Four Things I Would Tell all University Teachers

1)      Be ok with being ok.

You will constantly be challenged with time commitments. You will have responsibilities to your department, program, college, research responsibilities, and outreach commitments. Make no mistake about it – dedicating yourself to the art of teaching is challenging – and improving that art takes time and effort. You will find that you will have an assignment that one year was just the ticket – it motivated students, it challenged them, and they did it! Yes! Then you will find the next year that students “don’t get it” and really don’t want to. Different students, different semester, different outcome. There is no substitute for the effort that it takes to improve teaching. But be prepared. Just when you think that you have that lecture mastered, your laptop will crash and you are stuck with a piece of chalk and a few written notes. This is teaching. The fact remains that effort put into the craft of teaching will only help you to become better, whether the lesson itself was stellar…or not. Teaching is not about perfection – it can’t be because we are humans working with other humans. It is about progress. It is about being ok and working improve next time.

2)      Tea Time is critical. So is happy hour.

I love teaching. I love to talk about teaching. I would love to talk to you about your teaching. I could talk about teaching all of the time (much to my husband’s chagrin). However, my husband (also a university professor) doesn’t. He is more of an introvert, deeply dedicated to his discipline – Animal Breeding and Genetics. However, every once in a while he will humor me and we can talk about classes, challenges, students, lectures and assignments. This typically happens on Friday nights after a margarita or two. But, I love it. And I think (you would have to ask him to be sure) that he likes it too. It is a rare moment in the crazy time-pressed society that we get to stop and reflect on the practice of teaching and academia. Too often we leave the same assignment for next year, the same lecture as before, because it takes time. Too often we teach in isolation (more coming on that later) and we don’t take the time to talk with others to solve grand problems in our classrooms, or in our disciplines, or in society for that matter. We are so busy doing, we forget that improving requires thinking and dialoguing. So grab that cup of coffee right after your class. Tell a colleague what went well. Stop and go to happy hour tonight and talk to someone else about their teaching. Be enlightened – and solve the issues together.  If you are like my husband and reflection is a little easier on your own, then turn off the NPR on the way home and ask yourself, “What went well today?” “What simple thing could I change to make it better?” “What practice did I do today that made a difference to me and my teaching?” If you are like me – you will need to write it down or you will forget it by the time you tackle the class the next semester. Stop. Reflect. Act.

I have been blessed this year with a semester of reflection as I have traveled to New Zealand with 26 students from Colorado State University. For the first time in 19 years, I am not in the classroom this semester. It has allowed me perspective I don’t often have when I am in Colorado. I think about teaching a lot, but I listen mostly to what our students are valuing about their experience here. I dialogue with students about assignments and their challenges. I want to make sure that this season of reflection doesn’t get lost on me. I want it to slow me down and improve my practice. Oh, and in New Zealand, they stop for tea twice a day. It’s good practice! J

3)      You are not on a deserted island; please get on the bus.

One thing that we do really well in the US is we specialize. We have specific disciplines and these disciplines often drive our relationships at our institutions. However, I want to challenge you to the art of teaching collaboration. I am not talking about having a person from another institution or another department come and guest lecture for you on their discipline. I mean deep rooted, cross-sectional, transformational collaboration.

At Lincoln University they have fields (field days, or field trips as we call them). These are scheduled four times a semester (that is a lot). They are day-long extensive trips where students get to hear from those in the (agriculture, wine, horticulture) industry about what they are doing. Many of our students are taking a management course. Others are in an animal science production course. Some are ecology majors in a plant science course. They ALL do the same field.

Here is the kicker: the field trips have a professor in management, a professor in animal science and a professor in plant science on each of the trips - facilitating TOGETHER. It is a huge commitment. But just think of the differing perspectives that you can get. I feel like there is often a great divide between those that agree and those that don’t. This is a practice (fields) where they may NOT agree – and do it ANYHOW. Perhaps even more valuable on these might be the time on the bus with other colleagues – talking and discussing about what they might have seen and what possibilities might exist in the future. Collaboration does not have to happen with someone like you, someone you like, or even with someone in your field of expertise – I wager you will grow more if they aren’t. Will it take time? Yes. Will it challenge your beliefs? I hope so. Get on the bus. Collaboration often happens best on the road (see #2 above).

 4)      Look out – for the good, the bad, the ugly. The key is to look.

Watch others teach. Watch good teachers. Ones respected in your department as the “best.” Watch others teach. Those with experience. Those without. Go into a high school classroom and watch those teachers work. Go to the university day care center – learn from those teachers (who teach kids with an attention span of 5 minutes). Learn to apply what you love to what you do. It doesn’t have to be copied in whole – take what you can and apply it.

