Moore's Musings:
Let's Focus More on Failure

The legislative session started this week so both rhetoric and meetings are in full bloom; I feel like I’m in full “triage” mode way earlier than ever before, and that’s not a good sign. L So this edition of “Moore’s Musings” will be particularly (I know some of you are saying “mercifully”) brief so I can get back to the pressing matters of emails to answer, meetings to arrange, bills to analyze, tea leaves to interpret, that sort of thing—reflecting and musing are not highly-valued in state government circles as it doesn’t look like you’re actually working! [more]

"Creating Significant Learning Experiences"
Pacific Northwest Higher Education
Teaching & Learning Conference

With the beginning of the New Year come thoughts of the Pacific Northwest Higher Education Teaching and Learning Conference. The dates for the 2007 conference are May 2-4; we will again be at the Vancouver Hilton in Vancouver, WA. This year’s theme is “Creating Significant Learning Experiences” and the planning committee is pleased to have as the opening keynoter, Dr. L. Dee Fink, author of the 2003 publication Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses. Dr. Fink will also be leading a pre-conference workshop on Course Design. Call for Proposals are being sought within five broad thematic areas:

1. The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)
2. Institutional Assessment Informing Practice
3. eLearning and Instructional Technologies
4. Preparing the Underprepared
5. Students’ Experiences of Learning (a new and exciting venue for 2007 these sessions will include students as presenters in digital (video/audio) or in person

This annual event is a great time to explore and experience innovative teaching and learning strategies, to interact with folks who share like interests, commitment, and passion for students and their learning and to focus on our strengths as educators in connecting with our students, our colleges and the communities we serve.

To submit a proposal or find information on registration fees, lodging, etc., please visit the conference website.

Assessment:

Training College Students in Information Literacy

Primary Research Group has published a new edition of TRAINING COLLEGE STUDENTS IN INFORMATION LITERACY, the 2006-07 Edition (ISBN-1-57440- 081-9) The report profiles the information literacy efforts of a broad range of North American colleges including: Syracuse University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Windsor, Ulster County Community College, the University of North Texas, the University of California Berkeley, the University of Southern California at Los Angeles, the University of North Carolina Wilmington, Southeastern Oklahoma University, Central Connecticut State University and Seattle Pacific University. [more]

Improving Academic Achievement through Assessment of Learning in Developmental English and Math Programs

Cerritos College is using faculty inquiry projects to look closely at student learning in developmental English and math classes to enhance the academic achievement of underprepared students. Rather than investigate teaching methods directly, we are focusing on finding and assessing evidence of what and how developmental English and math students learn. The fundamental premise of our work is that when faculty members spend more time collaborating and closely assessing student learning, their teaching practices improve and this, in turn, improves student learning and success. [more]

A New Online Math Assessment Tool
David Lippman
WAMAP/IMathAS developer
Math Instructor, Pierce College

Washington Mathematics Assessment and Placement (WAMAP.org) was created to address the needs of online math assessment.  WAMAP runs IMathAS, an open source web-based math assessment software for delivery and automatic grading of math homework and tests. Questions are algorithmically generated so each student gets a different version of each question, and numerical and math expression answers can be computer graded.  WAMAP.org provides use free to Washington State high school and college instructors, graciously funded by the Transition Math Project.

This project began as a proof-of-concept, showing that it was possible to create custom software for asking non-multiple choice questions for placement and other assessment.  It has grown into a niche targeted course management system, with math assessment still at the cornerstone.  Existing systems, like BlackBoard, lack the ability to ask and grade rich mathematical questions, and lack the ability to easily display math and graphs in course items and discussion forums.

A grant from the Distance Learning Council allowed development of training guides and about 2000 questions ranging from arithmetic through calculus (many question were translated from the University of Rochester’s WeBWork system).  Content in WAMAP exists in an open-source community shared model, so through a growing community of users, the content continues to grow.  Likewise, feedback from the user community has guided the expansion of the software’s capability.

Another DLC grant is being pursued to develop course templates for common courses and further expand the question set base.  It is also planned to pursue an NSF grant for improvement and optimization of the underlying software.  Future plans include supporting the statewide placement test initiative, possibly through development of online practice tests.  Individual schools are also considering using the system for delivery of college-wide diagnostic assessments.  A few high-schools have begun exploring the system, and the possibility for developing connections between high-school instructors and college instructors through use of a common system and content also seems promising.

For more information about WAMAP, or to try out the tool, check out the site at http://www.wamap.org, sponsored by the Transition Math Project.

Report on International Conference on Scholarship of Teaching

It was a refreshing shift of emphasis to talk less about the students who are not prepared for college and talk more about the ways we can create a college that is prepared for our students. It was in this spirit that 800+ teachers and administrators met at the 2006 ISSOTL Conference in Washington DC to explore themes related to the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) within higher education settings.

While some 200+ workshops addressed a wide range of topics, they were unified in their goal of engaging in systematic investigation into classroom teaching and learning and to communicate these results to broader audiences. The general model guiding many of the conference workshops included: [more]

Links to Articles of Interest to Educators

New Definition for Liberal Education- The program for freshmen at Wagner College is based in part on “learning communities,” in which students take a pair of courses together and then work in a local community that relates to the courses. Courses in biology and economics might both relate to the environment — with the students working together in a community where a cancer cluster may be related to the environment. Faculty members — all of them tenure track — plan the entire program together, even as they teach their own classes...Wagner’s program is among those praised in College Learning for the New Global Century, a report released Wednesday by the Association of American Colleges and Universities.

