F ACETS
OF
T EACHING
AND
L EARNING
T HE N EWSLETTER OF UMKC’ S F ACULTY C ENTER FOR E XCELLENCE IN T EACHING
F ACULTY -D EFINED AND F ACULTY -R UN
C ONNECT —C ONVERSE —C OLLABORATE
An online conservatory
course
By: Sarah Tyrrell
Assistant Teaching Professor
Conservatory of Music & Dance
In 2008, I applied for a Teaching
Enhancement Grant to support my work
on developing a new course for UMKC’s
Conservatory of Music and Dance. The
expected outcome of the project was the
successful development of a new online
course offering for the Conservatory of
Music: Music Research and Bibliography.
The awarded TEG allowed me to conduct
research that then aided in the creation of
what is now a viable online version of this
required graduate course.
The initial research helped me to
focus my course preparation on exactly
what Conservatory students wanted: 1)
additional instructional options to better fit
busy performance schedules; 2) fewer
logistical barriers relative to transportation
and time management; and, 3) courses that
match students’ increasingly technologycentered academic and professional realities. Additional research revealed that
Music Research and Bibliography could
indeed be viable in an online version; in
fact, other reputable institutions offered an
online option for the same course.
While university resources were
in place to support online course delivery
SPRING
(Blackboard “shells” are set up for every
class), there remained additional challenges
to online music instruction. With the TEG
support, I carefully studied potential problems associated with online versions of
Research and Bibliography to predict (and
resolve) barriers to teaching and learning. I
researched local technology workshop
opportunities (especially those related to in
-depth Blackboard training), and in Summer 2008 attended the Summer Institute of
Distance Learning and Instructional Technology, hosted at Johnson County Community College. Additionally, I sought input,
via one-on-one interviews with peers and
colleagues, on “distance” learning experiences, and researched and studied available
written materials focused on “best practices” for teaching online courses.
With the training opportunities
made possible by the TEG, I efficiently
developed a course plan and working syllabus toward installing the new online version of Music Research and Bibliography at
UMKC. The course was available to students in its new format in Fall of 2008, and
is now on the calendar each Fall semester;
both the 2008 and 2009 sections were full
to capacity. The students seemed to really
respond to the additional flexibility the
online format provides; each of the sections
attracted at least one student who lived and
worked a substantial distance from Kansas
City. The new “distance” format made it
2010
Table of contents
Page
Introduction ............................ 1
Sarah Tyrrell ............................. 1
Larson Powell ........................... 2
Rafia Rasu ................................. 3
Jacob Marszalek ....................... 3
JoAnn Klaassen......................... 4
Laura New ................................ 5
Deepti Vyas .............................. 6
Jane Peterson............................ 8
Carol Schmer ............................ 8
Peggy Ward-Smith ................... 8
GD Crain ................................... 8
JC Whitt.................................... 8
C. Gadbury-Amyot ................... 8
Tamera B. Murdock ................. 9
Conrad Mueller ........................ 9
Katharine V. Smith .................. 10
Reza Derakhshani ................... 11
Paul Rudy ................................ 11
TEG Grant deadline ................ 11
May 1st Conference ................. 12
See Online Conservatory, Page 2
Letter from the Acting Director
Introduction to teaching
By: Deborah Smith
enhancement
grant
(teg)
Acting Director,
FaCET
newsletter
issue
Associate Professor, Sociology
By: Deborah Smith
Acting Director, FaCET
I am pleased to share with you this Spring 2010 edition of the
FaCET newsletter where we highlight results from the teaching
and learning projects funded by our Teaching Enhancement
Grant (TEG) program. I am delighted at the quality and diver-
sity of projects funded- everything from new online music courses to
a mentoring program created by upper-level nursing students for use
by pre-licensure nursing students with asthmatic elementary-school
children to enhancement of existing courses to better serve our students on campus to an online course about diabetes for an international dental educator website. I hope these reports inspire you as
much as they inspired me! In fact, if you have an idea on how to
enhance your teaching and learning, I urge you to put it on paper and
submit a proposal for the spring (closing date is Monday April 12th)
or fall round of the TEGs. Happy reading!
P AGE 2
F ACETS OF T EACHING AND L EARNING
Online Conservatory, continued from Page 1
out to be that Communism, an international
ideology that was supposed to overcome national particularity, ended up by unwittingly
protecting national particularities against the
much more effective internationalism of global
capitalism.
possible for them to enroll in this required
course even while not living in Kansas City full
time. That, in and of itself, made the entire
experiment a success.
I had for many years been teaching
the Research and Bibliography class in the onground format, at several different institutions;
along with my enthusiasm for the new
“frontier,” I brought many doubts about how
this particular course would really work in an
online setting. Overall I was surprised at how
adaptable the course materials were to the
online format; the available technology simply
seems to make anything possible, which is why
I remain committed to online teaching, and
why I continue to attend technology conferences (at UMKC). Additionally, I have since
taken an online “Quality Matters” course via
Blue River Community College.
My new expertise with online course
development and instruction, initiated by the
TEG, enabled me to also propose and develop a
second online class: Introduction to World
Music (CONS 126), which is now in its second
successful semester at the UMKC Conservatory
of Music and Dance.
New eastern European
film class
By: Larson Powell
Associate Professor
Foreign Language & Literature
My TEG grant has allowed me to
prepare a new class on Eastern European Film,
which I am teaching this semester (spring
2010). The class (GER 480A) is also crosslisted with Communications (COMM 400B)
and History (HIST 400C). There are also students from the English department and several
international students from Germany in the
class. We are discussing not only film as film
(as an art form), but also film as a medium in
which national memories are formed – in the
case of Eastern Europe, of World War Two,
which was a defining moment in the region.
