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Lindsay Davidson

Teach naked?

Perhaps not, but the title did get your attention!

More accurately, teach without Powerpoint. Here's a great article on some instructors who are doing that, and succeeding.

http://chronicle.com/article/Teach-Naked-Effort-Strips/47398/

TED talks for educators.

http://www.bachelorsdegreeonline.com/blog/2009/25-incredible-ted-talks-for-educators/

Good resources here on social media and tangential references throughout to active learning.

http://educationaltechnology.ca/couros/

Team based learning - intro presentation

Here's a short video on TB learning, courtesy of UBC.

http://teambasedlearning.apsc.ubc.ca/v/may11final.html

Hi everyone,

I was looking for a way to add audio annotation to PDF files and found this on the York U. CTL site. Essentially it explains how to do this using Adobe Acrobat Pro.

http://www.yorku.ca/cst/dotelblog/?p=120

We can get that software at the Campus Computer Store for cheap...what appeals to me as someone who hates marking and printing papers, is that audio annotation is faster, more detailed, and generally more personal. I wonder (though expect) that it will create the basis for a longer discussion with students about their performance rather than just annotate same as I've been doing for a decade or more.

Cheers, Doug

Article on professors posing as students in online environment

Parry, M. (2009). Online Professors Pose as Students to Encourage Real Learning. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 55(38), 10.

ipod touch applications will rescue the world and make teaching and learning way funner!!!

I think the applications associated with mobile devices like the touch - that are coming at us fast and furiously are finally putting us on the cusp of transforming the traditional classroom into group learning interactions. for example, my five second download of the app skitch - linked to from Doug's magazine article - creates a website for me that enables me to screen capture, share, edit, collaborate, etc...simply and quickly.

iPod used for Learning?

I wonder if there's a way to use this common technology in an active learning context? Regardless, here's an online magazine that identifies uses and apps for the iPod in learning.

http://issuu.com/ktenkely/docs/ilearn_2

Doug

Great post on using Twitter in the classroom.

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/how_one_teacher_uses_twitter_in_the_classroom.php

Doug
@douglasreid

a poem about class participation

Hi all: I noticed that several of you had active class participation as one of your learning objectives. Here's a poem about being present in or absent from class. The poet cautions however, that he stopped reading it to students. It made them more aggressive. So read it just for yourselves to know that this happens to all of us...:)

Did I Miss Anything
Tom Wayman

Originally from: The Astonishing Weight of the Dead.
Vancouver: Polestar, 1994.
http://www.library.utoronto.ca/canpoetry/wayman/poem5.htm

articles and sites by physicists Wieman and Mazure

Hi all: As promised, here are articles by Physicist Carl Wieman (et al), Eric Mazur (Peer Instruction) and articles on how to assess concept maps.

best,
Sheila

1. Some articles by Carl Wieman:

• STLHE Conference Keynote summary: http://www.mcmaster.ca/stlhe/documents/Number%2047.pdf
• Professor My Brain is Full: http://update.estrategy.ubc.ca/2006/02/06/professor-my-brain-is-full/
• C.E. Wieman, K.K. Perkins, W.K. Adams. (May, 2008). Oersted Medal Lecture 2007: Interactive simulations for teaching physics: What works, what doesn't, and why. American Journal of Physics, 76, 393.
• C. E. Wieman and K. K. Perkins. (2006). A Powerful Tool For Teaching Science. Nature Physics, p. 290-292 , May.
• C.E. Wieman and K.K. Perkins (2005). Transforming Physics Education. Physics Today. 58: 11.
• And, going back a bit, Wieman acknowledges R. Hake, "Interactive-engagement vs. traditional methods: A six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data for introductory physics courses," Am. J. Phys. 66, 64-74 (1998).

