The process of teaching and learning requires detailed preparation. One of these important steps in preparation is developing a course syllabus. There are many methods for syllabus creation and a great resource for such a task is the book The Course Syllabus: A Learning-Centered Approach by Judith Grunert. This manual is intended to assist instructors in planning and constructing a learning-centered course syllabus that incorporates tools and information to aid students’ learning.
In the book, Judith notes that “…[A] syllabus can serve a wide variety of functions that support and challenge students as they engage in their educational activities” (p.14). Some of these functions are: Establishing an Early Point of Contact and Connection Between Student and Instructor, Helps Set the Tone for Your Course, Describes Your Beliefs About Educational Purposes, Acquaints Students with the Logistics of the Course, and Provides a Conceptual Framework.
Below is a checklist designed to help an instructor develop a learning-centered course syllabus. This checklist was taken from page 81 in Judith’s book.
Grunert, Judith. The Course Syllabus: A Learning-Centered Approach. Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing Company, Inc., 1997.
For a more detailed description of the Judith Grunert’s book visit:
http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1882982185.html
See these web sites for more syllabus examples:
http://cte.udel.edu/syllabus.htm
http://www.udel.edu/pbl/courses.html
How are Judith’s tips helpful to you in developing a syllabus?
What other methods for syllabus development have you used?
Are there any other important functions of a syllabus you would like to share?
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: Active Learning, Learning Outcomes, Teaching Tips August 17, 2007
Are you trying something new this semester? Perhaps a new active learning strategy or a new assessment? Leave a comment (anonymously or with your name) telling us what new strategies you’ll be implementing this fall in your course(s).
Click on the COMMENTS link below to share a strategy
Posted in Active Learning ,Discussion-Join In August 16, 2007
Corrie Bergeron, M.Ed., an Instructional Designer at Lakeland Community College in Ohio recently wrote an essay entitled Age of Wonders and shared it on one of the OLN (Ohio Learning Network) listserves. Below are some highlights, but the entire essay is a good, but short read for anyone concerned with being inundated by constant technological change in their life or classroom.
In the film “Master and Commander,” 19th-century British sea captain Jack Aubry is handed a wooden model of a new warship. He examines it carefully, noting its many innovative features. Finally he sets it down, saying, “What an age of wonders we live in.”
If he had only known what was just over the horizon.
…For those of us who teach (and who directly support the teachers), this is a huge challenge. Many of our students know far more than we do about the new tools and toys. Others struggle with basic skills most of us mastered years ago. Every semester faculty come to me and say, “Please get me set up with Blackboard. My students say I need to use it.”
But in truth, the technology doesn’t matter all that much. Regardless of the tools they use, people are still people. We all have the same basic human needs: for food and shelter, for security, for love and belonging, for esteem, for self-actualization. Under the iPod and Razr, behind the email or discussion board post, is a human being with the same fundamental needs as his or her great-great grandparents.
They just meet those needs in different ways, that’s all. iTunes is not so very different than the traveling minstrel of Chaucer’s time. It just has a larger repertoire.
A tool is merely a set of affordances and constraints – stuff it lets you do easily, and stuff it makes it hard to do. That applies to tools used for teaching, too. You can teach in the 3D simulated world of Second Life, where people can fly and a student may appear as an alien with an orange mohawk (ok, bad example – that can show up on campus, too). But you also can teach while sitting on a log and using your finger to draw in the dirt (hey – digital interactive multimedia!)
…Is that good? Is it bad? Neither. It’s just different.
…We often feel like hamsters on a wheel that’s spinning faster than we can run. But we keep up as best we can with what’s going on “out there.” We try new things. Sometimes they work better than we’d planned. Sometimes they crash and burn. We pick up the pieces, learn from the experience, and try, try again.
We have to, if we want to prepare our students for the next Age of Wonders. It’s just over the horizon.
This is distrubuted with the author’s permission and a Creative Commons license (non-commercial with attribution).
What are your thoughts or observations about this “age of wonders”? How does or will these realities change the way you teach… or change the way students learn — in 3-5 years, 10 years, 20 years? Any other comments regarding the essay?
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: Discussion-Join In, Student Success, Teaching Tips, Tech Tips August 8, 2007
The beginning of the semester is an exciting and busy time for both faculty and students. The semester start is also the best time for you to take the opportunity to make students aware of your expectations for the entire semester.
Expectations help define a boundary for students in which they can focus on the required tasks, leading them to the desired learning outcomes, rather than being distracted by unclear or obscure objectives. Some areas you can define or clarify include:
- workload per week (2-3x the credit hours out of class time, usually),
- assignments (what will need to be accomplished – readings, papers, presentations, projects, research, etc.),
- assessment/evaluation (how will they be graded/assessed – quizzes, exams, homework, rubrics, informal feedback, etc.), and
- behaviors (also important to include in order to educate the “whole student” – participation, attendance, professional, during presentations and group work, etc.).
In concert with expections, here are some assignment ideas or discussion topics that allow students to claim ownership of their role in the learning process, :
- Have students list their expectations for the course before seeing the syllabus or learning outcomes; near the end of the course, return this list and have them revise it, including a list of suggestions for next semester’s students
- On the first day, have them write a letter to you about why they deserve an A in your class; return it to them just before the final exam for them to revise and resubmit, including a section about how they have changed as a result of your class
- After looking at the course outcomes in the syllabus, have students write their personal short and long term goals for the course
What are some other expectations, outcomes, or activities that help your students take ownership of their learning ? Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: Active Learning, Discussion-Join In, Learning Outcomes, Student Success, Teaching Tips July 31, 2007
1. Generation “Y” will migrate heavily overseas
2. Dwindling supplies of water in China will impact the global economy
3. Workers will increasingly choose time over money
4. Outlook for Asia: China for the short term; India for the long term
5. Children’s “nature deficit disorder” will grow as a health threat
6. We’ll incorporate wireless technology into our thought processing
7. The costs of global warming disasters will reach $150 billion per year
8. Companies will see the age range of their workers span FOUR generations
9. A rise of disabled Americans will strain public transportation systems
10. The robotic workforce will change how bosses value employees
(See the YouTube video )
What are your thoughts on these 10 forecasts?