Collective memory, of which film has always
been an architect, was one of the crucial areas of
national self-definition in Eastern Europe, since
these countries had lacked political sovereignty
for centuries, being occupied by Germany, Austria or Russia. Collective memory was also an
area of tension between nationalism and the
internationalist ideology of Marxism. Should
World War Two be remembered as part of a
national struggle against German occupation, or
rather as part of a Marxist grand narrative of
replacing capitalism with socialism, as state authorities wanted? Our class discussions show
how film’s generic (narrative) forms served to
dramatize national history through interweaving
documentary references to real events of the war
with the private lives and loves of individual
citizens.
Among the films we will discuss is
Wajda’s famous Man of Marble, which was made
during the period of the Polish Solidarity movement that brought down the Soviet-backed regime in that country. Film was, here too, not
only a chronicler but also an active participant in
this political movement. We will conclude by
looking at how the end of Communism in 19891990 was a mixed blessing for many Eastern
European film industries, since it meant that
local national film cultures were swamped in a
tidal wave of commercial imports from Hollywood and a turn to globalized American genres
like the action film. After 1990, it became almost impossible for Czech directors to make
films in their own country, since production
costs had skyrocketed. In fact, “Eastern Europe”
as a cultural and social unit has largely ceased to
exist since 1990, having been broken into Central Europe – countries like the Czech Republic,
Poland and Hungary, which have quickly been
absorbed into the European Union – and the
Balkans, which in the wake of the Yugoslav break
-up wars and ongoing corruption are making this
transition into European inclusion much more
slowly. The central paradox of our course turns
This class thus not only offers a new
perspective on Eastern European film by reading films from different countries synoptically –
as reflection of a cultural region first defined in
the 18th century and then reinforced by Soviet
occupation after 1945. It also views Eastern
Europe in interdisciplinary terms, with reference both to social and political history and to
cultural documents.
As an outgrowth of my work in preparing for this class, I hope to make this teaching experience productive when team-teaching
a planned future cluster course in Germany and
Eastern Europe which will explore the representation of everyday life in film, linking up to
an important topic in historical studies (in German, Alltagsgeschichte or “history of everyday
life”) a topic in which my co-instructor, Dr.
Andrew Bergerson (History) specializes.
Other outcomes as a result of this
TEG grant is that I have had a lecture on Polish
film accepted at a conference in Canada this
June, and I also applied for a short term IREX
grant to visit Poland during the summer. I
hope to be able to teach this class again and to
use the film materials acquired with the TEG
grant in other courses as well.
P AGE 3
F ACETS OF T EACHING AND L EARNING
Epidemiological study
course
By: Rafia Rasu
Assistant Professor
Pharmacy, Nursing & The Bloch
School
First of all I would like to thank FaCET for the
Teaching Enhancement Grant award. This
award has given me the opportunity as an instructor and advisor to promote an efficient
tool that enhanced student learning. I am
proud to be a University of Missouri New Faculty Teaching Scholar. New Faculty Teaching
Scholars program and series of FaCET seminars
have enhanced my teaching skills and made me
creative in developing essential interdisciplinary
courses to improve learning environment of
UMKC. Upon request from school of nursing
to meet the need of nursing PhD students in
spring of 2008, I offered an online course called
“Concepts of Epidemiology and Statistics in
Research”. Due to the interdisciplinary nature
of this course, currently the course is being
offered to the school of nursing, school of pharmacy, pharmacy residents, and Bloch School of
Business and Public Administration at UMKC.
This is an online course offered through
UMKC. Students meet at virtual class room
sessions using WIMBA software used by
UMKC black board. Course offer interactive
black board discussion sessions on each subject
matter every week. So far, course participants
found this course very useful and beneficial in
learning epidemiological and statistical concepts
of research. Following is a response that I have
received from the pharmacy resident director
at the Kansas City Veteran’s Administration
Hospital about the course taken by her resident:
“Yes, it was extremely helpful, both to her and to me.
We were able to start using the statistical software
from what she learned and she has helped the other
residents out with their projects a lot as well.”
The TEG award helped me promote conducive
learning of statistical application of epidemiologic study data, enhanced teaching efficiency
of statistical application in reporting epidemiologic study results, and taught introductory
use of statistical software for data analysis for
interdisciplinary research projects. The
STATA® statistical software was efficient in
reporting analytic epidemiological study results
using certain output measures commonly used
in health sciences research. STATA® has a
built in characteristic to consider the types of
epidemiological study designs for the data being
analyzed and calculate disease association from the
analysis accordingly (e.g. reports odd ratios, adjusted odd ratios, hazard ratios, etc.). The automated built in output not only saves time but also
helps an apprentice to confidently get into the
world of epidemiology using statistics. The software currently in use by the school and hence
used for the course is SPSS. Adding STATA®
allowed the school to provide a student-friendly
software preferred and chosen by the students.
Creating a vibrant learning environment is the
mission for UMKC. The opportunity for the
students to have the option to choose studentfriendly statistical software to enhance learning
will help UMKC in achieving its goal and increase
student success at the same time. I believe by
adding STATA® to the course enhanced student’s
knowledge and learning in reporting epidemiological study results in a faster and more professional way.
Effect of Student-centered
instruction on the learning
of item response theory
By: Jacob Marszalek
Assistant Professor
Counseling & Educational Psychology
There is limited evidence that active learning
models have widespread use in higher education,
however, good content knowledge alone is not
sufficient for good science instruction (DarlingHammond & Youngs, 2002).
