Among the many questions raised at the CUE workshops in early November, the issue of how to measure such learning experiences seemed to be among the most common. Educators want to discuss alternative ways to recognize and measure students’ learning. Ultimately, we are all asking: how do we know that students are learning?

The main problem seems to be that many educators think of examinations when they think of measuring or evaluating. They believe the purpose of evaluation is to assign a final grade. In the learner-centered classroom that CUE seeks to promote, both the methods and the purpose of measurement are broader in their scope. Moreover, evaluation must be directly connected to course objectives and learning outcomes.

A primary purpose of evaluation is to help students develop broad knowledge of the subject and, more importantly, the skills to apply this knowledge effectively and efficiently. Evaluation exists to help students construct knowledge and set goals for further achievements.

To develop a broad knowledge of the subject, students need continuous feedback on their work in progress, which might include self-assessment and peer review. Evidence shows that student performance improves with this type of evaluation, which allows students to track their own progress, thus increasing their motivation to learn. Additionally, assessment does not necessarily have to be one way – from teacher to students. It is also important for students to have a chance to give their feedback on their learning experiences to their teachers. This practice allows students to use critical thinking and reflective skills that are necessary to their achievement of the University Learning Outcomes.

There are many ways for educators to measure students’ knowledge and skill development. The Chronicle of Higher Education offers a list of assignments that can be implemented in a learner-centered classroom (http://chronicle.com/article/Chart-More-Faculty-members/48848).

As the CUE committee’s learning model is discussed and debated, we hope to continue the dialogue about measuring student learning that will inform our curricula, instruction, construction of productive learning environments and the learning process itself. In the coming weeks this blog will present a number of new ways to think about measuring learning. We hope that you will join us for a frank and fruitful discussion about how we know when students are learning.

Essentially, the Common Reading Experience brings together the BGSU community by providing a common discussion source. Prior to the beginning of classes, faculty, staff, and incoming first-year students read the same book. A committee chooses the book each year with input from different groups on campus, including the college deans. When classes begin in the fall, students across different disciplines and backgrounds will share in the “BGSU community” discussion. Some instructors and departments also integrate the Common Reading into their curriculum. While maintaining an academic tone, the Common Reading allows first-year BGSU students to become part of a communal, discussion environment.

During the fall semester the CTL’s Interact at the Center blog will have weekly posts dedicated to this year’s Common Reading, This I Believe. Faculty, administrators and students will be “guest bloggers.” They will present their reactions to the book, along with sharing their own “This I Believe” statements. Our blog will also have postings titled “Classroom Highlights” and “On Campus,” which will offer insight into how different classes and departments incorporate This I Believe. Each week we will provide audio samples of essays from the book, as well as resources to help you integrate the Common Reading into your course discussions.

For more information concerning BGSU’s Common Reading Experience, including books selected in the past and other background questions, please visit: http://www.bgsu.edu/colleges/library/infosrv/cre/. You are also invited to visit NPR’s “This I Believe” website http://www.thisibelieve.org, which includes podcasts and curriculum guides.

Here are the lessons that Wax feels people can learn:

1) Never do anything that would embarrass you if anyone knew about it.

2) Never underestimate the intelligence or resourcefulness of others.

3) Own your actions.

4) It’s never too late to seek a second chance.

5) Sometimes, the most important lesson you can learn is failure.

Matt Hill, a respondent to the article, offers some insightful thought, saying “Much education is about imparting knowledge; it often fails to teach people how to think.  If your educational establishment is rife with student plagiarism, I’d wager that the students haven’t been taught how to think for themselves.” In the web page you can read other interesting comments that many people have made in response to Wax’s ideas.

Here are some highlights (quoted here, not “lifted”)

Irish student hoaxes world’s media with fake quote

DUBLIN -

When Dublin university student Shane Fitzgerald posted a poetic but phony quote onWikipedia, he said he was testing how our globalized, increasingly Internet-dependent media was upholding accuracy and accountability in an age of instant news.

His report card: Wikipedia passed. Journalism flunked.

