Previous First Friday Discussions (from Fall 2006)

September 1: Promoting Diversity of Thought
10:00 – 11:30, TC 405
One hallmark of higher education is the diversity of thought--the ability to expose students to new viewpoints that might challenge their preconceptions.  This isn't always as easy or as welcome as it sounds, however, particularly when class populations are often homogeneous.  What responsibility do we have to expose students to new and diverse viewpoints, and how can we overcome natural resistance to ideas that might conflict with their current opinions?

October 6: What Do You Believe about Teaching?
10:00 – 11:30, TC 405
Last year, National Public Radio revived the 1950's radio program "This I Believe" to give people from all walks of life a chance to talk about their core values that many of us share.  Or, as original host Edward R. Murrow put it, "to point to the common meeting grounds of beliefs, which is the essence of brotherhood and the floor of our civilization."  Let's use this session to talk about what we all believe about teaching—the values and beliefs that lie at the core of our teaching identities.

November 3: Immersive Learning at BSU
10:00 – 11:30, TC 405
The University's growing emphasis on immersive learning can mean a variety of things to different departments, programs, and individual teachers.  We will use this session to look at some of the more advanced examples of immersion learning on our campus as well as discuss how individual teachers can incorporate the spirit of immersion learning in their classes.

December 1: Ending the Semester on a High Note
10:00 – 11:30, TC 405

The end of a semester often turns into a mad rush toward the final class meeting--a blur of review sessions, final exams, term papers, and student evaluations.  This frantic pace sometimes makes it difficult to end the semester in a controlled and meaningful way.  How can we close out the term in a way that synthesizes a semester's worth of learning, sets the stage for ongoing inquiry, and helps us improve our work as teachers?  Let's gather to share ideas and discuss the unique teaching and learning opportunities that await us at the end of the semester.

Previous First Friday Discussions (from Spring 2006)

Who Are Our Students, and What Does That Mean for Our Teaching?
Friday, April 07, 10:00 –  11:00, TC 412
One of the keys to successful teaching is understanding who our students are and how we can best address their learning needs.  While each student is a unique individual, we can probably make some generalities about our student body--some based on demographics and some based on classroom experiences--that inform our teaching approaches.  So let's gather to talk about who our BSU students are and how we can best take advantage of that knowledge in shaping our instruction.

Informing Students of their Progress -- Effective Strategy or Handholding?
Friday, March 03, 10:00 –  11:00, TC 412
Here we are at mid-semester, and many of us are busy informing students of their progress in our courses.  And for many of us, these reminders may be the second, third, or tenth time we are reminding students of assignments that are (over)due, projects that need attention, or grades that need boosting.  At what point do the friendly reminders shift from a good teaching strategy to handholding?  How much monitoring of student progress is appropriate?  What are some effective strategies for shifting that responsibility onto students?  Join your colleagues for a cup of coffee and an informal discussion of these issues.  No registration is required--just stop by.

The Learning Impacts of Instructional Technology
Friday, February 03, 10:00 –  11:00, TC 412
Many instructional technologies are available for use at Ball State University--from Blackboard to ubiquitous wireless access to electronic classrooms.  But what impacts do we see on student learning--both positive and negative--as a result of our adoption of these technologies?  Let's talk about how various technologies are changing the way we teach and the way students learn.

Previous First Friday Discussions (from Fall 2005)

Encouraging Student Participation and Interaction
Friday, September 02, 12:00 –1:30, TC 412
Student participation is probably one of the greatest concerns of any teacher; it can make the difference between a dynamic learning experience and long, painful class.  What causes students to not participate in class, and what can we do to engage them in class discussions and activities?  Further, how can we encourage them to interact with each other and take more responsibility for guiding the teaching and learning process?

Increasing Attendance without Taking Roll
Friday, October 07, 12:00 –1:30, TC 412
Every semester we deal with students who skip class and/or grumble about attendance policies.  How would you answer a student who challenges those policies and asks, "Why should I come to class on a regular basis?"  How can we transform our teaching so that students need—and want—to come to each class meeting?

