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AUTHOR Roueche, Suanne D., Ed.TITLE Innovation Abstracts; Volume XIV, 1992.INSTITUTION Texas Univ., Austin. National Inst. for Staff and

Organizational Development.SPONS AGENCY Kellogg Foundation, Battle Creek, Mich.; Richardson

(Sid W.) Foundation, Fort Worth, Tex.REPORT NO ISSN-0199-106XPUB DATE 92NOTE 62p.PUB TYPE Collected Works Serials (022) Viewpoints

(Opinion/Position Papers, Essays, etc.) (120)

Reports Descriptive (141)JOURNAL CIT Innovation Abstracts; v14 n1-30 Jan-Dec 1992

EARS PRICE MF01/PC03 Plus Postage.DESCRIPTORS College Faculty; *College Instruction; Community

Colleges; *Faculty Development; InstructionalDevelopment; *Instructional Improvement;*Instructional Innovation; Learning Strategies; SelfEsteem; Student Attitudes; Study Skills; *TeacherEffectiveness; Teaching Methods; Two Year Colleges;Writing Instruction

ABSTRACTThis series of 30 one- to two-page abstracts covering

1992 highlights a variety of innovative approaches to teaching andlearning in the community college. Topics covered in the abstractsinclude: (1) faculty recognition and orientation; (2) the Amado M.Pena, Jr., Scholarship Program; (3) innovative teaching techniques,with individual abstracts focusing on instruction in English,mathematics, economics, nursing, computer education, and science; (4)

study and test preparation tips for students; (5) alternativeevaluation methods; (6) an international visitor program; (7)

cultural diversity and multicultural education; (8) the NationalInstitute for Staff and Organizational Development conferenceresults; (9) the role of writing in different disciplines; (10)

building student self-esteem in the classroom; (11) the role ofstudent as teacher; (12) the "Course Selection System"; (13)

instructor and student goals; (14) poetry writing in English classes;(15) using newspapers in the classroom; (16) measuring student andinstitutional effectiveness; (17) law enforcement and securitysimulations; (18) student retention; (19) teacher studentrelationships; (20) political correctness in science instruction;(21) desk top publishing in education; (22) student problem solving;(23) student psychology; (24) nontraditional literature instruction;(25) implementation of a handicapped awareness day; (26) student testanxiety; and (27) creative writing in programs for older adults.(MAB)

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INNOVATION ABSTRACTSPUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTETOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD), COLLEGE OF EDUCATION,

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEASAT AUSTIN WITH SUPPORT FROM THE W. K. KELLOGG FOUNDATION AND ?HE-SID W RICHARDSON FOUNDATION

0c)0-

Innovation Abstracts; Volume XIV, Numbers 1-30, 1992.

Suanne D. RouecheEditor

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S. Roueche

TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCESINFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)"

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONOffice of Educational Research and Improvement

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATIONCENTER (ERIC)

This document has been reproduced asreceived Irons the person or organizationoriginating it

tMinor changes have been made to improvereproduction quality

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ISSN-0199-106X

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD)\L.))Community College Leadership Program, Department of Educational AdministrationCollege of Education, The University of Texas at Austin, EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712

Les* INNOVATION ABSTRACTSVOLUME XIV, NUMBER 1

PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFFAND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD). COLLEGE.OF EDUCATION,

THE.UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN WITH.SUPPORT FROM THE W. K. KELLOGG FOUNDATION AND THE SID W. RICHARDSON FOUNDATION

Quality Teamwork: New Faculty Orientation

Last year Elizabethtown Community College experiencedthe largest influx of new instructors in its history; 20 percentof the full-time faculty for fall 1990 were new employees. Aquality circle, created by the academic dean, centered on theproblem of how to effectively orient and assimilate the largegroup of incoming new faculty.

After two hours, the group of busy bees, buzzing abouthow to orient new faculty, had collectively gathered enoughnectar to make a good pot of honey. The quality circle "buzzgroups" followed a six-step problem-solving process mod-eled on methods used by Japanese workforce teams tocontinually improve quality manufacturing processes:

1. Identify the problem.2. Brainstorm solutions.3. Analyze solutions.4. Choose solutions by consensus.5. Make a plan and implement.6. Check back to assess solutions.

Because the focus was on implementing changes, whiningand finger-pointing were replaced by constructive generationof creative ideas accepted through consensus of the wholegroup.

Plans were made for a collaborative orientation program,and individuals generously volunteered to work on specificparts of the agenda. It was fascinating to observe how muchcooperation emerged from a process that empowered agroup of individuals to function as a team. Members of thequality drde felt they owned the problem, as well as theirproposed solutions, so that nothing was referred to anothercommittee or department.

Much of the scheduling and coordinating of activities forthe expanded orientation was completed by a facultymember who was being replaced (leaving the college becauseof her husband's military transfer), but who felt so stronglyabout making a contribution that she continued to work onthe project even after her contract with the college had ended.Many other faculty and staff members donated largeamounts of time and energy to the project, all of this activityfalling outside any officially assigned college duties.

The result of this quality circle teamwork was a compre-hensive orientation program presented for new faculty

during the first two weeks in August and just prior to thestart of fall classes Teamwork was stressed in the delivery aswell as in the planning of the program. Orientation "bud-eies" acted as initial guides for each new faculty member; toUtter mesh personalities and interests, first-year mentorswould be chosen later. The first orientation day providedtime in the morning for new faculty to get keys, move intotheir offices, and meet their hallmates. In the afternoon, thecollege president and academic dean welcomed the newfaculty; then individuals escorted small groups of themaround campus, showing them the ropes, and introducingthem to others at the college.

For the remainder of the first week and much of thesecond, new faculty attended seminar-style dasses withtopics presented by faculty members, counselors, librarians,division chairs, deans, support staff, and coordinators. Classsessions ranged from pragmatic instructions on filling outcollege forms to loftier discussions of teaching philosophiesand testing pedagogies. New faculty were given opportuni-ties to learn and ask questions about college mission andgoals, service area characteristics, college credit and noncreditprograms, typical student profiles, dassroom policies andprocedures, faculty rights and responsibilities, academicrights of students, syllabus and test construction, textbookselection, campus teaching/learning resources, counselingservices, faculty evaluation methods, employee benefits, etc.Participants soon coined their own name for the trainingprogram: "ECC 101."

A number of social activities and icebreakers wereincluded to help new faculty feel part of the collage commu-nity. A "syllabi and salads" welcoming potluck luncheongave all college employees a chance to meet and entertain thenew instructors. A trivia scavenger huntsimilar to the oneat San Diego City College as described inInnovation Abstracts

(Volume XII, Number 17)--prompted new faculty to meetand discover hobbies and special interests of their colleagues.Example: What faculty member in the business managementdivision collects baseball cards?

The high point of these social activities was a daylong tourof five counties in the college's service area. We borrowed acity school bus and driver, packed box lunches for a picnic ata local historic site, visited off-campus sites, traveled 200 milesof back country roads, and listened to a wealth of localanecdotes and tales colorfully narrated by our enthusiastic

0THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD)Community College Leadership Program, Department of Educational AdministrationCollege of Education, The University of Texas at Austin, EDB 348, Ausfin, Texas 78712

tour guidea faculty member and lifetime resident of theregion. The tour oriented new faculty to the geographicalservice area, while the long bus ride provided them anextended period of time to talk and get to know one another.

By the middle of the second week, new faculty beganattending other college and divisional meetings. Two facultymembers, who were new the previous year, hosted a specialno-administrators-present session for new faculty called "Allthe Things You Still Want to Know But Are Afraid to Ask."They addressed such areas as unwritten rules, hiddenpitfalls, campus customs, strategies for overcoming obstacles,and other aspects of the campus culture that some individu-als might not feel comfortable discussing candidly.

The last two days of the second week involved anovernight stay at a conference center in Lexington, Kentucky.There the 12 new ECC faculty joined 150 other new Ken-tucky community college employees and participated in thesystem-wide orientation to the University of KentuckyCommunity College System. Here they met the universitypresident and community college chancellor, learned aboutsystem policies and procedures, attended sessions on varioustopics, and interacted with colleagues in their disciplinesfrom other colleges.

On a follow-up assessment instrument, new faculty gavehigh evaluations to various components of the orientationprogram; their overall ratings were 62% excellent, 38% good,and 0% average, below average, or poor. They offeredsuggestions for improving the sessions (to be used by theteam that plans next year's orientation program). The "buzzgroups" have been so successful in implementing changeson our campus that we plan to drop a number of traditionalstanding committees and replace them with ad hoc qualitycircle teams created and empowered to solve specificproblems.

R. Darby Williams, Dan of Academic Affairs

For further information, contact the author at ElizabethtownCommunity College, 600 College Street Road,Elizabethtown, KY 42701.

Celebrate Excellence:Recognition of Facultyand Staff Accomplishments

The Governor if Colorado proclaimed last February to beCommunity College Awareness Month, and the Commu-nity College of Aurora designed an "Excellence Week" toacknowledge and honor the many accomplishments of itsfaculty and staff. The week began with an Employee Excel-lence Recognition reception. Specially cast medallions wereawarded to all previous and current Classified Employees ofthe Year and Faculty of the Year recipients, and eachrecipient was asked to wear the medallion for the entireweek. We hoped that students, faculty, and staff would askthe recipients about their accomplishments.

The Phi Theta Kappa Recognition was held mid-week. Theplaque commemorating the initiation of the local charter(established within the last year) and the plaques withsignatures of the charter members were displayed.

The Faculty' Program Recognition was the finale. ClassifiedEmployees and Faculty of the Year were recognized onceagain; and the Outstanding Service Award, programawards, and divisional awards were presented. Thehighlight of the evening was faculty and staff sharingmemories of people and experiences related to the college'shistory.

To sustain the week's momentum, a college bulletinboarddesignated the "Excellence Board"was a visualdisplay of the high caliber of commitment and excellence ofthe faculty and staff. All were encouraged to post theiraccomplishments. Many had published books and articles,had received special honors in connection with volunteerprograms, and had been guest speakers at local and nationalconferences.

The response to the Excellence Week and ExcellenceBoard was overwhelming, and the Excellence Board remainsa permanent part of CCA's fixtures. Students, staff, andfaculty still post accomplishments and stop to check theboard for the most recent additions.

Ileta Smith, Excellence Week Coordinator & Academic Counselor

For further information, contact the author at CommunityCollege of Aure-a, 791 Chambers Road, Aurora, CO 80011.

Suanne D. Roueche, Editor

January 24, 1992, Vol. XIV, Na 1

iThe University of Texas at Austin, 1992

Further duplication S permitted by MEMBER

institutions for their own personnel.

INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publication of The National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD),

Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, EDB 348, The University of Texas at Aust4n, Austin, Texa

78712, (512)471-7545. Funding in part by the W K. Kellogg Foundation and the Sid W Richardson Foundation. Issued weekly

when classes are in session during fall and spring terms. ISSN 0199.106X.

VOLUME XI V, NUMBER 2

4k*.)

4))) eA INNOVATION ABSTRACTSPUBLISHED BY THE WATIONA1 INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD), COLLEGE OF EDUCATION.

tHE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN WITH SUPPORT FROM THE W. K. KELLOGG FOUNDATION AND THE SID W. RICHARDSON FOUNDATION

The Amado M. Pena, Jr., Scholarship Program

Everyone has heard that life imitates art," and art hasbeen used to bring life to one institution's financial aidprogram. Noted Southwest artist Amado M. Pena, Jr.,grew up in humble surroundings in the Texas bordertown of Laredo. At the completion of his formal educa-tion, he moved his dreams of being a wage-earning artist250 miles north to Austin, the capital of Texas. His earliestwork was peddled on street corners across from TheUniversity of Texas for the meager sum of 50 cents.Today, some of these early works sell for thousands ofdollars. His career has led him and his work to many ofthe world's finest art galleries, and in many circles hisname is synonymous with the artistic style of the South-west. He has, in a word, "made it." Fortunately for a newgeneration of young Hispanics, he has never forgottenwhere he has been or what his responsibilities are toothers.

In 1989, he agreed to establish the Amado M. Peria, Jr.,endowed scholarship program for Hispanic students atAustin Community College. Not only did he establish theprogram, but he has worked tirelessly to ensure its long-term success.

For the program's first fund-raising effort, an originalwork by Pena was reproduced in poster form, in a limitededition. The posters sold for $50 each, and the total sales(more than $60,000) went directly to the program endow-ment. About the piece, Los Cuentos, Pena wrote:

I was a teacher in Austin for 16 years, and I haveseen educational opportunities transform manylives. As a matter of fact, the artwork I haveproduced to establish the scholarship fund is aboutthe storyteller, or teacher, who encourages us to bemore than we thought we could be. My specialteacher was my grandmother. This portrait isdedicated to her and to all teachers.

When the Los Cuentos original was sold, Pena doni.-.!:ed10% of its price to the scholarship fund. From the firstyear's effort, eight scholarships were awarded.