Two examples:

Example 1: We have a 7 year old son who is attending school here in New Zealand. There is a movement away from traditional spaces and to a “student accountable” environment. The first day that I took him to class there were 56 students in his class (56!). The spaces are double classrooms, no walls, few desks, carpeted walls, bean bags, cubbies, mats, nooks, and even a glass “quiet” space. This movement is called ILE (Innovative Learning Environments – see: http://www.education.govt.nz/school/property/state-schools/design-standards/flexible-learning-spaces/). It looks and feels much different than his first grade class in Colorado! Wyatt has a learning goals card on the wall (next to 55 others) that lists what his goals are for the week. His individual goals. He has to figure out how to learn them – how he learns best. When he feels like he is ready he is responsible to take his goals to a teacher and have them individually test him. I watched with a fair bit of discomfort (if I am honest) because it appeared to be total chaos. But over time I realized that Wyatt had to figure it out. He has to be responsible. He has to adapt. Pretty good skills for a 7 year old. How can I input this into my class? I love the individual goals. I like the idea that students have flexible spaces. Some group work, whole class work, and some individual work. I like that at times they need desks, other times a corner and a white board. I am going to try to implement some of the same ideas – but in a university setting.

Example 2: We also have a 5 year old at preschool here in New Zealand. While preschool here is more discovery. Each day when Avery arrives at school there are “centers” set up – they are different each day. One day there may be legos, puzzles, play dough or books. It allows parents to come in and play with their kids before the day gets going. Kids learn by simple discovery at times. So do young adults and adults. I like the idea that kids who may not want to play with paint can choose another way to display their creativity. I like that discovery sometimes is as simple as exposure.

 I heard an awards acceptance speech recently where the recipient challenged agriculturalists to be present. “Kids can’t choose what they don’t know.” I think that is the same at the university. We have an obligation, even the privilege of exposing our students to new ideas. This has to be cultivated. To me, I hope to have stations set up with questions, ideas, examples – not because it is part of the learning that day, but it is part of the process of discovery and of inspiring the future. I hope to provide creative outlets in my classes and allow student to choose which way they can best present it to me. It’s a goal.

The point is watching good, bad, and ugly teaching can improve your practice. It can help you to refine what you want to do, or not do. It doesn’t have to be at your level, or in your discipline, for you to learn from watching others. Enjoy watching others.

So the challenge: you have a good teachers. Write down what you like best about their classes and assignments. Don’t try to replicate it – do it in your method, in your unique way that works. Be ok if it doesn’t work, it might the next time. Talk with others. Stop and have a cup and a conversation. And watch others practice the art of teaching.  Enjoy the journey – the practice of teaching and learning is a magical one!

Guest Blog provided by:
Kellie Enns, Assistant Professor
Colorado State University Agricultural Education

Fun Times in AEE 530

Guest Blogger Series: Internationalizing Your Classroom Without Leaving It – Dr. James P. Lassoie, Cornell University

Jim Lassoie is an International Professor of Conservation in the Department of Natural Resources, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University. He was educated as a forest ecologist at the University of Washington and joined the Cornell faculty in 1976. The applied perspectives he gained as New York’s Extension Forester (1976-1990) and during the development of an interdisciplinary research program focused on conservation and sustainable development during the 1990s are deeply reflected in his accomplishments as an educator and applied scholar. Jim has received a number of grants and awards for his innovative approaches to experiential learning and has been especially successful integrating international perspectives on sustainable food, forage, and fiber production into conservation and environmental management courses. Most recently, this involved designing collaborative case studies on agroforestry, conservation, eco-agriculture, and sustainable agriculture for an educational website and developing a service learning course supporting sustainable community-based enterprises in a mountainous region of Ecuador. He has advised over 80 graduate students and has a long list of research and extension publications. Jim and his forest ecologist spouse, Dr. Ruth Sherman, have worked together in Latin America and Asia for many years and share a variety of extracurricular interests including travel, eco-tourism, hiking, photography, and ‘managing’ 175 acres of woodlands outside Ithaca. 

For over 50 years, my institution has formally supported international educational opportunities for undergraduates though Cornell Abroad (https://www.cuabroad.cornell.edu/), the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies (http://www.einaudi.cornell.edu/), and International Programs in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (https://ip.cals.cornell.edu/about). Early in 2012, then President David Skorton challenged the university community to significantly enhance the internationalization of the undergraduate curriculum to assure that at least half of our students had a “meaningful” international experience before they graduated. As an International Professor I was pleased to see that this call resulted in a faculty task force, enhancement of the Office of the Vice Provost for International Affairs, the recent Engaged Cornell initiative (http://engaged.cornell.edu/), and the availability of funding for new courses and curricula focused international engaged learning. This is steadily increasing the number and diversity of opportunities to study abroad; including a service learning course I developed where students work with community organizations in rural Ecuador to promote sustainable development (http://cuabroad.cornell.edu/index.cfm?FuseAction=programs.ViewProgram&Program_ID=10379.