2. Here is Eric Mazur's website about Peer Instruction, where students solve problems collaboratively after 10 minutes of lecture:

• http://mazur-www.harvard.edu/education/educationmenu.php
• and Peer Instruction: Ten Years of Experience and Results http://web.mit.edu/jbelcher/www/TEALref/Crouch_Mazur.pdf

3. How to assess Concept Maps:
Please see:

• Classroom Assessment Techniques: Concept Mapping: under Analysis and Scoring Concept Maps:

http://www.flaguide.org/cat/conmap/conmap4.php

• Ruiz-Primo, M. A. (2004). EXAMINING CONCEPT MAPS AS AN ASSESSMENT TOOL Procedures of the First International Conference on Concept Mapping. Spain.
  

http:// cmc.ihmc.us/papers/cmc2004-036.pdf
There is a rubric on page 4, figure 3, that is useful.

• Angelo, Thomas A. and Cross, K. Patricia (1993). Classroom assessment techniques: A handbook for college teachers. 2nd edition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

• Austin, L.B. and Shore, B.M. (1995). Using concept mapping for assessment in physics. Physics Education 30 (1): 41-45.

Assessing for learning quality

Here is a link to the article, Teaching for Quality Learning at University-Assessing for learning quality: II. Practice by John Biggs. The article has a great section on diverse strategies (like gobbets) for assessing in large groups. Enjoy! Gobbets!!

Student Perspectives on Instructional Strategies

Andrew Kirk's research on student perspectives on various instructional strategies used in Engineering.

Visual presentation of quantitative data

Perhaps the best resource is the collected works of Edward Tufte.

Another great presentation is Hans Rosling's talk at TED a few years ago...I believe his software is now available via Google.

What are UUDLES

From the York University website:

"The Ontario Council of Academic Vice-Presidents has issued new guidelines on University Undergraduate Degree Level Expectations (UUDLEs–pronounced “oodles”). This web site is designed to share resources on how to develop UUDLEs and do curriculum development consistent with the OCAV guidelines. We encourage you to post information you have found useful for curriculum development to this web site, including examples of UUDLEs and curriculum development in your program, or on your campus."

It is a great site, see more here...

Creating a Syllabus

This process is outlined here by Dr. Elaine Van Melle on the CTL website.

Twitter

Two of the Course Development Projects suggest a use for Twitter. I am painfully ignorant as to how this could happen but am learning. Here is a link that came out of one of Bobbi Kerlin's links (see Project Quest post) introducing how one prof has begun to use it.

Good Stuff from Project Quest

Bobbi Kerlin has shared with me some of the resources used in Project Quest which I will collate here. There are lots of great ideas about using technology in teaching:

Sink or swim: taking advantage of developments in video streaming
Karen Fill and Roger Ottewill, University of Southampton, UK. Innovations in Education and Teaching International
Vol. 43, No. 4, November 2006, pp. 397–408.

Talk the talk: Learner-generated podcasts as catalysts for knowledge creation.
Mark J. W. Lee, Catherine McLoughlin and Anthony Chan. British Journal of Educational Technology Vol 39 No 3 2008 501–521.

Podcasting for e-learning, communication, and delivery
J.P. Shim and Jordan Shropshire, Mississippi State University
Sungmin Park and Howard Harris, Department of Information Systems, Computing of Maths, Brunel University, Uxbridge, UK, and
Natalie Campbell, Mississippi State University

Digital Storytelling: An Emergent Method for Health Promotion Research and Practice.
Aline Gubrium (Department of Public Health at the School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst Massachusetts). Health Promotion Practice, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 186-191, April 2009.

7 Things You Should Know About Digital Storytelling (ID: ELI7021)

Twitter Literacy (I refuse to make up a Twittery name for it)
Howard Rheingold



Controlling Curriculum Redesign with a Process Improvement Model
Drinka and Yen
Curriculum was redesigned to have a project-centric focus with each course in the curriculum contributing to the success of students’ learning experiences…..This paper presents a description of the authors’ experiences in implementing a curriculum redesign from one based on a traditional course-based design to a project-centric design using the Capability Maturity Model as a process improvement tool.

A Web-based eLearning Course: Integration of Pathophysiology into Pharmacology
Tse and Lo
This paper presents the development, utilization, and evaluation of a web-based elearning course for nursing students learning pathophysiology and pharmacology.

Good stuff from the 2009 CTL Course Design Workshop

Here is a free tool for concept mapping: Freemind

Cory Laverty's eLearning wiki for librarians (which she used a concept map to help develop) is here.

