Not using technology can be good too

I thought this was cool that there are schools that are not using technology in their classrooms - on purpose. It also seems a little fitting as a bookend to the video we saw in the beginning of the semester with good ol' Nicholas. As one of the students says, "I really enjoy the fact that technology is something you use at home and it is there to support what you're doing in your education but it's not what your education is based on."- I want her in my class!

http://www.cbs.com/shows/the_early_show/video/2173694669/silicon-valley-school-no-computers-in-classrooms

Great article about learning instead of grading

I don't know if anyone will check this anymore, but just in case I wanted to share this article I found about a professor at Duke who has found an alternative approach to grading to be very satisfying.
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/05/03/grading

More Parker Palmer

If you enjoyed the Parker Palmer essay... Or even if you didn't... Below is a recent article of his published in the Journal of College and Character. You do need to submit a short form to get the free download but it is worth it!

http://journals.naspa.org/jcc/vol12/iss3/2/

The Global Search for Education: All That Is Me

Dear all,

Hope you all had a wonderful break.

Here is the link to an interesting article I read.

Anthony Seldon, the head of UK’s highest profile independent schools, Wellington College, discussed the evolution of education in the 21st century and the holistic model that can develop all the aptitudes of each child.

Siwei

Useful and free book on teaching

Dear GEDIs,

Here (https://engineering.purdue.edu/ChE/AboutUs/Publications/TeachingEng/index.html) you can find a book “Teaching Engineering”. As you may conclude from the title, it is related to engineering but I think it has a lot of useful practical advices for any teacher.


Regards,
Milos

Confessions of a Converted Lecturer: Eric Mazur

An interesting video by Dr Eric Mazur from Harvard University.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwslBPj8GgI


Best regards,
Milos

Peer-Driven Learning

Dear GEDIs,

Hope you are having a nice break. With that in mind, here is a short article that starts with a subject of breaks but then expands into the topic of peer-driven classes and its relation to "seat-based" measurements in education.


Best regards,
Milos

Learning through apprenticeships

Last night on Nightly News, an organization called SPARK was featured in the Making a Difference segment. The program places at-risk middle school and high school students in apprenticeship positions with a real professional to show them the relevance of education and allow them to explore their dream job.

Has anyone seen this very useful section of The Chronicle?

http://chronicle.com/section/First-Time-on-the-Market-/146/

They even have a section on how to handle awkward and even illegal interview questions.

Evident of Teaching Excellence!

Note that this young VT student credits her success to a single teacher who turned on the light bulb!

Determination propels physics major toward her dream

Those who know her agree that 19-year-old Chelsea Cook is the most determined individual they have ever met. And rightly so. Cook is a physics major from Newport News, Va. She’s taking a full load of courses such as physics and multivariable calculus, maintains a 3.3 grade-point average, and is active in the Society of Physics Students and the Ladies of Robeson, a women’s physics group. She likes to write science fiction and listen to astrophysics lectures on her iPod.

And one more thing. Cook is blind.

Her goal is to be an astronaut.

"I want to be an astronaut, and my blindness will not keep me from achieving that goal," sophomore Chelsea Cook says.

“The plan may change but the overall goal will not,” she said. “I want to go to graduate school, study astrophysics, and then knock on the right door and tell them I want to go up into space.”
Cook’s interest in astronomy started at a young age when she read an astronomy book by Noreen Grice, an author and educator who makes astronomy books accessible to the blind.

“I’ve always been interested in astronomy, but I never thought I could do anything with it until I read her books,” Cook said. “There was a foreword in one of them by the first blind radio astronomer, and it gave me confidence from the beginning.”

In 2009, Cook attended a ceremony sponsored by the National Federation of the Blind to honor Louis Braille, who invented the Braille alphabet. During the event, she read a letter she wrote for inclusion in a commemorative book about her experiences with Braille. She also met Arne Duncan, the U.S. secretary of education.

Cook continues to be active in the federation and serves on several committees. She met Grice at the organization’s Maryland headquarters in 2005 and has maintained a friendship with her. In fact, in summer 2010, the two conducted a hands-on science exploration program at a camp for 200 blind high school students interested in science.

Chelsea Cook works in a physics lab with Evan Guarnaccia, a doctoral candidate in physics and graduate teaching assistant from Blacksburg, Va. In this experiment, they shot small steel balls and observed the effects of launch angle, initial velocity,and the basic parameters of projectile motion.

Several notable mentors helped Cook thrive over the years. One in particular was her 10th grade physics teacher, who made sure she was involved in every class demonstration and that she understood the concepts.
“Something as simple as a spring. He made sure I could feel it and play with it. He understood I need to process things tactilely. He could look at my facial expressions and judge if I understood something or not,” she said.
“He also realized I was good at math and that I had potential that wasn’t really being tapped in to. If I had not had the experience with him, I would not be a physics major today.”
Cook said the main inconvenience in her life is having to wait to get her textbooks and lab manuals translated into Braille. She said it was an almost unbearable frustration in the public schools.
“I knew there was something out there that other people had, but I had to wait for,” she said. “Science … I needed it. It was in my blood. I don’t think even my parents understood the kind of connection I had with it.”
One of the reasons Cook chose Virginia Tech was because of the assurance she got from the physics department that her accessibility needs would be met and that being blind would not be an issue, she said.
“They were great,” she said. “At the start of freshman year, I had both my math textbooks in Braille waiting for me at the beginning of the semester.”

