Issue Update: Online Classroom - November 2010

http://www.magnapubs.com/newsletter/issue/1224/

5 Ways to Challenge Your Students in Online Discussions
Discussion is an essential learning activity whether you are teaching in a traditional classroom with an online component or teaching a fully online course. There are many ways to engage students on topics that will help them participate actively in class discussion. Over the years, the idea of discussing a topic in class has evolved from having a face-to-face discussion in between lecture topics to allowing the students to speak about lecture content in a full online discussion forum. Engaging students can make a major difference in online discussions, which generate exchanges that allow students to appreciate the topic discussed and to lead a new level of topic understanding. Below are five tips that can help to add value to your classroom's online discussion.


Indicators of Engagement in the Online Classroom
Faculty wishing to adapt their instructional strategies to maximize engagement may wish to monitor informal, formative indicators of student engagement throughout their courses. As such, the issue becomes how to monitor student engagement in your online course when you cannot see the looks of excitement, interest, or enthusiasm (or when there is a noticeable absence of these engagement indicators).


Online Teaching Fundamentals: PowerPoint for Online Courses, Part 8: Manipulating Clip Art
Clip art use is a bit of a can of worms. When done poorly, adding clip art can make your slides look less professional. But when done well, clip art can improve slide aesthetics. So you should do it well! PowerPoint is a visual communication tool. Slides with a wall of words or with long bullet lists up the snooze factor of your online presentation. So, when designing your slides, you must consider how to show what you are talking about rather than merely telling what you are talking about in slide text. You can expound on what you are showing using narration, which is generally more interesting than telling in text. And if there's a lot to tell, consider adding downloadable documents to read.


Teaching Online With Errol: A Tried and True Mini-Guide to Engaging Online Students
Student engagement is at the heart of any distance learning course. When students are engaged, the class is exciting, learning is more likely to occur, the students want to be a part of the course on an ongoing basis, and the students give you and the school outstanding evaluations. In this column I offer six surefire ways to get and keep students engaged in an online course and, as a bonus, two activities that always result in enthusiastic student engagement throughout the course.


Tips From the Pros: Creating a Network of Learners
When referring to a group of online learners, Caterina Valentino prefers the term "network of learners" to "community of learners." Network of learners is a more apt description because "it's a much more dynamic visualization than 'community of learners,'" says Valentino, an innovator in the delivery of distant education, adjunct professor at the School of Health Services Management at Ryerson University and a Sessional Instructor at Athabasca University's Centre for Nursing and Health Studies. Her vision of a network of learners is an interdependent group in which learners learn from each other and create new knowledge. This does not happen by chance, Valentino says. It's a deliberate process that involves a two-pronged approach based on the Providing Academic and Relational Support (PARS) model created by Stephen Lowe.

Magna Publications

2718 Dryden Drive • Madison, WI 53704-3086 • 800-433-0499 support@magnapubs.com

Issue Update: Online Classroom - November 2010

Issue Update: The Teaching Professor - November 2010

http://www.magnapubs.com/newsletter/issue/1223/

A New Kind of "Space" for Quizzes
Quizzes are standard in many college classrooms, and determining how to best use this learning format generates a variety of discussion and suggestions—if you regularly read the Teaching Professor you've seen any number published here. I, too, continue to search for ways to inspire the often dull quiz routine. In an effort to bring new strategies to the classroom and keep student engagement high, I have recently discovered a successful strategy that encourages a sense of community in class, offers students an opportunity to engage in collaborative learning, and motivates students to come to class prepared. Let me explain how it works


Avoiding the Blank Screen Blues
Staring at a blank screen the night before the research paper was due—this was the dilemma faced by my upper-level science students. This paper, the product of their independent research projects, is an important part of our curriculum and one component of our assessment of their scientific writing skills. However, the products of these last-minute efforts suffered. Students were unsatisfied with their grades, and reading these hastily prepared papers was painful for me. Even worse, when I returned this work, students flipped to the final score on the paper and never bothered with my comments. Buried in the final frantic weeks of the semester, amid other assignments and final exams, the learning potential of this experience was largely lost.


