, such as what and what not to eat,how to behave around strangers, and how to read signsin nature. There is an element of survival skills incultural traditions.

Thomas Sowell, in discussing cultural diversity andchange, observed: "Every culture discards over time thethings which no longer do the job or which don't do thejob as well as things borrowed from other cultures." Weuse Arabic numbers instead of Roman numerals, forexample, because Arabic numbers work better. That is,we select, based on rational principles, what we willteach to succeeding generations.

Then I ask students to compile a list of images theyhave of the 1940s. When they have finished the 1940s,they are directed to complete a list for each succeedingdecade, listing at least five items for each.

Then students gather into small groups, small enoughthat students can talk freely among themselves. Whenstudents have formed their groups and completedintroductions, they choose a recorder and a spokesper-son, and compile their individual lists into one, with nomore than eight items per decade. They always spendquite a bit of time discussing whether the first spaceflight took place in the 1950s or the 1960s, when thewomen's movement began, and what music and hairstyles were popular in their junior high school days. Tokeep things moving, I give them a 20-minute time limit,which I usually have to extend.

When time is called, I ask the spokesperson from eachgroup to read its list of 1940s images. I record the itemsin a column on the board, using different colors of chalkor markers to differentiate the decades. Each groupreads its list for the decade under discussion. By thetime the last group has its turn, typically all of its itemshave already been listed. So that group reads first for the1950s. Eventually, we get to the present. A typical set oflists includes:

WWIIbaby boomwomen-to-workHolocaust

rock-n-rollCold War

1940s

1950s

Einsteinatom bombswing music

TVKorean War



47

Elvistraditional families

space raceVietnamhippiesdrugs/potMalcolm X

1960s

1970sWoodstockbell-bottomswomen's movementpeace protests

1980scomputersReaganBerlin Wallalternative music

1990sClinton and associatesDavid KoreshGulf WarMother Theresacloning

drive-inspoodle skirts

JFKMLKcolor TVBeatles

Nixon/Watergatediscosexual revolution

AIDSChallengerMTVterrorism

Princess DiInternetschool violenceenvironment

After all lists are compiled, I ask students if theypersonally remember any of the events in the '40s or '50s,and the answer is usually "no" because few of mystudents were alive in those decades. So I ask how theylearned about these events. Books, television, andparents are the usual answers. I continue: "Out of all thethings that were happening in the 1940s, for example,why did someone decide to teach you about theseparticular things?" We discuss their answers in thecontext of our definition of culture.

Eventually, we come to the conclusion that what theyhave learned about the 1940s almost exclusively camefrom textbooks and are things important to futuresurvival. Textbook authors hope that future generationswill not repeat mistakes of the pasta critical survivalskill. Most items from the 1950s have been learned fromtelevisione.g., from Happy Days. They represent whatwe enjoy and what we idealize. Ideals and fun eventsare also important elements in life and are among thethings we try to leave for our children.

As a final exercise, I ask students to look at the listsand place asterisks by all items that they would want toforce their children and grandchildren to learn. Poodleskirts always drop out, but atom bombs never do. With

Elvis, there is usually a debate.And so, we return to our one-half inch of textbook

space and my conclusion. "The editors of your textbookhad the task of choosing people, places, events, andartifacts from 500 years of Western culture. They chosethings that made a difference, things that we can lookback on and say, 'This changed us for better or forworse.' These are the things that they felt were impor-tant enough to force you to learn. Your job this semesterwill be to ask, 'Why is this so important?' and to keepasking until you understand why it is."

It is gratifying to watch the nodding heads as studentssignal their comprehension. For the moment, at least,they have drawn relationships between history andcultural artifacts. And, they have thought of themselvesas transmitters of history and culture to succeedinggenerations.

Karen Eisenhauer, Assistant Professor, Humanities andEnglish

For further information, contact the author at BrevardCommunity College, 250 Community College Parkway,Palm Bay, FL 32909.e-mail: [email protected]


September 29, 2000, Vol. XXII, No. 21©The University of Texas at Austin, 1999



Innovation Abstracts (ISSN 0199-106X) is published weekly following the fall and spring terms ofthe academic calendar, except Thanksgiving week, by the National Institute for Staff and Organiza-tionat0p,Velopment (NISOD), Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, SZB348, AU'stin;.Texas 78712-1293, (512) 4717545. Periodicals Postage Paid at Austin, Texas.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Innovation Abstracts, The University of Texas at Austin,SZB 348, Austin, TX 78712-1293. Email: [email protected]



Published by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD). College of Education o The University of Texas at Austin

ON TRUING STUDANUS

[STS A

During winter quarter, 1988, I taught a distanceeducation class on communication theory over ouruniversity's COM-NET system, a combination of atelephone conference call with 12 remote sites andaudiographics (electronic chalkboard and slow-scanvideo). I found that maintaining the human element inthe class presented a major challenge. One means ofdoing so was having students write short essays at thebeginning of class, while roll was called, asking them toshare feelings on paper about something that wouldcatch their personal interest.

I had been teaching the class for nearly one month,and a certain degree of rapport was building amongclass members. Then in the fourth week of class, justprior to the class beginning, I received an unexpectedtelephone call informing me that Carol, a student at aremote site, had been diagnosed with leukemia, hadbegun treatment, and died unexpectedly from suddenhemorrhaging. Her death came as a shock to me and toclassmates at her site in rural Utah, and at other sites aswell. Announcing her death was one of the hardestthings I experienced as a teacher over distance educa-tion, or in my teaching career, for that matter, because itwas impossible to read the reactions of students at othersites. Carol had participated in class the previous weekand was suddenly gone. But I felt that I had to informclass members of the situation, and I did so as tastefullyas I knew how. Since that time, her short presence in myclass has been a cause for reflection.

During the week prior to her death, class membershad written a short essay on this assigned topic: If youwere called to testify before a university subcommitteeinvestigating COM-NET regarding what you hadlearned thus far in the Communication Theory class,what insights about medium and message would youshare?

I had read these essays, commented on them, andwas about to return them to the students. But I kept thelast one from Carol and have reflected upon its contents

since that time. It was a brief statement, probablydashed off in ten minutes or less. What made it note-worthy was its finality as the last statement from acapable student.

Carol had written about the evolution of her experi-ence with the telecommunication system, how her firsttwo classes, scheduled in workshop fashion with largeblocks of time, had been "an experiment in the maca-bre." She told of her frustration in being told that oneclass required a prospectus of the student's CreativeProject.

never forget the comment of the professorwhen he said, 'It doesn't matter what you write theprospectus on for this class; it's just practice for youwhen you write the real one.' That class was a totalwaste and very frustrating.

From then on, COM-NET evolved with professorstrying various methods, and finally coming to the pointwe're at now of using the system to its maximumpotential. It's great and I feel as good about anythingI've learned over COM-NET as any undergraduate classI took on campus. But I'm a little concerned about theparanoia displayed by some [professors on campus]who say students are abusing the system. Please give uscredit for being adult enough to know what to do andhow to act in class."

Some of the specific elements mentioned in Carol'sessay reflected on aspects of our use of the COM-NETsystem. I knew that the earlier class, arranged in work-shop fashion, had been difficult; I had talked with theother instructor that quarter and learned of his frustra-tion with the imposed format. Unfortunately, that wasCarol's first quarter. The later classes reflected a grow-ing level of experience among instructors in using thetechnology, eventually becoming more comfortable withits use. The concern some professors had about abuse ofthe system stemmed from skepticism about operatingover such a distance and relying so much on studentinitiative; faculty members who had not tried it wereparticularly concerned. They doubted that it could be aseffective as the tried-and-true, on-campus instruction.



4 9

From my own experience, both on and off campus, Iknew that the level of quality for courses varied consid-erably, but that it was possible to teach a course that wasequal to and sometimes superior to the distance educa-tion system.

