Teaching Times At Pitt - Nov 06

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Tea Award ching s Issue

Center for Instructional Development && Distance Distance Education Education Center for Instructional Development

Vol. XII, Nº 2

A newsletter devoted to the support of teaching & learning at the University of Pittsburgh

November 2006

Teaching Awardees Discuss Interacting with Students

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ince student-faculty interaction promotes lasting learning and strengthens academic commitment, instructors who recognize students as individuals, as well as learners, have an impact beyond the course. In this annual Teaching Times, faculty recipients of major University of Pittsburgh teaching awards in 2006 share ways that they cultivate this dynamic interaction. Faculty-student interaction takes many forms. Although feedback on assignments can be provided in written notations, face-to-face discussions of student work have even more impact. Such discussions motivate students to persevere through challenging assignments. Even within a large class, students are energized when faculty interact by sharing personal experiences to illustrate or clarify course content. While individual students benefit from personal conversations with faculty about careers or research, instructors’ anecdotes and insights shared with an entire class have a similar beneficial effect for all students. Furthermore, student interactions with one another also enhance learning. Faculty who facilitate students’ sharing resources and working collaboratively are promoting thinking and interpersonal skills beyond the course learning objectives. Highlights of faculty reflections follow. These are taken from full comments on pages 3–8.

Inside This Issue

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Teaching Awards for 2006

2006 Chancellorʼs Awards for Distinguished Teaching Helen Cahalane, School of Social Work: “The norms we establish from the outset, ranging from starting class on time to knowing who comprises the student group, convey not only respect, but the message that what we are doing together over the next 15 weeks is a shared process and an important one.” Richard Henker, School of Nursing: “When students observe me in a clinical setting, they realize that my lectures are not only based on what is presented in textbooks and the latest information from journal articles but also from hands-on experience. I have the opportunity to help the students link what I have taught them in lecture with the way a patient presents or responds to clinical therapies.” Amy Seybert, School of Pharmacy: “I share my daily clinical experiences with students to give them real-world perspectives on what they are learning. I foster learning environments where students have open lines of communication with other students as well as with me. This enables them to share their knowledge and develop confidence in their skills.” Margaret Smith, School of Education: “We develop ideas by examining real practice, and then we take ideas and apply them to our own practice. This practicebased view of teacher education says that learning needs to be situated in the actual work that teachers do.”

2006 Tina and David Bellet A&S Teaching Excellence Awards Anthony Bledsoe, School of Arts and Sciences, Biological Sciences: “There are concrete ways for an instructor to connect with students, even in large classes. One is to make clear, through explicit and frequent statements, that you are there to help them, that you are an ally for their advancement, that you want them to succeed, and that you are willing to do whatever you can to make that happen.” Daniel Mossé, School of Arts and Sciences, Computer Science: “In addition to making the material interactive, personal, and light, I have high expectations for myself and for each student. I personally expect to engage the students throughout the learning process, and I expect each student to think about the material both inside and outside the classroom.”

Tips On

Using Video in the Classroom from TA Services

How

SMART Is Your Classroom?

Ten Faculty Awarded CxC Fellowships By Adam Roth, Communication, CxC Co-facilitator

Phone: 412-624-6596 Fax: 412-624-7220 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.pitt.edu/~ciddeweb/teachingtimes Editorial Staff Editor: Carol DeArment Graphic Design & Illustrations: Alec A. Sarkas Copy Editor: Tim Kyle Photography: CIDDE, Photography & Electronic Imaging The Teaching Times, a newsletter devoted to the support of teaching and learning, is distributed to every faculty member and teaching assistant at the University of Pittsburgh. It features interviews with faculty who share teaching experiences, strategies, and techniques that can be applied in classrooms across the University. The Teaching Times welcomes letters and articles from faculty and staff about any topic affecting University teaching and learning. The Teaching Times is published by the Center for Instructional Development & Distance Education (CIDDE), which provides a wide range of services to faculty in support of University teaching and learning. The central mission of CIDDE is to support excellence in University instruction. CIDDE also is responsible for maximizing the effective use of instructional technologies to meet the University’s academic goals and priorities.

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he fall 2006 Faculty Seminar of the Communication Across the Curriculum Program (CxC) is well under way. The program is sponsored by the Dean for Undergraduate Studies Regina Schulte-Ladbeck, and faculty who attend are awarded a stipend of $1,000. Offered every semester, the seminar is a collaborative effort among the Department of Communication, the Department of English, the Center for Instructional Development & Distance Education (CIDDE), and the School of Arts and Sciences. Its goal is to make oral and written communication part of all classroom instruction. Attending faculty meet biweekly to discuss strategies for integrating oral and written communication into their courses. On the weeks the seminar is not held, participants meet with an instructional designer from CIDDE to design a syllabus or devise a substantial assignment that incorporates a considerable component of oral and written work. During the past four years, the CxC Faculty Seminar has been attended by

59 faculty members from across the School of Arts and Sciences. Some of the departments represented include Africana Studies, Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Communication, French and Italian Languages and Literatures, Geology and Planetary Sciences, Hispanic Languages and Literatures, History, History of Art and Architecture, History and Philosophy of Science, Linguistics, Music, Physics and Astronomy, Psychology, Sociology, and Studio Arts. This semester’s seminar participants are: Elayne Arrington, Mathematics David Barker, Political Science Yu Cheng, Statistics Hannah Johnson, English Margaret Judd, Anthropology Alexander Matros, Economics Emily McEwan-Fujita, Anthropology Scott Morgenstern, Political Science Taeyoung Park, Statistics Burcu Savun, Political Science

For more information about the CxC Faculty Seminar or to participate, please contact either of the two co-facilitators of the seminar: Beth Matway, English Adam Roth, Communication E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Space in the seminar is limited to 15 participants.