Making the Review of Assigned Reading Meaningful
The typical college student dreads hearing, "Let's review the chapters you read for homework." What generally ensues is a question and answer drill in which students are peppered with questions designed to make clear who has and hasn't done the reading. In reality, these exchanges do little to encourage deep thought or understanding of the assigned reading. They produce awkward silences during which students squirm in their seats, hoping to become invisible. Other times students decline to answer for fear of giving the wrong answer. Almost all the time a negative tone permeates the classroom during this review. I decided to restructure the way that I approached reviews of reading assignments, and found that by doing things differently, I could change both the tone and outcomes of the review activity. I'd like to share some of the ideas and techniques that I have found useful:

Opening Intentions
I was the invited outside speaker at a professional development event for schoolteachers. The day's lunch was preceded by a public prayer that inspired me to consider parallels in "callings to serve" that can be found in both education and religion. Sometime later, I happened to read a poem in a Jewish prayer book that expressed noble intentions for a worship space. The poem didn't reference a particular faith—it was really just a set of intentions. Immediately, I thought of what professors hope for in their classroom spaces.


The Teacher of Westwood
Coaching seemed like the best metaphor to describe the way I wanted to teach. What were the best coaching practices? I questioned colleagues in the kinesiology (formerly physical education) department. The answers were scattered. Successful coaches motivated, facilitated, marketed, or delivered therapy. They yelled, prayed, hugged, talked heart to heart, or inspired with sermons. That didn't seem like an answer.
Then I stumbled on to the obvious. John Wooden was deemed the best coach of the 20th century.


What Students Understand Isn't Always What the Professor Means
For most of my 19 years as a teacher, I retained rather rigid control over assigning grades in my classes. My students did not participate in the process until recently. A couple of summers ago, I read a book on learner-centered teaching, and it, along with some urging from my program, persuaded me to try releasing a modicum of that control. To that end, I developed an "Attendance and Participation Self-Evaluation Form."

Magna Publications

2718 Dryden Drive • Madison, WI 53704-3086 • 800-433-0499 support@magnapubs.com

Issue Update: The Teaching Professor - November 2010

Webinar: "Plagiarism to Fraud: Tools to Reduce Cheating in Your Classroom "

For those concerned with preventing and dealing with academic misconduct, there will be a live, (60)-minute webinar conference: "Plagiarism to Fraud: Tools to Reduce Cheating in Your Classroom "
Friday, November 19, 2010 (1:00-2:00 p.m. ET)
http://www.highereducationhero.com/1BU/0/2/p4B26Jc/p5ACRBRFi/p0e


HIGHLIGHTS:
Creating a Truthful Atmosphere: Setting a Standard in your Class
Become an academic honesty role model: Guide students with action
Tips on communicating cheating rules and repercussions in your syllabus
How to integrate acad emic integrity standards into assignments & tests
Prevent Cheating through Pedagogy: Tips for Professors and Adjuncts
Instructional methods & technologies that prevent & detect cheating
How to adjust exam administration to deter dishonest activity
Methods to reduce plagiarism: Tips for conversation concerning citation
Responding to Cheating When it Occurs: Increase Awareness in Students
Steps you should take from moment of cheating to reporting the issue
Teachable moments: Dealing with occasional student cheating
How your institutional policy gives support for reporting cheaters


SPEAKER:
Tricia Bertram Gallant, Ph.D., is an internationally known author, speaker and practitioner of academic integrity. Tricia has authored many journal articles, as well as "Academic Integrity in the Twenty-First Century: A Teaching & Learning Imperative"(Jossey-Bass, 2008); co- authored "Cheating in School: What We Know & What We Can Do" (Wiley-Blackwell, 2009); and, edited "Creating the Ethical Academy: A Systems Approach to Understanding Misconduct and Empowering Change in Higher Education" (Routledge, 2010).


Dr. Bertram Gallant runs the Academic Integrity Office at the University of California, San Diego where she works with faculty and students in creating a culture of integrity on campus, and is the Past-Chair of the Advisory Council for the International Center for Academic Integrity. As a leader in fast-read, actionable advice on workplace issues, the conference gives you the opportunity to add immediate impact to your efforts to prevent academic misconduct in a manner that is:

FAST - No wasted time here. Get right to the heart of the matter in a 1-hour block designed to easily fit into your busy schedule.


CONVENIENT - No airlines. No travel. No time out of the office. Listen from the comfort and convenience of your desk.


EASY - A telephone and computer with access to the Internet is all the equipment you need. Just dial in, punch-in your access code, then click the link to access the website and you're in. That's it. Follow along with the Webinar handouts provided in advance.


ACTIONABLE - Our conferences provide cost effective tactics you can start using right when you hang up the phone.


IDEAL FOR MULTIPLE LISTENERS - Use a speakerphone and as many people as you want can listen in - at no extra cost to you. A projector is suggested for the video portion for multiple attendees. Many professionals use these sessions as a cost-effective, time-efficient means of training supervisors, managers, and staff while reinforcing key issues in a fresh, new manner that they will remember and act on.