However, more than the specific concerns about thelocal distance education system, there is a message thatshould come through for all college or universityteachers, or trainers in business and industry, whenworking with adults:

Give them credit for being adults. Realize that theyhave families and jobs and many responsibilities.

Give them assignments that connect with therealities they face.

Expect good work, but understand when thingsdon't always work out exactly as planned.

Remember that we are more than names on a roll orvoices over a speaker phone.

And finally, realize that experiments with distanceeducational technology make qualitative differ-ences in people's lives and that we as teachers areethically responsible to make those experiences thebest that we can.

Nick Eastmond, Professor, Department of InstructionalTechnology

For further information, contact the author at UtahState University, Logan, UT 84322-2830.e-mail: [email protected]

TFU SHaALTY SPUCTI.One of the most difficult problems in teaching a

public speaking class is the lack of time to cover all ofthe material and to have students speak as often as theyshould. In an introductory course, students mustdevelop their speaking skills by describing, informing,and persuadingthe first three speeches that arestandard in most public speaking courses. For thestudents' fourth speech, however, I've assigned the"specialty" speech.

The specialty speech is different from the others inseveral respects. Most notably, it's the only speech forwhich I choose the topicactually, students draw theirassignments from a hat. I tell them that in the outsideworld they may be required to speak on subjects aboutwhich they have little knowledge. So far, topics haveranged from presenting a status report to speaking ontelevision.

To gather the information they need, students arerequired to research their subject as well as cite theirreferences during the course of the speech. This require-ment not only moves them up a level on the taxonomicscale, but it allows them to discover and share with theclass the wealth of information available on publicspeaking topics.

The information that the students share and mycomments on each subject allow the class to cover awide range of subjects in the limited time that we'retogether. Feedback has been positive, and the knowl-edge students have shared has been extensive.

Richard A. Baker, Instructor, Public Speaking

For further information, contact the author at ClarkState Community College, 570 East Leffel Lane, Spring-field, OH 45505. e-mail: [email protected]


October 6, 2000, Vol. XXII, No. 22©The University of Texas at Austin, 2000






Published by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) College of Education o The University of Texas at Austin

unISTORY CA N "FAR AE RID"Central Carolina Technical College offers students in

American Studies (AS) numerous unique opportunitiesfor studying history. Two AS courses provide fieldschool experiences that may be used to meet program,university transfer, and/or teacher recertificationrequirements. Each course carries three semester hoursand combines classroom and on-site instruction.

"The Colonial Experience" (AS I) and "South Caro-lina During the Civil War" (AS II) are each limited to 12participants and last approximately five weeks. Stu-dents pay regular tuition, with no additional feesassessed for participation. The content of each courseincludes history, geography, geology, archaeology,sociology, and historic preservation issues.

Both courses are approximately 40% classroominstruction/discussion/guest lecture and approximately60% instructional time spent "on the road" to tour sites,meeting with on-site personnel and participating ingroup exercises. An extended syllabus is utilized forboth classes, and directed readings are assignedthroughout the course. Classes meet in a Friday/Saturday format, with classroom activities scheduled forFridays and touring generally completed on Saturdays.

Students have unique opportunities to tour privatehomes and sites, as well as receive personal attention ongroup tours. Visitations include such diverse sites ascolonial and antebellum plantation homes, earlychurches, historical botanical gardens, battlefield sites,and significant commercial enterprises, such as theCharleston Tea Plantation. Students visit a general storethat has been in operation continuously since the early1800's by the LeNoir Family of Horatio, South Carolina;and observe the start-to-finish production of a broom bySusan Simpson, of Boykin, South Carolina, as she worksin a restored 1770's slave cabin. They follow theprogress of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment as soldiersmade their way from Fort Wagner (Charleston Harbor)to the burial of four members of the regiment at theNational Cemetery in Florence, South Carolinaa CivilWar "death camp" rivaling Andersonville. Nationalhistoric and affiliated sites, such as Fort Sumter and

Historic Camden, and the South Carolina State Museumand the Sumter County Museum prove invaluable inbringing history to life. Students visit area archives,including Sumter County Genealogical and HistoricalResearch Center and the Camden Archives, to learnmore about research and documentation.

Students are required to produce a journal whichincludes their responses to specific questions overcourse content and represents 40% of the course grade.Journals are individualized projects; photographs,articles, brochures, artwork, poetry, maps, interviews,and any related materials that chronicle the field schoolexperience may be included. Journals are returned, sostudents are encouraged further to invest time andresources to create a personalized, quality production.

Students also are required to prepare a research paperfor 40% of the course grade. The topic selected must beappropriate to the time period and content area of thecourse. The remaining 20% of the course grade is thefinal examstudents review highlights of their researchwith fellow classmates, sharing the specialized researchand completing the course.

Students have researched diverse subjects, includingmedical practices during the Civil War; the developmentof churches and the growth of religious denominationsin the Carolina Backcountry; South Carolina leaders,Thomas Sumter and Francis Marion, and their rolesduring the American Revolution; the various rolesplayed by women (including spies, pirates, managers,authors, and caregivers); the study of Native Americans'and African-Americans' roles in both the AmericanRevolution and the Civil War; and the impact of trans-portation and development along the King's Highway,extending from Charleston, South Carolina, to Char-lotte, North Carolina.

The exposure to local/regional history and therelationships emphasized in these courses has promotedthe popularity of the classes. Local and regional histori-ans and participants donate time, knowledge, andfacilities to provide an optimum learning experience.The courses generally draw students from a variety ofacademic areas, enriching the total course experience.

Instructors providing field school experiences benefit



51

from on-site visitations and opportunities. Viewed as a"return to industry" concept, field schools can provideacademic institutions with direct contacts, exposure forstudents and programs, and a one-of-a-kind educationaland community partnering experience.

Kay M. Stockbridge, Instructor, History and PoliticalScienceRaymond M. Watkins, Chair, Humanities and SocialSciences

For more information, contact the authors atCentral Carolina Technical College, 506 North GuignardDrive, Sumter, SC 29150-2468.e-mail: [email protected]

MAMAGNG Dll AU" ASYSTEMATIC APPROACHALUM HEALTH PR G

JoQSAAA M

Keeping track of a modern-day allied health pro-gram, with increasing numbers of student learningsurveys and research-based accreditation demands,becomes more difficult each year. I have developed a 10-point process that allows me to stay current with allmajor aspects of our physical therapist assistant pro-gram, an outgrowth and marriage of, student outcomesand continuous quality improvement concepts.

The 10 areas under consideration contain a plan andreport for:

internal student learning outcomescurriculum reviewstudent selection and gradinglab testing and lab practice methodsclinical site review, skills, and ACCE formsgeneric abilities reviewessential (terminal outcomes) reviewbooks and supplies reviewlab equipment and chemical safety reviewpersonnel / clinical instructor development.

The 10 areas are plotted on a grida visual check-offfor the periodic reviews of each area. We conduct areview every January, and the report is passed along toall staff members and the division director. Someprogram areas are more prone to fail, or change, or aremore vital, so these have been selected for closer moni-toring. For example, student learning and essentialoutcomes, clinical sites and skills, lab safety, and person-nel development are reviewed annually, whereasgeneric abilities and curriculum are reviewed everyother year.

A typical snapshot of headings within a sample areainclude:

title or areaorigination datefrequency of reportpurpose/importance of areaprobable areas of concerntype of data or information collectedobjectives for this areaprocedure for utilizing feedbackcurrent year's report.

Advantages of this "bird's-eye view" of the programare tremendous. Specifically, the system helps thedirector keep track of all areas on a prioritized, periodicbasis. Once the initial problems are identified, the onlypart of the report that changes is the year-to-yearupdate, unless new problems arise during a review. Inaddition, some reports may be combined with otherse.g., student learning outcomes committees andaccreditors. Because each area within the systematiccheck is in a separate file on the computer's hard drive,selecting the desired areas requiring modification ismore efficient and avoids wading through the entire 10-point report.