A case in point is the course I teach in measurement theory, EDRP 5609/PSYCH 5538: The
Development and Evaluation of Assessment
Tools. A requirement for all clinical and counseling psychology Ph.D. students, the course provides an introduction to item response theory
(IRT). The algorithms used to apply IRT techniques to assessment data are not included in the
popular statistical applications such as SAS and
SPSS. Therefore, much of the course concerning
IRT is delivered through lecture. This lecture
approach may contribute to mediocre observed
test scores regarding IRT, and to student
dissatisfaction expressed in course evaluations. For example, one student wrote,
“Lectures are long and monotonous. I’m
not sure how, but some type of class engagement is needed. Very difficult to stay
engaged.” In the case of IRT, that means
having appropriate software so the students can apply their knowledge using
examples.
The purpose of the present project was to
examine what effect, if any, adding constructive learning activities for IRT would
have on student evaluations of the course
and on student learning. Baseline data
were gathered for Winter 2008. Course
evaluation data came from the School of
Education evaluation form and the student
content knowledge data came from performance on IRT-related questions on the
final exam.
With funds from a FaCET 2008 Teaching
Enhancement Grant, eight licenses of the
statistical software MULTILOG v7.0 were
purchased for the Winter 2009 semester,
and constructed learning activities using
this software were implemented.
Responses to some course evaluation
questions actually declined from Winter
2008 to Winter 2009. Specifically, one
item asked students to rate the course on
learning to apply course material where response could vary between (1) No apparent progress and (5) Exceptional progress.
In Winter 2008 the mean response was
4.1 (SD = 0.8), and in 2009 was 3.4 (SD
= 0.8). Although the difference was statistically insignificant (t = -1.69, df = 14,
p = .11), the drop of nearly one standard
deviation may indicate a real decline. One
encouraging sign, however, was an increase in reported frequency for the item,
introduced stimulating idea about this subject
(+0.3) although this too was not statistically significant.
Student content knowledge about IRT was
measured by a 26 item multiple-choice
test. The mean performance on the 56
point test in 2008 was 45.00 (n = 8, SD =
2.14), and 37.14 in 2009 (n = 7, SD =
5.87), with the decline from 2008 to 2009
being significant [F(2, 21) = 6.06, p
< .01]. One alternative explanation for
the decrease in student scores could be the
increase in the heterogeneity of students in
the 2009 sample compared to the 2008
See Student-Centered, Page 4
P AGE 4
Student-Centered, continued from Page 3
sample which would indicate it might have
been change in student composition of the
course, not the change in content delivery,
which accounted for this decrease.
The data about student perceptions of the
course and their content knowledge were disappointing, although this is not uncommon
when changing from teacher-centered to student-centered instruction. I am collaborating
with other UMKC faculty on instructing science educators and we have come to the conclusion that several attempts at a single lesson
may be required to gain the necessary confidence to let go of teacher-centered habits
enough to allow student-centered techniques to
become effective. I certainly feel that this is the
case for me. But it is encouraging to note that
declines were not too severe, and that, in fact,
an important element increased: the perception
that stimulating ideas about test theory were
introduced more often. Indeed, I want students to think creatively and critically about the
instruments they will be using to assess mental
health during their careers. Thanks to the
funds provided by my FaCET TEG grant, I will
be able to use the necessary specialized statistical software in subsequent classes to gain the
confidence needed to begin to stimulate and
inspire my students.
Author note: I thank Molly Mead at the School
of Education for her assistance in installing the
statistical software.
References
Darling-Hammond, L., & Youngs, P. (2002).
Defining "highly qualified teachers": What does
"scientifically-based research" actually tell us?
Educational Researcher, 31(9), 13-25.
F ACETS OF T EACHING AND L EARNING
A Multi-level student
guided mentorship model
for at-risk asthmatic
school children:
a project report
By: JoAnn Klaassen
Clinical Assistant Professor
School of Nursing
This multi-level student guided mentorship
project supported by a Teaching Enhancement Grant was an educational program
designed by UMKC School of Nursing RNBSN students to collaborate with UMKC
pre-licensure nursing students to improve
health outcomes for asthmatic school children. The program included a pilot study
in which RN-BSN students provided on-line
mentoring to pre-licensure nursing students
who in turn served as on-site mentors for
asthmatic school children in the Kansas City
School District Foreign Language Academy.
Several faculty members collaborated to
supervise and evaluate both levels of nursing students involved in the pilot program.
RN-BSN students in our senior-level leadership practicum course developed an educational program designed to be taught by
pre-licensure student nurses in weekly sessions to elementary school children with
asthma. A pilot study was developed to
implement the program. Six pre-licensure
students volunteered to mentor elementary
students with asthma as part of the Community Health nursing course offered in the
fall of the senior year and the Nursing Leadership course offered in spring of the senior
year. Parents of the school children were
informed about the asthma mentoring program and provided written consent. As
part of the mentorship, each pre-licensure
student met weekly with an asthmatic elementary school student for the purpose of
relationship building and asthma management. The pre-licensure students utilized
the asthma management curriculum developed for elementary level children by the
RN – BSN students.
RN-BSN students provided an
orientation session to the pre-licensure
students about mentoring and the asthma
curriculum. Six RN-BSN students were
assigned as mentors to the pre-licensure
nursing students themselves to assist with
curriculum implementation and problemsolving throughout the mentorship with the
elementary school children. RN-BSN stu-
dents utilized email, phone and Wimba live
video conferencing to establish mentoring time
with the pre-licensure students. The RN-BSN
students also developed pre- and posting testing
for the asthmatic school children to determine
any changes in their knowledge and attitudes
about asthma management. At the completion
of the pilot program both groups of nursing
students participated in a graduation ceremony
for the asthmatic elementary school children.
Evaluation of the pilot asthma mentorship program demonstrated an increase in the ability of
the elementary school children to identify and
respond to asthma triggers. All of the school
children established positive relationships with
the pre-licensure nursing students assigned to
them and were able to articulate how the nursing students helped to increase knowledge
about asthma management. The elementary
students expressed a positive view about the
learning activities provided as part of the curriculum. Pre-licensure students evaluated the
pilot program as a positive experience that
increased understanding of child development,
asthma, teaching modalities and mentorship.