Information behaviour of the researchers of the future - A British Library / JISC Study

Denise Stockley's introductory presentation is linked from the E2QUATE resource site on the Course Design Workshop page.

Sheila Pinchin's presentation about instructional strategies. Lindsay Davidson's examples of two types of instructional strategies: clickers and TBL.

Survey Monkey - a quick, easy, free (US-based) way to develop and conduct online surveys. This is a great way to do a needs assessment of your students or to learn more about them. NB Because the info you gather resides on a non-Canadian server, there are issues about using this tool to conduct research. I have heard that GREB will not allow it. Just something to be aware of...

2009 Course Development Participants

Congratulations to the successful applicants of the Inaugural 2009 Course Development Competition! Three applications were chosen to be supported by E2QUATE and the Centre for Teaching and Learning at Queen’s University this summer. From June- September each project receives the support of an educational developer/technology assistant and $1500.00 to help defray costs associated with the development of new instructional materials.

Here’s a look at our winners in alphabetical order and their projects.

1. Redesigning German 201

Jennifer Hosek, Assistant Professor, Department of German 

Andrew Sartori, Queen’s student in Political Science

 Jennifer and Andrew will be developing a language exchange program via Skype, person-to-person email and the development of an online network to promote an exchange between Anglophone students at Queen’s who are learning German with Germanophone students at the University of Halle who are learning English. They will be using this partnership with the university in Germany to encourage innovative student-to-student active learning techniques and to transform current language learning and pedagogy.

2. Rebuilding a Global Strategy Course

Douglas Reid, Ph.D., ICD.D. Associate Professor of International Business and Strategy, School of Business 

Douglas will be rebuilding his Global Strategy course that is offered to approximately 300 students annually. While already using active learning techniques, Professor Reid has long wondered what effect newer technologies could have on extending the discussions held in class into the future, beyond the end of the course. By developing the appropriate technological infrastructure and ‘rules of engagement,’ the Global Strategy course will establish a relationship between current students and alumni through a model of sustainability and outreach. Professor Reid will be experimenting with social media technologies such as wikis and Twitter along with the creation of student-publishable content to promote peer-to-peer learning.

and,

3. Creation of a web-based learning community for the development of Clinical reasoning skills in pediatrics. 

Lucie Pelland, Ph.D., School of Rehabilitation Therapy, Physiotherapy Program

The focus of Lucie’s proposal for re-designing her course this summer will be the development of an interactive, comprehensive web-based active learning platform that will aid in promoting the development of clinical reasoning skills. By engaging students in a variety of activities that include innovative techniques and technologies Professor Pelland will establish clinical reasoning and decision making as a skill that can be practically demonstrated. She will be experimenting with tools like Twitter, online journaling, etc to develop active learning strategies that will encourage critical reflection. 

Active learning beyond the course

Hi - As a business prof, I can think of no more active learning environment than a well-run case classroom. This surely means I need to get out more...but the point remains - discussion about something that adult learners understand and care about will always work far more effectively than "sage on the stage"-dispensed knowledge.

But what happens after the course is over? I'm interested in using social media and other 2.0 technologies to extend the discussion about social science topics such as business strategy beyond the end of a course - let the self-selected long-term learners keep learning. This means thinking more deliberately about the source of learning - me, others, info on the web, and the role of social proof (among other things).

That said, it's a discussion worth perpetuating. I'd welcome any comments or observations about the experience of others with course wikis, listservs, or other enduring resources that serve to extend contact with students who are interested in being self-directed learners after a course is over.

How NOT to create MCQs

A presentation (that Bobbi Kerlin originally directed me to) about how NOT to write MCQs. This "content free" series of questions, written in gibberish, illustrates common question "mistakes" which make the answers quite easy to guess.

Engaging Students in the Classroom and Beyond

Bobbi Kerlin has created a wiki page where she is collecting resources and ideas for teachers interested in Engaging Students in the Classroom and Beyond.

Podcasting

I have been using coursecasting for a year, as a value-added feature of an on-campus class. The image below is a still from one of my lecture video-podcasts (vodcasts), indicating the split screen composed of a talking head, synchronized with a presentation slide deck, and a navigation pane for jumping between slides.