Sam M. Coppoletti, Director, PTA Program

For further information, contact the author at San JuanCollege, 601 College Blvd., Farmington, NM 87402.e-mail: [email protected]






52


N/SOO INNOVATIONABSTRACTS

Published by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) o College of Education u The University of Texas at Austin

M7ORY CA BE "FAI AHEM"Central Carolina Technical College offers students in

American Studies (AS) numerous unique opportunitiesfor studying history. Two AS courses provide fieldschool experiences that may be used to meet program,university transfer, and/or teacher recertificationrequirements. Each course carries three semester hoursand combines classroom and on-site instruction.

"The Colonial Experience" (AS I) and "South Caro-lina During the Civil War" (AS II) are each limited to 12participants and last approximately five weeks. Stu-dents pay regular tuition, with no additional feesassessed for participation. The content of each courseincludes history, geography, geology, archaeology,sociology, and historic preservation issues.

Both courses are approximately 40% classroominstruction/discussion/guest lecture and approximately60% instructional time spent "on the road" to tour sites,meeting with on-site personnel and participating ingroup exercises. An extended syllabus is utilized forboth classes, and directed readings are assignedthroughout the course. Classes meet in a Friday/Saturday format, with classroom activities scheduled forFridays and touring generally completed on Saturdays.

Students have unique opportunities to tour privatehomes and sites, as well as receive personal attention ongroup tours. Visitations include such diverse sites ascolonial and antebellum plantation homes, earlychurches, historical botanical gardens, battlefield sites,and significant commercial enterprises, such as theCharleston Tea Plantation. Students visit a general storethat has been in operation continuously since the early1800's by the LeNoir Family of Horatio, South Carolina;and observe the start-to-finish production of a broom bySusan Simpson, of Boykin, South Carolina, as she worksin a restored 1770's slave cabin. They follow theprogress of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment as soldiersmade their way from Fort Wagner (Charleston Harbor)to the burial of four members of the regiment at theNational Cemetery in Florence, South Carolinaa CivilWar "death camp" rivaling Andersonville. Nationalhistoric and affiliated sites, such as Fort Sumter and

Historic Camden, and the South Carolina State Museumand the Sumter County Museum prove invaluable inbringing history to life. Students visit area archives,including Sumter County Genealogical and HistoricalResearch Center and the Camden Archives, to learnmore about research and documentation.

Students are required to produce a journal whichincludes their responses to specific questions overcourse content and represents 40% of the course grade.Journals are individualized projects; photographs,articles, brochures, artwork, poetry, maps, interviews,and any related materials that chronicle the field schoolexperience may be included. Journals are returned, sostudents are encouraged further to invest time andresources to create a personalized, quality production.

Students also are required to prepare a research paperfor 40% of the course grade. The topic selected must beappropriate to the time period and content area of thecourse. The remaining 20% of the course grade is thefinal examstudents review highlights of their researchwith fellow classmates, sharing the specialized researchand completing the course.

Students have researched diverse subjects, includingmedical practices during the Civil War; the developmentof churches and the growth of religious denominationsin the Carolina Backcountry; South Carolina leaders,Thomas Sumter and Francis Marion, and their rolesduring the American Revolution; the various rolesplayed by women (including spies, pirates, managers,authors, and caregivers); the study of Native Americans'and African-Americans' roles in both the AmericanRevolution and the Civil War; and the impact of trans-portation and development along the King's Highway,extending from Charleston, South Carolina, to Char-lotte, North Carolina.

The exposure to local/regional history and therelationships emphasized in these courses has promotedthe popularity of the classes. Local and regional histori-ans and participants donate time, knowledge, andfacilities to provide an optimum learning experience.The courses generally draw students from a variety ofacademic areas, enriching the total course experience.

Instructors providing field school experiences benefit



53

from on-site visitations and opportunities. Viewed as a"return to industry" concept, field schools can provideacademic institutions with direct contacts, exposure forstudents and programs, and a one-of-a-kind educationaland community partnering experience.

Kay M. Stockbridge, Instructor, History and PoliticalScienceRaymond M. Watkins, Chair, Humanities and SocialSciences

For more information, contact the authors atCentral Carolina Technical College, 506 North GuignardDrive, Sumter, SC 29150-2468.e-mail: [email protected]

MAMAGINIG ALL": ASYSTEMAEC APPROACHAWED HEALTH PR

FORAM

Keeping track of a modern-day allied health pro-gram, with increasing numbers of student learningsurveys and research-based accreditation demands,becomes more difficult each year. I have developed a 10-point process that allows me to stay current with allmajor aspects of our physical therapist assistant pro-gram, an outgrowth and marriage of student outcomesand continuous quality improvement concepts.

The 10 areas under consideration contain a plan andreport for:

internal student learning outcomescurriculum reviewstudent selection and gradinglab testing and lab practice methodsclinical site review, skills, and ACCE formsgeneric abilities reviewessential (terminal outcomes) reviewbooks and supplies reviewlab equipment and chemical safety reviewpersonnel / clinical instructor development.

The 10 areas are plotted on a grida visual check-offfor the periodic reviews of each area. We conduct areview every January, and the report is passed along toall staff members and the division director. Someprogram areas are more prone to fail, or change, or aremore vital, so these have been selected for closer moni-toring. For example, student learning and essentialoutcomes, clinical sites and skills, lab safety, and person-nel development are reviewed annually, whereasgeneric abilities and curriculum are reviewed everyother year.

A typical snapshot of headings within a sample areainclude:

title or areaorigination datefrequency of reportpurpose/importance of areaprobable areas of concerntype of data or information collectedobjectives for this areaprocedure for utilizing feedbackcurrent year's report.

Advantages of this "bird's-eye view" of the programare tremendous. Specifically, the system helps thedirector keep track of all areas on a prioritized, periodicbasis. Once the initial problems are identified, the onlypart of the report that changes is the year-to-yearupdate, unless new problems arise during a review. Inaddition, some reports may be combined with otherse.g., student learning outcomes committees andaccreditors. Because each area within the systematiccheck is in a separate file on the computer's hard drive,selecting the desired areas requiring modification ismore efficient and avoids wading through the entire 10-point report.

Sam M. Coppoletti, Director, PTA Program

For further information, contact the author at San JuanCollege, 601 College Blvd., Farmington, NM 87402.e-mail: [email protected]





Innovation Abstracts (ISSN 0199-106X) is published weekly following the fall and spring terms ofthe academic calendar, except Thanksgiving week, by the National Institute for Staff and Organiza-tional Development (NISOD), Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, SZB348, Austin, Texas 78712-1293, (5121 471-7545. Periodicals Postage Paid at Austin, Texas.POSTMASTER: $,ezodciddress changes to Innovation Abstracts, The University of Texas at Austin,SZB 348, Austin, .TX 78712-1293. Email: sroueche©mail.utexas.edu


N/SOD INNOVATIONABSTRACTS

Published by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) College of Education c The University of Texas at Austin

1CUCONG TEE FAMILY TIMMEETEG MAE IESEARCH QOM 0lCOMPOSMION

My own interest in tracing my family tree beganwhen my grandfather passed away in 1993, leaving mygrandmother as the closest link to my ancestry. I discov-ered some very old family portraits and photographswhen sorting through my grandparents' belongings.Some of the pictures were of my grandparents in theiryouth. While I could not identify other subjects in thephotographs, I could piece together my own reflectionin one person's eyes and another person's smile. Thesepeople staring back at me, dressed in clothing fromanother era, were unmistakably part of my geneticmakeup. Even though the photographs sparked myinterest, I didn't feel the time was right to discuss thefaces and the contexts of the settings. I waited until theweekend of July 4, 2000, to sit down with my grand-mother and spread the photographs on her kitchentable.

