AGENDA WITH ABSTRACTS
Making Teaching and Learning Visible:
Integrating Scholarly Inquiry
into Campus and System Culture
Office of Professional
and Instructional Development
UW System Leadership
Site for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning
Progress on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: A National Perspective
- Barbara Cambridge, Vice President, AAHE
- Pat Hutchings, Vice President, Carnegie Foundation
A-1 Faculty Development Strategies Madison
Ballroom
Barbara Cambridge, Vice President, AAHE
Engaging faculty colleagues in scholarly teaching and the scholarship of teaching and learning involves addressing what they care about and want to know. This session features strategies that have worked at campuses across the country to stimulate faculty interest in and practice of scholarly approaches to teaching and learning.
A-2 Involving Students in SoTL Projects Conference
Room 4
Jude Rathburn, UW-Milwaukee and Linda Carpenter, UW-Eau Claire
We will discuss projects on two different
campuses of the
A-3 Turning Teaching Improvement into the
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Bill Cerbin, UW-La Crosse
What are some of the key differences between typical teaching improvement efforts and the scholarship of teaching and learning? How can teachers turn some of their teaching improvement activities into the scholarship of teaching and learning? This session explores connections between teaching improvement activities and the scholarship of teaching and learning. By focusing on specific questions about student learning and gathering evidence of student performance, work that starts out as informal teaching improvement can become scholarly inquiry into teaching and learning. The primary audience is instructors who have little experience in the scholarship of teaching and learning. A secondary audience is SoTL leaders who want to involve greater numbers of instructors in SoTL on their campuses.
A-4 Strategies for Working with Faculty
Seminars Conference Room 3
Fergus
Hughes,
Greg Valde,
UW-Whitewater; and Marshall Toman,
One of the most effective means of promoting faculty development is to facilitate small group discussions of teaching issues, challenges, and concerns. Presenters at this session have initiated and currently direct faculty development seminars on their campuses. They will discuss the development of their programs and some of the experiences of the participants. They will describe what has worked and what hasn't worked for them, some of the reasons why, and will offer suggestions for the development of such programs at other campuses.
A-5 Promotion and Tenure Issues – Creating a New
Campus Definition of Scholarship
University Room CD
Doug Johnson,
Frances Kavenik, UW-Parkside; and E. Andrew Kapp, UW-Whitewater
This session will feature a panel discussion on issues related to gaining campus recognition of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning as valued contributions toward tenure and promotion decisions. Administrative and faculty perspectives from four UW campuses will be presented. Issues to be considered will include the influences of campus-wide culture, individual departments, faculty governance and college and university administration on how SoTL is viewed. This session is intended for faculty and administrators interested either in engaging in SoTL work or promoting the value of SoTL on their campuses. Session participants will be encouraged to share their experiences and concerns and to ask questions.
4:15-5:15 Examples of Work in Progress
The
seven panels listed below are composed of 2003-2004 Wisconsin Teaching Fellows
and
Individuals
from both of these groups are currently in the midst of a scholarly
investigation into student learning.
These are works in progress and presenters have been asked to briefly
describe their project and goals from this mid-way point. We have divided the Fellows and Scholars
somewhat randomly, allowing you the opportunity to hear a minimum of two
different projects from different disciplines.
B-1 Examples of Work in Progress
Combining Art and Geography to
Enhance Student Understanding in
Both Disciplines
Cathy Helgeland, UW-Manitowoc
and Diane Bywaters, UW-Stevens Point
Moderator: Donna Silver, OPID
B-2 Examples of Work in Progress Madison Ballroom
Monopoly®: Playing to Learn, Ingrid Ulstad, UW-Eau
Claire
Using Guided Inquiry Worksheets During
Introductory Physics Lectures
Brad Hinaus, UW-Stevens Point
Problem Solving Bottlenecks Using GIS
Software, Charlie Rader,
Moderator:
Marty Loy
George
Ferencz, UW-Whitewater
Using a Contract to Enhance Group Performance
Barbara Mihm, UW-Stevens Point
Moderator: Tony
Ciccone, UW-Milwaukee
B-4 Examples of Work in Progress Conference Room 1
Developing Students’ Understanding of
Professional Identity in an
Electronic Portfolio, Boon
Can Critical Thinking Be Taught? Jerry
Kapus, UW-Stout
Exploring Extemporaneous Delivery, Robin Roberts, UW-Marshfield
Moderator: Jane
Ewens, UW-Waukesha
B-5 Examples of Work in Progress Conference
Room 2
The New Quant Project: Units &
Projects in Quantitative Analysis
Bob Eierman, UW-Eau Claire
The ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines and the
Teaching of a German Conversation
and Conversation Course at UW-Platteville, Patrick Hagen, UW-Platteville
Making Student Thinking Visible Through
Group Exams
Theresa Castor, UW-Parkside
Moderator:
Lisa Kornetsky, OPID
College Motivation to Learn and the
Influence on the Classroom Environment
and Learning Outcomes, Andrew
Kapp, UW-Whitewater
The Comma Project, Miles Maguire, UW-Oshkosh
Moderator:
Doug Johnson,
Establishing, Maintaining and Improving
Student Internships with Industry,
Richard Stewart, UW-Superior
Comparing the Effectiveness of Active vs.