But, let’s do the math. Cornell has a ‘capped’ undergraduate population of about 14300, so President Skorton wanted about 7000 to have gained a “meaningful” international experience by Commencement Day. Before his call to action it was estimated that about 25% of our students had “some type” of international experience as undergraduates; this means we need to add about 3500 students to reach 50%. Of course, transfer students, guaranteeing “meaningful”, and the fact that most students seek international experiences as juniors or seniors further complicate my simple arithmetic. But, I ‘m left wonder if we have the student body capacity to put that many more juniors and seniors on airplanes.

To my knowledge we lack an estimate of the number of our students hoping to study abroad, either for a semester or during winter or summer intersessions (i.e., demand side). It has been my experience that many undergraduates forgo studying aboard because of financial constraints; language concerns; on-campus curricular demands; and/or personal, campus-life, and social priorities. Most certainly, Cornell’s new internationalization initiative is increasing the options available (i.e., supply side), but I posit that we might be competing for approximately the same pool of students – rather than greatly growing its size. This is currently an untested hypothesis, but antidotal evidence is around. For example, as my Ecuador course grew in in popularity and student numbers during the past 3-years, enrollment in a similar course focused on Mexico steadily declined and likely will be discontinued next year.

In a world facing rapid changes no one can logically dispute the value of modifying college curricula to provide students with “meaningful” opportunities for the self-reflection and enhanced understanding of socio-environmental complexities that are associated with international travel and study, especially in developing countries. However, are we confident that ‘enough’ students are using and benefiting from the large and growing number of international study opportunities on my camps and elsewhere? I could easily argue that in a modern world far more than 50% of college graduates should have an international perspective on their chosen course of study. How do we reach so many students? I’ve been working for a number of years to approximate a “meaningful” international experience for those unwilling or unable to study abroad.

However, before summarizing a couple of approaches I’ve used to internationalize my courses I expect some of you are wondering what I consider to be a “meaningful” international experience. Well, it’s basically an Oreo cookie, but hopefully more healthy! Students and many service providers logically focus on the frosting – the in-country milieu. We can quickly list essentials such as travel and lodging logistics; health and safety; associated costs and the availability of scholarships; and in-country coursework, fieldwork, and extra-curricular excursions and adventures. In addition, I believe that pedagogies that emphasize ‘engagement,’ such as authentic/experiential and service learning, greatly enhance the relevance of international experiences, thereby leading to greater understanding, motivation, and professional confidence among participating students. This requires developing opportunities for students to engage in close interpersonal interactions with collaborating partners to gain accurate and insightful specifics about local culture and lifestyles, social and economic dynamics, governing structures, civil society, and/or environmental and sustainability issues. In non-English speaking countries, of course, the level and resulting take-home values of engagement is greatly dependent on the language skills of participating students.

To finish my analogy, I’ll sandwich the frosting between two critical on-campus elements, which further define “meaningful” – pre-experience preparation and post-experience reflection. Since most of our students study aboard during their junior or senior years, the initial pre-experience step is to help first- and second-year students scrutinize the variety of international opportunities available and identify those meeting their personal and professional goals. Then students need be given the guidance and time needed to adequately prepare for their chosen experience, such as through appropriate geopolitical, eco-environmental, and/or language study. The second step focuses directly on preparing students for the specific international experience, which includes details about the socio-environmental setting. This builds the knowledge, insights, and sensitivities that underpin a student’s ability to work and learn while immersed in another culture. For example, building-up to a 3-week January fieldtrip, my fall semester service learning course uses readings, multi-media, guest lectures, and facilitated discussions to gain a ‘sense of place’ environmentally and socially; the latter involves exploring and deconstructing questions of power and privilege, social responsibility, environmental responsibility, civil disobedience, and social equity specific to our study region in Ecuador. Of course, travel and health issues and safety logistics also need to be addressed before students leave campus.

As noted in Prof. Courtney Meyers’ Guest Blog in early February, post-experience relfelction is the “…trademark of service learning” – and I’d argue that it is absolutely necessary for fulfilling a “meaningful” international experience. Facilitated post-experience reflection allows students to assess what they have gained personally and professionally from the experience and how these insights will influence their futures. This is where students often emphatically espouse on the academic uniqueness of such “life-changing experiences” in helping them focus their lives and careers. Unfortunately, many international experiences, especially those developed independently by students, lack the opportunity for facilitated post-trip reflection.

