SoTL - Scholarlship of Teaching and Learning

The Faculty Center, in collaboration with Academic Affairs, is again offering an opportunity for full-time faculty and librarians to obtain grant funding to carry out Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) projects in the coming academic year (click the link to the Application Form for more details). For
descriptions of presentations on previous SoTL projects see below.

Application Form for SoTL Grants (and information on grant)
http://www.westfield.ma.edu/facultycenter/sotlapplication-2012.pdf

Submit the application form to Gretchen Konrad (gkonrad@westfield.ma.edu) by 5:00 pm on Friday, April 20, 2012.

Past Presentations

"The Interactive Classroom: Beyond Clickers." Buzz Hoagland (Biology)
Wed, April 6, 12:30pm – 1:30pm

Buzz's project will include an investigation of student cognitive learning and the development of new programming to chart student questions, their learning and outcomes. Here is his description of the aims for his project: “Specifically I will create a web-based interface using existing and modified Drupal modules that will allow students to post questions in response to key words and phrases, vote on questions, post answers, and vote on answers...Death by PowerPoint is a real phenomenon, and we pay large sums of money every year for this license to kill. Do we, as an institution of higher learning, want to join the next lethal wave – death by clickers? Or, should we move to a more pedagogically enriched environment like the one I propose that utilizes 100% free open-source software that is platform and content independent?..."


Max Saito (Communication)
Intercultural Competencies: Introducing and Facilitating Discussions about Sensitive Issues.
Wed, April 20, 3:00pm – 4:30pm

Max is planning on an article and a workshop that connects our teaching and scholarship to the larger issues inherent in "difficult dialogues" so valued across the academy. For our students and faculty Max's project will "explore communication competencies in and through which discussions about delicate and sensitive issues can be facilitated. The issues include, but are not limited to, sexual orientation, sexuality, race, gender, political affiliation, nationality, religion, ethnicity, and class. Four main communication competencies will be addressed, although the workshop mainly focuses on three competencies of knowledge, attitudes, and self-awareness."

Catherine Savini, Chalet Seidel and Beverly Williams (English)
Project Connection: Linking First Year Composition Outcomes to Writing Across the Curriculum.

Their study is an analysis of the academic-professional and interdisciplinary writing "moves" students make as they develop their writing throughout their college career from 101 composition courses through to senior theses. Their work will “first examine the explicit and implicit ways in which English Composition Outcomes are integrated into 101 writing assignment prompts in order to understand the practical application of the outcomes. Next, [they] will examine exemplary senior theses to extract academic writing moves that transcend disciplinary divides while also considering the strengths and weaknesses of these theses in the context of disciplinary expectations.

Assignment Design Workshop Handouts (pdf)
Assignment Design Workshop Handouts (doc)

 

 

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Presentations 2010

Students' Use of Technology: Assumptions, Skills, and the Impact on Campus

Presentation by SoTL Grant Recipients Teri Shiel (Library) and
Carolyn Schwartz (Library)
Thursday, April 15, 2:30 to 3:30

Is the Millennial Generation as technologically sophisticated as we’re led to believe, or is this just a lot of hype? How has the concept of the digital divide influenced faculty assumptions regarding student technological knowledge and usage? Join us as we present the illuminating results of our recent survey regarding students' use of technology (we administered the survey to first-year students this past fall), and learn how we can help use the information from our survey to better meet our WSC students’ technological needs.

The Real Deal: Investigating the Physical Inactivity Crisis through Dynamic Case Studies

Presentation by Teresa Fitts and Holly Noun (Movement Science)

Wednesday, April 21
12:30 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Case studies provide students with an opportunity to apply theoretical principles to static, pre-written cases. Students are able to safely, and with minimal risk, consider concepts and issues relating a case through examples presented. Groups of students are also able to engage in discussions around specific cases presented. However, do static case studies really take students to the level of critical thinking and engagement that is required of professionals working with a variety of populations? Dynamic case studies close the gap by challenging students to think about decisions that affect a real person engaged in real living with real issues. In the presentation of The Real Deal we will provide example of the use of dynamic case studies in a class focusing on fitness assessment and prescription. Students partnered with members of the college community to assess, develop and implement fitness programs for a seven-week period. In addition, students collaborated with their fitness partners to develop anonymous case studies to be used for future classes. The pedagogical challenges and lessons learned will also be presented.