Passive Learning in an Introductory
Ecology Course, Jasmine Saros, UW-La
Crosse
Moderator: Kay
Taube, UW-Extension
5:15-6:15 Poster Session for OPID Funded
Institutional Initiatives
and Reception with Cash Bar Capitol Ballroom
b. 2003-04
c. Advisory Board Dinner Senate Room A
C-1 Ethical
Issues in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Senate Room A
Pat Hutchings, Carnegie Foundation Vice President
This interactive session will focus on ethical issues that arise when classrooms become sites for scholarly inquiry into the complex dynamic of teaching and learning. We will look at brief case studies that raise issues about ethical responsibilities to students and to colleagues. Participants will learn about national trends and developments related to these issues and have a chance to compare perspectives with UW colleagues. The intended audience for this session is faculty and staff who participate in or provide leadership for the scholarship of teaching and learning.
C-2 General
Education: SoTL Laboratory for Liberal Arts Education
Conference
Room 1
Rebecca Karoff, UW System; Emily
Johnson, UW-La Crosse;
and Susan Haller, UW-Parkside
This session will move through a set of questions with participants that take a close look at general education as an essential component of the liberal arts core we provide students. Can we identify general education as a kind of laboratory for the scholarship of teaching and learning; one which will ascertain whether the kind of liberal learning with which we seek to educate our students is, in fact, the education that they are receiving? How can we develop general education outcomes that will match the kinds of educational experiences we provide our students? How can we design educational experiences that will lead students to the outcomes, so that they are practicing and demonstrating their learning? How can we assess those experiences and hence student learning?
C-3 Discussion Regarding the Role of the Cluster/Future of the SoTL Initiative
Conference Room 2
Barbara Cambridge, Vice President, AAHE; Lisa Kornetsky, Director OPID; and Renee Meyers, Coordinator, UW System Leadership Site for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
The UW System is now a Cluster Leader in the AAHE/Carnegie Campus Academy Program for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Our SoTL initiative is growing and evolving. This session will be an informal discussion on our role as a Cluster Leader in this national program. At the same time, it will provide an opportunity for participants to engage in some strategic planning regarding the broader initiative. We will ask questions such as: How can we better link to other important initiatives and priorities at institutions and across the System? Where should we concentrate our limited resources? How can the principles and practices of the scholarship of teaching and learning become part of our teaching/learning culture?
C-4 Lesson
Study as Scholarly Inquiry into Student Learning
Senate Room B
Bill Cerbin and Bryan Kopp, UW-La Crosse
At UW-La Crosse, instructors in Biology, Economics, English and Psychology are using a teaching improvement process called “lesson study” to investigate student learning in their classes. In lesson study, instructors collectively design, teach, observe, assess and revise a single class lesson that addresses an important learning goal. We will discuss lesson study as a way to do scholarly inquiry into student learning, describe the research lessons developed by the instructors, and talk about how to start a lesson study group. This session is for instructors at all levels of previous experience with the scholarship of teaching and learning.
9:15-9:30 Break
This
session focuses on SoTL projects by broad discipline areas. These examples are from completed or nearly
completed projects. Each presenter will
take time to describe their project question, project design and results to
date. In addition this session will
allow participants and panelists time to discuss how the research
methodologies, language, or methods appropriate to the discipline are reflected
in these projects, and how participants might think about designing their own
inquiry into student learning.
D-1 Humanities Conference Room 1
Moderator: Jane Ewens, UW-Waukesha
Kathryn Olson, UW-Milwaukee
Active Learning and Practice at
the Master’s Level in Communication
This paper examines the potential of active learning and multiple, low-risk application trials to promote understanding and professional skills in a Master’s level “Introduction to the Communication Discipline” Proseminar. Contemporary learning theories suggest that students will be better able to “think with,” rather than just “think about,” concepts if particular pedagogical strategies are employed. This project tests that assertion by comparing the learning outcomes and understanding of students in a one-credit version of the Communication Proseminar to those in a three-credit version; the three-credit version made explicit, repeated use of the pedagogical strategies in question, instead of covering substantially more “Communication content.”
Terry Beck, UW-La Crosse
Focusing the Classroom Research
Question
Description: When I was a Wisconsin Teaching Scholar, I
researched the question, "Will learning to create concept maps enhance
student performance in my composition classes?" I learned a great deal from the project, and
it certainly helped some students. But
the results of the inquiry were quite mixed.
