Teaching Practicum in
FS629, 1 credit
Winter Term 2004
CRN: 24214
Meeting time and place:
Wednesdays,
Instructor: Barbara Bond
Contact Information:
Barbara Bond
Office: Richardson 330
Office hours: T 10-12 or by appointment
Phone: 7-6110
email: barbara.bond@orst.edu
Course Goals:
This course is designed to prepare graduate students in Forest Science and related disciplines for their first teaching experiences. Using concepts and information introduced in the class, students will develop the curriculum for one credit of college-level instruction (or an equivalent approved by the instructor) in a topic of their choice.
Rationale:
Most Ph.D. students, and many M.S. students, will be employed in positions that require them to teach. However, few graduate students have an opportunity to learn instructional methods during their college careers, and in the Forest Science Department they have limited opportunities to teach. To help students become more employable, and to help them become more successful in their first positions, they need skills and experience in teaching. Following this class, it is expected that students will implement (under faculty guidance) the instructional units that they develop during the course. This might be in the form of a series of lectures in an existing course, a workshop, an extension program, a laboratory module, or even a web-based teaching module.
Prerequisites:
None. The course is designed especially for Ph.D. students in the middle to end of their graduate programs, although others are welcome.
Grades:
Pass/No Pass. For a passing grade, students will submit to the instructor a curriculum plan that meets the criteria described on the first day of class.
Texts/Readings:
Required: W.J. McKeachie, 2001. Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research, and Theory for College and University Teachers, 11th Edition. Houghton Mifflin Co.
Additional readings on file in the Peavy Hall Self Learning Center:
The Teaching Professor
(monthly newsletter) - filed as #1150 in the permanent collection
The National Teaching and
Learning Forum - #1148
Course Content:
Week 1: Jan. 7. [University closed due to bad weather; class cancelled]
Week 2: Jan. 16. INTRODUCTION; STRATEGIES FOR COURSE DEVELOPMENT; DEVELOPING COURSE GOALS
Introduction
of class members and their projects
Explanation of course goals and class project
Resources
for this class:
Text
Resources in the
Discussion:
1. What is the role of the teacher? what makes a good teacher? (click to access notes about this from previous classes)
2. What is a good
course?
3. Teacher-centered vs. Learner-centered
instruction
4. The process of developing a course
5. Outcomes, goals, and objectives
6. Analyzing your
audience and their needs; developing goals
7. Write a statement of outcomes/goals for your
course; share
and discuss
Week 3: Jan. 21. DEVELOPING LEARING OBJECTIVES TO MEET YOUR GOALS
Assignments FOR TODAY:
1. Skim Chapters 1-3 and pp.
139-144 in McKeachie
2. Optional?: Complete the survey for the Kiersey Temperament Sorter for yourself on the web at:
http://www.keirsey.com/cgi-bin/keirsey/newkts.cgi
3.
Optional?:
Find at least one example of a web site that could be useful in course
development or implementation to share with the class
4. Write a description of the
audience, outcomes/goals, and tentative list of objectives for your course. Bring
them to class in a written format so they can be shared with another person in
class. (click
here for a list of examples of “performance objectives”)
Discussion:
Course approval at OSU: how do you set up a formal course?
Link to Handbook of
Curricular Procedures at OSU
More information about preparing Category II proposals
Week 4: Jan. 28. LEADING AND FACILITATING DISCUSSIONS REAL AND VIRTUAL
Assignments FOR TODAY:
1. Read Chapter 4 in McKeachie
and come prepared to share at least one useful/important idea from this chapter
2. For each of the objectives you developed last week, briefly describe one or
more learning activities that could help you achieve this objective. A
"learning activity" could be something as simple as "lecture
about this topic"; "have students read article posted on web as
homework assignment"; "classroom discussion", or it could be
something more complex: "over a period of 3 weeks have students research
this topic in the library, develop a list of references, write an abstract
.....". PLEASE BRING ENOUGH COPIES OF YOUR LIST TO SHARE WITH EVERYONE IN
THE CLASS.