My students say that vodcasts are used most heavily at exam time. They work as a remedial tool (may be especially good for disability and ESL students). And the videos are great for those who miss class but want to catch up before the next one (though average attendance at lectures is in excess of 80%--in evening classes of 450 people, tracked using iclickers).

The only real issue that has emerged occurs when students try to play the vodcasts wirelessly. Then the playback sometimes hiccups, making notetaking frustrating. To fix the issue, the vodcasts could be downloadable, and/or the students need to be plugged into a network for faster and more stable connectivity.

Other issues to ponder for those considering podcasting include the production costs in terms of equipment purchase or rental (camera, tripod, mic, DV capture deck, tapes, computer, software), and personnel costs (camera, editing--in my case I hired undergraduate videographers and professionals from Queen's ITS Video Multimedia Production).

Other factors being discussed and debated include the political and personal issues regarding a perceived or real loss of control over lecture material and intellectual property--in which case there is always Creative Commons Licensing. And then there is the personal issue of one's comfort with being recorded, filmed, downloaded, and publicly distributed outside the walls, halls, and towers of the campus.

I have been blogging about "professors on podcasts" and related trends in digital popular culture in the mainstream news media.

Update: I just posted David Harpp's paper (see comments below) in the eLearning links section.

"Hey, I went to that (medical) school..."

Found on This Brazen Teacher blog while surfing for info about Divergence testing:

"If we taught babies to talk as most skills are taught in school, they would memorize lists of sounds in a predetermined order and practice them alone in a closet."

--Linda Darling-Hammond

eLearning

I've just added a link to Sidney Eve Matrix's page about eLearning. This will definitely be a thread to explore on this blog and I hope that E2QUATE will provide a space to bring together those interested in eLearning on campus. We'll be developing a satellite site with more eLearning links. Feel free to suggests people or links that will contribute to this. Amy Allcock at MedTech has helped me begin to develop eLearning modules using a variety of platforms. The current software that we are using is free and open source, eXe. Here's an example of a module about Emergency Ophthalmological Presentations made using eXe for School of Medicine.

First set of interviews

Colette and I had the chance to interview Jason Laker (Student Affairs/Women's Studies) and Kathleen Norman (School of Rehabilitation Therapy) today about their experiences and interests in teaching. Based on these interviews, we will be creating web pages in collaboration with Jason and Kathleen outlining some engaging techniques they have used. These will include an outline of their experiences, "break through" moments and pitfalls as well as examples of teaching materials. As we move forward, we'll try to enhance these pages with any related content, background, links or literature that we encounter along the way. Feel free to contribute to the blog if you have something to add. We also encourage those with ongoing stories to tell to share them here - are you embarking on teaching a larger class and wondering how your active techniques will "scale up". Share your journey with the E2QUATE community...

Suggest a link

Please post comments suggesting links or groupings of links (e.g. e-Learning, case-based-learning) that would be a useful addition to this site. Right now, the links are weighted towards my personal experience, but this blog is not about me, it is about a community that we are building together at Queen's.

What does E2QUATE stand for, anyway?

Enabling Educators (E2 - should be squared but my html is useless and I don't know how to do a superscript, any help is appreciated!) at Queen’s to pursue Active Teaching strategies and promote Excellence. The core objective of this project is to connect those individuals at Queen's interested in pursuing active teaching strategies. This will involve a wide cross-section of teachers (both established and beginning) as well as educational developers. We hope to profile teachers who are currently using a variety of instructional methods - cataloging their journey as well as their successes. Using a variety of different media, we will archive examples of different teaching methods used at Queen's. More than anything, E2QUATE will promote discussion, sharing and support amongst a grassroots group of teachers with a common set of values about student engagement and learning.

Project launch reception

On January 27th, we hosted a reception at the University club. This was an opportunity to describe the E2QUATE project (and explain that the "2" is really a superscript indicating that the "E" is squared: "enabling educators") and inviting participation. There was support, interest and a lively discussion amongst participants. Colette did a terrific job organizing it all and next, we move forward to start our interviews.