Diane J. Davis, Director [email protected] Joanne M. Nicoll, Associate Director for Instructional Design and Faculty Development [email protected] Nick Laudato, Associate Director, Instructional Technology [email protected]

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CIDDE Photography & Electronic Imaging Services

provides full-service location and studio photography in digital and film formats as well as a full range of photo lab services. For further information, contact Jim Burke by telephone, 412-648-9870, or e-mail, [email protected].

Photos by Jim Burke, CIDDE

Center for Instructional Development & Distance Education (CIDDE) Alumni Hall 4227 Fifth Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15260

Helen Cahalane

, School of Social Work A Winner of the Chancellorʼs Award for Distinguished Teaching

Photo by Jim Burke, CIDDE

Teaching Awards Issue November 2006

Modeling Professional Roles

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ne of the most important responsibilities of a university teacher is being a role model. As professors, we represent the embodiment of our profession to students developing their own sense of self in a given field. If we want them to value their class experience and to contribute to it actively and to the best of their ability, we must model those same attributes. The norms we establish from the outset, ranging from starting class on time to knowing who comprises the student group, convey not only respect but that what we are doing together over the next 15 weeks is a shared process and an important one. Knowing Names For example, at the risk of appearing autocratic, I ask students to select a seat and to stick with it for the first few weeks—this allows me to learn everyone’s name. It works so well that I can usually recall where a student sat for many years after he or she has graduated. I would imagine that it’s pretty striking to have one of your instructors recall exactly where you sat—it really mattered if you were there! And it’s not about just learning someone’s name or compiling attendance

statistics; it’s the acknowledgement that each student’s presence makes a difference. Demonstrating that each student matters can be as simple as making eye contact, an informal conversation during a class break, or following up on a point made in a previous class. However, if we find ourselves interacting with the same individuals, and not being sure who others in the class are, we’re not casting our net wide enough. Facilitating Student Expertise Most of us know a good deal about what we teach. However, the real key to excellent teaching is to guide the process in the classroom but not to take it over. Providing the structure and the guidance, we don’t have to be the expert on every topic of discussion. Sometimes this can be difficult, especially if we’ve practiced for many years, written on the topic, done numerous expert consultations, or provided countless guest lectures. The knee-jerk reaction is often to demonstrate our knowledge, as if not expounding upon it might indicate that we’re not on top of our game. Here’s the point at which we can adopt one of the most powerful teaching strategies of all: become the orchestra conductor

instead of the lead singer. Our greatest gift to our students is to facilitate their expertise. It’s the difference between standing in front of someone (and blocking the view) or walking alongside someone as a mentor. Taking Risks We must encourage discussions that include alternative viewpoints, critical thinking about social issues, and an exploration of unanswered questions. How will our students transfer classroom instruction into their professional lives unless they are able to practice the skills we’re trying so hard to develop? Practicing begins by taking a risk, trying things on for size, getting feedback from one’s peers, evaluating whether something worked, and learning from mistakes or challenges along the way. At the beginning of the term, I ask students to write out why they are taking the class and what they’d like to learn during the semester. During the final exam, I ask them to review their responses and to determine whether they’ve achieved their goals. This is really what good teaching is supposed to be about, isn’t it?

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, School of Nursing A Winner of the Chancellorʼs Award for Distinguished Teaching

Linking Lectures to Experiences

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eaching in a clinical discipline such as nursing, I have found that maintaining my clinical expertise has enriched my teaching. When I apply a particular concept to a clinical scenario, students invariably are more engaged. Because they go into nursing to care for people, students are much more interested in what I have to say when I provide a clinical example during a lecture. Ideally they would receive lecture content that matches the patients they care for that week, but, unfortunately, it is not easy to have a large class all care for a patient with a particular disease. Therefore, providing clinical examples of how to apply a concept starts integrating classroom learning with clinical application. Clinical Teaching I enjoy lecturing and it is an efficient method to provide content to many students, but critical thinking and application of content occur at a higher level when I work with students in the clinical setting. Spending time in the clinical area

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helps support my teaching several ways. First, it validates my lecture. When students observe me in a clinical setting, they realize that my lectures are not only based on what is presented in textbooks and the latest information from journal articles but also from hands-on experience. The other benefit of working in the clinical area is that I have the opportunity to help the students link what I have taught them in lecture with the way a patient presents or responds to clinical therapies. In the Nurse Anesthesia Program, students often work with nurse anesthetists and anesthesiologists who are clinically proficient but may not always know what is expected of individual students at a particular point in their curriculum. One of the advantages that I have when working in the clinical setting is that I have accurate understanding of the students’ preparation. This allows me to set realistic goals for knowledge and performance within the context of the clinical day.

