Focusing on Teaching and
Learning:
Marking 20 Years of the
Wisconsin Teaching Fellows/Scholars Program
Pyle Center, UW-Madison
April 8-9, 2005
Agenda with Abstracts
Friday, April 8
10:00-12:00 Registration Main Lobby
12:00-1:00 Luncheon Main Dining Room
Seating by WTF/WTS class clusters
1:00-2:30 Keynote Address Room 325-326
Individual Inquiry, Collaborative Investigation, and
Collective Scholarship
Richard Gale, Senior Scholar
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
Richard Gale's PowerPoint Presentation and Handout
Conference Agenda with Abstracts (38 kb pdf file)
2:45-4:00 Concurrent Sessions
Informal Networking Room available Room 220
throughout both days of the conference
Follow-up discussion with Richard Gale Room 112
This session provides participants with an opportunity to discuss
unanswered questions, ongoing concerns, great ideas, and opportunities
for further work.
Finding Their Voices: Meaningful Student Room 309
Engagement in Skillful Reading, Writing, Thinking and Reflection
E. Nicole Meyer, UW-Green Bay;
Mary Hoeft, UW-Colleges;
Tony Ciccone, UW-Milwaukee; James Hamilton, UW-Platteville;
DeWitt Clinton, UW-Whitewater
How
can faculty identify that skillful reading has occurred? How can
faculty aid students in producing skillful writing? Both questions necessitate
another, which is: How can faculty engage and reward skillful reading and
skillful writing? The Wisconsin Teaching Scholars involved wish to examine
these questions from different perspectives in order to propose solutions to
such universal questions which challenge and excite many teaching scholars.
This panel will be interactive in nature and participants should come prepared
to apply the innovative methodologies used by the presenters.
Exploring Student Learning on Diversity: Vandeberg Auditorium 121
A Collection of Efforts to “Unpack” the Student Experience of Diversity
Maria Stalzer Wyant Cuzzo, UW-Superior;
La Vonne Cornell-Swanson,
UW-Eau Claire; Deb Hoskins, UW-La Crosse; Jonathan Shailor, UW-Parkside
The panel will present four different scholarly projects on understanding
student learning of diversity issues. Topics include course reconstruction to
facilitate diversity experiences; diversity circles as a method and approach to
promoting cultural competency; ah-ha, pause and resistance moments in
student learning experiences of diversity; and student attitudinal profiles as
insight into student change. Then the panel will provide a facilitated
discussion with the participants about student learning of diversity
opportunities and challenges, and how to access the student’s perspective
of learning through scholarly research and study.
Using Hands-on Activities to Room 325-326
Involve Students in Learning
Dean D. VonDras, UW-Green Bay; Simei Tong, UW-Eau Claire;
Tricia Davis, UW-River Falls
This session discusses assessment research that illuminates the benefit
of activities to promote student learning. Different classroom activities
that allow physical and intellectual exploration as well as application of
student knowledge and their usefulness in promoting deep understanding
will be discussed.
Beyond Content: Ethical Attitudinal, and Room 213
Reflective Learning in the College Classroom
Holly Hassel, UW-Colleges; Pete
Burkholder, UW-Stout;
Denise Clark, UW-Oshkosh
This session will discuss the results of our ongoing scholarly investigations
into teaching as 2004-2005 OPID Teaching Fellows. Specifically, each of
our projects is concerned with the ways and what students learn—beyond
“the material”—in our respective classes.
4:00-4:15 Break Foyer in front of Room 325-326
4:15-5:30 Concurrent Sessions
Changing Racial Attitudes and Understanding: Room 309
The Psychology of Racism
Cyndi Kernahan and Tricia Davis, UW-River Falls
What happens to students as they learn about a controversial social issue?
How do their attitudes change? Why? These were our questions as we
examined students taking a course in the psychology of racism. To answer
these questions we assessed psychology of racism students using both
quantitative and qualitative measures at the beginning and end of a semester
(the quantitative data was also compared to a control group). Results
revealed an increased understanding of the scope of racism and more
acknowledgment of racism generally. Qualitative analyses also showed how
the student’s changed their assessment of themselves and of everyday
occurrences of racism.
