Teddy’s Reading Log #2 for 03.21.2010
Posted onMarch 22, 2010
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Teddy’s Reading Log #2 for 03.21.2010
For class session 03.23.2010
Scholarship truly matters! This second article describes the current efforts to deny faculty at community colleges the fruits of academic citizenship. Their right to fulfill responsibilities of scholarship in their institutions, disciplines and in higher education should quickly warrant an immediate round-table discussion with college presidents, community leaders and state officials to remove such unfair barriers. According to Prager (2003), the sector claim to a unique teaching mission has been used to exempt or exclude community college faculty from the scholarly obligations and responsibilities understood elsewhere in higher education. By discouraging externally validated scholarship, community colleges deny their faculty an appropriate voice. In turn, this denies all external agency access to that voice. Community college teachers educate nearly 40% of all college students and almost half of all first time freshmen. It would be wise to provide significant scaffolding for these two-year institutions and critically think about how they can be enhanced and used to energize the workforce. Excluding them could prove to be detrimental for future applications. More than likely, we may need their assistance to resolve both local and global matters of catastrophic proportions.
Community colleges have a long history as institutions of teaching. Therefore, their faculties are not thought of as producers of scholarly work or geared to focus on much of anything else. Community colleges are known for their strict concentration on student learning, giving students skills that will make them want to learn and they do that job well! Their instructors are extremely committed and take to heart the success or failure of their clients. They are often referred to as schools of second or lesser choice. As a result, community colleges are tagged with the stigma of being lowly-rated, stand-by schools for undergraduate students having little success in academic settings. Those of us who have taught in community colleges know that this is far from the truth. Instructors of community colleges are highly rated by their students as being of high quality. In fact, many instructors teach at both two-year and four year facilities. The only real difference is in tuition!
Scholarship is rarely included in community college mission statements. They have not institutionalized scholarship, instead, they have very cleverly positioned themselves as organizations where teachers are not expected to conduct research or pursue other scholarly venues. Such policies serve to disadvantage or deny faculty of existing remnants of tenure and promotion. It makes it very difficult for faculty to achieve the scholarship of discovery, the scholarship of integration, the scholarship application and of course, the scholarship of teaching. The connection between teaching and scholarship is critical to expanding the inclusion of community college faculty as essential contributors to the scholarship of teaching and learning movement in higher education. I am thorough convinced that it is the responsibility of all to ensure that all college teachers are given the opportunity and responsibility to conduct research as teachers of younger scholars who aspire to educate, publish and make inquiry of current and future topics.
Jason’s Reading Log 3/23
Posted onMarch 22, 2010
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This week’s reading was very interesting to me because of it’s focus on the community college system. I have always thought that the community college structure has a distinct advantage over the university system in it’s ability to produce SoTL research. The articles this week discussed this idea in detail.
The first article that I read was How community colleges understand the scholarship of teaching and learning. I think a very concise statement summing up the community college culture is: Community colleges have an advantage because of their “teaching focus” however community colleges are also disadvantaged by their lack of a “learning focus”. By this I mean that community colleges are able to avoid the “publish or parish” issue and focus on teaching as there professor’s primary duty. This does give them an edge over many university professors that are holden to the traditional research responsibilities. However, community college’s have done little in terms of understanding learning.
So while the community college’s “non publishing” advantage is real, that same lack of focus on research has lead to a culture of trail and error and seasoned teacher advice as the primary forms of understanding successful teaching. The community college system has also followed the common (and problematic) practice of using teacher evaluations as a substitute for more legitamite measures of learning outcomes. In short, the distance from a research requirement has both advantaged and a disadvantaged the community college system in it’s ability to engage in SoTL research.
Teddy’s Reading Log 03.21.2010
Posted onMarch 22, 2010
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Teddy’s Reading Log 03.21.2010
For class session 03.23.2010
One of the articles for discussion this week, entitled “How Community Colleges Understand the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning”, describes the experiences of the faculty and administration of Middlesex Community College in Bedford and Lowell, Maine. The article gives some generally known reasons as to why students attend community colleges. Sperling (2003), states that they come to us for professional and economic growth, personal development, and intellectual stimulation. Many transform their lives and future opportunities through the skills and credentials they acquire. Students are flocking to community colleges because of their easy access and affordability. In times of economic downturns, it is the best deal around and route to gaining new skills or re-tooling people for the workforce. As noted by Sperling, community colleges are open admission institutions that offer students with little academic success an opportunity to bachelorette degrees. Community colleges are still struggling to shake off their old persona as institutions for the “undesirables” in post-secondary education.