Testing for Technology Literacy - Professors, librarians, and other college officials are increasingly coming to grips with the somewhat confounding reality that despite students’ affinity for IPods and their complete comfort with Google, many of them lack the technological literacy they need to navigate today’s information landscape. But recognizing the problem is not the same as knowing how to measure or fix it — tasks that many colleges are puzzling over.

Another Stab at Science Education - As members of the National Science Board-appointed commission on science education “met” (via telephone) for the first time last week, some key themes emerged. Chief among them was the need for dramatic change in how America’s young people are taught science and mathematics — and a sense that the commission’s preliminary plan may not be bold enough.

Publications:
Peter Ewell, Making the Grade: How Boards Can Ensure Academic Quality: Association of Governing Boards of Universities and College, Washington, D.C.; Making the Grade: How Boards Can Ensure Academic Quality fills a significant void in today's boardroom discussions with its clear, realistic advice and its "perfect pitch" balancing act with respect to board involvement with the heart of the academic enterprise: teaching and learning.

Maryellen Weimer, (2006), Enhancing Scholarly Work on Teaching and Learning: Professional Literature that Makes a Difference, Jossey-Bass; In this book, Maryellen Weimer provides an essential resource for anyone who is engaged in efforts to improve teaching in higher education. This comprehensive book draws on a wide array of sources to help practitioners build on the foundation laid by existing scholarly work on teaching and learning. Enhancing Scholarly Work on Teaching and Learning reviews previously published work on teaching and learning to better guide those engaged in pedagogical scholarship and to help develop a literature that meets the needs of faculty.

New Report from AAC&U

Several of the CTCs in Washington are members of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) that just released "College Learning for the New Global Century. The report spells out the essential aims, learning outcomes, and guiding principles for a twenty-first-century college education. It reports on the promises American society needs to make—and keep—to all who seek a college education and to the society that will depend on graduates’ future leadership and
capabilities.

The Washington State Center of Excellence is pleased to announce two upcoming events in the Puget Sound area:

Experiencing Collaborative Learning, co-presented with Everett Community College, and featuring Maryellen Weimer, provides faculty, curriculum developers and administrators an opportunity to think and work together on the topic of group work in a wide range of classroom settings – face-to-face, online, in lab classes, as well as a range of types of group work – in class, online, written and presentations. Session topics include Group Work Online, Designing Group Tasks and Assessing Group Learning, Group Work and Learning from Experiences, Using Groups to Assess Course Reading Materials, and more. Everett CC has pioneered a year-long collaborative learning lab – come learn from and with these innovative folks. http://campus.everettcc.edu/tlc/

February 15-16, at Everett Community College. Flyer and registration information online at www.CareersinEd.org.

Tracking Your Future Teachers: How the Right Database Can Help Your Program Succeed, is an interactive workshop designed to help colleges efficiently track and report student enrollment and demographics, advising notes and academic progress, mentoring and teaching placement, student activities, and other crucial information for program management and proposal writing and reporting. Topics include: utilizing enrollment data to recruit students, why accurate data is crucial, specific tracking needs for attendees’ colleges, how to assemble and prepare data, funding ideas, and more. If you’ve been wondering how to take your teacher education program to the next step, this is the conference for you. Bring a team of faculty, administrators and IT specialists!

May 17-18 at Green River Community College Auburn Campus. Flyer and registration information online at www.CareersinEd.org.

In this issue of eWAG we again link to one of Louis Schmier's "Random Thoughts." Inspiring and thought provoking, Louis Schmier calls attention to the too often lacking but needed human dimension of education, showing that the heart of teaching is to care about each student as a unique, sacred human being. "One Blasted Sentence" (March 18, 2006).

Blue Web'n is an online library of Internet sites categorized by subject, grade level and format. Beginning with this issue, eWAG will feature two to three sites recommended by Blue Web’n in anticipation that they may be useful in helping faculty create student-focused learning classrooms.

Landmark Supreme Court Cases
This site has been developed through the collaboration of teachers, attorneys, law students, Street Law, and the Supreme Court Historical Society. The vision is to feature Supreme Court cases and concepts that adhere to state social studies standards. The Web site presents cases and concepts within a "one-stop shopping" site that appeals to both teachers and students. The site includes a search tool at the bottom of the homepage that uses a variety of legal resources (FindLaw, dictionary, etc). Includes audio clips, activities, and recommendations for classroom use. Created by Street Law and The Supreme Court Historical Society.

WW2 People's War (BBC)
The BBC asked the public to contribute their memories of World War Two to a website between June 2003 and January 2006. This archive of 47,000 stories and 15,000 images is the result. There are 64 categories of stories including bombings, working life, domestic life, volunteers, military, and internment.

To submit an article or to subscribe/unsubscribe to eWAG, please email:
Anna Sue McNeill

“Of all the civil rights for
which the world has
struggled and fought for
5,000 years, the right to
learn is undoubtedly the
most fundamental.”
—W. E. B. DuBois