Photo by Jason Blair, CIDDE

Richard Henker

Simulation Teaching Of all the methods that I use, I enjoy simulation the most. Simulation teaching combines key aspects of classroom teaching while incorporating the “feel” or emotion that permeates the clinical environment. The Winter Institute for Simulation and Education Research (WISER) provides an excellent setting for high fidelity human simulation. One of the simulation rooms at WISER has been modified to replicate one of the operating rooms at UPMCPresbyterian Hospital. Simulation mannequins incorporate many physiologic functions (e.g., pulses, breath sounds, blood pressure, and airway changes). The voice of the mannequin is fed into the room from a control room; physiologic functions are controlled by a software program. Five or six students assume various roles during a scenario (e.g., circulating nurse, scrub tech, or surgeon). Typically two students are assigned as the nurse anesthetists for the scenario. See Henker on Page 14

Amy Seybert

, School of Pharmacy A Winner of the Chancellorʼs Award for Distinguished Teaching

Fostering Open Lines of Communication

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ecause I also practice clinical pharmacy on cardiology services within UPMC and perform research through the School of Pharmacy, during my classroom lectures I can share my daily clinical experiences with students to give them real-world perspectives on what they are learning. For example, if we are talking about someone with myocardial infarction, I might discuss a recent patient whom I have cared for in the coronary unit. Another advantage of sharing these real-life experiences is that it establishes an environment where students feel more comfortable about asking questions.

Sharing Knowledge I am convinced that until students actually perform or verbalize what they are learning, they do not master the information. Therefore, I foster learning environments where students have open lines of communication with other students as well as with me. This enables them to share their knowledge and develop confidence in their skills. For example, my students learn to perform assessments of blood pressure and other vital signs at the Peter M. Winter Institute for Simulation Education and Research (WISER) Center. Here, simulation-based learning using

advanced patient mannequins facilitates a safe educational environment where students can be as close to a real patient scenario as technology will allow. As a group, they perform patient assessments and recommend appropriate pharmacotherapeutic management plans. This enables them not only to apply the material covered in class but also to develop confidence when they discuss their thoughts about a drug treatment. Another type of interaction fostered during my class is student assessments of one another. Using an objective rubric, students have the opportunity to grade classmates, thereby providing both positive and negative feedback. This helps them to learn what they may be doing wrong, while, at the same time, learning new skills and techniques by observing others. Finally, simulation-based education allows my students to interact with the course content while also interacting with their own performances. They put their new knowledge to work and obtain immediate feedback in a safe nonthreatening environment. Research on Attitudes I research my teaching methodologies and have conducted objective experiments

Photo courtesy of Amy Seybert

Teaching Awards Issue November 2006

to see if comprehension improves as a result of these active learning techniques. Based on pre- and post-testing after each simulation exercise, there was a significant improvement in knowledge and performance within the class. I have also shown that students undergoing simulation learning demonstrate much greater retention than those who do not. Finally, I have done research showing how attitudes are linked to learning and am working on a project measuring students’ retention in different learning environments. During the experiential part of my teaching, I spend one-on-one time to help students evaluate different job openings, prepare for interviews, and decide if they want to complete a residency. I also devote time to advising students, both informally before and after class or formally through the student advisor program. They often ask me to describe what my day is like, and I encourage them to “shadow” me for a day because I love interaction with students. One of the most rewarding parts of my job is when I see students learning or forging a career path because of something that I was able to help them discover.

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Photo by Joe Kapelewski, CIDDE

problem or ask them to analyze an authentic piece of work by a child. My goal is to help them develop insights along several dimensions. For example, typical errors or work that looks indecipherable may actually show thinking by K-12 students. This enables the teachers to become good evaluators and readers of K-12 students’ varied representations of mathematical concepts.

Margaret S. Smith

, School of Education A Winner of the Chancellorʼs Award for Distinguished Teaching

Learning is Situated in Actual Practice

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have a practice-based view of teacher education, maintaining that learning must be situated in the actual work of teachers. My students begin by examining artifacts of practice and use those artifacts to generate theories and principles. Using examples from real teaching practice as a basis for in-class work, we then make bridges to the actual work my students are doing in K-12 classrooms. Thus, we develop ideas by examining real practice, and then we take ideas and apply them to our own practice. Thinking about Teachers’ Work The activities in which I engage preteachers involve thinking about teachers’

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work: Teachers plan, teach, reflect, and then start the cycle over again. For example, teachers themselves should engage as learners in solving mathematical tasks from curriculum materials and then step back from the experience and talk about what they want their students to learn and how they, as teachers, should go about facilitating that learning. My students also critique video or narrative cases of teaching and analyze actual classroom situations to better understand how teachers support learning through their actions and interactions in class. My graduate students often work in small groups. I give them an actual math

Exploring Alternatives The kinds of problems and tasks I give pre-teachers are not those for which there is an immediate answer; rather, I develop problems and questions requiring them to explore alternatives. A small group is likely to recognize various approaches. Most classes culminate in a whole-group discussion where ideas from all groups are shared. I expect my students to challenge and to build on others’ ideas. The class then tries to come to a consensus. I see myself as a discussion facilitator, pressing people to think harder about what it is we’re discussing. Through the process we try to establish some general principles or ideas. Even though one lesson may focus on a particular situation, the goal is to end up with ideas that are applicable to other teaching situations. All assignments are designed to make connections between the work we do in my classroom and the work they are doing in a K-12 classroom. For example, if we had discussed student thinking as related to a particular type of algebra problem, I might ask my students to interview three of their public school students using such problems. They would then analyze solution strategies we use and relate them to our reading on student thinking. Key Questions The kinds of questions I ask are a key to the success of this strategy. For example, rather than simply giving the answer to a problem, I press them to explain what they mean and why it’s a reasonable solution. I invite other students’ comments, so everyone in the room is held accountable See Smith on Page 14

Anthony Bledsoe

, School of Arts and Sciences, Biological Sciences A Winner of the Tina and David Bellet Arts & Sciences Teaching Excellence Award

Photo by Jason Blair, CIDDE

Teaching Awards Issue November 2006

Connecting with Students as Active Participants in Learning

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he engagement of students (i.e., drawing them into active, analytical, and interrelational consideration of material within and across topics) forms a central and essential component of effective teaching. In a real sense, instructors do not “teach.” Instead, through meticulously crafted activities, they facilitate learning, done by the hard work of the students—learning is always an active process. The challenge then becomes how to develop such activities that draw students into the material, into using a critical habit of mind, and into viewing the information as their own.