With apologies to Daniel Pink - "A Whole New History? - Why Alternate Delivery Systems for History Classes Might Reach 21st Century Students"

Presentation by Nick Aieta (History)

Wednesday, April 21
1:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.

As colleges offer more online courses and make use of electronic sourcebooks/databases, students are increasingly exposed to an environment in which they are familiar but not always facile.  By analyzing the effectiveness of PLATO in how it manages content delivery, information storage, and projects themselves, I explored how familiar students are with both the program and that particular style of learning.  Specifically, I worked to discern whether there is any appreciable difference in content delivery for history classrooms of the face to face vs. the online variety.

 

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Presentations 2009

Wednesday, April 15, 3:15 pm to 4:45 pm

How Can Brain Research Be Applied To Information Literacy Instruction In Teacher EducationPresentation by Lolly Templeton (Education) and Signia Warner (Library)

Since the introduction of sophisticated brain imaging techniques, researchers have learned much more about brain activity than was previously known. Modern medical techniques--Position-emission tomography, (PET Scans); Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); Functional MRI; and the discovery of brain chemicals (neurotransmitters)--have revolutionized human brain research. Researchers are beginning to suggest ways to apply advances in neuroscience research to classrooms. Our current project is designed to explore the findings of neuroscience research and their implications for our course-embedded information literacy instruction model.

The Impact of Early Relational Knowledge on Learning Interpersonal Skills
By Nora Padykula (Social Work)

How do we know how to read other people? What is our understanding of why our students sometimes have great difficulty “reading” people and situations accurately? This presentation discusses the application of attachment theory to answer these questions. Early relational knowledge and its impact on attaining social work practice competencies were examined in sixty-three baccalaureate social work students. Results revealed associations between one’s attachment style and the capacity to accurately read non-verbal cues. Attachment style was also associated with various uses of reflective thinking while gaining experience in the field. This presentation would be useful for any discipline that seeks to assist their students in gaining competencies within the interpersonal realm while becoming reflective practitioners


The Utilization of Nontraditional Models in Chemistry Research presentation by Frank Giuliano (Physical Science) and Chris Masi (Physical Science)

A basic tenet of chemistry is that we can determine the structure of a molecule, and, by understanding the molecule's structure, we can predict its properties. Drawing a Lewis structure of a molecule is among the first steps that chemists take towards determining the structure of a molecule. Lewis structures are a simple model that predicts the bonding between atoms in a molecule, and once a Lewis structure is drawn, it can be used to predict the overall shape of a molecule. From that basic description of a molecule, properties can be predicted, or the model can be subjected to more advanced techniques. During the past two years, we have examined two methods for drawing Lewis structures, investigated the use of traditional and nontraditional models as Lewis structure drawing aids, and sought to determine the advantages and disadvantages associated with the methods.

SOTL Presentations 2008

Thursday, April 17 2008, from 11 am to noon

1. Baby Steps in Service Learning: Creating Service Learning
Opportunities within a Campus Community
presented by Teresa Fitts, D.P.E. (Movement Science) and Holly Noun, A.T.C., Ed.D (Movement Science)

What is Service Learning? How is Service Learning Defined? How effective is Service Learning in meeting learning objectives of students and faculty? This presentation will address these three questions by proposing a model of service learning and providing preliminary data on research conducted last semester that focused on the learning experience of students in a service-learning focused class. A discussion of the challenges and opportunities of service learning will follow.

2. Integrating Case Studies into the Anatomy and Physiology Curriculum
presented by Karen Pinco, Ph.D. (Biology)

The use of case studies in science education is becoming an increasingly popular teaching method. Why? Because case studies make science personal while at the same time emphasizing the methodology by which science is practiced and applied. This makes students more active participants in their own education, improves their understanding and retention of the material, and helps develop critical thinking. This presentation will share Dr. Karen Pinco's findings about integrating case studies into her courses and will be followed by discussion.

Follow-up Information:

Integrating Case Studies into the Anatomy and Physiology Curriculum powerpoint (Requires PowerPoint Viewer)
http://www.wsc.ma.edu/facultycenter/case-studies.ppt
Karen Pinco, Biology.

Additional SoTL Resources:

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
http://academics.georgiasouthern.edu/ijsotl/

From the Center for Excellence in Teaching at Georgia Southern University, a peer-reviewed journal that serves as an "international vehicle for articles, essays, and discussions about the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) and its applications in higher/tertiary education today."