Lessons Learned Over Time Room 325-326
Helen Rosenberg, Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz, Laura Gellott,
Frances M. Kavenik, and Pamala Handrow, UW-Parkside
As members of different departments who were Wisconsin Teaching
Fellows/Scholars at different times, each of us had specific goals for
ourselves with regard to improving our teaching. Panel members will talk
about their “teaching place” when becoming WTF/Scholars and how the
program impacted their teaching styles. In addition, we will examine
changes over time in the format of the WTF program from our own
experiences, as well as how the program aided us in developing a teaching
style that incorporates interaction with students, a focus on process, and how
our teaching to date facilitates UW-System goals of assessing learning
competencies and outcomes for students.
Mapping Complex Crossroads: Vandeberg
Auditorium 121
Where Feminist Pedagogy, SoTL and “Intersectionality” Meet
Helen Bannan, UW-Oshkosh; Deb Hoskins, UW-La Crosse;
Helen Klebesadel, UW-System; E. Nicole Meyer, UW-Green Bay;
Deb Pattee, UW-Eau Claire; Ronna Popkin, UW-Madison
Women's Studies faculty convened at the SoTL in the Disciplines meeting
selected "intersectionality"—interacting systems of oppression that shape
individual experiences in culturally-constructed ways—as the concept our
students consistently struggle to grasp. Adapting “lesson study” method-ology as a “concept study,” two of us are teaching this idea in Spring 2005 in an “Introduction to Women's Studies” at the UW Castle in Scotland and in an upper division course at UW Oshkosh, “Gendered Lives.” Students in these courses are discussing a series of related questions online, and our research team is observing and analyzing the students' developing ideas. This will be an informal progress report of our ongoing work, inviting audience interaction.
Radical Course Revision: Room 213
The Promise of Backwards Design FACETS PROJECT
Leslie Owen Wilson, Susan Hughes Gingrasso, Martin Loy and
Craig Wendorf, UW-Stevens Point
In an Information Age, effective teaching hinges on being able to create
course designs that can be reconfigured and recreated quickly. With the
rapid proliferation of knowledge, it becomes imperative that educators
first envision their learners at the end of their contact, and then design
instruction based on that vision. This creation of viable end-visions of
learners allows one to determine realistic expectations for mastery at both
rudimentary and enduring levels. Participants will examine techniques for
creating realistic end-visions of learners, and explore specific questions
and ways to look at concepts to help sort and arrange content more easily.
6:00-7:00 Reception Alumni Lounge
Saturday, April 9
7:30-8:00 Continental Breakfast Foyer in front of Room 325-326
8:00-8:45 Concurrent Sessions
Making a Connection: Assessment of Learning Styles Room 325-326
Wayne Weber and Esther Ofulue, UW-Platteville
A problem exists in that objective measures to assess student learning
for an entire course, in relation to the achievement of defined learning
objectives and outcomes, are limited. Another major problem is that
objective measures to assess learning in relation to different learning styles
are also quite limited. The major goal of the current project was to develop
a system that addresses these problems. The system developed was
originally piloted in two courses, Cell Biology and Genetics, and has since
expanded to include other courses from other campuses. The background,
methodology and current results of this project will be presented.
One Project Plus Two Disciplines Equals A Better Room 309
Community
Lisa Riedle and Rea Kirk, UW-Platteville
At this interactive workshop, participants will learn approaches to service
learning, from engineering and special education, demonstrating that service
learning can work with any age, any community, any discipline. Participants
will develop an individualized plan of action to incorporate service learning
into one of their courses.
A New Approach to Teaching Twentieth-Century Room 111
World History
Sue Patrick, UW-Colleges
In Fall 2003 I revised my HIS 127, The World in the Twentieth Century
course. I wished to achieve more effectively my primary learning goal of
having students understand that the present is rooted in the past. That meant
that they would have to see that things occur today because of what had
happened before, drawing on an ability to draw connections through time.
My presentation will report on the results from Fall 2003 and Fall 2004.
Beginnings and Endings: Room 213
Entering and Exiting a Major Program
Rhonda Sprague, UW-Stevens Point; Pamala Handrow, UW-Whitewater;
Shaun Lynch, UW-Superior
Students entering and exiting major programs face different (but related)
challenges. This panel will showcase the projects of three 2004-2005
Teaching Fellows. Rhonda Sprague’s project explores the utility of an
“orientation to the major” course for helping students determine their
future/career goals. Pamala Handrow’s and Shaun Lynch’s projects look
at the process for developing and outcomes earned in a capstone course.
Panelists will discuss the possible relationship between the two areas,
focusing upon how to connect the initial and final elements of a program.