Expressing Desire to Help Many instructors believe that the antithesis of engagement—an uncomfortable student-instructor distance—increases as class size increases. At its worst, that distance can spawn an atmosphere where students view instructors as enemies, not allies. Fortunately, there are concrete ways to connect with students, even in large classes. One is to make clear, through explicit and frequent statements, that you are there to help them, that you are an ally for their advancement, that you want them to succeed, and that you are willing to do

whatever you can to make that happen. Regular and heartfelt expression of the desire to help can do marvels for a class. Almost reflexively, students start to adopt the material as their own and recognize that their active participation and interaction with the instructor are essential for learning. Presentations that are forceful, organized, integrative, and progressive in development are essential for drawing students into the material. If presentations are in some sense compelling, students will want to follow, understand, and apply the material. The material I teach, biology, is so remarkable and fascinating that, if I do a good job in presentation, many students are motivated to become active in their approach to their own education. The same is true of all topics, not just those I teach. Draw out the remarkable aspects of a topic, and you will draw in the students. Socratic Method For many students, that alone will not be enough. A good approach in conjunction with a well-presented lecture is the Socratic method. I question students frequently during lecture. If the tone is

right (because I have set it by being open about wanting to help them understand), students will answer. This approach is just one way of making formative assessment, but there are others. Student response systems (SRS) or even paper-based anonymous surveys allow instructors to get students actively thinking while providing the instructor’s feedback on class comprehension. Devising other activities that engage students is limited only by one’s imagination. Contrary to what many instructors may think, they do not take that much time. With experience, an instructor can develop and use formative assessments in a time- and student-effective manner. Although none of these ideas is that earth-shattering, they work. When such interactive activities are applied, students want to understand and participate; and they enjoy the material and feel a sense of fulfillment. And enjoyment and fulfillment are themselves great motivators toward a broader and deeper comprehension of the world around us.

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Photo by Jim Burke, CIDDE

High Expectations In addition to making the material interactive, personal, and light, I have high expectations for myself and for each student. I expect to engage the students throughout the learning process and I expect each student to think about the material both inside and outside the classroom. I try to stimulate all students to think and participate. For example, I sometimes give them the answer and ask them to give me the question. I then whistle the tune from Jeopardy. It’s fun and it works! If I ask a question that seems too difficult, I step back and ask why the question is so difficult. I continue stepping back as I call on individuals, while assuring them that it is all right to be incorrect. What is important is that they try to answer articulately and intelligently; because the goal is to keep students thinking, I also encourage them to ask questions. I further encourage participation by awarding bonus points.

Daniel Mossé

, School of Arts and Sciences, Computer Science

A Winner of the Tina and David Bellet Arts & Sciences Teaching Excellence Award

Learning is Situated in Actual Practice

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have three tenets in teaching, in addition to knowing and transmitting the technical material: ensure a personal atmosphere, stimulate thinking, and use the “surprise factor.” Because computer science is often considered dry and boring, I use humor as a technique for transmitting the material. I’m known for my sense of humor; I love to make puns, tell jokes, and use funny analogies. For example, I might illustrate operating system controls of resources by equating it to how parents intervene to make equitable allocation of toys among siblings. Students remember things like that. I do these things to bring a level of

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comfort and interest to the class—intuition comes first; formulas come later. As another example of bringing a level of comfort and interest to the class, I put students at ease by learning their names— calling on Johanna beats asking “the young lady with glasses in the third row,” or simply “you.” To further relax the atmosphere, I introduce myself on a personal as well as academic level—I always tell students my origin and my path: I was born in Brazil, got a BS in math there, and PhD in computer science at Maryland; I have a wife and child. Occasionally, when I see students becoming bored, I even interrupt a lecture to teach them a Portuguese word.

Interactive Lecturing My classes are lecture based, but I rarely lecture more than five minutes without asking a question. I ask all students to vote on answers as we analyze the question. This enables even the shiest students to participate. Once in a while, I ask every other student to give a three-minute summary of what he or she has learned so far that day to the person next to him or her. This, of course, keeps them attentive and thinking. Although much of the classroom material is theoretical, but students need practice, I always give them complex programming projects; I schedule weekend lab sessions to observe students programming and to give them feedback. I remind them of the theory behind the practice, because as a wise man once said “the difference between theory and practice is much bigger in practice than in theory.” I show students that they must painstakingly analyze and consider all aspects of a problem before implementing anything. They ask me questions, I answer with more questions and hints, encouraging hands-on, interactive problem solving.