Conversely, evaluation of the mentor
relationship between RN-BSN and prelicensure students demonstrated minimal benefit. The on-line status of the RN-BSN students
prevented face-to-face meetings. A heavy class
load and pre-licensure nursing students’ focus
on preparing for licensure examinations during
their senior year also impeded the development
of beneficial mentoring relationships. Overall,
although pre-licensure students indicated that
they understood the mentoring relationship and
could easily reach their RN-BSN mentors, the
relationship was only “somewhat” beneficial.
Other challenges identified included inconsistent communication with the school nurse,
unavailability of the elementary students for
some mentoring sessions and the structure of
See Mentorship Model, Page 5
P AGE 5
F ACETS OF T EACHING AND L EARNING
Mentorship Model, continued from Page 4
I won’t get to know my teacher and classmates in
the same manner as I would with a face-to-face
class.
the educational curriculum which was occasionally somewhat difficult for pre-licensure
students to follow. Finally, management of
pre-licensure students was complicated because of a transition of supervising faculty
members between courses in different semesters.
At the conclusion of the pilot program evaluation, RN-BSN students re-arranged the
asthma mentoring curriculum into more manageable units with appropriate learning activities included in each unit. Additionally, arrangements were made to maintain consistent
faculty supervision for the pre-licensure student mentors across courses and semesters.
More information is now provided for parents
of the children participating in the program.
Following the revisions, the Foreign Language
Academy nurse requested that the asthma
mentoring program be expanded to include
more nursing students and elementary school
children. Currently the revised program,
using pre-licensure student nurse mentors
without RN-BSN involvement, is being implemented in the Kansas City Missouri School
District.
The implementation of a multi-level project
such as the asthma mentorship pushed traditional instructional boundaries by blending on
-line and on-site learning activities between
different levels of nursing students, by requiring coordination between courses, students
and faculty, and by addressing learning outcomes for both levels of nursing students
while evaluating the pilot program effectiveness for the children. Concerted foundational
work for a project of this scope is vital; all
participants must have input. Creative methods of communication must be utilized when
both distance and on-site students are working
together and instructor follow-through is
crucial. Although the project was labor intensive and not successful at all levels, it is rewarding to see a revised program going forward to increase positive health outcomes for
children with asthma.
If I don’t understand the material, it may be
tougher to get assistance from the teacher since
there are no face-to-face class meetings.
Fundamentals
of Music Theory:
An Online Course
By: Laura New
Adjunct Assistant Professor
In the Spring of 2008 I received a Teaching
Enhancement Grant for the purpose of developing an online version of the Fundamentals of Music Theory course for the UMKC
Conservatory of Music and Dance. At that
time, we offered only two online courses
(Music Appreciation and the History of Rock
and Roll). Senior Conservatory faculty felt
that an online version of the Fundamentals of
Music Theory course would help UMKC to
better compete with other institutions making
more headway online. Additional benefits
identified included the opportunity to broaden
UMKC’s student base by reaching non-local
and non-traditional students.
The TEG funds Grant provided compensation
for personal time spent: a) attending technology and distance-learning events; b) examining existing online course materials; c) researching literature relevant to designing and
teaching online courses; d) discussing online
classes with colleagues at UMKC and elsewhere who teach online classes; and, e) developing initial course materials.
An initial step was to survey students in my
face-to-face Fundamentals of Music Theory
class to get their perspectives on an online
version of the course. I asked students with
online course experience to list the pros and
cons. These students offered what I now
know are common comments. They include:
Pros:
The course will fit my schedule.
I won’t have to drive to campus.
I can work at my own pace.
Cons:
I may procrastinate and get behind in the assignments.
After this initial step there were several other
course development activities. I investigated
online fundamentals of music theory classes offered
by other universities to learn about the structure of
their courses and the materials they use. I discussed my project with other colleagues at UMKC
and other institutions to get their perspectives
about online courses in general and specifically,
about an online theory course. I attending a twoday conference to learn about delivery methods for
online courses, e.g., strictly online vs. hybrid, and
to benefit from “lessons learned” as relayed by
teachers experienced with online courses. I also
attended UMKC FaCET events to become better
acquainted with technological tools such as Blackboard. I participated in web conferences with
companies that offer pre-packaged courses. I did
consider both using a pre-packaged course, i.e., an
e-text and developing a whole new course. I chose
the middle ground between those two options. I
use a course from Connect4education and supplement the material when I feel the students need
additional instruction about a concept or would
benefit from learning about the concept via a different viewpoint.
The inaugural online Fundamentals of Music Theory class was offered in Fall 2008. Since then I have
taught the class in Spring 2009, Fall 2009 and
Spring 2010. As I continue to teach the course I
will evaluate the potential need and benefits of
developing my own course versus using the current
course materials or a similar pre-packaged course.
The main goals for the online Fundamentals of
Music course have been met: the Conservatory has
an additional online offering; and UMKC students,
as well as students at large, have access to a different music course and an additional online course.
Students in previous semesters have expressed
satisfaction with the course content and delivery via
student evaluations and in direct communication
with me.
Each semester, I make changes in the content and
delivery based on feedback I receive from students,
and new information that I come across. Changes
include more frequent communication between me
and the students and more communication between the students themselves. At least weekly, I
email the students or post announcements via
See Fundamentals, Page 6
P AGE 6
F ACETS OF T EACHING AND L EARNING
Fundamentals, continued from Page 5
Blackboard offering reminders about upcoming
quizzes or “helpful hints” about how to master a
concept covered in the class. At the end of the
Spring 2010 semester, I plan to implement an
“end of course survey” in an effort to gauge the
effectiveness of the class in meeting students’ self
-professed goals for the class.