Last year, Cook was invited to test drive a prototype of the Blind Driver Challenge vehicle developed by College of Engineering students that enables blind people to safely operate a car. “It was so cool,” she said. “I can’t wait to do it again.

Chelsea Cook took the university's Blind Driver Challenge vehicle developed by a team from the College of Engineering out for a test run. Here, she poses for a picture with the team. Cook is on the far right of the first row.

Cook receives help through the universities’ Services for Students with Disabilities Office, where she has her textbooks and other materials translated into Braille and receives one-on-one assistance with keeping her coursework organized and working with computer software, as well as other support.
“Chelsea is an amazing individual,” said Beate Schmittmann, chair of the physics department in the College of Science. “With her determination, motivation, and inner strength, she is an inspiration to all of us.”

When told that some people consider her an inspiration, Cook’s response was, “Why? I just do what I love.”

What Spurs Students to Stay in College and Learn?

A nice conclusive text for this point in the course.


Regards,
Miloš

There's hope...

This article was sent my way by my biology advisor, and I thought it quite appropriate for all those "devil's advocates" out there. Beyond covering topics of our class from a broader context, the article offers some nice insights into specific perspectives; the execution of some learner-centered teaching methods by WPI on the last page and Mr. Moniz's perspective as an undergrad engineering major. Otherwise, I really appreciate the coverage by The New York Times to bring attention to the very issues we're priming ourselves to tackle in the near future.

What timing!

How’s this for timing?  It was in the “Virginia Tech Daily News” this morning! http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2011/11/110411-unirel-scienceopenhouse.html

Diane

Socrates had been killed but the Idea prevailed

Dear GEDIs,

I just read a text on one of the experiences with new teaching methods. As you will read, one of the reasons Steven Maranville, a professor in Utah, has been denied tenure was that he had tried to incorporate new methods of teaching and his students did not like it. You can read and make your judgments who was right or wrong in what point. My personal conclusion from this situation is - no one ever said that change is going to be easy - which change has ever been? I think this is one good example to be aware of some potential issues and be prepared to face them.


Have a good day,
Miloš

Dean Sibel's Contact

Hey GEDIs,

The presentation of the Learning Center Scaleup is another thing that really excites me particularly because I was dreaming of such a classroom to teach in! (The first thing was the super awesome Biochem finals from Delaware last week)

I'm definitely going to sit in at her a class next week; here is Dean Sibel's email address:

siblej@vt.edu


MattChan

Ethical question

I just read an article about a student who is transgender and see's her self as female even thought she is biologically male. She was expelled from her school and the reason she was given is that : she tried to engage in fraud, because when asked her sex she chose Female.
My opinion on this is that California Baptist Univ. took this to far. Faculty and administrators should always encourage professional ethics and that is they should avoid harassment, discriminatory treatment and encourage their students to pursue learning not prejudice. I went on the school's website and read their mission statement here is the link: http://www.calbaptist.edu/about/
They state: "...California Baptist University believes each person has been created for a purpose..." then they keep on saying that "... Graduates are challenged to become individuals whose skills, integrity and sense of purpose glorify God and distinguish them in the workplace and in the world...".
No how hypocritical is that, they believe everyone is been created for a purpose and this school will help distinguish its students in the work place as what, religious famnatics that can not accept that people are different in many ways. How long will this prejudice go on ?

The surprising truth about what motivates us

Dear GEDIs,

Here is a short video from RSA talking about the motivation behind the high cognitive tasks. According to the video, motivation comes from autonomy (the desire to be self-directed), mastery (the urge to improve at work), and purpose (making a contribution through transcended purpose).

Regards,
Miloš

New Instructional Terminology?

For a paper that I am writing, I chose to explore the terms  "teacher-centered" and "student-centered" instruction in more detail. One of the sources that I was perusing was Human Learning by Jeanne Ellis Ormrod. In her book, Ormrod voices something unique that I have not seen in any other source to date. Ormrod argues that "teacher-centered" and "student-centered" instruction are inadequate and misleading terms. She insists that all instruction is "student-centered," even lectures (if designed appropriately) because they are (or should be) centered around the students (to what degree, that varies). Instead Ormrod introduces the terms "teacher-directed" and "student-directed" instruction, which she claims are more accurate. While she argues that all instruction is "student-centered," she argues the real difference is in who directs (or is in control) of instructional and the learning process.

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with Ormrod?

Course evaluations: The more, the merrier

Hi everyone,

I came across this article from the Chronicle of Higher Education and thought it fit into what we discussed last night in seminar. In it, a tenured professor discusses her experiences with administering four course evaluations throughout the semester. She also provides some meaningful reflection on the value of formative and summative evaluation. Enjoy :)

-Katie

Challenging young minds

"When we treat teens like adults, they almost immediately rise to the challenge."

The myth of the teen brain is presenting some interesting thoughts on societal expectations from the young people and the consequences of those low expectations/high restrictions.