In 1990, Amado Pena offered another original work.The even more limited edition was of a signed andnumbered serigraph, Dos Mujeres. Sales revenues reached$15,000.

Then in the summer of 1991, Pena arranged for an artauction to further benefit the fund. He approached oiher

Southwest masters, asked them to donate original worksfor auction, and donated works from his own personalcollection as well. Actor Lou Diamond Phillips (La Bamba,Stand and Deliver, and Young Guns I and II) responded to acall from his friend Pefia and flew from California to serveas celebrity auctioneer. This event raised an additional$27,000 for the scholarship program.

Pena has twice served the college as an artist-in-residence, on each occasion spending two full daysteaching a wide range of art topics to aspiring artists; hewould not accept an honorarium.

No individual can better describe the need for help infinancing an education than the person who must seek it.In awarding the Pena scholarship, ACC asks students todescribe in writing their need for financial plpport andtheir aspirations. Two such responses are offered here.

I am originally from Lampasas, Nuevo Leon,Mexico. I would like a better education than myparents had. My father graduated from sixth grade.My mother went only to second. Since my father'sdeath three years ago, we have lived only on socialsecurity. I am hoping to get this scholarship so thatmy dreams for a good education can come true.

'Growing up on the rough side of town' I had theopportunity to experience the pain and struggles ofthe poor. I feel that poverty in minorities is itselfone aspect of society that desperately needs atten-tion. Hopefully, my completed studies will open thedoors for me to help the kinds of people I grew upknowing.

Amado Pena's roots in the Rio Grande Valley havegiven him an uncommon understanding of the problemsof the socioeconomically disadvantaged; his earliestexperiences have never been forgotten. The studentswhose comments are featured here are real people,dependent on others who have been successful and whocan now offer a helping hand. Amado Pena understandsand embraces this critical need.

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD)Community College Leadership Program, Department of Educational AdministrationCollege of Education, The University of Texas at Austin, EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712

On each of our campuses and in each of our communi-ties, there may be individuals who would choose to helpremove the burden of long-term debt from the shouldersof those already sufficiently burdened as they pursue thedream of a higher education. Austin Community Collegeis fortunate to have been the "right place at the righttime," becoming one beneficiary of Amado Pefia, Jr.'scommitment to giving something back to his communityand to enriching the lives of students in a tangible andcritical way.

Games Nurses Play

Creative teaching techniques involve the use of manylearning principles, and they promote the development ofcritical thinking skills. Techniques such as "gaming"involve the active participation of the student andgenerate a new enthusiasm for learning.

At Monroe Community College, nursing students arerequired to take comprehensive final examinations.Instructors have adapted the popular board game"Trivial Pursuit "TM (Selchow and Righter Co., Bay Shore,NY) to help students prepare for the exams. The normalgame subjects have been replaced with six nursing-related categories: (M) medications; (N) numbers; /DT)definitions/terminology; (P) procedures; (NP) nursingprocess; and (D) documentation.

Playing the game is easy and fun. Students may playas individuals or in opposing groups. With some excep-tions, the rules of the game are basically the same as thoseoutlined in the "Trivial Pursuit" Tm instruction booklet. Tomove the game along quickly, instructors allow studentsto win a "pie wedge" anytime the player or team answersa category's question correctly; normally, a player or teamcan only win a pie wedge when they have landed on ahub, or "headquarters" square, and have answeredcorrectly.

The game presents students with nursing-relatedquestions that must be answered correctly. A correct

Fifteen students now receive Pena scholarships. Hisoriginal commitment to the program is stronger todaythan ever, and new fund-raising initiatives are in theplanning stages.

Dan Angel, PresidentMike DeVault, Executive Assistant to the President

For further information, contact the authors at AustinCommunity College, P.O. Box 140526, Austin, TX 78714.

answer wins the corresponding category's pie wedge.Each player or team is given 60 seconds to answer aquestion. If a player or team correctly answers thequestion, they win the category's pie wedge and cancontinue playing. If they answer incorrectly, the otherplayer or team takes their turn and attempts to answer aquestion. Once the player or team has won a pie wedge,they do not have to answer any more questions in thatcategory.

The game proceeds with students collecting piewedges from all six categories. In order to win, the playeror team must land in the middle of the board, where theyanswer an additional question chosen by the opposingplayer or team.

This gaming technique has been enthusiasticallyaccepted by students, and they play it several timesbefore the final comprehensive examination. The tech-nique has been identified as one major reason for thestudents' exceptional performance (95 percent pass) onthe National Council Licensure Examination.

Pamela Korte, Instructor, Nursing

For further information, contact the author at MonroeCommunity College, P.O. Box 9720, Rochester, NY14623.

&Janne D. Roueche, Editor

January 31,1992, Va. XN, No. 2

©The University of Texas at Austin, 1992

Further duplication is permitted by MEMBER

institrtions br their awn personnel.

6INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publication of The National Institute for Staff and Organizatimal Developmenl(NISOD),

Department of Educational Admilistradon, College of Education, EDB 348, The University of Texas at Ausin, Austin, Texas

78712, (512) 471-7545. Funding in pan by the W. K Kellogg Foundation and the Sid W. Richardson Foundation. Issued Kay

when classes are in session during fal and spring terms. ISSN 0199-106X

VOLUME XIV NUMBER 3

jt INNOVATIONABSTRACTSPUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD), COLLEGE OF EDUCATION,

THE UNIVERSITY OF TE.VAS AT AUSTIN. WITH SUPPORT FROM THE W. K KELLOGG FOUNDATION AND TtlE SID W. RICHARDSON FOUNDATION

Using Dialogues as Writing AssignmentsSetting:

First Class cabin, TWA,heading for Saudi Arabia

Characters:Machiavelli, an Italian "advisor"

Lao-Tzu, a Chinese diplomat

Machiavelli: I feel we can end the conflict in a sudden,massive, and decisive action.

Lao-Tzu: Oh, hot-headed one! Your ideas are tooaggressive. I say to you, take no action.One fire never put out another. Fires areextinguished with water, water ,!kingquietly its own passive level.

Machiavelli: This is not a time for wastetul words but foraction! If we do not act now we will becometrapped like a piece of rice between twochopsticks!

This excerpt from an imaginary conversation camefrom two Freshman Composition students* who collabo-rated on the following assignment: Write a dialoguewhich reveals the similarities and /or differences betweenthe political viewpoints of Machiavelli and Lao-Tzu.Using the dialogue as their mode of expression, thestudents met and, in fact, went quite beyond the objectivesof "regular essay" assignments. I have found comparablyimpressive results in most cases when students use adialogue form for their writing assignment.

ObjectivesDialogues as writing assignments require students

to recast main ideas of an assigned reading into theirown imaginative words (different from a mereparaphrase or a summary, but effectively accom-plishing the objectives of both);to anticipate and deal with a point of view differentfrom their own; andto resolve or at least synthesize ideas from variousviewpoints into a conclusive whole.

*C.rtdit to Students: Lonnie Werth and Stacy Webb

In composition classes, the dialogue is not meant toreplace essay forms, but it may provide a supplement toor a break from those other forms. Furthermore, asdiscussed below in more detail, it may serve as a means ofbrainstorming material to generate ideas for other essays.Imagine, too, how lively class discussion becomes whenmaterial from a reading or a lecture is "acted out" indialogue form. In classes other than composition, thedialogue is extremely useful as a writing assignment sinceit requires little more than a few "characters" from thediscipline and a specific topic to k ~o the writing focused.It does not require elaborate settings .cage directions,though some students like to add such. Its length varies,and its evaluation is easy: students cannot "bluff" anunderstanding of material they need to render intodialogue.

Ultimately, the dialogue asks students to understandideas central to a discipline and then to express those ideasthrough the filter of their imaginations. Imagination is akey word here, for imagination changes the expressionfrom forcing ideas down on paper to giving voice to thoseideas. I must emphasize here how lively the students,their "characters," their ideas, and their expressionsbecome when presented through dialogue. Indeed,Machiavelli's well-aimed simile of a warning to Lao-Tzunot to get caught "like a piece of rice between two chop-sticks" speaks for itself.

ApplicationsThe practical applications of using dialogues as writing

assignments are numerous in any discipline. I have useddialogues in English and philosophy courses with tremen-dous success in getting the students to understand keyconcepts. In fact, in composition the dialogue is particu-larly useful as an initial "brainstorming" activity togenerate ideas from students as they approach a series ofdifficult readings; a similar approach is used by "creative"writers all the time"what would happen if?" Bybrainstorming via dialogue, students must eventually findand understand the main ideas of the reading, thenprocess those ideas through their own viewpoints intodebatable form. Moreover, they must deal with theopposition, with the counter point of view, in an engaging

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STA4AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD)Community College Leadership Program, Department of Educational AdministrationCollege of Education, The University of Texas at Austin, EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712

and imaginative way. Since many times the students willteam up on a dialogue, they also benefit from collabora-tive learning while they sharpen their critical thinkingand writing skills.

ExamplesA few examples from various classes may illustrate the

widespread applicability of using dialogues as writingassignments.

In a literature class we took several characters fromseveral short stories and assigned a thematic topic.Imagine what dialogues we got from an imaginaryroundtable discussion with:

La Folle (Kate Chopin's Beyond the Bayou)Rainsford (Richard Connell's Most Dangerous Game)Francis Weed (John Cheever's Country Husband)Francis Macomber (Ernest Hemingway's Short

Happy Life of Francis Macomber)Fortunato (E. A. Poe's Cask of Amontillado) on the

topic of fear!One student decided to have Mrs. Macomber and Mrs.Weed come to blows over how to deal with their hus-bands!

For some classes (history, math, physical or biologicalsciences, and perhaps some social sciences), studentsmight research major figures in the discipline and thendevelop dialogues around specific topics. For example:an American history class might find Thoreau and Kingin a debate on civil disobedience, or Lee and Grantdiscussing honor.

American history Thoreau and King in a debate oncivil disobedience; Lee and Grant on honorPhysics: Newton and Einstein on GodPsychology: James and Skinner on free willEconomics: Marx and Galbraith on povertyGeometry: Euclid and Gauss on whether "parallel"lines can meetThe dialogue, then, accomplishes many of the objec-

tives of good writing assignments while at the same timeit provides students in any discipline with a new ap-proach to un ?standing and writing about main ideas.Clearly, the possibilities in any class are limited only byimagination. And as to who won the debateMachiavelli or Lao-TzuMachiavelli pressed for an armwrestling match while Lao-Tzu requested a less physicalmode of deciding which path to follow. The studentsresolved the impasse with an in-flight (and ongoing)match of Chinese Checkers. After all, what else couldsymbolize the slow and deliberate crossover moves ofdiplomacy?

William Horrell, Instructor, English /Philosophy

For further information, contact the author at NorthArkansas Community College, Pioneer Ridge, Harrison,AR 72601.

Suanne Dt Rounhe, Editor

FebtuNy 7, 1992, Vol XiV, Na

ChB Uriversity of Texas et Austin, 1902Further duple:via is permifled by MEMBER

inetitreas for their ben perscmet

INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publication the National hstitute for Stall and Organizational Development (NISOD),

Department of Ecticational Administration, College of Educatix, EDB 348, The Unliesity of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

78712, (512)471-7545 Funding in part by the W. K Kelkgg Foundation and the Sid W. Richardson Foundation. Issued weekly

when dames are in session during fal and spring terms. ISSN 0199-106X


310. INNOVATION ABSTRACTSPUBLISHED EtY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD). COLLEGE OF EDUCATION.

rHE,UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN WITH SUPPORT FROM THE W. K. KELLOGG FOUNDATION AND THE,SID W. RICHARDSON FOUNDATION

Using Mathematical Essays

This semester I "inherited" a (freshman) Calculus classthat is small in number (10) but huge in talent. Recogniz-ing such potential, I demanded that students display theirproblem-solving mathematics abilities beyond merecomputations. One of the most fruitful assignments wasthe result of a test question: Write an essay to compareand contrast techniques of integration. I have chosen shortexcerpts from their essays. I would not be surprised if youread more of their work in future years. Enjoy!

4:::.It is the plight of every Calculus student to discover,mainly through trial and error, the basic categories ofintegration common to all types of problems. By doingthis, the student has a general form in mind, and byperforming any number of legal substitutions orchanges, can then reduce the original problem to aknown form that he can solve. The two categories ofintegration, in my opinion, are the power rule anddefinition. All other strategies are merely methods tochange the form of a problem to coincide with thepower rule or definition categories. For example,problem 2 on this test is really the power rule indisguise. Trigonometric a nd u-substitutions are meansof changing the problem into that form.

eg. fsin:x3cos x dx= fsin6x(1 - sin x) cos dx trig sub= fsin x cos x dx - fsin x cos x dx= Ju6 du - Jug du u-sub

POWER RULE

Problem 3, in the same way, is an example of definitionand trig is a way of proving it.

J dx 1/9 I CSC20 d0x \47-

with 0 = 3 sin x as substitution.

