Students kept an Excavation Journal through the five weeks of ENH251: Mythology. They were advised to use their journal to record: observations, notes, questions, ideas, images, sketches, maps and artifacts in addition to the answers to the various Dig Sheets. Each Dig Sheet focuses on a particular area of world mythology, engaging the student in reflective thinking about assigned readings while also encouraging their use of creativity.
In my Ethics course I assigned students a criminal justice current events assignment. This was a written report in which students were given the choice of choosing an incident of unethical conduct. I found that about half of the students did not have a clear comprehension of what was involved and why it was a problem. Many students were not able to answer basic questions. Three semesters ago I changed the assignment to include an oral presentation in class.
Is there really a need to kill another tree if CANVAS provides a medium for quizzes? In a quasi-experimental design, introductory stats students across two semesters (SP and FA ‘16) with two different instructors self-reported the number of hours spent studying for a common cumulative quiz. One group used e-quizzes, the second used paper quizzes. Results are as follows:
I had nine students who were disengaged in group discussions. They had not actively participated in our class discussions by: being active, speaking up, volunteering for activities, or asking or answering questions.
To help, I used nine small candy bars, and taped them to the bottom of these student's desk. Students discussed nine key points in small groups. This way every student was actively involved in the learning of the material. After, students had to reach under their desk, and if they had a chocolate bar they were the chosen ones to share.
I discovered:
Math faculty have developed a MAT091 complete common final exam to be required to be given by adjuncts and as an option for full time faculty. Since the first implementation, the questions have been reviewed and changes have been made as necessary. One of the purposes of the common final is to give instructors guidance on the competencies that are most important. Another purpose is to identify where students are doing well and also not so well so that we as instructors can adjust our teaching. Each instructor receives their individual reports as well so they can comp
During the Spring 2017 semester, our Counseling Division held a retreat with all our residential and adjunct faculty. At our retreat, we provided a catered lunch and shared best practices from our CPD 150 courses. We discussed our OER Canvas curriculum for our CPD 150 classes. We have five modules in Canvas for our CPD 150 courses: College Resources, Time and Planning, Personal Development, Study Skills, and College and Careers. We divided our division faculty into five groups, and assigned each group a module from Canvas. Each group evaluated their modul
Since Fall 2014 , the calculus instructors have been working on creating common questions to have on the final exam for calculus I. Faculty (both full and part time) meet to discuss pedagogy, common questions and creation of a pre-post test. The common questions are the first half of our final exam with the 2nd half written by each individual faculty member. Each semester, the questions are looked over and kept or modified. The purpose of the common questions is to make sure all calculus faculty are covering "core" topics in MAT22X.
Need: While EDU students all do Field Experiences anywhere from 10 – 30 hours, sometimes their experiences don’t directly correlate to the competencies of the course they are taking.
Many students who take the Introductory Biology for Allied Health (BIO156) course are new to the field of biology. As with other introductory courses, BIO156 students must begin to learn how to effectively synthesize and present challenging technical information, in a way that is meaningful to them, in the form of notes. Departmental colleagues introduced me to the concept of the Learning Journal. This semester BIO156 students are required to compile a Learning Journal, with the aim of developing their note taking skills.
Occasionally interpreter assistance is needed at the Library Desk but help isn’t always available. Identifying this opportunity, I designed a solution using Google Translate. I created a set of instructions with step-by-step directions for colleagues. Equipment purchased to support this solution were wireless mice & keyboards. This was necessary in order to facilitate sharing in the typing and browsing process. The outcome of the adoption of this approach to service has been successful.
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Need: Students who make use of class/campus resources perform better academically. However, many rarely use their syllabi. As a result, students frequently ask instructors for things like due dates, class policies, or the # of assignments/points in a class. I've attached two docs: Syllabus Questions & a syllabus.
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Need: Students are required to use at least 5 credible sources, but have struggled to identify and use them.
Enhancement (see esp. #2):
(1) Instruction: Credible sources meet all 3 criteria: (a) written by a named [with rare exceptions] authority on the subject under discussion; (b) timely [which usually, but not always, means recent]; (c) has minimal bias [completely objective sources don't exist].
(2) Template: Students type into/complete the attached Word document, "Research Packet." (10 points of speech)
The Communication Abilities Rubric assesses areas of physical and vocal delivery. Instructors and students have not fully understood the categories in the rubric. As an innovative approach, my Com230H section did a media project breaking down each element of the rubric into video. I allowed for flexibility with strict guidelines to ensure all disciplines and communication research was covered. Next, 18 students assessed themselves 3x for 3 group presentations.
To combat students being overly concerned with page length and the number of quotes/paraphrases when writing research papers, I decided to take the paper out of the equation. For this research project, students use the research process to determine how realistic the science/technology is in a selected Marvel film. By removing the paper, the students are able to focus on and practice the various steps in the research process, such as crafting a research proposal, annotated bibliography and outline.
In both my ECN211 and ECN212 courses, I include a learner outcome related to student success habits (along with course-specific outcomes). Each week, I post a discussion assignment related to brain-based learning techniques (e.g., practicing recall, spacing learning over time), wellness behavior (sleeping, nutrition, exercise), and metacognitive skills (mindfulness, metacognition). To assess the impact of this module on student learning, I will provide an open-ended assessment question where students will report what was particularly impactful for them that semester.