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Fourth Annual Rensselaer Colloquium
on Teaching & Learning
May 10 - 11, 2004
The Office of the Provost will held the Fourth Annual Rensselaer Colloquium on Teaching and Learning on May 10-11, 2004. This year's colloquium again brought to Rensselaer some exciting keynote speakers to talk about some of the latest research in teaching and learning, as well as provide talks by our own faculty on their innovations with workshops on some issues related to improving the learning of our students. The colloquium was open to all faculty, graduate students, and teaching staff.Program
Day 1
May 10
Refreshments available
Welcome & Introduction 4050 CII
Gary Gabriele, Vice Provost & Dean of Undergraduate Education, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Morning Keynotes (ID# M1) 4050 CII
Dr. Michelene Chi
Professor of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh
How Students Learn
A discussion of research that takes a student-centered approach in understanding how students can enhance their learning. Findings from studies on tutoring, collaboration, self-explanations, and observation will be described.Dr. Marsha Lovett
Taking Our Models Seriously:
Applying Cognitive Science to Undergraduate Statistics
It has been said that a theory is only to be trusted after it has been built into a commercialized product (e.g., Einsteins theory of relativity figures into the computations performed by global positioning systems). While the field of cognitive science is not at that level yet, there is a body of basic research that is being tested and applied in real classroom settings. In this talk, I will review a theoretical framework for how students learn and then discuss how it is being applied to improve instruction in introductory statistics classes. The benefits from this integration of basic and applied work are better student learning outcomes and refined cognitive theory.
Break
Karl A. Smith
Student-Student Collaboration in an Interdependent World
Morse-Alumni Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Minnesota. Karl's principal research area is the role of collaboration and cooperation in learning and design.Lunch - BBQ on the Quad
Afternoon Workshop (ID# M2) 337 DCC
The Academic Dishonesty Question: A moderated discussion on policies, procedures, and prevention of cheating
Gary Gabriele
Vice-Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education
Mark Smith
Dean of Students
In this new environment of both technological, and cultural change, the issue of academic dishonesty has become a concern for both students and faculty. The integrity of our learning environment, and the value of a Rensselaer degree, depends upon a trust between students and faculty that the work submitted to fulfill academic requirements represents the students own work. The purpose of this workshop is to explore several issues associated with academic dishonesty to ensure that we are taking all the necessary steps to ensure the integrity of our learning community. Issues that we intend to cover include,
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What are the current policies and adjudication procedures, and how can they be improved?
Is there anything that faculty are doing that encourages academic dishonesty?
What impact has technology had on academic dishonesty?
What steps can we take to eliminate cases of academic dishonesty?
Day 2
May 11
Morning Speakers: 4050 CII
Innovations in Teaching and Learning at RPI
Carolyn Jarmon (ID# T1)
Associate Director, Center for Academic Transformation
Improving Learning and Reducing Costs:
New Models for Online Learning
Colleges and universities are offering thousands of fully online courses, ostensibly altering centuries-old methods of teaching and learning. Few of these courses, however, make significant improvements in either the cost or quality dimensions of student learning; instead, they frequently replicate face--to-face pedagogies and organizational frameworks. Using examples drawn primarily from the Center for Academic Transformation's Program in Course Redesign, this presentation will discuss new models of online learning that improve quality and reduce costs.Jeannie Steigler (ID# T2)
Interim Director, Advising & Learning Assistance Center,
and ESL Services Coordinator
Brea Barthel
MS 92, Adjunct Instructor, H&SS (LL&C) and Provosts Office (ESL)
The World In Your Classroom:
Working effectively with international students
Rensselaer's reputation for academic excellence attracts students from around the globe. About 3% of our undergraduates, and nearly half of our graduate students, come to RPI from other countries. This diversity, however, often contributes to language and cultural challenges both in and out of the classroom. This presentation will provide background information and practical suggestions to help participants improve communication with international students. The focus will be on identifying potential problems and developing possible solutions. Craig Clawar (ID#T3)
Assistant Director for Technical Operations, EWP
Enhancing Synchronous Activity in Online Courses - The Virtual Classroom
Discussion and demonstration of the features of RSVP's new Synchronous learning platform, Elluminate Live! Craig will be demonstrating the features of Elluminate Live! our newest addition to the
technology toolkit RSVP uses to provide synchronous activity to our distributed audience. Here's a brief list of features.