My old professor from Serbia, in a lecture of roadway design, told us: "If you treat drivers as idiots, they will behave as idiots". I see that quote applicable to complete education system, and something we forgot on the way to the modern age.


All the best,
MM

No-tech Classrooms?

Here's a couple articles that represent two different paradigms that aim to establish a common foundation. Its pretty fascinating that both perspectives hinge on developing critical thinking skills through social interaction, but there is a complete disparity in how each believes this interaction should manifest.

yuppies paying a lot for education

like "social" learning

I wonder which one is right...

Steve Job's model for education reform

An article I have run into, pointing out some of the interesting points that we keep on coming back to.

Best regards,
Milos

Ideas for improving scientific (and non-scientific) teaching

Hi Everyone,

For anyone in Dean DePauw's PFP class, you have (I hope) taken a look at the Alan Alda improv seminar at Stony Brook. I felt, even though the program is tailored for scientists, the concepts mentioned might help those GEDIs in any field that need to communicate in a classroom setting.

I know someone who's working on a post-doc at Stony Brook and asked him if he'd heard of the Center for Communicating Science. Turns out, they have regular seminars by faculty from the center and there's a significant focus by a large number of faculty at the university on updating teaching styles and techniques. The center also sends out references for articles published regarding teaching and learning. Thanks to my Stony Brook colleague, I have a reference for a article published in Science Magazine about Scientific Teaching that I found interesting. Though the topics are given in the context of teaching science, I can see where some of the ideas mentioned could translate to other subjects. For example, the authors mention that universities should promote awareness of new teaching strategies and even allocate funds for instructors to attend workshops on the subject. It's a short read and Science caters to a general rather than discipline-specific audience, so I hope others will find it useful too.

Nikki

Unschooling?

Hey everyone,

I caught this interesting segment this morning on the Today show. The story covers unschooling, a method of homeschooling that involves no testing and no structured lesson plans. Learners decide what they want to learn when they want to learn it and drive their own learning process.

My initial impression was that the girls featured in the segment seem very well adjusted, but is unschooling an effective way to engage learners and prepare kids for college and the workforce? On the other hand, if done properly, is unschooling actually a MORE effective way to engage learners than our current school system? I am somewhat conflicted about it- I definitely see the value in self-directed learning, but I guess it's hard to immediately embrace a method that's very different than what most of us are used to. I imagine it also depends a lot on individual families (i.e., whether parents can provide the right structure for unschooling and kids are self-motivated, independent learners).

Instructional technology acceptance study at Virginia Tech

I recently got this email asking for our input on instructional technology acceptance, and perhaps some of us can help out with this study. This is exactly the data we would like to see as we develop our own teaching strategies.

Hello,

Have you used instructional technology (laptops, tablet PCs, smart phones, etc.) to either teach or to assist a professor as a teaching assistant in the classroom? Please tell us about your experience and let us help make it better!

I am a doctoral candidate working with Dr. Scales and Dr. Smith-Jackson and we are conducting a study to understand instructional technology acceptance and would greatly appreciate your input. This survey will take approximately between 15-20 minutes to complete. It is completely anonymous and the results will be kept confidential. I need about 20 more responses before I can close the survey, so any help will be greatly appreciated! You can access the survey by clicking the link below. If you are interested in the results or have any questions, please contact me at skoth26@vt.edu .

https://qtrial.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_6ROqf3tkCzNFyPa

Thank you!

Shreya Kothaneth

Doctoral Candidate,

Industrial and Systems Engineering

Virginia Tech

Smartphones usage in classrooms

Here is an article that talks about what we read and saw in the beginning of the semester. I am interested in it since I want to use smartphones in my research. The numbers of smartphone users is high but really not that surprising.

Education - Youth for Human Rights

http://www.youthforhumanrights.org/what-are-human-rights/videos/right-to-education.html
This is the website that has all the Youth for Human Rights videos from two classes ago...

I copied the one for education given our discussion from this evening... what is the ultimate aim of education? Personal Growth? Workforce Development? Childcare? Prison? Check out bullet number 2 in the link above...

Have a great night!
jake

This is my brain on the internet

I only got through about 2 paragraphs of the Carr article before my mind wandered to this article
http://www.ascd.org/ASCD/pdf/journals/ed_lead/el200903_wolf.pdf

I vaguely remembered reading this article before, and it turns out that she references Carr.
I didn't read it deeply at the time, but it clearly left an impression. So, maybe that's what we'll have until we learn how to navigate, contain and comprehend the vast amount of information available - a society of people who have the vague imprint of knowledge encountered with little deep knowledge. Or peace of mind for that matter - now, what was I doing again...?

Creativity, and how education systems throughout the world kills it

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity | Video on TED.com

Hello everyone,
If you haven't watched this video, please take some time to watch it. Sir Ken Robinson, a prominent international figure in education and creativity, delivered a captivating speech back in 2006 at a TED conference. He talked about how the education system throughout the globe suppresses creativity and human's natural talent as most of the modern education system were built upon the basis of the industrial revolution. He is hilarious!!!

As educators, it probably takes a tremendous amount of effort to go against the mainstream of education that mostly tailors everyone towards one goal that not everyone can achieve - becoming "university professors" as Sir Ken Robinson puts it.

