While it can seem overwhelming to try incorporating a common reading into your already content-heavy course, This I Believe, Inc. has put together a curriculum guide for instructors in higher education. You can find the curriculum guide at http://thisibelieve.org, under the educators tab labeled “resources.”
The guide is divided into four sections, one more general and three showing educators how to help students through the writing process. Focused primarily on writing, the guide leads instructors through teaching initial thought-gathering, good writing techniques, rewriting and peer evaluation. Moreover, sections of the guide encourage diverse methods of teaching This I Believe such as including audio from the show’s run on NPR and creative activities such as “The Credo Exercise” or the “I Believe in Music” discussion.
The curriculum guide is just that – a document that provides educators with ways to lead students through This I Believe in a productive and effective way. It is, however, a guide. Although you might create your own curriculum (and the website encourages you to share these ideas) the guide is written in such a way that educators who are less comfortable with the process can draw both directly and indirectly from the document.
For more specific information, you can find the curriculum guide here.
In this post, we bring you a link to the essay written by Warren Christopher titled “A Shared Moment of Trust.” The audio control is at the top of the page:
http://thisibelieve.org/essay/6894/
Posted in Uncategorized September 3, 2009
As mentioned in our previous post, the Interact at the Center blog is having a semester-long series of posts dedicated to this year’s Common Reading Experience. This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women, edited by Jay Allison and Dan Gediman, is this year’s BGSU common “Read.” One of the main goals of the Common Reading Experience, in which BGSU has been participating since 2001, is to generate healthy discussion amongst students and faculty. This I Believe is going to “inspire readers to think about what it is they believe in,” as the University Library’s web page says, and will be a beneficial experience for everyone in the BGSU community.
Started in the 1950s as part of a radio program by Edward R. Murrow, the This I Believe project was created with the idea of publishing stories about life. The book is a compilation of essays written by people from different walks of life expressing their philosophies and ideas about life. Some of the contributing authors of essays in the book include Bill Gates, Colin Powell and Isabel Allende. A sampling of titles in the book are: “Be Cool to the Pizza Dude,” written by an English professor, and “Finding Prosperity by Feeding Monkeys,” by an attorney. Dr. Carney Strange, a professor here at BGSU, is one of the many authors who has had his This I Believe essay used by NPR.
The first discussion between students and BGeX faculty is Sunday, August 23rd. Please listen to a podcast, by Azar Nafisi, from This I Believe (audio control panel is near top of page). We invite people to post their reactions to the book, podcast and/or discussion.
Posted in Discussion-Join In ,Podcasting ,Uncategorized August 20, 2009
There are several adjustments that first-year BGSU students must make. Many new students will learn how to manage new responsibilities, make new friends, meet new expectations, and negotiate a number of other new experiences. One of the ways that BGSU works with new students and the adjustments to college life is through the Common Reading Experience. Since 2001, BGSU has been one of many universities around the country that use a Common Reading Experience as a way to build community for incoming first-year students.
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.
Posted in Active Learning ,Books/Library ,Discussion-Join In ,Higher Education ,On Campus Learning Events ,Reflections on Teaching ,Scholarly Communication ,Student Success ,Writing August 3, 2009
Plagiarism is one of the unavoidable topics that must be talked about in higher education. Instead of discussing how common it is and/or how to detect its occurrence, according to Dustin Wax, there are significant lessons that can be learned from someone who plagiarizes. Wax, an instructor and published author, believes that there are five overarching ideas “we can all learn from plagiarists.”
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.
Posted in Higher Education ,Reflections on Teaching ,Scholarly Communication May 29, 2009
Below is an excerpt from the article about a college student’s inquiry into Wikipedia and journalism in the digital age. What he found out might surprise some of you or even cause a reconsideration of using Wikipedia in the classroom. Read the full article
here.
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.
How do you handle the use of Wikipedia in your courses and/or your own research?
Posted in Discussion-Join In ,Higher Education ,Resources ,Scholarly Communication ,Student Success ,Web 2.0 Tools ,Writing May 13, 2009
A recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education discusses the importance of using recall to learn new concepts and ideas. According to the article, two psychology journals just published papers showing that the strategy of recall works.
According to the author David Glenn, recall is when students put down the text or notes that they are studying and recall everything they can. Students can either write down everything they remember or day it out loud. This active recall, such as using flashcards and other self-quizzing, is the most effective may to add something to your long-term memory.
These recall techniques, according to Dr. McDaniel, a researcher in the field of biology and teaching techniques, “If you ask people to free-recall, you can generate a better mental model of a subject area, and in turn that can lead to better problem-solving.”
This idea of free-recall has also generated some critiques from educators. Some professors have voiced concerns that recall is simply teaching students how to memorize instead of increases levels of higher learning and thinking. Dr. McDaniel argues that although these techniques may aid students in the often- required tasks of memorization, the free-recall tasks actually help to give students the skills needed apply their knowledge.
Read more about this article by clicking here.
More strategies for effective learning can be found at the University of Memphis Department of Psychology’sPrinciples of Learning page. Topics include
All of these topics provide concrete strategies for faculty and students to use to increase learning. Give them a try!
How do you encourage your students to use free-recall techniques or practice retrieval?
Posted in Discussion-Join In ,Student Success ,Teaching Tips May 11, 2009
A faculty member recently asked us if we could work with her in finding a resource for conferences concerning higher education. During our search, we cam across Conferencealerts.com, which we thought could be helpful for many faculty members and TAs.
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.
Posted in Conferences ,Higher Education ,Resources April 28, 2009
We have written a few postings that mentioned some of the debate behind the academic use (or non-use) of online websites for research or as a teaching resource in higher education. While many academics openly discourage the use of websites like Wikipedia or the process of “Google’ing” a topic for research, there are some scholars who are saying that researchers should take the idea of online research seriously. Sara Kubik is an associate faculty member at University-Purdue University Fort Wayne who thinks that it could be time for Academia to take online research more seriously. According to Kubik, instead of completely forbidding the use of the Internet as a credible research tool it might be time for scholars to participate in improving the validity of online resources.
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.”
Posted in Higher Education ,Reflections on Teaching ,Resources April 15, 2009
David Albrecht, associate professor of Accounting and Management Information Systems, presented last week on “Why All Professors Should Blog.” He provided examples and led discussion about:
- Why you should blog,
- What you should blog about, and
- How to get started.
A blog post he wrote a few months ago nicely summarizes his main arguments.
Now it’s your turn… if you have a blog and are a BGSU faculty member, leave your URL and name in the comments below. If you are thinking about a blog, what are you waiting for? As David mentioned, blogging “is like adding Miracle Grow to your research“!
Posted in Blogs ,Discussion-Join In ,Scholarly Communication ,Web 2.0 Tools ,Writing April 13, 2009
The newest CTL “Communicating for Learners” newsletter has just been released. In the latest newsletter you can find the interesting “What If…” article concerning the University Learning Outcomes and how they can apply in classrooms here at BGSU. There is also a thought-provoking article titled, “Brain Rules for Learning” that describes John Medina’s twelve famous Brain Rules. In addition, the newsletter features five new websites that we find helpful and beneficial to educators and students. Our Visionary Status in this newsletter is John Tagg, who is a well-known writer and researcher in the education field. Finally, you can also look at the different dates and times of workshops and discussions available here at the CTL.
To read a copy of the latest newsletter click here.
Posted in Active Learning ,Higher Education ,Newsletter April 7, 2009
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