Pedagogical Improvement

(Click on the title of this blog post to read another blog called Educational Insanity, where one of our colleagues in U.S. higher education claims he is working at being a public intellectual; his topic for the referenced blog entry is "Pedagogical Improvement.")

Once again, as we did in the Spring of 2008, we--the faculty in the School of Arts & Sciences-- are going to observe each other teaching. The purpose of this exercise will be improving our pedagogies, that is finding new teaching strategies that might enhance our classroom performance.

Just a Google or two could convince you that King College is not the only place where the pendulum has swung over the the "Learning" and "Outcomes" side of the Teaching/Learning arc. One site posted to the WWW by University of Western Australia Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning is called "Collective Improvement of Teaching: some ideas..."
This UWA site gives a number of suggestions.

Virtual Conversation
One that intrigues me is joining a listserv in your discipline or pedagogical area. Some of you may already be signed up to one or more discussion groups. Here's a pitch from the UWA: "Join an email discussion list in order to share questions and experience about your teaching through email exchanges with other like minded individuals." We are a small college; some of our departments only have one or two professors. Tapping into broader conversations in our fields can give us new ideas and/or help us realize why we embrace the positions we hold.

"One example of such a list is AAHESGIT, a highly moderated electronic discussion list from the American Association of Higher Education, focusing on new resources, insights, and challenges about improving teaching and learning with technology in higher education — both within and across institutions. 3-5 carefully selected & edited messages are sent each week. To subscribe to AAHESGIT, send the message “Subscribe AAHESGIT yourfirstname yourlastname” to: listproc@list.cren.net"

Peer Observation
The UWA site also suggests peer observation as a reliable way to broaden our scope. It's hard to sit in someone else's classroom and not think about our own practices and approaches to content or skills. The UWA site also stresses the significance of mentoring each other after the observations as part of the growth process.

The writer offers, "Get together with a colleague. Video a sample of your teaching; review this with a colleague. Sit in on a sample of her/his teaching (lectures, tutorials, or some other learning activity) and provide supportive, constructive feedback."

Our process will be a little different from doing video of ourselves or each other. However, we will include the mentoring piece. You may already have heard about this from your department chair. Here are the instructions for full-time faculty (part-time teachers may participate, but are not required to do so).

1. Choose a partner (selection of a partner is up to you, but please pick someone you did not pair with in 2008; perhaps you might elect to work with someone outside your discipline).
2. Make a plan, choosing class to visit, day and time.
3. Decide when you will meet for conversation and reflection.
4. Fill out the Intention Form. You may send it to me by email attachment, drop it in Campus Mail, or bring it to my office by February 5.
5. Observe your colleague, watching for strategies that work well--things you might be able to incorporate into a lesson in one of your classes.
6. Meet for conversation at the time you both agreed to.
7. Fill out the simple Reflection Form and get that to me by March 22.
   

The two forms are posted on Blackboard.
King College Faculty Workspace/School Folders/Peer Observation...

Cartoon found on a site called "Literacy Cafe"

Your Concerns--One

The blog seems a good way to address some of the items mentioned in our meeting at the beginning of the semester.

1. A Campus Policy on Plagiarism
We have a well-articulated policy on academic dishonesty in the Student Handbook. You will find it on page 35.
We might want to discuss ways to apply the guidelines more universally across different kinds of courses, but we do not need to invent a policy.

2. The Academic Calendar
We are moving toward making fall, spring, and summer semesters equal in terms of class days. The goal is to have 14 full weeks of classes and one week of exams.

Making our fall "vacation" occur the week of Thanksgiving means that all students and faculty, traditional and GPS, will have the same days off. It wreaks havoc with the GPS program to have part of a week off in October (which is in one of the 5-week modules) and part of a week off in November (which is in another of the modules).

This plan means that 45 weeks of the year are used for academic endeavors. Fall and spring semesters have a one-week vacation--47 weeks.