The sociology major’s made-up quote — which he added to the Wikipedia page of Maurice Jarre hoursafter the French composer’s death March 28 — flew straight on to dozens of U.S. blogs and newspaper Web sites in Britain, Australia and India.

A full month went by and nobody noticed the editorial fraud. So Fitzgerald told several media outlets in an e-mail and the corrections began.

“The moral of this story is not that journalists should avoid Wikipedia, but that they shouldn’t use information they find there if it can’t be traced back to a reliable primary source,” said the readers’ editor at the Guardian, Siobhain Butterworth, in the May 4 column that revealed Fitzgerald as the quote author.

Walsh said this was the first time to his knowledge that an academic researcher had placed false information on a Wikipedia listing specifically to test how the media would handle it.

Conferencealerts.com is a huge website dedicated to marketing higher education conferences across all disciplines and topics.  The site also has a database that helps you find a conference, add an event, or promote their event with email. Users can find professional conferences for everything from Islamic Studies to Teaching and Learning.  Moreover, the workshops that are advertised on the Conferencealerts.com are from all over the world.

Here’s a little more information from their website:

“Conference Alerts brings together two groups of people – conference organizers, and academics who need to stay informed about  conferences. We work with both small first-time conference organizers and established professional societies to ensure that notification of their conferences reach specifically interested parties. Both individual academics and a wide range of ‘knowledge brokers’ – such as journal editors, web site administrators and discussion list moderators – rely on our searchable online database and on Conference Alerts Monthly to remain informed about upcoming academic and professional events.”

Take a visit to Conferencealerts.com and see if you can find a conference somewhere in the world that you would like to attend or inquire about.

Read Kubik’s article for yourself and learn about her ideas.  She makes some interesting points and offers some nice insight that we think are worth reading.  Here are just a couple excerpts from the piece:

“Since groundbreaking information may be delivered from a grassroots level, academics should not dismiss this type of content creation.”

“While it once made sense to equate print with quality, it’s time to embrace newer forms of communication as valid. If they need academically sound forms of verification and procedures for citation, let’s get to work.”

To read a copy of the latest newsletter click here.

Team-Based Learning is a systematic method for helping students work in groups and learn together.  Its supporters believe that the benefits attached to TBL are well worth the time it takes to learn how to implement the method.  Moreover, TBL’s proponents are saying that it is an excellent way of supplementing their other methods for teaching that have been helpful for their students’ learning.

According to its supporters, TBL has been structured to help student learning in group settings and, almost as importantly, has accountability built into it.  Before trying this method with students plans need to be made, which include partitioning the course content into macro-units, identifying the instructional goals and objectives, and designing a grading system.  Later, in class, there are more methodical instructions on correctly implementing TBL.  Please see Introduction to Team-Based Learning and Getting Started with Team-Based Learning to read why and how you can try TBL for yourself.

There is an entire website dedicated to TBL that we invite you to visit.  The site has video examples, professional testimonies from people who have tried it and a number of other resources.  Please take a look at the site to learn about the “buzz” surrounding Team-Based Learning.

I.  Thou shalt connect new lectures to previous ones.

II.  Thou shalt move beyond chalk and talk.

III.  Thou shalt not lecture like caffeinated hummingbird or a tree sloth.

IV.  Thou shalt not assume too much.

V.  Thou shalt link known to unknown.

VI.  Thou shalt be enthusiastic.

VII.  Thou shalt not be a pompous ass.

VIII.  Thou shalt not tolerate disruptive or disrespectful students.

IX.  Thou shalt not lecture outdoors.

X.  Thou shalt seize learning moments.

This is just a list of Weir’s commandments.  The Inside Higher Education website has more elaborates concerning each of the suggestions that he has for instructors.

According to Cummings, detractors of Wikipedia’s use in higher education assignments have reasons to be concerned. Wikipedia, indeed, is an open source where essentially anyone can edit or create information concerning almost any subject. With this in mind, people who use the website do expose themselves to getting inaccurate information or are subject to relying on information that is unfounded.

