Campus Visit to Fond du Lac

I had the pleasure of meeting with 14 faculty members in a teaching circle on October 7, at Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College in Cloquet. These energetic faculty and I discussed the topic of classroom management. Through the discussion they identified the most important factors challenging them in their face-to-face and online courses. Together we examined a variety of solutions. The answers always seem to come from one another, as it is nice to hear what works in other courses and disciplines. It is also great to know that as faculty, we are not alone in the challenges that students provide. Our discussion needed more than the hour to cover the wide variety of ideas to meet those challenges.

CTL Leader Patricia Grace, CAO Anna Fellegy, and I met to discuss the focus of the work taking place on campus and how CTL could support their efforts. Fond du Lac is working on two major areas in which CTL can play a role. The first is assessment. This fall they are working intensely to complete their redesign of the following:
- program goals and outcomes
- development of 4 competency areas
- general education rubrics for the competency areas
- a 3-5 year assessment plan
As we discussed Webinars, I told them that CTL was interested in developing some assessment Webinars, based loosely on the credentialing course I was teaching again this spring. They volunteered to test-drive the workshops in person before they were presented online this spring.

Another area of focus that they requested help from CTL in was in the area of D2L as and tool and online pedagogy. They would appreciate in basic instruction showing how to use D2L, intermediate instruction that takes them to the next level of the tools, and advanced pedagogical instruction in using it to set up groups, especially in hybrid courses. Anna also expressed an interest in having some faculty development in the area of setting up classrooms for instruction which focus on both the facilities and the classroom environment. This would include managing technologies in the classroom.

In all, I had a very productive day as I got to SEE the working of teaching and learning on the Fond du Lac campus!

Economics Discipline Workshop

My undergraduate degree is in Business, and I remember being "somewhat" interested in my economics courses. BUT, when I attended the CTL Economics Discipline Workshop, I wasn't "somewhat" interested; I was excited! The workshop was held last Friday, October 9, at Normandale Community College. Three sessions were presented about:

• Successful Macroeconomics Instruction Using Non-Textbook Resources
  Presenter: Adrienne Dinneen, Lake Superior College
• Tips and Tricks for Online Learning Management Systems
  Presenters: Brooks Herrboldt and Erin Daly, Normandale Community College
• Effective Assessment in Online Environments
  Presenter: Dave Switzer, St. Cloud State University

This was a workshop presented by educators who know their discipline and who are willing to share tips and ideas in order to help others provide excellent teaching and learning; and they did a great job doing so. Many thanks to the planners Jessie Martinez, Rochester Community & Technical College; Brooks Herrboldt, Normandale Community College; and Nathan Hampton, St. Cloud State University.

Stay tuned, as this discipline group plans to introduce other avenues to facilitate the sharing--maybe a session at the RSP/ITeach Conference on February 26-27.

STEM Equity Pipeline/MN New Look

About 50 secondary and postsecondary faculty and administrators are attending this workshop on October 12 at the Eisenhower Community Center in Hopkins, MN, where we're learning how to look at statewide enrollment data for programs preparing individuals for careers that are nontraditional for women and men. We're hoping to gain insight into gender gaps in students' enrollment in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics programs. CTL staff Brenda Lyseng, Zala Fashant and Yvonne Shafer are also attending the workshop, which is part of the STEM Equity Pipeline Project that is a collaborative effort between State Teams and an Extension Services Group of leading researchers and practitioners in gender equity and STEM education. Staff members from the Minnesota Department of Education are also in attendance.

To make efficient use of national presenters and resources, the STEM Equity Pipeline group is facilitating the workshop along with the organization MN New Look that is focused on program improvement for nontraditional careers. For more information about the STEM Equity Pipeline Project, click on this link: http://www.stemequitypipeline.org/ .

Photography Lighting Workshop

The workshop started with some pretty complex questions about light. For starters, what IS light? Is it a medium? Is it a subject unto itself? It is definitely a critical element that adds to any viewer's emotional response to a photograph. This discussion about light set the tone for the rest of the workshop, wherein faculty worked under photographer Jake Armour's guidance. Armour is a master at creating light indoors and controlling light outdoors.

The workshop put 30 or so Minnesota State Colleges and University faculty in the position of being students of Mr. Armour for two days. On the first day, they learned lighting secrets in hands-on sessions focused on product photography--secrets they will be bringing back to their students. They also learned about marketing oneself as a commercial photographer, which is also of vital importance in teaching our students. Today they are learning how to photograph people in the studio.

A bonus of this CTL-sponsored discipline workshop was the inclusion of students enrolled in MCTC's photography program. In a competitive process, workshop planners selected two students to act as Mr. Armour's assistants for the duration of the workshop. In this role, they receive training that will be of great value when they graduate from the program.

Defining and Assessing Social Responsibility

On Friday at the AAC&U conference “Educating for Personal and Social Responsibility: Deepening Student and Campus Commitments,” five faculty and staff members from Minneapolis Community and Technical College presented about how – for the past seven years – they’ve used an assessment model at the college that measures general education outcomes and social responsibility among students at MCTC.

What struck me about this presentation is that MCTC seems to have developed a strong and usable definition of “social responsibility” that can be applied collegewide. Throughout the conference, I’d been wondering exactly how this could be defined, and worrying that it means so many things to so many different people that it would be hard to compare or share programs or ideas. MCTC’s definition has five components, all related to their blanket definition of “social responsibility.”

Social Responsibility: Ability and commitment to contribute to one’s community as a responsible citizen.

• Demonstrates an awareness of the individual and institutional dynamics of unequal power relations among groups in contemporary society.
• Recognizes, analyzes and articulates one’s own beliefs and behaviors regarding racism, sexism and other forms of social inequality.
• Recognizes and values human diversity.
• Identifies a social issue and demonstrates an appropriate informed response.
• Identifies and demonstrates ways to exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

Given this clear and cogent definition (and it has measurable components, too!), I think higher education institutions should band together and create a universal definition that can be applied throughout the country.

Here’s a link to plenty of documents and information about MCTC’s focus and their program.

Connections and the Carousel

It’s been a fascinating conference so far, with lots to chew on and plenty of great ideas. I want to mention a few things about one of today’s sessions.

I’m attending AAC&U’s “Educating for Personal and Social Responsibility: Deepening Student and Campus Commitments,” conference in Minneapolis. This morning’s plenary session was facilitated by L. Lee Knefelkamp, a senior scholar at AAC&U and faculty at Teachers College, Columbia University.

In educating for student’s moral and personal responsibility, I’ve always thought that the students’ moral and personal development is a key. Student Affairs researchers, from Arthur Chickering to William Perry (and others), agree that this development is important for students to become positive contributing members of society. Doesn’t it follow that this personal development is also important in developing personal and social responsibility?

Knefelkamp suggested that students’ development is kind of like a carnival carousel; some horses are up, and some are down, but they are all moving together in a developmental direction. I guess it’s up to us as educators to make sure the carousel’s wheels and sprockets are properly greased, so that the “horses” can keep moving on. On toward personal development, and personal and moral responsibility.

I’ll post again soon.