Resources, projects and sites supporting innovative learning pedagogies

PLEASE NOTE: The schedule below does not reflect the final conference schedule. Updates below are currently in progress. For an accurate listing of sessions, locations and times, please click here to download Final Conference Program Schedule in PDF format. Thank you.   Thursday, May 16 8 a.m. Active/Collaborative Learning Industrial Hygiene Virtual Laboratory Tim Ryan, Health and Human Services Location: Grover W123 A CD-ROM constituting a Virtual Laboratory in Industrial Hygiene Sampling Analysis is demonstrated and described. The Virtual Laboratory program has been beta tested and evaluated in the college classroom. Pedagogical aspects pertaining to the effectiveness of the application are discussed. Student scores from lab sections taught in 1999 and 2000 by traditional classroom techniques were compared to scores following implementation of the CD in 2001. Results show the CD-based course is as effective as the traditional approach. Students reported deeper understanding when hands-on laboratory sessions were augmented with virtual laboratory modules, and were appreciative of the convenience and portability inherent in the approach. Transforming Teaching through Technology Greek Before Christmas: Computerized Drill in Classical Greek Morphology Steve Hays, Classics Location: Scripps 114 The primary goal in teaching elementary Classical Greek is to acquaint the students with enough grammar knowledge and reading experience in the first year that they can begin reading serious literary texts (by such authors as Plato and Homer) in the first quarter of the second year. Typically, students face two difficulties: the exotic alphabet and the complex morphological structure. Many students, however, left to their own devices don't know how to structure their study so as to make progress from the first day, and many fine students are paralyzed by the amount and the complexity of the data and so fall irretrievably behind during the first few weeks. This is precisely the sort of problem that computer instruction is most suited to addressing: systematic drill via repetitions of patterned data. The presenter will share his anecdotal observations as he set out to develop exercises to provide structured drills to help students learn the alphabet and noun/adjective morphology. Curriculum and Assessment The Electronic Portfolio Program - Assessment in the College of Business David Chappell, Business Location: CITL Lab, Scott Quad Basement The purpose of this Spotlight on Learning session is to introduce participants to an electronic portfolio program at the College of Business at Ohio University. Individuals will create their own portfolio during the session; all they need is a valid Oak account at Ohio University. The session will include examples of projects presently included in business portfolios, in addition to examples from other academic areas, including Theater and Flight Aviation. Examples of portfolios may be viewed at: http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~chappell/Page3.htm. Poster Sessions - Ongoing Service Learning and Music in Early Childhood Dorothy Bryant, Music Location: Baker Center Service learning is a logical outgrowth of a teaching methods class. The inclusion of this kind of experience into a Music in Early Childhood course resulted in a significant increase in course content application. Three Diverse Uses for a Blackboard Site Susan Sarnoff, Social Work Location: Baker Center This electronic poster presentation will provide a PowerPoint overview of the three websites as well as one-to-one demonstrations of the websites in response to conferee interest. The three websites are: Social Work 384/584 (Social Welfare Law), Social Work 690B Writing for Social Workers, and the Field Office Education website. The Electronic Portfolio: Assessment in Teacher Education Teresa Franklin, Educational Studies John Howell, COM Biomedical Sciences Laura Schaeffer, Academic Advancement Center Lauren McMills, Chemistry Location: Baker Center It is expected that teachers entering educational practice will be technology literate and proficient in the integrate technology into P-12 teaching and learning strategies. The electronic portfolio is being used in the College of Education, Teacher Education Department to demonstrate the knowledge, skills and dispositions gained by preservice teachers in the use of technology. The National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS) are used to assess the level of competence of preservice teachers in their ability to integrate technology into teaching and learning strategies, master technology skills, trouble shoot technology equipment, determine ethical, socials and legal implications of technology use in the classroom and demonstrate mastery of software used in K-12 environments. Active learning in an introductory library skills session Andrew Stuart, Instructional Librarian Location: Baker Center The poster will show the active learning techniques used in the library instruction session for INCO 103 the basic public