Spring, 2011 Volume 4, Issue 2
How many times while thinking about a pedagogical topic have you wished for a CAT on that topic or a readily-identified group of colleagues ready to talk with you about it at your convenience? The Teaching Excellence Essay Series is a resource that can fill this need. These brief essays, written by college and university faculty, address innovative approaches to practical and philosophical considerations in teaching on a range of topics. Accessible online
( http://www.podnetwork.org/publications/teachingexcellence.htm
), this is a wonderful resource for developing new approaches to student learning. Here’s a preview to whet your appetite:
“How Did I Spend Two Hours Grading This Paper?” Responding to Student
Writing Without Losing Your Mind. Eric LeMay (Harvard) Vol. 20, No. 2, 2008-
09. A shift in perspective to view students as novices in the discipline, rather than experts who can’t yet write well , suggests a grading approach that coaches and mentors students into thinking within the conventions of discipline and focuses on nudging students into the next phase of their learning.
Transparent Alignment and Integrated Course Design . David W. Concepcion
(Ball State University) Vol. 21, No. 2, 2009-10. Building on the learning objectives topic of the last CAT session, Concepcion advocates developing assignments that cause students to “ do ” the course goals in ways that make the con-
Need help finding the Essay Series? Just stop by the library. nection clear to the students. His cyclic approach in which students do the goal of summarizing and evaluating complex primary sources begins with planned failure to establish a metacognitive approach through which students evaluate the difficulties they had and reflect upon the process as they learn.
Beyond Writing: Integrative Learning and Teaching in First-Year Seminars . David H. Krause (Dominican University) Vol. 19,
No. 3, 2007-2008. Robert C. Lagueux (Columbia College Chicago). Students in the FYS respond to close consideration of texts by producing creative works and writing a reflective “artist’s statement” in which they reflect on the process and the connections between their work and the course text. The cross-disciplinary faculty teaching the FYS develop a common syllabus with common readings. They organize themselves as a Teaching Academy that draws strength from their variety of disciplines and perspectives as they learn collaborative from each other.
For many first-year students, the concept that they ought to be studying for twice as long outside of class as they do inside it seems onerous. Faculty often see the effect of this attitude in class discussions that barely dip below the surface level and rushed problem sets and papers.
I’ll often encounter these students after they’ve done poorly on a paper that they cobbled together at the last minute. In our meetings, I hear them express a desire to do better while at the same time berating themselves for procrastinating so much.
I often refer these students to Neil Fiore’s book, The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-free Play because of the way that Fiore breaks down the reasons why we avoid work and presents inspired models for how to change our outlook.
Any teacher would benefit from reading the book because of the way it challenges the conventional knowledge about how procrastination is normally dealt with. As a reformed procrastinator myself, I love how Fiore treats procrastinators with sympathy and understanding while presenting a way for anyone to enjoy the benefits of remarkable productivity. As an educator, I love the last chapter, “The Procrastinator in Your Life,” which offers strategies with more nuance than the traditional carrot or stick approach. Most of all, I love how the book offers hope to students who once felt smart but are now doubting their abilities.
By Shawn Doyle, Writing Consultant for First-Year Students

Page 2
C onversations A bout T eaching take place on the first Friday of the block at 11:30 in Cole 108.
Participants are encouraged to bring a brown bag lunch.
 Friday, Feb 4: Taming the
Workshop Monster. Facilitators: Jen Rouse, Consulting Librarian for Education,
Theatre, and the Humanities; Shawn Doyle, Writing
Consultant for First-Year
Students
 Friday, March 4: We have an App for That. Facilitators: Derin Sherman, Associate Professor of Physics;
CTL staff
Last winter over 10 teams participated in Cole Library’s first-ever Trivia Night. It was a memorable evening filled with musical clues, fast-as-you-can cataloging, and serenading by the one and only Shawn Doyle. We’re about to do it all over again, so don’t miss out on all the fun!
The need to know:
 Maximum of 4 people per team
 No minimum team size
 Faculty, staff, and students are all encour-
aged to participate
 All teams get an opportunity to answer all
questions
 Registration begins at 6:15PM
Wednesday, February 23th
2nd floor Cole Library
6:30-8PM
Food! Prizes! Music!
There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the
Free Public Library, this republic of letters, where neither rank, office, nor wealth receives the slightest consideration.
~Andrew Carnegie
 Friday, April 8:
And the Bill Comes
To....:The Cost of Textbooks and Copyright/Fairuse.
Facilitators: Devan
Baty, Assistant Professor of
French; Laurel Whisler, College Librarian
 Friday, May 6th: Games,
Projects, and Imagination: Creativity in Teaching and Learning.
Facilitators: David Yaminishi, Assistant Professor of Politics;
Katy Stavreva, Associate
Professor of English and
Creative Writing
We believe it’s important for students to see the scholarly work that you are doing in your field, so the library is making space near Cole 310 to showcase faculty publications. These publications and projects will be displayed on a rotating basis, each for at least two blocks. We are happy to display books, articles, photographs of creative projects, scores, etc. If you would like us to display some of your publications, or photos of a creative piece, along with a photo of yourself and brief statement about the work, feel free to contact your consulting librarian.
" If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."
Cicero
T
W
E
E
T
Classroom Response Systems, more commonly known as clickers, are fast becoming ubiquitous on college campuses, as evidenced by a
Image from http://56wrtg1150.wikidot.com/clickers recent New York Times article discussing increased clicker usage at Northwestern,
University of Arizona, Vanderbilt, and Harvard University. The instructors interviewed for the article cite “student engagement” as a chief reason for employing clicker technology. A clicker system, when employed thoughtfully and intentionally, can increase student participation by giving students the opportunity to reflect on questions posed by the professor and respond anonymously using an electronic remote. By using clickers, instructors can keep students directly engaged with the task at hand, while at the same time giving the class iterative feedback by posing questions, discussing the response, and then polling the same questions once again. If you are interested in using clickers here at Cornell, please contact the Academic Technology Studio.