How will these affect education, teaching, learning, and employment opportunities for our students? For us?
Do you have any other predictions/forecasts?
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: Discussion-Join In July 24, 2007
Time Magazine lists some of the best websites of 2007. Categories include Arts & Leisure, Audio & Video, News & Info, Social Networks, and Web Services. Many of these websites include tools that could be utilized in education. Below are a handful of the top 50 that could be useful…
Expertvillage.com: Worlds Largest How-To Video Site
Odeo.com: Millions of MP3s and 1000’s of audio channels—podcasts, music, and more.
Ecofoot.org: Measure your Eco-Footprint
Fafsa4caster.ed.gov: Federal Financial Aid Calculator
Pollingreport.com: An independent, nonpartisan resource on trends in American public opinion.
Linkedin.com: A social network for business professionals and career-minded folks.
Wetpaint.com: With Wetpaint you can start, share, and grow a wiki with anyone about anything.
And Many More…
What is the best website in the list? How have you used any of these sites? Which ones?…Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!
Posted in Tech Tips ,Web 2.0 Tools July 10, 2007
There are many options for creating a personalized homepage for your web browser. The Center wanted to pass along a couple options. If you already have a Google account try iGoogle, or if you prefer Yahoo! checkout MyYahoo!, or try Netvibes. All have numerous options that will provide you with a concentrated page full of the information you need. Each of these personal homepages can save time by providing the information you access on a daily basis as soon as you open your browser.
www.igoogle.com
Possible Educational Personalizations include…
-Moon Phases
-Wikipedia Search
-Weather
-News Feeds
-and many others….
www.my.yahoo.com
Possible Educational Personalizations include
-BBC News
-Stock Ticker
-Space.Com Feed
-WSJ and many more…
www.netvibes.com
Possible Educational Personalizations include
-NASA Earth Observatory
-Flickr Search
-Blog Search
-Translator
-News Feeds and many more….
How could customized homepage be used in the classroom? Do you have a personalized homepage? Is it different from the ones listed above…if so what do you use? What information do you have on your homepage?…Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: Tech Tips, Visual Learning, Web 2.0 Tools July 3, 2007
Classroom presentations can be one of the most enriching assignments of the class if enough planning and preparation goes into the process. Below are 6 tips to help you assign an engaging oral presentation assignment.
1. Plan ahead. Give yourself time to communicate your expectations for the assignment and allow enough time for students to prepare. A well-prepared presentation takes time to plan!
2. Write a complete assignment so students understand the goals and aims of the presentation. Give the rubric you will be using to students ahead of time so they can plan accordingly.
3. Encourage creativity. Let students know that you don’t expect any two presentations to be formatted the same. This will ensure students enrich the learning experience by allowing their own personality and experiences to show through.
4. Prepare your students to be a willing and cooperative audience. Students need to be sufficiently engaged to learn from their peers. Consider what the audience will be doing during the presentations.
5. Have students complete a self-assessment. Let the student reflect on their strengths and weaknesses after the presentation.
6. Evaluate the presentations to help the students improve. Provide personalized information on the rubric to let the student know you care about their performance and how they can improve for next time.
Oral Presentation Assessment Tips at Carleton College (This site is geared toward geosciences, but is applicable to other disciplines.)
What strategy for class presentations or the assessment rubric would like to share with the BGSU community?
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: Teaching Tips June 25, 2007
Applications for the 2007-2008 CTLT Learning Communities are now available through the end of July. This year, faculty, staff, and graduate students have eleven communites to choose from, including three new opportunities:
Core Commitments Service-Learning
Co-sponsored with the Office for Service -Learning, members will develop knowledge of service-learning outcomes and assessment plans for a newly designed service-learning course to be taught during academic year 2008-2009, including the implementation of community partnership best practices into course design and delivery.
Schlolarship in Teaching and Learning
An interdisciplinary group of faculty who value, encourage, and engage in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). The community and its members will research and discuss professional practices leading to the development of scholarly teaching and enriched and meaningful student learning.
Web 2.0 Pedagogy and Scholarship
University faculty, staff, and graduate students will explore the use of Web 2.0 tools for pedagogical transformation, community partnerships, scholarship of engagement, and new models of scholarly publishing.
Additional community opportunities include:
• Active Learning in the Natural Sciences
• Grant Writing for Teaching and Learning Initiatives
• The IF Learning Community at BGSU Firelands
• Life Science Scientific Teaching and Reform
• New Faculty
• Research in Science and Mathematics Education
• Transition to Digital
For more information or to download an application, visit the CTLT’s Learning Community web page.
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: Learning Communities June 25, 2007
How can I create mailing labels in my word processing software?
AL’s answer for Mac using Appleworks 6
http://www.atomiclearning.com/almovie?key=4720
AL’s answer for PC using Word 2003
http://www.atomiclearning.com/almovie?key=27397
AL’s answer for PC using Word 2007
http://www.atomiclearning.com/almovie?key=29244
AL’s answer for PC using OpenOffice.org 2
http://www.atomiclearning.com/almovie?key=28633
Would this tip improve your ability to send out notices? If you try this, tell us about your success or problems implementing this technique…Click on the COMMENTS link below to get started!
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged: Ask AL, Tech Tips June 21, 2007
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Grunert, Judith. The Course Syllabus: A Learning-Centered Approach. 