With the information I gathered from the hours spentwith her, I started tracing my family tree. While devel-oping my faculty website, I began scanning the oldphotographs and building pages and links. My websiteallows my students to view a sample family tree and tolink to other website resources.

Writing about TreesThe research paper requirements are simple. Students

must trace either their maternal or paternal side backthree generations, counting themselves as one genera-tion. They must cite sources and make connectionsbetween events in their families to events in history. Forexample, my grandfather was a veteran of World War II.As I write about his experiences in the war, I cite sourcesdetailing facts or figures in the broader scope of thishistorically significant period. If students cannot maketheir own historical connections, they may choose todiscuss major trends, such as in technology.

I am aware of the sensitive nature of using private

lives as subject matter for course papers, so I givestudents the option of choosing another assignedresearch topic of equal breadth and depth. But, moststudents choose the family research paper to share theirpersonal narratives and perspectives of major events inhistory.

Other sensitive issues include the following:Students in my classroom come from diverse ethnic,

racial, cultural, and religious backgrounds. If they feel theirfamily tree has been marred by events in history such asslavery or the Holocaust, they may react strongly. Beforebeginning library research they should try to be asobjective as possible about factual information, but Iurge them to express their own thoughts and feelings,too. Students usually appreciate the chance to discusshistorical events from different perspectives than thosein textbooks.

Students may be adopted and not know their biologicalparents. This assignment typically does not send stu-dents on a quest to find information about their biologi-cal parents, nor would the semester provide enoughtime to meet the assignment's requirements. Instead,most students who have been adopted choose to focuson the parents who have adopted them.

Students have divorced biological parents and come fromblended families. Many students discuss the divorce oftheir parents as a "trend" or reality of the times, al-though not necessarily an event in history. Some havebeen able to place their parents' divorces, or their own,in the context of statistics describing the phenomenon ofdivorce in this country.

Students have no idea where to start. They go to mywebsite and see how I began my project. We take a tourof the library and search reference tools with the help ofthe reference librarians. I provide students with a blanktree to be completed with names, dates, and relation-ships, and submitted with their papers.

The goal of fulfilling the research component of thiscourse is met upon completion of the project. Studentsbecome more interactive with historical timelines,making connections between global events and theirown family units. Some even walk away from thiscourse with a new hobby, having caught the genealogy



"bug" and wanting to do more advanced family re-search. Family tree research is a valuable opportunity toidentify an exciting new interest.

Michele N. Costanza, Adjunct Associate Professor

For further information, contact the author at JohnsonCounty Community College, 12345 College Blvd. OCB204, Overland Park, KS 66210.e-mail: [email protected] the author's website at http: / /staff.jccc.net/mcostanz

PULAMIG M TEACH Of UNECOU1SB

Interest in online courses for the delivery of highereducation has increased significantly and reflects thecurrent challenges of increased operating costs, decreas-ing traditional student enrollments, fewer traditionalfinancial support streams, and the like. Yet, onlinedelivery also offers faculty an opportunity to enhanceeducational collaboration with peers at their own andother community colleges.

We studied the learning strategies of faculty prepar-ing to teach online. Three forms of learning emerged:informal, incidental, and experiential. Informal learningoccurred when faculty (a) accessed resources; (b) learnedfrom mentors or role models, and discussed with peers;(c) researched the Internet and reviewed others' coursesonline; and (d) learned as a result of a specific need orresponse. Incidental learning occurred with hands-onexperiences. Faculty learned computer skills and multi-tasking techniques. They also learned by trial and error,by listening and discussing with colleagues and peers.Experiential learning occurred in workshops, attendingconferences, and from past experiences. Faculty sharp-ened their computer skills through insight and knowl-edge.

The "non-knowledge base of technology" did notdeter faculty from learning online delivery. Faculty feltsecure in their content areas, and they were excitedabout learning something new. Self-directed learnerswere proactive in their learning, had an experimentalattitude about trying new behaviors and testing out newideas, and actively sought out resources to help withtheir online course delivery methods.

Benefift/Dm ph) 41

Faculty need to support, share, and work together asteams while learning about online delivery. Sharing

successes, failures, and frustrations encourages cohe-siveness and provides learning opportunities in a timelymariner.

Faculty who choose to learn online course deliveryreport that time commitments are inordinate, compensa-tion is not equal to that for traditional classroom instruc-tion, and campus workloads are not lightened becauseof this new method of reaching students. Yet, facultywho learned online learning early on were proud to beamong the pioneers in this new field.

Our study documented that (a) learning is a processno matter one's age or position; (b) learning is a processof improvement for one's self-worth and marketability;(c) faculty are active learners and share through collabo-ration, responsibility, and mutual respect for each other;(d) the learning process revolves around a communityof learning; and (e) learning strategies are varied andflexible, based upon individual learning needs.

Faculty should learn about theories, concepts, andinstructional designs prior to designing and / or teachingan online course. Opportunities to develop and managean online course under the guidance of a lead instructorare especially useful, as well.

Phyllis J. Broughton, Chairman, Office Systems Technol-ogy

For further information, contact the author at PittCommunity College, P. 0. Drawer 7007, Greenville, NC27835. e-mail: [email protected]


October 20, 2000, Vol. )0(11, No. 24©The University of Texas at Austin, 2000



Innovation Abstracts (ISSN 0199-106X) is published weekly following the fall and spring terms ofthe academic calendar, except Thanksgiving week, by the National Institute for Staff and-Organiza-tional Development (NISOD), Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, SZB348, Austin, Texas 78712-1293,(512) 471-7545. Periodicals Postage Paid at Austin, Texas.POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Innovation Abstracts, The University of Texas at Austin,SZB 348, Austin, D( 78712-1293. Email: [email protected]

56

Volume XX!!, Number 25

IVISOD INNOVATIONCTS


COMM BDNG UTERZUTECHNOLOGY

For several years now I have been interested in usingtechnology as a tool in the classroom. Like many others,the problem for me became one of process vs. content. Istruggled with what to leave out of my syllabus in orderto make room for the instruction students would need.In addition, I had doubts about the overall value ofusing media, for instance, in teaching analysis; but Iknew that the students would be more interested inanalyzing a television show than they would a shortstory. I decided to combine my love of literature withmy curiosity about using technology. The challenge forme was to ensure that the skills that I thought werevaluable in a literature class would get just as muchattention while the students were watching televisionand reading advertisements as they would in a tradi-tional literature course.

Fortunately, each time I would try a new approach, Iwould learn something of value. I became interested inissues that affected both males and females, and thatinterest led me to issues about the family: how it haschanged, why it has changed, how real our perceptionswere of the family of the past, and how real our expecta-tions are of the family of today or the future. Thisinterest, combined with my growing interest in howstudents learn, became a catalyst for a new and differentcourse that focused on family issues.

A Different CourseIn this course, in addition to reading short stories,

plays, and poetry, we examine how the family is por-trayed in other media. The courseFamily Matters inLiterature, Television and Advertisingis arrangedchronologically. First, we read short stories written inthe '50s and early '60s, analyzing and examining howfamilies looked then. We make inferences about theroles of males and females, based on our readings andtelevision shows that are specifically about families'lives, problems, and solutions. We watch the early"Ozzie and Harriet," "I Love Lucy," "The Honeymoon-

ers," and "Andy Griffith" shows. We look at how theimages changed from genre to genre. Looking forpervasive images, we begin to discover the stereotypesinherent in the stories. Before moving on, we examinecommercialsmostly television commercialsand afew print ads. We analyze the messages the ads conveyand try to determine to whom an ad is pitched. Usingour constructed list of stereotypical traits, we identifyways in which the ads either reinforced or underminedthese stereotypes.