Other methods of reducing a problem include com-pleting the square, parts, partial fractions, and others

that I have not learned. By utilizi ,3 one method or acombination of methods, every problem can be re-duced b either power rule or definition.

J. Clark

When evaluating integralsone should think of findingarea. Integration is very helpful when finding the areaunder any given line, and formulas were generated tohelp us derive these answers. E.Paynton

One should always keep in mind to simplify the prob-lem at all limes. Keep it simple. These (above) are thesteps I use to break down an integration problem andsolve it. Once the correct and easiest method of integra-tion is found, the problem is half-solved.

L. Anderson

For the most part we use our powerful tool of u-substitution to get the functions into correct forms.

B. Miller

Knowing what the integral is, how to use u-substitu-tion, and the power rule will help us through allintegration.... Although there are many types of inte-gration which have some obvious differences, they allhave some fundamental similarities. All forms at-tempt to reach the same goal, make use of manipula-tion, and take careful work. If you choose the 'wrong'form it could take hours and get ugly.

G. Abele

A rn...drity of the integrals, in one way or another, usethe power rule. This is the first form learned andusually easiest to solve. Most problems require a u-substitution to achieve this.... With simple u-substi tu-dons, most problems can be simplified into forms towhich tables and definitions will give an answer.

M.Comeaux

Before chapter 9, integrAtion was fairly straightfor-ward.... Now some are even complex enough to thepoint where they must be looked up in a book.

A.Teixiera


Finally, if you cannot integrate by any method thatwas just discussed, we could approximate with left-handed end-point approximation, right-handed end-point approximation, trapezoidal approximation, orSimpson's rule. J. Tarango

Numerical integration is very time-corksuming, butquite simpler than other ways. All it requires isalgebra. Donghllo

In the beginning there was pre-chapter 9 integrals.You know, those 'simple' integrals that you can 'whi p-out' with `no problem'.... But then came the dreadedchapter 9 integrals and new techniques of integration.Let's recall the simple integral Sex dx = + c. By simplyplacing an x in front of the ex, you get a whole newproblem. Now in comes one of our many heroes,integration by parts. Let's observe the battle:

"Evil Integral"

xex dx

Let u = x dv = dx

"Hero"

1 u dv = uv - .1 v du

du = dx v =exIxexdx =judo

= uv v du= xex - ex dx= xea -e

x +cThe battle is over. Good prevailed over Evil....

Pre-chapter 9 and chapter 9 integrals have their dif-ferences as you have seen in the examples. Yet, u-substitutions are used in almost all of the integrals,maybe not right away...but some wherein the middle,after things have been simplified.... Yes, the battlewith integration seems to be getting harder and harder,but there is a new hero, Tables. His motto is 'Look upthe form, plug the values, and there's your answer.' Sothe quest continues to conquer integration, but espe-cially his ruler, Calculus. P. Quesada

Lois Yamakoshi, Instructor, Mathematics

For further information, contact the author at LosMedanos College, 2700 Leland Road, Pittsburg, CA94565.


February 14,1992, Vol. XIV, No. 4

The University of Texas at Austin, 1992

Further duplication is permitted IN MEMBER

institutions br their own personnel.

INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publication of the National kutituto for Sblf and Organizational Development (NISOD),

Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, EDB 348, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texac

78712, (512) 471 -7545. Funding in part by the W. K Kellogg Foundation and the Sid W Richardson Foundation. issued weekly

when classes are in session during fai am: spring terms. ISSN 0199.106X.

VOLUME XIV, NUMBER 5

INNOVATION ABSTRACTSPYBLINED BY THE NAVONALINSTIRITEFOR STAFF AND.ORGANIZ4770101. DEVaOPMENT (NISOD), POLLEGE OF EVICA710N,

TH UMVERSITY OFTEXAS AT,AlISTIN two STIPPORT FROM MEW .:K K.114,09G FOUNDATION AND REVD W. flICHAROSON FalNDATICW

Working Hard is Not the Same Thing as Working SmartFaculty often bemoan their fate when they encounter

students stridently arguing for a better grade on the basisof the amount of hard work they put into studying for atest. The poor faculty member is faced with the odioustask of explaining that working hard is not the same asworking effectively; that is, being a strategic learner ismore than simple persistence. Students must know that itis not enough to work hard; they must also work smart.

Working SmartWorking smart means using study and class times

advantageously. It means knowing about differentstrategies and skills that can help us to be more effective atmaking what we want to learn both understandable andmemorable. We used to think of memory as simply a setof two related mental storage placesa short-term storageplace and a long-term storage place. Now many educa-tional psychologists conceive of memory more as acontinuum, ranging from extremely short-lasting memo-ries ts extremely long-lasting memories. For example, ifyou call for information from a phone booth and you donot have a pen or pencil, you might try to just repeat thenumbers quickly and dial the number as soon as possible.However, if someone comes along and asks you for somechange, it is likely that you will forget the number andhave to call information all over again. This is a very, veryshort-lasting memory task. Now let's move a bit along thecontinuum. Let's say you want to pick up a few things atthe grocery on your way home from school. It would beuseful to remember the list until you go home tonight, butyou certainly would not be interested in remembering thislist forever. Let's keep going ... as faculty, it is adaptivefor us to remember our classroom assignments for aquarter or semester. However, unless we teach in thesame classroom or lab all of the time, we do not need thisinformation forever. In fact, remembering this informa-tion from previous semesters could interfere with ourgetting to the right classroom on time this semester! Atthe other end of the memory continuum, in long-lastingmemory, we find things like important information andunderstandings in our field. At the extreme (or very, verylong-lasting) end, we store things like our name, where wewere born, whether we have children, and so on.

Part of a student's task is to determine where on thememory continuum they need to store what they areattending to or trying to learn. This relates very closely tothe student's goal for the learning task at hand. Manystudents think that meaningful learning involves storingthings in the lower end of the short-lasting portion of thememory continuum. They do not realize that informationstored here is just held onto temporarily. This is likemental rental space, and it is very subject to forgetfulness.We can hold onto things stored here for only a brief timebefore they are simply forgotten or new information ismoved in and pushes out the old. Have you ever heard astudent say that they knew the information for the test butthen forgot it right afterwards? It is most likely that theydid not really learn the material, they just held onto it inthe lower, or rental space, portion of memory, and thenforgot it as they tried to learn new things and moved newtenants, or information, into the rental space. Thingsstored in other parts of the memory continuum, particu-larly in the long-lasting portion, can be remembered forlonger periods and can be used in future recall, problmi-solving, learning, or decision-making tasks.

Meaningful LearningMeaningful learning involves understanding and

moving what we want to learn along the memory con-tinuum, out of rental space. How far we want to move itwill depend on our learning goal and the perceivedpresent or future utility of the material we are trying tolearn. Once we determine how important, or useful, thematerial is or will be to us, we must decide how we aregoing to try to make it meaningful and memorable. Thereare a number of different strategies we can use to helpourselves learn, and all of them have a number of charac-teristics in common. First, hey are always goal-directedactivities. Again, if the learner is not clear about his or hergoal for studying or learning, then it will be difficult topick an appropriate strategy for reaching the goal. Second,studying and learning strategies are intentionally invoked,which implies at least some level of conscious thought aswell as active selection. To be a strategic learner requiresbeing an active learner who thinks about how to approachdifferent learning tasks. Third, studying and learning

1

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FCR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD)Community College Leadership Program, a-paitment of Educational AdministrationCollege of Education, The University of Texas at Austin, EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712

strategies require effort and time, and often involve usingmultiple steps. Finally, they are not universally appli-cable. This is often very difficult for students to learn. Astudent's goals, his/her familiarity with the material, thecontext, the :ontent, and the task conditions all interact todetermine appropriate strategies.

Strategies For Generating Meaningful LearningIn general, strategies for generating meaningful

learning help students to think about the material in waysthat help their understanding and their storage of thematerial in memory. Included here are a number ofcommon strategies students can use to help themselveslearn effectively and efficiently.1. Creating analogies looking for similarities or resemblances

between two or more things. In general, learners usesomething they already know, something that issimilar to what they are trying to learn, to help makewhat they are trying to learn more understandable.This is a very powerful way we can use reasoning totry to establish meaning for something we want tolearn and remember. For example, being a strategiclearner is similar to being a manager of one's ownlearning. By using this analogy, it is easier for studentsto understand (and for us to teach) the varying rolesand responsibilities of a strategic learner.

2. Applying new knowledgeusing new knowledge withdifferent task materials in different contexts. This helpsstudents to clarify and consolidate !'-ieir new knowl-edge as well as to integrate this new knowledge withexisting knowledge already in memory. Examples ofthis method include any type of practice such ascompleting homework assignments; working extraproblems; thinking up sample questions and answer-ing them; or asking the instructor for additionalpractice work, or to give another example or two inclass.

3. Transforming the new informationputting the newinformation into your own words (paraphrasing), orsummarizing it in your own words. This strategy helpsstudents to build meaning by highlighting andconsolidating their new understanding. In fact, manyeducators do not consider that there is any under-standing until students can at least paraphrase orsummarize new information. The more the newknowledge is used and transformed, the more it willbecome part of their useable knowledge base and getmoved along the memory continuum. Other methodsin this category include creating diagrams, pictures, orcharts of the material the student is trying to learn.These can also help many students to see the relation-

ships among the new bits of information as well as therelationship to old knowledge already in memory.

4. Teaching the information to someone elseusing some formof cooperative learning, peer tutoring, or group work to helpconsolidate and integrate new knowledge. We have knownfor a long time that the person who often benefits themost in a tutoring situation is the person doing thetutoring. By teaching the material to someone else, wedeepen our understanding of the material and thinkabout effective ways to learn it. This not only helps uswith present learning but it also makes us mor' awareof our learning strategies and helps us with futurelearning.

5. Comparing and contrastinglooking for similarities anddifferences between new information you are trying to learnand existing knowledge. This method not only helps tomake the new information more meaningful, it alsohelps to distinguish it from existing, similar, or relatedknowledge. For example, by comparing and contrast-ing this method with using analogies, a student couldgain a better understanding of the nature and appro-priate use of both methods.

The MetacurriculumThe term metacurriculum refers to a learning-to-learn

curriculum that is implemented along with the regularcourse content. The learning strategies portion of themetacurriculur.i would involve teaching, modeling, andreinforcing the i. e of learning strategies. We can teachthese strategies L direct instruction during class or labtimes. For example, in the early sections of a course, wecould set aside 15 minutes per week to discuss strategiesthat seem most helpful for the type of content we teach.We can model the use of these strategie; by overtlydiscussing them as we use them in our own teaching.When we use an analogy to help explain a complexconcept, we could also point out the process we are usingand why it is helpful for generating meaning. Finally, wecan reinforce students' use of strategies by giving themdirect feedback and discussing ways different studentsstudied for the evaluations or tests in our class and theimpact those strategies had on their success.

Claire E. Weinstein, Professor, Educational Psychology

For further information, contact the author at The Univer-sity of Texas at Austin, EDB 352, Austin, TX 78712.





institutions br their own personnel.

INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publication of the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD),

Department of Educational Administration, College of Educatbn, EDB 348, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

78712, (512) 471.7545. Funding in part by the W K Kellogg Foundation and The Sid W. Richardson Foundation. Issued weekly

when classes are in session during fall and spring terms. ISSN 0199-106X.


INNOVATION ABSTRACTSPUBLIMEDBY THE WOW INSTRUTEFORSTAFFAND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMEMMOD), palEct" OF UCAT1ON,

ME UNIVERSfTY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN WITH 'SUPPORT FF1OM ME W IL KELLOGG FOUNDATION AND THE SID W RICHARDSON TUNDATION

Hosting the World: A Local International Visitor Program

The many miles and cultures between :,arachi, Paki-stan, and Hot Springs, Arkansas, disappear for a while, asZahid Hussain cruises Lake Hamilton on a 7 a.m. break-fast boating excursion with his American hosts. It is arelaxing time for Hussain and his travel partner, AshokSharma of New Delhi, India. Impressed by the naturalbeauty and peace of the lake, they encounter a dramaticcontrast to their recently completed journalistic assign-ments of covering Operation Desert Storm.

It is the Fourth of July holiday. Breakfasting on home-made cinnamon rolls and fruit, the international journal-ists find the current assignment as guests of the localcommunity college's president a refreshing change. Theexplosions and crowds the visitors will experience later inthe evening will provide important comparisons andcontrasts as they witness their first celebration of small-town American ideals and heritage.

Hussain and Sharma are important international gueststo Hot Springs, as were the dozens before them since 1988.Sponsored by the United States Information Agency,under the auspices of the International Visitor Program(IVP), these up-and-corning world community leaders anddignitaries travel the United States for 30 days to gaindirect knowledge and experience of the culture. Thevisitor program is designed to give foreign leaders theopportunity to meet with American counterparts andbecome acquainted with U.S. customs and people.

