May 2007, V o l . 5 No.2
Reflecting the Scholarship of
Teaching and Learning at the
University Learning Centre
TransformingTeaching•
Fostering Learning
In This
Issue
Integrated Planning: How We
Can All
Plan to Work Together!
The One-Minute Paper
Faculty Peer Consultation
Community
Service-Learning (CSL)
Assessing Classroom
Participation
Live the Questions Now
Centennial Celebrations
New ULC Staff
Teaching Award News
from the GMC:
Ernie Walker: 3M Fellow
Master Teacher Interview:
Unabridged with Fred Phillips
Sessional Lecturer Award
Winner:Warren Noonan
Bridges , Vol. 5, No. 2
University of Saskatchewan
Greetings from the
University Learning Centre
On behalf of the University Learning Centre and The Gwenna Moss Centre for
Teaching Effectiveness, I want to thank you for taking some time to look into this
issue of Bridges. I also want to take this opportunity to introduce you to some of the
new staff at the University Learning Centre and remind you about our organizational
structure.
The University Learning Centre was launched in January, 2007. Our mission (our
slogan) is “Transforming Teaching • Fostering Learning.” Within the ULC we have
two groups: The Gwenna Moss Centre, focusing on improving teaching effectiveness
and academic program design, and the student success unit, focusing on supporting
students in their academic pursuits. These two groups are somewhat distinct, but
work closely together on many projects and initiatives that relate to both teaching
and learning.
Our Gwenna Moss Centre staff are now led by Kathy Schwarz, formerly from
the Extension Division. Kathy brings a great deal of experience in curriculum and
program design to our Centre. Our program coordinators, Kim West, Christine
Anderson, and Tereigh Ewert-Bauer have been at the heart of The Gwenna Moss
Centre for some time now. Recently, Martha Crealock joined their ranks as a program
coordinator to fill in for Tereigh, who is currently on leave.
On the student side of the University Learning Centre, we are assembling a dynamic
team of professionals to lead our learner support efforts. Gina Koehn, who spent
several years leading instructional support in Computer Science, now leads this group.
Liv Marken, Holly Fraser, and Stephanie Frost are learning support coordinators in
writing, mathematics, and online help respectively. In addition, Phaedra Hitchings from
SESD joins this team as our service-learning coordinator.
Many new initiatives and partnerships are rapidly developing in the ULC. New
opportunities are being created for students and faculty to enhance teaching and
improve learning. Articles in this issue will speak to some of these. On behalf of the
staff in the ULC, we invite you to drop by, either physically to room 50 and room 37
of the Murray Building, or visit our website (www.usask.ca/gmcte), or talk to Corinne
Fasthuber, our indispensable assistant. As always, all of our staff members are happy
to welcome visitors, give a tour of our space, or tell you more about our programs
and activities!
Jim Greer, Director ULC and GMCTE
www.usask.ca/gmcte
The Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching
Effectiveness
50 Murray Building • 966-2231
May 2007
Vol. 5 No. 2
The Gwenna Moss Centre for
Teaching Effectiveness
University of Saskatchewan
Room 50 Murray Building
3 Campus Drive
Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A4
Phone (306) 966-2231
Fax (306) 966-2242
Web site: www.usask.ca/gmcte
Bridges is distributed to every
teacher at the University of Saskatchewan and to all the Instructional Development Offices in
Canada, and some beyond.
It is freely available on the world
wide web through our web site.
Your contributions to Bridges will
reach a wide local, national, and
international audience.
Please consider submitting an
article or opinion piece to Bridges.
Contact any one of the following
people; we’d be delighted to hear
from you!
Jim Greer
Director
Phone (306)966-2234
jim.greer@usask.ca
Kathy Schwarz
Program Director
Phone (306)966-1804
kathy.schwarz@usask.ca
Christine Anderson Obach
Program Coordinator
Phone (306) 966-1950
christine.anderson@usask.ca
Corinne Fasthuber
Assistant
Phone (306) 966-2231
corinne.fasthuber@usask.ca
Views expressed in Bridges are
those of the individual authors and
are not necessarily those of the
staff at the GMTLC.
Integrated Planning:
How we can plan to
work
together!
Jim Greer, Director, University Learning Centre, and
The Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching Effectiveness
E
veryone
is in the
midst of
developing
plans for the
next round
of integrated
planning.
We at
the University Learning Centre
are too small a unit to be
invited to present a unit plan
to the University for separate
consideration. Our approach
instead is to attempt to integrate
our initiatives, programs,
and aspirations with others
– particularly with the academic
colleges and departments. In the
spirit of sharing, we offer you a
delectable menu of interesting
possible initiatives which may
resonate with your plans and
which we hope you will sample,
enjoy, and integrate into your
future priorities and ongoing
activities.
The student experience is an
important theme for us all. In
order to save some time in
your planning, I offer you some
words to include in your planning
documents! I would hope to
see, in virtually every college
and department plan, some
paragraphs like the following:
• We will work with the
University Learning Centre to
develop innovative models of
learner support, including their
forthcoming “Peer Mentor”
program.
This program matches an upperyear undergraduate student with
study groups of students from a
section in a course recognized
to be a “challenging” or “at risk”
course. The upper year student
receives some leadership training, is
paid a small honorarium, commits
to attending the lectures of the
course, and spends a number
of hours per week facilitating a
study group for learners in that
section of the course. The group
leader is not a tutor; rather, he or
she offers motivational support,
provides advice and links to
learning resources and services, and
facilitates students getting to know
their peers. This type of program
has been a very successful retention
activity at many other universities
across Canada.
• We will consult with the
Gwenna Moss Centre in the development of our new
program (or curriculum revision) in the area of _______________.
The Gwenna Moss Centre plans
to undertake a consultancy service
to work with academic units who
wish to develop new courses or
programs following established
educational design processes.
Bridges , Vol. 5, No. 2
These processes focus on the
early identification of desired
learning outcomes and learning
objectives and then proceeds with
the design of sets of courses and
individual courses that achieve the
desired outcomes. Consultants
coordinated through the GMC
will be available to assist with such
initiatives.
• We will work with the ULC
to develop community service learning opportunities (either
curricular or co-curricular) as
well as other experiential
learning opportunities for our
students.
Community service- learning
connects students with meaningful
projects in the community, normally
in cooperation with non-profit
community-based organizations.
More than simply volunteer work,
service learning enables students
to develop skills in critical thinking,
leadership and teamwork, capacity
building and sustainability, and
to make important connections
between what they are learning
in the classroom and the local
and global community. Reflective
exercises combined with service
learning work can allow students
to better understand the relevance
and relationship between material
learned in classes and the greater
world, while strengthening students’
motivation and commitment to
their studies.