On the other hand, Cummings believes that Wikipedia offers several advantages for students. He believes the major advantage to helping student essay writing with the use of Wikipedia is that students have audiences that are real and can provide plenty of immediate feedback to their writing. In his classes Cummings literally has his students post their work to the website for people all over the Internet to provide them with comments concerning their work.  More importantly for the students, Cummings believes that students are writing and having more exposure to having having to write formally.  According to Cummings,

“Composition assignments in Wikipedia frame writing as a collaborative practice hosted within a network. This arrangement seems much more predictive of the environment our students will find themselves writing in after they leave the composition classroom, both in later college courses (as they collaborate across networks with fellow students in coursework) or in the workplace (as they collaborate with co-workers to prepare reports, proposals, or Web pages).”

We invite you to read Cummings’ article and see if what he has to say can be beneficial in any of your classes.

In order to understand the pedagogical implications of Web 2.0 tools, she explores three case studies: Learning Design, Openlearn and SocialLearn.

To read a related article by Grainne Conole please click here.

After watching this video, do you think we must develop new pedagogies that involve Web 2.0 tools?

Naturally, the “microlecture” technique has its detractors.  Critics of the practice think some topics, like literature or graphic design, are impossible to reduce down to three minutes.  They also believe “microlectures” can at best provide “impressionistic overview.”

Although the microlecture is intended for online courses it could be applied in a traditional classroom setting.  Instructions for how to make a microlecture in an online are listed below.

Here are the instructions provided for how to make a microlecture:

Professors spend a lot of time crafting hour-long lectures. The prospect of boiling them down to 60 seconds — or even five minutes — may seem daunting. David Penrose, a course designer for SunGard Higher Education who developed San Juan College’s microlectures, suggests that it can be done in five steps:

1. List the key concepts you are trying to convey in the 60-minute lecture. That series of phrases will form the core of your microlecture.

2. Write a 15 to 30-second introduction and conclusion. They will provide context for your key concepts.

3. Record these three elements using a microphone and Web camera. (The college information-technology department can provide advice and facilities.) If you want to produce an audio-only lecture, no Webcam is necessary. The finished product should be 60 seconds to three minutes long.

4. Design an assignment to follow the lecture that will direct students to readings or activities that allow them to explore the key concepts. Combined with a written assignment, that should allow students to learn the material.

5. Upload the video and assignment to your course-management software.

Read “These Lectures Are Gone in 60 Seconds” from the Chronicle of Higher Education website for yourself and learn more about “microlecturing.”

To instructors, who have received an extensive formal education, knowing exactly what a test is asking may come easy.  For some students, though, the ability to know exactly what they should do when words like “analyze” or “discuss” on exam can be vague and even foreign.  Teachingprofessor.com, one of our favorite websites, recently published a list that all instructors could use a reference to help their students.  Here is a list of what they call “test” verbs that you may want to share with students in your syllabus or exam preparation documents:

Analyze—break something down into parts, such as a theory into its components or a process into its stages or an event into its causes.

Assess/Criticize/Evaluate—determine or judge the degree to which something meets or fails to meet certain criteria.

Compare/Contrast—identify important similarities and/or differences between two or more elements in order to reveal something significant about them.

Define/Identify—give the key characteristics by which a concept, thing, or event can be understood.

Describe—give the characteristics by which an object, action, process, person or concept can be recognized and visualized.

Discuss—debate, argue, and evaluate the various sides of an issue

Explain/Justify—give the basic principles or reasons for something; make it intelligible.

Interpret/Explain—say what the author of a quotation or statement means.

Illustrate—Use a concrete example to explain or clarify the essential attributes of a problem or concept.

Reference: Nilson, L. B. Teaching at Its Best: A Research-Based Resource for College Instructors. 2nd ed. Bolton, Mass. Anker, 2003. [now available from Jossey-Bass]

In a paper titled Student Learning Styles and Their Implications for Teaching, authors Susan Montgomery and Linda Groat discuss the importance of recognizing learning styles and offered several different ways to assess these styles.  Among the learning style models that they covered are the Myers-Briggs Model and the Kolb/McCarthy Learning Cycle. The authors also provide useful tips to engage students with different types of learning styles in your classes. These tips include using both group and independent work, requiring in-class presentations and providing less direction to students.