Administrators and faculty at the Middlesex Community College began their inquiry about the scholarship of teaching and learning by asking important questions that were relative to the status quo. They first admitted that they were like most community colleges that focused on teaching and not scholarship. This led them to think about and question the transformation of their classrooms into laboratories to study student behaviors or gain insight about the research of others. Using their past knowledge and experiences, they realize that linking learning theory and teaching practicum would only transpire after deeper understanding of the AAHE’s 1998 definition of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. It asserted that the scholarship of teaching and learning is problem posing about an issue of teaching and learning, as well as , study of the problem through methods appropriate to disciplinary epistemologies, application of results to practice, communication of results, self-reflection, and peer review. However, much of how students learn from practitioners is often dependent on practices of trial and error. The use of best practices still prevails as the reigning methodology to teaching and learning. In other words, I teach as I was taught theory!
According to Sperling, few community college instructors are grounded in learning theory and most have never formally studied or even read much about cognition, learning styles, human development, moral development or taxonomies of intellectual growth. I found this statement shocking and embarrassing! It is difficult to believe that such individuals are selected to teach adults in American Community Colleges. It goes without saying, that teachers must understand learning styles in to order to structure activities that gives students opportunities to learn by doing, visualization, listening and reading. These contrasting pedagogical approaches are needed to sustain meaningful learning that is stimulating and motivating. Over and over again, community college instructors are informed about best practices through practice and observation, collegial sharing of what works or reflective practice that delivers effective instruction. Connecting the dots between learning theory and practice is essential to understanding how community colleges can move closer to understanding the scholarship of teaching and learning. In many ways, it is a direct rebuttal to the statement “Why We Do What We Do!”
Aracelie_Reflection_23 Feb
Posted onMarch 21, 2010
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Our latest class continued with the Believer/Doubter exercise. The other members of the class had the opportunity to present their questions to the group. As with many things, we discovered there are two sides to every coin. For every positive we came up with, we were able to see the same point as a negative. The game is a great technique for flushing out details of the question and for allowing other perspectives to shine. It also requires the originator of the question to reevaluate is purpose in pursuing that question. Depending on how much and what one really wants to accomplish will determine which factors are truly positive or negative.
Additionally, I noticed how, depending on how one looks at it, “well-trained” or “well-programmed” I really am. Each time my mind started to form a comment it turned into a question. ‘Have you considered this? Did you think about that? Why not try this? How did you decide that?’ I had a difficult time just making a statement using what I already know. Granted my knowledge of music and sociology is limited, but I have spent so many years asking for more details and more information that it was very difficult to try and work with what I had already been given and already knew. I realize being able to ask questions is not a bad skill to have, but I have to remember I do not always have to approach everything in that fashion.
Aracelie_Reflection_2 Mar
Posted onMarch 21, 2010
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Elluminate! It’s like Harry Potter, only not. When I walked into the classroom, I remembered being glad we did not attempt to use it for class when it snowed. Those were a lot of scary and confusing icons on the screen. However, after watching Darren go through the sound checks, it did not seem as bad. Having the opportunity to let Dr. Barkley guide us through her most recent course portfolio was great. I thoroughly enjoyed the set up of the portfolio. Travel is something near and dear to my heart, as well, so every click of the mouse had me anticipating the next video clip or soundbite. To see something so well-thought out and evident of time and effort was inspiring. Not only did it make me want to take her class, it made me want to teach a class so that I could emulate her portfolio. She also mentioned that there was an incident (I cannot remember the specifics,but something related to cheating, I think) that was extremely difficult for her to deal with, yet she chose to post it on her site anyway. That example seems to take a lot of courage. I don’t know that as a new, non-tenured faculty member, I would have the self-confidence to make something like that so very public. I wondered later after we left class, whether there were any ramifications from her institution and if so, what degree of severity they held. Perhaps her class is so well-liked that the institution applauded her actions. Or perhaps she has been so open with the rest of her work that posting the negatives and the positives is now expected in her work. In other words, she has set the standard for herself and others are well-aware of them.