In the second section of the course, we use literature,domestic comedies, and advertisements from the '70sand '80s. Before beginning our readings, we discuss andbrainstorm historical events that took place between the'60s and '70s, paying particular attention to events thatwould influence the family. Following the formermodel, we make inferences about the values of thesociety of those decades, examining all of the texts forstereotypes. We determine if the stereotypes havepersisted, changed, or disappeared; if they havechanged, we note the ways in which they have changed.At this point in the semester, the students are applyingliterary terms and strategies to their discussions andanalyses of the short stories, and applying those con-cepts to the texts of the television shows and the adver-tisements.

The final section of the course examines very recentliterature, television shows, and advertisements. Thelast few classes are devoted to students' projects.

The Semester ProiectIn addition to completing the readings and analyzing

ads and televisions shows, every student has to com-plete a semester project. Although the project has broadperimeters, each student must give an oral presentationas part of this project. The projects are fascinating anddiverse. Some students choose to write a traditionalresearch paper, some create storyboards for advertise-ments, and others make videos that contrast or comparetelevision shows of the past and present. Some createvisual or audio tapes of music to illustrate the values ofthe culture; some trace the evolution of a specific type ofadvertisement from the '50s to the present. One student,

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD) o Community College Leadership Program

Department of Educational Administration 0 College of Education, The University of Texas at Austin, 28 348, Austin, Texas 78712-1293

57

for instance, looked at how Marlboro has had to changethe images in its ads in reaction to the anti-smokingcampaigns of the '80s and '90s. Last year, some studentsexamined the lyrics and images in several videos onMTV. They contrasted the lyrics and images with othermusic-video shows, one of which used an "oldies"video format and the other a country-western. Theymade their comparisons, taking into consideration thestereotypes that we had gathered.

Exposing students to critical thinking skills throughvarious media does not mean that students cannot beexposed to traditional, classical texts. The confidencethat they gain in their analysis skills will make theirexposure to denser, possibly more difficult, texts lessthreatening.

It is important that faculty communicate to studentsthe reasons that some texts have remained classics overtime. Students learn most effectively when they canrelate the material they are learning to their own lives.They can do this only if they learn to read all types oftexts.

Phyllis Gleason, Professor, Humanities

For further information, contact the author at MiddlesexCommunity College, 33 Kearney Square, Lowell, MA08152-1987.e-mail: [email protected]

Twanirthird (ennuallNTERNAVIONAL CONFERENCE ON

MACH G 4 LEADERS 0p EXCELLENCEMAY 27-30, 200' ALMN, UEXAS

Keyn.te SpeakersGeorge Boggs, President, American Association ofCommunity Colleges (Washington, DC)"The View from Here: What's Ahead for Teaching andLearning in Community Colleges"

Sandra Acebo, Superintendent/President, Butte-GlennCommunity College District (CA)"Fulfilling the Highest Promise of Higher Education"

Preconference Sernhmrs

* Power in Partnerships: The College as a Centepieceof the Community

* Orientation to Excellence in 18 Hours: New FacultyDevelopment Program

* Improving Student Motivation

* Selecting and Hiring Faculty Who Can Succeed

* Mind Mapping: The Route to Higher Mental Perfor-mance

* Leadership: The "Honorable" Thing To Do

* We're Not Selling Ketchup, But...Non-TraditionalMarketing Approaches That Attract Non-TraditionalStudents

Leadergip Devekparzeng DaprMrteni]. ChairsDealing with Difficult FacultyJim Hammons, Professor of Higher Education, Universityof Arkansas

Selecting and Keeping Stellar Department ChairsKatherine Persson, Vice President for Education Programsand Student Development, Kingwood College (TX)

Program StrandsTeaching/Learning Career DevelopmentLeadership Development Teamship Development

N/SOD'1,4 For more conference information:

hftp://[email protected]






58


MSOD INNOVATIONPublished by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) a College of Education The University of Texas at Austin

SPAMIL lEASOMNG A a'IF' SUCCESS ON PHYNCSEDUCATDON

A recent study of Albert Einstein's brain by Canadianscientist Sandra Witelson of McMaster University inHamilton, Ontario, has found that his parietal lobe, aregion of the brain's cerebral cortex, is 15% wider thanthat of the normal human brain. Her research alsodiscovered that Einstein's brain had no parietal opercu-lumwhich allowed for the expansion of the parietallobe. Other than these distinguishing features, AlbertEinstein's brain is quite normal.

Scientists know that the brain's parietal lobe pro-cesses spatial reasoningthe ability to visualize,perceive, and mentally rotate three-dimensional im-agesand abstract thought. Einstein relied on theseabilities to visualize space, time, and distance to develophis theories of relativity. Damage to the parietal lobescauses abnormalities in left-right orientation and mapreading, and affects one's ability to do math, and abilityto stay oriented in familiar places.

Research conducted at Rutgers University andCamden County College helped clarify the nature of therelationship between visual-spatial abilities andachievement in physics courses, and the influencevisual-spatial abilities have on the high attrition rate inmany introductory college-level physics courses.Findings suggested that spatial reasoning was impor-tant to success in college physics.

This research included three sections of introductorycollege-level physics (S=136) and one section of non-science liberal arts (S=52). Students received pre- andpost-measures of visual-spatial ability in the areas ofperception, orientation, and visualization. The greatestincreases in visual-spatial abilities occurred in anexperimental section that received spatial skills inter-ventionspecifically, test items that utilized graphicalform and were related to laboratory work. Substantialgains in visual-spatial ability were registered by controlphysics sections, also. These increases suggested that

taking introductory physics improves visual-spatialabilities and that science teachers should balancelaboratory experiments that depend on computersoftware with those that demand physical performance.Although students who withdrew from the courseduring this study demonstrated mathematics skillscomparable to those who completed the course, theirscores on spatial tests were appreciably lower.

Courses frequently cover an extensive range ofsubject matter and present content in an abstract andquantitative forma characteristic of science courses, ingeneral, and of introductory college-level physics, inparticular. In these courses, the dropout and failure ratesare uncommonly high. College physics courses relyheavily on drawings, diagrams, and graphs to presentand analyze physical phenomena. The visual-spatialabilities of students exposed to spatial skills interven-tion, as well as those successfully completing a labora-tory-based physics course, improved. Increases wererealized in areas of perception, orientation, and visual-izationthe same skills that Einstein used to develophis theories of relativity.

Students' organization and analysis skills, and theirskill in generating abstractions, must be developed. Theprocesses associated with spatial-visual thought appearto be related closely to those involved in data analysis,as well as to those utilized in abstract representation.Elementary school educators should test for and de-velop spatial abilities in the early grades, followed bylaboratory experiences to enhance them.

Fred P. Seeber, Professor, Physics

For further information, contact the author at CamdenCounty College, Box 200, Blackwood, NJ 08050.e-mail: [email protected]



59

COLUBORIMON C. UT

71INKING

As I looked for ways to revamp my English I and IIcomposition courses, I decided to throw out everythingand start over. I chose six essays for each unit covering adifferent writing style. The first three were discussed inclass; the discussions were divided into introductionsand challenges. For example, I introduced an essay,"Sticks and Stones and Sports Team Names" (Estrada),by asking students to list three names used in Iowa thatmay be construed as racist. They created a lengthy list,including Hawkeye, Redskin, Brave, and Chickasaw. Atthis point we only had a list. I asked the class to respondto the following questions: How can an ethnic name be aslur and paradoxically admiring? What does the term"political correctness" mean? Have demeaning names"hurt" you at any time? What question would you liketo ask the author?

Then, I divided the class into groups of five studentseach, let them work on their questions for 20 minutes,and then had them return for a group discussion. Thestudents developed some personal responses to theessay that they could incorporate into their own writing.This procedure was followed in the next two classmeetings as the class worked on a common essay.