To allow for wide exposure and experiences, thevisitors are scheduled by the sending agency in Washing-ton, D.C., to visit a variety of U.S. locations, large andsmall, rural and urban. Each traveler typically visits six toeight communities for a few days of professional appoint-ments, meetings, and hospitable visits in the homes oflocal townspeople.A Typical Visit

The hub of the local Hot Springs International VisitorProgram is Garland County Community College. Thecollege's Department of Community Services is in chargeof the development, planning, and implementation of theprogram, which also includes dozens of local volunteers.

Tetsuma Esaki, the son and assistant to a high-rankingDemocratic party leader in Japan, was one of theprogram's first official international visitors. Well before

1.3

Esaki landed in the U.S. for his tour, he was identified byU.S. embassy officials in Japan as an up-and-comingleader of international importance, then recruited to applyto the visitor program. Once the application and nomina-tion were submitted to and approved by the U.S. Informa-tion Agency, Esaki was scheduled fora definite 30-dayperiod of travel.

Working with national program officers, Esaki set apreliminary visit schedule to include specific areas of theU.S. Upon arrival in Washington, D.C., Esaki met hisassigned escort and interpreter, then adjusted and con-firmed his visits to several U.S. cities. His specific interestsincluded meeting with professionals who could explainthe U.S. political system and the role of political parties,visiting a rice farm, meeting with education officials at alllevels, and meeting with religious and minority leaders.

Some weeks before Esaki's arrival, notification camefrom Washington, through the state IVP office in LittleRock to the community college in Hot Springs, that Esakiwould like to spend three of his travel days in HotSprings. A brief biography and visit theme were for-warded to GCCC, and the local system went into motion.

The college called upon local volunteers to provideprofessional appointments, home hospitality, and touristactivities. The press was notified, and within a few days avisit itinerary was committed to paper.

By the time he reached Hot Springs, Esaki had been inthe U.S. for two weeks and had visited four other commu-nities. He and his interpreter were lodged in a historicdowntown hotel and escorted from appointment toappointment by local volunteers. During his first day inHot Springs, Esaki met with a newspaper reporter and aphotographer, then with a public school instructionalsupervisor, a superintendent, and several teachers. Esakiand his interpreter had some free time the first evening("unscheduled" time is important since visitors often areover-scheduled and weary). The next day, he met withthe district representative of a U.S. representative and witha national park superintendent, had lunch with businessand government leaders, and spent the afternoo. iatingwith college administrators.

The last two evenings were spent in the homes of HotSprings families. Each family provided traditional

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD)Community College Leadership Program, Department of Educational AdministraCollege of Education, The University of Texas at Austin, EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712

regional foods; and stories were exchanged about fami-lies, love, life, war, customs, poverty, hopes, and dreams.Cultural barriers seemed to melt in the warmth of thesharing experiences.Program Benefits

Hot Springs and Garland County Community Collegebenefit from hosting international visitors. People fromother cultures and countries are relatively uncommon inthis area, and it is remarkably instructive for students(college and grade school) who are exposed to the visitorsthrough classroom visits and presentations.

Local professionals are often surprised to discover thatthe visitors have positive, valid perspectives to offercommunity leaders who are grappling with numerouscivic issues and administrative concerns. The communityand the college enjoy the publicity and the extensive

media coverage that accompany the visitors. The pro-gram brings some new revenue to the local economy(though negligible), since the visitors are funded by theUS. government. An international newsletter maintainscontact with the visitors and keeps interest high forhaling other visitors within the local community.

Very few local experiences allow for contact with sucha diverse group of successful, intellectual, hard-workingleaders from such a variety of professions and cultures.In the words of one local host, "It's quite a trip."

Steven L. Johnson, Director, Community Services

For further information, contact the author at GarlandCounty Community College, # 1 College Drive, HotSprings, AR 71913.

Letter Writing: An Alternative to Term Papers

A common student complaint about philosophycourses is that they don't seem to have any relevance toreal life. To address this concern, I require students towrite a letter on some controversial topic, rather thanwriting the typical term paper. They may not write onthe most common issues, such as abortion and euthana-sia, but must read the newspaper to find issues that aresurfacing as "new" news.

Students first submit a one-page topic sheet anddeclare the issue about which they are writing, theposition they are defending, and the recipient of the letter.If this assignment is completed satisfactorily, theyprepare a rough draft, then the final letter. The lettermust be typed in correct business letter format andsubmitted with a stamped envelope. [I assume responsi-bility for mailing all letters.] Finally, each student readshis/her letter to the class and then fields questions.

This assignment is a useful alternative to the termpaper:

It requires students to form a clear and concise positionon some contemporary issue.Students put extra effort into completing this assign-ment, and the quality of the finished product istypically quite good. (Students often do not mindturning in mediocre term papers to their instructors,but they do not want to send off a poorly written letterto an important person.)

Students get to participate in democracy. For many,this is the first time they have written a letter to theeditor of a newspaper or to a politician. It gives themmore confidence in expressing their thoughts andbeliefs.It is much more enjoyable for the instructor. Theinstructor will have new and fresh topics to discussand debate. This certainly is better than having to readthe 367th paper on abortion that sounds curiously likemost of the others.This approach could be used in a variety of courses: in

a logic course, to stress the importance of good argumen-tation; in an ethics course, to emphasize issues that have amoral or ethical dimension. Students feel this is valu-able learning experience, and some contact me thefollowing quarter to share the letters they received.Getting a return piece of mail helps students feel thatthey, indeed, have participated in the world and havemoved from being spectators in it.

Christopher j. Wilson, Instructor, Humanities

For further information, contact the author at ColumbusState Community College, 550 E. Spring Street, Colum-bus, OH 43216.

1

Suanno D. Roueche, Editor


eThe University of Texas at Austin, 1992

Further duplication's permitted by MEMBER



Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, EDB 348, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

78712 (512) 471.7545. Funding in part by the W. K Kellogg Foundation and the Sid W Richardson Foundation. issued weekly

when classes am in session during fall and spring terms. ISSN 0199-106X.


INNOVATION ABSTRACTSa II ft' at Il I . I.

An Individual Approach to Sharing Cultural Diversity

The Faculty/Staff Development Committee of SanDiego City College discovered that one of the mostsuccessful means of encouraging understanding of ourcultural diversity was felicitously also the cheapest andeasiest to execute.

Our first attempts at developing multi-cultural under-standing were to hire nationally known speakersShirleyChisholm, Luis Valdez, and Jaime Escalante. Althoughthese speakers were outstanding and highly motivating,they were also expensiveand cost has become more of aconsideration in times of declining funds.

The committee then tried a workshop approach. Thecollege hired two experts in the field of multi-culturalunderstanding to conduct small group workshops on ourcampus. The workshop facilitators tried several ap-proaches to encourage understanding of the problems andattitudes of people in other cultures. Unfortunately, theirprogram turned out to be counterproductive. Several ofour faculty members walked out of the workshop because,ironically, they felt that it reinforced cultural and racialstereotypes. There were rancorous meetings for severaldays after the workshop.

As a result of these experiences, the Faculty/StaffDevelopment Committee gave itself the task of designinga creative program which would be cost-effective, pro-mote intercultural understanding, break down stereo-types, and be interesting and fun.

The idea was to present cultural diversity from anindividual point of view. As F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote inthe introduction to his short story "The Rich Boy":

Begin with an individual, and before you know ityou find that you have created a type; begin with atype, and you find that you have created nothing.We decided to create a program which would begin

with individuals. We would let the "types" fall wherethey may. Our plan was to select individuals from ourcollege "family" who would make informal presentationson their own lives. We would not burden them with theresponsibility of presenting the experiences of an entireculture. We would leave any generalizing to the audience.

To achieve this goal, we planned a series of presenta-tions featuring people from our faculty, staff, and adminis-tration. Each presentation would center on one ethnic,

racial, or cultural group. The prc.. ntations would occurduring FLEX weeks, which are periods set aside bycolleges in California for faculty and staff developmentactivities. In order to avoid competition between thegroups, we scheduled only one presentation per semester.

We have completed three of these presentations so far.The first focused on Asians, the second on African-Americans, and the third on Hispanics.

Participants were asked to talk about themsk-2Ives asindividualsto talk about their upbringing, their educa-tion, and their families. They were discouraged fromdiscussing their ethnic background unless it had directbearing on their personal lives. This was not to be alecture on the Chinese in America, for example.

To make the presentations more concrete and lively, theparticipants were also asked to bring family pictures, shorthome videos, music, and ethnic food.

The first presentation was on Asians. The presenterswere a Chinese-American automotive teacher who wasborn and raised in San Diego's Chinatown, located just afew blocks from our college; and a Vietnamese-Americanmath instructor who came to the United States as arefugee. (Japanese-Americans were represented in a moreformal presentation which occurred later in the day.) Thepresenters brought clothing, family memorabilia, objetsd'art, photos, videos, and food. One of the presentersbrought a Chinese dragon costume, which he and his twosons wear while performing Chinese dragon dances. Theresponse to this first presentation was excellent. Thepeople who attended commented about the warmth, fun,and informality of the session. The only negative com-ment was that there should have beer. more than twopresenters.

The next session was on African-Americans. Thecommittee selected five people from our faculty andstaffone man from British Guiana, another fromUga Ida, two women from rural areas in Texas, and onefrom urban Washington, D.C. Their presentation wasupbeat. Although several of these people were activists inAfrican-American campus and national issues, they heldfast to the personal experience concept. They relatedexperiences about their childhood, education, and currentdomestic lives. They brought in photos, videos, and


American soul foodusing the food as a lesson on thehistory of African-Americans in the United States.

The third presentation was on Hispanics or Latinos.The participants represented many different nationalities,genders, and religions. They were men and women fromthe United States, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Argentina,with a variety of native American and European roots.They had Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish backgrounds.One of the major points made was that Spanish-speakingpeople are no more alike than are English-speakingpeople. Hispanics represent many nations, each speakinga variation on the Spanish language and comprisingdifferent mixtures of races, religions, and ethnic groups.

Our next presentation will be on Pacific Islanders. Weplan to invite people with Filipino, Hawaiian, and otherPacific Island backgrounds.

As the person responsible for organizing the events, Iencountered no difficulty in finding people to participate.Early on, the only minor difficulty was convincing

participants that other college faculty and staff would beinterested. But because of the high attendance at the pastthree events, this is no longer a concern. As a side note,although the college was prepared to pay for the food,none of the participants requested reimbursement Onewoman said that the warmth of the response was sooverwhelming that asking for money would have ruinedthe experience.

From these presentations we learned that people fromour own college family are at least as effective in present-ing elements of cultural diversity as outside experts, andwe can effectively learn about cultures through concreteexperiences of individuals we know.

Sid Forman, Learning Resource Specialist

For further information, contact the author at San DiegoCity College, 1313 12th Avenue, San Diego, CA 92101.

Laughing Letters: Encouraging Results in Trades Classes

Basic business letter writing is a short module inYukon College's Trades Communications, a course whichalso includes such serious business as writing personalresumes and videotaping mock job interviews. Aninstructional method, adapted from years of teachingEnglish at all levels, has worked successfully with myclasses of mechanics, surveyors, and carpenters.

I begin the unit by teaching the standard parts of abusiness letter, then format, tone, and writing style. Thefirst assignment is to write a BAD business letter, forwhich I give full marks. There are two conditions:students may not be offensive in any way and mustidentify every "mistake." Some examples: letters writtenin pencil on three-holed lined paper; letters with half-inchtop margins and three-inch side margins; letters full ofspelling and punctuation errors.

The remainder of the assignment (a memo, thank-youletter, sales letter, complaint letter, and "bad news" letter)must be typed on a computer. The format and themechanics of the letters must be error-free, but studentsare encouraged to use their wildest imaginations to createthe content. Students who cannot use humor very easilyare encouraged to write regular letters. There are alwaysa few who choose the latter option, and both types aredisplayed on a large bulletin board in my classroom.

Some humorous examples: a memo advertising aspecial "Electro-Shock Injector" for a trades colleaguewho finds that his students fall asleep during mathclasses; a letter from a robot in the Milky Way galaxycomplaining that the unit cannot predict the weatheraccurately because "the Senior Weather Creator suffersfrom Terminal Collision Syndrome." More realisticletters. complaints about the lack of student parking andplug-ins; suggestions for eliminating the noise comingfrom the carpentry shop; and creative ways to serve foodin the cafeteria.

Unlike instructors in business courses who produce"real" scenarios, I have the luxury of encouraginglaughing letters because the ultimate goal of my moduleis to learn the process and the rules for writing a businessletter. A binder full of excellent student letters and thelaughter I hear as students read each other's work is proofthat these trade students have, indeed, learned theprocess of writing a business letter.

Mary Lou Smith, Instru 'itor, Related Subjects

For further information, contact the author at YukonCollege, Box 2799, Whitehorse, Y.T. YlA 5K4, CANADA.


