Detailed Conference Agenda

Problem-Based Learning (PBL) assignments have been utilized in 5 different Communication Disorders courses with 83 students, with 21 students participating more than once. After each course, students were surveyed regarding retention of information, time spent on course materials, application of course content, ability to synthesize information, critical thinking skills, communication skills, research skills, intellectual curiosity, etc. The results will be discussed with regards to the use of PBL in the classroom and students perceptions.

This presentation describes student teachers' development following their internships in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Results identify the adjustments that the student teachers had to make as well as what they particularly valued during this experience. Additionally, the results indicate that the students' cross-cultural adaptability skills were significantly increased. The presentation includes photos of students' experiences with their students and cooperating teachers. Participants will be invited to describe any international experiences in their school offerings.

This study explores the appropriateness of teaching methodologies for adult learners in Daystar University. Based on Knowles' ideas, the adult learner brings life experiences to learning that complements the cognitive abilities. The conclusion is: some methodologies are inadequate, faculty prefer teaching these self-directed learners though they struggle giving best environment for active learning. A new option for Daystar is to provide best structures, facilities, learning environment but also give further training for faculty.

The assignment was to use a specific mixed method of reading a book. The method used helps an individual to establish a personal sense of ownership of the materials read. It also acts as a means to create a cognitive reading interaction within the individual during and after the process of reading. The goal of the experience was for students to gain greater depth and understanding of what they read. Outcomes, lessons and adaptations on teaching are presented.

We have successfully adapted a business-seminar approach to our upper-level Writing-in-the-Disciplines course. The change made the course more popular among students and allowed us to double our class size. We will identify principles borrowed from business-communication seminars and share the results of our experience, including assessments that strongly indicate the model assists students in their existing work and helps them build the expertise to conduct writing projects inside and outside of the academy

The first part of this session is a very short paper describing the Reacting to the Past pedagogy of elaborate, role-playing games. It presents data on its effectiveness in promoting student engagement at EMU. The second, longer part is a demonstration of an actual Reacting to the Past game, played in a highly abridged, but very lively, fashion by workshop participants, with EMU students as well. No advance preparation required.

In Spring 2008 I began to query ways in which my pedagogy, as experienced by my former graduate students in their master of arts in teaching and leadership program, reflected and/or did not reflect the core values of Saint Xavier University. Thematic analysis of alumni qualitative responses (26% usable return rate) will be presented as related to the core values of respect, excellence, compassion, service, hospitality, integrity, diversity, and learning for life.

As a Teacher Educator, this journey started 28 years ago and has evolved into revolving door between teaching practice and theory. Applying Boyer’s (1990) four distinct and interrelated dimension of discovery, integration, application and teaching, I will take you through my journey of assessing my practice through research. Taking the strengths perspective, designing courses, and evaluating the learning outcomes, I turned my teaching into scholarship leading to tenure.

The paper is based on a SOTL classroom study of an international relations course. The project’s goal was to evaluate the extent to which students could “integrate” multi-disciplinary knowledge to understand specific problems of comparative political affairs beyond the limits of a single discipline - especially political science. In examining transformations in the IR and PLS disciplines, the paper engages in a discussion of the dynamics and insights revealed while conducting the classroom project and its implications for international relations’ interdisciplinary teaching and student learning.

The role of scholarship of teaching and learning takes unexpected turns and twists, even with carefully made academic choices. My 2008 Fulbright Scholarship at the University of Catania in Sicily was a carefully made choice that changed my ideas of what it means to teach American values about technology through an interdisciplinary literary curriculum. This discovery process laid bare assumptions revealing, “the growth of the intellect is spontaneous” and crosses boundaries in unexpected ways (Ralph Waldo Emerson Intellect 1841).

*Roundtable format note: Each Roundtable session will run twice for 30 minutes during the hour that they are scheduled, allowing participants the opportunity to attend 2 Roundtable presentations during one session.

Hope College is collaborating with the Holland Public High School and Lakeshore: Disability Network agency to introduce the Reality Store transition curriculum to high school students and to pre-service teacher candidates. The curriculum is timely because studies show that teachers, parents, and students are confused with the transition mandates of IDEA, how agencies assist schools and families, and the importance of career exploration for students with special needs.

Much of the literature on teaching ethics in professional training programs focuses on course content, with very little discussion of how students actually learn to make ethical decisions. This presentation will review a study in which graduate students’ learning about ethical decision-making in counseling was “observed” through their reflection papers, in-class discussions, and the professor’s journals. Themes characterizing changes in ethical decision-making strategies, along with observations about instructional methods, will be discussed.