Discussion:
1. Share lists of learning activites. We will choose one objective from each person's
list and discuss the suggested learning activities, adding additional ideas. Click here for a list of ideas for learning activities
2. Discuss reading from McKeachie
3. What makes a discussion successful? How can we facilitate good discussions?
Week 5: Feb. 4. EFFECTIVE LECTURING
Assignments FOR TODAY:
1. Read Chapter 5 in McKeachie.
2. Come to class prepared to discuss
good vs. bad attributes of lectures
Lecture: Giving good lectures click here for
lecture notes
Week 6: Feb. 11. EXERCISE IN LECTURING: NOTE
SCHEDULE CHANGE!!
WE WILL MEET IN THE LUNDEEN LAB, PEAVY HALL, FROM 7-9 pm
Assignment FOR TODAY: Each student will develop and present a 10 minute lecture that would be appropriate for his/her class
Click here for more details about this assignment
Click here for information to use in evaluating your classmate's lectures
Week 7: Feb.
18. TBA (Bond will be in
Be thinking about the overall structure of your course. Ask yourself
again: are the OUTCOMES/GOALS appropriate
for the intended group? Do the OBJECTIVES really accomplish the goal? Will the
LEARNING ACTIVITIES really accomplish the objectives? Are the learning activities
appropriate for different learning styles? Are the REFERENCE MATERIALS and
reading assignments you selected appropriate for the intended audience and will
they help you accomplish your stated objectives?
Week 8: Feb. 25. ALTERNATIVES TO LECTURING IN UNIVERSITY COURSES
Assignments FOR TODAY:
1. Write a brief critique about
EACH of the lectures from week 6 based on the criteria we established for (see
link for week 6 for more information about the evaluations). SEND THIS TO ME BY E-MAIL BEFORE THIS WEEK'S CLASS!!! (I'll redistribute the comments so they'll remain
anonymous).
2. Skim but don't worry about
reading completely: Chapters 10, 12, 13, 14, 15.
3. Identify the reference
materials (including books, papers, web sites, etc) you plan to use for your
class (this is a very big job -- be sure to give yourself plenty of time for
this).
4. Bring to class a copy of the
most current version of your course plans, which should include goals,
objectives and learning activities, and references. (We will exchange them for critiquing)
Discussion:
1.
Debriefing the practice lectures
2. Status report on success finding reference
materials for your courses
3. Alternatives to lectures: student projects,
programmed learning, simulation and role playing games, laboratory teaching. Exercise: Developing
alternative learning activities for objectives in the curricula we are planning
4.
click here to obtain an electronic copy of the form we'll
use for critiquing the curriculum plans
Discussion:
1.
Week 9: March 3. REALITIES OF INTEGRATING TEACHING INTO YOUR ACADEMIC
CAREER; COLLABORATIVE TEACHING; INCORPORATING GUEST LECTURERS/PRESENTERS IN
YOUR CLASS
Assignment FOR TODAY:
1. Write a critique of the
syllabus of a colleague -- see the information linked to week 8 for a form to
use in your critique.
Discussion:
1. Course critiques
2. Approaches for teaching large classes
3. Realities of trying to integrate teaching and research in a busy career
Week 10: WE WILL NOT MEET THIS WEEK. Bond will be in Finland.
Week 11: FINALS WEEK – TO BE ARRANGED. ASSESSMENT OF THIS COURSE; ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING; ADVERTISING YOUR COURSE; FINAL PROJECTS DUE.
Assignment:
Final projects are due! Also
write an outline of the tasks you need to accomplish before you can actually
teach this course. Include items directly related to the course curriculum
(e.g., reading assignments, assessment methods etc.) and also the logistics
necessary for scheduling the class and enrolling students.
Discussion:
Assessment of this course
Assessment strategies for students and
for instructors:
Tests and exams, Alternative
means of assessing learning, Grading
Advertising your course
click here for powerpoint presentation by Mark Reed on Assessment of Learning
click here for an example of a flyer to advertise a course developed by a student from THIS courseshare highlights of course designs
assessment of this course!