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CIRTL Pillars In
Practice: Teaching-as-Research
Conceptual steps in the teaching-as-research process are:
1. Learning foundational knowledge. (What is known about the teaching practice?)
2. Creating objectives for student learning. (What do we want students to learn?)
3. Developing an hypothesis for practices to achieve the learning objectives. (How can we help students succeed with the learning objectives?)
4. Defining measures of success. (What evidence will we need to determine whether students have achieved learning objectives?)
5. Developing and implementing teaching practices within an experimental design. (What will we do in and out of the classroom to enable students to achieve learning objectives?)
6. Collecting and analyzing data. (How will we collect and analyze information to determine what students have learned?)
7. Reflecting, evaluating, and iterating. (How will we use what we have learned to improve our teaching?)
(From the College Classroom Course Guidebook) (PDF) |
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Did You Know?
On Oct. 29, CIRTL Director Robert Mathieu will speak about the advantages of integrating teaching with research to faculty at the University of Queensland in Australia. He will also deliver the keynote speech at an awards ceremony following the symposium.
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Past Presentations:
Burstyn, Wright:
Diversity workshops at Chemistry and Botany departments & at Teaching Improvement Program (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Herbert:
Learning at the Edge: Implementing Classroom Inquiry Through the CIRTL Model (Texas A&M University)
Fay:
Diversity in the Classroom (University of Colorado-Boulder)
Other recent
presentations |
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Network Connections:
Chronicle of Higher Education Reports on CIRTL’s Work
A special report in the Chronicle of Higher Education’s Aug. 3 issue mentioned CIRTL’s creative response to the need for innovation in science teaching at research universities. The article, "The Tough Road to Better Science Teaching," contrasted the research pressures science faculty face with the urgent need for attention to student learning at major universities.
The article presented CIRTL as a large-scale intervention project supported by the National Science Foundation and designed to introduce research-tested teaching methods to the community of science faculty. Read more...
Ask a CIRTL Graduate Student!
Q: What have you learned from your participation in CIRTL activities?
Aya Diab, Ph.D. graduate in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison: Through [participating in many Delta] courses, I learned that there is more to teaching than just art; it’s a science, too. I got to realize the importance of a supportive, respectful and inclusive environment that is engaging, interactive and student-centered for the enrichment of the learning experience of all students. Through these courses, I became interested in outreach initiatives that build bridges between the university and the society in general.
News from the Field
Engineering Education Research Aids Instruction -
When engineering education is integrated with professional practice, students are more likely to stay in engineering majors. This article provides an overview of the growing role of educational research in engineering education. The authors present data from a successful program – the First-Year Engineering Projects course at the University of Colorado-Boulder. In the FYEP course, students do projects that simulate actual engineering work. The course has significantly reduced student attrition.
Fortenberry, N. L., Sullivan, J. F., Jordan, P. N., & Knight, D. W., Science, 317, 1175-1176.
The Real Science Crisis: Bleak Prospects for Young Researchers (Chronicle login required) -
An oversupply of graduate students, coupled with sparse grant funding and a tight job market, has made it difficult for science Ph.D.’s to find tenure-track jobs. While having low-paid scientific workers is advantageous to some labs, the situation discourages new graduate students from entering the field. In addition to requiring a major investment of time and energy, United States graduate programs do not prepare students effectively to work in non-faculty, less-specialized jobs – even though such positions may offer better professional opportunities.
Monastersky, R., Chronicle of Higher Education, 54(4), A1.
For questions or to make contributions, contact Katherine
Friedrich (newsletter@cirtl.net).
Next newsletter: November, 2007
Deadline for announcements and contributions: October 24th, 2007
To view previous newsletters, visit the archive. |
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