Summaries of 2002-03 LES Workshops

Did you miss an LES workshop or do you need a reminder of what was discussed? The following are descriptions of LES workshops held during the 2002-03 academic year.

Accent on Learning: Pedagogical Pluses of Service Learning
Teaching Novels and Plays Outside of Literature Courses
What's a Quantitative Reasoning Flag Doing in a Nice Liberal Arts Curriculum Like Ours?
Learning Enhancement is a Joke
How to Get From Here to There: Linking our Educational Aspirations to Our Classroom Behaviors
Directing Discussion at the Crossroads: Leading, Following and Motivating Classroom Discussion
Generating More Effective Classroom Discussions
How Does a Boomer Professor Teach a Nester Student?
Advanced Organizers: Giving Students the Ticket to Get "On Board" for Class
They Can Do It!  Moderating Student Research or Creative Projects
Enhancing Diversity: What Can We Do in Our Classrooms and on Theses Campuses?
Making Small Groups Centers for Real Learning

Accent on Learning: Pedagogical Pluses of Service Learning

Service learning is not just doing volunteer work.  It is also not an internship.  Service-learning means providing meaningful service in a way that helps us reach our particular learning objectives.  In other words, we provide valued service to participating organizations and they give us the opportunity to synthesize and understand course material in community or organizational settings.

Join Karyl Daughters (Communication), Sheila Nelson (Sociology), and Steve Stelzner (Psychology) as they share their experiences with service-learning and discuss practical ways to make connections between service experiences and course content.  If you’ve ever had difficulty getting students over their theory-phobia, service-learning may be the answer.

Teaching Novels and Plays Outside of Literature Courses

One might assume the teaching of novels and plays is most appropriate in English or Great Books courses, but the applications are much broader.  Many of us teach literature in our courses, but we no doubt do so differently.  Others of us might like to include novels or plays but do not know how.  Gregory Schroeder (History) will offer some examples of how they teach novels and plays in disciplines other than language and literature.  We hope this presentation will offer both techniques and encouragement for those who already include literature in their courses and others who would like to do so.  Greg Schroeder will discuss how he teaches two novels, Simone de Beauvoir’s The Mandarins and Milan Kundera’s The Joke, in his upper-level history courses.

What's a Quantitative Reasoning Flag Doing in a Nice Liberal Arts Curriculum Like Ours?

Quantitative Reasoning – the very term strikes fear into the hearts of many of our students.  Why is that?  Is that good?  Is it necessary?  Is it possible to lead a happy, normal life without being burdened with the need to be able to reason quantitatively?  Our students wrestle with these issues as they work their ways through our core curriculum and bump into the Quantitative Reasoning Flag.  Many feel only students majoring in the natural sciences and mathematics really need these skills.  However, quantitative reasoning is not, and should not be confined to the natural and physical sciences, where “plugging and chugging” is often confused with the process.  In logic, the process can involve manipulating strings of symbols according to purely syntactic rules.  Quantitative skills can also help students defend themselves against those who use quantitative methods to mystify or deceive instead of inform.  Still, the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) shows students in the U.S. lack important quantitative skills. 

Please come and join Richard Albares (Sociology), Bruce Dickau (Education & Biology), Bob Fulton (Chemistry), and Tim Robinson (Philosophy) in a discussion about quantitative reasoning and ways in which it can help our students “explore the human condition.” 

Learning Enhancement is a Joke

Why incorporate humor in the classroom?  Isn't it better to use the proven, time-tested approach to teaching, known as the Non-Critical-Thinking-Passive-Comatose-Boring Method?  Is there a humongous corpus (a constellation better know as the "Big Belly") of research, to satisfy the empirically-minded, which justifies using humor in the classroom?  Well, there are lots of studies regarding the effects of laughter on the mind and body -- decreased anxiety and stress, improved self-esteem, increased motivation -- but few which explore the use of humor to facilitate learning in the college classroom and those studies which do exist are likely judged by many to be less than scientifically rigorous.

Join Larry Davis (Geology) and Scott Richardson (MCL), who can in no way speak to humor studies -- scientific or other-wise -- but who will, none-the-less, lead a discussion on the legitimacy of incorporating humor into the classroom and the ways to do so without losing all self-respect.  Who knows, with the pending budget cuts, honing your skills as a stand-up comedian may be a good fall back plan.