March 6,1992, Vol. XIV, No. 7

IDThe University of Texas at Austin, 1992


institutions for the own personnel



78712, (512) 471-7545. Funding in part by the W. K Kellogg Foundation and the Sid W. Richardson Foundation. issued weekly



itt INNOVATION ABSTRACTSI' ;IV'11 ".". 0 , 0 I I

A Structured Approach for Improving Student Success

After teaching general psychology for the past 20years to approximately 6,000 students, I have found thatstudent success can be significantly increased byemploying a variety of structured support strategies.While the following techniques can be used at bothcommunity colleges and universities, the most dramaticenhancement of learning can be seen at the communitycollege level, where large numbers of students are atrisk because of personal difficulties and insufficientlydeveloped learning skills. The following strategies havebeen extremely useful:1. Presentation of a comprehensive syllabus

Structure begins on the first day of class as eachstudent is given a six-page syllabus which clearlydetails all course goals, objectives, and procedures.At the end of the syllabus is a listing of each lecturewith appropriate readings.

2. Lecture outlinesAt the beginning of the semester,students can purchase a packet of lecture outlinesfrom the college bookstore. The outline has blankspaces in which the students can add more informa-tion. Some students prefer to fill in these formsduring the lectures; others prefer to complete themas they are reading the textbook. These outlines aredesigned as a supplement to the lectures and textrather than as a substitute.

3. Coach classesPrior to each exam, several two-hour coach classes are scheduled. These reviewsessions are led by former students who have beenselected for their academic performance andcharisma. These sessions leaders are compensatedfor their efforts: a small remuneration and theintrinsic growth they experience from this teaching-learning situation. The leaders review the study-guide material with the students, and they essen-tially are given free rein to develop their ownteaching methods.

4. Completion of academic intervention formsIf astudent does poorly on the first exam, I complete aform which our college employs to activate an arrayof support services. I can refer the student to acounselor, reading lab, writing lab, math lab, orhandicapped services coordinator. A week or two

later, I receive feedback from the appropriatereferral source.

5. Meetings between class instructor and counsel-orsTo further facilitate the intervention, I meetwith the counseling staff after the first exam andmake them aware of all those students who areexperiencing difficulties. We discuss probablereasons for the student's poor performance anddevelop additional plans.

6. Peer tutorsI also refer any student showing signsof academic problems to a peer tutor. This indi-vidual is typically a former psychology studentwho has had some tutor training. In addition tofocusing on content material, the peer tutors serveas good role models and provide valuable tips onimproving study techniques.

7. Encouragement of student feedbackI make it apractice to strike up conversations with studentsbefore class, after class, and during chance encoun-ters. Typical questions arc: "How's everythinggoing?"; "Are you keeping up with the rea ling?";"I was concerned about your performan. ,n thelast test!" Instead of simply waiting for students tocome to my office with their problems, I try tobecome aware of theirs as soon as possible.

8. Religious attendance takingIn years past, I wasoften very casual in attendance taking, especiallyafter the first few weeks of the semester. Myexperience has been that religious attendance takinggives a sense of seriousness to the classroomexperience that is reflected in student persistenceand performance.

9. Flexible sectionsSince I normally teach foursections of general psychology each semester, Ioften allow students to permanently or temporarilyswitch sections when they ave scheduling conflictscaused by work, health, or family issues. Some-times we even work out arrangements with otherinstructors so that students can keep up with theclass.

10. Sample essaysEach of my exams contains 40 to50 multiple choice questions and one essay. Prior tothe exam, I give students sample essays that have

!.

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD)Community College Leadership Program, Department of Educational AdministrationCollege of Educaion, The University of Texas at Austin, EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712

been assigned the grades of A, B, C, D, and X. Thisfeedback serves to make them more aware of mylevel of expectation.

11. Structured form for grading of research paperAt the end of the course, each student submits aseven-page research paper which surveys a topicwithin the field of psychology. Each paper isreturned, with a checklist, rating the paper oncontent, organization, style, and mechanics (21ratings in all). Areas of weakness are commentedupon in greater detail. Students pay attention tothis feedback and profit from the comments.

With these support strategies, I retain a very highpercentage of my students (e.g., approximately 86% of.qty 150 students during the 1989 fall semester). A highretention rate can be attained while maintainingexcellent academic standards.

Ira B. Albert, Professor, Social Sciences

For further information, contact the author at DundalkCommunity College, 7200 Sollers Point Road, Balti-more, MD 21222.

Using StudentAssistants in the Classroom

With heavy teaching loads, an all-too-common lack offunds for adequate support staff, and poorly motivatedstudents, one owstion that arises is how faculty mightobtain better teaching assistance within rather severeparameters.

Of course, there is no adequate substitute for havingsensible teaching loads, receiving generous funds forhiring good support staff, and teaching students alreadywell-prepared academically and highly motivated. Butone strategy has proved helpful in addressing at leastsome of these concernsusing selected students in theclassroom as student assistants. Assistants can listannouncements on the blackboard; follow up on studentabsences by telephone or letter; set up audiovisualequipment in the classroom; confirm the visits of class-room speakers; copy materials for teacher and studentuse; coordinate small-group study activities; perform avariety of office tasks; work with students who needspecial assistance outside the classroom; and so on.

Over the last four years, I have successfully utilizedassistants in my political science classes at BrookdaleCommunity College (a suburban college with approxi-

mately 10,000 daytime and nighttime students, and anaverage 30 students per political science class). Studentassistants help with selected duties, give me feedbackon various aspects of my teaching techniques, andserve as role models for other students.

During one of the first :r-ssions of each class, Iidentify prospective assistants. I ask individualstudents about their interest in assisting, and then Imeet with each of them after class for an interview.Selection criteria include: that they be political sciencemajors; that they have a strong academic record atBCC; that they be friendly and outgoing; and that theybe mature and responsible.

Once selected (for the semester, but subject torotation if their work proves to be unsatisfactory), theymust attend a weekly meeting of all student assistants(to evaluate the successes and failures of class sessionsand assignments, and to discuss how subsequentsessions and assignments can be improved) and mustmeet with me for 10 minutes before each class sessionin which they will assist (to receive last-minute instruc-tions).

The rewards for student assistantship are many, asevidenced by the enthusiastic response each semesterby qualified students applying for the job, as well ascomments once the work has been completed. Assis-tants develop a strong sense of responsibility; they maybe all the more encouraged to pursue a career inpolitical science; and the work serves as a source ofpeer stimulation and learning for the class as a whole(often serving to break down stereotypes when mem-bers of various ethnic and gender groups serve asassistants). Finally, successful assistants receive anadditional grade for their services, as well as letters ofrecommendation when transferring to another institu-tion or entering the world of work.

This strategy must be employed with considerableplanning and care. Special attention must be given todefining suitable work conditions and responsibilitiesfor assistants, and selecting appropriate awards.

Widely varying needs and circumstances dictatehow and when student teaching assistants can be usedmost appropriately. Yet in a general sense, assistant-ships can be a mutually rewarding and beneficialexperience for assistants, students, and instructor.

Tom Richards, Team Leader, Political Science

For further information, contact the author atBrookdale Community College, Newman SpringsRoad, Lincroft, NJ 07738.


March 13,1992, VoL XIV, No. 8




INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publicai of the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD),


78712, (512) 471-7545. Funding in part by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation a: I the Sid W. Richardson Foundation. Issued weekly

when classes are in session during fall and spring terms. ISSN 0199-106X

VOLUME XIV NUMBER 9

it0 INNOVATION ABSTRACTSPUBLISHED BYTHE NA770N4L INSTITUTE FOR STAfF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENTNISOD), COLLEGE OF; EDUCATION,

71-IE UNIVERSI'll' OF MOS AT AUSTIN. WITHSUPPORTFROMTHE K kELLOGGMUNDATION AND THE SIDW. RiCHARDSON FOUNDATION

Writing in the Disciplines

In many colleges, the responsibilities for teachingwriting are placed predominantly on the English depart-ment. Faculty in other disciplines frequently feel uncer-tain about assigning and assessing written work. They areunaware of techniques for using writing as an integralpart of the teaching and learning process. As a result of awriting across the curriculum movement at Santa FeCommunity College, faculty in the arts and sciencesdisciplines effectively use writing to enhance the teachingand learning process.

In recent years, many colleges have established writingacross the curriculum programs to remediate deficienciesin students' writing and thinking skills. Some haveestablished a "writing center" where students and facultycan go for help. Students are given help with writingassignments by tutors at such a center, and the facultygain information on assigning and grading written work.Other colleges have broadened the responsibility forteaching writing to all faculty. Santa Fe CommunityCollege chose to involve faculty in every discipline in thewriting movement because writing is seen as a necessaryskill to be taught and as a tool to teach thinking andcollaborative learning.

The goals were: to infuse the practice of writing into alldisciplines, to use writing to foster learning, to stress theimnortance of collaboration in the teaching/learning

ess, and to foster scholarship among tile faculty byusing writing as a vehicle to share good classroompractices.

A series of workshops were held over two years (1988-1990). Seventy-two of 106 arts and sciences facultyattended these workshops over the two-year span. Everyfaculty in the physical sciences department, 83% ofbiology faculty, and 80% of the English faculty partici-pated in the writing workshops. The creative arts facultyhad the fewest number of participants (only 1 out of 11),and 73% of the humanities faculty took part in the work-shops. The social sciences and history faculty had thesame level of participation (64%), and 52% of the math-ematics faculty took part in the workshops.

A possible reason for the low participation rate by thecreative arts faculty may be that they are more interestedin visual and i thysical performance as forms of expression.However, the one faculty member from the creative arts

area who did take part has integrated journal writing intoher classes, requiring her students to generate ideas andthink through the process for creating a work of art. In thesame way, on a surface level, writing may not seem to bean integral part of teaching mathematics, which mayexplain the low level of interest; but for those who didattend, the workshops gave them another tool to add totheir teaching repertoire.

In April 1991, a year after the last workshop, thefollowing question was sent to each participant who wasstill teaching at the college: "In the past two years, weheld a series of workshops on writing for the arts andsciences faculty. You were one of 72 people who partici-pated in that project. Would you take 5 to 10 minutes anddo a 'free write' on ways you use the techniques youlearned at that workshop?"

The response rate was 81%. The most frequentlymentioned technique faculty found useful was the freewrite. This technique, which uses writing to generateideas, has only a few rules:

It is timed: write for 5 to 10 minutes without stopping.It encourages free association: the writing can becompletely free or it can focus on a particular topic.It is fast: erasures, corrections, or thinking about whatto write next are discouraged.It is private: no others will see the writing unless youwant them to see it.

For many, this was a new technique, and there were asmany different uses as there were respondents. Severalfaculty commented on the useful feedback they receivedwhen they asked their students to summarize the day'slecture. This gave them insights into the students' percep-tions and understandings. One faculty "uses the fiveminutes at the end of every class for students to committheir thoughts to paper. These writings form the secondpart of each day's notes. The first part is the record ofwhat happened. The second is what it means and how itfeels."

The second most frequently mentioned technique wasthe use of the journals. A history instructor suggests to hisclass that they keep a journal for themselves, and includethe names of people they meet and their impressions ofpeople and events. "Imagine 50 or more years after theirdeath some great-grandchildborn years removed from

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOP STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD)Community College Leadership Program, Department of Educational AdministrationCollege of Education, The University of Texas at Austin, EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712

the authorwill be able to know their ancestors inti-mately, and will wish they had known that personpersonally. THAT'S HISTORY!"

Several mentioned personal benefits from the work-shop. One faculty mentioned that he "wrote small'abstracts' of a pending lecture." Doing so helps him gaininsights for preparing his lesson plans. This sameinstructor has adopted the practice of writing "impres-sions of each class meeting." This allows him to make asmoother transition from one class meeting to the next.

For those faculty in disciplines other than English, theworkshops gave them a greater appreciation for thedifficulty in teaching students to write. One humanitiesfaculty uses a "mystery slide" which is shown manytimes over the course of the semester. At the end of everyinstructional unit, the students are asked to discuss thesame slide in terms of what they had just learned in theunit of the course. At the end of the semester the stu-dents' comments are photocopied and given out toeveryone. Those who earnestly do the work can see theirown growth and understanding of the subjects studied."Those who did not put in the effort could see what theyhad lost."

The science faculty has always assigned laboratoryreports, but most of them were not in narrative form.Many were diagrammatic, fill-in-the-blank, data displays,and calculations. After the workshops, the vast majorityof the science faculty incorporated free writes, journals,and narrative lab reports into their courses. Many facultymentioned the pleasure of getting to know their studentsbetter through their writing. Interestingly, this grouptook the most risks in assigning innovative writingassignments. A chemistry faculty gives his students anassignment entitled "Living Scientist." He asks them tointerview a practicing chemist at a research university inthe same town and write a short paper. One student whointerviewed her own father gained insights into who hewas professionally and understood for the first time wh.,the family had made decisions to move so frequently.The scientists themselves were happy to talk to someoneother than their colleagues about what they did as aprofessional, and the students learned much about thekinds of people who make the discoveries they readabout in their texts.

