CTL News
Center for Teaching and Learning
Summer 2012
Volume 2, Issue 3
Special points of interest:
Center for Teaching and Learning
New Director announced...
 CTL Director announced
 Summer Training
Opportunities
 Composing a Digital ClassJenny Merkowitz
 Faculty Teaching Awards
 iPad PLC (un)Common Hour
 Spring Workshops
Dr. Chris Anson, Writing Engagement
workshop
Center for Teaching and
Learning
Courtright Memorial Library
3rd Floor, top of the stairs
One South Grove St.
Westerville, OH 43081
Kathryn Plank, Director
614-823-1034
Tom Wilcox,
Senior Instructional Technologist
twilcox@otterbein.edu
614-823-1592
Colin Saunders, Instructional Technologist
csaunders@otterbein.edu
614-823-1875
Peggy McMains, Program Assistant
pmcmains@otterbein.edu
614-823-1035
The Center for Teaching and Learning is pleased to
announce that Kathryn Plank, Ph.D., will join the CTL as the
new director after eleven years as Associate Director of Ohio State's
University Center for the Advancement of Teaching (UCAT) and
Adjunct Assistant Professor in the School of Educational Policy &
Leadership. Dr. Plank received her Ph.D. in English at The
Pennsylvania State University, where she also served as Associate
Director of their teaching center. She has taught a variety of courses
at both OSU and PSU, and also facilitated a number of faculty learning
communities.
This year Dr. Plank will assume the presidency of the Professional
Organizational Development Network (POD Network), the national
association of faculty developers. She has over a dozen publications,
including a recent book on team teaching and two chapters on
assessment of faculty development. Her research interests include
program assessment, teaching consultation, diversity, educational
technology, critical thinking, and team teaching.
Dr. Plank will be replacing Leslie
Ortquist-Ahrens, CTL’s founding
director, who served at Otterbein
for 10 years. Leslie has accepted a
position with Berea College in
Berea, Kentucky. We wish Leslie
well on her new journey.
Please help us welcome Dr. Plank
to the Otterbein community. Her
first official day will be October 1.
Fax: 614-823-1921
CTL@otterbein.edu
http://www.otterbein.edu/CTL/
Kathryn Plank
CTL Summer Workshops– Library 201
Register at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WJN72VB
______________
ctl-tech@otterbein.edu
Managing your ePortfolio Course
-Adding assignments and working with groups will be emphasized in this hands on workshop
meant to take you to the next level with ePortfolio.
Wednesday, August 1
11:00 am - 12:30 pm
Thursday, August 2
2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Course Design and Enhancement
-Using elements of Instructional Design and free desktop recording tools, create “content
nuggets” which support student learning in blended AND face-to-face classes.
Wednesday, August 15
11:00 am -12:30 pm, or 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
ePortfolio: refresher
-An introduction to some of the new tools to help you get started or update your existing
ePortfolio.
Wednesday, September 19
10:30 am - 12:00 pm
Thursday, September 20
2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Introduction to Blackboard
-Learn how to log in and access, design, and turn on your course shell. You will upload content,
manage your student rosters, and create assignments and discussion boards.
Wednesday, August 22
Thursday, August 23
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Creating Tests and Surveys in Blackboard 9.1
-Learn how to create and grade quizzes, tests, and exams using Blackboard. Survey design and
deployment will also be covered.
Wednesday, August 29
10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Thursday, August 30
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Using the Blackboard 9.1 Grade Center
-Learn how to create and manage an online grade book in Blackboard and use it to allow
students to check their grades. You will also create a weighted grade book in Excel.
Wednesday, September 5
10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Thursday, September 6
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Composing a Digital Class: First Experiences with a Hybrid Course Format
Jennifer Merkowitz, Assistant Professor, Department of Music
This spring, I taught the inaugural section of INST
2605, Composing a
Musical Life. The
course was developed
with the support of a
McGregor Grant in
Summer 2010. As a
composer myself, I
was hoping to design
a sort of music
appreciation class that
focused not only on
the passive listening
Jennifer Merkowitz,
experience, as many
http://faculty.otterbein.edu/
music appreciation
JMerkowitz/Site/Home.html
classes do, but on the
act of creation. Since the students were nonmajors, they themselves had some doubts about
their ability to compose a piece of music, but
today’s technology makes it easier than ever to
create music. We began the semester by listening
to a lot of music and talking about its various
elements like rhythm, melody, harmony and tone
color. Gradually, we began to use that vocabulary
to create music using various software tools. By
the end of the class, students composed a 2-3
minute piece that they could publish in their
ePortfolio.
I was intrigued by the notion of a hybrid class, and
since I have had previous success getting nonmajors to compose using computers, it seemed a
natural fit. It was also a practical way to deal with
the large course cap. Ideally, a class with this kind
of hands-on work needs time in a lab where every
student can sit at their own computer and follow
along with my lecture. With 35 students, this was
neither possible nor practical. Instead, I used Jing
screen capture software to record myself walking
through quick tours of the interfaces and
constructing sample assignments. The videos
were uploaded via Screencast.com and I
posted the links on Blackboard. We quickly
ran up our free bandwidth, so with the help
of a generous mini-grant from the CTL I was
able to upgrade my subscription to have
unlimited bandwidth. Then, we had online
days where the students logged onto
Blackboard, watched my videos, and then
worked through the assignments on their
own time, using free or online software. (We
used Audacity (audacity.sourceforge.net) and
two tools from the Aviary toolkit, Roc and
Myna (advanced.aviary.com).)