Before developing this online theory course I had
not used Blackboard with my face-to-face
classes. After learning how to use Blackboard
for my online class, however, I realized that I
could use Blackboard in my other courses to
enhance student learning as well. Now I use
Blackboard in these classes to promote further
discussion about specific topics and to post additional materials the students may find helpful.
While the use of technology in these classes was
not a goal of this project, I think it is a nice ancillary benefit. Another outcome of the TEG is
that I would like to develop another online
course, and that is in the back of my mind as I
generate new supplemental materials for this
course.
I appreciate the support and encouragement
from FaCET for the development of this online
course.
Developing a Student-Run
Asthma Workshop in a Small
Community
By: Deepti Vyas
Assistant Clinical Professor
Pharmacy
Nearly five hundred thousand Missouri residents
live with asthma, of these 111,000 are children
according to reports from the centers of disease
control (CDC). In Missouri, asthma is the leading cause of both emergency department visits
and inpatient hospitalizations among children
under age fifteen. One proposal by the Missouri
Department of Health and Senior Services
(DHSS) is to develop interventions that encourage schools to create ‘asthma-friendly’ environments.
To respond to this call, The UMKC APhA-ASP
satellite chapter in Columbia, MO developed a
student-run asthma coalition to collectively improve public awareness regarding various asthma
related issues especially within the pediatric
population.
Select pharmacy students at the University of
Missouri-Kansas City received extensive training
regarding: identifying asthma triggers; treatment
modalities, use of nebulizers and inhalers; how to create an asthma-friendly environment; and how
to manage an asthma attack.
After the completion of the training the students were eligible to conduct an educational workshop
for teachers within the school system in Columbia Missouri. Letters were sent to various schools
informing them of this education workshop.
See Asthma Workshop, Page 7
DO YOU HAVE A GREAT IDEA FOR MAKING TEACHING AND LEARNING BETTER?
YOU STILL HAVE TIME TO APPLY FOR A
TEACHING ENHANCEMENT GRANT THIS
SPRING! DEADLINE IS MONDAY APRIL
12TH — SEE OUR WEBSITE FOR APPLICATION DETAILS!
SAVE THE DATE!
Saturday, May 1, 2010
8am-4pm.
Fourth Annual
Greater Kansas City
Conference
on Teaching and Learning
Location:
UMKC Conference Center
See Program on Page 12
P AGE 7
F ACETS OF T EACHING AND L EARNING
Asthma Workshop, continued from Page 6
The 55-minute workshop was divided as follows:
5 min
5 min
5 min
10 min
20 min
10 min
Introductions,
asthma basics:
epidemiology,
statistics, and
impact on absenteeism within
schools
Pathophysiology of
asthma demonstrated with the use
of a youtube.com
video
Identifying asthma
triggers and making your classroom
asthma friendly
Exercise induced
asthma and recess.
Inhaler, peak flow
meter, spacer, and
nebulizer demos,
proper use and
storage
Creating an asthma
action plan for each
student and how to
individualize plans
for each student
Emergency management of an
asthma attack
Results of the project include the successful completion of the one-hour training session by 10 students who then were able to provide the workshop to area
schools. Three elementary schools agreed to participate and we offered 1 hour 0.1 Continuing Education Unit (CEU) to each in Spring 2009. In total, 34
teachers completed the workshop successfully.
To evaluate the project, a survey tool was administered pre and post the workshop to measure self assessed ‘comfort’ on various asthma related components. Of the teachers who completed the workshop:
97% felt that asthma is an important health concern
67% had encountered at least one student having an asthma attack in their career
However, 65% had never heard of an asthma action plan and
71% had never heard of a peak flow meter
Table 1
The vast majority of the teacher-participants had a positive response to the workshop and were very grateful about the opportunity to learn about asthma
while earning continuing education credit. Our Pharmacy students had the opportunity to interact with members of the community and promote awareness
regarding asthma. Overall this has been a positive experience and one that we will continue to offer. Indeed, we are planning to expand the workshop to
rural Missouri schools within a 100 mile radius of Columbia and offer workshop-leader training twice a year in Fall and Spring to allow for maximum student participation. We will also explore other venues for the workshop including local libraries and YMCA.
I enjoyed working with students on this project as I realized the impact students could have on public education regarding asthma, asthma triggers and management of acute asthma exacerbations. The project gave students hands-on opportunities to interact with teachers/nurse and showed them how to use
inhalers, nebulizers etc. I appreciate that the TEG grant allowed me and my students to have this positive experience in the community.
P AGE 8
F ACETS OF T EACHING AND L EARNING
The effect of group learning
in a
master’s nursing program
By: Jane Peterson, Assistant Professor;
Carol Schmer, Clinical Instructor;
Peggy Ward-Smith, Associate Professor
Nursing
As nurse educators, we were challenged in our
Master’s level Nursing Theory class to determine
if different teaching methodologies influenced the
learning of course content. The faculty involved
with this course each taught a different section of
N5550, a Master’s level Nursing Theory course.
One faculty did not use group learning methods,
one faculty utilized asynchronous Blackboard
group discussions in the course and one faculty
use on-line synchronous Wimba group chats. If a
difference in learning did exist based on whether
group learning was utilized or not, we wanted to
all adopt the most effective method to teach the
course content.
The purpose of this project was to compare the
learning outcomes of graduate nursing students in
the three sections of a nursing theory e-course.
Although course objectives, course content and
major course assignments were the same, we
wanted to know if a difference in learning outcomes resulted from utilizing these different
teaching modalities: 1) asynchronous group learning; 2) synchronous group learning, and 3) without group learning strategies.