Service-learning initiatives are
currently underway in some
colleges, but more opportunities
to develop new service learning
opportunities are available.
Potential exists for integration
of service learning into many
Bridges , Vol. 5, No. 2
curricular areas, especially those
topics are addressed, including
related to community development teaching philosophies, student
and environmental sustainability.
assessment, learning styles, and
instructional strategies.
• We will work with The Gwenna
Moss Centre to initiate a faculty development program for our
new (and/or existing) faculty
and instructors to improve
teaching. Such a program could
consist of formally
participating in the “Faculty
Peer Consultation” program;
encouraging new (and not so
new) faculty to register in the
“Transforming Teaching”
course; working with the
GMCTE to plan college-or
department-specific workshops
or seminars; creating a
certificate program for faculty
and other instructors who
participate in some number of
teaching effectiveness events;
and working with the GMCTE
to encourage scholarly research
in teaching and learning in our
academic areas.
The GMCTE provides various
workshops under various themes,
including
• Classroom Management
• Teaching with Technology
• Instructional Skill Development
• Research on Teaching and
Learning in Higher Education
• Special Topics
• We will work with the
University Learning Centre
to foster online learning
communities of practice for our
students.
The ULC hopes to cooperate with
academic units to build online
communities where students
can engage in dialogue with one
another, with faculty, and with
Faculty Peer consultation is a
alumni mentors in their disciplinary
voluntary, confidential process that areas. Online communities can
can benefit all teachers. Simply put, provide opportunities for students
it is designed to support teaching
to connect with role models, to
and teachers. If one requests a peer learn about career opportunities,
consultation, a trained consultant
and to participate in scholarly
will meet with the person to
discussion.
observe, explore, and enhance
• We will work with The
teaching. Like the teachers they
Gwenna Moss Centre to
observe, peer consultants are
build complementary learning
interested in teaching improvement. opportunities for graduate
They are not evaluators; they
students in the areas of teaching
and cross-disciplinary skills.
are faculty themselves who have
attended workshops to receive
The Gwenna Moss Centre is
training in peer consultation and
who want to cooperate with their actively involved with the design
colleagues to enhance teaching and and delivery of the very successful
GSR 989 and GSR 984 courses.
learning at the University.
GSR 989 is an introduction to
Transforming Teaching is a twenty- university teaching and has been
week, online, cohort-based offering offered to dozens of graduate
that faculty can engage in to reflect students with extremely positive
reviews. There is a plan proposed
on teaching issues. A variety of
www.usask.ca/gmcte
to make this course an essential
part of the program of study
of all PhD students seeking an
academic career. GSR 984 is an
interdisciplinary course in critical
thinking, teamwork, leadership, and
ethical and professional practice.
This course has had a deep and
transformative influence on many
graduate students. Partnerships
with departments are being sought
for a pilot program this fall bringing
all newly admitted graduate
students from several departments
into sections of this course.
These examples are meant to
open possible points of connection
between the ULC and academic
units as we all carry on with our
planning this summer. We invite
representatives of colleges and
departments to call the ULC to
discuss further any of the above
initiatives, and we sincerely hope
every college will incorporate at
least one initiative into its plans
where the ULC can act as a
partner.
We are confident that the ULC
can succeed with its mission
of transforming teaching and
fostering learning at the University
of Saskatchewan if we can
develop close partnerships with
departments and colleges.
Welcome, Kathy!
The Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching Effectiveness
welcomes Kathy Schwarz as our new Program
Director.
Kathy has taught for 15 years in online,
audioconferencing, and face-to-face environments,
and she has worked as an instructional designer
developing programs and courses in both the postsecondary system and industry.
Kathy’s research interests include the quality of
online courses from the learner’s perspective,
best practices for facilitating online courses, and
developing learning experiences that require higherorder thinking skills.
Jim Greer
Director, ULC & GMCTE
jim.greer@usask.ca
w
Bridges , Vol. 5, No. 2
Faculty Peer Consultation
What is
peer consultation?
Peer consultation is a voluntary,
confidential process that can
benefit all teachers, new and notso-new. Simply put, it is designed
to support teaching and teachers.
If you request a peer consultation,
you will work with a trained
consultant to explore and enhance
your teaching. Like the teachers
they observe, peer consultants are
interested in teaching improvement.
They are not evaluators; they
are teachers who have attended
workshops to receive training in
peer consultation and who want
to cooperate with their colleagues
to enhance teaching and learning
at the university.
Peer consultation is designed to
make the teacher feel comfortable
because he or she drives the
process by
• initiating it
• deciding on the timing of the
observation
• selecting the aspects of
teaching to be observed
• choosing the consultant in
terms of preferred gender and
discipline.
It is important to note that peer
consultation is not remedial.
Seeking consultation means that
teachers are committed to the ongoing improvement of their craft,
not that they are having problems.
In fact, teachers may request a
consultation for many reasons:
Bridges , Vol. 5, No. 2
• to obtain feedback on changes
they have made in a course (e.g.
the introduction of case-based
instruction, a new teaching
resource, a new assessment
tool)
• to improve their overall
teaching skills or address a
particular concern
•
• to determine whether a
particular aspect of their
teaching is going well
•
• to discuss ideas and innovations
with a peer.
What is involved?
If you request peer consultation,
this is what you can expect:
• The Gwenna Moss Centre
for Teaching Effectiveness
will match you with a peer
consultant based on your
discipline, preferences, and
teaching timetable. As a rule,
the teacher and the consultant
should not belong to the
same department because
the observation should
concentrate on teaching
behaviours and style, not
on content. However, it is
sometimes beneficial to
choose a consultant from a
cognate discipline.
• The consultant will meet with
you to discuss your needs
and the specific details of the
consultation.
• The consultant will attend one
or more of your classes and
is introduced to the students
with a short explanation. Class
•
•
will continue as normal, with
the consultant observing you
and gathering information.
The consultant may also give
students a brief questionnaire
at the end of class. Other
techniques, such as videotaping,
may also be used.
After class, the consultant may
choose a group of students to
obtain more detailed feedback
on the course.
The consultant will meet
you again to discuss the
information that has been
gathered.
You will receive a report
on the consultation. The
consultation process and
the resulting information are
confidential. The consultant's
report is your property, and it
remains confidential unless you
decide otherwise.
The Gwenna Moss Centre
for Teaching Effectiveness will
ask you to comment on the
consultation process and to
assess its usefulness to you.
How can I
arrange for a peer
consultation?