Dealing with Difficult Students
Friday, November 04, 12:00 –1:30, TC 412
We've all had them in class—the students who come late every day, read a newspaper during class, demand constant attention, make classmates uncomfortable.  How do we deal with disruptive, disrespectful, or otherwise difficult students in our classes?

Promoting Academic Integrity
Friday, December 02, 12:00 –1:30, TC 412
Each of us has stories of student cheating and plagiarism, and many have ways of detecting or preventing cheating.  But how can we head off such problems by promoting a stronger sense of academic and personal integrity in our classrooms?
 

Previous First Friday Discussions (from Spring 2005)

Dealing with a Consumer Approach to Education
Friday, February 04, 12:00 – 1:00, TC 412
Students (and the general public) are increasingly viewing higher education as a consumer experience rather than simply an educational one.  How does such a view impact our work in the classroom, curricular and program development, and other policies within the university?  Should we be resisting the consumer model or promoting alternate ones?  For example, Phillip Shelley of Eastern New Mexico State University believes a doctor/patient analogy is the more fitting than a vendor/customer one. He points out that students co-pay for education, must be accountable for following professional advice and need different treatment based on personal circumstances.  See below for a link to this article.
Chronicle subscribers: http://chronicle.com/prm/weekly/v51/i18/18b01601.htm
Non-subscribers: Click here and search for "students intensive care"

What is "Scholarship of Teaching" and Why Is It Important?
Friday, March 04, 12:00 – 1:00, TC 412
When we talk about the role of faculty members in higher education, we inevitably turn to the trio of scholarship, teaching, and service.   A growing number of voices, however, are asking if our conception of scholarship should be exclusively disciplinary and content-driven, or if there is a need to recognize a "scholarship of teaching" that promotes excellent teaching as a scholarly endeavor equal to other disciplinary scholarship? How would we have to reconceptualize our work as both teachers and scholars in order to promote such a view? Let's talk about where we think our university is now in promoting the scholarship of teaching, as well as where we think we need to go. One potential source to start discussions would be the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/CASTL)   

Developing Positive Relationships with Students
Friday, April 01, 12:00 – 1:00, TC 412
We all play different roles with our students--teacher, mentor, role model, coach, colleague, friend.  How do we best negotiate the difficulties inherent in playing these various roles in our relationships with students, particularly as those relationships change over time?  How can we work to develop the types of relationships with students that will help them excel in their studies and develop new identities as expert learners and young professionals?  
 

Previous First Friday Discussions (from Fall 2004)

Promoting Academic Integrity
Friday, December 03, 12:00 –1:00, TC 412
Each of us has stories of student cheating and plagiarism, and many have ways of detecting or preventing cheating.  But can we head off such problems by promoting a stronger sense of academic and personal integrity in our classrooms?

Classroom Assessment Techniques
Friday, November 05, 12:00 –1:00, TC 412
How can we continually assess student learning progress throughout the semester in order to best meet learning needs?  CATs offer a way of including small-scale assessments as a regular part of class activities.
**The following online resources were provided by the session facilitators:
http://www.ntlf.com/html/lib/bib/assess.htm
http://PAREonline.net/getvn.asp?v=8&n=9
http://www.provost.cmich.edu/assessment/toolkit/formativesummative.htm
http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/

Managing and Assessing Group Projects
Friday, October 01, 12:00 –1:00, TC 412
We all know the benefits of group projects, but we also all know our fair share of problems with assigning, managing, and assessing collaborative work.  How can we best structure and manage group assignments to be valuable and fair to students?

Motivating Students to Come to Class Prepared
Friday, September 03, 11:30 –1:00, TC 412
Students are just as important to the success of a class as teachers.  But what happens if students just show up without preparing for class activities and discussions?  How do we design our assignments and activities to encourage student preparation and involvement?