There is another video that's sort of the sequel to this one, and I'll post it later.

Have fun watching it!
Rose

Stuttering & Diversity

Here is an interesting article about a stuttering student those professor refused to call on him. Being hearing impaired with speech impediments, this hits very close to home. I really wished the professor hadn't declined to discuss the matter. I would like to know the whole story.

Adam

The Dreaded Teaching Statement - Eight Pitfalls

Interesting blog from an enthusiastic professor that likes to share her experience on some common mistakes we could avoid in developing a teaching statement.

MM

NYT - "Inflating the Software Report Card"

New York Times on technology in the classroom, this time from somewhat a negative point of view, - link to the article here.

The Trouble with Diversifying the Faculty

Dear GEDIs,

We were talking last time about discrimination and diversity so here is one text presenting a perspective on those issues in the higher education. The author is referring to inequalities related to race, sex and class.


Best regards,
Milos

Elevator Law

In undergrad I was given a project to go against the social norm.  So I chose an elevator experiment.  On an elevator it is proper procedure (if there are only 2-3 people riding) to stand on opposite ends of the elevator.  I chose to stand on the same side within 1 foot of the other passengers.  We went up 7 flights and they (I suspect they were a couple, bf & gf) tried to move to the other side of the elevator car.

Last night we discussed the rules of engagement when riding an elevator. Turns out New York Actually has a state law on elevator behavior \_o_/

http://www.divinecaroline.com/22323/99603-i-m-arrest-what-fifty-bizarre/3

The Great Debaters

As long as we are recommending books, indeed, why not recommend some movies? =)

Has anybody seen "The Great Debaters", directed by Denzel Washington. It goes right into the guts of so many issues we are discussing right now, namely the role of an educator (acc. to Freire, whom we just read) and diversity. Definitely worth checking out!

As long as we are recommending books....

....I'd like to suggest David Willingham's "Why Don't Students Like School." Though I have not yet personally read this book, I saw a keynote address by Willingham a few months ago. One of his main points ties directly into our discussion of possibly removing course content in favor of allowing students opportunities to engage with the material through critical thinking exercies.

Simply put, Willingham argues that without the content, you can't begin to think crtically. And, what seperates the "smart kids" from the "dumb kids" is ability to recall facts. We must teach facts, because recalling facts builds the base upon which criical thinking happens.

If the book is anything like the presentation, his argument is pretty convinving. It does, I think, apply more to the notion that we can simplg Google search any of the small details rather than actually memorize and learn them, but I think it can easily be applied to decisions of how much content needs to be cut from our courses.

"A whole new mind", D.H.Pink

Hi everyone,

I am reading this book called "A Whole New Mind" by D. H. Pink. I heard Dean DePauw recommending it on several occasions, so decided to finally read it. And, although, it is not directly related to teaching, students, pedagogy, etc., it does explain, to an extent, what tendencies there are and why they are taking place.

D. Pink argues that under certain geopolitical and sociological circumstances, the whole state of our mind is undergoing a change towards using more of the right side of our brain, rather than the left (if you don't know the difference, the book explains it in plentiful detail), and that, in turn, might help explain why the students we encounter are the way we are.

So, nothing major really - simply wanted to bring an interesting book to your attention.

Cheers,

Ivan

"Education isn’t magic. Education is the wisdom wrung from failure."

Dear GEDIs,

Take a look at this interesting text about pcyhological research relating brain research and learning from failure.

Bellow this, there is a lot of other interesting texts - take a look at them when you have extra time - but do not procrastinate if you were supposed to do your research! :)


Best regards,
Miloš

GOAL

As part of the SCALE-UP concept, Dr. Beichner's team created a testing format to determine the level of understanding of concepts, rather than simply guessing at multiple choice questions or writing down everything you know about a concept and hoping some of it can be recognizable for partial credit.

Here is a link to the page that Dr. Beichner's students see about GOAL.  http://www4.ncsu.edu/~beichner/PY208/Docs/tips/Problem-Solving_Strategy.html

Additionally, this article may add some clarity to the purpose.  ftp://ftp.ncsu.edu/pub/ncsu/beichner/RB/GOALPaper.pdf

How about this for improving scores?

I posted this in the blog for Preparing the Future Professoriate, but I want to re-post it here as I know not everybody is in both courses.

 

This article was published by the New York Times on Oct. 2. It is really interesting. This strategy definitely got results. Is this how we want to motivate students to learn? What do you think about this? 

