Experiential Learning and Its Influence on Social Change

This research study is presented as a final project in fulfillment of the capstone requirement to the College of Professional Studies and the graduate school at Marquette University. This research study was presented with Dr. Jay Caulfield at the ISSOTL (International Scholarship of Teaching and Learning) conference, October 22, 2011. The research study included previous and current graduate students enrolled in the Nature of Cities course in the spring of 2008 and the Models of Sustainability course in the spring of 2011 within the public service program at Marquette University. Both of these courses were graduate courses that had substantial experiential learning experiences incorporated into their course design. This research study identified how experiential learning activities may add to a graduate student’s engagement and awareness of social issues. In addition, the research findings within this study are intended to give a general overview of how the participants’ experiential learning experiences have influenced and or changed their behavior. This study is inclusive to an introduction, literature review, overview of participants, methods, findings and discussion, limitations to research, additional research, and conclusion. It is the researcher’s intention to include an additional 10 participants within this study that will comprise of students enrolled in the Models of Sustainability course at Marquette University during the summer of 2010. Upon completion of this research study, it is the researcher’s objective to publish this study as an article within the Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

The Accidental Librarian Instructor: Teaching a Graduate Research Course

For two different semesters, the author—an academic library liaison for a large school of music—had the opportunity to teach a graduate- level course in the school as an instructor of record. This chapter will detail the librarian’s experiences in teaching a required research methods course for graduate music students. More specifically, the chapter will cover the author’s approach to course development, assessment, and instructional methods, as well as time management strategies and comparing and contrasting the two semesters

Training the Foot Soldiers of Inquiry: Development and Evaluation of a Graduate Teaching Assistant Learning Community

As part of a Howard Hughes Program for Innovation in Science Education grant at Iowa State University, a series of interdisciplinary graduate teaching assistant learning communities (TALC) were developed. The purpose of these communities was to create an environment to facilitate teaching assistants\u27 pedagogical development and training to enhance the implementation of inquiry experiences in the undergraduate laboratories. The TALC evaluated in this study were held for two consecutive semesters and included teaching assistants who facilitated multi-week course-based research experiences in their respective STEM courses. Topics discussed during the TALC were based on the teaching assistants\u27 concerns related to teaching this type of course. Evaluation consisted of weekly reflection responses, a pre- and post-survey of instructional methods they consider to facilitate inquiry, pre-post definitions of inquiry-based instruction, and end-of-semester evaluations of the learning community experiences. This article outlines the development of the TALC and findings from the various forms of evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR

Graduate students\u27 motivation to teach plant sciences to K-12 audiences

Graduate students\u27 motivation to share their knowledge and research with K-12 audiences as future scientists is informed by their beliefs and perceived value of science literacy outreach. Graduate training programs in academia integrate outreach teaching components to equip future scientists with a variety of communication skills, which may reflect either a transmission of knowledge to the learner or through engagement with the learner. As such, the education component of the Partnership for Research and Education in Plant Breeding and Genetics grant sought to train graduate plant science students ( N = 17) to disseminate their research to K-12 audiences. Graduate students participated in outreach teacher training using Learner-Centered Teaching (LCT) strategies to develop and conduct two science lessons for K-12 audiences in a non-formal and formal educational settings. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to describe the outreach teaching beliefs and values of plant science graduate students after receiving the outreach training. The researcher used a deductive approach to analyze and triangulate multiple data sources, including teaching self-efficacy questionnaires, LCT knowledge tests, reflection essays, and semi-structured interviews.^ The research study was conceptualized into three phases (i.e., course instruction and teaching experiences; follow-up questionnaire and interviews; triangulation) of a multistrand design and resulted in three major conclusions. First, plant science graduate students valued learning how to engage with K-12 audiences using active learning. Graduate students\u27 expressed values of the following qualities: (a) how learners can apply knowledge to emerging agricultural issues, (b) how professors (i.e., graduate students as teachers) coach and facilitate, intertwining teaching and assessing, and (c) how to engage with learners actively by providing useful and timely feedback. Second, graduate students described field-based teaching experiences within formal and non-formal educational settings that helped them practice communication skills and develop their teaching self-efficacy. In this study, graduate students valued the following elements of a field-based experience: (a) participation in planning the experience, (b) selection of the learners by age and grade level demographics, and (c) multiple visits to teach the selected group of students. And third, graduate students described an enjoyment of teaching K-12 audiences and the K-12 experience was useful in preparing them to communicate science to technical and non-technical audiences. Graduate students\u27 reflections of enjoyment were referenced with recognition to the sense of autonomy that the graduate students achieved throughout their learning experiences. Moreover, graduate students recognized the transferability of the knowledge and skills from the integrated learning experience for their academic and career endeavors. As graduate-level academic programs continue to adjust and adapt to prepare plant science graduate students to meet the needs of an ever changing society, the following implications are discussed: acquiring (LCT) teaching skills to communicate science literacy, benefits of K-12 audience field-based experiences, the opportunity to use a constructivist approach to assist learners in facilitating science outreach and implications for policy