If you would like more information
on Peer Consultation, please
contact The Gwenna Moss Centre
for Teaching Effectiveness. E-mail:
Kathy.Schwarz@usask.ca or call
966-1804. The Peer Consultation
Program will begin again in
September 2007.
w
www.usask.ca/gmcte
Community Service-Learning (CSL)
What is Community ServiceLearning?
Community Service-Learning (CSL)
is an educational approach that
integrates service in the community
with intentional learning activities.
Key Characteristics of CSL
• Within curricular CSL, service
links to academic content and
standards, and is appropriate to
student learning goals
• In extra-curricular CSL
programs, service links
to student learning and
development goals
• Involves collaboration
between faculty/staff, students
and community organizations
to determine and meet real,
defined community needs
as a lead educator. Responsible
for design of the course or
program, establishing learning
goals, and planning for evaluation
of learning, faculty/staff also play
a critical role; they implement
reflection techniques to facilitate
students drawing meaning from
the experience, and link that
experiential learning to other more
formal academic learning sources
within the curriculum or program.
Faculty and/or staff also have a role
to play in guiding students through
the experiential component, in
fostering a strong relationship with
the community organization, and in
exploring possibilities to involve staff
from community organizations as
co-educators.
Finally, this role of lead educator
in a community service-learning
initiative offers the opportunity to
• Reciprocal in nature,
benefiting both the community integrate the concepts of citizenship
and social awareness within the
and the service providers by
combining a service experience academic content of the course.
with a learning experience
What Faculty Say About CSL
• Integrates a strong reflective
element in order to maximize
meaningful learning
• Can be used in any subject
or program area so long as
it is appropriate to identified
learning and/or development
goals
Roles and Responsibilities of
Faculty in CSL
As part of a course or a cocurricular program, the faculty
or staff person has a specific role
This was my first year as faculty
advisor for Alternative Reading
Week, a Community ServiceLearning program for students in
the College of Arts and Science.
For one very intense week, and a
few extra days before and after,
we learned about the challenges
and opportunities encountered by
community-based organizations
in the core neighbourhoods of
Saskatoon.We did this not only by
listening to what people working
in these communities had to say,
but also by preparing lunches for
people, assembling food hampers,
painting a house, teaching children
how to juggle – contributing what we
could in a short period of time and
in a small way, but also learning by
experience and first-hand encounter.
Some things that impressed me
were how well the students learned
from each other, how dedicated and
motivated they were to learn and
to work, and how effectively they
connected their Alternative Reading
Week experiences to the rest of
their university courses, no matter
what they were studying.
The experience convinced me of the
value of a well-organized Community
Service-Learning opportunity for
our students. Academia – by nature,
history, habit – is biased toward
theories and ideas, to what can be
easily contained within the walls
of a classroom, in scheduled time
slots.There is tremendous value in
such an education, but it cannot be
the whole of a student’s learning.
We study on a small tidy campus
in a large untidy world, and one of
the challenges and responsibilities
of a university is to work out how it
connects to the rest of that world.
Community Service-Learning is one
way in which we can expand our
models of learning and broaden our
idea of community.
Yin Liu
Department of English
w
Definitions excerpted from
http://www.servicelearning.org/
Bridges , Vol. 5, No. 2
Assessing
Classroom
Participation
and meaningful connections to the
subject material.
Teachers need to think carefully
about which, if any of these
skills, fit with their instructional
goals. For example, burgeoning
professionals in the world of
by Kim West, Program Coordinator
medicine need to exhibit caring
The Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching Effectiveness
about patients and their health.
Palmer (1998) discusses some
difficult to justify when challenged
ctive learning, whereby
of the challenges that have been
students are ‘actively’ engaged (Bean and Peterson 1998). In
posed by traditional medical
in the learning process, is becoming addition, because other forms of
education when the teaching
participation (e.g. active listening,
prevalent in today’s classrooms
approach indiscreetly favors
peer-teaching) are not included
as more teachers incorporate
competition over cooperation. In
as part of traditional grading
activities in their lectures that
the field of medicine, teachers
require participation from students. schemes, many shy, introverted, and can place a stronger emphasis on
second-language speakers feel at
Even with this new focus, many
activities that value cooperation,
assessment scholars advise against a disadvantage when participation
participation, patient health, and
marks are assessed (Dosh 1999grading participatory activities
mentoring. When they do this,
2000).
(Gross Davis 1993; Bean and
they send a strong message to
Peterson 1998).
their students about the kinds
Assessing participation is important
of skills they need to develop or
because how we assess and what
Most commonly, participation is
improve in order to be successful
we assess is a message to our
defined as how often a student
medical practitioners.
students about what we want
speaks in class and is assessed on
the quality of spoken contributions. them to learn (Bean and Peterson Strategies for Assessing
1998). In our world of competition,
Participation marks are most
Classroom Participation
an A grade beats a B grade, and
often awarded to students
Some scholars suggest that
undoubtedly students will place
who contribute frequently and
participatory activities should
more emphasis on the skills that
demonstrate comprehension,
be assessed in a way that
earn them the A. Participation
critical thinking, and analytical
accommodates a wide range of
encourages peer-interaction, while
skills. However, assessing these
student learning styles (Dosh
providing opportunities to foster
types of activities is subjective,
1999-2000). For example, when
particularly when students are not confidence, emotional intelligence, doing small group work, a teacher
and cooperation. Well-structured
given clear guidelines that help
may assign a different role to
them to achieve and improve their participatory activities can provide each student in the group (notea venue for students to learn how
communication skills.
to improve their critical thinking,
Problems also arise when criteria
listening, and communication skills,
Recognizing that each person
for assessing participation are
which are important in almost
may have different approaches
vague and unclear. For example,
any professional discipline. In
to contributing and sharing
should a student who contributes addition, when students have
their knowledge is the first
frequently in class receive a better the opportunity to discuss and
step in acknowledging diverse
grade than a student who makes
debate with each other they
kinds of participation like
more thoughtful, yet less frequent are forced to develop wellactive listening, which are
contributions? When criteria
constructed arguments and as a
typically downplayed.
are not well defined, they are
result, they make more personal
A
Bridges , Vol. 5, No. 2
www.usask.ca/gmcte
taker, facilitator, speaker, etc.). Shy
students might help a classmate
to learn a new concept, bring a
news article to class, or participate
in an online or email discussion
forum to demonstrate their
participation. Structured activities
like guided journals, where students
write a response to a discussion
question and are called upon to
vocally summarize their written
contribution help to reduce anxiety
for many types of learners (Bean
and Peterson 1998). Recognizing
that each person may have different
approaches to contributing and
sharing their knowledge is the first
step in acknowledging diverse kinds
of participation like active listening,
which are typically down-played.