Teaching Awards Issue November 2006

A Photos by Jim Burke, CIDDE

s graduate teaching assistants, we need ways to motivate our students and renew their attention spans. Often we try to use videos to accomplish these goals. Besides adding interest to our courses, video can supplement the course texts, helping us integrate “real world” material into the classroom. Most important, every use of video should help students meet course objectives! To help you use video as a teaching tool, here are some guidelines on what to do before, during, and after using a video clip:

Using Video in the Classroom

By Kathleen Gray, CIDDE Teaching Assistant Services

“Video can supplement the course texts, helping integrate ʻreal worldʼ material into the classroom.”

Before starting the video, • Prepare the room. Arrange the chairs so that all students can clearly see and hear the video. Set up all technology in advance and practice with remote controls so you can easily start/stop the film as desired. • Pretest students. A short questionnaire can introduce students to the material and indicate what they will be expected to learn while watching and discussing the video. • Give students background information. Since you will rarely show a complete film, tell students enough about what they missed to enable them to understand the part they are about to see. Also, students may assume everything they see in the video is correct/ factual so be sure to tell them whether the video represents opinions or facts. • Explain why you have chosen this video. Be certain to explain how the video clip relates to the course objectives! Consider giving students an outline of the main points presented in the film as a guide. During the video, • Give students an “assignment.” For instance, you could instruct students to list the course concepts used in the video or note how the content in the video connects to or differs from information presented in the course text. • Provide adequate light and time for students to take notes. • Interrupt the video when it’s useful to clarify

content, check student comprehension, or make connections to course content. • Restart the clip by providing a brief summary of what has been covered so far and adding new information specific to the remaining material. • Monitor student attention. Sit where you can see if students are watching the film and taking notes. As needed, quietly move to stand near students who are trying to sleep, text message, or talk to their neighbors. If students seem particularly inattentive, consider ending the media early and moving on to the next part of your lesson. After the video, • Turn off the media with as little disruption as possible. • In advance, prepare the FIRST thing you will say to reengage students in class participation. Try these approaches: repeat a short provocative quote and ask students what they thought about it; ask a specific straightforward question about the content; ask for volunteers to share what they wrote for their “assignment” during the video. • Explain what you would like to do with the rest of the class time. Building from your initial question, let students know what will happen next and what is expected of them now that the film is over. For instance, will you lecture, take questions, or break into small group work? Remind students which course objectives are relevant to the day’s discussion. • Follow through. Refer to the video in future discussions and exams to aid student memory and help them make connections among concepts. Actively engaging our students before, during, and after using video in the classroom helps us encourage and monitor learning. If we continuously link the video clip to the course objectives, texts, lectures, and discussions, students will quickly see that our video use is not just entertainment—it’s education!

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How SMART Is Your Classroom? The University recently acquired new software and hardware solutions from SMART Technologies that can help you prepare for class, engage your students, and capture your “chalk” board writings.

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pen and mouse modes, select different pen colors, and invoke a software keyboard.

• Photo by Nick Laudato, CIDDE

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ouch sensitive computing options are evolving at a rapid pace and promise to dramatically change the way we make classroom presentations and interact with our students. You have probably already heard about “Janus,” the University of Pittsburgh’s term for a combination of hardware and software technologies named after the Roman god of portals, who can see in opposite directions simultaneously. Janus allows you to face your class while making drawings and annotations on a touch-sensitive LCD graphics pad so your students can view them on a screen behind you via a data/video projector. (See TeachingTimes Vol. VIII No. 1 at www.pitt.edu/~ciddeweb/teachingtimes/ SEP2002/it_update.html for a description of Janus.) This fall term, Janus has been given a new face with the addition of hardware and software from SMART Technologies, the Canadian-based company that created the original SMART boards. On the hardware side is the new Sympodium DT770 interactive pen display. The DT770 is larger than its predecessors (17 inches diagonal) and can respond to either touch or to a tethered pen. The touch capability allows you to quickly use your finger to make simple annotations (such as using “digital ink” in PowerPoint). If you pick up the pen and place it close to the screen, the touch sensitivity will be automatically turned off and you can use the pen for finer annotations at sharper resolutions. The Sympodium series also provides a set of hardware buttons at the top of the panel that allow you to switch between

SMART Sympodium in WWPH 1700

On the software side, the University now has a site license that allows all faculty, students, and staff to run the SMART software, particularly the SMART Notebook. The software is available through Computing Services and Systems Development’s (CSSD) electronic software distribution service <software.pitt.edu> and can be installed on your desktop or laptop computer so you can learn the software, prepare classroom presentation components in advance, or edit previously saved notebooks. The SMART Notebook software is characterized by its ease of use, rich instructional toolset, useful output options, and consistent user interface. Among many other things, it allows you to: • Annotate over the slides of a PowerPoint presentation during class with the pen, highlighting important information or making ad hoc drawings to illustrate a concept. • Create a virtual whiteboard (an effectively unlimited chalkboard space). It is easy to move back and forth between whiteboard pages and nothing

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• •

Photo by Jim Burke, CIDDE

By Nick Laudato, CIDDE Associate Director

needs to be erased to make room for a new page. Insert backgrounds and illustrations (including Flash programs) into your presentation from discipline-specific galleries of objects. Display and save classroom annotations in popular formats such as Adobe Acrobat (PDF), and post them to CourseWeb (Blackboard) for later review by your students. Prepare illustrations and notes in advance and then modify or supplement them in the classroom. Capture whatever is displayed on the computer screen, make annotations on it using the pen, and save it as a graphic image.

The “Gallery” feature is particularly interesting, providing a rich array of backgrounds and graphics that can dramatically enhance your presentations.

