Faculty Development and Adult Learning: A Model for Transforming Higher Education

Excerpt: Summer classes were about to begin and we sat around a table wondering what the three of us might have in common to teach the seventy master\u27s students coming next week. Leo was a sociologist and we (Karen and Mary) are curriculum and instruction faculty. We all agreed it was going to require a transformed approach to teaching and collaborating together; that was six years and three cohorts ago. Our intent is to share..

Innovation Workshop

This Fall workshop will kick-off the Student Innovation Awards by providing an opportunity for students to get an early start on identifying an innovative approach to enhancing Embry-Riddle and preparing to write a winning proposal. Students will engage in a creative approach to identify ways to enhance campus, student life, or academic life. And students will learn the tricks to refining your idea into a well-constructed proposal. Tips to persuade the judges that your idea is feasible, necessary, and innovative enough to receive an award. Visit the Student Innovation Awards sit

Middle school students\u27 perceptions of cooperative learning

This qualitative study examined middle school students\u27 perceptions of, and experiences with, cooperative learning in the classroom. The research was conducted in two schools: one suburban and one urban. Two teachers were identified by university and district personnel as delivering quality cooperative learning. Both teachers had training in cooperative learning and had implemented cooperative learning within their classrooms for at least three years. Data were gathered during the second half of the school year. Participant observation, in-depth student and teacher interviews, classroom observations of structured cooperative learning activities, and transcriptions of group members, involvement during cooperative learning activities served as data sources. Twenty-seven high, middle and low achieving students were interviewed for this study. Students\u27 semester grades served as a basis to determine achievement levels. Students participated in cooperative learning activities as part of their regular classroom instruction. The findings of this study suggest that cooperative learning instructional methods created opportunities that encouraged interactive learning among group members. This interactive teaching and learning process was beneficial to student content understanding, interpersonal skill development, self-reliance and self-esteem. Students benefited from peer explanation, a shared vocabulary, and giving and receiving specific and relevant information to enhance content understanding. This study also found several negative, unintended consequences of cooperative learning. These difficulties were related to the role of the classroom teacher, students, behavior and roles within cooperative group work, level of content understanding, teacher imposed time limits, and cooperative group grades. Implications for practice suggest the importance of the classroom teacher\u27s role in modeling and implementing effective cooperative learning principles. Conflict resolution skills development is critical for all students in order to engage in more beneficial cooperative learning experiences

Data Collection in Reflective Course Design

An unexpected finding of recent research into how students can best learn technology in design programs was that students often seem to confuse the concepts of difficulty with enjoyment. When asked what aspects of their courses they find the most difficult to learn—technical issues or aesthetic issues—students consistently reported that it was harder to learn the required technology and easier to learn the aesthetic material. From the perspective of the instructor, this response is confounding. Learning the appropriate technology is merely a matter of rote learning. There are ways to make learning software less tedious but the reality is that students must simply do the time. Developing a strong understanding of aesthetics on the other hand is not as straightforward or easy to master. This presentation will discuss how the management of student perceptions of the learning process is essential to quality learning

Data Collection in Reflective Course Design: Part II

This session applies the theoretical framework of SoTL and reflective practice from Data Collection in Reflective Course Design (Part I) session. We will model the use of Blackboard, reflective tools and practical strategies to collect data from students, such as using the Brookfield (1995) critical incident model. Based on Baxter Magolda & King (2004)the learning partnership model of self-authorship builds on learners current state of development. The learning partnership model suggests transformation of learning entails validating students as learners, situating learning in students own experiences and defining learning as mutually constructing knowledge. We will also present detailed examples for data analysis and publication sources

Online Data Collection and Publication

Being a practiced educational researcher does not automatically prepare one to do research on/in one \u27 s own classroom. The presentation will target faculty in higher education who want to forge a closer tie between their teaching and research obligations. We have energized our own professional commitments through strengthening the connections between teaching and research. Our work draws on a synthesis of learner-centered teaching (Weimer 2000; McCombs 2004), critical pedagogy (Wink 2005), adult development theory (Baxter Magolda and King 2004), and critical reflection ( Brookfield 1995). Critical pedagogy provides multiple lenses to query assumptions and experiences of teaching and learning. Constructivist developmental theory provides both an understanding of the developmental trajectory of learners and a vision of the goals for their development. There are many positive functions of SOTL, one is that it is scholarship and the most critical one is to enhance student learning ( McKinney , 2007)

Faculty Development and Adult Learning: A Model for Transforming Higher Education

Excerpt: Summer classes were about to begin and we sat around a table wondering what the three of us might have in common to teach the seventy master's students coming next week. Leo was a sociologist and we (Karen and Mary) are curriculum and instruction faculty. We all agreed it was going to require a transformed approach to teaching and collaborating together; that was six years and three cohorts ago. Our intent is to share..