Following completion of the course and IRB approval, consenting graduate students were asked
to complete a short questionnaire evaluating their
attainment of theory content. Learning outcomes
were derived from course objectives and theory
criteria established by American Association of
Colleges of Nursing and the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties to provide
national standards. Data were collected in an
anonymous, on-line survey format utilizing BlackboardTM after course grades were submitted.
Analysis of variance was utilized to determine
differences between groups.
Student scores on the 10-item multiple choice
questionnaire ranged from 100% (N=13; 57%) to
70% (N=3; 13%). The most frequently missed
item (N=10; 43%) assessed the classification of
Watson’s theory of caring. Although participants
correctly identified Watson’s theory as a grand
theory, it was incorrectly categorized as a unitary
process theory. This finding was consistent
among all participants unrelated to group learning; no group work (N = 4; 40%) and group
work (N = 6; 60%). Responses to the other
items demonstrated no significant differences in
Development of an independent & integrated
learning module for an
online international dental education platform
By: GD Crain, Assistant Professor; JC
Whitt, Associate Professor; C. GadburyAmyot, Director, Distance Education &
Faculty Development;
Dentistry
knowledge of concepts and constructs, the
classification of nursing theories, and the
clinical applicability of different ways of
knowing based on the use of group learning
or not.
We learned that the use of group learning
did not impact the attainment of course objectives and that all three of the teaching
strategies utilized helped the student to attain the established national standards. We
concluded that as experienced nurse educators we can employ group learning strategies
in e-learning theory courses if we choose and
students will still be sufficiently challenged
to meet the course objectives and attain the
knowledge that they need to be prepared
successfully as Master’s level nurses. However, we did agree that group learning as a
teaching modality fosters the collaboration
and negotiation skills required to work in the
multidisciplinary teams that are utilized in
today’s healthcare environment. Although
students are often hesitant and lack the necessary communication skills and flexibility to
work in groups, the benefit of group learning
may outweigh the challenges. As educators
we plan to include group projects into
course requirements, compelling graduate
students to work together, negotiate course
workloads, deal with their unenthused or
disengaged peers and develop a satisfactory
product (the course assignment) within a
predetermined timeline.
With funds from both a FaCET Teaching Enhancement Grant and School of Dentistry Dean
Mike Reed, we were able to collaborate to
develop an online course about diabetes for an
international dental educator website run by
the International Federation of Dental Educators and Associations, Global Knowledge Centre. We not only developed the course content
collaboratively, but through individual and
group reflection we were able to gain insights
into the development of teaching material for a
global audience.
Two faculty members from the Departments of
Oral Biology and Oral Pathology, Medicine and
Radiology, and the Director of Distance Education and Faculty Development, all within the
UMKC School of Dentistry, collaborated to
develop the Integrated Learning Module on
diabetes using Tegrity © and Blackboard Academic Suite ©. The module consists of four self
-paced online sections, self-assessment quizzes,
and interactive discussions using Blackboard ©.
A patient case using the course capture system,
Tegrity©, complete with patient data and narrative by the oral pathologist is included. The
course differs from a traditional format in that
rather than presenting content, the modules
provide resources for the student to engage in
self-directed learning. This project focused on
the course development process itself including
planning and course design, and insights from
reflective journaling. Although the module has
not yet “gone live,” preliminary feedback from
attendees at the 2008 International Federation
of Dental Educators and Associations meeting
in Croatia, Yugoslavia was positive.
See Development, Page 9
P AGE 9
F ACETS OF T EACHING AND L EARNING
Development, continued from Page 8
Synchronous Capabilities
nology that is not yet widely used in dental
education and is a substantive example of collaboration and sharing among dental educators
who traditionally are not accustomed to sharing
content or methods. Additionally, through the
process of reflection, insights into designing an
educational resource for a global audience were
gained.
References
1. Cunliffe, AL. (2004). On becoming a critically reflexive practitioner. Journal of
Management Education 28(4):407-26
2. Hogan, C. (1995). Creative and reflective
journal processes. The Learning Organization 2(2): 4-17
Formative feedback for
learning in applied psychological statistics
By: Tamera B. Murdock, Professor;
Conrad Mueller, Graduate Student;
Psychology
We gained several insights as we went through
this process.
Idea Initiation - The Director of Distance Education and Faculty Development and the Dean of
the UMKC Dental School were both in attendance at the Global Dental Congress in the fall of
2007 when the international website was
launched. The Dean and the Director decided
that the UMKC School of Dentistry should develop content for the site. The Director had
previous experience with delivery of online education and pedagogy and approached the two
faculty members to help design a stand alone
learning module for dental educators around the
world.
Planning - The three course developers met
eight times during a four month time period. If it
was not possible to meet in person, meetings
were held using a synchronous technology
(Wimba TM) or over the telephone. E-mails were
also exchanged. Initially, each faculty member
was going to design a stand alone module until it
was realized that there could be an integrated
approach to a single topic, diabetes that could
incorporate everything from case presentation,
diagnosis, disease mechanisms, treatment, and
dental relevance. It was decided early on that the
module would differ from the traditional model
of presenting content, and instead, would provide the structure and the resources to guide
the student in self-directed learning.
Reflective Journaling – Each participant kept a
journal as a way of tracking thoughts and feelings about the process of course development
1,2
. Two excerpts follow:
“I mentioned the need to make sure we are including
global resources and not just U.S. data and websites.
Between my involvement with the 2006-2007 ADEA
Leadership Institute working with a group of dental
educators that studied dentistry from a global perspective, and having attended the Global Dental
Congress on Dental Education in the fall of 2007 I
find myself much more sensitized to thinking globally
rather than parochial.”