Not surprising, students consistently report the success of the “Oreo cookie” approach to study abroad in enhancing their academic experiences. Likewise, disaster stories abound that can be traced to “cookie failure.” However, this comprehensive approach is also the “Gold Standard” with respect to faculty and staff time and financial costs to students and sponsoring institutions. Hence, courses that include international travel are difficult to initiate and often harder to maintain, especially in competitive settings where supply and demand are in flux. Hence, a ‘safer’ and less costly approach in time and money is to stay home! So, after this long preamble, I’ll close by providing a couple suggestions about Internationalizing Your Classroom Without Leaving It.

As researchers we commonly build networks of colleagues with whom we collaborate, individuals both on and off our home campuses. For those working internationally, this network is worldwide. While team-teaching is a common practice among on-campus colleagues, videoconferencing technology makes it relatively cheap and easy to team-teach across vast distances. Beginning in the mid-90s Cornell has offered the 3-credit Global Seminar (I was involved 1999-2015) – a dynamic, collaborative learning course involving five other academic institutions in Australia, China, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Sweden and collectively over 125 students each term. Annually, the multi-institutional faculty team identifies the theme for the semester (e.g., 2015: Building Sustainable Environments and Secure Food Systems for a Modern World) and develops an appropriate curriculum using Skype chats. During the semester, students simultaneously examine faculty-developed case studies on sustainable agriculture and environmental conservation (e.g., Water and Food Security, GMOs, Climate Change, Land Grabs, Indigenous Knowledge, Global Responsibility), each supported by information provided via a common Blackboard course site and culminating in a videoconference ‘stakeholder’ debate among student teams from each institution. Post-conference discussion boards further addressed issues left unresolved during the debate. To account for tuition discrepancies, the Global Seminar is offered independently at each school, and grading and supplemental assignments are left to the respective institutions, which eliminate inter-institutional comparisons and allow internal standards to be maintained. With the declining cost of videoconferencing only a few inherent challenges remain, such as time zone differences, non-responsive students (and faculty!), and the occasional technical meltdown at one of the schools. Despite these problems students consistently value the opportunity to discuss complex interdisciplinary global topics with an international student body. This provides a diversity of geopolitical perspectives on sustainable development and our students gain sometimes-abrupt insights into how the rest of the world perceives the ‘privileged stature’ of the United States in general and Cornell students in specific. Global Seminar is certainly not a semester abroad, but how close is it to providing similar learning outcomes?

I began teaching an upper-division 4-credit International Conservation course in 2004 and was soon frustrated by my inability to bring reality into the classroom. Like many applied science courses my students wanted, and needed, concepts and principles underpinning conservation science, but they were in the course because they wanted to do international conservation. Students happily suggested fieldtrips to Kenya or Costa Rica as breaks from Ithaca’s typical winters! Instead, I successfully used published case studies, team projects, international guest speakers, and Internet resources to approximate ‘real-world’ conservation, but a lingering feeling of irrelevance remained because the problems we addressed were always abstract (a.k.a., “book-learning”) and often contrived by me. Working with one of my then PhD students, Dr. R. Jamie Herring, in 2007 we hatched an idea to link students directly with practitioners working on ‘real’ conservation problems around the world, including the United States. This led to external support from various sources to develop a portfolio of collaborative, multi-media case studies focused on environmental conservation and sustainable agriculture, plus an innovative, open-access website, www.conservationbridge.org. Currently, additional ‘domestic’ cases are being developed in collaboration with Cornell Cooperative Extension.

As cases were developed, I began using them in my various courses: for TA-led discussions in an introductory environmental science course, as 3-week collaborative learning modules in the Global Seminar, and for a senior ‘capstone’ course where student teams work directly with collaborating practitioners via Skype and e-mail to address specific questions identified within their specific case studies. In all situations this has provided an authentic learning experience because students are addressing ‘real’ issues that affect ‘real’ people. The capstone course provides engagement and service learning opportunities for students and assists practitioners in addressing problems they are currently facing. Students in all courses consistently agreed that cases were valuable, improved their understanding of key course concepts, and increased their motivation (see below). I have no idea how these learning outcomes would compare with courses offering fieldtrips, but I do know this approach is cheaper and enhances access for a larger and more diverse group of students.

Increased interdisciplinary understanding of sustainability

“We discovered the link between environmental and social issues.”

“The case was presented very pleasantly and it was fine, but looking more into it,

I realized there's a political issue here and I became morally opposed.”

“[We had] biologists, sociologists and economists working together.”

Increased in motivation

“The video makes it feel a little more real, a little more engaging.”

“You can see the people. You can see the landscapes. Sometimes that's hard

to extract from a journal article.”

“The videos did a good job of bringing interesting issues in an accessible way.”