The work produced for the second assignment waspresented by student groups. Each group had an hourto convey the writing sense and style of an essay to theclass. One group wrote 8-10 questions and asked theclass for verbal responses; then chose a video clip thatreflected the essence of the essay, a song that capturedthe essay's theme, and a work of art that conveyed theconcept of the essay.

This group was discussing the essay "Sex Educationin Our Schools" (Kuhn) and began with questions,including: When did you learn about sex? How did youlearn about sex? What responsibility does the publicschool system have in teaching sex? What formalinstitutions (i.e., school, church) and what informalinstitutions (i.e., peers) are our sex education sourcesand teachers? After a 15-25 minute discussion on thesequestions and others asked by the audience, the groupmoved onto the film clips, an hilarious scene fromVarsity Blues in which the high school sex educationinstructor is trying to be blunt and open in a humorousway about sex-ed terms and the human anatomy, notrealizing that a number of male students were in theaudience the previous night at the strip club where shemoonlighted. This clip raised several questions. Thestudents then turned to the song "Contact" from the

musical Rent, which dealt with sex as a means ofownership. It produced a lively debate from emotionaland political perspectives about how sex-ed should betaught. The group choose Goya's The Naked Maja tocontrast sex as depicted in art in early centuries with sexin this millennium.

Then the group returned to the thesis of the essay,discussed how each of their presentations might becontroversial today, and described parallel controversiesin sex-ed programs. The presentation ended with eachperson in the group commenting on the essay and howcurrent sex-ed programs mirrored or differed from theproposal in the essay. I assigned a group grade for eachproject, with the stipulation that if I felt a student wasnot participating sufficiently, I would adjust the grade.

Most preparation for presentations occurred in class;however, what could not be finished in class wascompleted when the group could arrange to meet. Theresults have developed critical thinking and are invigo-rating, challenging, student-centered, never boring, anda great way to realize the impact of the written word.

Kendall S. Natvig, Assistant Professor, Language Arts

For further information, contact the author at IowaCentral Community College, 330 Avenue M, FortDodge, IA 50501. e-mail: [email protected]


November 3, 2000 Vol. )0(11, No. 26




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Volume mu, umber 27

N/SOD INNOVATIONPublished by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) o College of Education o The University of Texas at Austin

OULORNG ENGLISH WED NTES

Several years ago I entered a new teaching environ-ment: classrooms equipped with Internet access for allstudents and computer projection devices for instruc-tors. Soon, I realized that my methods of teachingdevelopmental and program-level English would haveto adapt to my surroundings.

Today, I explore English web sites with my studentsand observe their reactions. Which sites do they findattractive and accessible? Are these sites also credible,current, interactive, free? These qualities have becomemy criteria for evaluation.

As my students explore English web sites, I hope thatthey develop the critical thinking skills needed toevaluate any web site. Katherine Holmes has developeda web site evaluation exercise (http: / /www.lesley.edu/faculty / kholmes / libguides / eval.html), where studentscan critically assess the "merit" of sites such as Clones'R Us and Whoopee, It's the White House! MaricopaCommunity College (http:/ /www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/ show / what/ eval-act.html) also provides usefulcriteria for evaluation.

Initially, I find that students are drawn to attractivesites offering interactive quizzes. Perhaps the best ofthese sites, Guide to Grammar and Writing (http: / /webster.commnetedu/ HP / pages / darling / grammar /original.htm), belongs to Professor Charles Darling ofCapital Community Technical College. This site featuresover 150 computer-graded quizzes, PowerPoint presen-tations, usage and grammar explanations, and tips forstructuring essays and paragraphs. Clearly, this site hasbeen beneficial to my students, to me, and to trees! Forexample, instead of duplicating handouts for subject-verb agreement or run-on sentences, I can project acolorful quiz on the screen, allow students to debate thecorrect answers, and provide instant feedback to theirquestions. Since students are required to vote on thecorrect answer to each question, their strengths andweaknesses soon become apparent and allow me tofocus instruction. In addition, these quizzes reinforce

my credibility: perhaps other authorities agree with myinstruction!

Although few sites offer interactive quizzes andPowerPoint presentations, many provide ready access toinformation and handouts. Dr. Paul Brians, an Englishprofessor at Washington State University, offers Com-mon Errors in English (http: / /www.wsu.edu/ brians /errors / index.html), a site allowing students to click onexplanations of commonly confused words such asaffect/effect or redundancies such as ATM machine. Iask students to use this site as a novel way to under-stand usage errors, although they could find the sameinformation in their English handbooks. Another site,Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (http:/ /owl.english.purdue.edu/), provides over 130 handoutswith answer keys and includes such topics as punctua-tion, grammar, usage, rhetorical patterns, and research.As long as instructors acknowledge this source, theymay use the handouts. I have cut and pasted exercises toWord documents to provide additional practice for mystudentswith no loss of paper!

Although hundreds of sites offer useful handouts andwriting tips, I'll highlight only seven of them andapologize for not including more. The Paradigm OnlineWriting Assistant (http:/ /www.powa.org/ ) discussesinformal, argumentative, and exploratory essays. Inaddition, it offers useful tips for prewriting, creating athesis statement, and providing support. Students canexplore Brigham Young University's Writing Center(http:/ /humanities.byu.edu/ writingctr /Handouts/indexb.htm) for information about the writing process,punctuation, grammar, and research tips. The Univer-sity of Richmond (http:/ /www.richmond.edu/ writ-ing/ ) provides prewriting activities and informationabout punctuation, sentence structure, and document-ing sources. (Teachers interested in the Writing Acrossthe Curriculum [WAC] philosophy might also check thissite.) Offered through the University of Illinois, theWriter's Workshop (http: / /www.english.uiuc.edu/cws / wworkshop / index.htm) includes a grammarhandbook and writing techniques. In addition, theVirginia Beach Campus of Tidewater Community


Department of Educational Administration o College of Education, The University of Texas at Austin, SIB 348, Austin, Texas 78712-1293

61

College (http: / / www.tc.cc.va.us.writcent/index.htm)and George Mason University (http:/ /www.gmu.edu/departments / writingcenter / handouts.html) offerhandouts about grammar, punctuation, and the writingprocess.

Many of these sites also offer suggestions for writingresearch papers. Clearly, we want students to avoidInternet-lifted research papers and to steer clear of sitessuch as cheathouse.com, cyberessays.com, essayworld.com, and others. We need to make them aware ofthe legitimate resources that they can access. Onecommercial site available through the InfonauticsCorporation (http:/ / www.Researchpaper.com) includesan extensive idea directory for writers. ColumbiaUniversity Press has compiled a useful Guide to OnlineStyle for both APA and MLA formats (http: / /columbia.edu/cu/ cup / cgos / basic.html), just as TroyState University offers Citing the World Wide Web inStyle (http: / / www.tsufl.edu/ library /5 / citation.htm).The Modern Language Association offers the only"official" online MLA site: (http: / / www.mla.org/ ).

Some sites simply provide a humorous look atlanguage problems. We have all seen what spell checkdevices cannot detect, how homonym confusion andmalapropisms have become rampant in our students'papers. As my students explore the Frank and Ernestcomic strip site (www.frankandernest.com), they oftenchuckle at AnimalGrammar and discover malapropismsin Malaprop Man's archives: "Look! Up in the sky! It'sabsurd! It's inane! It's Malaprop Man! I'm going Hi-Trek! I bought this flaptop commuter and am joining theInflammation Age! This has everything.. . Windex 98,Knee Mail, Smell Checker, and Food Processor! Now Ismurf the Internet for evildoers floating around inciderspace! And the only danger to me is getting carpooltunnel syndrome..."(Frank and Ernest, March 28, 1999).