“I am not sure why I didn’t notice this before but
suddenly it occurred to me that the language tends to
be directed toward dental educators, specifically
dentists and dental hygienists, and perhaps not encompassing of workforce models and educators different than what we experience here in the U.S. I know
many countries don’t have dentists/dental hygienists
but this module could be very beneficial to any type
of dental educator toward understanding the relationship between systemic diseases like diabetes and
oral health (or lack there of….).”
This project demonstrates the use of new tech-
Each semester, a significant portion (20%
range) of Psychology majors taking Psychology
316 (Quantitative Methods) fail to satisfy the
course requirements, achieving grades of “D’s”
and “F’s” in the course, with a portion of these
students taking the course 3 or 4 times before
they meet the requirements for graduation. A
disproportionate number of these failures are
students from under-represented groups
(ethnic minority and/or first-generation college students). These failure rates occur
despite the following: (a) our instructors in
these courses receive consistently high course
evaluations, (b) many students in these classes
receive excellent grades with approximately
1/3 of the students earning grades of “A” (and
many of these student complain about the slow
pace of the class), (c) all students in the class
theoretically have the pre-requisite basic math
knowledge required to complete this course,
having earned a “C” or better in college algebra, and (d) the availability of multiple office
hours for student to receive extra help.
The overarching aim of this project was to improve student learning in Psychology 316 particularly among students who are repeating the
class. To accomplish this, we developed an
enriched version of this course that was implemented as a pilot during the summer semester
of 2009. The primary instructional intervention was grounded in empirical findings from
See Formative Feedback, Page 10
P AGE 10
Formative Feedback, continued from Page 9
cognitive and instructional psychology of
“assessment-as-learning” which emphasizes the
value of frequent formative assessment with highquality informational feedback. In contrast to
assessment that is mainly seen as a way to summarize students’ learning, formative assessment provides students with feedback about the gaps between their current understanding and the level of
understanding which is being sought (Black &
William, 1998). During the course of this pilot
semester, students were; (a) assessed daily; (b)
provided rapid, high-level feedback with suggestions for reducing the gap between what students
know and what they need to know and (c) offered
additional formats to demonstrate learning. The
problem sets and feedback we developed over this
semester were electronically cataloged and made
available for use in future teachings of the class,
which have larger numbers of students.
The extensive use of feedback and scaffolding
used in the pilot class provided us with interesting
results. Compared to the typical semester when
approximately 25% of students fail or withdraw,
only one student withdrew (5%) from the class
and this student cited scheduling conflicts for this
action. Of the rest of the class, only one student
(5%) received a failing grade(“D”) in the course,
much lower proportion than is traditional for this
difficult course.
This opportunity also provided an enriching experience for both of us. The vast amount of interaction between us during the semester allowed us
to address multiple challenges typically found
during the teaching of this course. In addition,
both of us have developed new ways of giving
more extensive and pointed feedback to students
with good effects. We also were able to provide
each other with immediate feedback and a different perspective of how alternative forms of assessment and classroom activities worked during the
semester allowing us to continually hone our skills
and techniques. One exciting by product of this
arrangement was that students worked together
extensively outside of class, with the strongest
“classroom leaders” coming from underrepresented minority groups.
Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Assessment and
classroom learning. Assessment in Education, 5, 774.
Don’t forget to signup for the
Greater Kansas City Conference on Teaching & Learning,
May 1, 2010 — See Page 12 for
details!
F ACETS OF T EACHING AND L EARNING
Midwestern Nursing
Research Society:
Attendance and Paper
Presentation
By: Katharine V. Smith, Assistant
Dean & Associate Professor;
Nursing
High Fidelity Human Simulators (HFHS) refer
to life-like mannequins who mimic humans in
that they blink; talk; have pulses, blood pressures and heart rhythms; make urine; and have
physiologically appropriate responses to medications that are administered. Simulation is
becoming increasingly recognized as a safe and
effective method by which to teach critical
thinking skills to student nurses. In the
UMKC School of Nursing (SON), HFHS have
been used for about 5 years to teach undergraduate students, by placing teams of students (usually 4 – 5 at a time) in “live” scenarios where the HFHS is a patient with a clinical
problem that must be appropriately addressed. Our preliminary research in the
undergraduate Legal and Ethical Issues course
suggested the simulated scenarios more effectively engaged students in learning legal and
ethical issues than traditional in-person and
online case studies. Previous course evaluations were also very positive, but qualitative
student feedback suggested that all students
should have to fulfill the “nurse” role in the
scenarios. The problem was that, with 70 80 students enrolled, there is not enough time
for all students to do so. So we conducted a
study with the following research question: Is
there a difference in student knowledge and
attitudes about legal and ethical issues when
students play the nurse’s role in a simulated
scenario versus playing the family member
role? Junior level nursing students (n=73) enrolled in a fall semester legal and ethical issues
course participated in the study. Groups of four
nursing students completed the simulated experience at a time, with two students randomly
assigned to play nurses in the scenario and two
students randomly assigned to play family
members. Data collection concluded in December 2008, and subsequent analysis found no
statistically significant differences on student’s
pre and post test scores, peer evaluations, or
student attitudes between the two groups
(students who played nurses and students who
played family members). The only significant
finding was that faculty rated students in the
“nurse” group as “fulfilling their role” significantly higher than the students in the “family”
role, possibly because the scenario required
more action response from the nurses than the
family members. Results of this study have
already been used to inform subsequent teaching strategies regarding content in the SON
undergraduate Legal and Ethical Issues course.
The FaCET grant supported the presentation of
the study (“The Impact of Different Role Assignments in a Human Simulation Scenario on
Learning Outcomes among Nursing Students in
an Undergraduate Legal and Ethical Course”,
by Katharine V. Smith, RN, PhD; Jo Klaassen,
RN, JD; Christine Zimmerman, RN, MSN; An
-Lin Cheng, PhD) results at the Midwest Nursing Research Society’s annual conference in
April 2009. The study findings have also been
shared professionally with others to consider in
their own use of HFHS to teach undergraduate
nursing students.
