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Undergraduate Education. Mary F. Wack Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Chuck Munson Chair, Teaching Academy. WSU New Faculty Orientation August 18, 2014. Preview. Classrooms & Technology Students Resources Teaching Academy. TECHNOLOGY.
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Undergraduate Education Mary F. Wack Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Chuck Munson Chair, Teaching Academy WSU New Faculty OrientationAugust 18, 2014
Preview • Classrooms & Technology • Students • Resources • Teaching Academy
Undergraduate Demographics and Teaching • Solid middle • Avg. SAT 1060 • Avg. HS GPA 3.29 • Average hides wide variation • Academically advanced • Academically vulnerable
Launch Into Learning Initiativeteach.wsu.edu • Get students off to a good fast start • Lower barriers to success • “The A Game” – book, workshops • Student resources: Cougarsuccess.wsu.edu
First-gen Personal Strengths • Resiliency • Sense of responsibility • Willingness to take risks • Optimistic • Goal directed
What You Can Do • Risk-takers, optimistic, goal-directed, resilient--These are great learners! • Principles of good teaching practice apply here and everywhere • Help students learn from mistakes—teachable moments, revision, retakes • Help students network and connect—resources, mentors, other students; group projects
What Makes a Good Instructor?From “Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education,” by Chickering, A.W. & Gamson, Z.F., AAHE Bulletin, 1987, 39(7), 3-7 • Encourages student-faculty contact • Develops reciprocity and cooperation • Encourages active learning • Gives prompt feedback • Emphasizes time on task • Communicates high expectations • Respects diverse talents and ways of learning
Student Finances • 1/3 are Pell Grant eligible (low income) • 75% receive financial aid; 75% of need met • Financial challenges and stresses • Early: books • Early & late: food http://www.openwa.org/washington-45/ http://www.openwa.org/find-oer/
Academic Success and Career Center (ASCC = “Ask”) • Info & support for students & faculty • Study skills workshops • Time Management • Tutoring • Career Services
Partnership with Library Personnelwww.wsulibs.wsu.edu • Expected by accreditation standards, req'd by gen ed courses • Customized support for classes • Subject-specific information portals
Teaching Expectations • Clear and complete syllabus • Academic integrity • Grading criteria explained • Midterm grades • Assess student work and participate in department and university assessment • Be aware of Academic Regulations in Catalog www.registrar.wsu.edu/Registrar/Apps/AcadRegs.ASPX Tenure and Promotion: Save course evaluations and course materials
Seven Learning Goals of the Baccalaureate • Govern undergraduate education • Framework for assessment • Learning outcomes required on syllabi Undergraduates receive Goals bookmarks that are written in student-friendly language.
Emphasis on Writing • Includes “Writing in the Major” (M) courses • Student and institutional assessment—junior writing portfolio • Support for faculty and students • Writing Center tutorials—walk-in and for credit
Teaching Academy • 12 original members in 2004 • Currently 23 members; major expansion planned • Charged with helping to improve teaching & learning at WSU Some past activities • Learning goals • TA training • Outstanding non-tenure track instructor award • Hosted teaching and learning workshops
Teaching Academy Future goals • Peer evaluation and mentoring • Assist faculty with tenure and promotion packets • Provide regular teaching workshops for faculty and TAs • Create an award for teaching innovation
Course and syllabus development Teaching Your First Course • Don’t start with the “perfect course” and reduce; start with the “minimum course” and add. • Biggest problem: giving too much information (if you had only 7 weeks to teach, what would you cut?). • Don’t reinvent the wheel: borrow notes and sit in on lectures/courses. • Prepare months in advance (being prepared & organized creates confidence). • Establish and maintain credibility by what you wear, how you act in public, not just teaching from the book, incorporating some of your own research, not trying to show that you have all the answers. • Reflect. What teachers did you admire, and why? • Be fair: consistent grading, absentee policies, etc.
“When I hear, I forget. When I see, I remember. When I do, I understand.” Calvin Coolidge • “The person who knows how will always get the job, but the person who knows why will always be their boss.” John Munson • “It is good to have an end to journey toward, but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” Ursula K. LeGuin • “Setting an example is better than preaching.” William B. Miller & Vicki L. Schenk • “Kids may forget what we taught them, but they’ll never forget how we treated them.” • Doug Lowery, Principal, Hilliard Memorial Middle School, 2004 • When teaching works right, you’ve got 100s of allies and alumns with fond memories. There is no more satisfying feeling. Good Luck! Final Thoughts