Occasionally, we find humorous misplaced modifiers(church bulletin humor), malapropisms, and otherbloopers in Superteach (http: / / webnz.com/ checkers /Bloop2.html). In my more advanced classes, somestudents enjoy the weekly challenge of the Puzzler fromNational Public Radio: (http: / / www.npr.org/ pro-grams / wesun / puzzle).

Dictionary and thesaurus sites can be useful andoccasionally entertaining. Merriam Webster offers thesepractical, user-friendly resources: http: / / www.m-w.com /thesaurus.htm and http:/ /www.m-w.dictionary.htm. Lexico, a provider of languagelearning services, offers these commercial sites: http: / /www.dictionary.com and http:/ /www.thesaurus.com.The dictionary site offers instant definitions, a Word-for-the-Day feature, a translation link, dated but reveredresources such as Strunk's Elements of Style, and links to

some of my favorite English sites.Numerous sites offer hundreds of English links, but

exploring these lists can be time-consuming and frus-trating. The following sources were my "links" to the"links":

Hansen, Randall, S. Indispensable Writing Re-sources. (http:/ /www.stetson.edu /rhansen/writing.html).

Larson, Gary B. Garbl's Grammar Guides Online. 22(http / / members.home.net.garbl / writing/ ).Madin, Mike. Academic Info:English Studies andESL / EFL.(http: / / www.academicinfo.net/englang.html). (an independent educationaldirectory supported by donations)

National Council of Teachers of English. RTE LinksIndex. (http: / /www.ncte.org/ rte / links /index.html).

Stentor Communications. Language Sites on theInternet. (http: / /pw1.netcom.com/ - rlederer /rllink.htm).

Garbl's Grammar Guides Online, updated on January22, 2000, provided the most direct links to active sites.

As my teaching style evolves with technology, I amtrying to avoid some of the inevitable pitfalls. I havetried to use Internet resources in moderation and tovalue classroom interaction more than interaction withthe computer screen. I have learned the necessity ofbackup plans in case of computer failure and theimportance of checking site addresses the day beforeusing them in class: addresses change frequently! Inaddition, my students have learned that their textbooksmay be more helpful and accessible for some tasks thanquality Internet sites. On the other hand, I acknowledgethat instruction with quality Internet sources appeals totraditional students and provides abundant teachingresources. With these resources, instructors may focusinstruction more effectively and provide students withadditional tools to become more independent andeffective writers.

Peg Ehlen, Instructor, English

For further information, contact the author at Ivy TechState College, 3501 First Avenue, Evansville, IN 47710.e-mail: [email protected]


November 10, 2000, Vol. XXII, No. 27©The University of Texas at Austin, 2000


institutions for their own personal use. 6


Voktme XXBII, Number 28

NISOD INNOVATIONPublished by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) a College of Education o The University of Texas at Austin

IETAINING STUDENTS N ThrSCDENCES

Many students entering college for the first time arenot ready to succeed in college-level science courses,irrespective of their major. Science educators at ourcollege have observed that unsuccessful students inentry-level science courses often have inadequate basicskills, such as poor reading comprehension, weakcomputational skills, and insufficient writing abilities.We were curious about skills and skill levels thatsuccessful students brought to help them pass a begin-ning science course. We decided to study the gradedistribution of students in entry-level biology, chemis-try, physics, astronomy, geography, and geology coursesin relation to their reading, writing, and math levels.

Our study was designed to answer this question:What reading, math, and writing levels are necessary forsuccess with a grade of C or better in entry-level sciencecourses? We also wanted to determine which combina-tions of math, reading, and writing levels are the bestpredictors of success.

We selected 248 students from 10 entry-level sciencecourses, using a random-number-generating program.These courses included General Biology (Majors),Preparation for General Chemistry, Introductory Phys-ics, Biology Concepts, Introductory Chemistry, SolarSystem (Astronomy 1), Physical Geography: Weatherand Climate, Introductory Geology, Human Biology forAllied Health, and Fundamental Chemistry.

Five students from each grade categoryA, B, C, D,and Y IFwere included for each course (in one chemis-try course we found only three D students). Studentwithdrawals (W) were not used (as some non-academicreasons for withdrawal are possible). However, we didinclude the Y grade (instructor withdrawal) becausesome faculty prefer it to giving an F. We had 48%females and 52% males in the study, evenly distributedwithin the different ethnic groups: 59.7% White/ others,29.8% Hispanic, 4.4% Native-American, 3.2% Asian-American, and 2.8% African-American. This samplepopulation reflected the ethnic composition of our

college. Using a chi-square for analysis, we found nobiases of ethnicity or gender by grade level.

The math, reading, and writing levels of thesestudents were determined either by previous coursestaken and passed with a C or better, or by a college-administered assessment test (reading assessment wasthe Nelson-Denny Reading Test; math and writingassessments were created internally by faculty).

We used a chi-square statistical analysis with cross-tabulations of variables in two-way tables to makegroup comparisons. This method was appropriate to thestratified random sample in which we investigated therelationship between past curricular experience andpresent science classroom performance. [This analysisreveals the probability of a relationship between twovariablesfor example, the relationship betweenprevious math and current science grades.]

Reading level had a significant relationship with thefive grade categories, indicating that the most successfulscience students performed well at the highest readinglevels. More than 75% of all students reading at orabove the 15th grade level were successful (C or better);and of all students reading at 13th or 14th grade level,60.6% were successful.

Math level also had a significant relationship with thefive grade categories; the most successful sciencestudents had completed a course above intermediatealgebra. More than 75% of these students were success-ful; of all students completing only intermediate alge-bra, 60.4% were successful.

We also found a significant relationship betweencombined reading and math levels and success in thesciences. Students reading at the 13th grade or higherwere much more successful in the sciences if they hadcompleted a course above intermediate algebra. Of allstudents with this combination, 82.1% were successful.

We were unable to reach a firm conclusion about theinfluence of writing on success in the sciences. This maybe due to the fact that nearly 75% of all studentssampled were already at or above the Writing I level(freshman composition).

Our conclusion was that a combination of readingand math proficiency is a strong predictor of success in


Department of Educational Administration o College of Education, The University of Texas at Austin, SIB 348, Austin, Texas 78712-1293

63

the sciences. The findings from our study indicated thatstudents reading at least at 13th grade level who hadcompleted a math course above intermediate algebrahad an 82% success rate in their entry-level science class.

RecorrumenziotOonsWe recommend to interested students, counselors,

and program planners that students enrolling in entry-level science courses should have:

,A minimum of 13th grade reading-level proficiencyto enroll in entry-level science courses.Successful completion of a course at or above theintermediate algebra level before taking any entry-level science course.

O Successful completion of freshman composition orhigher.

L. Yvonne Maluf, Instructional Faculty, BiologyCynthia A. Arem, Instructional Faculty, Psychology,and Chair, Social Sciences

For further information, contact the authors at PimaCommunity College, West Campus, 2202 West AnklamRoad, Tucson, AZ 85709-0001.e-mail: [email protected]@pimacc.pima.edu

MAMMY TES- G

Can testing be a learning tool, a medium for poolingideas and concepts, or a situation where students caninternalize information learned and retain more? Open-note and group tests can offer such learning opportuni-ties.

O4fl© TeasSome instructors argue that open-note tests compro-

mise effectiveness because students do not have to learnthe materialit is "all right there in front of them." Well,is it really there? How do we or our students know thattheir class notes will be useful resources? Studentsshould be encouraged to take notes and given a methodby which to judge the effectiveness of their note-taking.Review students' notes, make suggestions for improve-ment, lead students through note-taking exercises, andoffer them opportunities to judge their note-takingmethods. Employed early in the semester, this testingformat allows time for students to diagnose, practice,and improve their techniques.