“We are talking with real people who are facing these problems.”

“Meeting the practitioner builds a greater sense of accountability.”

Increased self-efficacy and influence their future course and career choices

“I feel more confident expressing my opinion.”

“It was kind of like eye opening.”

[Our team realized] students can actually make a difference.”

“It's been great. [This class] made me realize what I wanted to do.”

“Strengthened that feeling that I wanted to take more courses [in marine systems].”

“I recognize the importance of interdisciplinary studies.”

“I was forced to learn more about the social sides of things.”

In closing, I expect that many universities are struggling with the supply-demand challenges associated with providing “meaningful” international experiences that I identified at Cornell. We’re attempting to ‘internationalize’ many curricula, which may eventually increase the pool size for those seeking international travel and study. But, I believe there may be a ceiling inherent in the realities of educating over 14,000, 18-to-22-year-olds from diverse family backgrounds. I’d certainly like to see some research on the demand-side of the internationalization equation. I also expect that I’m not alone in my attempts to simulate “meaningful” international experiences in a classroom setting. How close can we get to achieving the learning outcomes expected from study abroad experiences? This too calls for a clever research project.

April 13th - Teaching with your mouth SHUT!

Guest Blogger: I have this fantastic new collaborative learning classroom. Now what?

Walt Hurley is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He has taught courses, including his Lactation Biology course, at Illinois for over 30 years. He flipped that course long before the concept of a flipped classroom came into the mainstream of academia. His online Lactation Biology website has been used world-wide since the mid-1990s and is used as a resource by many teaching similar courses. His contributions to teaching have been recognized through teaching awards from the University of Illinois and from national and international professional organizations. 

I have taught an upper level undergraduate course in lactation biology for over 30 years at the University of Illinois. Long ago, my approach was to emulate those who had taught me as an undergraduate by lecturing. By all accounts, I was not a bad lecturer, but nothing special.  Eventually I got bored with hearing myself lecture and thought how uninteresting it must be for my students. I thought that there must be a better way. I have the advantage of having two 2-hour weekly class sessions, giving me plenty of time to have class meet at the campus dairy farm, which is only a mile south of campus, or develop other in-class activities. I experimented with a range of student activities over the years. Over 15 years ago I revamped the course to one where most of the content material is online and students spend 75-80% of the in-class time working in groups on case studies, discussions, projects, and various types of presentations. I have done only limited lecturing in recent years. Since the mid-1990s I have taught in a traditional class room with bolted-down tables, with chairs in rows facing the front of the room, a chalk board, LCD projector and resident computer. The room was designed long before students were bringing laptops or cell phones to class.

Room 131 Animal Sciences Laboratory - then

To conduct the in-class group work in that room meant that the students had to figure out how to arrange themselves in a fashion where they could accomplish the goals of the activity. I would start each semester with a map of the room showing where each group was to form a circle. Some would have to turn their chairs around and face the back of the room, or cluster up at the ends of the tables. Inconvenient, but they did it with little effort and after a couple of weeks automatically would sit with their group members and quickly arrange into their group area when we started the discussion or activity. My role typically was to act as a resource for their group efforts. I would continually walk around the perimeter of the room answering questions, listening to their conversations to make sure they were on track, or offering suggestions. Any group that sat in the center of the room was always hard to get to.

Some of their presentations of solutions to various types of cases involved developing what I call mosaics. They would make drawings illustrating the elements of the case, their interpretation of the information, and their solutions to the case. We would tape the pictures on the walls around the classroom and they would be expected to walk up to the wall and explain their drawings and conclusions to the rest of the class. This required some logistical planning on my part to minimize the time it took for the class to tape about 150 drawings on the walls.  For their project presentations, the groups typically would stand at the front of the room and talk to the class. 

Then something happened. A couple of years ago I was in a campus meeting where they started talking about remodeling some classrooms.  In addition, there was discussion on making some of the existing classrooms into flexible collaborative learning spaces. The campus has since then called these iFLEX rooms. Although there are several types of iFLEX rooms that are being developed at Illinois, most of them have movable chairs and tables, lots of white boards, lots of technology around the room, and less emphasis on there being a “front” to the room.   

Room 131 Animal Sciences Laboratory - now

As it turned out, our classroom was already on the list to be renovated. I immediately volunteered it to be turned into an iFLEX room. Reconstruction started in the summer of 2015 and we were able to start holding classes in the room in January, 2016. We were able to expand the space a little allowing us to maintain room capacity similar to the old room. There are 12 pods of 6 tables and chairs each. All tables and chairs are on wheels. Ten pods are around the perimeter of the room and associated with flat screen monitors. Nearly every inch of wall space between the monitors is covered with glass whiteboards. There is a main screen at what is considered the “front" of the room. The instructor can control all the screens with the potential for a group on one side of the room to be able to display their work to another group on the other side, and all other combinations of displaying around the room.

