Teaching at UK
Vol. 1, No. 1 (Spring 1994)
To see this first page of our first newsletter full size, click on the image.
Last year the Teaching and Learning Center established a Faculty Associates Program designed to provide the opportunity for faculty members to develop materials, ideas or techniques that will improve teaching in a specific discipline, a group of disciplines or an individual course. What follows is a brief excerpt by Dr. Lee Edgerton and Dr. Joanne M. Badagliacco of their work.
When Kim Miller considered how to best structure HET 247, Interdisciplinary Approach to Dress, she opted to utilize the help of a peer review team as part of the Teaching and Learning Center's Peer Review of Learning Project. In this project, a team of colleagues-in-learning review the instructional activities in a course and attempt to assess strengths and weaknesses of those activities relative to student acquisition of knowledge and understanding. In Kim's case her peer review team consisted of: Heather Codas, a former student in the class; Barbara Trowbridge, her teaching assistant this semester; Allison Carll, a faculty colleague in the Department of Interior Design; and Joachim Knuf from the Department of Communication.
Because HET 247 has been accepted for inclusion in the USP interdisciplinary studies courses Kim anticipated an increase in students from other disciplines. Therefore, she thought she could benefit from her colleague's review of: her revised syllabus, some new instructional strategies she was planning, and her plans for assessing student response to those instructional strategies.
This fall, Kim is one of seven instructors who have established peer-review teams to help evaluate the processes of learning in their courses. Lee Edgerton, the Faculty Associate who is coordinating the program, said, "We can't claim to cover the entire spectrum from A to Z, but the courses range from Agricultural Economics to Russian and Eastern Studies and we have faculty from more than a dozen departments involved. Next spring, we will ask participants who have completed the process to share their experiences and to evaluate the potential of this project for improving the learning environment at UK.
As Faculty Associate of the Teaching and Learning Center in Spring 1993, Dr. Joanne M. Badagliacco of the Department of Sociology initiated a project to integrate conceptual methodological innovations in race, class, gender, and ethnicity research into the sociology curriculum. Curriculum Integration is a part of curriculum reform that presents us with the opportunity to restructure education (if we choose), and to alter the environment which has been and is alien to many learners. This approach allows us to analyze the interrelationships of race, class, and gender and to see how those relationships have shaped the experience of all Americans. Rather than studying or teaching race, or class, or gender as separate features or sociological variables, we can conceptualize them as simultaneous and interactive systems of relationships and meaning.
As a part of this project, the Department of Sociology invited nationally recognized experts to assist the department in considering how to strengthen the curriculum, and to present public seminars on their work. In addition, Dr. Badagliacco coordinated a workshop entitled, "Not just another sociological variable: Integrating race/ethnicity, class, and gender into the sociological curriculum." Over 45 UK faculty and visitors from other universities attended the workshop. Finally, Dr. Badagliacco has assembled an archive of materials and resources for use by instructors who wish to revise their courses. For further information, contact Joanne Badagliacco at 257-4335.
The Teaching and Learning Center
maintains a library of books, journals,
newsletters, videos and computer software programs regarding various
aspects of teaching and
learning. The attached selections and more are available at the Teaching and
Learning Center, 7
Gillis Building.
The TLC has computers available for faculty use. These computers are
loaded with
software which can produce color overheads, graphics, and other printed
media. A color scanner
is also available for transferring images from hard copy to computer disk.
Software packages
such as Aldus Persuasion, Powerpoint, Wordperfect, Lotus 123, Photo
Finisher, and others are
available for use on these computers.
Student Development & Learning
Collaborative Learning: A Sourcebook for Higher Education
by Anne Doogsell, Michell Maher and Vincent Tinto
This sourcebook provides a fundamental approach to collaborative learning in higher education by answering the basic questions about it. Each section addresses a specific question and an annotated and general bibliography accompanies it.
Learning Stategies and Learning Styles: Perspectives on Individual Differences
Edited by Ronald Schmeck
This book shows how the teacher can control the classroom environment by changing certain characteristics and how this can affect the student and encourage the development of personal strengths of the individual student.
Improving Higher Education
New Priorities for the University: Meeting Society's Needs for Applied Knowledge and Competent Individuals
by Ernest A. Lynton and Sandra E. Elman
An explanation of how the university must shift its priorities in order to adapt, survive and effectively serve the needs of society in the new information age. The traitional focus on basic reserach does not fulfill the information needs of modern society, thus the definition of scholarship and professional activity must be expanded to include applied research and the dissemination of knowledge.
Improving College Teaching: Stragtegies for Developing Instructional Effectiveness
by Maryellen Weimer
This book describes how colleges and universities can provide faculty with the resources, support and incentives that will promote teaching improvement.
Teaching Diverse Groups of Students
Teaching College Freshman
by Betty LaSere Erickson and Diane Weltner Strommer
This book offers practical guidance to
new and veteran faculty on how to most
effectively teach and create academic support systems for college students in
their first, most
critical year. It identifies common freshman anxieties, assumptions and habits
that can impede
learning progress and what faculty can do to overcome and eliminate these
obstacles.
Teaching Skills
Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers
by Kenneth E. Eble
A practical handbook that gives an overview and understanding of the purposes and uses of classroom assessment and exploring the classroom assessment techniques that are most appropriate for their field of study and their personal teaching goals.
Faculty Advancement
The Teaching Portfolio: A Practical Guide to Improved Performance and Promotion/Tenure Decisions
by Peter Seldin
A valuable resource for both the individual faculty members and for college and university administrators who desire increased recognition of good teaching.
Mastering the Techniques of Teaching
by Joseph Lawman
Graduate students and junior faculty as well as seasoned professors will find this book very useful. It deals with the elements of teaching (present exciting lectures, lead engaging discussions and promote motivation and independent learning in their students) and is designed to help any college teacher acquire the skills necessary for outstanding classroom instruction.
For more information on the Teaching and Learning Center Library, see
Teaching at UK,Volume 1,
Number 2.
Posted July 1, 1997
http://www.uky.edu/UndergraduateStudies/tlc/news/newsltr1-1.html
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