Center for Teaching Excellence

Article of the Month - September 2008

2008-09-05T20:15:34Z

This article is a part of the Monthly Article Series. Each year, Beloit College assembles a list that will help us understand the mindset of incoming freshman. As their website states, "...these [are] observations that help to identify the experiences that have shaped the lives–and formed the mindset of students starting their post-secondary education this fall." (Beloit College, 2008, http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/index.php).

Enjoy the list, which can be accessed via the link below.

http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2012.php

CTE Brown Bag Lunch Series (Fall 2008)

2008-09-02T16:20:51Z

The CTE will be conducting its popular Brown Bag Lunch series again this Fall semester. These sessions provide participants with informal opportunities to discuss a wide range of topics and issues related to teaching and learning in higher education.

The brown bags are held every Friday from 12 - 1pm at the CTE, which is now located in Harris Hall, suite 5116. Participants are welcome to bring a lunch, light refreshments will be served.

To register and learn more about the Fall semester line-up please visit the following website

For additional information about the Brown Bag Lunch series please download the flyer below.

Brown Bag Lunch (Fall 2008)

CTE Teaching and Learning Podcast - When Free Isn't Free!

2008-08-20T15:51:21Z

At the CTE, some of us have become enamored with the educational potential of some freely available software tools. We don't think we could live without some of them, like delicious for social bookmarking, Google Reader for aggregating RSS feeds and the blogs we read, twitter for quick communication and resource sharing.

We are constantly on the look out for technology tools that provide interesting potential for teaching and learning. There has been no shortage of these lately, but we wonder how the expected trend of "free" can be sustained. How do we encourage use of these tools among faculty members with whom we work when we remain uncertain about the long term viability and free-ness?

In this podcast episode we address issues related to the educational use of freely available software tools, and what happens when developers change course and begin to charge for something that was originally free.

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The CTE Has Moved!

2008-08-05T14:56:35Z

The VCU Center for Teaching Excellence has moved and is now located in Grace Harris Hall, suite 5116

Please Join us for an open house on August 18th or September 2nd...more information is available here

We look forward to seeing you in our new location.

Five New Faculty Learning Communities

2008-05-30T20:28:10Z

Dear Colleagues,

The CTE is offering five new Faculty Learning Communities to VCU faculty during the upcoming academic year -- 2008-9. A Faculty Learning Community (FLC) is a cross-disciplinary group of 8 – 12 faculty members who engage in an active, collaborative, yearlong program that consists of both individual and group teaching and learning projects. Participants immerse themselves in exploratory research as “expert” learners attempting to solve various teaching and learning issues.

The five FLCs are:

1. Active Learning: Problems and Possibilities
2. Redefining Literacy for the 21st Century
3. Using Technology to Enhance Teaching and Learning
4. Engaging in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
5. How People Learn

To learn more about each of the FLCs and to apply, please visit our website at http://www.vcu.edu/cte/programs/FLC/proposed_2008-09.htm

All VCU faculty are eligible to apply. The Deadline for applications is August 1st, 2008

CTE Article of the Month (March)

2008-03-03T17:55:16Z

This article is a part of the CTE’s Monthly Article series. In this article, Revere, Elden, & Bartsch examine ‘social loafing’ in a collaborative learning environment. Using a quasi-experimental design and survey research, the authors report that students who participated in collaborative learning followed by a group examination had higher perceived levels of learning and more positive attitudes toward the course than a control group who did not participate in a group examination. The students who participated in a group examination also reported less social loafing.

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Breaking out of the Classroom: Community-Based Learning (CEWS3)

2008-02-12T14:29:53Z

This workshop provides a summary of the theory and rationale for community-based learning pedagogy which includes: service-learning, experiential education and community projects. We explore how community service experiences can be integrated with course content, and how instructors and community partners work together to make this a mutually beneficial experience. Participants learn about the resources offered through VCU’s Division of Community Engagement.