So now I have this fantastic collaborative learning space. I was already doing a lot of collaborative learning in the old space.  Have things changed? Absolutely yes. Many of the activities are very similar to what I had been doing before. Now I encourage students to bring their laptops/cell phones to use in their activities. For example, on the first day of class I had an unplanned visitor from South Africa who conducts study tours of Kruger National Park and other wildlife preserves. Students were already sitting in groups. I assigned each table one of the African Big Five animals to quickly lookup anything related to lactation or reproduction and develop a brief presentation. Then I had our guest share his personal knowledge and experiences about those animals with the class. The new room made such an effort considerably more streamlined, efficient and meaningful for the students. And, it was something that I could do to take advantage of a last-minute opportunity with minimal pre-planning.

As for those mosaics, there no longer are blank walls on which to tape their drawings.  I now have them gathering images from the web to develop a digital mosaic that we can display around the room as they explain their conclusions about the case. One observation that I made was that many students would make notes on their laptop. Then when they were called on to talk to the class they used those notes as their reference. While this limits their impromptu discussion, they do feel much more confident in making their presentation and include more detailed information. 

Gathering material for a presentation

I still do not lecture much, however, I often share information with them about their projects and activities. It is much easier for me to move around the room to engage with each of the groups.  Easier to hand out materials. Easier for the students to work on projects that require developing some physical outcome. By default, students are sitting in a circle and therefore no one in a group gets left out from the discussions. 

What about their group presentations?  To date they have only given one presentation. I had them stand in the middle of the room while talking and making their presentation. After the presentations they were challenged to move around the room to view more closely the work of the other groups. I continue to develop ideas on how we can use the room and the technology even more effectively, and engage the students even more fully in sharing their work.

At this point, the responses of the students to the new room has been very positive. Initially some had to get use to the idea that there was no front of the room and that they could not just sit mindlessly and stare at a point at the front of the room. They could choose to look at the various screens, the projector screen or the instructor on the move. Some are still disconcerted by the expectation that they actually move their heads to look around the room.

How have other instructors managed? Aside from some initial minor technical concerns of making sure the laptop that they brought in to run the projector and monitors worked in that room, they too seem to like the room. I feel that many of them who traditionally only lectured are starting to see other pedagogical approaches that they might use in such a flexible learning environment. And those who were already incorporating group work and other activities into their courses are coming up with interesting ways to enrich those experiences even more in this new environment.

What can I say! This is great after so many years of being bolted to the floor. Every class session, I am coming up with new ideas on how to take advantage of the room. I look forward to having those ideas keep coming.

April 6th - Spinning the Classroom Web

March 30th - Beyond Classroom Walls: Effectively Engaging in Experiential Learning

2016 AEE 530 Professional Development Workshop Line up!

Inaugural #AEE530- Teaching & Learning Professional Development Series

What? A series of five workshops designed and delivered by participants of the PSU College of Agricultural Sciences AEE 530: Teaching and Learning in Agriscience course. All are invited!

When? Wednesdays on dates indicated below from 4:15pm-5:15pm

Where? Ferguson Building Room 202 (Alternative location of Ferguson 205)

Date	Description	Facilitators
March 23rd	Does diversity matter? Maximizing multicultural competency for teaching success. This instructional and interactive workshop will give educators and students specific techniques and tips to deliver instructional strategies that enhance teaching among multicultural and diversified audiences. Participants will gain a greater awareness of current and global issues, and strengthen intercultural awareness.	·   Ms. Leslie Pillen, PSU Sustainable Student Farm Design Coordinator ·   Mr. Maurice Smith, Graduate Student, Agr Extension & Education ·   Dr. Ivan Sopushynskyy, Forestry visiting scholar from Ukraine
March 30th	Beyond classroom walls: Effectively engaging in experiential learning. Constructivism is the intersection of a student’s experiences and ideas.  This learning theory can be effectively enhanced through experiential learning.  Instructors may create opportunities for students to “try out” what they have learned through active experimentation during classroom and field experiences. This workshop will explore Kolb’s Theory of Experiential Learning and ways to integrate this into one’s own teaching.	·   Ms. Sara Mueller, Graduate Student, Wildlife & Fisheries Science ·   Mr. Dang Nguyen, Graduate Student, Horticulture
April 6th	Spinning the classroom web: Social media in your class. How can social media and other related tactics help maximize the interaction between the instructor and student, particularly when the class consists of 50 or more students?	·   Ms. Karly Regan, Graduate Student, Entomology ·   Mr. Bill Zimmerman, PSU Social Media Manager
April 13th	Teaching with your mouth shut: Active learning strategies to transform teaching. Teaching and learning in the classroom and in informal settings can be so much more than lecture and PowerPoint slides. Actively engaging learners with lesson content makes for more interesting lessons and better recall. With so many activities to fill your class time, how do you choose and effectively incorporate the right one?	·   Ms. Rita Graef, Curator- Pasto Ag Museum ·   Dr. Tetiana Popova, Agri. Econ. visiting scholar from Ukraine
April 20th	Utilizing scholarly inquiry in your own classroom: Conducting scholarship of teaching and learning. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) is a way in which teachers can formally investigate a certain aspect of teaching in their own classrooms.  This peer-reviewed research strategy allows teachers to be more involved in the teaching and learning process and improve their own and their colleague’s teaching methods.  This workshop will provide an introduction to SoTL and provide tools to get SoTL started in your own classroom.	·   Ms. Meghan Tanner, Graduate Student, Agr Extension & Education ·   Ms. Jenna Reeger, Graduate Student, Plant Biology ·   Ms. Yu Wang, Edu Technology visiting scholar from China