What are the effects on research and careers of graduate students involved in SoTL projects? We explore graduate student perspectives on involvement in SoTL projects, challenges unique to graduate students, and impacts on future careers of scholars who conduct SoTL as graduate students. We will present a case study of a graduate student who conducted a SoTL project in political science, and present preliminary results from a survey on the perspectives of scholars who conducted SoTL projects as graduate students.

My work to assess former students’ experience of mission and core values in the graduate school classroom has also fostered interest in writing narrative to explore their experiences. Discussions regarding graduate student experience of mission and core values in the classroom, the use of narrative as an outcome of thematic qualitative analysis in an effort to articulate mission and core values in the higher education classroom, and other topics of interest will be welcome.

Many courses in the area of communication disorders are taught in a more traditional learning style (e.g., lecture). The current study was designed to determine if students find a non-traditional method of teaching (i.e., “hands-on”) to have better prepared them for the workforce. Data collected at three intervals will be discussed in the context of how well each student perceived her understanding of hearing aids and what activities in the classroom most facilitated learning.

This research project explored the impact of using case studies as a teaching and learning tool in the organizational communication class during the Winter 2009 semester. Different case analysis methods were employed: writing the case analysis, discussing the case (in small groups and whole class), role-playing the case, and finally, designing and presenting an original case study. Measures of student satisfaction, engagement, and learning were measured throughout the semester via surveys and focus group interviews.

This research explores how beliefs and experiences that preservice teachers bring into their teacher preparation courses influence their learning in those courses, specifically related to the instructional strategy of using peer conferencing in writing instruction. The presenter will discuss the process and potential products associated with this research study in which students in an early literacy course reflected on their participation in peer conferences from the stance of a student and prospective teacher.

Since Immersive Virtual Worlds (IVWs) are being used to augment and amplify teaching, the author engaged graduate students in a qualitative study to examine their attitudes about communicating in virtual settings. Using Second Life as a synchronous discussion tool, the author found it lacking in some respects but was able to make recommendations about training instructors to exhibit behavior that may inspire confidence while leading a class in such a setting

This paper presents the findings of one professor’s self study analysis regarding a change in her pedagogical approach in a Child Development graduate course. The plan was to substitute generalized textbook-based information with specific child stories (including the Diary of Anne Frank) in order to promote deeper insight into child development. This paper discusses how students benefited from this literature-based pedagogy and how student evaluations were significantly higher after implementing this methodology.

This workshop will highlight the importance of designing and implementing structural learning communities for minority male students in higher education. Further, the presenter will provide refined strategies which will increase retention and graduation rates within one year.

Student engagement with course material increases as classroom power shifts from the professor to the students. Workshop participants will be introduced to one successful model for giving students control: The Menu Approach, which is drawn in large part from the work of Maryellen Weimer. Deployable in any course, this approach suits different learning styles, fits students’ busy schedules, increases the amount of work students do, and, in a fair way, rewards student effort.

Analytical strategies which might initially seem peripheral to an understanding of composition, such as basic elements of formal and informal logic, might actually prove essential to an understanding of prose essays which employ argumentation and persuasion. If an element of formal or informal logic informs a writer’s rhetorical strategy, then a basic knowledge of how it’s employed is vital in augmenting the novice writer’s existing schemata and facilitating their acculturation to academic discourse.

We tested whether learning modules (e.g., time management, exam strategies) could enhance student performance by assigning University of Windsor undergraduates to one of 3 groups: no modules (n=603), or modules presented early (n=384) or late (n=234) in the semester. Students indicated how motivated, interested, focused on, and likely they were to use modules. We also compared exam performance. Students who completed the modules enjoyed the modules and scored higher on the final exam, regardless of when presented.

This paper will explore the use of Web 2.0 applications (social networking and interactive applications) for the teaching of the social science disciplines. The presenter used a wiki application for the teaching of history. Collaborative creative technologies facilitate both the research/writing and the social-interaction aspects of a disciplinary practice. There are also hurdles with the new technologies that both student and instructors need to address.

A nationwide survey of 12th-grade students by Jump$tart Coalition (J$C) shows little improvement in financial literacy since the first exam in 1997-98. The authors wanted to determine if this lackluster performance is also exhibited by college students. A test instrument developed by J$C and focus on “Saving and Investing” competency of the 2007 National Standards is used to survey undergraduate business students. Results will be compared with the 2008 J$C findings for high school students.