Collaboration, working together in groups to findsolutions or create a product, is common in the work-place. Yet in the classroom, such collaboration is notalways encouraged. As a matter of fact, we often con-sider such cooperation "cheating." Ways to use collabo-rative learning were introduced as part of the writingworkshops but have not yet been widely accepted.Collaborative learning requires the instructor to give up

some of her control over the class and requires more timethan the one-hour class period. The value is that thestudents take an active role in the learning process.Future projects will focus on ways to encourage morecollaboration as a tool for learning.

The workshops did encourage collaborative workamong faculty. As a direct result of these workshops, agroup of faculty created two interdisciplinary publica-tions. The student arts journal Tracings, with writing andart from students in a variety of disciplines, and The SantaFe Review, a journal of writings by faculty and staff, arepublished annually. The science faculty have also usedthe writing techniques and collaborative process to revisecourses and write competitive grants. They have success-fully received two National Science Foundation grants, aswell as other state and local grants, using the collabora-tive writing process.

By placing an emphasis on the importance of writing,providing the opportunities to learn new pedagogy viathe workshops, and encouraging faculty to take somerisks and try new ideas and methods, the college hasmade a crucial difference in the quality of instructionstudents receive. Many faculty, who were alreadydissatisfied with short-answer and multiple-choiceevaluations, have been given new vision to coax theirstudents to write, to use writing as a tool for learning, andto confidently assign and evaluate written work, includ-ing essay exams. The techniques of writing to think andwriting to foster collaborative work by students haveadded a new dimension to the course content in manydiscipline areas.

Heijia L. Wheeler, Dean, Arts & Sciences

Barbara Sloan, Chairperson, English

For further information, contact the authors at Santa FeCommunity College, P.O. Box 1530, Gainesville, FL32602.


March 27,1992, VOL XIV, No. 9



institutions ier their awn personnel.


Department of Educational Administration, College of Educatidn, EDB 348, The University of Texas at AusUn, Austin, Texas

78712, (512) 471-7545. Funding in part by the W. K Kellogg Foundation and the Sid W Richardson Foundation. Issued weekly

when classes are in session during laic and sprang terms, ISSN 0199-106X.

VOLUME XIV, :..:MBER 10

INNOVATION ABSTRACTS1 : 1

I5' / 1 1

All the News That's Fit to TEACHAbout two years ago I decided that all those excellent

articles I read in the newspaper were going to waste. So Idecided I would read them to my freshman compositionclasses. Now, I read the newspaper at the beginning ofclass when everyone is getting settled or during the lastfew minutes. This, I think, is good teaching.

New words are found in the newspaper. (Trythese: factoid, precycling, Saddamized,videophile, arcology, shifting, glass ceiling,awareness chic.)

Good writing is found in the newspaper. Thewriting would not appear in a paid-subscriptionpress unless it was good enough to satisfy thereaders and the advertisers. The writir; is up-to-date with plenty of punch.

Community college students have limitedmilieus. They may come from towns so smallthey do not even have a Dairy Queen. They mayknow plenty about rodeoing and deer huntingbut nothing about a recent art exhibit in NewYork. The newspaper broadens their knowledge.

Examples of writing techniques are in the news-paper. The book or movie review is the same asthe evaluation essay. Such articles as "WhyWomen Aren't Cracking the Glass Ceiling" and"When White Guys Finish Last" explore causesfor phenomena relating to the job market.

The metaphor and simile can be taught fromarticles that deal with regional expressions, suchas a recent article listing Texanisms"as cold asPatterson's peach orchard" and "felt like she'dironed all night with a cold iron."

The acronym shows up colorfully, such as in arecent article on an organization called PINTOBEANPeople Inclined Naturally TowardOstentatious Bean Eating.

AI/ IP

I I II It

'I I I 1

Materials for selected readings are in the newspa-per. Maya Angelou's "Uncle Willie" gets a boostfrom a nostalgia column about old-time expres-sions or country stores. An animal rights essay, acommon feature in freshman texts, comes to lifewith an article about animal rights activistsprotesting bowhunting or the circus.

Oftentimes reading the newspaper draws stu-dents out. A humorous column on Cavariccijeans had one fashion merchandising majorstanding up to show off her Cavaricci shorts,especially the label. A column on comic books onexhibit at the New York Museum of Modem Artinterestec a comic book collector.

But, you say, your own newspaper does not reallyhave good articles in it. Even small newspapers usuallycarry the syndicated columnists. However, I prefer abig-city paper because of the va riety of articles. I readfrom The Dallas Morning News. In the past, I have usedthe Wall Street Journal and, for audience study, a small-town paper, the Diboll Free Press.

What newspaper teaching does not offer is a sense oforder, and this is the best part of all. I never knowexactly what I'll be reading. It's fresh to me and to thestudents. And I never know what, if any, response Iwill receive.

So next time you find yourself reading the newspa-per to the cat because you found an interesting article,remember your roomfuls of unenlightened students.

Mary K. Taylor, Instructor, English

For further information, contact the author atMcLennan Community College, 1400 College Drive,Waco, TX 76708.

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT(NISOD)Community College Leadership Program, Department of Educational AdministrationCollege of Education, The University of Texas at Austin, EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712

It Never Hurts to AskIn introductory courses, students must learn many

new words. Nevertheless, few subjects can cause moreblank, bored stares from students than vocabularylessons. After enduring too many of these vacuouslooks, I asked the students for their ideas about how tomake learning new words enjoyable. They jumped atthe chance to have their say. "Let's play 'The MatchGame,'" one shouted. "No, 'Wheel of Fortune,another countered. We experimented with each game,enthusiastic smiles replaced the former glazed eyes,and I relearned a familiar lesson: It never hurts to ask!

The idea of playing a game, however, brought asecond familiar lesson to my mind: It never hurts toask yourself whether the game enhances learning ormerely entertains. To facilitate learning, I added adetailed structure. Groups would compete with oneanother according to rules that required the students topronounce the word, use it in a sentence, and define it.The rules of "Word of Fortune" are as follows:

Step 1: Each team selects a host and a monitor toadminister the game. The host goes toanother group to select the words, givethe clues, and keep the score. Themonitor remains in his or her group toensure that its guest host performsaccurately and honestly.

Step 2: The host selects a word from given pagesof a vocabulary book, places a blank lineon the board for each letter in the word,and writes a clue about a word rootbeneath the blank letters. The monitorchecks the host's work.

Step 3: The team member rolling the largestnumber on the dice begins the play. Heor she rolls the dice each time beforeguessing a letter and earns the number ofpoints on the dice for each consonantguessed correctly. Rolling snake eyescauses the player to go bankruptlose allof the dice points accumulated on his orher round. To buy a vowel, the studentforfeits the points on the dice. The playmoves to the student on the right of thecurrent player when the current player

either guesses a letter incorrectly orcompletes the play on one word.

Step 4: When a team member guesses the word,he or she may earn double the points onthe dice for a correct definition, 100points for the correct use of the word in asentence. The instructor judges whetherthe student's answer earns any of thepossible points.

Step 5: The instructor announces the five-minutewarning; after that time, no group canbegin a new word. Each group completesits current word, and the host and themonitor reach agreement on the scoring.The members of the team with thehighest score receive five bonus pointheir next test.

Asking paid off! Actively involved in a differentapproach to learning, the students saw the immediaterelevance of the subject. They took ownership of newvocabulary words in a way I never dreamed possible.The reticent and the recalcitrant alike attempted topronounce the words, use them in sentences, anddefine them while having fun in an efficient learningstructure.

What should I ask for next?

Linda Kraeger, Instructor, Developmental Studies

For more information, contact the author at GraysonCounty College, 6101 Grayson Drive, Denison, TX75020-8299.


Apr113,1992, Vol. XIV, No.10


Fun* duplication is permitted by MEMBER




78712, (512) 471-7545. Funding in part by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and the Sid W. Richardson Foundation. issued weekly

when classes are in session during fall and spnng terms. ISSN 0199-106X.


°1'."' INNOVATION ABSTRACTSf: 1"

1-4" f

I ' Of 0

11_,. IV ff I 14 I.

Creating Cohesiveness by Celebrating Diversity

As are many parts of the country, San Diego is

experiencing an influx of immigrants from all over theworld. One challenge for Miramar College is to helpthese new citizens prepare themselves for adapting toand economically surviving in their new homeland.Additionally, the college is faced with the task ofpromoting multicultural understanding and acceptance.Multicultural approaches to course subject matter canfoster understanding to help overcome prejudices andstereotypes, either conscious or subconscious, aboutdiverse ethnic groups.

A second challenge is to create an educationalenvironment that supports the successful completion ofclasses by high-risk students. Involving each student'sfamily in his/her education is one strategy for helping ahigh-risk student survive outside pressures to quitcollege.

After searching for a way to involve my students'families and promote multicultural understanding andappreciation, I developed the Family History Speechassignment in my Oral Communications class. Whilethis assignment is tailored to the presentation of formal,oral speeches, it can be adapted to classes such asEnglish, history, sociology, psychology, and politicalscience. However, the success of the assignment lies inboth the oral presentation of each student's familyhistory and the class questions and discussions thatoccur after each speech.

The AssignmentRather than assigning the traditional informative

speeches in my Oral Communications classes, I ask thatstudents interview members of their families to learnwhere they came from, who their ancestors were, andwhat brought their families to America. Lecturematerials cover how to conduct research, how toperform genealogical research, and where and how toobtain this information. I explain how to gather infor-mation through interviewing, the types of interviews,and strategies for asking questions and following up onanswers. The emphasis of this assignment is two-foldenabling students to develop useful and necessaryresearch and interviewing skills, and to discover their

own personal family histories. --;

Students are urged to conduct a variety of inter-views, preferably in person, with as diverse a group offamily members as possible. They are encouraged tointerview family friends or people who know or knewmembers of their families from a different perspective.It is strongly recommended that students either audio-tape or videotape all their interviews. Thus, studentswill have an oral/visual/written archive of their familyhistory, complete with the stories and personalities ofthe family members they have interviewed.

When the research is complete, each student is tocreate an 8- to 10-minute informative speech focusingon some aspect of his/her family historythe person orpeople in their family they most admire and why; theperson or people in their family the student finds mostinteresting and why; how their ancestors first came toAmerica and why; a family custom or tradition thestudent finds special or touching and why it means somuch. Students are asked to attempt to discover whattheir families hoped to achieve in their new country andwhether these dreams were realized. Oftentimesstudents include what they have learned from thosethey interviewed and the insights they had aboutthemselves as they went through the process of com-

pleting the assignment.

The ResultsStudents gain a sense of who they are and where

they came from. Most important, however, the entireclass becomes enlightened about its members, andpatterns begin forming.

They realize that underneath the different names,ages, races, religions, genders, backgrounds, andheritages, we have much in common. Students see thatpeople of many different cultural backgrounds desirethe same things that they and their families do; theyrealize that the hopes, dreams, and goals of the differentpeople in class are similar despite the different culturesand backgrounds; they see individuals they can relateto, appreciate, understand, and with whom they cansympathize. In essence, they no longer see stereotypes,but rather individuals.

After the speeches are completed, a strong sense of

bonding takes place among class members. Students

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD)

Community College Leadership Program, Department ofEducational Administration

College of Education, The University of Texas at Austin, EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712

are encouraged to ask questions of each speaker. As aclass we celebrate our differences, revel in our tradi-tions, but also learn that we have a common bond. Bycelebrating cultural diversity, we create cohesiveness.

Leslie Klipper-Gross, Assistant Professor, SpeechCommunications & Journalism

For further information, contact the author at MiramarCollege, 10440 Black Mountain Road, San Diego, CA92126.

Bringing Home the ConceptOf the MSOD Conference

The idea was born.This past year our staff development committee

wanted to have a collegewide workshop with a specificfocus. We were looking for something that wouldsupport and encourage teaching excellence and, simulta-neously, would appeal to staff and foster further develop-ment of positive faculty-staff relationships.

What better way to do this, we thought, than to patternan event after the NISOD conference concept. After all,we had tried it on a smaller scale with faculty in the past,and it had been successfulanyone who has been to theNISOD conference knows that you return from that eventrejuvenated, enthusiastic, and eager to try out new ideas.A "mini" NISOD conference, or "minicollegc," as it wasfinally called, seemed to be what we wanted to establish.

The "minicollege" was developed.1. We advertised. We put notices in the college newslet-

ter, seeking ideas for topics and presenters, and wetalked to people in the college who had openlyacknowledged skills. We were looking for ideas aboutsubjects of interest to a variety of college personnel,focusing on everything from recreational events tocomputer skills. We wanted to create an event whichcombined opportunities to learn, relax, and socialize.

2. We recruited. Once we had topics selected and knewwhat we wanted to offer, we put out a call for present-ers. We advertised for individuals to make 45-minuteor 90-minute presentations (or combinations thereof).

3. We scheduled. Armed with a wide variety of subjects,we tried to schedule them so that, at any given time,there would be offerings that appealed to everyone.

