Colleagues,
A MESSAGE FROM THE PROFESSOR IN THE CLASSROOM --
COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Two factors can handicap a
professor’s communication with students more seriously
than any other.
First is the low reading ability of many students.
Second is the lack of compensation by the professor who
ignores or refuses to compensate for this common
reality. If you want to be effective, always keep your
written words to students as simple as possible.
Make your written instructions on assignments or tests
easy to read—even if you have to print or type the
instructions. When writing student assignments, use a
1-2-3 and step-by-step approach to increase
understanding.
Finally, when you finish writing instructions, see if
you can condense or shorten them. Never forget, the
longer the instructions, the less likely they are to be
understood or read completely by students.
Consistently following these procedures can increase
your communication efficiency in the class room and save
you time, effort, and frustration. It can also enhance
student performance.
MIDWEST FACULTY SEMINAR
FROM MFS: "Please let your
faculty know that all of the pertinent information is
now posted at the following link http://mfs.uchicago.edu/upcoming.html
I will also attach the information to this email. Please
note that the registration deadline is Wednesday,
October 4."
St. Ambrose (through the Center for Teaching
Excellence) is an institutional member of the Midwest
Faculty Seminar that is administered by the University
of Chicago. This year's first seminar is described
below. The Center pays just about all expenses for a
faculty member to travel to and attend this seminar at
the University of Chicago. The seminars will be held
from Thursday evening, Nov. 2 to Saturday Nov. 4 at
noon. If you would like to attend this seminar please
contact Paul Jacobson who will send you more complete
information or electronic copies of the application
/registration materials. The application is due in
Chicago by Wednesday, October 4.
Hurricane Katrina and Contemporary America -
November 2-4, 2006
We may imagine that natural disasters strike
indiscriminately, yet Hurricane Katrina brought home
that natural disasters do not level but rather
exacerbate extant inequalities and injustices. This
seminar will use Katrina and its aftermath as a lens
through which to analyze a wide range of topics in
contemporary American society and politics. These topics
range from the impact of the disaster on both the public
and the academic imaginary, the roles of political
leadership and civil society in the contemporary U.S,
deep divisions in American political opinion, the
relationships between media and political institutions,
and the cultural representations of race and the South.
PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED RECENTLY
The Professor in the Classroom (vol. 13:2)
"Techniques to Keep Everyone Thinking When You Ask
Questions."
National Teaching And Learning Forum (vol. 15:5)
September 2006.
They are both available in the 3 wall pocket locations
on campus as well as in the College of Business (per
Allison Ambrose) or at the ACCEL Center (per Neala
McCarthy).
NEWS FROM THE TEACHING CIRCLES
Strongest Link Teaching Circle:
I appreciate emails from those unable
to attend and we will look forward to seeing you at the
next circle at noon on October 17, 2006 in which we will
have a guest faculty member from the Netherlands joining
our group for one session. I’ve added people who
indicated they couldn’t attend the circle, but thought
you might appreciate the resources we talked about. If
you don’t want to receive emails from me regarding this
teaching circle, please let me know.
At their most recent meeting the circle discussed
Elizabeth Pogue’s use of small groups in her cost
accounting class and the evaluation the students
complete of one another as a classroom assessment and
teaching technique.
Christine Urish shared some information from Delaney
Kirk’s website: http://www.delaneykirk.com/
on tips on effective classroom management and effective
teaching from her website.
Nancy Hayes discussed how she had managed “side”
discussions which were being held by students in her
classroom last spring and how she dealt with the
situation and the impact on her (thanks Nancy for
sharing!)
Following is a website provided by Christine that is
free to use for developing grading rubrics (go to the
one on collaborative work skills (UNDER WORK SKILLS
heading), you can select behaviors you’d like to address
and it creates the rubric for you):
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=NewRubric§ion_id=8&PHPSESSID=c182d8fb97610bc9565f642d4a0f3b4d#06
The Teaching Circle, Alternatives to Lecturing
met recently and prioritized topics for this semester.
They will be discussing three topics this semester:
Engaging Students, Using Technology, and Critical
Thinking. On October 11th
at 4pm they will meet to
discuss Engaging Students. Each person is asked to bring
an idea that has effectively engaged students in the
learning process. Please contact Carol Lyon or Jessica
Gosnell for more information. Location will be announced
at a later date.
CTE PERIODICAL SUBSCRIPTIONS
AVAILABLE
The Center subscribes to
College Teaching
and CHANGE: The Magazine of
Higher Learning. Back
issues of both of these publications are in the Ambrose
Room, 3rd floor of the library.
Three other publications subscribed to by the Center are
available in several places on campus. The
Teaching Professor,
The Professor in the Classroom
and the
National Teaching and Learning Forum
are available as they arrive in three
wall pocket locations: in the old snack bar area in
Ambrose Hall, in the Cosgrove Hall private dining room
near the drink dispenser, and in the coffee shop on
Harrison St.-- as well as in ACCEL and through Allison
Ambrose in the College of Business.
Back issues of these publications are kept in the
Ambrose Room on the third floor of the Library along
with the Center's book
collection. Stop at the library director's office to
have the Ambrose Room unlocked for you.
Please contact any member of the CTE Advisory Committee with your suggestions or evaluations of our sponsored events, publications and programs. The members of the Center's advisory committee for the 2006-2007 school year are:
