Master Teacher Initiative

New report on faculty and campus use of technology

2009-11-16T16:16:50Z

A CDW-Government report issued earlier this month takes a look at the use of technology in higher education. The authors polled more than 1,000 students, faculty members and IT department staffers to gauge attitudes about tech use in higher education and expectations for the future. Perhaps not surprisingly, the report’s results show a clear trend towards increasing technology use in higher ed.

To read an article about the report from Campus Technology, click here.

To access the full report from CDW-G, click here.

An explanation of learning styles and strategies

2009-11-09T18:17:39Z

Educators are forever discussing different styles of learning, and exploring how to teach so that you can effectively reach different groups of students. But how well do you know the different learning styles? And what is your own personal learning style? To find out, check out the following links:

“Learning Styles and Strategies,” by Felder and Soloman

Discover your personal learning style

Handling classroom disruptions

2009-10-30T21:16:18Z

Ever had a disruptive student in your class? How did you handle it? Could you have handled it better? This gem of an article, from Chemical Engineering Education, of all places, is a humorous/serious look at the problem and how best to handle it. The full article is linked below (and thanks to Doug Hoffman for the tip!)

“All in a Day’s Work,” by Richard M. Felder and Rebecca Brent
Chem. Engr. Education, 34(1), 66–67 (2000)

The 2009 ECAR study of students and info tech

2009-10-23T21:09:16Z

Wonder how students feel about technology in education, and what new toys they’re using today? EDUCAUSE has just published the 2009 “ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology,” available on the EDUCAUSE web site. Follow the link below to read the report online::

ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology

As usual, the report looks at “the technology [students] own and how they use it in and out of their academic world. We gather information about how skilled students believe they are with technologies; how they perceive technology is affecting their learning experience; and their preferences for IT in courses.” This year’s report includes a special look at students’ use of handheld, Internet-capable devices such as cell phones and smart phones.

Learning to teach through video

2009-10-21T21:06:57Z

I continue to be impressed with the blog posts on “In the Library with the Lead Pipe,” online here. If you’re not already following this blog, you may want to add it to your feed reader or Twitter feed!

The authors added a new post this week on “Learning to Teach Through Video.” The article has some great suggestions for creating simple, easy-to-follow video/online presentations that address students’ need for both verbal and visual learning cues. For the full blog post, see:

http://inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2009/learning-to-teach-through-video/

Asking questions in class

2009-10-12T14:39:24Z

Asking questions during class is a common way to gauge student knowledge and elicit feedback. But how much thought do you put into the questions that you ask? This week's MTI teaching tip discusses in-class questions - the good, the bad, and the ugly - and explains why you're probably not waiting long enough for student responses.

What About the Questions You Ask? (MTI Teaching Tip #66)

"An operating system for the mind"

2009-10-02T18:32:32Z

I stumbled across a blog post on “Bottom-Line Performance” recently – an interesting discussion of whether it’s more important for 21st century students to learn facts or skills. While you can make a case for either, it seems that in library instruction we’re generally teaching students skills (database search techniques, information literacy, evaluation of online resources, etc.) rather than facts. The Bottom-Line Performance blog piece is online here:

“The Right Questions to Ask”

That post links back to related posts by Dave Ferguson and Stephen Downes. Ferguson, in particular, writes elegantly on Downes’ idea of “21st Century Skills” as a sort of operating system of the mind. You can link to those posts here:

“21st Century Skills: An OS for the mind”

Downes includes an analogy about learning to drive:

“Take driving, for example. If our knowledge of how to drive depended on a set of facts, then at a certain point it would become impossible, because while we could teach people how to drive on common streets and in common situations, as we drive further and further away from home, in newer and different vehicles, our knowledge becomes less relevant, until eventually we are simply unable to drive. If, instead of focusing on the ‘facts’ of driving, we think of driving as an activity or skill, then we are able to adapt, and develop new abilities, and new knowledge, mastering the ability to drive in strange places as we progress.”

This analogy, along with the phrase “operating system for the mind,” strikes me as particularly relevant for library instruction. Rather than teaching students a set of discrete facts, we’re tasked with providing them with skills and knowledge that can be applied to finding information in library databases and online searching, whether here at CSU or in their professional and personal lives after graduation. Hopefully, the skills that we teach will not only be useful today, but also in the future when the technological landscape will almost certainly be different.