speaking course. Learning principles, classroom applications and in-class exercises will be discussed. The in-class session involves a short demonstration, student work on the in-class exercise and presentations by students of the results of their work. 9 a.m. Active/Collaborative Learning Enhancing Engineering Education with Writing-to-learn and Cooperative Learning Lonnie Welch, Sherrie Gradin, and Karin Sandell Location: Scripps 114 Why would anyone want to switch from the lecture method of teaching engineering to methods that employ active learning? Doesn't lecturing produce the most informed engineers? It will be shown that teaching through writing-to-learn and cooperative learning can not only achieve these goals, but can also result in extraordinary transformation of both teacher and students. Student engagement and excitement are elevated at the same time as the depth of learning increases. Students become better engineers because they can think critically, solve problems individually or in teams, write better, and orally present information. Transforming Teaching through Technology Engaging students in an Environmental Plant Biology Course Kim J. Brown Location: Clippinger 132A Teaching large undergraduate science courses presents a number of challenges: How can one assess student integration of material in a faster timestep than formal exams? How can the instructor increase class participation (with a class size of 80)? How can introductory plant science be taught in a manner that is engaging for non-science majors? To meet these (and additional) challenges, the Environmental and Plant Biology course "Plants and People" was restructured to include timely topics, minute papers, and updated technological approaches. Specifically, the instructor provided all course materials online in a web site that was updated, at a minimum, thrice weekly. Also, asynchronous online discussions on BlackBoard(tm) were utilized as a means of engaging the students in critical thinking and written expression regarding case studies that relate plant biology to their lives (examples: genetically modified plants, bioprospecting, global change and fossil fuel usage). 10 a.m. Active/Collaborative Learning Getting the Class out of the Classroom William Condee, Comparative Arts Location: Baker Center 304 Students can benefit from getting out of the classroom to learn actively in alternative spaces. This outside work should support the classroom work, and should entail active physical involvement of each student with the alternative learning space. The Tier III course I teach, Theatrical Space and Performance, exemplifies this approach. The goal is to help the students understand how humans interact with the space around them in the medium of theatrical performance. This material cannot be taught sitting in a classroom reading, discussing and looking at slides. Instead, I take the class all over campus to experience a variety of indoor and outdoor spaces. Transforming Teaching through Technology Using Blackboard in a Health and Human Services Classroom Eugene Geist, Health and Human Services Location: CITL Lab, Scott Quad Basement This presentation will demonstrate some of the possibilities for using interactive media, web video, Web Pages, and Blackboard to enhance traditional courses and optimize courses for distributed learning. Service Learning Pre-Teachers and Pre-Principals as School Leaders Rosalie Romano and Catherine Glascock, Education Location: McCracken 104 In Fall 2001-2202, the two faculty for the respective courses above ventured into terra incognita: they 'intermingled the species' of pre-teacher and pre-principal. The courses were collaboratively entitled: The Interprofessional Educator and the aim was to crumble traditional barriers between teachers and principals that exist in schools; where the principal is the "authority" and the teacher is the "subordinate" in the school hierarchy. The class consisted of field based, web based (Blackboard software), and face to face joint, team-taught classes. 11 a.m. Transforming Teaching through Technology Facilitating Action Learning with Web-Based Platforms Brian Hoyt Location: Clippinger 132A The Virtual Business Training Center (VBTC) is online integrated business resources center that functions as a business lab and virtual internship for Ohio University students. The VBTC also provides community partners and business users with access to online training, market research, project management, and other project based resources. Our interaction with business entities, community partners and student teams are maximized by both the synchronous and asynchronous benefits of our online approach. Curriculum and Assessment Assessment Methods, Types, and Techniques Michael Williford, Institutional Research Location: Scripps 108 Assessment of teaching and learning is at the core of assessment as defined by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. Assessing teaching and learning is an activity in which Ohio University faculty and staff are expected to be engaged, but misunderstandings and confusion about assessment still exist. This presentation will give practical information on student assessment for faculty. It draws on North Central guidelines, published assessment literature (especially Palomba and Banta's Assessment Essentials), the presenter's experience consulting with other institutions and with the North Central Association, and experience with assessment in academic departments at Ohio University. It will profile best practices, potential resources, internally-developed methods, externally-developed methods, and existing data sources. Examples will be given for use in classroom assessment and department-wide assessment. 