Ask-Dr-Kirk

Taking Some Much Needed Downtime...

I'm off to France for ten days so will be taking a short break from posting on this website.  Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Free Rubrics For Teachers

One thing I've learned after 27 years of teaching is that using rubrics for exams, papers, and student presentations means less time grading and more specific feedback for the students.  Check out this website for thousands of free rubrics for teachers.

12 Ways To Measure Teaching Effectiveness

Came across this article on measuring teaching effectiveness including peer ratings, self-evaluations, videos, student interviews, alumni ratings, employer ratings, administrator ratings, teaching scholarship, teaching awards, learning outcome measures, teaching portfolios, and...oh yes...student ratings.

You can download the article here: Download 12 strategies to measure teaching effectiveness

The Value Of An MBA

Interesting article in the Wall Street Journal for our ex-students and friends who are considering going to graduate school in business.

Federal Court Ruling: Be Careful What You Post On The Internet

Many of us have started warning our students that they should be careful what they post on the internet. Here's the first court ruling addressing the use of a social network page (MySpace) in an adverse decision. The case dealt with the awarding of a degree in an university but could apply to employers and applicants also.

Teaching An Online Course?

Rob Weir gives advice on teaching an online course. As he notes:

Teaching online can be rewarding, but be wary before you agree to tackle such a course. There are several seemingly counterintuitive experiences I’ve had with online courses.

• Older students generally perform better than younger ones.
• The range of achievement is much narrower.
• Online courses work best when they mirror live classes.
• Discussion is generally more robust online.
• An online course definitely will not run itself!

Educators Have New Roles In Teaching And Learning

As noted in Johanna Riddle’s article, Redefining the Role of the Teacher:

Today’s educators teach in times that are both exciting and demanding. Many of us have witnessed—and have contributed to—significant shifts in education. Sometimes, we find that those shifts push us outside our comfort zones.

She goes on to say that we will have new roles as frameworkers, connectors, and enablers.  

Frameworkers ”do a great deal of planning, organization, and management up front [so that they] feel that it frees them up to work alongside their students as coaches and guides. These teachers are very likely to be open to learning alongside their students.”

Connectors bring  “a world of learning to the doorsteps of their students. The process can be as simple as finding, and persuading, the right speakers, mentors, and specialists to participate in the life of the classroom, to creating and participating in connective software and Nexus points that broaden the view and knowledge base of students.

Enablers include students in the teaching and learning process as noted by one instructor who admits to a lack of technical expertise while realizing that the power of technology can contribute to learning.  “My philosophy (about technology inclusion) is ‘We’re all in this together’,” she explains. “If I’m trying to take my students through a step in the technological process, and I get lost, I ask them to help me through it. I have to be willing to learn with them.”

When we embrace the notion that how we teach is as crucial to the learning process as what we teach, we naturally begin to expand and reexamine our roles as teachers. As we reach into the world of our students, the everyday business of teaching and learning transforms into a shared, creative journey. And isn’t that when teaching, and learning, really start to matter?

You can read the full article here. 

Road Trip To Nebraska

I'm off to Lincoln, Nebraska, today to teach a faculty development workshop at the BryanLGH College of Health Sciences on Friday. The school provides professional education emphasizing clinical competence as well as academic excellence in order to prepare students for careers in Nursing and Allied Health.

In addition to topics of teaching effectiveness and classroom management, I'll discuss using educational technology such as blogs, wikis, and Twitter in the classroom.

I'm looking forward to it.

Where Are Your Intended Learning Outcomes?

Not sure of the original source of this but got it today from Dr. Robert Anderson, my dean at University of South Florida.

------------

Then Jesus took his disciples up the mountain and gathered them around him, and taught them saying:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,

Blessed are the meek,

Blessed are they that mourn,

Blessed are the merciful,

Blessed are those who thirst for justice,

Blessed are you when persecuted,

Blessed are you when you suffer,

Be glad and rejoice for your reward is great in heaven.

Then Simon Peter said,

            “Do we have to write this down?”

 And Andrew said,

            “Are we supposed to know this?”

 And James said,

            “Will we have a test on this?”

 And Phillip said,

            “I don’t have any paper.”

 And Bartholomew said,

            “Do we have to turn this in?”

 And John said,

            “The other disciples didn’t have to learn this.”

 And Matthew said,

            “Can I go to the boy’s room?”

 And Judas said,

            “What does this have to do with real life?”

 

Then, one of the Pharisees asked to see one of Jesus’ lesson plans and inquired of Jesus.

            “Where are your intended learning outcomes?”

 

And Jesus wept.

More On Twitter: 50 CEOs Who Use This As A Business Tool

Yesterday, I asked if other professors were using Twitter in their classroom. Here’s an interesting article on CEOs who use Twitter and why. I'm thinking that an interesting assignment in my MBA class on Leadership this fall would be to have the students pick someone to follow and then analyze how that CEO and company is using Twitter as a business strategy.

And for those of you who wonder what this is all about, here's an article on the misconceptions about Twitter.

 

Are You Using Twitter As A Teaching Tool?

This article on using Twitter in the classroom states that it "helps students develop key skills in listening, information-gathering, multitasking and succinct writing." Twitter appears to be used primarily in Communications, PR, and Marketing classes.

I'm thinking of using Twitter in my management classes this fall-either as a visual aid for student presentations or as a way to review for exams. I would be curious to hear how others are using this technology.

Thanks to Wendy Drexler for pointing me to the article.

 

Prof Asks What Would Happen If We Engaged In Behaviors We Sometimes See In The Classroom

This anonymous blogger poses the questions we've all had at some point in our teaching career...

What would happen if I walked into class and left my ipod in? If I just pantomimed my way  through a lecture while I actually rocked out in my own little ipod world? It would look like I was teaching, just like it looks like you (chick in the 7th row to the left) are paying attention to me. Or, what if I lectured and played a video game at the same time? Instead of slides, you could see my game. Or if I just decided to work on the campus newspaper crossword puzzle (how can that take you all class period? It’s ridiculously easy, if you want, I can just give you all the answers in the first 2 minutes of class). Hmmm…what if I just interrupted class to take a call on my cell phone, or sent a text message or two. Oooh I know, what if I just ripped off a lecture from the internet. You know, it would be completely and obviously distinct from my usual lecture style. The organization would be different, the format of my slides would be different, it would just scream “I DIDN’T DO THIS” but I just passed it off to you like it was my own work. I will have to try these things. I’ll consider it pedagogical research and will begin as soon as I get tenure.

Off To Run The Pig For A Good Cause

I'm leaving today for Cincinnati to participate in my first half marathon on May 3 with Patti Digh and 11 other women from 10 cities in 8 different states.  We are raising money for Metropolitan Ministries, an organization that helps poor and homeless people get jobs, housing, their lives back together...If you would like to make a donation, click here.

AND Patti's giving away t-shirts!  As she notes, if you make a pledge to Metropolitan Ministries for $5 a mile or more ($65.50), she will send you one of the Life is a Verb Flying Pig half-marathon extravaganza t-shirts! Please be sure to note "Flying Pig--Digh" in the comment line so she will know who to send the  t-shirt to, and send her an email at patti(at)pattidigh(dot)com with your address and t-shirt size.

"Every donation, no matter how large or small, counts, and gives back dignity to human beings just trying to make it, mile by mile."