This panel discussion outlines an ongoing study to critically reflect on and enhance teacher education at Eastern Michigan University. The panelists examine the ways in which the study has facilitated a more thoughtful stance regarding teaching and learning in the academy. Although each panelist’s perspective differs to some degree, the shared themes are that the reflection upon and improvement of teaching and learning are scholarly endeavors and that teaching itself is an act of learning

The members of this panel will discuss strategies for growing the scholarship of teaching and learning movement on a diverse array of campuses in the United States and Canada.  They will share the innovations they have used to involve more faculty (and administrators) in this work, and will offer guidance on how to address the challenges inherent in this capacity-building work on campuses.

This presentation presents findings from a qualitative study conducted at the University of Michigan aimed at gaining a better understanding of: 1) the ways that first-year writing instructors teach reading in the writing classroom; 2) the extent to which instructors explicitly teach connections between reading and writing; 3) how instructors ask students to engage with and read published vs. student-produced texts in similar or different ways.

Faculty in four different departments at Oakland University explored generational differences through participating in a Faculty Learning Community (FLC). The FLC developed a short survey that targeted perceptions related to effort and competency as they relate to evaluation in university courses. The survey was administered to students and faculty across different programs of study. The presentation will focus on describing the results of this survey along with the work of the FLC at Oakland.

To teach writing at the college level, I use an “inquiry” approach driven by “study”: My students and I examine what writers are doing when they write well. Students look at texts collected to demonstrate a particular focus (using exact language, for example), discuss what they notice, and engage with texts actively instead of sitting back waiting for me to hold forth. This session interactively demonstrates the approach, shares observations, and reflects on its usefulness.

We consider the impact of replacing ungraded pencil-and-paper homework with on-line homework in Calculus II. We find that students working homework on-line do no worse than those working it by hand (and may do better), and that summative assessment significantly increases students' homework completion rates and time on task. In addition, this may result in improved student (meta) understanding of their work, and instructors report greater flexibility in their use of class-time with the on-line system.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the issues concerning the ongoing debate over students’ utilizing traditional versus digital media throughout the curriculum. This paper will focus on how contextual conditions, such as type of design problem and the students’ educational background, impact the outcomes of the applications of different medium. This humanistic and adaptive approach to research provides knowledge of the students’ experience in the context of a junior level design studio.

An online communication space was used for action research. A few weeks after the course started, students were asked to do an online formative evaluation that provides a guide to adjust the course. During their practicum students were asked to reflect in the online communication space on the availability and use of technologies in their placement school and, towards the end of the course, students were asked to post recommendations for improvements of the course.

A variety of teaching and learning initiatives can help faculty develop into scholarly teachers -- that is, teachers whose practice is informed and shaped by Boyer's original conception of SoTL.  Scholarly teaching can also lead faculty to become SoTL researchers.  In this interactive workshop, participants will draw on their own experiences to debate the relationship between scholarly teaching and SoTL, and explore the different methods by which scholarly teaching and SoTL can be developed and promoted.

This multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional panel discussion will focus on the role of SoTL on academic hiring, tenure and promotion. Two assistant professors and a dean will discuss their experiences negotiating hiring, strategizing about tenure and promotion, and reviewing files.

For this interactive presentation, classroom disturbances are defined as the unpredictable, normal and yet disruptive activities that can occur in classrooms as a result of various events. Suspending response to these events enables recognition and articulation of the fears within the disturbance, allows participants to see and hear deeply what is happening in the context, and permits the pondering of the suspension as reflective inquiry and the repositioning of self in desired professional stance.

This seminar explores best practice pedagogy associated with the use of technology in the college chemistry classroom, including podcasting, the graphics tablet, smart pens and flip cameras. The advantages and disadvantages of using such technology will be explored.

What is an arts and humanities-based approach to inquiry into teaching and learning about environmental sustainability? As a Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (CASTL) Fellow in the Michigan State University’s new Residential College in the Arts and Humanities in 2008-09, I used a fabric arts classroom as my laboratory to investigate art object-based approaches to teaching about recycling and sustainability in the context of the fabric arts.

Human beings have an intimate understanding with how we see and what we see. But we don’t always understand how we derive meaning from the seeing process that affects us emotionally and psychologically. Teaching literacy in the visual arts is about helping students to intellectually examine what they see in order to consciously understand visual relationships in the world around them. The value of students becoming aware of the meaning-saturated world is that they learn to bring visual language into their own artwork in order to communicate with greater clarity their individual creative voices.

This presentation will focus on the use of podcasting for an internet-based course for undergraduate students at Illinois State University wherein two different types of podcasts were used as supplements to existing course readings and assignments. Student perceptions of these podcasts will be presented and discussed. Specifically, data will be presented to reflect the impact of the use of podcasts upon students’ understanding of course material and their overall engagement as learners.

Asking Questions that Matter: Towards a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning for Intention, Influence, and Impact