Reimagining the Graduate Music Bibliography Course for Music Performers

When asked to develop a graduate-level Research Methods for Music Performers course at Chapman University, the Performing Arts Librarian found himself in a predicament. As the librarian for a performance-focused conservatory, using the model of Music Bibliography that he had experienced as a musicology graduate student did not need seem appropriate for his student population. Moreover, he did not have the same library resources as he had had when at a major research institution. What followed was not only a search into the existing literature on music bibliography, but also involved rethinking the meaning of the course and its application for aspiring professional musicians. Through conversations with pedagogues, librarians, and music faculty, he found an avenue through which to create a meaningful course for his students. The blank slate with which to create the course provided the opportunity to search for new pedagogical approaches, content, and technologies with which to enhance student learning. In this talk, I will discuss my process of discovery and decision making and will end with a case study of the experience from the resulting course. Some of major themes will be: making research relevant to performers; demystifying the scholarly conversation in music scholarship; different approaches to assigned readings; and reconsidering the role of Wikipedia as a participatory platform. I hope that this talk will achieve the goals of a) inspiring other music librarians to reconsider their approaches to teaching music bibliography in order to reinvigorate their teaching and engage their students in learning, and b) guiding music librarians tasked with creating such a course with a meaningful place to start envisioning their course. At the end of my talk, I will open up discussion with the attendees about their experiences and thoughts regarding teaching Music Bibliography or Research Methods in Music courses at their institutions

ALEC 845 - Research in Leadership Education: A Peer Review of Teaching Benchmark Portfolio

This is a benchmark portfolio of the graduate research course offered in the ALEC department, ALEC 845 – Research in Leadership Education. Students in any department or graduate program are welcome in the course but it primarily serves students in ALEC who are pursuing either a master’s in leadership education or a doctoral degree in human sciences with a specialization in leadership studies. The course itself is intended to provide an introduction to social science research methods and help students understand and begin to practice ethical social sciences research that contributes to the body of scholarly knowledge in their disciplines. Students bring a wide variety of experience to the course can range in level from first year master’s students who have recently completed their undergraduate degrees to doctoral students in their second or third semester of coursework. Additionally, the ALEC graduate program is comprised of a large number of students who do not pursue their degrees on a full-time basis but instead complete the degree on a part-time basis, while continuing to work full time in their professional roles (this happens at both the masters and doctoral levels). This range of students and experiences provides an interesting challenge in teaching the course. Regardless of level, students in the course often have not had significant exposure to the social science research process, theoretical foundations and epistemological questions fundamental to high quality scholarly research. This course provides those basic building blocks. Often this course is the first exposure graduate students in departmental programs have to the comprehensive process of conceiving of, conducting and drawing conclusions related to academic research studies. Course materials and assignments are designed to deliver essential information students need to successfully conduct research, with a focus on the process students must follow to complete a thesis or dissertation

ALEC 845 - Research in Leadership Education: A Peer Review of Teaching Benchmark Portfolio