Break
Mary Anne Waltz (ID#T4)
Research Libraries, Dot CIO
Digital Collections, Real People:
Library support for e-learning
The Research Libraries offer much more than print and electronic books and journals. Library staff help faculty create electronic copies of class reserve materials, identify and help link online articles and books to WebCT modules, and produce course specific library research web pages. Librarians will set up class presentations, hands-on database workshops tailored to assignments, and consultation for teaching students how to use specific resources. The Libraries provide an online guide to scholarly documentation and examples of several styles, and can help instructors identify sources of undocumented information, as well as serve as a source for copyright information. And library staff provides reference, research assistance, and, increasingly, tech support for Rensselaer users on a schedule that approaches 24/7!Brad Lister (ID#T5)
Director CIUE
Mike Hanna and Harry Roy
Biology
Next Generation Studio Biology
We have created a pilot Next Generation Studio Biology course that was taught during spring 2004. Our goals in developing this course are to:-
Integrate pre- and post-class web-based learning with in-class, studio teaching.
Provide a rich set of activities, assessment tools, and guides to effective teaching.
Integrate quantitative and socially relevant examples into the fabric of the course.
Create a conceptual diagnostic that facilitates comparative assessment of learning gains.
Address the key issues in life sciences education detailed in the National Academy report BIO2010.
Lunch - Great Hall, DCC
Afternoon Workshops
Integrating WebCT with Your Classroom (ID# T6) CII 3206
Marie-PierreHuguet
Making WebCT Work for You
Research shows that when course management systems are used in a face-to-face environments their primary role is to distribute course materials, display grades, or, occasionally, communicate information. Although there are a few exceptions, this is true of the current use of WebCT at RPI. This presentation will show how, by changing the way we understand and use WebCT, it can become a powerful, educational tool that not only effectively supports course goals and objectives, but integrates the use of technology while reflecting and supporting a faculty's teaching style.
Henry Scarton & Don Bell
Choosing Your Level of WebCT Usage (with course site examples)
One approach to designing a WebCT course site is to first choose the level of usage appropriate for the course, the instructor's level of web expertise and the support resources available. S. W. Harmon and M. G. Jones have defined five different levels of web use in education.*
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Administrative Use - the course site provides administrative information, such as the course syllabus or outline, details of assignments, and contact information.
Supplemental Use - the site includes course content that supports the classroom activity but is not critical to success in the course.
Essential Use - Essential refers to the fact that the student cannot be a productive member of the class without regular web access (Harmon & Jones, page 29). At this level, most of the course content and materials are provided through the course website.
Communal Use - while class still meets face-to-face (but perhaps less often), the course web site is the central focus of course activity. Usage at this level exemplifies the constructivist approach to instruction as students generate much of the course content.
Fully Online Use - classes no longer meet in the traditional classroom, courses occur entirely online. This level should be a sophisticated, constructivist virtual learning community (Harmon & Jones, page 29).
Bruce Laplante
In-class surveys & tracking course usage with WebCT
Learn how to use WebCT in class to assess students' understanding of new or recently presented material. Learn how to use WebCT to assess students' use of online materials. See which students use which materials and how often. But there's a catch: for usage tracking to work, your course must be set up, under the hood, the way WebCT insists that it be set up. The good news is that your students never have to see this rigid underlying structure. Learn how to set it up WebCT's way while making the course look your way.
Overview of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (ID# T7) 3116 CII
Valerie Oropallo & Catherine Persoon
Archer Center Educators/Lecturers
Participants will learn about and experience the eight preferences described by the MBTI through interactive exercises and discussion. The goal of the workshop is for participants to develop an understanding of their own and others' types, with a particular focus on teaching and learning styles. We will not be administering the MBTI instrument during the Colloquium workshop. Participants will have the opportunity to take the MBTI prior to the workshop. Those who wish to take the MBTI instrument itself must schedule a half-hour appointment with the Archer Center, at their convenience, prior to the Colloquium. Workshop time will be spent in activities that develop an in-depth understanding of the MBTI.Fundamentals of Good Course Design (ID# T8) 3112 CII
Developing a new Course? Redesigning an existing course? Where do you start?