You also need to think about
whether you want to negotiate
assessment with your students.
For instance, peer or selfassessment of participatory
activities allows for more flexibility
and student growth/reflection.
Non-negotiable assessment may
take the form of a participation
rubric, where you define the
criteria and how they are assessed
(see Bean and Peterson 1998
for an example of a participation
rubric). Whichever mode of
assessment you use, remember
to set clear expectations and
guidelines while providing students
with diverse opportunities for
success.
References
Secondly you need to tell students Bean, J.C. and Peterson, D. 1998.
how you define participation. For Grading classroom participation.
instance, do you value cooperation, New Directions in Teaching and
Learning, 34: 33-40.
effort, attitude, critical thinking
skills, communication skills, or
Gross Davis, B. 1993. Encouraging
preparation? Do students need
student participation in discussion.
to be articulate speakers, or active In Tools for Teaching, (pp.80). San
listeners? It is important for you
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
to reflect on what constitutes
Dosh, P. 1999-2000. Encouraging
participation and then to define a
and affirming diverse forms of class
set of criteria for your students.
participation. Teaching Effectiveness
Students need clear guidelines on
Award Essay, 1999-2000. Retrieved
which contributions are valued.
Participation can take place during March 12, 2 007, from Graduate
Student Instructor Teaching
open or whole-class discussion,
Resource Center, University of
small group discussion, online
California, Berkeley, http//gsi.
or e-mail discussions, during
berkeley.edu/awards/99_00/dosh.
collaborative learning activities or
html
assignments, or a combination of
these activities. Which of these
Palmer, P.J. 1998. The microcosm in
forums will best suit your teaching medical school. In The Courage to
style, delivery of content, and the
teach: Exploring the inner landscape
learning styles that are present in
of a teacher’s life (pp.124-128). San
your classroom?
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
w
10
Teaching
Effectiveness
Afternoons
(TEA)
Throughout the year, on
odd-numbered Tuesdays
and Wednesdays, we will be
hosting informal afternoon
open discussions on teaching
effectiveness from 3:304:30. These sessions will not
involve formal presentations,
but rather casual round table
discussions and idea sharing on
topics of interest to instructors
across the campus. We hope
to cover many interesting
themes over the upcoming
months. Please come with your
ideas and questions. And, of
course, there will be tea (and
coffee).
Some future TEAs might
involve a little bit of advance
preparation - to discuss
an interesting paper or
book, perhaps. Some might
involve technology or other
innovations. We are looking
for your ideas too.
If you have an idea for a TEAtime topic, please email martha.
crealock@usask.ca or drop by
The Gwenna Moss Centre.
And for information on
upcoming TEAs, be sure to
check our calendar at
www.usask.ca/gmcte
Bridges , Vol. 5, No. 2
?
Live the Questions Now
If I asked
you whether
you used
questions in
your teaching,
I am sure
you would
say yes. I
am equally
sure that
that is the case. What I want to
discuss today is the importance of
questions in our teaching and how
we can better use questions.
One of the questions we at The
Gwenna Moss Centre have been
hearing from teachers is how to
best motivate students. One prime
answer is to engender curiosity, and
there are few better ways of doing
that than asking good questions.
In fact, M. J. Aschner defined a
teacher as a “professional question
maker” (44). Ken Bain encourages
“a veneration of the unknown”
in teachers (144). Questions
serve well to open a lecture
and introduce the topic. A wellformed, well-thought-out question
can lodge itself into a student’s
brain, and require hours of mental
wrestling.
Additionally, we model inquiry
and research if we demonstrate
our own questions-asking in the
classroom. Finding a rich question
is the first step in doing research.
by Martha Crealock
Program Coordinator
The Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching Effectiveness
One of the tasks of escorting
students into wisdom and into
our disciplines is teaching them
how questions are formed in our
field. This passively reveals the
parameters of our disciplines too.
... all our knowledge results from questions
. . . question-asking is our most important
intellectual tool. The answers we carry
about in our heads are largely meaningless
unless we know the questions which
produced them. . . . What, for example, are
the sorts of questions that obstruct the
mind, or free it, in the study of history?
What students need to know are the rules
of discourse which comprise the subject,
and among the most central of such rules
are those which govern what is and what
is not a legitimate question.
Neil Postman
In fact, if we believe the university
is a place that teaches critical
thinking skills that prepare young
adults for life and citizenship, then
we equip them well if they can
judge the value of questions,
name its assumptions, and reflect
in its trajectories. Thomas Pynchon
said, ”If they can get you asking the
wrong questions, they don’t have
to worry about answers.” (251).
One way to use questions better
in the classroom is to ask questions that require higher order
thinking. In 1956, Benjamin
Bloom produced a taxonomy of
educational objectives. His levels of
intellectual behaviour can be used
to show how different questions
get at different learning objectives.
How hard, or at what level do
you want your students to think?
You have to be able to answer
that, before you can craft the best
questions. Often we need to ask
questions at the knowledge level,
to evaluate student’s ingestion of
some content. This is helpful for
assessment, but it demands only
a low level of thinking. On the
following page 12 are Bloom’s six
levels of intellectual behaviour.
Each of them require different
cognitive tasks. The chart includes
question stems that lead into
questions of that level.
Perhaps not in the middle of every
lecture, but hopefully somewhere in
your course, you can ask students
questions at the Evaluation level.
We want our graduates to be
adept at critiquing, concluding, and
assessing, so we can draw that out
of them by asking higher-level
thinking questions.
Questions can be a site where new
knowledge destabilizes students’
assumptions. Dr. John Thompson,
Master Teacher, had a student tell
him that what he was learning
“messes with your mind”. That’s
great!
[W]hen you go at life with a question and
simply try to follow the trail of answers,
then all the familiar contours of culture
begin to shift. Everything is connected to
everything else, and the web shakes with
any touch at its farthest margins.
Mary Rose O’Reilley, 36-37
(continued on pg 13...)
