April 28th Meeting

Greetings! The semester is coming to an end quickly! We'll be meeting this week (April 28th) to cover chapters 5-6, then we'll meet again on May 12th.

April 21 meeting

Hello, everyone! This week, we'll be doing a special exercise. I asked everyone to bring a quote from this week's reading so we could "play a game." We'll all put our quotes into a hat, then draw one quote for discussion. If your quote is chosen, you will be asked to be the honorary discussion leader for that topic. I hope you will find this exercise both collaborative and engaging!

Brandy

Condon Ch 1-2

This week, we'll cover William Condon et al's Faculty Development and Student Learning, chapters 1-2.

Chapter 1 is titled: Connecting Faculty Learning to Student Learning.

The chapter opens with the analogy of faculty development and student learning as parts of the "puzzle of understanding and improving the relationship between teaching and learning" (p. 1). Here are a few of my thoughts on this chapter:

"As teaching improves, does student learning also improve?" as posited by the authors on p. 2. I have always believed so, as an intrinsic action. We take this for granted. Do we need research to show this is true? The down falls, the authors say, are found on page 2: "Without such key information faculty development programs remain vulnerable, tentative, even ephemeral at many, if not most, colleges and universities." Further, "taking a holistic view... promotes a systematic approach to improving teaching and learning but also... renders a better picture of the faculty learning process."

"...people who become college faculty learn far mroe about teaching as in-service teachers than they do as pre-service graduate students" (p. 2). This reminds me of the saying, "Practice makes perfect" or, "To really learn something, you must do it."

Another analogy of the double spiral on p. 3 shows the iterative nature of teaching. Both are self contained yet open to new influences.

Can Rich elaborate on p. 4 -- "Everyone knows faculty are rewarded for research...."?

P. 5: "When faculty learn more about teaching, logic dictates that they become better teachers; and when faculty become better teachers, their students learn more or experience better learning." Today, perhaps everyone can share a favorite quote from the book.

One important note is that faculty seek out development opportunities. What are the motivations of Chinese scholars to do so?

Benefits of this research are found on p. 12.

The book is a giant case for faculty development.

Chapter 2 is titled: Sites of Faculty Learning

Let's create a visual to compare Carleton College and WSU. On p. 22, "...it's offerings invite the whole community." This feels like a very collectivist approach.
Which is most like your university? Do you have a preference for either model?

Updated schedule through Spring '16

As we discussed last week, I am now posting the new meeting schedule. Please watch the blog for updates I will post to help us through this denser reading.

Apr 14: Condon through Ch 2

Apr 21: Condon, Ch 3-4

Apr 28: Condon, Ch 5-6

May 12: Condon, Ch 7

Brandy