Red Mountain Faculty Grab Bag
From CTLpedia
Project Summary: The Faculty Grab Bag Series, held at the Red Mountain Campus CTL, was designed to promote discussions among faculty relative to teaching and learning.
Project Goals
- Provide regular opportunities for faculty discussion around interesting and engaging academic topics.
- Promote community and connections among Red Mountain faculty.
Relation to CTL Department Plan Initiatives
2006-7 #3 New CTL Remote Support Initiative -- The growth of MCC at multiple campuses (including the developing downtown campus) and remote sites necessitates a plan to provided needed CTL support. Provinding this support to faculty and staff at a distance from the CTL requires innovative use of new technologies and new models for some situations.
MCC Strategic Goals
Primary Goal
- I. Promote excellence in teaching and learning
- B. Develop and expand unique programs, curricula, and support services that meet the needs of the Red Mountain community
Secondary Goal
- II. Expand access
- C. Promote and support the growth and development of the Red Mountain campus
Project Staff
Coordinator: Ed Lipinski, Red Mountain CTL Liason, 2006-7
Project Timeline
This project was implemented during the 2006/2007 academic year.
Project Resources
- Coordination of the project by the CTL Red Mountain Liason, Ed Lipinski
- Use of the CTL Red Mountain space
- Printing costs
- Funds for reading resources (i.e. books for one of the grab bag sessions)
Project Outcomes
Six Grab Bag Sessions were hosted at Red Mountain during the 2006/2007 school year as follows:
Fall Faculty Grab Bag # 1: What is your vision?
We watched the video “Focus Your Vision” narrated by Dewitt Jones, which was used to help us realize our personal vision and carry that vision forward into our teaching.
The focus included (from Dewitt Jones):
- Keep Your Vision Focused; a Focused Vision Finds Purpose
- Stop, Look and Listen; Great Visions Don’t Speed, They Take Time
- Hold On To The Best; Determine What Is Really Important
- Trust Your Intuition; It Can Lead To Spectacular Visions
- It’s Not Trespassing To Go Beyond Your Own Boundaries; Taking Risks Expands Horizons and Turns Visions Into Reality
- Make Your Vision Big Enough; Really Big Visions Should Never Be Focused Too Tightly
- Do You Have Juice In Your Camera; Juice Is The Passion
The interpretations included:
- We may have a single vision for student learning (i.e., promote diversity, critical thinking, scholarship, etc.), but 40 different versions of what and how they should learn relative to a discipline (e.g., specific content and learning to think like a member of a specific discipline); so explore your passion.
- As faculty, we need to hold true to our ideals of student scholarship, which may differ among colleagues; however, we should promote student involvement and a passion for learning and self-exploration.
- Students like passion; show it in your teaching.
Fall Faculty Grab Bag # 2: What is your idea of an Environmental Emphasis in a Red Mountain-based course?
The original vision for the Red Mountain campus included the notion that MCC @ Red Mountain should be known as an environmental campus and that course sections should be created, which provide an environmental emphasis to the course content.
The following interpretations and suggestions were offered:
- It is unclear if we are an environmental-emphasis campus, or what that really means; being an “Environmental Campus” is a statement, not just course content.
- While we would prefer to have courses which have an environmental-emphasis, if we are unwilling to do so as an institution then the idea needs to be removed from all information about the campus and its vision.
- Given the RDM build-out slated for 2010, we should use the new building as an opportunity to make a bold statement about the environment and sustainability; the new building should be a small foot print (i.e., up not out) and support “green” building standards.
- Perhaps we should look for a corporate sponsor in the community to partner with us as an environmental campus (e.g., a rich entrepreneur, local business, SRP, etc.), so that we may have an opportunity to do “green” things which may cost more in the short term.
- If MCC @ RDM is truly an environmental-emphasis campus, then we should have classes with an environmental perspective, market that emphasis, build accordingly and look for partnerships for transfer options.
- An environmental-emphasis course means that the course offers at least one major component (or several smaller ones) that includes an environmental-emphasis; it does not have to include the entire course.
- We need to be sure that the definition of environmental-emphasis is clearly defined before we infuse it into the curriculum.
Fall Faculty Grab Bag # 3: What do students want from their college experience?
We reviewed highlights from the Richard Light book Making the most of college: Students speak their minds and discussed the implications to our teaching.
What students want (from Richard Light):
- Students like courses that are highly structured, with frequent testing and short written assignments
- Students prefer to have several short written assignments, which provide feedback and provide opportunities to make improvements
- Students learn best from one another, e.g., interactive exercises
- Students prefer to work with professors who are not too predictable
- Students who get the most from college are those who can share the collegiate experience with someone important in their life
- Students hunger for opportunities to improve their writing skills
- Students appreciate help with study techniques
- Students get more from professors who help them learn how to think
- Some of the most memorable academic learning occurs outside of class
- General Education classes are often among the most rewarding
What we said:
- “This is great information which will help me look at my curriculum from a different perspective.”