SMART Notebook – Background from the Gallery

The Provost’s Classroom Management Team (CMT) has equipped three newly renovated classrooms in Posvar Hall (1500, 1501, and 1700) with the new Sympodium DT770. The Sympodium panels can be See IT Update: SMART on Page 14

Photos by CIDDE

Teaching Awards Issue November 2006

The Scholarship of Engagement: What Is It?

By David N. Cox, Executive Assistant to the President of The University of Memphis

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entral to a discussion of a “new kind of university” is the meaning of scholarship. As Boyer (1990) observed in discussing the role of undergraduate higher education in society, “One of the most crucial issues—the one that goes to the core of academic life—relates to the meaning of scholarship itself. Scholarship is not an esoteric appendage; it is at the heart of what the profession is all about” (p.1). If something is “new” about universities, that newness has to include changes in the understanding of scholarship. As the title of this chapter suggests, a form of that newness may be found in the concept of the scholarship of engagement: what it is, how it is different, and what issues it raises for engaging faculty in meaningful scholarship across all disciplines. The American Heritage Dictionary (2000) identifies scholarship as the methods, discipline, or attainments of a scholar; knowledge resulting from study and research; or financial aid for education. Focusing on its meaning related to contributions to knowledge, Boyer’s (1990) Scholarship Reconsidered has broadened the understanding of the term to include four dimensions—discovery, integration, application, and teaching. Discovery involves adding to the stock of human knowledge. Integration involves making connections across disciplines that lead to new understandings. Application involves the work of the academy toward more humane ends. Contact, of course,

can take many forms. It can be incidental and passive, or it can be regular and active. It can be one-directional or interactive, formal or informal. More recently, the notion of the scholarship of engagement builds on Boyer’s definition by including active and interactive contact between people inside and external to the academy across the range of actions involved in scholarship—from setting goals, and selecting and applying means and methods, to reflection and dissemination. It is that interaction across the range of scholarship activities that distinguishes the contact involved in the scholarship of engagement. Using the definition of the dynamic interaction inherent in the scholarship of engagement, it is possible to determine what is engagement and what is not. For example, Louis Pasteur’s making the connection between sewage and disease while walking city streets in the 1800s led to scholarship in the form of discovery and application. His resulting search for an intervention to treat a real-world problem shaped the questions he asked leading to the discovery of the germ theory of disease (Strokes, 1997). There is also a long history of contact with persons and places outside the academy in the form of dissemination through the transfer of technical expertise by agricultural agents connected to land grant universities. In neither of these cases, however, were persons outside of the academy actively involved in any of the scholarship activities. They were not involved

in shaping the questions, choosing or executing the means, or reflecting on the results. Moreover, dissemination was one directional, i.e., knowledge transferred from expert to client. Thus while connected in one sense of the term, absent interaction in the processes of scholarship, these examples do not represent the scholarship of engagement. In contrast, Chicago residents of the Renacer West Side neighborhood and faculty and students at the University of Illinois-Chicago worked together in designing the means to increase employment opportunities for the residents. They did not accomplish their short-term goal of increased employment, but collective reflection by residents, faculty, and students led to discovery and development of a longer-term application that expanded employment opportunities beyond the neighborhood (Mayfield & Lucas, 2000). Residents of colonias in south Texas—rural communities and neighborhoods bordering Mexico, which require sufficient infrastructure and other basic services (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2000)—participated as partners with faculty members and students at the University of Texas-Austin in implementing and reflecting on the impact of a plan for enhancing public service infrastructure for colonias in the area (Wilson & Guajardo, 2000). Community residents in East Saint Louis, Illinois, in the 1990s were instrumental in reframing discovery and application questions being pursued by See Scholarship of Engagement on Page 14

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2006 Teaching Awards Numerous schools and departments at the University of Pittsburgh present annual teaching awards. Recipients of 2006 awards that are known to the Teaching Times are listed below. The Teaching Times prints an annual list of award recipients and welcomes information about awards. Please contact Jo Rosol with this information: [email protected]

College of Business Administration CBA Teacher of the Year Rob Gilbert

Distinguished Teaching Award Madeleine Carlin Vicky Hoffman Ray Jones Rick Winter

College of General Studies

Studentsʼ Choice Award for Teaching Excellence Sherry Miller Brown Ellen Cohn David Defazio David Korman Joanne Meldon

Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business Katz School Outstanding Teacher of the Year Prakash Mirchandani G. Richard Patton

Executive MBA Outstanding Teacher of the Year Frederik Schlingemann

School of Law

Student Bar Association Excellence in Teaching Award Lu-in Wang

School of Engineering

Beitle-Veltri Memorial Award

Jeffrey S.Vipperman, Mechanical Engineering

Outstanding TA Awards Obadamilola Aluko Peter J. Mandeville Kristie A. Henchir Stephen C. Kanick Jyh-Pang Lai Peng Yuan Zhiwei Shan

Graduate Student/Fellowship Teaching Awards Elizabeth Baranger Excellence in Teaching Award Luciano Martinez

Arts and Sciences

Alessandra Beasley Peter A. Bell Kathleen A. Bulger Jonathan Gaffney Darrick Gross Seung-Hoon Hong Cassie J. Majetic Virginie Masson Joseph Mitala Christopher W. Morgan Paul M. Morgan Phillip J. Morgan Davlyn K. Nauman Stephen Pellathy Nicholas M. Rosenfeld Katrina Steers-Wentzell

Graduate School of Public and International Affairs Teacher of the Year Award Donald Goldstein Nuno Themudo