Vanessa Diamond, MPA
Service-Learning Program Director
Division of Community Engagement

Helen Ruth Aspaas, Ph.D.
Service-Learning Faculty Scholar
Associate Professor, Wilder School

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CTE Article of the Month (February)

2008-02-01T20:52:53Z

In this month's CTE Monthly Article series, we feature the recently released 2008 Horizon Report from the New Media Consortium. This annual report, now in its fifth year, describes emerging technologies likely to impact teaching and learning over the next five, three and one year periods. Student and faculty generated video and collaborative webs were seen as emerging near-term, while mobile applications, data mashups, collective intelligence and social operating systems are further out on the horizon. Check out the report to see examples of instructional uses of the technologies featured.

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CTE Article of the Month (January)

2008-01-08T14:51:43Z

This article is part of the CTE's Monthly Article series. In this article,
Felder and Brent supply us with time-proven techniques and advice that
improve the success of students working in groups. Questions addressed
include 1). How can I best form groups; 2). How can I deal with
dysfunctional teams; 3). What about grading teams; and 4). What about
dealing with teams in an on-line course.

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CTE Article of the Month (December)

2007-12-10T19:42:11Z

This article is part of the CTE's Monthly Article series. In this article, Lee Shulman, current President of The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, offers a fresh perspective on learning taxonomies. Building on the work of one of his former teachers - Benjamin Bloom - Shulman provides a context for understanding the development of taxonomies in education and then offers his own "Table of Learning" for consideration. As always, Shulman's inquiring perspective and clear style shed new light on the value of using taxonomies to support teaching and learning. We hope you'll read the article and follow Shulman's advice to use it "as a stimulus for thinking about the design and evaluation of education, and as the basis for creative narratives about the learning process."

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CTE Article of the Month (November)

2007-11-12T18:42:20Z

This article is part of the CTE's Monthly Article series. In this article, Joe Novak discusses the theory behind concept mapping and gives practical advice for the construction and use of concept maps. Concept maps are graphical representations of knowledge and the concepts that link knowledge. Concept mapping is a tool that can be used to assess student knowledge, helping both you and your students realize what they do and do not understand. Instructors can even use concept mapping to design courses and curriculum. This article gives background for the use of this very rich teaching, planning, and assessment tool.

You can access a copy of the article by clicking on the "Download file" link below.

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CTE Article of the Month (October)

2007-10-11T17:24:11Z

This article is part of the CTE's Monthly Article series. In this piece, author Barbara Oakley, provides practical advice on how to coach well-meaning students to manage behavioral problems that can occur during teamwork. The article begins with a brief description of how the technique was used and gives some outcome measures as to its effectiveness. The techniques comprise the latter half of the article; the techniques give advice on how to manage the two most common behavioral problems – that of the ‘couch potato’ and the ‘hitch-hiker.”

You can access a copy of the article by clicking on the "Download file" link below.

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CTE Open Forum - Assessment in a Learning-Centered University

2006-11-15T14:49:32Z

Much of traditional undergraduate classroom instruction at the university level focuses on content coverage, with assessments linked to comprehension of the information presented. While this may be a necessary component of learning, it does not always take into consideration the knowledge learners bring to the classroom. What does assessment look like in a learning-centered classroom? What are the characteristics of learning-centered outcomes, and are they different from traditional course objectives? What instructional practices support outcomes that are learning-centered?

Listen to this podcast, recorded on 10 November 2006, as VCU Vice Provost of Instruction, Dr. Joe Marolla engages faculty and students is a discussion of these and other questions related to assessment in a learning-centered university.

You can download the file below and listen to it on your computer, or you can subscribe to the CTE's Teaching and Learning Podcast by pasting the following URL address into iTunes: http://blog.vcu.edu/cte/index.xml

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CTE Open Forum - What is a learning-centered research university?

2006-11-13T19:50:53Z

This podcast is the first episode in a series of open forums focusing on VCU's vision for becoming a learning-centered university. This recording from October 20, 2006 features Dr. Joe Marolla, Vice Provost of Instruction at VCU discussing the question "What is a learning-centered research university?"

A reading distributed to participants at the open forum, From Teaching to Learning: A New Paradigm for Undergraduate Education by Robert Barr and John Tagg, can be found here.

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