AFFORDABLE - Priced at $199, it is a fraction of the cost of travel and attendance fees for other high- priced conferences or seminars.


"Plagiarism to Fraud: Tools to Reduce Cheating in Your Classroom"
Live 60-Minute webinar conference
Friday, November 19, 2010 (1:00-2:00 p.m. ET)
Register now for this exciting event by clicking the following link or calling 1-800-964-6033:
http://www.highereducationhero.com/1BU/0/2/p4B26Jc/p5ACRBRFi/p0e


We hope you'll join us.

Sincerely,
HigherEd Hero
384 Technology Drive
Malvern, PA 19355

Webinar: "Plagiarism to Fraud: Tools to Reduce Cheating in Your Classroom "

Diverse Issues in Higher Education: College Tuition Costs Climbing Again This Fall

Diverse Issues in Higher Education

October 29, 2010

College Tuition Costs Climbing Again This Fall

by Eric Gorski

http://diverseeducation.com/article/14339/

College tuition costs shot up again this fall, and students and their families are leaning more on the federal government to make higher education more affordable in tough economic times, according to two reports issued Thursday.

At public four-year schools, many of them ravaged by state budget cuts, average in-state tuition and fees this fall rose 7.9 percent, or $555, to $7,605, according to the College Board's “Trends in College Pricing.” The average sticker price at private nonprofit colleges increased 4.5 percent, or $1,164, to $27,293.


Massive government subsidies and aid from schools helped keep in check the actual price many students pay. But experts caution that federal aid can only do so much and that even higher tuition is likely unless state appropriations rebound or colleges drastically cut costs.


“Just when Americans need college the most, many are finding it increasingly difficult to afford,” said Molly Corbett Broad, president of the American Council on Education.


When adjusted for inflation, the tuition increases this fall amount to 6.6 percent at public four-year colleges and 3.2 percent at private ones, according to the College Board.


Many students are finding relief in expanded federal aid, including tax credits, veterans' benefits, and a record expansion of the Pell Grant program for low-income students. In 2009-10, 7.7 million students received $28.2 billion in Pell Grants—an increase of almost $10 billion from the year before, according to a companion College Board report, “Trends in Student Aid.”


Even so, the maximum Pell Grant covers just 34 percent of the average cost of attending a public four-year college, down from 45 percent two decades ago.


For now, government subsidies and aid from schools are helping hold down net tuition and fees the actual cost students pay when grants and tax breaks are factored in.


Estimated average net tuition and fees this fall at public four-year colleges were $1,540, while at private colleges they were $11,320. Both are up from last year, but below what students paid five years ago.


“Despite the fact sticker prices have gone way up, there is so much grant aid out there that many students are really paying less than they did before,” said Dr. Sandy Baum, a senior policy analyst for the College Board and a Skidmore College economics professor.


That's also contributed to a growing gap between those who receive aid and the one-third of full-time students who pay full freight for college, the report says.


Patrick Callan, president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, said it's important to note that tuition is climbing after a decade in which family income did not rise for 90 percent of Americans and at a time when many areas of the country face high unemployment.


“We're kind of on a national treadmill,” Callan said. “We're putting additional aid in that is helping to buffer some students from the severity of this. But the tuition increases and the bad economy are raising the need for financial aid much faster than our investment in aid is moving.”


The student aid report found that grant aid per full-time undergraduate student increased by an estimated 22 percent from 2008 to 2009, while federal loans increased 9 percent.


The Obama administration's restructuring of the federal student loan program this year will direct more money to Pell Grants and tie future increases in the maximum grant to inflation. But college officials say the impact will be minimal because next year's increase is small and tuition is rising faster than inflation.


Most students attend public schools, and states continue to cut appropriations. After adjusting for inflation, per-student state spending on higher education dropped by nearly 9 percent in 2008-09 and by another 5 percent in 2009-10 and that spending includes soon-to-expire federal stimulus money.


Community colleges, which educate about 40 percent of college students, remain affordable, with tuition averaging $2,713. Lower income students receive enough aid to attend essentially for free.


Still, tuition rose 6 percent at public two-year colleges. State and local budget cuts paired with skyrocketing enrollment have prompted some schools to cut courses and limit enrollment.


The priciest private colleges are creeping closer to shattering the $60,000 ceiling in total cost to attend.