Since then, I've asked much more pointed questions.
D-2 Fine Arts Conference
Room 3
Moderator: Lisa Kornetsky, Director OPID
David Hastings, UW-Stevens Point
Does Our Audience Get It? SoTL Principles and Teaching Music
How do we assess understanding in our students?
Based on a 2002-03 Wisconsin Scholar project, this session will present,
through musical performance and discussion, different ways for us as teachers
to pay attention to our students.
Lisa Kornetsky, Director OPID
How Does the Process of
Critiquing the Work of Peers Translate into the Creative Process?
In the Performing and Creative
Arts, we often use public critique--both oral and written--to assess students’
work. We assume that learning how to
assess the performance of one’s peers helps the artist in her own creative
work. On what evidence, however, do we
make this assumption and how would we systematically investigate it? This is a project proposal with the
possibility of group involvement.
D-3 Science Conference Room 2
Moderator: Cathy Helgeland, UW-Manitowoc
It's Summer Because We're Closer to the Sun: Common Misconceptions in Physical
Geography
Members of the University of
Wisconsin Colleges Department of Geography and Geology are currently
undertaking a study to identify some common misconceptions in physical
geography and to determine the best ways to address them to enhance student
learning. First we undertook a review of
relevant literature (mostly in other earth science disciplines). Next we collected data from students through
interviews and analyzed our results.
Recently three members of the team presented the preliminary results at
an international geography conference.
Our project will continue with development of teaching methods and
approaches that will address these misconceptions to increase learning.
Steven Wright, UW-Stevens Point
Data-Driven Classroom – The Next
Generation
My project focuses on developing aspects of students’ critical thinking skills and a deep understanding of chemistry concepts. I’m attempting to use a data-driven/societal issues approach to help students “think with” chemistry concepts. I present students with data to help them construct chemistry concepts and students use those concepts to make decisions about societal issues/applications. I try to encourage students to base their conclusions and decisions on acceptable theories and/or good data.
D-4 Science Senate Room A
Moderator: Bob Eierman, UW-Eau Claire
Deborah Hanmer, UW-La Crosse
Problem Solving Modules for Large
Biology Lectures
We developed several in-class modules where students use data to construct models. We used both formative and summative assessments of student learning during the evolution module. Our results show significant gain in student understanding of ancestry and phylogenic trees.
Paul Roebber, UW-Milwaukee
Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Applications: An Inquiry into
Atmospheric Science Teaching
An exploration of the role of mismatches
between student learning styles and that which is implicit in curricular design
was conducted with the objective of identifying methods for improving student
learning and retention. A number of
issues are identified and related to existing studies in the refereed
literature. Methods for addressing these
limitations within atmospheric science curricula will be presented.
D-5 Social Sciences Senate
Room B
Moderator: Fergus Hughes,
Regan Gurung,
Evidence-Based Pedagogy
Introductory psychology textbooks feature many
pedagogical aids to enhance student learning.
How much do students actually use these aids? Furthermore, does their use correlate with
standard measures of learning (i.e., exam scores)? I will report on my assessment of how aids
are used, if they relate to exam scores, and on ways to maximize their
usefulness.
Richard Paxton, UW-Oshkosh
Revising Assessment
In this project, an attempt was
made to revise a major section of an Educational Psychology course. Specifically, a block of classes covering
Assessment was revamped from the original format (primarily lecture) to a more
constructivist approach, featuring problem-solving exercises, group projects
and classroom demonstrations.
D-6 Interdisciplinary Courses Conference Room 5
Moderator: Connie Schroeder, UW-Milwaukee
Nancy Chick,
Using Fishbowls to Increase
Student Learning Through Class Discussions
Discussions in my classes were
abrupt, superficial, forced, and teacher-centered. My research questions included how to make
class discussions more student-centered and less focused on merely responding to
my prompts; how to help students listen to other students' perspectives; and
how to encourage students to discuss academic topics through their own
questions and perspectives, making meaning of course content in their own
ways. I focused on using fishbowls, a
discussion technique that can be applied across disciplines, putting the
student voice at the center, literally and figuratively.
Pat Goldsmith, UW-Parkside
Learning to Understand Diversity:
Getting Students Past Common (Non)Sense.
This SoTL project used problem
based learning and writing to learn to a) identify students' common
misconceptions about diversity issues and b) make students active creators of
accurate conceptions of diversity issues.
Students' knowledge was measured with a pretest, post test, and
follow-up six months after taking the class.
Results showed they learned during the semester and retained most of
these gains six months later.
Where Do We Go From Here? Sustaining and Expanding Our Work
- Pat Hutchings, Vice President, Carnegie Foundation
- Barbara Cambridge Vice President, AAHE