To read the rest of the article please click here.

How do you engage students in your classes that have different learning styles?

To read a copy of the latest newsletter click here.

In an effort to provide an overview or guide of assessment practices, the National Institute for Learning Outcomes and the Alliance for New Leadership for Student Learning and Accountability are being developed, the former being led by Stanley Ikenberry and George Kuh.

The president of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, Judith Eaton, is noted as supporting the work of these institutes, claiming that (from IHE) “better knowledge of assessment would improve the relationship between accreditors and institutions, and that a sustained commitment by higher education to accountability would preserve the principles of self-regulation for higher education.” Eaton hopes that the new effort will “strengthen the academic leadership of our colleges and universities.”

Some detractors of the higher education assessment movement have called it an oversimplified and potentially harmful mission due to concerns over using a single test to demonstrate student learning outcomes. According to one faculty member, what’s lacking is “any evidence of validity” for these single measures. Members of the NILO and ANLSLA, however, state that the intent is not to establish a single standardized test for colleges, but to offer a more comprehensive method for accountability, which Ikenberry states will most likely incorporate multiple measures.

To read the full Assessing Assessment article click here: Inside Higher Ed

Where do you stand on these assessment and accountability movements?

* Needs assessment: participation of the learners in naming what is to be learned.

* Safety in the environment and the process.  We create a context for learning.  That context can be made safe.

* Sound relationships between teacher and learner and among learners.

* Sequence of content and reinforcement.

* Praxis: action with reflection or learning by doing.

* Respect for learners as decision makers.

* Ideas, feelings, and actions: cognitive, affective, and psychomotor aspects of learning.

* Immediacy of the learning.

* Clear roles and role development.

* Teamwork and use of small groups.

* Engagement of the learners in what they are learning.

* Accountability: how do they know they know?

These 12 Principles are actually quite helpful towards working with any learners in higher education.

Suggestions and opinions for ways to improve the quality of higher education is not a new discussion topic.  Different scholars, studies and projects suggest different strategies for improving higher education.  Paul Basken and Kevin Carey are two known researchers and writers who have ideas of why higher education needs improvement and strategies for bringing about its betterment.

Basken seems to agree with the idea that there is a culture amongst many faculties who simply are resistant to change.  Hence, traditional methods and older pedagogical frameworks continue to prevail in institutions of higher education.

Carey, however, has a different take on how to improve higher education.  In simple terms Carey is an advocate of holding faculty members responsible for the pedagogical methods they choose to implement in their courses.

Both writers have different, and interesting, opinions on how to deal with improving higher education.  You can read the articles that both men wrote on The Chronicle of Higher Education’s website and see how many people are responding to the articles.

What about a university president going back to teach an undergraduate course and providing updates of her experience?  Karen Gross, president of Southern Vermont College, is taking part in this exact idea.  Just last week President Gross published her first article that reflects on her return to the classroom.  In the article Gross describes some of the inspiration, rationale and obstacles involved with teaching at the university level.  Some of the thoughts and experiences that Gross shares are interesting.  Here is a short excerpt from the article: “Not surprisingly, the decision to teach was the easy part. The pragmatic needs kicked in immediately — well before the start of the semester. And they had to be balanced with the complex life I lead as a college president.”

Go ahead and read the article to keep up with Karen Gross’ endeavor back into the classroom.

The deadline for the Instructional Improvement Grant is approaching fast. The deadline for proposals is 5pm, March 2nd.

Awards of up to $1000 are provided for proposals that lead to significant and demonstrable improvement in pedagogical skills and/or have a positive effect on student learning.

More information and guidelines concerning proposals are available at:

http://www.bgsu.edu/offices/provost/profDevel/fdcgrants.htm

Or call 419-372-5387.