Dr. David Warren, president of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, emphasized that net tuition and fees have declined 7.4 percent in the past decade in inflation-adjusted dollars because colleges are expanding student aid.


“Every institution that I talk to understands the absolutely critical role of aid, and it's going to be the thing they try to hold at the top of the list of priorities,” Warren said.


On average, about 55 percent of bachelor's degree recipients at public colleges borrow money, and their debt is $19,800 by graduation, the College Board found.

Diverse Issues in Higher Education: College Tuition Costs Climbing Again This Fall

Faculty Focus Special Report: Faculty Promotion and Tenure: Eight Ways to Improve the Tenure Review Process at Your Institution

http://www.facultyfocus.com/private/pdf_products/report_12.pdf

Faculty Focus Special Report: Faculty Promotion and Tenure: Eight Ways to Improve the Tenure Review Process at Your Institution

Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) - Posters on the Hill Application Reminder

http://www.cur.org/

Please remember that the Application Deadline for the 2011 Posters on the Hill event is November 15, 2010.



Nothing more effectively demonstrates the value of undergraduate research than the words and stories of the student participants themselves. In the Spring of 2011 the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) will host its 15th annual undergraduate poster session on Capitol Hill. This event will help members of Congress understand the importance of undergraduate research by talking directly with the students whom these programs impact.


CUR is calling for students to submit an abstract of their research that represents any of CUR's disciplinary divisions (Arts and Humanities, Biology, Chemistry, Geosciences, Health Sciences, Mathematics/Computer Science, Physics/Astronomy, Psychology, and Social Sciences). In order to ensure proper review of applications, the above are the only disciplines that may apply. Should your research be inter-disciplinary, please select the division that most closely describes your research.


Abstract submissions will only be accepted by using our on-line submission form. Prior to submitting the form, students should gather the contact information for all co-authors, advisors and sponsors (if applicable), prepare a short vitae/resume, and poster abstract.


For more information, the link to submit an application, frequently asked questions, and a document listing the information required for submission, please visit: http://www.cur.org/pohcall.html


Please note that CUR membership is required to submit an application. Either the student’s home institution must have an institutional membership, or the faculty mentor or student must have an individual membership. We will not review incomplete applications. Please be sure that both portions (the electronic application and the electronic recommendation letter) are submitted by November 15, 2010.


Please forward this to anyone that you think might be interested. This is a highly competitive program, which makes for a very exciting experience for the students and their faculty advisors alike.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.


Sincerely,


Robin Howard
Senior Director
Membership Services, Operations and Information Technology
Council on Undergraduate Research
734 15th St, NW, Suite 550
Washington, DC 20005
http://www.cur.org/
robin@cur.org
(202)783-4810x203
(202)783-4811 fax

Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) - Posters on the Hill Application Reminder

Innovative Educators Webinar 3-Part Workshop: Outcomes-Based Assessment for Student Affairs

http://www.innovativeeducators.org/retention_p/859.htm

This on-line workshop is a 3-Part workshop designed to facilitate your campus team’s learning as you design programmatic assessment plans. The ultimate intention of this workshop is for you and your institutional team to walk away from the 3-part workshop with a refined assessment plan and/or report, depending on where you are in your assessment process. The webinars are designed to be highly interactive with assignments that you complete and share with colleagues going through the workshop. Such a process ensures the sharing of ideas and solutions across institutions. How fun is that?

SESSION 1:

History and Importance of Outcomes-Based Assessment and Components of an Outcomes-Based Assessment Plan and Report (2 hours)


Participants will:
Describe the history of outcomes-based assessment (OBA)
Explain the purpose for OBA
Explain why OBA practice and documentation is so important
Identify the necessary components of an outcomes-based assessment plan and report (OBAP)
Align components of the OBAP with program review, annual planning, strategic planning, and budgeting processes.
Explain the importance of evaluating student learning
Distinguish between learning goals and outcomes
Identify characteristics of measurable and meaningful outcomes


Assignment:
Note: Participants will be able to post their assignments on a web site and view the assignments of the other participants.
A criteria check list will be provided so that participants can self-evaluate their learning and review the work of their peers. Although the speaker will not be able to provide individual feedback, she will review all assignments and base the following session’s content on the progress/learning that is reflected in the assignments.