Another goal is to have at least a week between spring and summer as well as between summer and fall. That's two more weeks--49.

The remaining time is a longer break of 3 weeks at Christmas. That puts us at 52, the magic number. Or, we could take a week off in the summer for July 4th and fewer days at Christmas.

Details for this master plan are still under discussion: Should we start every semester on a Monday? Should we keep a Reading Day in the calendar? When are grades due to the Registrar?

3. What about RELG 1001, "Foundations of Christian Thought and Practice"?
There is a meeting scheduled this week to look at the data we collected from students and teaching faculty related to this class. The information we learned from Tim Clydesdale's book and lecture may also play into our discussion about what is appropriate and reasonable for freshmen.

The course will continue to be the cornerstone of the freshman year experience at King College, but the specifics of the course may be altered some.

We are also looking at other aspects of the New Core to make sure we are doing the best we can to reach the outcomes we have articulated. Scheduling is an important part of making the Core functional; we will be looking closely at the Course Offering late in February to try to make it easier for advisors and students to find appropriate scheduling options. Several new courses have been approved for inclusion in the Human Creative Products category by the CCAWG and are up for consideration by the Curriculum Committee at their February meeting.

4. Re-visiting criteria for the R.T.L. Liston Award
Even before this question was raised in our meeting, Tracy Parkinson and Matt Peltier had constituted an ad hoc committee to review the criteria for King's most prestigious academic award. Some of you may be on that committee which will examine this question: "Should an honor code violation of any sort take a student out consideration for the Liston Award even if he/she has the highest G.P.A. in the graduating class?"

Image is the cover of one of Mary Englebreit's 2010 Calendars retrieved from the Barnes and Noble website.

Perspective

Remarks prepared for the Meeting of Arts & Sciences Teaching Faculty on January 11, 2010
(Click on the title; it's a link to a very cool perspective!)

As we begin the new semester, it's time for looking back with satisfaction and looking ahead with anticipation. We are the heart of King College, the touchstone for all that happens here. Our strengths as a School are impressive.

We love our disciplines--enough to devote great time and energy to study, to class preparation, to research, to writing, to speaking. None of us can imagine our lives without the strong connection to a particular body of knowledge and practice. Our disciplines frame our worlds and define our identities.

We like students--enough to spend many hours with them. We engage students in class, in our offices, over email and even on trips that we don't really have to take. None of us can imagine our lives without the strong connections to students. We live for the teachable moments when students catch balls we have thrown,...and throw them back!

We embrace academia--enough to attend odysseys of the mind like chapels, convocations, concerts, plays, college athletic events, and academic conferences.

What's next? How do we build on these strengths? A new semester always gives each of us a chance to re-invent ourselves in ways that people in other professions can only dream about. Tomorrow we begin again. We have the opportunity to start fresh with students we have never met. We have a chance to "do it right" and to win some converts. I have high hopes for us this semester.

First, I would like to see us take up Tim Clydesdale's challenge and become public intellecutals. We need to leave the comfort zone of our campus on the hill and enter the public arena. We should take the knowledge and insight our lifetime of study has fostered and make our cases, practice our crafts, and share our expertise in the broader community of Bristol and beyond. There are those among us who are already bearing light abroad: Pat Flannagan is involved with local choral groups, Dale Brown serves on the public library board, Ray Bloomer works with the Bristol Astronomy Club, Vanessa Fitsanakis speaks at the hospital, Richard Moyer works to educate area farmers and consumers, Jim McClanahan preaches to Holston Presbytery congregations, and Craig Mc Donald volunteers with Habitat for Humanity. We should look for even more opportunities to speak from our informed perspectives and to work side by side with others through volunteering.