This is a benchmark portfolio of the graduate research course offered in the ALEC department, ALEC 845 – Research in Leadership Education. Students in any department or graduate program are welcome in the course but it primarily serves students in ALEC who are pursuing either a master’s in leadership education or a doctoral degree in human sciences with a specialization in leadership studies. The course itself is intended to provide an introduction to social science research methods and help students understand and begin to practice ethical social sciences research that contributes to the body of scholarly knowledge in their disciplines. Students bring a wide variety of experience to the course can range in level from first year master’s students who have recently completed their undergraduate degrees to doctoral students in their second or third semester of coursework. Additionally, the ALEC graduate program is comprised of a large number of students who do not pursue their degrees on a full-time basis but instead complete the degree on a part-time basis, while continuing to work full time in their professional roles (this happens at both the masters and doctoral levels). This range of students and experiences provides an interesting challenge in teaching the course. Regardless of level, students in the course often have not had significant exposure to the social science research process, theoretical foundations and epistemological questions fundamental to high quality scholarly research. This course provides those basic building blocks. Often this course is the first exposure graduate students in departmental programs have to the comprehensive process of conceiving of, conducting and drawing conclusions related to academic research studies. Course materials and assignments are designed to deliver essential information students need to successfully conduct research, with a focus on the process students must follow to complete a thesis or dissertation

Perception of GTAs About Their Graduate Teaching Experiences: The Effects of Pedagogical Support/Mentoring

This study sought to describe the outcome of a semester long course of study presented to graduate teaching assistants in several disciplines. This study was important because many departments offer little or no specific training for their GTAs and, as a result, many of them find themselves confused and frustrated in their duties. For this research, an experienced professor of long tenure offered a sixteen-week course in “College Teaching” designed specifically for graduate teaching assistants from a variety of disciplines. All of these GTAs volunteered to participate and were offered one graduate credit for their participation. The research question I sought to answer was, What is the perception of the teaching experience of GTAs who participate in a seminar in pedagogy? Qualitative methods, including personal interviews, participant observations, and reviews of journal entries written by the seminar instructor and by myself were used to study the GTAs\u27 experience. Data were analyzed for commonalities which led to narratives of each of the participant\u27s experiences as they progressed throughout the semester. One overriding assertion and three sub-assertions emerged from the analysis. The overriding assertion was that all of the GTAs made changes in their attitudes about teaching over the course of the semester. The sub-assertions were: Sub-assertion #1: Most of the GTAs developed a more positive view and attitude due to the pedagogical training, though, to varying degrees, the impact of the pedagogical training had less positive effect on some GTAs. Sub-assertion #2: A specific benefit of the pedagogical training was the implementation of various types of effective alternative teaching procedures. Sub-assertion #3: Desire to improve teaching effectiveness had an impact on most of the GTAs. The overriding assertion and the three sub-assertions were supported by the data from the interviews and the observations which was placed in summary form in a matrix depicting the progressive change in attitudes and teaching from the beginning of the semester to the end of the semester. Recommendations were made for further research and study

Technology Integration and Use in Elementary Mathematics Methods Courses for Pre-service Teachers

According to the National Educational Technology Plan 2010, technology should be incorporated into teaching methods courses and field experiences and not just in stand-alone technology courses. The teacher preparation programs would provide technology-based learning experiences to prepare pre-service teachers to effectively use technology to improve learning, assessment, and instructional practices. However, the problem is that graduate pre-service teacher preparation programs do not adequately prepare pre-service teachers to incorporate technology into their teaching. Furthermore, the teacher preparation programs lacked opportunities for the pre-service teachers to experience technology as learners beyond the stand-alone course in technology. Research shows the need for pre-service teachers to experience technology as learners so that they can use their knowledge to create learning environments of greater understanding in their future classrooms, specifically in the area of mathematics. Technological pedagogical content knowledge is knowledge of how to incorporate technology into the teaching of content to promote student learning (Koehler & Mishra, 2009). This study investigated the ways in which math methods courses that provide technology-based learning experiences for pre-service teachers enable them to gain the technological pedagogical content knowledge necessary for effective teaching. This study investigated two elementary methods courses where technology integration was in place. Informants included the instructors and pre-service teachers in each course. A qualitative multiple case study methodology utilizing observations of methods courses, interviews with faculty and pre-service teachers, and collection of teaching and learning artifacts was used. Additionally, this study focused on both the faculty and the students’ use of instructional technology for enhancing the teaching and learning. Furthermore, Massachusetts has a technology self-assessment tool that can be utilized by teachers to assess their own technology proficiency (Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 2010). The criteria in Standard 3, Teaching and Learning with Technology, was used to assess the instructors. The analysis also described how faculty used and modeled instructional technology in the methods courses to enhance teaching and learning