12 p.m. Active/Collaborative Learning National Newspapers as the Textbook in Freshman Composition: Implications for Writing Across the Curriculum Michael Nern, English Location: Scripps 114 A sixteen-year veteran of teaching freshman composition will describe a course taught in a computer lab in which students design their own documented essay assignments using national newspapers as the textbook and the Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe database as a vehicle for locating articles relevant to their topics. Forty-percent of the contact time in the course is delivered via BlackBoard 5 discussion groups. The instructor, who started from scratch in designing this course, obtained the best anecdotal results and the best student evaluations of his freshman composition teaching career the first time he offered the course. The presentation will include a discussion of the rationale for the course, a discussion of the results of the course, a self-generated critique of the course's strengths and weaknesses, and suggestions for using national newspapers to help generate writing assignments across disciplines. Transforming Teaching through Technology Teaching Academic Oral Communication Skills Online Greg Kessler, OPIE Location: CITL Lab, Scott Quad Basement The presenter will share his experience of designing and teaching an online academic oral communication skills course for international students. He will compare the online version of this course with its traditional counterpart, OPIE 500 Oral Communication for the U.S. Academic Community. This comparison will investigate some of the important distinctions and realizations that he discovered in the process of designing and delivering the online version of the course. He will also reflect on the influence that an Ohio University TIPS (technology incentive packages) grant had on the development of the course. Centralized homework, quizzes and tests for undergraduate mathematics courses Phong Vu, Mathematics Location: Grover W123 It has long been recognized that the Web and the Internet can be used as effective tools for both traditional and online instruction. Often the best instruction uses a hybrid model that replaces some in-classroom activities with online, asynchronous, sessions. In such a model, the instructor would alleviate the heavy workload related to grading homework, quizzes, tests, grades recording and calculation, answering standard questions, and so force, to web programs while devoting more time for teaching, and students have greater choices of learning methods suitable to their personal inclinations. We propose a model of a website, which contains databases of centralized homework, quizzes and tests that can be used by instructors and students who would like to use this hybrid model of teaching and learning. The website would also contain sufficient mathematical contents to help students review on the spot related topics and to prepare them for the homework, quizzes, and tests, and tools for typing mathematical formulas. Service Learning Service Learning in Intercultural Studies Sheida Shirvani, Zanesville Location: McCracken 104 The goal of this paper is to recommend a new methodology of intercultural education built on performance and learning from theory. The presenter recommends an action-oriented methodology based on Dewey's (1938) learning theory. The presentation suggests an overview of current intercultural education and training methodologies and explains the service learning pedagogy in the intercultural area. Some means of implementing service learning in an intercultural communication course are offered. Scholarship of Teaching Information Competency at the 300 Level Lorraine Wochna, Reference and Instruction Librarian, and Lois Vines, Professor of French Location: Room 319 Alden Library This session will be a demonstration class given for FR434, French Through Film, in collaboration between the librarian and the professor. Library instruction works best when it is tied closely to assignments in the major. This session will demonstrate the types of materials and techniques used to help students relate their research to subject databases and web resources. Active Learning in the General Education Classroom Panel session Location: Baker Center 304 Sharran Parkinson, Assistant Dean, University College James Dyer, Associate Professor, Geography Joe McLaughlin, Associate Professor, English These three panelists discuss the active learning component of the new general education breadth of learning component. Sharran Parkinson will be facilitating the first in a series of workshops this summer where faculty will develop active learning course modules and she will provide an overview of that workshop and the faculty development support offered through University College and the Center for Teaching Excellence as faculty begin revising their courses to incorporate active learning strategies. Joe represents EPSA and will discuss the general education program and the kinds of course experiences that will be included. James will offer a third perspective as a faculty member who has worked on transforming one of his courses into an active learning experience for students. 