- “I am already doing most of these, so this reinforced my commitment to the ideas.”
- “I plan to share this with my students to determine how it meets their perceived goals and ask them to make additions / suggestions.”
Spring Faculty Grab Bag # 1: Helping Students Think
We discussed how we can help our students think, i.e., critically, creatively, etc. Attendees discussed common issues associated with getting students to think critically and offered several solutions.
Critical Thinking Issues / Challenges:
- Students don’t often get an opportunity to hear or explore multiple sides of an issue (e.g., the Global Warming debate).
- Critical thinking is not often promoted in class / assignments.
- In many student’s minds, the use of the phrase “Let’s think about this critically” is a turn off and they will immediately shut down.
- Students often want to think that everything is “black and white” and don’t necessarily want to believe that there are viewpoints in between.
- Motivating students to want to see multiple sides of an issue is challenging; many just want “the facts” and “what is on the test”.
- Students may see the instructor’s presentation as the “truth” and only viewpoint and therefore are unwilling to challenge it.
- Students rarely get to see faculty debating issues.
Possible Solutions:
- Use problem based learning as an opportunity to promote critical thinking; but don’t tell them they are doing critical thinking.
- Provide a forum for faculty and students to present multiple sides of an issue (see Faculty Grab Bag # 2).
- Provide students with rules of engagement relative to approaching a topic; this could be as simple as a guide for them to use while watching a video.
Spring Faculty Grab Bag # 2: Strategic Conversations: Becoming Savvy Consumers of Information (held by RDM faculty and Phi Theta Kappa)
Based on a discussion in the first faculty grab bag of the Spring semester, the RDM faculty and the CTL opted to do a presentation on alternative views of a topical issue; the idea was to offer students multiple perspectives of an issue, to demonstrate that most topics have multiple viewpoints. As a result, several RDM faculty and Phi Theta Kappa members provided their viewpoints on the designated topical issue, “Save the Planet”. – Nearly 50 students and faculty attended and participated in this discussion held Wednesday, March 28, 2007.
The following perspectives were offered as a basis for discussion:
- RDM Faculty member Jim Giles reported, that while there are many scientists, who subscribe to the notion that earth is in a period of Global Warming (for the reasons postulated in the film An Inconvenient Truth), many scientists also disagree (based on hard scientific evidence). Additionally, those scientists who disagree, have often been censored or even fired for their ideas; clearly demonstrating the political nature (and not necessarily the scientific side) of the Global Warming issue.
- RDM Faculty Member AJ Lombard demonstrated clear evidence of “global warming”, i.e., earth’s temperatures are rising, but noted that scientific evidence suggests that the earth is in a natural warming period and many of the effects are beyond human influence and likely cannot be reduced or reversed. Additionally, AJ offered evidence which suggests that many of the factors that have been publicized by the media (and in film) as influencing global warming may actually be a byproduct of it and not the cause.
- RDM Student and President of MCC’s Phi Theta Kappa, Stephen Hill, noted that independent of politics and contradictory evidence of global warming, we should not ignore opportunities to help others, who are negatively influenced by their environment; specifically, Stephen noted that the Play Pump was helping those in Africa get access to better drinking water.
- RDM Student and Phi Theta Kappa Vice-President, David Black, noted that where he grew up wasting things was a sin and that it was important to be conservation orientated, whether is was making less trips in the car (to save gas), recycling unwanted things or reusing items; saving the planet was a plus.
Spring Faculty Grab Bag # 3: “Sit and Get” Won’t Grow Dendrites
We reviewed highlights from the Marcia Tate book “Sit and Get” Won’t Grow Dendrites and discussed the implications to our teaching.
Ways to Engage Adults (from Marcia Tate): The main idea of Tate’s book is that we need to use classroom activities that stimulate the brain in order to foster learning; several such strategies are listed below. Her book is full of other options to help “grow dendrites”.
- Have students play games that can be converted to relate to the topic; e.g., organize a treasure hunt of facts related to a lesson.
- Play music before, during or after activities (or during transitions) as a tone or mood setter; e.g., play “Walking on Sunshine” by Katrina and the Waves while distributing assignments.
- Use humor as a way to gain student’s attention before or during a presentation or activity; e.g., integrate humorous cartoons about the discussion topic during the presentation.
- Get students out of their chairs, movement can be a good brain stimulator; e.g., create an activity that requires students to move around the room.
- Have students compose visualizations of materials; e.g., have them create a mind or concept map of the chapter.
- Use writing and reflection as a way to have students articulate the day’s lessons; e.g., have students provide a “Ticket Out” at the end of class, listing three things that they learned or have questions about.
What we said:
- “I am always looking for ways to engage my students and Tate has made it so easy to convert any topic into a brain stimulating activity .”
- “I am already doing some of these things, so this reinforced my commitment to the ideas and gave me new things to try with my students.”
