Iowa State University Teaching Seminar

August, 2003

Center for Teaching Excellence and Graduate College

Learning to Teach, Teaching to Learn

www.iastate.edu

Corly BrookeAssociate Vice Provost and Director of Center for Teaching Excellence

Professor of Human Development and Family Studies

cbrooke@iastate.edu

CTE: Center For Teaching Excellence

_____________________

Credits

• Dr. Howard Shapiro, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Programs

• Dr. Mary Huba, Professor of Education

How do we understand learning today?

• An active search for meaning by the learner

• Constructing knowledge rather than passively receiving it

• Shaping as well as being shaped by experiences

– (Joint Task Force on Student Learning, 1998, Powerful Partnerships: A Shared Responsibility for Learning, <http://www.aahe.org>)

Paradigm shiftTeacher-Centered to Learner-Centered

Huba and Freed, Learner-Centered Assessment on College Campuses. Allyn&Bacon 2000 (CTE library)

• Knowledge is transmitted from professor to student

• Students passively receive information

• Teaching and assessing are separate

• Culture is competitive and individualistic

• Students construct knowledge

• Students are actively involved

• Teaching and assessment are intertwined

• Culture is cooperative, collaborative and supportive

What impact has this paradigm shift had at Iowa State

University?

Institutional Learning Experiences at Iowa State in the

‘90s• Creation of Center for Teaching

Excellence and Project LEA/RN

• Introduction of outcomes assessment

• Explosion of learning communities

• Formulation of new P&T Policy (Scholarship of Teaching)

Institutional Learning Experiences (cont’d)

• Creation of Vice Provost for Undergraduate Programs

• Implementation of revised university strategic plan

• Development of a plan for innovative communication instruction ISUComm

• Enrollment in AAHE/Carnegie Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Initiative

Institutional Learning Experiences (cont’d)

• New Strategic Plan 2000-2005• Development of a Preparing Future

Faculty program for graduate students• Building stronger Academic

Affairs/Student Affairs relationships• Learning Communities ranked fifth in

the nation• Faculty Senate conference on SoTL

Iowa State University’s Strategic Plan Supports a Collaborative Culture of Teaching and Learning

Learning Discovery

EngagementScholarship

What is the connection to the scholarship of teaching?

• “Just as students must be actively engaged in formulating their own learning questions and thinking critically about them, so teachers must be actively engaged in formulating their own questions about learning and the impact of teaching upon it.”

– (Cross & Steadman,1996, Classroom Research: Implementing the Scholarship of Teaching, p. 2).

Our vision for the scholarship of teaching and learning on campus

• Everyone becomes a learner

• Learning is more deeply understood

• Community is created around teaching

• New understandings about roles and rewards emerge

• A collaborative, learner-centered culture is created

Learning Communities

Learning Communities

UniversityStrategic Plan

UniversityStrategic Plan

StudentAffairs

StudentAffairs

Scholarshipof

Teaching and

Learning

Scholarshipof

Teaching and

Learning

Center for Teaching Excellence

Center for Teaching Excellence

New P&TPolicy

Building Collaborations

FacultySenate

FacultySenate

AcademicAffairs

AcademicAffairs

So… how do we learn to teach and teach to learn?

Center for Teaching Excellencehttp://www.cte.iastate.edu/

• Our mission is to promote learning and the scholarship of teaching at Iowa State University. At the CTE we are creating a new enthusiasm for teaching and learning by encouraging dialogue and teamwork. We offer advice, resources, and a forum for discussions as well as scholarly support for continued learning. And we actively build partnerships across the university to further enhance learning.

Think/Write/Pair/Share

• Reflect on your past learning situations and the teachers involved.

• Identify 3-4 teacher behaviors that contributed to your learning

• Write those behaviors on a sheet of note paper

• Share your ideas with a partner.• Complete this in 5 minutes.

Effective Teaching Behaviors in the College Classroom

chapter by Harry G. Murray in Effective Teaching in Higher Education: Research and Practice, edited by Perry and Smart, 1997 Agathon Press, CTE Library

• Enthusiasm/Expressiveness

• Clarity of Explanation

• Rapport/Interaction

• Organization

Principles of Good PracticeChickering & Gamson

• Encourage student-faculty contact

• Develop reciprocity and cooperation among students

• Use active learning techniques

Principles of Good Practicecont’d

• Give prompt feedback

• Emphasize time on task

• Communicate high expectations

• Respect diverse talents and ways of learning

Five Quick tips from Corly

• Use student pictures on Access Plus. Iowa State University

• Plan carefully for the first day.• Less is More!• Ask for assistance and come to CTE

events.• Work closely with Student Affairs

Student Affairs and Academic Affairs

• Making the Most of College by Richard Light, CTE library

• Doug Gruenewald, Assistant Director of Residence and co-Director of Iowa State Learning Communities

• Dean of Students Office - Iowa State University

• ISU ~ Department of Residence

The Courage to Teachby Parker Palmer, 1998, Jossey-Bass

Bests wishes to you all for a successful semester!