Incentives for Advanced Work Let Pupils and Teachers Cash In

By SAM DILLON

WORCESTER, Mass. — Joe Nystrom, who teaches math at a low-income high school here, used to think that only a tiny group of students — the “smart kids” — were capable of advanced coursework.
But two years ago, spurred by a national program that offered cash incentives and other support for students and teachers, Mr. Nystrom’s school, South High Community School, adopted a come one, come all policy for Advanced Placement courses. Today Mr. Nystrom teaches A.P. statistics to eight times as many students as he used to, and this year 70 percent of them scored high enough to qualify for college credit, compared with 50 percent before. One in four earned the top score possible, far outpacing their counterparts worldwide.
South High students said Mr. Nystrom and his colleagues had transformed the culture of a tough urban school, making it cool for boys with low-slung jeans who idolize rappers like Lil Wayne to take the hardest classes.
They were helped by the National Math and Science Initiative, a nonprofit network that provided laboratory equipment and special training for teachers and organized afternoon tutoring and Saturday sessions. It also paid $100 each to students who scored a 3 or above on the A.P. exam — and to their teachers, who can also earn additional rewards. Because 43 of his students passed the exam this year, far above his target, Mr. Nystrom will add a $7,300 check to his $72,000 salary.
Organizers of the initiative, who met with lawmakers and staff members at a Congressional briefing last month, said that over three years, the program led to nearly 38,000 A.P. exams being taken in math, science and English, many of them by black and Hispanic students. This year, 308 schools in six states are participating.
The initiative’s success is refueling a debate over whether cash bonuses can coax improved performance from teachers and students — a New York City incentive program was disbanded — and whether paying students for schoolwork diminishes their ability to feel intrinsic pleasure in achievement for its own sake.
Roland G. Fryer, a Harvard economist who won a MacArthur Foundation award last month for his research on educational incentives, said that cash alone did not consistently raise achievement, but that combining payments with tutoring, teacher training and other tactics could be promising.
Of the 1,853 teachers participating in the initiative last year, more than half earned bonuses of at least $2,000, said Gregg Fleisher, a director of the initiative. Brian Leonard, who teaches A.P. calculus and statistics at Lake Hamilton High School in Arkansas, earned the largest award, $12,500, because 65 of his students passed the exams.
Three years ago, Lake Hamilton High had nine A.P. math students, and their parents were all doctors, lawyers or other professionals, Mr. Leonard said.
“I had a boy last year who was your quintessential average rural student: always dressed in camo, his dad was a mechanic,” he said. “He signed up for A.P. statistics, I worked with him, and he came out passing the exam.”
The College Board, which administers the A.P. program, has endorsed the math and science initiative, which is based in Dallas and is financed largely by Exxon.
In a book published last year, “AP: A Critical Examination of the Advanced Placement Program,” some academics expressed concern that under a push by the College Board to broaden its reach, too many unprepared students were taking — and failing — A.P. classes.
But Philip Sadler, a Harvard lecturer who edited the book, said of the effort: “They’re doing the right things and have had substantial increases in the number of kids who pass some A.P. exam. So that’s all good news.”
South High Community, which sits on a hilltop in this gritty town west of Boston, acquired a violent reputation after a Hispanic student stabbed a black classmate to death in 1989. Eighty-five percent of its 1,220 students this year were poor enough to qualify for the federal lunch program. Like many schools, South had previously let students take A.P. classes only they if had passed certain prerequisite courses with high grades and obtained a teacher’s recommendation.
In 2009, the school began working with the math and science initiative, which requires that all barriers to A.P. enrollment be removed. “My initial instinct was that if we let everybody in, it was just going to dumb down the classes,” Mr. Nystrom recalled.
But the school began urging students during announcements to sign up for A.P. classes, making it clear in guidance sessions and in meetings with parents that they were not just for white or middle-class students.
Mr. Nystrom had his own recruitment program. He made tongue-in-cheek posters portraying the rap stars Lil Wayne and Flavor Flav, as well as the male heartthrobs in “Twilight,” endorsing A.P. statistics as the supposed keys to success in life.
Forty-six students enrolled in Mr. Nystrom’s class in 2009, up from 12 the year before, of whom six had earned qualifying scores of at least 3 out of 5. Of the 46 students, 22 earned qualifying scores on exams in May 2010.
Last fall, enrollment surged to 61 students. Forty-three of those passed the exam, and 15, or 25 percent, got the top score. Worldwide, 13 percent of the 143,000 people who took the statistics exam got 5’s this year.
Thirty-one low-income students from Mr. Nystrom’s class passed the exam, more than at any other high school in Massachusetts.
The teacher’s manic energy and persistence may be one reason for his success. In his first-period class the other day, Mr. Nystrom outlined the meaning of basic vocabulary words in statistics — sample, parameter, inference — and then went over nuances.
Using an overhead projector, he drew a contingency table relating the relative preferences of males and females for hip hop, country and indie rock music, then used the table to explain marginal distribution.
Some students struggled to understand the table, and he explained it again — until Ashley Tran, a 15-year-old sophomore, interrupted.
“Oh, I get it!” she exclaimed.
“My favorite sound!” Mr. Nystrom said. Kristopher Santana, 17, a senior whose mother is a customer service representative at a tool company, was among those who scored a 5 in May. He said the 18 hours of Saturday classes organized by the initiative, and Mr. Nystrom’s twice-weekly, after-school tutoring sessions, had been helpful.
And the $100 incentive?
“There’s something cool about the money,” Kristopher said. “It’s a great extra.”
Mr. Nystrom attributed his students’ success to the Saturday classes, the extra training he got and the collective effort by his colleagues to persuade students that hard work can bring success.
“I’d like to think the incentive payments had little impact,” he added. “But maybe way in the back of my mind, I know that if I just push a little harder and work every minute of every class, more students might pass the exam, and I might increase my monetary incentive.”