Learning from Learning Community Vandeberg Auditorium 121
Research on Intellectual Development
Jane Oitzinger and Daniel Kallgren, UW-Colleges
We will present the preliminary results of our ongoing, longitudinal study
of student intellectual development in team-taught, interdisciplinary learning
communities and single-discipline courses. Then we will lead a discussion
on questions this research raises, such as “Should student intellectual
development be a primary concern in general education courses, or should
faculty be more concerned about covering disciplinary material?”
Active Learning and Practice at the Master’s Level in Room 112
Communication
Kathryn M. Olson, UW-Milwaukee
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.”
Japanese Lesson Study in the College Classroom Room 325-326
Bill Cerbin, UW-La Crosse
Japanese elementary teachers participate in a process called lesson study
in which they collectively design, teach, observe, and revise a single
“Research Lesson.” The “lesson” is a manageable unit of analysis in
which teachers can modify teaching practices without undertaking major
course revisions. Intrigued by its potential, UWL started to explore lesson
study in 2003. Currently, 60 UW-La Crosse instructors from 13 depart-
ments are engaged in Lesson Study (http://www.uwlax.edu/sotl/lsp). This
session explores how lesson study “works” and its effect on teaching and
learning. We will examine examples from several disciplines and discuss
how you can start to do lesson study in your own classes.
A Model for Motivating SoTL Momentum Room 309
Lori Carrell, UW-Oshkosh
In this interactive workshop, participants will experience the process
used on the UW Oshkosh campus to motivate faculty involvement in the
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning with the use of a “Teaching
Challenges” survey. From an identification of their own specific classroom
conundrums, participants (and faculty on any campus using such an
approach) will be able to gain a personal understanding of the usefulness of
research on teaching and learning, and from that identified “need” construct
a SoTL research plan. This “personal connection” process addresses the
affective component of altering campus climates to be more positive toward SoTL work.
Teaching Cultural Diversity Vandeberg Auditorium 121
Sharon Scherwitz and Eric Kraemer, UW-La Crosse
Teaching typically involves presenting conflicting points of view, either
diverging perspectives within a culture or different cultural perspectives.
The Wisconsin Teaching Fellows program has long acquainted its partici-
Pants with developmental models of student intellectual development
[Perry, Belenky et al.] to help teachers better evaluate student develop-
ment. For teaching serious cultural diversity, however, acquaintance with
these models should be supplemented with an understanding of recent
theoretical work in intercultural development [Bennett] and recent philo-
sophical insights about diversity. Only such an enriched understanding
will make it possible for teachers to help students develop into inter-
cultural learners. We present examples from our teaching experiences
including Introductory Philosophy, Multicultural Philosophy and Medical
Ethics courses.
The Somethingness of Learning Plans: Room 213
Self-Directed Learning
Kat Lui, UW-Stout
The most important factor influencing learning is ascertaining what the
learner already knows. Based on self-directed learning premises learning
plans are one means of identifying previous knowledge. Additionally they
serve as a guide to assist student learning throughout the semester. During
the 2004 Spring and Fall Semesters, 75 undergraduate students utilized
learning plans in two sections of “Training Systems in Business & Industry”.
This session is intended for instructors who are curious about self-directed
learning. Participants will gain insight into the use of Learning Plans in
undergraduate courses. They will engage in dialogue about best pedagogical
practices regarding self-directed learning.
10:10-11:25 Closing Plenary Session
Twenty Years Later: Reflections on Higher Education Room 325-326
and Professional Development with Past and Current
Program Directors
Bill Cerbin, Professor of Psychology and Assistant to the Provost, UW-La Crosse;
Tony Ciccone, Director, Center for Instructional and Professional Development,
UW-Milwaukee; Jane Ewens, Director, Wisconsin Teaching Fellows Program,
UW-Waukesha; Peter Hoff, Past President, University of Maine; Susan Kahn,
Director, Office of Institutional Effectiveness, Indiana University-Purdue
University Indianapolis; and Lisa Kornetsky, Director, Office of Professional
and Instructional Development, UW System
Past and current OPID and WTF/WTS Directors will use their own career
paths to reflect on several of the major changes in professional develop-
ment and higher education over the past 20 years.
11:30-1:00 Lunch and Round Table discussions Main Dining Room
1:00-2:30 End-of-Year Meeting for
2004-05 Wisconsin Teaching Fellows and Scholars
Fellows Room 220
Scholars Room 112
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