1:30 p.m. Keynote and Reception Keynote Address Time: 1:30 - 3:30 p.m. Location: Templeton-Blackburn Memorial Auditorium Reception Time: 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. Location: Templeton-Blackburn Memorial Auditorium   Friday, May 17 8 a.m. Active/Collaborative Learning Active Learning and Information Competency Sherri Saines, Instructional Librarian Location: Scripps 116 As the perceived need for instruction in research skills grows, librarians are responding with direct classroom help at the request of faculty, using creative and engaging methods to present what has traditionally been thought of as dry and uninteresting - library skills. Ms. Saines will discuss methods currently in use by Alden staff, and look toward the future of Information Competency at Ohio University. Topics which might be covered in the discussion period include logistics, general education, or alternative assignments. Transforming Teaching through Technology Introducing Athena, the new library resource gateway Tim Smith, Reference Librarian Location: Alden 319 In September 2002, the OU Libraries will introduce a new database system that will replace many features of the libraries' current web pages. This new system, named Athena, will make it much easier to locate and keep track of available databses, reference tools, and other types of library and internet resources. Tim Smith, one of the designers of the database-driven concept, will demonstrate the work-in-progress. Curriculum and Assessment Regional Higher Education Committee Bill Willan Location: Baker Center 329 Poster Sessions - Ongoing Comprehensive Curricular Revision at the OU College of Osteopathic Medicine John Howell, Peter Dane, Bonita Biegalke, and Dennis Baker Location: Baker Center In 1999 OUCOM adopted a clinical presentation curriculum (CPC) modeled, in part, after the University of Calgary Medical School curriculum, and influenced by our own experience with a problem-based curriculum (PCC) that was initiated in 1995 for 20% of the medical class. The purpose was to promote active learning and to integrate learning into the context of clinical cases, i.e., the context in which students will apply the information as physicians. The Ohio Executive MPA David Shafie, Local Government/Rural Development Location: Baker Center The Ohio Executive MPA is an innovative degree program that uses internet-mediated learning to meet the growing demand for graduate education in public management around Southeast Ohio and in Columbus. The program's target audience is public and nonprofit managers who are unable to participate in the Master of Public Administration program formats currently offered in Athens and at OU's regional campuses. Unlike a pure online format, this hybrid program allows the Political Science department to deliver an Executive MPA to a geographically dispersed market without sacrificing valuable classroom interaction or a sense of community. 9 a.m. Keynote Address Engaging Students in Large-Enrollment Classes Randy Phillis, University of Massachusetts Location: Baker Center Ballroom 10:30 a.m. Active/Collaborative Learning TBA Margret Appel, Health Psychology Scholarship of Teaching Teaching Colloquium Panel Members of the 2001-2002 Colloquium on Teaching Moderator: Karin Sandell, Director, Center for Teaching Excellence Location: Baker Center 304 This year's Colloquium on Teaching, a group of eleven faculty who have been meeting together since January of this year, has utilized an inquiry-based approach to studying student engagement and models of active intellectual engagement. Their work has culminated in a series of small teaching projects where they have assessed everything from students' attitudes about their roles as learners to students' preparedness for active learning. Members of the colloquium will share what they have gained from their mutual work and will present the results of the individual student assessment projects. 