Second, I want us to recruit students for our programs. Last spring we increased our numbers dramatically. However, in May we also lost students to graduation. So, we need to swell our ranks once again. Our best tool for doing this is the Core classes we teach. No students take business, education, or nursing classes for Core Curriculum credit. We have the distinct advantage here because all King College students pass through our classrooms. In fact, it's rare that a transfer student has every Core class checked off when he or she arrives at King. Can we spin the disciplines we love into winsome constructions that students not only visit in a Core class, but inhabit for a lifetime? Think Disneyworld, think the National Cathedral, think the U.S. Capitol Building, think the U. S. Supreme Court, think Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water, think Avatar.

Third, I exhort us all to strive for excellence in our classrooms. We must model life-long learning, one of our cherished values, by learning ourselves. New pedagogies, new technologies, new techniques must not intimidate us. We need to continue what works and have the courage to discard what doesn't.

Finally, I want us to get a share of the GPS pizza pie. We now have the Bachelor of Technology, our first GPS program in the School of Arts & Sciences. For the first time, we as a school have non-traditional students earning degrees. We need to explore other options. Designing and implementing programs for adult students is a way for us to grow and even to add faculty. We are a creative group; we can do this! If you are interested in helping chart our direction toward one of more new GPS programs, let me know.

Many of you are already involved with teaching Pathway or Quest courses; you understand both the significant challenges and the great rewards of working with non-traditional adult learners. In the past we have provided--without a lot of credit or support--the liberal arts "toppings" for the pie. Now it's time for us to make whole pizzas and even to offer home delivery.

We are poised here overlooking the new semester. Today is about possibilities not constraints. I challenge you to think outside the box this semester. Put on a new attitude. Remember why you chose your discipline, your profession,...and proselytize!

Christmas Blessings?

If blessings come at Christmas, are they Christmas Blessings? We have had abundant good news lately, especially from the SACS Annual Meeting in Atlanta on December 8. We are reaffirmed. Reaching that goal has taken the lion's share of my time for the last two years. I am delighted with this news.

I am stopping, at least for the holiday break, to take a breath before we all begin again to think carefully about the assessment that must be ongoing from now until forever. We are being monitored (watched VERY closely and held responsible to do what we have said we will do) on two standards: 3.3.1 Institutional Effectiveness (which is shorthand for assessment of our programs) and 3.5.1 College-Level Competencies (shorthand for Core Curriculum assessment).

The Arts and Sciences Christmas Progressive Dinner was another rich blessing (pun intended!). Thanks to the Bloomers and Simosons for hosting and special gratitude to Andrea who coordinated and set up for the dessert in the Hall of Fame Room. Fellowship was warm, and the food was delicious. We are already talking about next year.

A vacation from classes and ungraded papers is a blessing that gives me time to reflect on the fall term and plan for the spring, and it feels like a a wonderful gift. The rhythm of the academic year ebbs and flows. Some things that need to happen during this break are thoughtful completion of my mid-year evaluation, syllabi for spring courses, and reading for FUN. On the front end I'll write my Christmas cards and put up the Christmas tree. On the back end I want to baste a quilt together so I have lapwork to do for long winter evenings.

Last but not least, you--the faculty of the School of Arts & Sciences--are blessings to me. I'm grateful for you and your contributions to the academic enterprise at King College. Every day.

As we finish a satisfying semester together, I encourage each of you: Enumerate and then enjoy your Christmas blessings!

RAM Expedition

Students Adam Lassiter and Ryan Williamson assisting dentists at RAM. Union County, TN. November 14 & 15, 2009


Vanessa Fitsanakis and I took 8 students to Maynardville for two days of volunteering at the RAM clinics. RAM stands for Remote Area Medical. On our way up to Tazewell, where we stayed in a rather decrepit mom-&-pop motel, we, students and faculty alike, admitted that we were apprehensive about what we were about to undertake.

The clinic served 469 clients on Saturday and 239 on Sunday. Most of the patients received dental care or got vision exams and new glasses. Our students all participated hands-on in all areas.

Several assisted dentists who were performing extractions, fillings, and cleanings. Others did crowd control making sure that the waiting lines were orderly. Two different student teams ground lenses in a lab on site and assembled glasses.