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: October 4, 2011
An article on Monday about a program that pays cash incentives for teachers and students in Advanced Placement classes misstated the number of students worldwide who took the A.P. Statistics test in May. It was 143,000 — not 18,000, which was the number of test-takers who earned a 5, the highest score. The article also misstated the percentage of students worldwide who scored a 5 on that test. It is about 13 percent, not 15 percent.

What influences pre-teen's thoughts on diversity

Soooo.......... At the end of the contemporary pedagogy class we watched a video on children's perception towards individuals from different ethnic backgrounds.  I hate we ran out of time.  I was intrigued by the video.  I always presumed that people formulated opinions and thoughts about different ethnic groups based on stereotypes that they learn during their adolescent years; not to mention just association with peers in general. 

But it was obvious to me that the children in this video weren't taught to feel any particular way towards any ethnic group.  The honestly just felt the way the felt.  I've racked my brain for the past week trying to understand what the major influence in pre-teens thoughts on diversity could be..........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTYn1WRCuoU

Are we ready for the work force? You tell me

I read two articles from the Chronicle: "Beyond Super and Ill-Prepared Students, How About Some With Creativity?" And "To: Professors; Re: Your Advisees" .
The main point is that through our graduate education we are prepped and trained on how to finish a project for our advisors, how to publish, write a thesis or desertions and how to defend that. But are we trained for the work place or are we not? I agree with both articles we are not quite there, we are not prepared for what awaits us in the industry. I am talking about working out there and not staying in the academy. See we do have the skills for manual labor, but do we have the creativity needed to bring fresh ideas to your coworkers. That is what is asked of you and not what you are taught as PhD or MS student (follow my ideas and hypothesis on this project, make it work and then you will be published and present your results). The industry is no longer interested in only how much we know, they are ready for us to come up with new ideas, risk things so that we get the wanted results and not following years old protocols.

Which students should we teach to?

Cool opinion piece (or series of pieces I guess) in the NY Times yesterday on how to teach to students at range of levels. Should they all be in the same class, or should the smart students have a separate class? There are a couple of well stated opinions, some with interesting statistics to support them.

Are Top Students Getting Short Shrift?

Learning Objectives

Hey everyone,

I wanted to share a freshman's blog about learning objectives.

- Kelsey

Concerned parents are criminals?

Hello all,
I came across this article - law enforcement officers may now follow students as they are going home from school to check on their "real" address. Some concerned parents, specially minorities, use different addresses when enrolling their children in better schools outside their neighborhood. Some are convicted for that. Please do read the article and I believe it is very relevant to us.

The Latest Crime: Sending Your Children to A Better School

Have a great weekend!
Rose

Professor as an undercover freshman

Dear GEDIs,

Here is the link to High Ed text on the Professor that became undercover student that had some interesting insights and wrote a book "My freshman year". Campus library has the book, if you do not want to buy it.


Best regards,
Milos

Six Tips for Teaching Diversity & A Funny HRC Blog Post

Hello all,
As we will be discussing inclusion and diversity today, I came across this article that might be related.

Six Tips for Teaching Diversity

Also, i would like all of you to read this post from the HRC blog - How internet is inseparable from today's youth - and it's funny, too!!
Most Woeful Grief

See you all!
Rose

I Want to Make Them Squirm

I read this in the Chronicle today; I found it kind of funny and a little bit disappointing. Here is the link :

http://chronicle.com/article/I-Want-to-Make-Them-Squirm/129122/

It is about a adjunct professor who got 2 bad student evaluations. He was angry about it, he figured out who really the students were by their hand writing. He was ready if he saw them again, to give them a piece of his mind. I understand the person was mad and he is in stressful position. Probably he is on a tenure track and is worried that one or two bad evaluations will cost him his job. Here is my answer: I understand he is a human just like the rest of us, he is allowed to be angry, but writing an article about the situation is crossing the line. You are supposed to be an educator, not someone who is ready for revenge (for a comment that someone wrote on evaluation). You should read those evaluation anonymously and not go searching for its owner. Take it as a thing to work on or just an opinion. Hopefully you can try to evaluate yourself and determine if it is true or not. If it is true, change you way of teaching, if it is not, then either continue the same way you have been teaching or change it up a little.
Try not to judge your own students, you are there to teach them, help them learn how to learn. Finding an opportunity to belittle them in a magazine about Higher education is very unprofessional, and proving: you Mr. Fern are maybe not that great of a teacher as you believe you are.

Embarrassed By Your Technology

GEDIs,

Here is an interesting ProfHacker blog post that talks about graduate students owning iPads and being too embarrassed to use them in public.

What do you think? Are there other technologies that might elicit these same emotions?

This is an interesting factor at play as universities move towards increasing their technological capabilities. It makes me wonder if/how this would affect students' off-campus learning.

Adam

Faculty Development Resources

Dear GEDIs,

Looking here and there for various articles and handbooks on higher education, I have ran into this cool link. It has some practical documents related to teaching techniques and student engagement, so check it out sometime.