11:00 a.m. Active/Collaborative Learning TBA Loreen Giese Location: Baker Center Ballroom Transforming Teaching through Technology The Use of Computerized Assignments in Physics and Chemistry: CAPA and LON-CAPA Mark Lucas, Physics Location: Scripps 116 The Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Department of Chemistry have been using the CAPA (Computer-Assisted Personalized Approach) system since Fall of 1994 to deliver computerized assignments. The Department of Physics and Astronomy is currently piloting a completely new system from Michigan State University called Learning Online Network with CAPA (LON-CAPA). This new system provides a full course delivery environment as well the ability to seamlessly share resources between faculty and between institutions. The presentation will address some of the advantages and disadvantages of computerized assignments. Low Threshold Applications of Educational Technology: An Emerging Approach for Large-Scale, Improvement of education Stephen C. Ehrmann, Ph.D., Director, The Flashlight Program for the Study and Improvement of Educational Uses of Technology at The Teaching, Learning and Technology Group NOTE LOCATION CHANGE: Baker 327 Attempts to use computing to improve higher learning go back at least four decades. Only recently have we begun to escape a paradigm that once described most such investments. This older paradigm was characterized by attempts to make huge leaps forward, often featuring major investments in hardware and sophisticated interactive courseware. Today computing and the Web are becoming part of the fabric of education, changing the fabric (bit by bit) in the process. As we all know now, this new paradigm uses technology to support active learning and communication. Both take advantage of relatively familiar software (e.g., word processing, disciplinary packages) and the Web. The teaching-learning ideas are relatively easy to pass from person to person. Because the tools are familiar and the pattern of change is incremental, it's possible for rather profound changes in the fabric of education to creep up on us. Steve Ehrmann will discuss some of these possibilities and their implications for program improvement, assessment, and faculty development. 12:00 p.m. Active/Collaborative Learning MENT/WENT: Active Learning with High School Engineering Prospective Students Bob Houdek, Science Reference Librarian, Alden Library; Sharon Huge, Director, Hannah McCauley Library, Lancaster Location: Scripps 108 For 2 weeks each summer, the O.U. Engineering school offers a taste of engineering education for qualified high school students. As part of this experience, librarians from Alden Library have created a 3-hour intensive introduction to engineering research. Students are offered a short instruction session, do an hour of hands-on work in the library, and create short group reports -- the academic process in miniature. The positive response from this experience has influenced librarians to create a similar exercise for other introductory sessions offered during the academic year. 1:00 p.m. Transforming Teaching through Technology Faculty Research on Technology Use in Their Own Courses: Promising Lines of Inquiry Stephen C. Ehrmann, Ph.D., Director, The Flashlight Program for the Study and Improvement of Educational Uses of Technology at The Teaching, Learning and Technology Group Location: CITL 021 Scott Quad Basement The rapid pace of technological change has made education more exciting; the use of such technology makes teaching more risky, especially when students use technology outside the classroom. This session will explore the kinds of research ("scholarship of teaching") that faculty can do in order to improve learning in their own courses. In this session Steve Ehrmann will review Flashlight Online and some other tools and methods to help faculty members get started in gathering useful data. This informal discussion will describe several archetypal approaches. The emphasis will be on studies that are both easy to do and easily worth the effort. Active/Collaborative Learning Active learning in an introductory library skills session Renee Geary, Reference and Instruction Librarian Location: Alden 318 Live demonstration of instruction session for INCO 103 using the structure explained in the poster session. The in-class session involves a short demonstration, student work on the in-class exercise and presentations by students of the results of their work. Session participants will serve as the class for the demonstration. Curriculum and Assessment Institutional Research Support of Academic Department-Based Assessment Michael Williford, Charles Rich, Elizabeth Bennett Location: Scripps 116 This demonstration profiles institutional research support of academic department-based assessment. It is divided into two parts. First, the demonstration covers how the Office of Institutional Research (OIR) provides central support of Academic Assessment. Academic departments rely on OIR for direct, central access to much of the data they need. The presentation demonstrates OIR's web site's organization and components, which are instrumental in supporting Academic Assessment. Second, the demonstration presents OIR's specific initiative to provide all academic departments with program-specific outcomes assessment data requested by the departments. Scholarship of Teaching Chairs and Directors Council Location: Baker 327 This session is for department chairs and school directors to meet with Incoming Provost Stephen Kopp.