Blog Assignment 7: Mid-Course Check-In

Length: Aim for 500-750 words
Due:  November 18 for those piloting projects in the fall; March 4 for those piloting in the spring

Address and reflect on the following two questions:

1.  Where are you in your experiment? That is, what components of your course redesign plan have you completed so far, and what components have not yet happened?

2. How are things going?  You can choose what to focus on for this question, but you might consider:

  • Student engagement and reactions – How are students experiencing the course, and what are you noticing as differences in student engagement compared to prior semesters or previous versions of the course?
  • Student learning – how does your redesigned course seem to be affecting students’ learning? Where, in particular, do you see evidence of students’ learning?
  • Workload – Has your innovation project changed your prep, student interaction, or grading / feedback activities in ways that substantially alter your workflow or workload? How are you experiencing this impact?
  • Your learning and professional development – what are you learning from piloting your innovation project? You might think about: a) what you are learning about the pedagogical method you are using, b) what you are learning about how students respond to various approaches; c) what you are learning about others in your field who are doing similar things; d) any new knowledge and/or skills you have gained through working on the project.
  • Ongoing questions and areas where you need support- Has your work on this project raised new questions for you about your course or the project? Have you discovered areas where you could use additional support, resources, or input?

Blog Post 3: Mid-Institute Check-In

Due Friday, May 22.  In this reflection activity, fellows will consolidate the learning and progress gained so far and will outline their near-term goals.  Write a few paragraphs in response to the following questions.

  • What have you learned so far that may prove valuable to your project?  (You might cite something learned in a workshop but you also might cite an informal conversation with another fellow or staff member or something you figured out on your own.)
  • What progress have you made on your project?
  • What do you need to accomplish in the next week?
  • Worries and joys?  What’s worrying you about your progress or your next steps?  Has anything got you excited or feeling energized about your upcoming work?

 

Blog Assignment 1: Project Management & Planning

To document and share your project planning work, write a blog post that addresses the following 4 topics:

  • Identify major components of project work.
  • Identify resources (including consultations with colleagues and staff) needed to complete the project.
  • Articulate questions that remain that you don’t yet know how to answer or solve.
  • Reflect: What about your project plan seems most ambitious or challenging? Where do you anticipate problems or difficulties?  What do you see as the components for which you are most prepared already?
  • Timeline: Map project work against calendar.

Scholarship of Teaching & Learning (SoTL)

SoTL tableThe History of SoTL


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Prep for Day 8

To prep for Day 8, Wed, May 28

1.  Take a few moments to review the portion of your project proposal that addressed your assessment plan.

2. Consider your goals for translating your project into a scholarly presentation or publication:

  • Are you interested in developing this pedagogical experiment into an area of scholarly work?
  • Can you imagine presenting on this topic at a conference, or even writing an article about it?
  • If so, what conferences or journals might be appropriate venues for you to present or publish on this topic?
  • Are you collecting the right kind of assessment information in order to share this project publicly with others?
  • Would you consider applying for a summer presidential excellence grant to pursue work turning this project into a scholarly project?

Mid-Institute Check-In

Brainstorm – on paper or your iPad – your thoughts about the following questions (20 minutes)

Learning:

  • What have you learned so far that may prove relevant to your project?
  • What else do you want / need to learn?  (Pedagogy, concepts, skills, resources?)

Progress & Needs

  • What progress have you made on your project?
    • “None” is an option!  If you list this, you might think about ideas you’ve gained, or ways you’ve clarified aspects of your project.  That counts as progress, too!
  • What additional progress do you want to accomplish in this final week, or what skills or support do you need to gain?

Challenges & Successes

  • Have you encountered unexpected challenges in your work so far?
  • Have you had successes / accomplishments so far?

Prep for Day 3

In preparation for Day 3, please do the following:

  1. Look at the inquiry-guided learning page to familiarize yourself with the concepts we will be discussing.  Next, take a few minutes to review these two articles which encapsulate the controversy surrounding this methodology.

2. Read the “assigned readings” on the global learning page.