Bridges , Vol. 5, No. 2
11
www.usask.ca/gmcte
Bloom’s levels of
intellectual behaviour,
cognitive domain*
Use these words to start
forming questions
Type of thinking that is
required of the student
Evaluation
Evaluate according to criteria,
develop opinions
State why, make judgments
Resolve controversies or
differences of opinions
Judge, criticize, defend, what
fallacies (in)consistencies appear,
which is more relevant, important,
moral, logical, valid, find the errors,
do you agree, prioritize the
following, what criteria would you
use to assess
Appraise, conclude, critique, judge,
assess, weigh, compare, evaluate
Synthesis
Combine elements in a new
pattern, perhaps verbally or
visually
Create, make, develop, how would
you test, solve the following, make
up, how else would you, state a rule
what would you infer from, how
would you create a new ____, what
might happen if you combine
Combine, devise, originate, expand,
plan, rewrite, pose, theorize,
synthesize, conceive, invent,
develop, modify
Analysis
Break down into parts,
Subdivide to show how it fits
together
Distinguish, what assumptions, state
the point of view of, what is the
support for this conclusion, what’s
the relationship between, what’s
the main idea, what statement is
relevant
Ascertain, diagnose, distinguish,
outline, analyze, diagram, divide,
point out, associate, differentiate,
dissect, infer, determine
Application
Apply to new circumstance,
Problem solving,
Use of facts, rules, principles
Predict, explain, which statements
best apply, judge the effects, what
would result, how much change
would there be if, How is this an
example of, why is this significant?
How is this related to
Apply, discover, manage, relate,
classify, employ, predict, show,
compute, evidence, solve,
Comprehension
Translate, interpret, Organize
Extrapolate
Summarize in your own words,
give an example, which statements
support, retell, classify, translate,
represent, which are facts, is this
the same as…, demonstrate, show
in a graph
Discover, relate, give examples of,
summarize, represent, reword,
vary, interpret, paraphrase, alter
Knowledge
Remember, Describe
Draw out facts
Who, what, were, when, (why),
how, how much, match, choose,
define, describe, which one
Cite, label, name, state, reproduce,
define, list, quote, pronounce,
identify, match, recite
* Bloom identifies three domains of educational activity: affective; cognitive; and psychomotor.
12
Bridges , Vol. 5, No. 2
Centennial Celebrations
Focus on Teaching
and Learning
The best questions are dangerous,
and unsettling. Can we walk
with our students into the hard
questions, the ones with no easy
answers?
I would like to beg you dear Sir, as well
as I can, to have patience with everything
unresolved in your heart and to try to
love the questions themselves as if they
were locked rooms or books written in a
very foreign language. Don’t search for the
answers, which could not be given to you
now, because you would not be able to live
them. And the point is to live everything.
Live the questions now. Perhaps then,
someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way
into the answer.
Rainer Maria Rilke
References
Aschner, M. J. (1961). Asking
questions to trigger thinking. NEA
Journal, 50, 44-46.
Bain, Ken. (2004). What the Best
College Teachers Do. Cambridge:
Harvard U P.
Bloom, Benjamin S. (ed.) (1956).
Taxonomy of Educational Objectives:
Cognitive Domain. New York: David
McKay Company, Inc.
O’Reilley, Mary Rose. (1993). The
Peaceable Classroom. New Hampshire: Boynton / Cook.
Postman, Neil. (1979) Teaching as
a Conserving Idea. New York: Delacourt Press.
Pynchon, Thomas. (1973). Proverbs
for Paranoids. Gravity’s Rainbow.
New York:Viking Press.
Rilke, Rainer Maria. (1903). Letters
to a Young Poet. trans. M.D. Herter
Norton, New York: W.W. Norton.
Bridges , Vol. 5, No. 2
By Malreddy Pavan Kumar
Department of Sociology, U of S
There is a public misconception
that the primary task of
university professors is to teach.
In today’s research-dominated
world, however, a full professor
spends less than 20 percent
of his/her working hours in
teaching. Although teaching and
mentorship play a crucial role
in the advancement of research,
intense pressure from government
and funding agencies has led many
universities to make research their
top priority. As universities often
underplay the interrelationship
between teaching and research, this
leads to a compromise of overall
learning standards.
Established in 1984, the Master
Teacher Award recognizes faculty
members’ outstanding contributions
to the culture of teaching and
learning at the U of S. Subsequently,
the U of S introduced the Sylvia
Wallace Sessional Lecturer Award
in 2001 in order to encourage parttime sessional lecturers. Over the
years, the U of S recommended a
number of distinguished teachers
to the prestigious 3M Teaching
Fellowship. As a compliment to those
efforts, Brad Flavell, the USSU Vice
President of Student Affairs, added
that the Student Union has awarded
46 Teaching Excellence awards over
23 years.
The U of S centennial event
entitled “Celebrating Our Teaching,
Learning, and Students; 100
Years,” however, was specifically
designed to recognize the intrinsic
connection between teaching
and research at the U of S. While
speaking on these issues, Provost
and Vice-President Academic,
Michael Atkinson, reminded us that
the U of S has always recognized
“teaching as one of its primary
functions, and it expects its faculty
members to strive for excellence
in teaching and learning.”
Atkinson asserted that the Master
Teacher Award is a “tangible
acknowledgement of exceptional
pedagogy at the University of
Saskatchewan.”
Among other speakers, Tom
Wishart – Dean of the College of
Graduate Studies and Research
(CGSR) – underscored that, in
addition to teaching, a good
learning environment involves strong
mentorship in students’ academic
careers. In this respect, the CGSR
introduced the Distinguished
Supervisor Award in 1998 to
recognize the graduate supervisors’
role in guiding students towards
research excellence.
13
Jim Greer, the director of
The Gwenna Moss Centre for
Teaching Effectiveness profiled
the achievements of the Centre
in successfully training graduate
students and young lecturers
www.usask.ca/gmcte
through various online and inclass programs on teaching. In
acknowledging the Center’s
importance, Michael Atkinson
commemorated the inspiration
provided by Gwenna Moss, an
accomplished teacher and the
recipient of the U of S Alumni
Award in 1998, in fostering a rich
teaching tradition at the U of S.
A number of very accomplished
teachers such as Ron Marken, John
Thompson – both 3M Teaching
Fellowship winners – and Thomas
Molloy, the recipient of the 2001
Alumni Award, were in attendance
at the event. A luminary who
stood out in this distinguished
company was Ernie Walker, a
multi-award winner in teaching
and community work as well as an
internationally recognized scholar
in the fields of Archaeology and
Anthropology of Forensics.
in disciplines that span from
Paleobiology to Dentistry as a
“wonder to most.”
Walker’s achievements, however,
are not restricted to teaching;
his reputation “as a complete
teacher-scholar has changed our
lives individually and collectively.”
With his remarkable role at
Wanuskewin, Walker led the U
of S to forge relationships with
Aboriginal people as well as to
draw the Conceptual Framework
for a successful partnership. When
asked by President MacKinnon to
lead an initiative which would be
critical to the future of Aboriginal
people at the U of S, Walker guided
the University “through a significant
shift from an attitude of ‘us and
other’ to an embracing of ‘we’.”