This was, indeed, the challenge. We achieved our goalby duplicating some events, holding several plenarysessions, and offering at least one event over lunch.

4. Again, we recruited. This time we were advertising forparticipants. Word-of-mouth and notices in thecollege newsletter helped. In addition, we sought andobtained the full support of the administration with atwo-day closure of the college.

What were the results?Over 200 college employees participated in our

minicollege, attending sessions that included everythingfrom making a salad to teaching critical thinking. Eachpresenter left with a certificate acknowledging his/hercontribution to the success of our conference. Feedbackfrom all participants was highly positive, leaving those ofus on the staff development committee with the feelingthat, despite all the work, we would do it again. It servedits original purpose and then some.

Kathleen Pinckney, Instructor, Nursing

Pat Jacklin, Campus Manager

Judy Wray, Campus Manager

For further information, contact Pinckney and Jacklin atSelkirk College, P.O. Box 1200, Castlegar, B.C., VIN 3j1,CANADA, or Wray at Selkirk College, 900 Helena Street,Trail, B.C., V1R 4S6, CANADA.

PLAN NOW TO ATTEND NISOD's

FOURTEENTH INTERNATIONAL

CONFERENCE ON

TEACHING EXCELLENCE AND

C '.:NFERENCE OF

INISTRATORS.

May 24-27, 1992Austin, Texas

For more information, write or call: SuanneRoueche, NISOD, The University of Texas atAustin, EDB 349 Austin, TX 78712-1293,(512) 471-75-


Apr1110,1992, Vol. XIV, No. 11

.The University of Texas at Austn, 1992

Further duplication is permitted by MEMBERinstitutions for their own personnel.

Al/OVATION ABSTRACTS is a publication of the Nabonal Institute for Staff and Organizatanal Development (NISOD),Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, EDB 348, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas78712, (512) 471-7545. Funding in part by the W. K Kellogg Foundation and the Sid W. Richardson Foundation. Issued weeklywhen classes are in session during fall and spring terms. ISSN 0199-106X.

INNOVATION ABSTRACTSVOLUME XI V, NUMBER 12

PUBLISHED 8? THE NATIONAL INSTITU

'.THE UNIVERSITY OF,TEXAS AT AUSTIN p.

R $TAFF AN. PORGANIZ4TIONAL DEVa0PMENT MOD), CCUEGE OF EDUCATION,

SUPPORr FROM THEW 1,,KEL,woo FOUNDATION AND THE SIDW:RIOHARDSON FOUNDATION

EcSL: Teaching Economics as a Second Language

A problem in teaching economics is that instructorsconcentrate so much on the parts (tools) that students losesight of the mission of the course. An analogy: if we wereteaching students how to raise a garden and the studentmastered the use of common garden tools--e.g., spade,hoe, fertilizerbut failed to produce a crop, we would feelthat we had failed in our task. In the economics classroomwe teach students how to construct various models andhow to calculate several statistical conditions. Thestudents also learn many principles and laws, each ofwhich is an important toolbut only a tool. JohnMaynard Keynes once explained that "economics is amethod rather than a doctrine, an apparatus of the mind, atechnique of thinking, which helps its possessor to drawconclusions." The "crop" that economic teachers mustproduce is to enable students to use the tools of economicsto make decisions, e.g., to process data and arrive atindependent conclusions.

What Is EcSL?According to Rendigs Fels of Vanderbilt University, the

best model for teaching economics is that for teaching aforeign language rather than that for teaching history orEnglish. Literature on the teaching of foreign languagesdifferentiates between instruction in foreign language andin English as a second language (ESL). In both cases, astrong audio-lingual approach is used in which studentshear many repetitions of the new language and areencouraged to use their new terminology OC`f n. Manygames and physical activities are used in the classroom toindividualize student participation. The goal is to teacheach student the terms, their meanings, and basic applica-tions within the culture under study. When immersion isused as a teaching technique, the class is only permitted tocommunicate via the language under study. Field trips torestaurants, medical centers, and/or the native countrywhere use of the language can be tested are criticalteaching strategies.

In the ESL model, the instructor teaches English toforeign-speaking students (usually in preparation forfuture study in which English will be the only language).ESL is a preferred teaching situation because students areimmersed in English-speaking situations in most activities

and almost all media. ESL students receive constantrepetition and rapid feedback in and out of the dassroomthat reinforces successful usage of the English language.The students are able to apply the language successfully,which motivates them to move more rapidly from simpleto complex usage. Because we live in an environment thatdemands economic decision making from our citizens,encourages movement from simple to more complexeconomic decisions throughout life, and presents eco-nomic data via all media, the teaching approach describedherein has been referred to as EcSL (economics as a ..econdlanguage).

The Hazard Community College ApproachHazard Community College economics students

represent a cross-section of all students. Their ages,experiences, abilities, goals, and interests in taking aprinciples of economics class differ. We have attemptedover the past several years to create a situation in whichstudents with various levels of skills and abilities havefollowed a systematic approach to learning. The resultsare (1) more students know more about economics aftertaking the class; (2) they are better able to apply economicconcepts in their daily lives; (3) they are more confidentabout using economic terms and tools; (4) they havelearned to work in a more cooperative, less competitiveenvironment; (5) they see a stronger relationship betweeneconomics and life; (6) they are better prepared to performtheir role as citizens; (7) they use self-questioning studytechniques; (8) they use rehearsal study techniques; (9)they use teacher-provided schemas for learning econom-ics; and (10) they prepare their own schema and present itfor approval to other students before turning it in forcredit in the course.

But Students Must Know the Terms ... Right?We have used a combination of mastery learning and

personalized systems of instruction to prepare studentsfor recall, understanding, and application tasks.

Class Activities1. Introduce the class as an exciting but very difficult

course of study.

A.., J


I'romise students an A, B, or C grade if they succeedat three different aspects of the class.

3. Write each student's family to tell them that therdent is taking a very difficult course, and their

1;..:pport is needed if the student is to be successful.4. Use the textbook's test bank to prepare three versions

of each test the students are to take (four tests, 40multiple-choice items each).

5. Use a Scantron grading machine to quickly scoreeach version of the test. No grade is recorded untilthe student scores 80% or higher.

6. Students who score less than 80% complete cor-rectives outside of class. They then exchange theirold test, answer sheet, and correctives in our learningrenter for another version of that particular test.They take the test in the learning center. We score iton the Scantron grader and give them the results asthey come into the next class meeting. If necessarthey do correctives again and take another version ofthe test until a score of 80% or higher is attained.

7. After each first exam, we move on to new materialduring the next class meeting. Students' deadline forscoring an 80% or higher on each test is the nextscheduled exam. Students must spend considerabletime on economics in order to meet this schedule.Attendance increases because students cannot missclasses and complete their tasks. In addition, studentattention and participation change drastically afterthe first test. Because students recognize the impor-tance of precise language in using economic termi-nology, they ask a good many clarifying and applica-tion questions in class. They want to be specificabout the terminology and avoid doing anothercorrective if possible. In the process they becomeactive learners.

8. We write their advi;...,rs (with a copy to the student)and tell them how pleased we are with the students'efforts and their scores to date. We ask them toencourage their advisees as they meet with them.

9. Class time consists of answering student questionsabout the reading assignment, showing applicationof concepts, and having them perform taskse.g.,construct a demand curve, calculate elasticity ofdemand, or construct a field of indifference curves.For grading purposes, they complete daily applica-tion assignments which are turned in at the end ofthe term in a notebook.

10. To teach analysis, synthesis, and evaluation learning,we require a paper from each student explaining aparticular product and its market (timber, tobacco,coal, etc.) This causes the students to search for

economic data from various media, making themmore conscious of their existence.

11. When students finish their papers, they submit themto a peer review team of three other students. Eachteam member will read each paper and offer sugges-tions for improvement. One student will sign off onthe use of language, another will sign off on spellingand punctuation, while a third stuuent will sign offon the use of economic terms, examples, and con-cepts. The students then rotate assignments on thenext paper. The students are responsible for collect-ing economic data, using newly acquired economictools to present their data, and, most important,arriving at their own conclusions.

Using this approach to teaching economics, we havefound that the focus of the entire class is on learningeconomics and is more like a work environment than atypical classroom. Our job is one of encouraging, prais-ing, clarifying, and assisting; we have become facilitators.

Richard Crowe, Professor, Economics

For further information, contact the author at HazardCommunity College, Highway 15 South/One Commu-nity College Drive, Hazard, KY 41701-2402.

Celebrate with us!

.111NIMI

The 1992 International Conference onTeaching Excellence and Conference of

Administrators is scheduled for May 24-27.Speakers will include Donald Phelps,

Chancellor, Los Angeles Comunity College

District, and Beverly Simone, President,Madison Area Technical College. Six pre-conference sessions will be featured, plusspecial sessions by Wally Cox, College of theCanyons, who will provide instruction incountry-and-western dancing. The Conferenceof Administrators; 1992 NISOD Excellence

Awards presentation; Monday-eveningMexican buffet and dance; and tours of Austin,Texas Hill Country, and San Antonio roundout the schedule.

For more information, contact SuanneRoueche, Director, NISOD, The University of

Texas at Austin, EDB 348, Austin, TX 78712,512/471-7545.


A,or1117,1992, Vol. XIV, No. 12






78712, (512) 471 -7545. Funding in part by the W. K Kellogg Foundation and the Sid W. Richardson Foundation. Issued weekly

when classes are in session during fat and spring terms. ISSN 0199-106X


POLISHED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD), COLLEGE OF EDUCATION,

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN -WITH SUPPORT FROM THEW, K KELLOGG FOUNDATION AND THE SID W. RICHARDSON FOUNDATION

Writing to Learn Math: A Dialogue

Editor's Note: This article is a recent dialogue between awriting instructor and a math instructor at Jefferson Commu-nity College.

Rita: Using writing as a means of knowing, not just asa way to demonstrate what you know, has long beenappreciated by teachers of composition (naturally) andteachers in other disciplines such as history, literature, andthe social sciences. But, more recently, mathematicsteachers have begun to discover writing as a pedagogicaltool for teaching both basic and advanced math.

Carrie and I discovered, somewhat by accident, that theprocesses inherent in writing were similarly efficacious forboth our disciplines, composition and math. Sharing anoffice complex we regularly observed and overheard eachother in conference with our respective students. The toneand structure of our conferences were amazingly similar:we defined concepts, asked for clarifications, demon-strated process, invited questions, facilitated comparisonsand contrasts, and encouraged analysis.

As Plato discovered centuries ago, open dialogue is atthe heart of learning. I tell my writing students that theymust learn to "talk to themselves" to become good writerswho can take their ideas through the personalize/objectifydialectic that leads to discovery and clarification. Thiskind of dialogue, I believe, is what Carrie and I heard eachother encouraging as we attempted to meet our students'needs.

As we worked through writing/math anxieties, wetried to meet the same needs: the need to see relation-ships, to recall, to summarize, to forecast. In the process ofthe conference experiences, we heard our studentsvalidating or amending their classroom experiences,leaving ideally with better strategies for learning.

Writing was the way to make these conference pro-cesses concrete and ongoing, a way to practice those skillsthat cognitive research indicates are necessary for alllearning. This research stresses the essential relationshipbetween thought and language. If we can verbalize itclearly, we can know it clearly. Our conversations aboutthis spurred Carrie and some of her colleagues to expandon the writing they were already having their mathstudents do.

4

Carrie: In the past several years, I have found thatstudents want to memorize a mathematic formula orprocess until the test date and then promptly forget theprocess. However, in math classes, the next informationtaught very often hinges on what was just taught, andhence the process of learning mathematics breaks down ifstudents use only memorization skills. In tryii ig to coercemy students to retain more of the processes I was teach-ing, I resorted to verbalization of the concept. At first Iused term papers in applied course:: such as Finite andBusiness Calculus. Then I had students write their ownstory problems.

Rita: Writing "story problems" is just one of manystrategies composition research Ann Berthoff lists for herstudents in preparing a "double-entry notebook." De-signed as a tool for critical thinking for writing, thenotebook provides a way for students to work through anidea and then think about the process they used. On oneside of the notebook, the students write observations,ideas, summaries, even make drawings to record theirlearning. Then, on the opposite side, perhaps later, theyre-think their first entries, ask questions, make correctionsor amendments, and reach conclusions.

Carrie: Adapting Berthoff's idea, I had the studentkeep a written journal on the left side of the page whichexplained what he/she was performing mathematicallyon the right side of the same page. The student was to usenames of the principles and laws and to label steps orprocesses with which he/she was not familiar or comfort-able. These latter comments were to be asked about in thenext class meeting.

At the end of certain sections, exercise sets, or chapters,I requested extra assignments. These included compari-sons of two chapters or perhaps just two problems andcategorizations of problems such as word problems intodistance, geometry, motion, mixture, or consumer catego-ries.