The Lost Authors of Google Scholar

2009-09-28T13:44:05Z

I’ve been demonstrating Google Scholar in many upper-division classes lately - both students and professors seem increasingly aware of it, and eager to use it. The article below, from Library Journal, highlights some of the citation errors that persist in Google Scholar, and which continue to hinder the tool’s usefulness in terms of determining publishing impact. I’m sure that many of us already present some caveats when we teach Google Scholar; here’s another.

“Newswire Analysis: Google Scholar’s Ghost Authors, Lost Authors, and Other Problems”

What have you been reading?

2009-08-31T14:52:33Z

Now that Labor Day is around the corner and summer is coming to a close, I’m hoping folks can share a bit of information about “what you did on your summer vacation” (ha!) When you have a moment, post a comment below and share the following two bits of information:

1. What was the best article or book related to education and/or teaching that you read this summer?
2. What was the best non-work-related book you read this summer?

I’ll share the results anonymously in a future tip – hopefully we’ll end up with a list of books and articles related to teaching and learning that others may want to look over, as well as a “fun” list of everyone’s best summer reads.

Learning and technology, "in that order"

2009-08-20T13:24:17Z

Malcolm Brown, Director of Academic Computing at Dartmouth, recently held a “geographically distributed” focus group to ask students for their thoughts on “what educators should be thinking about as we plan our learning environments for the next two to four years.” The fourteen students who responded provided thoughtful feedback and some interesting comments.

As Brown notes, “Perhaps the most succinct formulation of these ideas was: "I believe the most important thing to keep in mind about learning and technology is that they should be considered in that order." The message here is that technology needs to clearly serve learning.”

For the complete column, follow the link below to Brown’s EDUCAUSE Review article:

Learning and Technology, “In that order”
Educause Review, vol. 44, no. 4 (July/August 2009): 62–63

Effective lectures

2009-05-04T16:35:20Z

“The lecture, when done well, goes far beyond covering the material. It is a carefully planned performance with student learning as its focus.” (Harold B. White) This quote kicks off a recent "Teaching Professor" blog entry, available online here, titled “Lectures can be effective.”

While the author is careful to note that he uses a number of different teaching methods in his courses, he gives much thought to the value of a well-planned lecture. A link to the blog entry is below, as well as the reference info for White’s complete commentary piece.

Teaching Professor blog entry: "Lectures can be effective"

Cited reference:
White, H. B. (2008). Commentary: Lecturing with stone-age technology. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 36 (1), 65.

YouTube, iTunesU, and "celebrity academics"

2009-04-27T16:33:20Z

I recently stumbled across a great article from the New York Times Magazine’s annual “College Issue,” which came out in September 2008. The article (link below) discusses how YouTube and iTunesU are helping to re-shape academia by opening up access to some of higher ed’s most interesting lecturers. The author picks her top 5 lectures, given by what she calls “charisma-senseis” (charming professors). Watching them teach may inspire you to think about your own instruction – and if nothing else, you might just learn something!

Article with links:
“The Camera-Friendly, Perfectly Pixelated, Easily Downloadable Celebrity Academic"
NYT, 9/19/08

Responding to journal decisions

2009-04-20T16:26:58Z

Summer is fast approaching, and many of us will be working on articles for publication. This tip from "Tomorrow's Professor" has some good advice for dealing with journal responses and feedback:

"Responding to Journal Decisions"

Thinking on your feet when teaching

2009-04-13T16:25:00Z

This week’s tip comes from the TILT archive, and it address thinking on your feet when teaching: how to handle the normal detours, silences, and questions that pop up during instruction. The full tip is online here, and it also includes a link to the TILT resource guide, “Leading Classroom Discussions.”

EDUCAUSE webcasts on teaching and learning challenges

2009-04-07T21:07:07Z

Earlier this year EDUCAUSE released a community-generated list of the “Top Challenges in Teaching and Learning, 2009.” Now EDUCAUSE is inviting the community to participate in a series of free, one-hour “Solutions in Action” webcasts on topics related to those challenges. The first webcast, on “Reaching and Engaging Today’s Learners,” takes place next Monday. Other webcasts will address issues such as “Developing 21st Century Literacies” and “Advancing Innovation in Teaching and Learning (with IT) in an Era of Budget Cuts.”

A full list of “Solutions in Action” webcasts, and information on each, is available online here.