2011 Provost’s Conference Overview

Reinventing the Classroom:New Terms of Engagement

On October 28, teaching faculty, administrators, and several members of the board of trustees gathered at the Cable Center for this year’s Provost’s Conference. Provost Kvistad noted that, while the title for the conference was “Reinventing the Classroom:  New Terms of Engagement,” it could be called “Reinventing the Faculty,” as the real focus of the work represented at the event is on how faculty can develop their teaching to best meet the needs of DU’s students. Improved teaching is a cornerstone of the new Academic Strategic Positioning plan, Renew DU, as well as the faculty senate’s Teaching Excellence Initiative, so the conference theme is particularly timely.

The conference began with an opening keynote address by Candace Thille, Director of the Open Learning Initiative (OLI) at Carnegie Mellon University. Thille provided an overview of “The Science of Learning,” explaining methods for studying student learning behaviors and some key findings from her department’s research in web-based learning environments. She noted that students employ a small set of learning mechanisms, they learn what they practice and only what they practice, and therefore faculty should focus on desired cognitive tasks. The work of the OLI is based on an iterative feedback loop that uses educational technology to simultaneously teach and gather data, which can then be theorized and used to improve the teaching and learning environment. Thille’s final message was that teaching should be a community-based research activity. During her luncheon keynote, Thille further discussed the work of “The Carnegie Mellon Open Learning Initiative,” providing examples of the feedback loops discussed earlier in the day. Several OLI publications, including results of a study of the efficacy of the initiatives online learning tools for calculus, are available from the OLI website.

Each keynote address was followed by four concurrent sessions in which DU faculty shared teaching innovations in particular areas. Alvaro Arias (Mathematics) facilitated “Quantitative Reasoning & Digital Tools.” Mary Claire Morr Serewicz (Communication) explained how she will use online modules and Camtasia Relay video tutorials to teach data analysis for an online ASEM. Deb Carney and Allegra Reiber (Math) discussed their use of digital tools to teach Calculus. For example, Carney used a classroom set of Echo Pens purchased by CTL to learn how students were completing their work and identify problems spots. Reiber uses online conferencing via Adobe Connect to answer student questions as they complete homework assignment. Both make use of Web-Assign through Blackboard to have students complete Algebra assessments and review work. Kellie Keeling (DCB, Statistics & Operation Technology) shared how she uses digital tools to teach data mining and simulation in statistics. Stat Crunch, which is free for professors and affordable for students, supports data collection and analysis, while Camtasia is useful for software walk-throughs and feedback. These presentations were followed by engaging conversation about pedagogical and technical matters as well as strategies for dealing with math anxiety when presenting complex concepts through digital tools.

Doug Hesse (Writing Program) facilitated the session “Writing in Digital Environments: Options for Assigning and Teaching.” Participants explored how the material conditions of writing have changed, how forms available to writers have changed, and how the nature of publication has changed. Hesse circulated a handout with brief in-class activity ideas for making productive use of writing in multiple forms and forums. Carrie Forbes (Penrose) explained that students need to develop new literacies for dealing with information technologies, particularly in terms of identifying and evaluating sources for their writing. Several faculty members then presented specific non-traditional writing assignments that make use of different technologies. Ann Vessels (Law) explained how using blogs to support an externship class encouraged students to write more than traditional journals and provide instant feedback to peers. Megan Kelly (Writing Program) shared a research wiki project from a WRIT 1133 class in which students collaborated on field guides for community gardens. Heather Martin (Writing Program) uses visual essays to help students develop more complicated arguments for later projects, while John Tiedemann (Writing Program) encourages students to use a variety of modes and media to present arguments and then justify their choices in writing. When Lynn Schofield Clark (Media, Film, and Journalism Studies) teaches video in her classes, she trusts the students to figure out the technology and students work together to generate assessment rubrics. This led to further discussion about technology, plagiarism, and assessment among participants.

Sandy Johnson (Korbel), Pallab Paul (Marketing), and Lydia Gil (Languages & Literature) facilitated “Expanding the Classroom Globally: Fostering Real Time International Dialogue,” which focused on ways digital technologies are being used to incorporate a stronger international presence in education through work with foreign speakers, international student discussions, and narratives of studies abroad. Lydia Gil (Languages & Literature) presented on her use of real-time video chat to allow foreign guests to speak with her Spanish classes. Students are much more engaged in these real conversations, Gil says, and she is able to save and replay the conversations for further analysis with Camtasia. Christof Demont-Heinrich (Media, Film, & Journalism Studies) creates online bulletin boards to enable students in his ASEM course on “America through Foreign Eyes” to discuss topics such as American foreign policy and culture with students in Slovenia and Australia. These bulletin boards push students to consider foreign perspectives, evaluate their own perspectives, and then to reflect on their discussions. Nicole Hubbell (Office of Internationalization) demonstrated some of the digital storytelling projects students produce after returning from studies abroad. Digital storytelling allows students to showcase and share their travels and, more importantly, to further construct narratives of their experiences, which contribute to the development of their identities. In the afternoon session, Jonathan Moyer (Korbel) and Kevin O'Brien (DCB, Business Ethics & Legal Studies) also shared their work in these areas.

Due to the large turnout, a fourth session, “Thinking about teaching online?” was added. Bridget Arend (CTL), Kathy Keairns (CTL), and Kevin Archer (Korbel School of International Studies) discussed the types of online courses offered within traditional academic programs at DU and the support available for DU faculty interested in teaching online. They shared best practices, provided an overview of CTL’s Teaching Online Workshop, and demonstrated one current online course taught at DU. For more information, visit “Teaching Online” on the CTL Website.

A number of the session presenters and other faculty from across campus presented specific aspects of their work during the two Digital Discovery poster sessions. For example, Alex Martinez (CTL) shared information about the increasingly rich DU Course Media system and Paul Sutton (Geography) shared a fascinating video on data representation as part of his poster session on teaching research methods online. More information from Digital Discovery, along with materials from the break-out sessions and recordings of Candace Thille’s talks will be available on the Provost Conference Portfolio site soon.

All in all, this year’s Provost’s Conference was a big success.  The luncheon and wine and cheese reception were lovely, but participants likely found even greater sustenance from the expertise and energy of their colleagues.  To keep this conversation going, please share your ideas and feedback from the conference in the comments section!

by Jennifer Campbell
with contributions from Heather Martin and Eric Leake