How to Get From Here to There: Linking our Educational Aspirations to Our Classroom Behaviors

Most of us could easily come up with a list of attributes we hope our students obtain during their stay with us, whether it is in a single class, a departmental sequence, or a full undergraduate program.  At the same time, however, we rarely begin our planning for a class with our vision of the ideal outcome at the forefront.  Instead, we often start and stop with the content we need to cover; thinking about how to achieve broader intellectual and transformative goals frequently receives little explicit attention.

Join Ken Jones (History/LES) for a conversation about how we can begin to bridge this gap.  How can we become more intentional about linking desired goals and daily practice?  What does the research literature suggest we need to do in order to achieve the various outcomes we desire?  For more information on linking aspirations to behaviors...

Directing Discussion at the Crossroads: Leading, Following and Motivating Classroom Discussion

A comfortable and productive learning environment requires we effectively manage the interplay of roles of "discussion Leader" and "discussion participant."  Come and learn what Erin Szabo (Communication) and Don Turk (Communication) have learned about this interplay as they have transformed (and are still transforming) their teaching styles from large lectures to a student-lead group discussion format.  Erin and Don will provide you an opportunity to learn new discussion strategies, and you can share you own discussion successes and failures

Generating More Effective Classroom Discussions

This workshop will offer an occasion to learn more about effective classroom discussion. Research shows  good discussion techniques enhance student learning, but we all know how difficult it is to achieve consistently good discussions.  Ken Jones (History/LES) will review what the teaching and learning literature suggests about how we can enhance the likelihood of effective, energizing discussions.  We'll talk about preparing students for discussion, creating good questions, sustaining an inclusive conversation, and achieving closure.  As always, there will be plenty of time for questions and for sharing ideas, both old and new.  For more information on generating more effective discussions...

How Does a Boomer Professor Teach a Nester Student?

Can a greater awareness of our students make our jobs easier?  Join LuAnn Reif (Nursing) and Laura Rodgers (Nursing) as they explore the varying characteristics, interests, and values across generations, and discuss ways to make our approach to different generations of students more relevant, effective, and attractive.

Advanced Organizers: Giving Students the Ticket to Get "On Board" for Class

We help students link upcoming course material with what they have already learned in a variety of ways, from outlines to verbally reviewing the key points from the previous class.  "Advanced Organizers" is an approach, drawn form cognitive psychology, which prepares students to mentally receive upcoming course material.  Join Rodger Narloch (Psychology) and Linda Tennison (Psychology) as they present the "advanced organizer" techniques they use to bring students "on board" whether it is the beginning of a class period or of the entire course.  Examples will include web-assignments, PowerPoint organizations and study questions.  As always, come prepared to share your own ideas/techniques related to this topic.

They Can Do It!  Moderating Student Research or Creative Projects

As faculty, we are often approached  by students interested in doing research or creative projects, whether an honor's thesis, a senior thesis or project, an ILP, or a class assignment.  Are we brave enough to accept the task of moderating such a project?  How can we bring out the best in our students - and in ourselves - as we try to mentor or guide students through the process?  Join Steve Stelzner (Undergraduate Research/Psychology) as he and Henry Jakubowski (Chemistry), Derek Larson (Environmental Studies/History), Rodger Narlock (Psychology), and Don Turk (Communication) discuss their experiences, successes, and struggles with the supervision of undergraduate research and creative projects.  We hope you will come ready to discuss your own experiences in this realm of undergraduate education.

Enhancing Diversity: What Can We Do in Our Classrooms and on Theses Campuses?

Last fall a number of our colleagues attended the Collaboration for the Advancement of College Teaching and Learning's conference on diversity.  They will share some of the key ideas they picked up at the conference and lead us in a lively conversation on the ways we can strengthen the reality of a multicultural world on these campuses.

Making Small Groups Centers for Real Learning

According to some critics, small groups lead to unfocused, irrelevant conversations.  Other critics say they may work okay in the Humanities, but "just won't work in my area."  In this LES workshop, led by Ken Jones, we will explore ways to overcome both or these criticisms.  Ken will review the key ingredients for effective small groups, and will explain some exciting techniques for structuring small group assignments so they can promote higher levels of thinking in all disciplines.  For more information on small groups...