Nadeen Thompson
This workshop introduces participants to instructional design processes and EWP (Education for Working Professionals) procedures used to support faculty assigned to teach courses to a non-traditional population. The workshop will introduce you to useful course design models and will walk you through the design steps to evaluate a sample course. The workshop will focus on a culminating activity involving the writing of behavioral objectives, relating them to course evaluation descriptions. Faculty will be encouraged to expand on the workshop, applying the activity to their own course(s).Core Engineering Renaissance: Constructing a Vision for an Integrated Program on Engineering Curriculum Reform (ID# T9) 3039 CII
Kevin Craig & Atsushi Akera
In response to the President Jackson's call for a thorough reexamination of the Rensselaer student's first-year experience, the School of Engineering is in the process of defining a Core Engineering Renaissance, an integrated program consisting of changes not only in the School of Engineering's first-year curriculum, but spanning several different schools on campus. In June, the Core Engineering office is scheduled to run a pre-pilot of the course, "Engineering Discovery 1," that serves as the flagship for this effort. The course will run as a full pilot in Fall of 2004. We would like to use the Colloquium on Teaching and Learning to vet the current design of this pilot course as well as the overall Core Engineering Renaissance before a larger audience so that we may draw input and recommendations from the various faculty who may eventually be affiliated with the program. Separately, this will also be an opportunity to bring together affiliated faculty from the Schools of Science and the School of Humanities & Social Sciences, in preparation for working sessions over the summer to develop the broader aspect of the Core Engineering Renaissance. We plan to use the time during the workshop to do real work in bringing together the initial team of faculty that will implement our planned reforms.
Assessing Student Learning (ID# T10) Lally 102
Ernesto Gutierrez-Miravete
James Stodder
For years I have been given ‘personalized - randomized' tests online, to both graduate and undergraduate students. I give the same form of questions to everyone, but randomize question parameters so that each question must be solved individually . I tell students they are encouraged to collaborate, but that there is only way to cheat in this framework – and that's for one student to actually do his friend's test (because he can't just ‘share' his own answers). There are ways of making this more difficult, however.
I will show how it is possible to do some of this in WebCT, but that format is still too restrictive for what I want to do. (I can forward to the committee some examples of test questions and the grading template – all in Excel.) Students prefer this form of test: it reduces stress by making the timing flexible, and by encouraging collaboration. The method is most naturally used in quantitative classes, but I have also used for questions using words that can be randomized logically (is/is not, many/few/none) in a multiple choice format.
Pamela Théroux
Assessment of Learning in Practice , in Process , in Policy , in Principle:
- Making the Assessment Process Transparent
- Creating Meaningful Assessments and Workable Assessment Plans
- Addressing Practical & Scholarly Issues of Assessment
Have you been asked to “do assessment” or, in some way, been involved in assessment? Making the assessment process transparent is the goal of this workshop. Acknowledging the complexity of learning and the occasional ambiguity in measuring laudable, but difficult to quantify goals for student learning, this workshop will address legitimate concerns about “doing assessment” and attempt to place assessment in the larger context of gathering evidence in the service of student-centered learning.
In outlining the basics of assessment, this workshop will suggest strategies for planning and conducting assessments by providing participants with examples of “doing assessment” and offering guidance in creating meaningful assessments plans. Participants will explore background issues concerning the context of assessment in higher education today along with definitions, explanations and answers to more specific questions like those listed below.
- What are the general steps in a process of developing an assessment plan?
- How is assessment defined at the institutional level? At the program/degree level? At the course level?
- What are the benefits of assessment?
- Aren't we already “doing assessment?”
- How can assessment enhance student learning?
- How do learning theories inform assessment?
- What are examples of changes based on assessment?
- What can't assessment measure?
- What about difficult-to-measure goals like ethics and good citizenship?
- How can assessment be built into the grading process?
- How can classroom-based direct assessment be expanded? What tools or processes have been used successfully?
- How can assessment be embedded into the institutional culture? Budget? Planning process? Into general education initiatives? And build on classroom work?
- What does assessment have to do with research design?
- Can assessment be a scholarly act?
- What is the difference between direct & indirect assessment measures?
- How can an array of assessment measures be mixed?
- What is a rubric and how is it developed?
- How do we know students are learning? How do we identify weaknesses in learning? How do we improve learning?
- What are the pitfalls of assessment?
Workshop time will also include discussions and demonstrations of some assessment tools, practices and resources and an opportunity for participants to share their own experiences, questions or suggestions.
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The Lois J. & Harlan E. Anderson Center
for Innovation in Undergraduate Education
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
CIUE 3119 CII
110 8th Street
Troy, NY 12180-3590
518.276.4831
518.276.4852 (fax)
http://ciue.rpi.edu