1. This worked for me in classes of nearly 100, N=75.  I used small groups extensively in the course. So, after forming the groups on the first day of class, I took a Polaroid picture of each group and as it “came up”, they wrote their names by their individual picture. I then posted these pictures by my desk in my office and worked on learning the names within each group.  After learning the names in the first group, I would learn a new group and review the names in the previous groups, and so on.. I took a week or two to get them all done, but I eventually did.  What seemed to work for me was: it was a lot easier to memorize 12 groups of 6 students, than it was to memorize 72 students. And students really appreciated it.

2. A math professor I knew had a very large class, over 100, and knew it would be valuable to learn their names.  So he used assigned seating, made a chart, and then each day of class, worked on memorizing a block of 6 students (3 in front and 3 behind).  Then each day when he came to class, he made a point of visiting with students in each new block and in the ones he had already learned -in addition to the class in general.

In took awhile, but again by working continuously at it, he eventually got their names all down so that even if he met them while walking across campus, he would recognize them and be able to address them by name.

The point seems to be:  You have to commit to doing this because you know it makes a difference in how students respond.  If you commit to doing it, you can do it even if it takes some time. To read more about L. Dee Fink’s book, please click here.

Here are some more ideas from the listserv and other faculty suggestions:

• Index card w/ name/contact info and 2-5 questions about them; review these early & often, especially during class discussions (call name and associate w/ their face
• Students create/use name tents each class session; some faculty have students take/bring these each class, while others collect them and use this as an attendance check (but this requires space to lay out the cards, usually alphabetical or clustered, and time to collect/organize them at the end of class). If the name tent IS collected, combine with the index card suggestion, having students answer questions on the inside for you to review.
• When handing back papers, call their name and personally hand it to each student
• Mandatory brief office visits (2-5 min.) are requested by some instructors during the first 1-3 weeks of class (which may be unmanageable for very large classes)
• Just “good ol’ memorization” of the roll sheets and then associate with faces during first classes
• Take pictures of groups of students and write their names out (be careful of the legalities of this at your school); study these groups with names/faces frequently; helps if they sit near each other in class

Do you have any creative ideas to learn the names of your students?

Please read the brief article for yourself and share your thoughts and/or comments below (just click on the COMMENTS link).

Other “Clickers” resources include:

CTL’s Clicker Resource page

http://www.bgsu.edu/ctlpage49370.html

Tom Haffie (University of Western Ontario) presents Clickers at Queens University (11/2006) 

http://sunsite.queensu.ca/vmp/clickers/index.html

One of Ohio’s more famous conferences involved in higher education is coming soon.  The University System of Ohio’s Libraries, Learning & Technology 2009 Conference will be the tenth anniversary of Ohio’s premier higher conference, previously known as the Ohio Digital Commons for Education Conference.  This year’s conference will deliver an excellent forum for professional development and networking opportunities, with a focus on:

• Teaching and Learning in the 21^stCentury
• Student Success
• Ohio Is Moving Forward
• Transforming Technologies
• P-20 Education

The conference will also include keynote speakers, vendor exhibits, technology demonstrations at Innovation Island, and more.

The conference will be held March 1-3, 2009.  Fees for the conference have been reduced.

Two-day registration:
$195 ($95 for students)
One-day registration:
$95 ($55 for students)

Registration Includes:

• Keynote sessions
• Concurrent sessions
• Innovation Island (Monday only)
• Lunch
• Continental breakfast
• Reception with hors d’oeuvres (Monday evening)
• Conference tote bag and program
• Free wireless access in the conference area
• Computer access in the Cyber Café
• Free parking at the Hilton Columbus

Please see the conference’s website for more information or registration:

http://www.oln.org/conferences/LLT2009/LLT2009.php

If I taught something and no one learned it, what happened?
(In other words, can I say that I really TAUGHT it?)

Some of the key points the group discussed during the session were the nature the science of learning and importance of faculty knowing about the implications for their courses and the students they teach. Halpern encourages faculty to think about the big ideas of their course (Ten years after your course, what do you want students to remember or be able to do?); be clear about learning outcomes, and encourage/foster a learning environment that allows for practice at retrieval of knowledge and establishes challenging learning opportunities that addresses and transforms their mental models.

