Hi, Bill
Thanks for having sent the very helpful article about how much homework teachers should assign students.
I have an additional thought about faculty development that I’d like to share with you, and it focuses on the original purpose of the Teaching Breakfast.
Many, many years ago, the group was convened by Dr. Siegel, Chair of the Psych department at that time. When the group was started, its purpose was for Oneonta faculty to very briefly (approximately 10-15
minutes or less) present ideas and methods those teachers found to be particularly successful in the classroom. That’s the reason the group was originally named the “Teaching Breakfast.” Our first group had some small funding for morning coffee and small
bread/pastry items, and those items constituted the “breakfast” of the meeting.
I found that group to be very helpful. I heard some great ideas that our own teachers use for working with large groups, small groups, Gen. Ed classes, assessment, etc. I learned some useful and practical
information about ways to evaluate student learning that may (or may not) have been acquired as the result of homework, and about ways to get quick but effective input from students at the beginning or end of class.
It was also heartening to see so many teachers and staff who felt that these topics are important enough to merit attendance at an 8 a.m. meeting!
I am writing today to suggest that in addition to the excellent outside speakers you have brought to the Oneonta campus, we also find regular occasions to hear from our own teaching staff who can give short
presentations (10-15 minutes) and lead resulting conversations. Since the presenting faculty member is on campus, that person would be available for follow-up questions that might occur several days later.
As an example of this sort of activity within the past few days, Bill Vining met with me at my request to talk about online labs in various of the STEM curricula. As part of his explanation, Bill showed
me his own teaching materials, which do not involve online labs, but DO involve a great deal of online instruction and homework. Bill’s teaching materials, most of which he had authored, were wonderful. I learned many new ways to teach effectively in that
brief conversation and I would recommend that he be requested to share a similar conversation with a larger group. I am always grateful to hear from an external authority regarding higher education, but I hope you will use your excellent organizational skills
to also enable regularly scheduled discussion of teaching methods from our own Oneonta faculty. Many of them have a lot of helpful information and techniques to share.
Again, thanks for your leadership in the area of faculty/staff development.
Janet
Dr. J. Nepkie
SUNY Distinguished Service Professor
Music and Music Industry
Fine Arts 145
State University College
Oneonta, NY 13820
tele: (607) 436 3425
fax: 607 436 2718
From:
Teaching Breakfast List <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of "Wilkerson, Bill" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Teaching Breakfast List <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thursday, July 21, 2016 at 11:32 AM
To: "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: How Much Should We Assign? Estimating Out of Class Workload
All,
I thought some on the list might be interested in this student course load estimator.
http://cte.rice.edu/blogarchive/2016/07/11/workload
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cte.rice.edu "How much should I assign?" is one of the most basic questions teachers ask when designing and revising their courses. Yet it is
also one of the most difficult to ... |
Bill