Annual Teaching Awards David Cercone Siddharth Chandra Ernest Fullerton Anthony Giunta Donald Goldstein Kevin P. Kearns William Keller David Korman Rajendranath Mookerjee Edward Strimlan Martha Terry Nuno Themudo

2006 Teaching Awards continue on next page

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Teaching Awards Issue November 2006 Continued from previous page

2006 Teaching Awards

School of Medicine

Kenneth E. Schuit Award Julie A. DeLoia James R. Johnston

Donald S. Fraley Award

School of Nursing

Deanʼs Distinguished Teaching Award Yvette Conley Marilyn Hravnak Valerie Swigart

Elmer J. Holzinger

Sheldon Adler Award Clifton W. Callaway

Excellence in Clinical Precepting

James R. Jarvis Michael E. Wald Altoona Family Physicians Medical Group: Donald Beckstead Sherry Dehaas Terry Ruhl Jennifer Good Kathy Sweeney Elyssa Palmer

Clinical Preceptor of the Year Awards Franklyn P. Cladis Hollis D. Day Antoine B. Douaihy Amber M. Hoffman Elmer J. Holzinger Sanjay Lambore William McIvor Paul E. Phrampus Samuel A. Tesherman Evan L. Waxman

Curriculum Service Award

School of Pharmacy

Teacher of the Year Award Rowena Schwartz

Faculty Member of the Year Award Christine Schonder

University of Pittsburgh at Bradford Excellence in Teaching Award Nancy G. McCabe

Alumni Association Teaching Excellence Award Isabelle A. Champlin

University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg Distinguished Teaching Award Shu-Jiang Lu

Alumni Association Award Mary Grace O’Donnell

University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown

Presidentʼs Award for Excellence in Teaching David Willey

Laurel Milberg

Student Award to a Senior Mentor Vincent Cuddy

Excellence in Education Awards John W. Kreit James R. Johnston Allen L. Humphrey Gregory J. Naus David L. Paterson Donald B. Middleton Georgia K. Duker

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Henker An advantage of simulation teaching is that scenarios can be developed based upon lecture content during the past term or from actual clinical events. For example, if students received a section of lecture content on anesthesia care of the trauma patient, one of the simulation scenarios might involve caring for an injured motorcyclist. Elements of real trauma cases can also be added, and students reaffirm that simulation sessions are more effective than lecture alone. Another benefit of simulation is that students learn how to care for a patient who has an unusual clinical event. Rare anesthetic emergencies such as malignant hyperthermia can be realistically presented with a patient scenario. Students are expected to assess the situation, go through differential diagnosis, identify a plan of care, implement the plan, and evaluate the plan. Consequently, management of a rare event is more likely to be retained with simulation teaching.

Smith ate interprofessional communication is emphasized during the debriefing of the simulation. Debriefing often occurs in a conference room following the simulation and typically includes review of a video of the session and a log of events and treatments. Led by faculty, debriefings include the students involved in the scenario. They are asked to critique themselves and encouraged to reflect and describe how they might revise their performance. In program evaluations, nurse anesthesia program students frequently ask for more simulation teaching. Simulation is an effective and exciting way to teach but it does require a great deal of faculty time and energy. The faculty in our Nurse Anesthesia Program fully support simulation and have become experts in the field. The staff at WISER have been supportive and have contributed to both the quality and quantity of the simulation teaching within the Nurse Anesthesia Program.

for understanding. Sometimes I ask students to paraphrase what’s been said to gauge whether the information is being processed. Also, I ask questions to help people see relationships across ideas that initially may seem unrelated. I might ask how a solution relates to that offered by a previous group or how one idea relates to another.

scholarship of engagement through its active and interactive connection with people and places outside of the university in the activities of scholarship, setting goals, selecting means and methods, applying means and methods, reflecting on results, and disseminating results. Given the range of these dimensions and activities, the depth of connections may vary. At a less engaged level, the interaction may involve only one dimension of scholarship or one of a limited set of scholarship activities. At the deepest level, the interactions carry through multiple dimensions and across all of the scholarship activities. In each case, however, it is the presence of that interaction that distinguishes the scholarship of engagement.

This is an excerpt from Chapter 8, “The How and Why of the Scholarship of Engagement,” by David N. Cox, executive assistant to the president of The University of Memphis., in Creating a New Kind of University ; Institutionalizing Community-University Engagement, edited by Stephen L. Percy, University of WisconsinMilwaukee; Nancy L. Zimpher, University of Cincinnati; and Mary Jane Brukardt; Eastern Washington University. Copyright © 2006 by Anker Publishing Company, Inc. Reprinted with permission.

Interprofessional Communication Although management of the patient is an important piece of how a student responds during the scenario, appropri-

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IT Update: SMART used from the built-in computer (you can login with your University of Pittsburgh account) or from a personal laptop (once you’ve loaded the SMART software). Instructional Media Services (IMS) can also deliver similar LCD panels and laptops to any classroom location on campus. Instructional Media Services can deliver this technology solution to any classroom <www.pitt.edu/~ciddeweb/ ims/media_request_form.htm> and the Faculty Instructional Development Lab (FIDL) can provide training in its use <www.pitt.edu/~ciddeweb/fidl/janus_ training.htm>.