Furthermore, it’s important for students (and faculty) to realize that learning is “effortful,” yet rewarding – often most difficult initially, then easier with more efforts and practice… like most things in life. The diverse group of participants provided and discussed examples from foreign languages, musical performance, and the sciences.

Later, participants reviewed Halpern’s list of 25 principles (full list with citations available here or as MS Word file) and selected individual principles that are essential for student success, such as:
• Perceptual motor grounding
• Testing effect
• Spacing effect
• Stories and Example Cases
• Discovery Learning

One concern brought up in Halpern’s address as well as in this discussion session that is an important question for all teachers – (paraphrased) “So, if these methods lead to better, durable learning, don’t these take up more time in the class? What goes and how do we choose?” A great question for all instructors, department chairs, and deans as well!

Halpern suggests focusing your planning on students’ lives today and in the future – What are or will be their needs? What skills and knowledge will best prepare them for a world that doesn’t exist yet? These questions will continue to be explored and certainly more will be generated as additional findings emerge from the “learning sciences” discipline, as well as from the cognitive and neurological sciences.

For the BGSU community, to view this keynote, visit the DVSS (digital video streaming server), log in, and search for “Halpern” — the video is approximately 70 minutes.

Nominations are being taken now for the Outstanding TA Award at BGSU.
The award, sponsored by the Graduate Student Enhancement Program
(GradSTEP) and the Graduate College, is designed to encourage and
reward excellence in undergraduate instruction. Winners receive a
plaque commemorating their accomplishment and a cash award of $250.

To be eligible, the Teaching Assistant must have taught a course for
which he/she had major responsibility at any time in 2008. Exam
proctors, graders, and past recipients of this award are not eligible.
Self-nominations will not be considered for this award. Those eligible
will come from one or more of the following categories:
1) TA teaching own section(s)
2) TA leading study/recitation section(s)
3) TA teaching laboratory section(s)

Information and nomination forms can be found at
http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/gradstep/page29564.

Nominations must be received by Feb. 9 and should be sent to 215 South
Hall or gradstep@bgsu.edu.

Kevin Carey, a research and policy manager for a major think tank in Washington, describes some of the history and previous experience with reactions to the ‘Measuring Up’ report. Carey also expresses some thoughts on how serious higher education institutions should consider the report and why it may have so many detractors.

Go ahead and read Carey’s article and feel free to tell us what you think.

In a recent article in T.H.E. Journal titled “e-cheating: Combating a 21st Century Challenge,” Kim McMurtry provides us with a list of 8 suggestions to combat this type of plagiarism:

• Take time to explain and discuss your academic honesty policy

• Design writing assignments with specific goals and instructions

• Know what’s available online before assigning a paper

• Give students enough time to do an assignment

• Require oral presentations of student papers or have students submit a letter of

transferal to you, explaining briefly their thesis statement, research process, etc

• Have students submit essays electronically

• When you suspect e-cheating, use a free full-text search engine like AltaVista or

Digital Integrity

• Consider subscribing to a plagiarism search service, like Plagiarism.org or

IntegriGuard

Read the entire article by clicking here

How have you dealt with e-cheating in your classes?

[From the Creative Commons website:]

What You Can Do Here

Creative Commons helps you publish your work online while letting others know exactly what they can and can’t do with your work. When you choose a license, we provide you with tools and tutorials that let you add license information to your own site, or to one of several free hosting services that have incorporated Creative Commons.

With a Creative Commons license, you keep your copyright but allow people to copy and distribute your work provided they give you credit — and only on the conditions you specify here. For those new to Creative Commons licensing, we’ve prepared a list of things to think about. If you want to offer your work with no conditions, choose the public domain.

On November 21st BGSU Libraries will be hosting its final session dedicated to discussing and learning about Creative Commons.  The sessions are from 2:30-4:30pm in 113 Olscamp Hall and 1011 Cedar Point Center (Firelands campus).  Registration isn’t needed for this event, you’re welcomed to just show up for the session.  For more information, please send questions to: ctl@bgsu.edu or call 419.372.6898.