Finally, commenting on his own
overall accomplishments, Walker
stated that his teaching philosophy
While introducing Walker’s
achievements, President MacKinnon is quite simple: “to love what I am
doing, be consistently relevant,
pointed to the fact that “we
up-to-date, and dynamic in my
celebrated his achievements
presentation, engage my students,
with one of the banners on
hold high standards, and know
College Drive.” In spite of
my audience so no one gets
Walker’s academic specialization,
President MacKinnon regarded the left behind.” In rejecting the
conventional dichotomy between
diversity of his teaching expertise
“research” and “teaching,”
Walker maintained that “creative
researchers often are better
teachers and the reverse is also
true. This is a symbiotic relationship
which makes teaching much more
than the routine passing on of
information.”
As evinced in his quotation “when
someone says to me that the
University is not really involved in
community affairs, I wonder what
planet they’re from.” Walker reveals
that part of his inspiration for
teaching comes from maintaining
close ties with the Aboriginal
community; working with spiritual
elders; listening closely to their
teachings; and learning from their
traditional knowledge.
The centennial event, honoured
greatly by Walker’s eclectic
imagination in teaching and
scholarship, celebrated the
U of S’s achievements beyond its
expectations, including the teaching
spirit of Aboriginal communities
and their significance to the
property of the University of
Saskatchewan.
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Faculty Teaching and Technology Day
An exciting and highly effective “Faculty Teaching and Technology Day” was offered in March by the Division of Continuing
Professional Learning and the Teaching and Technology Committee of the College of Medicine. The program offered the opportunity for Faculty to learn in hands-on workshops on Advanced PDA use and Basic PowerPoint presentation, and about
teaching techniques such as Video-conferencing, WebCT programming, Interactive curriclulum/course mapping,and Student
Response Systems. All attendees received a one gigabyte flash drive containing the program and course presentations
instead of a paper syllabus. Feedback on the Teaching and Technology Day was exceptionally positive: “New Ideas – These
were stimulated in spades!”; “Very well organized, a variety of choices to meet our needs”; “It was really well done; I want to
come next time!”; and “This is simply an excellent idea; it refreshes thinking and immerses one in new ideas”
The Teaching and Technology Day will be an annual event, alternating between Saskatoon and Regina. If you were unable to
attend this year, watch for information about Regina in Spring 2008.
14
Bridges , Vol. 5, No. 2
New University Learning
Centre Staff
Join us in welcoming new colleagues to the ULC in their new positions supporting student learning and success.
Drop by their office in Room 37 Murray during the summer to find out more about what they are planning and
already doing to transform teaching and foster learning on campus and check out the web site at www.usask.
ca/ulc. The next issue of Bridges will offer more in-depth information about new ULC programs and services.
Gina Koehn is the Program Director for Student Success activities in the University
Learning Centre. Gina has been directly involved in supporting students on campus for
the past 12 years, actively teaching and overseeing Learner Support in the Department
of Computer Science. With a passion for lifelong learning, Gina hopes to foster learning
on campus by empowering and informing learners, helping to build active learning communities, and sharing best practices of innovative learner support programs. Gina can be
phoned at 966-2738 or emailed at gina.koehn@usask.ca.
Liv Marken - In addition to continuing her work as a Sessional, Liv Marken is the University Learning Centre’s Coordinator of Writing Help. Her background is in teaching
literature & composition, business communication (College of Commerce), and technical communication (UBC Okanagan). She has worked as a consultant giving writing and
public speaking workshops to businesses, corporations, and for municipal and provincial
governments. As the Writing Help Coordinator, Liv will expand online writing help for
all U of S students and strengthen discipline-specific writing help. Liv can be phoned at
966-2771 or emailed at liv.marken@usask.ca.
Holly Fraser is from Saskatoon originally. She has been the coordinator of the Math/
Stats Help Centre (now located in the University Learning Centre) since it originally
opened in September 1999. Holly plans activities for the centre (such as special topic
and review sessions), hires and trains tutors, sets the schedule, and works in the centre
providing help to students needing assistance with math or stats. Holly can be phoned
at 966-2742 or emailed at holly.fraser@usask.ca.
Phaedra Hitchings - Community Service-Learning Coordinator. Phaedra comes to the
ULC from Student Enrollment and Services Division where she helped to develop and
coordinate service learning programs such as Alternative Reading Week and Leadership
Advantage. As CSL Coordinator Phaedra encourages those interested in communityservice learning to visit the website of the Canadian Association for Community ServiceLearning for a great resource. Phaedra can be phoned at 966-7164 or emailed at
Phaedra.Hitchings@usask.ca
Bridges , Vol. 5, No. 2
15
www.usask.ca/gmcte
Teaching Award
News from the gmc
STLHE Conference
Evolving Scholarship,
June 13-16, 2007
The University of Alberta, Edmonton,
Alberta, will be your host for the
Society for Teaching and Learning
in Higher Education (STLHE) 2007
conference. The theme of the
conference is “Evolving Scholarship.”
This theme captures the current
national focus on the scholarship of
teaching and appeals to all STLHE’s
groups including faculty, 3Ms, Teaching
Fellows, administrators, graduate and
undergraduate students.
This theme also captures various
perspectives of the scholarship of
teaching including: Students today need
different skills from students who
attended university in the 1990s; they
may need to remember less fact, but
they also need a better-developed ability
to access and manipulate information
and to explore entirely new ideas.
Also, the scholarship of teaching has
changed. We recognize that we now
know a great deal more about how
students learn, and good professors
will incorporate those findings into
their teaching. Because many University
staff have high qualifications in their
specialty but less information about
appropriate teaching techniques, Faculty
Development and Offices of Education
are also of interest to the Society. All
these aspects are covered under the
theme of “Evolving Scholarship”.
To register or read more information go
to http://www.ualberta.ca/~uts/STLHE/
The GMC is sponsoring limited
registrations cost for U of S faculty.
Contact Kathy Schwarz at 966-1804.
Teaching Awards
at the U of S
Corinne Fasthuber
Assistant, Gwenna Moss Centre for
Teaching Effectiveness
Feel free to drop in at the Centre
and see the large oak plaque on
our wall listing all the recipients of
this award.