P AGE 11
A fusion of science and
art
By: Reza Derakhshani, Assistant Professor, Computer Science & Electrical
Engineering; &
Paul Rudy, Professor, Composition,
Music theory & Musicology
With the aid of a FaCET Teaching Enhancement
Grant, we introduced a collaborative course in
Fall 2008 as a combination of Advanced Biomedical Signal Analysis (ECE 5590BP, Dr. Reza
Derakhshani, CSEE-SCE) and Computer Programming for Musicians (Cons 534B, Dr. Paul
Rudy, Conservatory of Music). This interdisciplinary class was designed to foster a creative
fusion of performing arts and biomedical sciences in line with UMKC mission statement and
vision. This unique course arguably materialized
the interplay between performing arts and engineering sciences for the first time here at
UMKC. Part engineering, part music, part SciFi; it exposed the students to a unique blend of
biomedical signal analysis and computer music
synthesis. During the first part of the semester,
we taught the students the required theory and
computational tools. For the second part, the
engineering-conservatory student groups applied
their acquired skills to synthesize interactive
music using performers’ brain waves. This successful effort garnered attention both on and off
campus, including a first-page article on December 22 2008 issue of the Kansas City Star (by
Steve Paul), titled: “Music is a new way to know
the brain,” as well as a UMKC news article
(http://web2.umkc.edu/news/2008webprofiles/
brainwavesonificaiton_012609.asp).
A sample of student group performances can be
viewed online at http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=gq1xJIuDlV0, with further technical
reports available at http://
www1.sce.umkc.edu/~derakhshanir/
Sample_student_EEG_music_projects_.html.
Dr. Rudy's thoughts on the experience:
"Benefits of this multi-disciplinary class for me
personally, were a more deep interest in collaborative teaching. It was fantastic to come up
against road blocks, and have to trouble shoot in
real time. Sometimes things worked seamlessly,
and other times they totally choked and ground
to a halt. It is this kind of risk-taking in learning
and teaching alike that the TEG’s help foster.
Collaboration is messy, and this one was for
sure. It helped me to be at peace with unknowns in the classroom and provided first-hand
data that 'all of us are smarter than one of us'".
F ACETS OF T EACHING AND L EARNING
Thoughts from Dr. Derakhshani:
"I believe that the collaboration between the
conservatory and engineering students had
many teachable moments not only for the
students but also the instructors. It was interesting to see the different learning styles of the
two classes: creative and spontaneous (right
brain) vs. algorithmic and hierarchical (left
brain). Such heterogeneous teamwork,
though initially challenging to foster, is the key to
the inception of unique and competitive collaborations essential in today’s highly dynamic economy, and to keep up with the break neck speed of
market innovations. We appreciate FaCET for
helping us to make this happen through their support and forward-looking TEG program. Such
efforts should eventually help UMKC to differentiate itself from the pack through innovative multidisciplinary teaching."
REMEMBER THE DATE!
Spring 2010 Deadline for
Teaching enhancement Grants
are Monday, April 12th!
See website for more information:
www.umkc.edu/provost/facet
Please Complete the FaCET Faculty Survey!
Some of you recently may have been contacted by Larry Bunce,
UMKC’s Director of Institutional Research letting you know you
have been chosen to participate in the FaCET faculty survey. If so,
this week you should have gotten an email from surveys@umkc.edu
which provides a link to our survey. Please, please reply! We are interested in learning how you think FaCET has done in the past and
what you think FaCET should do in the f uture. We really need and
want your thoughts and opinions to be heard as FaCET looks forward. We cannot replace your answers with anyone else’s so we sincerely hope you will take 15 minutes out of your busy day to provide
us your ideas about YOUR Center for Teaching Excellence.
Even if you did not receive an email, but would like to give us your
thoughts and ideas for FaCET’s future, we would love to hear them!
Please email them directly to the Acting Director — Deborah Smith
at smithde@umkc.edu or call her at x2529.
Thank you for your input!
F ACETS OF T EACHING AND L EARNING
P AGE 12
UMKC hosts the Best Teaching and Learning Conference
in the Kansas City Region in 2010!
8:00-8:45
REGISTRATION (Lobby) and POSTER SETUP (All Rooms)
8:50-9:00
Plaza Room
GREETINGS: Deborah Smith, UMKC FaCET Director
9:00-10:00
10:00 – 11:00
11:00 – 11:45
11:45 – 1:30
Plaza Room
KEYNOTE: “Preparing Learners for an Unscripted Future”
Laurie DiPadova-Stocks, Ph.D.
All Rooms POSTER SESSIONS
BREAKOUT CONVERSATIONS
 Brookside Room Developing SoTL Inquiry Projects Jennifer Santee, UMKC
 Plaza Room Mapping Curricula Andria Stokes, Avila University
 Hyde Park Room Preparing Students to Succeed in the Major Paul Atchley, University of
Kansas
Lobby & All Rooms
LUNCH & ‘MAKE & TAKE SESSION”: WORK GROUP TIME
Conference Attendees Bring One Assignment / Lesson to Modify
Work Group Session Facilitated by Dr. Laurie DiPadova-Stocks
1:30 – 2:30
All Rooms POSTER SESSIONS
2:30 – 3:15
 Plaza Room SoTL and General Education Reform Emily Donnelli, Park University
 Brookside Room Assessing Student Learning Deborah Smith, UMKC
3:15 – 3:45
Plaza Room “ WRAP UP
3:45 – 4:00
Plaza Room EVALUATION
BREAKOUT CONVERSATIONS
For more information and to register, visit our website:
http://www.umkc.edu/provost/facet/