Group TeasStudents are either organized into assigned groups or

choose their own. Students may work through examquestions with others or work individually and thenshare their results. In the group-testing format, studentsteach the procedures they use to work the problem,verbalizing their processes and results.

Students indicate that group testing reduces anxietyand increases their ability to concentrate. They reportthat in explaining problems to group members, theygain a better understanding of what they are doing, gainconfidence in doing it, and feel proud of their perfor-mance.

Expanding LearnOng OpporiunifiesNot every test is appropriate for the group- or open-

note format. However, the ultimate goal is achievingvaluable learning outcomes that will continue beyondthe classroom.

Monica J. Baker, Instructor, Mathematics

For further information, contact the author at CoconinoCommunity College, 3000 N. Fourth Street, Suite 17,P.O. Box 80000, Flagstaff, AZ 86003-8000.e-mail: [email protected]


November 17, 2000, Vol. XXII, No. 28©The University of Texas at Austin, 2000



64



NISOD INNOVATION

Published by the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) College of Education o The University of Texas at Austin

Old CAMPUSIONWHEz in

OF BM WOILDSBEST

After 32 years as a community college teacher, Irecently discovered a delightful paradox that haschanged the way I teach and the way I think aboutteaching: Certain tools for distance learning, whenintroduced into the traditional classroom, are alsopowerful tools for bringing students in traditional on-campus classes closer together. And best of all, thesimplest online tools are often the most effective.

I teach classes in literature, philosophy, logic, andcomposition; but online forums, the topic of this article,can apply to almost any college class. And they are veryeasy to usefor teachers and students. The discussionforum allows the most harried student another opportu-nity to join the learning community. This is true even ifthe student has to join the discussion late at night whenthe children are finally asleep or after returning homefrom work shortly before midnight.

We hear a lot these days about the tremendouspotential for high-speed, asynchronous communication.We are told that with the growth of broadband, high-speed access, educators will soon be doing all sorts offantastic things online with voice, pictures, and text. Butas great as that may be, we have something better rightnowspeed and bandwidth are not important issueswith asynchronous discussion forums.

For years educators have been looking for ways topromote classroom community. Discussion boardsprovide a simple way for students and teachers tointeractand best of all, this learning community can beaccessed from home and is open 24 hours a day, sevendays a week. These are not the hectic chat rooms thatcan often resemble the frenetic floor of the New YorkStock Exchange. The discussion board is an asynchro-nous site, where students read and respond to ideasfrom teachers and fellow students.

For the past year I have watched the tools for dis-tance learning bring my on-campus students closertogether. During the first few days of every semester, Ienroll students in a password-secured, online environ-

ment that allows them to communicate asynchro-nouslyanytime day or night. And every student cangain Internet access, most from home and a few fromthe library or computer lab. Nearly everyone takes to itimmediately.

Teachers' options in this arena are rapidly expanding.Our college uses the Blackboard platform for distancelearning, but there are many others. Most offer free trialperiodse.g., WebCt and eCollege. Some faculty createMOOs or use existing online listservs. Norton sells apackage that allows students to purchase a year's accessto an online classroom, controlled by the teacher, foraround $20 (less than the cost of most textbooks). Sowhether one's college subscribes to an online platformor not, almost anyone can create an online discussionboard for students.

It seems reasonable, with any online assignment, toask this question first: Will this medium allow me to dosomething better than I now do it in a traditionalclassroom? The answer is a resounding, yes! I haveobserved for years that many students, excellent inevery other way, find it difficult to respond in a class-room setting. This fact has not stopped my attempts atclassroom discussions, but I have seen the onlinediscussion board give these reluctant students an outletthat allows them time to communicate in a more consid-ered, thoughtful, meaningful way.

For example, discussion forums have had a bigimpact on my philosophy classes. I have replaced oneof our required papers with a semester-long series ofquestions to the discussion boardposting a new set ofquestions every two or three weeks. Students are giventime to respond to these questions about the philoso-phers and ideas we are currently studying and to theremarks posted by their peers (required). These discus-sion board exchanges are almost always more interest-ing, thorough, and thoughtful than the typical class-room responses. Frankly, I have been "blown over" bysome of the insightful responses of students whoappeared too timid to provide more than a ten-wordresponse in the classroom. It has changed my evaluationprocess. I now have new insights into my students'critical thinking skills.

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD) o Community College Leadership Program

Department of Educational Administration o College of Education, The Uniyersity_pf Texas at Austin, SIB 348, Austin, Texas 78712-1293

6 5

Another advantage of the discussion board is that itis an ideal place for discovery writing across all disci-plines, the kind of writing-to-learn effort where studentstend to show less concern about correctness and to focusmore on the ideas they are trying to communicate.Online, when students make mistakes in matters ofform, no one gets too upsetthe focus is on the ideas.Participation in a discussion forum seems to contributeto an attitude of trust among the participants.

That is why I consider this the best of both worlds:While we strive to make each class a lively and signifi-cant learning experience, we can add a layer of commu-nication and response that was not easy to access before.On our community college campus, where manystudents often commute 25 to 30 miles each way, theonline community is a powerful new ally.

I sometimes think nostalgically of the 500-mileautomobile trips we took on two-lane roads tograndma's house in the 1950s. I still make that trip tomy mother's house, but I seldom take the two-laneroad. The expressway works better most of the time. Wemay soon look back on some of our twentieth centuryteaching methods with the same nostalgia, but if thenew information highway becomes the road of choice, itwill do so because it works better than the old roads.

The discussion forum is a road that takes me places Inever traveled beforeand I like what I see. I offer threepractical suggestions for asynchronous discussionforums:

1. Establish guidelines that clearly state dates andtimes that each project and each response must beposted. Give ample time to respond.

2. Make students' contributionspostings andresponses to postingsa significant part of the coursegrade. But do not just add this on top of an already fullschedule.

3. Establish a clearly defined penalty for any postingnot submitted on timebecause late postings will affectthe opportunities for others in the class to respond in atimely fashion.

Odeas for Discussion-Board AdiviNesLast spring, about 25 percent of our faculty voluntar-

ily attended a workshop devoted to the use of discus-sion forums across the curriculum. A few of the poten-tial discussion-board activities generated in that work-shop are listed here.

1. We learn best what we can teach. The same holdstrue for our students. The discussion board can providean opportunity to have students post a lesson thatteaches others a key concept in the course: politicaltheories, nursing procedures, grammar rules, mathsolutions, etc. The discussion board is also a good place

to have other students reply to and evaluate their peers'lessons.

2. Post early drafts of all papers for peer review. Thisworks best if the teacher provides a very specific rubricto guide the peer reviewone that requires more than"yes" or "no" answers. (If your campus has a writingcenter, these drafts can be available to trained writingtutors instantly.)

3. Post a question of the week (or day). After eachclass or after each week, students may be assigned topost a response such as, "What I learned this week(today) and things about which I am still not clear." Thisassignment can require classmates to try clarifyinginformation for their peers. The instructor can reviewthis site while planning the next day's or week's classes.

4. The instructor can post a problem to the forum andhave students solve it, then have other students critiquetheir peers' solutions.

5. Post a controversial argument. Have half of theclass refute the argument and the other half refute thefirst half's response.

6. Post a topic and use the discussion board as a sitefor students to brainstorm ideas related to the assign-ment by making lists, clustering ideas, listing usefulInternet links, etc.

7. Conduct a debate or a trial online: assign studentsto a position for the debate or assign some to prosecuteand others to defend.

John Holladay, Instructor, Humanities Division

For further information, contact the author at MonroeCounty Community College, 1555 South RaisinvilleRoad, Monroe, MI 48161.e-mail: [email protected]


December 1, 2000, Vol. XXII, No. 29©The University of Texas at Austin, 2000


institutions for their own personal use. 66


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