The Centre also initiated the
Sylvia Wallace Sessional Lecturer
The Gwenna Moss Teaching Excellence Award in
Centre for Teaching 2001, in memory of Sylvia Wallace
Effectiveness
a Master Teacher award winner
extends special
from the College of Pharmacy
congratulations to & Nutrition. This annual award
Dr. Ernest Walker, recognizes the important and
Department of Archaeology, for
essential contributions of sessional
being one of 10 who won this
lecturers to the University of
year’s 3M Fellowship Award, an
Saskatchewan’s teaching community.
award that recognizes teaching
To date it has been our pleasure
excellence as well as educational
to award seven outstanding
leadership. Dr. Walker was our
sessionals this award, the newest
spring 2005 Master Teacher Award being Warren Noonan, Department
winner. He joins the elite rank
of Educational Administration,
of past U of S 3M winners: Ron
College of Education. The deadline
Marken, 1987, Mel Hosain, 1994,
for nominations is November 15,
Len Gusthart, 2002 and John
2007. Additional information can
Thompson & Rick Schwier 2005.
be found on the following website:
http://www.usask.ca/gmcte/awards/
Nomination deadline is midsylviawallace.php
November. Details for this
award are on the STLHE website:
Celebrate and acknowledge the
http://www.mcmaster.ca/
excellent teachers at our university.
3Mteachingfellowships/index2.htm Nominate that extraordinary
teacher!
The Gwenna Moss Centre
coordinates the Master Teacher
If you have any questions about
Award which honours faculty on
teaching awards, call me at 966our campus who excel at teaching. 2231 or e-mail me at corinne.
The deadline for submission next
fasthuber@usask.ca.
year is Friday, February 15, 2008.
Please refer to this website for
details: http://www.usask.ca/gmcte/
awards/masterteacher.php
16
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Bridges , Vol. 5, No. 2
Unabridged
Our Ongoing Series of Interviews with Award-Winning Teachers
The Unabridged interview series
returns in this issue with one of
our most recent Master Teacher
Award Winners, Dr. Fred Phillips
(Commerce).
1) What was one of your best
teaching experiences?
I wrote an instructional case
based on the accounting fraud at
WorldCom, placing each student
in the role of an assistant working
for the company’s chief financial
officer (CFO). Initially, the assistant
helped the CFO with mundane
tasks, but later was required to
carry out increasingly peculiar
and suspicious activities. At the
conclusion of the case when the
fraud was revealed, the CFO
pointed to his assistant as the
culprit responsible for committing
the fraud, basically hanging each
student out to dry.
anticipate the other emotions
that the case would generate.
After all, it was just words and
paper-students didn’t actually get
caught in the fraud. But our class
discussion was among the liveliest
I have ever experienced. Somehow,
the class had come to view me as
the evil CFO who had duped them.
I was bombarded with questions
like “why did you do this?” or “say
that?” Their written reports were
just as rich. In response to one
question that asked students to
summarize what they had taken
away from the case, one student
wrote, “It’s weird, but I actually
feel mad. I’m angry at the CFO for
suckering me into doing his dirty
work. And I’m upset at myself for
being so easily misled. I wish I had
trusted my instincts and stood up
for what I thought was right.” It’s
a great teaching day when you
generate that kind of response.
3) Why did you become a teacher?
I didn’t grow up wanting to
become a teacher. In all honesty, I
just drifted into it. While working
for a Chartered Accounting
(CA) firm, I became involved in
training new CAs. It was fun to
help them understand how things
worked in the “real world.” It
was then that I realized I enjoyed
breaking down complex problems
to the point where even I could
understand them and explain them
to others. From that point on, I
took advantage of every teaching
opportunity I could get within
the CA firm. When I couldn’t get
enough, I left the firm to pursue
my life as an academic.
2) Did you have a role model or
4) As a teacher, what do you really
mentor that affected your personal want your students to learn from
teaching philosophy?
you, aside from content?
One person who had a great
influence on me was an accounting
instructor (Mick Norgrove) at
the University of Manitoba, where
I completed my undergraduate
degree. Mick had this way of
making every topic seem like a
I had assigned the case for analysis, puzzle to be solved. Sure, he knew
to be handed in just before we
the solution to each puzzle, but
discussed it in class. As I had hoped, he was able to put that aside and
many students were intrigued to
make you feel like you were solving
learn more about the how and
it with him for the first time. I try
why of the fraud, but I didn’t fully
to create that kind of engaging
Bridges , Vol. 5, No. 2
context for whatever it is we’re
taking up in class. I don’t think I’m
there yet, but I look forward to
getting better at it.
17
Ultimately, I’d like each student
to learn how to become a better
person, whether that means
someone who is thoughtful,
trustworthy, or just plain fun. While
the world needs more accountants
(it’s true), it really needs more
people who care, can be trusted,
and have fun with.
5) Do you see a change in students
since you began your teaching
career?
www.usask.ca/gmcte
If you are asking me whether
students, deep down, have the
same aspirations as when I started
teaching full-time (in 1990), I’d
say they do. They want a solid
education that will help prepare
them for a successful career and
life after university. But are their
day-to-day lives the same? Not
really. Back then, I didn’t have many
students working 20-30 hours per
week and taking 15 credit hours
of classes. They weren’t juggling all
the balls that many students today
attempt to keep in the air.
6) How has your teaching evolved
as your career progresses?
I find myself more willing to
experiment and take risks. In
particular, I am eager to try out
new technology to enhance how
students experience my classes.
I’ve also grown more comfortable
with allowing class discussions
to unfold naturally, without too
much intervention on my part.
Don’t get me wrong, I still prepare
thoroughly for each and every
class, but I don’t feel the need to
fit it all in during a particular class
session.
7) What is your favorite book or
movie?
Hmm ... can it be a textbook?
Seriously, it would be anything
where the main character rises
above to enjoy success. Jonathan
Livingston Seagull and Everyone’s
Hero are the first two that come
to mind.
I would sleep in really late, until
maybe 8 or 9 a.m.. Then, after
checking e-mail, I would enjoy a
Venti Mocha Frappuccino while
reading the comics with my kids.
The rest of the day would include
a trip to the gym, more e-mail,
playing with the kids, shopping and
dinner with my wife, an episode of
House or MNF game, and one final
check of e-mail.
9) Without breaking any rules of
confidentiality, what is your most
memorable wrong answer from a
student in one of your classes?
I know this sounds cheesy, but
the good answers are more
memorable for me than the wrong
ones.
Christine Anderson
8) How would you spend a day off?
GMCTE
(If you only had to please yourself)
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Ernie Walker, Department of Archaeology,
College of Arts & Science, awarded 3M Fellowship
For some 20 years, Ernie Walker had reached out, above and beyond his University of Saskatchewan faculty
position in the Department of Archaeology, to his larger community, “changing the institutional and cultural
relationship and mutual response among Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal persons” to the point of having
leaders declaring that “his leadership” had been “crucial for the future of Saskatchewan and Aboriginal
people.”