All had opportunities to talk with the people who came for services, and they were impacted by what they experienced as you can see by their comments. "I saw a large group of people that really needed our help and it was awesome to be able to give it to them!" Katie Greatti

"I realized that I do not need to travel to other countries or states to find others in need. There are people all around us that go without necessities that we all take for granted." Adam Lassiter

I was incredibly proud of our students! They were polite, enthusiastic, and dependable. Several of them determined to change jobs for the second day so they would have the richest experience possible, and they negotiated those changes themselves. They did not complain about having to get up at 4:15 AM in order to be on site to sign in at 5:30 AM. Many RAM staffers and professional volunteers (doctors, dentists, and nurses) went out of their way to let me know they were impressed with King College students.

The images of the people we met are indelibly etched on my memory. In particular I want to tell you about one young woman, 26 years old. She came to the clinic both days. On Saturday she had 5 teeth extracted. On Sunday, 11 more. "This is the happiest day of my life!" she told Dr. Fitsanakis. "My teeth have hurt since I was 12 years old; I'm glad to have them out." I will remember her for a long time,...not just when I go to the dentist.

You can check the RAM website for more information.
http://www.ramusa.org/

Website Update

It's been my goal this semester to spend Tuesday mornings working on the Arts & Sciences portion of the King website.

My first priority was to get the faculty names and credentials correct. I promise I will update that list promptly every semester.

Today, November 17, I finished posting all the program descriptions. The formatting of the program descriptions is still not satisfying, but the text is accurate and the list of faculty for each program is also right.

I added a few images. The small file of images that I have to work from limits what I can find. However, I was able to link the video of the Men's Ensemble performing the "Star-Spangled Banner" at the Bristol Motor Speedway. That is a sweet success story not only for the students but for me as your web designer! Go to the King College Website , then Majors & Minors, and finally Music, to see our students on You Tube.

You all sent wonderful images with your web copy. Most of those have not been "worked up" for use, so they are not posted to the image library yet. To facilitate that, I am advertising an internship for some enterprising TCOM or Digital Media major. The intern's duties would be to edit photos, size them properly, and develop a filing system that would make them readily available to me and other faculty and staff working on the website.

We are making slow, but steady progress. Thanks for all your contributions and your patience as we work to make our dreams for the website become reality.

Outlook Etiquette

Did you ever have a birthday party in your growing up years? Remember how thoughtfully you chose the party invitations and how carefully you filled in the time, date and place? Do you remember the excitement of planning the party? and the intense feelings of anticipation when it was almost time for the guests to arrive?

Well, strange as it may seem, I feel much the same about the meetings I am responsible for. You may dread meetings rather than look forward to them; however, you cannot avoid them. I plan my meetings carefully, and I schedule them with awareness of the commitments of the people on my invitation list.

We on the King faculty have a powerful tool at our disposal—Microsoft Outlook. It can keep track of our events, remind us when it’s almost time for a class, appointment, or meeting, and—the best feature of all—allow a meeting planner to see the schedules of all invitees on the meeting list.

However, with the convenience comes important responsibility. We MUST post our schedules to Outlook and keep them updated. I include EVERYTHING on my Outlook calendar from dentist appointments to haircuts to weekends with my grandchildren. If you need me to attend a meeting, you can tell whether I’m busy or not.

Furthermore, just as you would have been disappointed not to know whether your best shildhood friend was coming to your birthday party, I am disappointed when I get no response to a meeting request. I will be frank: if I need to know whether you will attend a meeting or event, I send a meeting request. If I’m just letting you know that an event is occurring, I will send an email and not expect a response. Responses—yea or nay—to meeting requests help meeting planners choose meeting spaces, make the correct number of handouts, and prepare the right amount of food.



If you get a meeting request, PLEASE RESPOND.

Just click
"Accept"
"Tentative"
or
"Decline"

It's that simple.

And, make sure your calendar is always up to date.