All the best,
Miloš

We beg you, join the blog

Hello GEDIs,

This is Adam, your TA. Below is a list of potential slacker? GEDIs that have not joined the blog. Either that… or I entered your email wrong because I couldn’t read your handwriting. Either way, it’s not my fault. If you find your name on the list, please join (by accepting the invite) or re-send your Gmail address to urzsmith@vt.edu.

Andrea Swenson

Komal Keck

Yanna Lambrinidou

Sean Diehl

Sang Tak Lee

Monica Kimbell

Kelsey Pieper

John Curtis

Shawn Crawford

Rebecca Halvorson

William Pruitt

Thanks, Adam

Education Nation Summit 2011

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to let you know (in case you weren't already aware) that this week is the Education Nation Summit in NYC. A lot of video clips and newspots have been featured on the Today show and Nightly News with Brian Williams on NBC this week. This summit involves educators, parents, and leaders in politics, business, and technology in a conversation about the state of our education system. A series of interesting video clips can be found on the Education Nation website.

One I found particularly interesting and relevant to our class was Khan Academy sparks education reform debate. It highlights an online tutorial program for students as well as an active, learning-by-doing applied program in a physics classroom. There was also a cool experiential learning program for high schoolers interested in the environment featured in the Making a Difference spot on Nightly News Monday night.

See you Wednesday!

Student-centered Pedagogy

I have been working feverishly on my literature review and I just wanted to share about it. I am exploring a student-centered pedagogy called POGIL (process-oriented guided learning inquiry). It is all about group collaboration, guided inquiry, and utilizes the learning cycle. The instructor merely serves as a facillitator only stepping in when the student thought process starts to go awry. Its really cool that it started in chemistry classes (at Franklin and Marshall College) and now it is making its way into other content areas such as business and math. Some predict it may eventually stretch into the humanities. Its a really interesting method which has shown impressive results in learning.

In many of the journal articles that I am reading from the Journal of Education site our class's text by Weimer!

For more info about POGIL, go to www.pogil.org

Opportunities through CSECP

GEDI friends,

I know I shared one of these with you already, but I wanted to share all three of our grant programs (social entrepreneurship, a student organizations program, and conference travel) now that they are all live. See you in a bit!

take care,
jake

-----
Conference Travel Funds Program

Will you be presenting at a conference and need funding for travel and registration? CSECP's Conference Travel Funds Program is now available to students presenting at conferences or professional meetings on research that promotes civic engagement. We wish to fund applicants who have incorporated engagement into their academic and personal pursuits. Two cycles will be awarded, Fall and Spring.

*The application deadline for Fall Cycle is October 21st

If you would like more information on the grant and application process, please see the attached announcement or you can find it here: http://tinyurl.com/travelfundsannouncement

The online grant application can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/ConferenceTravelFundsProgram

If you have any questions about developing your application or the grant process, please contact Jake Grohs, CSECP, at jrgrohs vt.edu.

-----
Organization Funds Program

Are you part of a student organization looking for funds to complete a project or event? Will your project create an impact on the community and fulfill the university mission of "Ut Prosim"? The Organization Funds Program is now available to registered student organizations who wish to complete a project or event that impacts the community and is service-oriented. Your organization could be awarded up to $1000 to make the project/event a reality.

It is simple to apply! Read the attached announcement for more information and details about applying or click here: http://tinyurl.com/OrganizationFundsAnnouncement

To apply, fill out the online application, found here:http://tinyurl.com/OrganizationFundsProgram11-12

APPLICATIONS FOR FALL CYCLE ARE DUE OCTOBER 14TH, 2011

If you feel like you still need some help honing your ideas or have logistical questions, please feel free to contact Jake Grohs, CSECP, at jrgrohs vt.edu.

-----
SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR STUDENT GRANT

Do you have a unique idea that could help improve your community? Do you want to work with a community organization to create a lasting impact? The Social Entrepreneur grant is now available to help you do this. This grant can provide seed money for students who have a creative project or idea in mind to address a specific need in their community. You could be awarded up to $1000 to start your project! A cycle will be offered in fall and spring for this program.

It is simple to apply! Read the attached announcement (or view it here: http://tinyurl.com/SESGPFallAnnouncement for a more detailed description of the program and the requirements.

The application can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/SESGP-Fall2011

APPLICATION DEADLINE FOR FALL CYCLE IS OCTOBER 10TH

If you could use some help developing your ideas, recruiting community partners or a faculty advisor, tying the project into your academic pursuits, etc., please feel free to contact Jake Grohs at CSECP by emailing jrgrohs vt.edu.

--
Lauren Kennedy
Graduate Student
Human Nutrition, Foods, & Exercise
kennedy0 vt.edu

Ever notice the slight sag of the shoulders or heavy sighs or rolled eyes when you tell students they must work on a team project for the semester? It is a method of constructing what we tell the students is "the way it works when you're out there in the world," and yet it's so contrived as to be void of creativity, and certainly novelty! I've noticed that some of our students have 4 or 5 team projects per semester during their junior year.