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Scholarship of Engagement faculty members and students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The result was the creation of knowledge more relevant to the problems of the community (Reardon, 2000). And in a West Philadelphia neighborhood, community residents, public school and city officials, and faculty members and students at the University of Pennsylvania worked together to redesign K-12 school curricula, pedagogy, and social service programming, improving student outcomes and adding to knowledge about advancing urban school systems (Harkavy, 1999). In summary, the scholarship or engagement is a set of activities. At its core are four dimensions of scholarship—discovery, integration, application, and teaching. It becomes the

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Teaching Awards Issue November 2006

January

Thursday, January 25, noon to 1:30 p.m. “Facilitating Effective Online Discussions” · 815 Alumni Hall Presenter: Carol DeArment, Senior Instructional Designer, CIDDE Tuesday, January 30, 12:30 p.m. Instructional Design Webcast (IDmCast*) · Tune in live to “Bloom’s Taxonomy.” Presenter: Joanne M. Nicoll, Associate Director for Instructional Design, CIDDE Every Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. in January tune in live to Blackboard Webcasts (BbmCasts)** Every Thursday at 12:30 p.m. in January tune in live to Instructional Technology Webcasts (ITmCasts)***

February

Calendar of Upcoming Events for Spring Term

2007

Friday, February 9, noon to 1:30 p.m. To access these Webcasts online, go to www.pitt.edu/~ciddeweb “Interactive Teaching and Learning” · 815 Alumni Hall and under “Quick Links” choose “Instructional Technology mCast.” Presenter: Carol DeArment, Senior Instructional Designer, CIDDE Tuesday, February 27, 12:30 p.m. Instructional Design Webcast (IDmCast*) · Tune in live to “Developing Outcomes” with Gary Stoehr, School of Pharmacy. Every Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. in February tune in live to Blackboard Webcasts (BbmCasts)** Every Thursday at 12:30 p.m. in February tune in live to Instructional Technology Webcasts (ITmCasts)***

March

Watch for flyers on the spring term Faculty Book Discussions on “The Art of Changing the Brain: Enriching the Practice of Teaching by Exploring the Biology of Learning” by James Zull. The sessions will be scheduled for March 2007. Please contact Melanie Fox for more information at [email protected] or 412-624-2896.

Friday, March 16, noon to 1:30 p.m. “Developing Teaching Portfolios” · 815 Alumni Hall Presenter: Carol Washburn, Senior Instructional Designer, CIDDE Friday, March 23, noon to 1:30 p.m. “Creating a Learning-Centered Syllabus” · 815 Alumni Hall Presenter: Carol Washburn, Senior Instructional Designer, CIDDE Tuesday, March 27, 12:30 p.m. Instructional Design Webcast (IDmCast*) · Tune in live to “Thinking About Putting Your Class Online?” with Tony Novosel, Department of History. Every Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. in March tune in live to Blackboard Webcasts (BbmCasts)** Every Thursday at 12:30 p.m. in March tune in live to Instructional Technology Webcasts (ITmCasts)***

ue ag le ol rc yo u jo in e om

C

Friday, April 6, noon to 1:30 p.m. “Developing a Course” · 815 Alumni Hall Presenter: Joanne M. Nicoll, Associate Director for Instructional Design, CIDDE Friday, April 20, noon to 1:30 p.m. “Wikis as a Teaching Tool” · 815 Alumni Hall Presenter: Carol DeArment, Senior Instructional Designer, CIDDE Tuesday, April 24, 12:30 p.m. Instructional Design Webcast (IDmCast*) · Tune in live to “Survival Strategies for Teaching Six-Week Summer Classes” with Lydia Daniels, Department of Biological Sciences. Every Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. in April tune in live to Blackboard Webcasts (BbmCasts)** Every Thursday at 12:30 p.m. in April tune in live to Instructional Technology Webcasts (ITmCasts)***

s!

April

To enroll in workshops, please contact Melanie Fox at [email protected] or 412-624-2896. * The IDmCast provides a series of short presentations on teaching/learning topics in a synchronous Webcast (using Mediasite) followed by asynchronous “copies” in various multimedia formats, including streaming video, podcasts, and Flash. ** The BbmCast provides a series of short presentations about the use of the Blackboard course management system. A variety of audio and video formats are provided for ease of access. These sessions are available both “live” at the noon hour and captured for future review on the Web site. *** The ITmCast provides a series of short presentations on instructional technology available to Pitt faculty. A variety of audio and video formats are provided for ease of access. These sessions are available both “live” at the noon hour and captured for future review on the Web site.

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Dear Faculty, Are you planning to develop a new course or revise an exi sting one? The Center for Instructiona l Development & Distance Ed uca tio n (CIDDE) provides services to faculty in support of University tea ching and learning. Instructional Development ser vices include assisting instru ctors as they develop and revise courses, learning activities, course ma terials, and techniques to assess studen t learning. A CIDDE instructi ona l designer will work directly with you, accord ing to your schedule, to help you create the basic components of a new course or to reengineer an existing one , using current and effective teaching and lea rning strategies. In the pas t year alone, CIDDE provided these support servic es to over 100 faculty memb ers. To get more information or to schedule an appointment , please contact me at 412-624-7372 or nicoll@p itt.edu. All the best, Joanne M. Nicoll Associate Director of Instru ctional Design and Faculty Development CIDDE

Teaching Times University of Pittsburgh Center for Instructional Development & Distance Education 4227 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 Phone: 412-624-6596, Fax: 412-624-7220 Editorial staff: Carol DeArment, Editor; [email protected] Alec A. Sarkas, Graphic Design & Illustrations; [email protected]