Draft a conceptual framework for assessment
Identify a common language for OBA
Draft a template for OBA
Draft Mission/Purpose, Goals, and outcomes
Self-critique outcomes
Peer evaluate at least 2 other sets of outcomes


SESSION 2:
Mapping SLOs to Programs and Services and Designing Evaluation Tools and Criteria (2 hours)


Participants will:
Explain the mapping process
Identify at least two different ways to evaluate each outcome
Identify how outcomes need to be refined
Explain the most systematic place to evaluate learning
Explain the difference between methods and tools
Identify evaluation method/tool limitations
Articulate expectations for performance level for each evaluation method
Identify appropriate criteria for each evaluation method/tool, as appropriate


Assignment:
Map their SLOs to their programs and activities
Self critique 5 current student learning outcomes and their mapping
Peer evaluate at least two other sets of learning outcomes and their mapping
Self-critique evaluation methods and criteria
Peer evaluate at least two other sets of evaluation methods and accompanying criteria
Determine how decisions can be made with this type of data


SESSION 3:

Q and A and Closing the Loop (1 hour)
Participants will:
Determine how decisions can be made with this type of data
Identify some documentation solutions that will aid decision-making
Questions and Answer


This webinar will benefit student affairs professionals who are doing any level of assessment, from assessment of a single workshop to assessment of the entire program. Those responsible for assessment of their division will also benefit.



Marilee J. Bresciani, Ph.D. is Professor of Postsecondary Education Leadership at San Diego State University, where she coordinates the masters in Student Affairs/Services in community colleges and higher education, the certificate in institutional research, planning, and assessment, and the masters and doctorate in community college leadership. The curriculum at San Diego State University emphasizes student learning centeredness, integration of the curricular and co-curricular learning paradigms, and analysis, planning, and responsible practice of leaders in a socially just and global environment.



Dr. Bresciani’s research focuses on the evaluation of student learning and development. She uses grounded theory to explore how systems and processes contribute to student learning centeredness, which includes the study of leaders’ roles in these systems and processes.


Dr. Bresciani has held faculty and higher education administration positions for over 21 years. In those positions, she has conducted enrollment management research, quantitative and qualitative institutional research, course-embedded assessment, and academic and administrative program assessment. Previously as Assistant Vice President for Institutional Assessment at Texas A&M University and as Director of Assessment at North Carolina State University, Dr. Bresciani led university-wide initiatives to embed faculty-driven outcomes-based assessment in the curriculum. She has led reforms in outcomes-based assessment program review, assessment of general education, quality enhancement, and assessment of the co-curricular.


Dr. Bresciani has been invited to present and publish her findings on assessment and is a leading author of five books on assessing student learning and outcomes-based assessment program review. Dr. Bresciani has developed and delivered several courses on assessment of student learning and is reviewer for the Australian Quality Assurance Agency and is also a managing partner in an international assessment and enrollment management consulting firm.


Dr. Bresciani holds a Ph.D. in Administration, Curriculum, and Instruction from the University of Nebraska and a Masters of Arts in Teaching from Hastings College.

Innovative Educators Webinar 3-Part Workshop: Outcomes-Based Assessment for Student Affairs

ACRLMetrics

http://www.acrlmetrics.com/

ACRLMetrics is a new on-line service providing access to ACRL and NCES academic library statistics (2000 to present).



ACRLMetrics includes powerful "click-only" reporting functionality that:
•supports strategic planning and advocacy efforts
•complements budget presentations and grant applications
•enables peer benchmarking
•delivers multi-year trend analysis


ACRLMetrics is a web-based on-line subscription service providing:
•on-demand, 24x7 secure browser access
•comprehensive customized report outputs
•easy re-purposing, sharing and publishing of report outputs.

ACRLMetrics

LSU Health Sciences Center Recruitment and Information Session November 4 2010

http://www.slideshare.net/ccharles/lsu-health-sciences-center-recruitment-and-information-session-november-4-2010

The LSUHSC Office of the Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic & Multicultural Affairs Invites


Dillard University Students (faculty, staff, & alums are also welcome) to a Recruitment and Information Session

Thursday, November 4, 2010 at 5:00pm
Professional Schools & Sciences Building Room 136


Come learn about research opportunities, graduate school, medical school and a host of our health science programs:
• School of Allied Health
• School of Dentistry
• School of Graduate Studies
• School of Medicine
• School of Nursing
• School of Public Health


Refreshments will be served!

Great door prizes will be distributed!

It’s not too late to apply for Fall 2011 Semester

LSU Health Sciences Center Recruitment and Information Session November 4 2010

RACE - 2010 New Orleans Film Festival

http://www.slideshare.net/ccharles/race-2010-new-orleans-film-festival

RACE - 2010 New Orleans Film Festival