One dedicated faculty member at North Carolina State University, Dr. Robert Beichner, developed a new approach to teaching the funamentals of physics - not a simple undertaking! This method, known as SCALE-UP (Student-Centered Active Learning Environment for Undergraduate Programs), has so many benefits that I don't believe I can express it all well in a short blog. I will encourage you to explore the possible use of this approach in your classes. There are two critical components of this learning environment that, in my opinion, make this program increibly valuable:


1. The teams are designed by the faculty to have a distribution of students with different academic records/performance. While it was expected that the honors students would be bored and would carry the group, that was not the case at all. In fact, the students with the highest GPAs learned more than those they guided though the material.


2. The test format is designed to guide the students through the fundamental questions; to learn to frame the problem and identify the approach to solve it. Once the student has addressed the problem, he or she has the opportunity to make the connection as to what the answer actually means.


The website where you can learn more about SCALE-UP is http://www.ncsu.edu/PER/scaleup.html.

Presidential Global Scholars

Hello GEDIs,

Last week, Dr. Carlson stopped by to talk about the Presidential Global Scholars study abroad program. You can find more information here.

- Adam

Is it worse than we thought?

Did anyone catch tonight's NBC Nightly News? The opening story was a discussion on the decreased value of a college degree, especially given the rising costs of tuition. Statistics show that 80% of graduates leave college at least $25,000 in debt, and parents and their children agree that their college experience wasn't worth the debt. This lead me to question, is poor teaching going to prevent students from seeking higher education?

From some of the discussions in class, I am assuming that most of you didn't have a college experience similar to mine. I went to a private, liberal arts college with a total student enrollment of about 1,000 students. This equated to class sizes no more than 20 (often around 7 in upper level classes), and professors that were contracted to spend about 70% of their time devoted to teaching. It was in that setting I fell in love with learning and really found a subject to be passionate about. Professor office hours were long, learning through unconventional methods (lecture, field work, discussion, heavy writing and speaking), and I graduated having no doubt that I walked away from the college a more well-rounded, educated individual. I am also confident that that person who graduated last in the class shares that opinion.

I also left with more than my fair share of debt, but I would go back and do it in a heartbeat. Like most college graduates, I left with lifelong friends and some pretty crazy stories. But is that all most students are paying for? Is it now rare to leave more educated? Analyst predict that soon the costs of education will prevent students from seeking higher education. What will that mean for the development of the nation?

It is sad, and perhaps biased of me, to think that this discussion ultimately results in an argument about whether big, state schools are better, and more worth the money, than smaller, private schools (especially since many private schools are now offering four-year degree guarantees). Among the professors in my department, there has been a significant angst about the caliber of students that are graduating from the college. As professionals, they realize that their students cannot survive in the workplace, yet many seem indifferent about trying to amend their classes in order to prepare their students. Is the status quo at large universities, places that are supposed to be centers that offer the best education, going to hinder future generations?

I could argue about this for a long, long time……

Hey, GEDIs --

It's great--it is wonderful and highly encouraged, actually--to engage with your colleagues and let them know about info they might find interesting relevant to teaching and learning. Please use the course blog (rather than email messages) for the postings and conversation about cool links, articles, etc.

Thanks, Kacie, for sending out this video about the Dallas Science and Engineering Magnet Public School. (You can use the link icon, next to the text box icon, to allow folks to click on the highlighted text to view the video.)

If you'd like to chat about it, use the comment tool below.

Thanks!
Shelli

A New Look for our Scholar Site

Welcome to the new view of the GEDI Scholar course site!

In the spirit of demonstrating a variety of ways to use technology tools to spark student collaboration and engagement, we wanted to show you how easy it is to embed a free tool into Scholar. Previously, we asked you to use the "Forums" tool for collegial eConversation, and now we invite you to use the course blogger tool to generate collegial dialogue, announcements, posting of links, and so forth.

This blogger tool is one in the Google suite, so you should have (or will receive) an email invite to participate via your gmail. We are using this tool to create an open course blog. (This is a different use of a blog tool than Dr. C talked about in seminar, and we'll chat about the different intent and purpose.) All of you will be authors (once you accept your gmail invitation), and that allows you to both post and comment as much and as often as you would like.

You'll note that over on the right are some widgets. The first is a "Seminar Announcements" text box. Adam and I will use that to remind you of any important last minute "stuff" for seminar, etc. We have also brought in RSS feeds from several things you may already read, or if not, might want to think about perusing.

This entire section on this left side will be for all of us to eEngage and eConverse with each other. It becomes an ongoing, archived conversation, so you can always go back to a previous post, even if it has disappeared from view. If a colleague posts something, please feel free to have an ongoing conversation via the "comments" tool. And, any time you wish to start another strand of conversation, just create a post, and do so. The purpose of the course blog is to foster engagement beyond the seminar meetings. So, whether you want to pick up on and expand a conversation that occurred in seminar, start a new conversation, or post announcements and info for your colleagues, this is where you can do that. Active engagement is encouraged and smiled upon and we all benefit when we tap into our collective, interdisciplinary wisdom, so step right up and jump into the course blog conversation!

By way of example for posting additional links that some of your colleagues might find useful, here is the link to the Chronicle of Higher Education article, "Let's Get Serious About Cultivating Creativity," that is located as a PDF in the Resource folder for this week. This non-PDF version gives you access to the commentary the article generated. (You should be able to view it, thanks to our library subscription, via VT-wireless.)

See you in seminar!
Shelli & Adam