Other online days were devoted to listening.
After completing a reading assignment,
students listened to (and sometimes
watched) a collection of sound files, Naxos
Music Library streaming audio, YouTube clips
etc. and responded to them via the Journal
tool in Blackboard.
From the feedback I got from the students,
the online days were a highlight of the
course. They allowed students to interact
with the material on their own time and at
their own pace. The experiences they had
could not have been duplicated in a
classroom format. (You can’t rewind a
lecture, but you can rewind a video!) Some
of them got so excited about the music
creation software that they created a second
version of an assignment just to apply the
lessons they had learned while working
through their first attempt. In the end, I was
very pleased with the hybrid format and plan
to expand upon it for the next iteration of the
class in Fall 2012.
Faculty Teaching Awards:
For over 18 years Otterbein faculty members have been recognized for their teaching, either as a Master
Teacher, or a New Teacher. Academic Affairs coordinates and announces these awards at the end-of-theyear faculty recognition ceremony. On Friday, May 11, John Tansey, Associate Professor of Chemistry,
[Master Teacher] and Shelley Payne, Assistant Professor of Health and Sport Sciences [New Teacher] were
recognized and celebrated by their peers. Congratulations, Dr. Tansey and Dr. Payne!
Description: The “New Teacher of the Year” award is intended for a full-time faculty
member at the Assistant Professor rank who is in the first three years of service at
Otterbein. The “Teacher of the Year” award is open to all full-time members of the
Otterbein University faculty. Consideration will be given to years of service in
teaching at Otterbein and the ability to meet the qualities of a “Master Teacher.”
Qualities of the "Master Teacher": The awardee should exhibit: mastery of the
subject matter in his or her discipline or in interdisciplinary teaching, highly effective
organization and communication of material, a spirit of enthusiasm which enriches the
instructor’s own teaching and learning, the ability to arouse the curiosity of beginning
students and to stimulate advanced students to creative work: the ability to interact
with students beyond the classroom through activities that integrate, and the ability to
expand the learning environment.
Shelley Payne, 2011-12
John Tansey, 2011-12
Requirements of the Awardees: Faculty who receive these awards will be required to make a public
presentation during the following academic year on their philosophy of teaching, specific successful
teaching strategies they employ, innovative techniques they have developed to evaluate student learning,
or innovations in course design.
List of honorees
Year
1994-95
1995-96
1996-97
1997-98
1998-99
1999-00
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11
2011-12
Master Teacher
Patrick J. Lewis, BAE
none
James Bailey, English
Paula Knight, Education
J oanne Stichweh, Art
Chris Reynolds, Communication
J ohn Buckles, Communication
Beth Daugherty, English
Zengxiang Tong, Mathematical Sciences
Susan Millsap, Communication
Robert Kraft, Psychology
John Swaim, Education
Lyle Barkhymer, Music
Jeffrey Smith, Mathematical Science
Joan Rocks, Health & Sport Sciences
John Ludlum, Communication
Chuck Zimmerman, Religion
John Tansey, Chemistry
New Teacher
Elizabeth Smith, Education
none
Laura Bennett-Murphy, Psychology
Lynn Taylor, Equine Science
Jeffrey Lehman, Biology
Michele Acker, Psychology
Noam Shpancer, Psychology
Jeffrey Smith, Mathematical Sciences
Amy Jessen-Marshall, Biology & Life Sciences
John Tansey, Chemistry
Suzanne Ashworth, English
Gregory Sullivan, Health and Sport Sciences
Shannon Lakanen, English
Kristin Reninger, Education
Meredith Frey, Psychology
Karen Steigman, English
Tiffany Pempek, Psychology
Shelley Payne, Health and Sport Sciences
iPad PLC (un)Common Hour
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
2
3
Writing and Engagement Workshop
with Dr. Chris Anson, North Carolina State University—
...participant comments
“Seeing examples of
ways that writing can
be integrated into many
different assignments”
“All the different ways in which to incorporate
informal writing”
“Redesigning assignments with
more support for students’ success”
“More informed writing in all courses,
not just my WI course”
“More low-stakes assignments. For
bigger projects- more support along the
way”
“The act of writing helps support
learning, Presenting goals along with
assignment helps support better writing”
“Creative ways to include low
stakes writing in my classes”
Course Design and Enhancement
Workshop
Quest Conference Center
May 25, 2012
...participant comments
“Most valuable: Colin's
presentation on Jing. Tom's
presentation on using
Blackboard”
“I think I will use
it to enhance
courses and
especially my
management of
courses”
“I will use this
to evaluate my
courses and
syllabus”
“I am making modifications to
Blackboard as we speak! I am already
figuring out ways to use Jing”
Watch for more upcoming workshops–
Send workshop suggestions to
ctl-tech@otterbein.edu