March 23rd - Does diversity matter? Maximizing multicultural competency for teaching success.

Session 8 - Micro-teaching Ticket Out

March 2nd - Ticket Out - Microteaching

What are you curious about?

• Better ways of assessing learning during a class session.
• You are talking about formative assessment. Here is a neat resource: http://ii.library.jhu.edu/tag/formative-assessment/
• The 20 line in Texas (Megan's lesson)
• Sounds like I missed a great one!
• Where did you get the reflection cards? Love the resources shared in class!
• Here is the store: http://weand.me/ . Chad is coming to my class on April 29th (Friday) all day, let me know if you want to met him!
• How preset structures of course length impacts quality of instruction?
• We might need to talk more about this! I am unsure of your question.
• Kolb's Model
• http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/experience.htm

What did you learn?

1. Be aware of non-verbal ticks in teaching!
2. Be prepared to adapt with Technology!
3. Stick to the timing plan!
4. Use a feedback sandwich! (Positive, constructive criticism, positive)
5. Tips about collecting student feedback!
6. Canvas Features
7. Importance of a "Take Away/Leave Behind" for great workshops
8. Reflection on Experience is what help sus learn!

What do you want to learn more about?

• Other methods & Ways of facilitating reflection in teaching. 
• Here is a neat manual! https://www.uvm.edu/~dewey/reflection_manual/ 
• What makes a great co-teacher?
• Here are some tips! http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/co-teaching-tips-professional-learning-communities.shtml

Session 7 - Course Climate Online Asynchronous Session

Online Session (Canvas Module)

What are you curious about?

• At first read of Ch 6 I felt overwhelmed by ALL the things that might influence climate in the classroom - all the things students might bring with them...that by the end of digesting all the "strategies" offered in the chapter, I felt that I might have an approach to not only "handle" things, but to anticipate and embrace them.
• There seems to be a very fine line to walk with some of this, specifically about being available and reducing anonymity for the students. I feel like too much can be overbearing and a bit creepy but not enough will alienate students. 
• The different types of questions that showed up in our quiz
• There were some great ones! Isn't it fun to be able to apply knowledge to authentic scenarios?
• How teachers and faculty can be made aware of and reminded of assumptions they may make in their instruction.
• Constantly being challenged...one reason peer review of instruction can be so helpful!
• What would I learn in the TLT Symposium?
• Hmm...most learning at professional development events is self-identified as everyone creates their own meaning. I hope you get a sense of the amazing resources available and possible innovations for technology integration. Check out the schedule and make a plan for your success: http://tltsymposium16.sched.org/ 
• Multicultural education and teaching
• Here is a diverstiy tool kit from the National Education Association: http://www.nea.org/tools/30402.htm

What did you learn?

1. Course climate can impact the course learning. In addition, about the assumptions that could take place in everyday teaching and learning situations. 
2. Really good ways to adjust class atmosphere
3. The variety of assumptions that can be made in the classroom and how many different ways course climate can be affected by them.
4. The stages of student development
5. Hardiman & Jackson's categories for social identity development 
6. How to think about assumptions--different kinds of assumptions by each player in a situation and that individuals might hold more than one assumption

What do you want to learn more about?