But for Ernie Walker, the dedication to reach out across cultural boundaries can be argued to be simply
the consistent expression of his wider dedication to transcend all knowledge boundaries whether they be
academic, social, research related or learning and teaching related. “Human history and Natural History
are the opposite sides of the same coin… In many ways Archaeology is the ultimate science,” he proudly
proclaims. Flying this revolutionary banner from class, to lab, to field, and back again, our “bone-man”
sparks enthusiasm, growth, and gratefulness, sketching himself, so to speak, the “backbone” of a powerful
reformulation of academia, and obtaining on the way all Teaching Awards available at the University of
Saskatchewan, as well as that offered by the British Columbia Institute of Technology. A student comments,
“He teaches everywhere he goes, in whatever he does . . . he teaches all the time.” As he teaches, he
creates community, and today we welcome him into his new community—the 3M Teaching Fellowship.
For full information about the award and other award winning teachers go to http://www.mcmaster.ca/
3Mteachingfellowships/2007/ernie.walker.html
18
Bridges , Vol. 5, No. 2
Warren Noonan, College of Education, U of S,
awarded the 2007 Sylvia Wallace
Sessional Lecturer Teaching Excellence Award
The Gwenna Moss Centre for
Teaching Effectiveness is very
pleased to announce the 2007
award-winning sessional lecturer
for the Sylvia Wallace Sessional
Lecturer Teaching Excellence
Award, Dr. Warren Noonan.
Please read on to find out a little
about his teaching background and
his teaching philosophy.
There is positive rapport between
the adult learners and the
instructor, which demonstrates that
Mr. Noonan has been successful in
developing a collegial, professional
learning environment”.
Biographical Sketch
Dr. Warren Noonan:
Academic Credentials:
Ph.D. University of
Oregon 1996
M.Ed.University of
Saskatchewan 1984
P.G.D.University of
Saskatchewan 1978
B.Ed.University of
Saskatchewan 1975
B.A.University of
Saskatchewan 1972
Warren as worked as a principal
in the Saskatoon Catholic School
system from 1984 - 2003, in 4
different schools. He has been a
sessional lecturer at the University
of Saskatchewan regularly since
2003.
Comments from his students were
very positive and enthusiastic:
“Mr. Noonan has created a
comfortable classroom atmosphere. Bridges , Vol. 5, No. 2
associate to his students rather
than dictator.”
To find out more about this award,
or for full information on Warren
and other award winning Sessional
Lecturers at the University of
Saskatchewan, visit
http://www.usask.ca/gmcte/awards
Statement of
Teaching Philosophy:
Teaching – A Caring
Profession
“He was great (and
understanding). Loved the class.”
“Keep up the great job, Warren! This is why people like me want
to become administrators - our
mentors like you are so crucial!!
Thanks.”
“Mr. Noonan enjoys his work and
wants to continue to learn about
people (all people). It is a good
thing that he plays the role of
19
My teaching philosophy is founded
on three interdependent concepts:
relationships, environment, and
feedback. Trying to develop
a positive student-teacher
relationship is the most important
goal in my teaching, as I believe
learning is dependent on a positive
teacher-student relationship.
Without such a relationship, limited
knowledge will be shared, retained,
or created. The term positive
relationship refers to how students
interact; that is, how students
interact with each other and how
students interact with the teacher.
The teacher’s task is to create
an interactive environment that
promotes learning.
continued next page
www.usask.ca/gmcte
I believe a teaching environment
should be democratic. A
democratic learning environment
means the environment is
characterized by sharing
responsibilities; the student
has a responsibility, and I have
a responsibility. The student’s
responsibility is to learn; my
responsibility, as a teacher, is to
guide students through a successful
learning experience. In order to
guide students through a successful
learning experience, I need to be
well organized and planned. I am
also required to be an expert, in
terms of understanding the course
content. In addition, I must be
familiar with current research,
integrate the course content with
the research, and ensure that the
course content is relevant to the
needs of the student. To ensure
a course is relevant to a student,
I must know each student on a
personal basis, and in particular, I
have to know what each student
requires to be successful in
class. Responding to students’
needs requires that a course
be individualized; each person
in my class is different, in ability,
interests and in need. I believe
individualizing a class demonstrates
a sense of care. Students want
to know their teacher cares
about them. I believe caring is
an integral part of teaching, and
in my experience students relate
well to a teacher who cares. To
demonstrate care I try to respond
to students’ needs. For example,
a student may need additional
instruction time, an extension
to assignments, or time to meet
with me; my responsibility is to
respond to their particular needs.
That implies I am to do what it
takes for a student to experience
success; my responsibility is to
help a student succeed.
As teacher I not only want, but
need feedback. Feedback can be
obtained in a variety of ways. In
my classes feedback comes from
such activities as assignments,
term papers, exams, and peer or
self evaluation. While such forms
of feedback can be used solely as
a source for student assessment,
I believe the information can
also be used as a reflective
tool to ascertain my success
in guiding students through
the learning experience. If the
students’ assessment results
are not positive, I need to
reflect on how I can improve
the course to ensure students
will experience success. Peer
and student evaluations offer a
valuable feedback. Yet, I find peer
and student evaluations create
two opposing and challenging
feelings – anxiety and need. My
anxiety is finding out I did not
meet a personal goal of offering
a positive learning experience to
all students. My need is to find
out what I can do to improve
the course – to ensure student
success.
A democratic learning
environment means the
environment is characterized
by sharing responsibilities;
the student has a responsibility,
and I have a responsibility.
Past experience with evaluations
indicate my need is much
stronger than my anxiety, as I
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enjoy the challenge of reorganizing
and modifying course content. I
also enjoy the challenge of trying
to offer different ways to involve
students, by incorporating role
plays, dioramas, and class debates.
In addition, feedback encourages
me to employ different methods
of assessing student growth, such
as, creating portfolios, varying
the types of assignments. My
experience suggests that a student
takes more ownership, becomes
more involved in, a learning
experience if they can be active
participants in determining how
their progress will be assessed.
Teaching is a source of learning for
me. While I may be the teacher –
students have also taught me. They
have taught me the importance of
being flexible, of realizing there are
many different ways to determine
success and that student success
is not restricted to grade scores.
Students taught me to be more
compassionate and hopefully
be being more compassionate I
become more caring. Students
taught me that if I become more
caring I can develop a more
positive and supportive relationship
with them and I believe
relationships are the foundation of
learning.
I believe the challenge of teaching
is being able to change, to adapt
and to respond to the individual
needs of a very diverse student
population. Interestingly, the
challenge also becomes the reward
– of being a teacher.
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Bridges , Vol. 5, No. 2