




Taught Public Speaking for 14 years as an
adjunct instructor (the last five at DU)
Directed economic development programs
in MI and IN
Managed bank branches for FMB-First
Michigan Bank & Huntington
Volunteered with the first Peace Corps
group to serve in Kazakhstan (1993-4)
Self-published an e-book & print-ondemand novel in 2012
Pedagogy
Inclusive
to 7:26
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq-FOOQ1TpE
Jacob Barnett is an
American
mathematician and
child prodigy. At 8
years old, Jacob
began sneaking
into the back of
college lectures at
IUPUI. After being
diagnosed with
autism since the
age of two and
placed in his
school's special ed.
program, Jacob's
teachers and
doctors were
astonished to learn
he was able to
teach calculus to
college students.
 Forget
What You Know
› Jacob Barnett at TEDxTeen
•
Syllabus
• Required: Blackboard,
Materials, Equipment, Topics,
Assessments
Rubrics for each Assignment
• CRIR - Course Requirements and
•
Instructor Resources (CRIR). This step
has been taken to develop more
consistency in the material covered
across campuses, across times, and
across delivery methods.
 Email incomplete lecture slides before class (complete slides
caused a downtown in attendance)
 Peer Cooperative Learning (e.g., Small groups study a
passage or answer a question posed by instructor
 Practice quizzes given in class
 Simulations (with partners) on tasks such as how states or
regions might compromise on important legislative issues
 Question: Why aren’t all students willing to participate or use
the available resources?
###
Arendale, D. R., & Ghere, D. L. (2005). Integrating best practices of developmental education in
introductory history courses. In J. L. Higbee, D. B. Lundell, & D. R. Arendale (Eds.), The General College
vision: Integrating intellectual growth, multicultural perspectives, and student development (pp. 223-246).
Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, General College, Center for Research on Developmental Education
and Urban Literacy. Retrieved July 22, 2014, from
http://cehd.umn.edu/CRDEUL/pdf/TheGCVision/section3.pdf
A. Respectful, welcoming climate
a) Language to overcome negative attitudes (involve
students in establishing guidelines)
b) Interactions to identify strengths & challenges and
to overcome prejudices
B. Essential Course Components
a) Evaluate mastery, not ability to write/think fast
b) Multiple means for students to demonstrate
knowledge using THEIR learning styles
Just Good Teaching? IF practiced by faculty in
intentional and reflective ways!

Conformity ignores diverse…
› Interests
Conformity
› Needs
› Goals
› Skills
› Aspirations

Creativity: vagueness in content to…
Creativity
› Motivate (give reasons for seeking &
remembering information)
› Broaden Interests (of instructors & students!)
› Offer Topics & Projects Adapted to the Diversity
of Our Students
› [“Excitement of continued learning… is put at
risk when the curriculum is narrowly prescribed.
(Noddings, 2013)
Cooperation…
in increasingly diverse
organizations

a.
b.
c.
Is mandatory to solve
worldwide problems.
Identity is socially
created in groups &
communities of peers
Six degrees of
separation (theory that
everyone is connected
by 6 relationship links)
Critical Thinking…
aids productivity in the
workplace

To make small changes
in products/processes.
b. “Messy” problemsolving/divergent
analysis
c. Revolutionize methods
of doing
business/offering
services
a.
Ideas from:
When students who are used to text- and teacher-dependent
modes of learning switch into a playful mode, they are learning
very differently. They are temporarily estranged from the typical
experience of listening to a lecture, adding notes to PowerPoints
projected during that lecture, and then being split into smallgroup discussions.
Serious play is constructing metaphorical

An ADD student in a workshop on modeling
was entirely focused and participative for 100
minutes. When this was pointed out, she said
any kind of traditional lecture with
PowerPoints and handouts left her crawling
up the walls, but “when I can think with my
fingers, I’m golden.”
Student Example
Strategy

and symbolic creations that represent
problems, solutions, realizations, and models
of communication. Nolan (2010) advises
building models with fingers first, rather than
designing in your head and then building with
fingers. As the nerve endings situated in your
fingers send messages to your brain, you are
literally thinking through your fingers during
the building process (Gauntlett, 2011).
Key: Think about Jacob’s message –
“Forget What You Know”
Clean Language: (a) avoid leading questions;
(b) avoid suggesting the speaker’s intent
(c ) take what is said at face value

How can we apply creativity to what is
required in our syllabus for…
Blackboard Classrooms?
 Materials & Activities?
 Assessments?
 Our Professional Development?

*Candy awarded for each response