• how to stave off assumptions...how to recognize when I, or those around me, are seeing thru an assumption and how to nicely tell someone that they are not be seeing things as clearly as they might because of their assumptions...I noted the phrase: "You probably did not mean this, but some people might interpret your comments as sexist."
• The more we can make our classroom's open to honest critique, the better chance we have of catching this!
• How the first day of class and the syllabus can be structured to send a clear message about course climate. 
• Meaningful language re: values of the class. What are your "big picture" ideals?
• How to factor student development into assignments for a course
• Do we have developmental appropriate assignments? Just asking puts you ahead of the curve
• How teachers and faculty can be made aware of and reminded of assumptions they may make in their instruction.
• Sometimes...it is painful. But Feedback in the form of peer review and/or student evaluations can be helpful!
• How to drive student to self study?
• Intrinsic Motivation. Learn more here: 
• http://www.edutopia.org/blog/creating-conditions-for-student-motivation-larry-ferlazzo
• http://teach.its.uiowa.edu/articles/cultivating-student-motivation
• Developmental growth in the class and issues with diversity
• Ahh..sounds like we need more than one three credit class!

Session 6 - Scholarship of Teaching and Learning with Dr. Rice

February 17th

Guest Speakers:
Dr. Laura Rice
Dr. Tracy Hoover
Dr. Micheal Tews

What are you curious about?

• The time expectations for collecting SoTL. Is it usually a side project that specific disciplines take on or something that some people specialize in and collect throughout disciplines?
• This is dependent upon your position description, but most all tenure-track positions asks for some evidence of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning which can have many forms.

• Effective teaching and classroom management for your personality strengths
• I am not sure I understand what you are asking, but I will share that there is NOT one way to be successful. Authenticity and sincerity to self is of the upmost importance, but all teaching should have basic components of organization, variability, and clarity.

• Challenges for female instructors, particularly with classroom management.
• If you would like, I would strongly recommend simply reaching out to successful female instructors in your discipline and around you and asking them for their thoughts. I am sure Dr. Hoover would love a conversation. Mentoring is available, but you must seek it out. If you need help selecting someone to talk to, please just email me directly and I will connect you with someone.

• Developing the characteristics of a good teacher.
• Comes from practice!

• More about how to incorporate FUN in the classroom
• Same advise as classroom management. Seek out someone to ask and talk to. If you need assistance, please email me directly.

• What kind of cliches exist in teaching?
• I am unsure what you are looking for in your question, but would be glad to discuss face to face if you so choose.

• How many natural resources people are in NACTA?
• I do not know for sure, but I suggest you email Dr. Rick Parker, executive director of NACTA (nactaeditor@pmt.org), and ask! He loves sharing about NACTA as evidenced by his guest post: http://psuaee530.blogspot.com/2016/02/nacta-then-now-and-in-future.html

What did you learn?

1. NACTA exists and is awesome. I definitely look forward to taking advantage of it. 
2. Much more detail about SoTL and a better idea of where our SoTL assignment is going
3. Several tactics from Dr. Tews for being a better teacher, particularly ways to create a more engaging learning experience, and reduce distractions and lateness among students. 
4. Learned about NACTA which is a professional society that focuses on the scholarship of teaching and learning in agriculture and related disciplines at the postsecondary level.
5. More on how to manage students!
6. How to integrate fun into the classroom.

What do you want to learn more about?

• What are the expectations of the presentation for Assgt 6? Will it occur during class or outside of class?
• You can find the info sheets here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B9rwwS2lj61cSy0yU0FadmlqQ2M. There is a specific document on the proposal expectations 
• Presentations will be done as time exists sporadically in the last 4 class sessions

• Moving from a teacher who's going through the motions to becoming committed to Scholarship of Teaching & Learning. 
• Great! Our experiential assignments will help with this process!

• Assignment 6 and more detail on section II. 
• Please email specific questions that still exist after reviewing the documents in the Assignment Folder referenced above. I would be glad to review any drafts ahead of schedule.

• How to be successful in my career?
• Persistence

• Examples of the SoTL proposal.
• As you are the first class to complete this, I do not have class examples; however, any SoTL peer reviewed article shows a great pathway. See NACTA Journal: https://www.nactateachers.org/index.php/journal-sp-1148215168

Week 6 Instructor Video Reflection

Student Introductions:. Dr. Ivan Sopushynskyy, Associate Professor, Ukrainian National Forestry University

Hello Everyone! I am a Visiting Scholar at the Department of Ecosystem Science of Penn State University within Woskob International Research in Agriculture Scholar Program. I am working as Associate Professor at the Department Botany, Wood Science and Non-Wood Forest Products of Ukrainian National Forestry University.

I am very happy to visit the course AEE 530: Teaching and Learning in Agricultural Sciences, because I got different kind of academic spirits how we can manage the scientific materials and to operate with them. The knowledge of learning and teaching experiences are of great importance but all times, we need to find the platform how to operate with huge amount of information as well how to transfer them to our students and to figure out the effective approaches to be successful. 

In my point of view, this class meets all of above mentioned requirements. I would like to thanks of all classmates for good conversations.