The notebook was very useful to both the student andme. With mistakes corrected, the notebook became thestudent's individual textbook for the course. Each chapterhad numerous worked problemseach with an explana-tion that this particular student could read and under-stand. For myself, I could read any page and see whether

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD)Community College Leadership Program, DepatImer' of Educational AdministratbnCollege of Educaeon, The University of Texas at Austin, EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712

a student was having difficulty understanding theprocess being taught. In the privacy of my office, or inthe learning lab, I could discuss the problem with thestudent in his/her own words and be more apt to correctit.

The notebook does take considerable time to read andevaluate, but the same benefits from verbalizing mathconcepts can be obtained in other ways. In a recentsemester I used a mini-notebook idea which I called the"Concept Problem." One or two weeks before the exam,students would be given problems which includedspecific mathematical concepts over which they would betested later. The students were to complete these prob-lems using the double-entry format.

These problems were collected and returned by thenext class meeting. The student who received a "i+" haddemonstrated a good understanding of the mathematicalconcepts being applied, and he/she was allowed to takethe exam on the scheduled date. The student receivingthe "%I." had to correct noted mistakes and return thecorrected exercise before taking the test. Any studentreceiving the minus not only had to correct the mistakes,but also had to set up a conference with me.

Each confercnce would consist of examining thestudent's homework and discussing mistakes andmethods of correcting those mistakes, discussing studyskills and test-taking skills, and quizzing the student on anew "concept problem." At the end of this conference,the student would either be allowed to take the examwith the class or be given remediation work and a newtest date would be scheduled.

This semester I am giving my students selectedproblems I have chosen to use as examples in my dailylecture. The students already have the "math" in handand are now able to take notes in the half of the pageprovided. They can write concepts, procedures, andalternate methods on this single page, divided double-entry style. I am hoping this will encourage them to thinkabout how they take notes in a math class and realize Iam not just teaching numbers and variables. I amteaching students how to process information.

This same process can be encouraged by simple,occasional writing tasks such as these:

1. Describe your last encounter with story or wordproblems.

2. Using your everyday experiences with numbers(finances, mileage, recipes, job, etc.), write a wordproblem that describes your experience.

3. Work a problem on the right side of the page; on theleft, describe step-by-step what you're doing. Includedefinitions of mathematical terms you use.

4. Given a set of word problems, rearrange into separatecategories of your choice. Give a description andrationale for the category.

5. Now that we have finished chapters 1-2 take a look atthe processes we have used. Write an thatexplains the similarities and differences in the pro-cesses we learned.

Rita: These kinds of written responses put mathlearning into a student's native tongue. As researcherMarsha Hurwitz comments in "Student-AuthoredManuals as Semester Projects" (Mathematics Teacher,December, 1990), writing restores meaning to symbols:

Much of the elegance of mathematics lies insymbolism that allows us to manipulatecomplex ideas. However, without compre-hension of the substances behind the symbol-ism, the memorization of symbols is meaning-less.

Rita Recktenwald, Associate Professor, English

Carrie Schmidt, Associate Professor, Mathematics

For further information, contact the authors at JeffersonCommunity College, 109 E. Broadway, Louisville, KY40202.

9 -;


April 24, 1992, Vol. XIV, No.13

©The University of Texas at tv.isn, 1992

Further duplication 5 permitted by MEMBER



Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, EDB 348, The University of Texas at Ausfin, Austin, Texas

78712, (512) 471-7545. Funding in earl by the W K Kellogg Foundation and the Sid W Richardson Foundation. issued weekly

when classes are in session during fail and spring terms. ISSN 0199-106X.


jleet* INNOVATION ABSTRACTSUBLISHEUBY THE-NATIONAL INST7 RITE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (WOO), COLLEGE OF EDUCATION,

THE UNIVERSITY0F7a4S AT AUSTIN. MN SUPPORT FROM 7HE W. K. KELLOGG. FOUNDATION AND THE SOW. RICHARDSONFOUNDAUON

Letting Students "Discover" the Scientific ProcessUnfortunately, most science is taught as though it

operated in a vacuum. Entering college science stu-dents often believe that science operates in a realmapart from their world. Conventional approaches toteaching science at all levels have fostered studentexpectations that the study of science is beyond theirintellectual capacity, that it entails extensive lists of"facts," and that it is foreign to their experience. Theseapproaches promote preconceptions that are inaccurateand serve as major obstacles to teaching any beginningscience course. Students become frustrated by theapparent gap between their experience and the scien-tific world, and this discourages them from becomingactive participants in the scientific process.

We became dissatisfied with the traditional approachto teaching the scientific method because it actuallyreinforces students' errant notions of science. Thetraditional approach usually involves listing the majorsteps of the scientific method and providing studentswith examples of well-controlled experiments. Bynaming steps in the traditional way, such as "hypoth-esis formation," students are led to believe that thisprocess is alien to their "normal" way of thinking.Since the scientific method is usually the first subjectcovered in a science course, students are introduced to aconcept which they already believe is beyond theircomprehension. This is a frustrating situation forscience instructors who know that the scientific way ofthinking is nothing more than a systematic means ofgaining knowledge. This "scientific" way of thinkingcomes to us as naturally as walking upright, andeveryone uses some form of it daily. Therefore, wehave begun teaching scientific method in a way whichallows .students to experience the process before theyput names to the steps in the process. We believe itdemonstrates that there is nothing unusual or esotericabout the scientific method of problem solving.

On the first day of our Biology 101 class, students aredivided into groups of three to five and are given ashort description of the extensive extinction of speciesthat occurred in the late Cretaceous Period. In thisdescription students are told what species disappeared,which species remained, and that these extinctionsoccurred in a short geological time span. They are

reassured that they need no prior knowledge of thisevent and that, in fact, it may hinder their objectivity incompleting the assignment. Attached to the descriptionis a list of 10 possible explanations for these extinctions.The groups decide which three explanations they findmost compelling and describe what type of evidencethey would need to either support or reject each expla-nation they have chosen. For example, if the groupchose the explanation "Volcanic eruptions released ashinto the atmosphere causing the temperature to drop,"they might state that they would require evidence of (1)volcanic eruptions during this period, (2) volcanic ashinfluencing worldwide temperature, and (3) the effectsof temperature changes on the species which perishedduring this period. After compiling their lists, the smallgroups report to the class-at-large, and more extensivelists of evidence to support or reject explanations arethen developed by the entire class.

Students then receive a second sheet which containsa list of actual data which may be relevant to thisextinction. The groups then categorize each piece ofevidence on the list as either "not applicable," "sup-ports," or "rejects" for each of the three explanationsoriginally chosen. In the volcanic eruption example,groups may find that evidence from the list, such as"Geological record shows a slight gradual cooling of theearth," may support that explanation, while "Volcanicgases released with ash usually cause atmosphericwarming" may cause them to reject this explanation,and "Mammals ate dinosaur eggs" is not applicable tothis particular explanation. Small groups will thenreport conclusions to the entire class.

This activity shows students three things about theuse of data to solve scientific questions:1. The process is not foreign and, in fact, is similar to

the way they may routinely solve other problems(i.e., deciding where to go to school, which car tobuy).

2. Although there may be substantial data that supportan explanation, it is impossible to be absolutelycertain that this is indeed the "real/true" explana-tion. Information unavailable to the students now(and, in fact, to the scientific community in thisparticular case) may ultimately shatter the validity of

9


any explanation. This indeterminate approach toknowledge is and always has been the hallmark ofgood science. In other words, we may need to alteror even reject outright our most favored treatise inthe face of new data.

3. The only thing you know for sure is an explanationthat can be clearly rejected by the evidence.This learning strategy demonstrates to students that

they have the same ability to use data for problemsolving as does a scientist. They begin to see science asa process that they already can and do use everyday.Having experienced this process, it is much easier forstudents to comprehend the textbook descriptions ofscientific method. The description of extinctions are"scientific observations," the possible explanations forthe extinctions are "hypotheses," and the process usingthe provided data to sequentially reject or supportexplanations is "theory development."

Students generally expect that scientists alreadyhave most of the answers. This was exemplified by astudent who, after patiently going through this exer-cise, said, "So what's the real answer?" Once thestudents understand that no one really knows answerswith certainty, they are better able to recognize thatscience is not simply an assemblage of facts but rather aprocess. They also see that scientific knowledge isdynamic rather than stagnant, ephemeral rather thanpermanent. We remind students that this process isongoing for all subjects we will cover during the term.

We have found that this process has the addedbenefit of shattering students' first-day expectations ofhow science is learned. They enjoy the opportunity toparticipate in solving an unfamiliar problem withpeople they have just met. They soon realize that thesum of their ideas as a group is better than the best ideaof any of them alone. This is reinforced by the largegroup activities where the small groups are sharingtheir ideas and sets the stage for an active, cooperativelearning environment. We have found that manystudents who had once viewed the study of science asan exercise in the memorization of large quantities ofobtuse factual material, now see science as a vital andexciting process.

Judith K. Moore, Instructor, Biolocg

Eric D. Mould, Instructor, Biology

For further information, contact the authors at YakimaValley Community College, P. 0. Box 1647, Yakima,WA 98907.

Student as Teacher

After several years of teaching lecture-type speechcommunications classes, it occurred to me that I wasteaching communications without allowing my studentsto communicate. If I lectured the entire time, would mystudents have enough time to practice the new skills theywere learning? I devised a plan to have students attendsessions more prepared and more enthusiastic.

In preparing this new teaching strategy, I needed tofind a way to keep the students involved with theirreadings and class discussion. I asked the students toprovide some background information about themselveson 3 x 5 index cards. These cards enabled me to learnmore about my audience and also served as a deck ofcards for randomly selecting the class lecturera strategythat further motivated students to read the assignmentbefore class in order to be prepared to teach.

Each day, a card is selected, and the student so identi-fied leads the class discussion on the assigned readings.To provide some support for the lecture, I write severalquestions in the margins of my book and give it to thestudent. The student follows my notes in the marginsand poses the questions to the class; the class works as ateam to understand the chapter's concepts, achievedthrough defining concepts and terms, and to apply themto real-life situations. This teamwork plan reduces thenervousness students often feel when asking questions inclass. Also, I stand next to the student as he/she isteaching, reducing the student's tension and creatingsomewhat of a team-teaching situation. If the student"teacher" does not understand a concept, I am availableto provide assistance.

The student's responsibility as the "teacher" includesreading and understanding the chapters, leading andmaintaining class discussion, encouraging the entire classto participate, and maintaining discipline. Each studenthas a unique teaching style; a "boring" class discussion isa rare occurrence in my class!

This teaching strategy promotes class discussion andenthusiasm. It is a productive teaching method incommunications classes and is applicable to manydisciplines.

Maria K. Malayter, Instructor, Speech

For further information, contact the author at College ofDuPage, Communications Division, 22nd Street andLambert Road, Glen Ellyn, IL 60137-6599.


May1,1992, Vol. XIV, No.14

::)The University of Texas at Austin, 1992


institutions for their awn personnel



78712, (512) 471.7545. Funding in part by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and the Sid W. Richardson Foundation. issued weekly


* INNOVATION ABSTRACTSVOLUME XI V, NUMBER 15

: c

,It! I ""0, I I III

t '1 k t

Instructional Strategies for Building Student Self-EsteemThe Yuba College Correctional Academy is a partner-

ship between Yuba College, Woodland Campus, andthe Yolo County Sheriff's Department. It enrolls pre-service students, as well as correctional officers anddeputy sheriffs serving in various law enforcementagencies within the college's service area. The instruc-tional program has been designed to accurately reflectthe challenges and demands of "real world" lawenforcement; to promote student academic success; andto instill and develop a sense of pride and self-confi-dence in each student. Instructors implement a numberof instructional strategies that promote self-disciplineand increase self-confidencein short, build studentself-esteem. Some of the most successful strategies aredescribed here.

Academy classes are designed to be intensive eight-hour work days and are scheduled Monday throughFriday. Daily attendance is required, and studentsare to be in their seats and ready to begin class eachday promptly at 7:00 a.m.On the first day of class, each student (1) receives ahospitality pack that includes a map of the county; alist of places of interest, restaurants, and businesses;a current events calendar from the chamber ofcommerce; and a variety of community and collegeactivities of special interest for students; (2) receives athorough orientation to Yuba College and theacademy; and (3) meets at least one other student(each student interviews another and introduceshim/her to the class).Desks are arranged in a "U" design so that eachstudent will have a front row seat; the seating chartchanges daily to encourage interaction among allstudents.Cooperative learning is encouraged; students havethe option of choosing or being assigned to a studygroup.A variety of classroom instructional techniques areimplemented to accommodate the wide diversity oflearning styles.To keel the class oriented to the scheduled cur-riculum, daily objectives ("students will demon-strate .. ") are written on the board. j

Five major exams are given during the academy'sterm, and each is preceded by an extensive pre-examreview. Students are invited to evaluate each examimmediately by addressing in writing any irregulari-ties with test questions and/or any subject matterwhich may not have been discussed or adequatelycovered during class sessions. The program coordi-nator reviews these comments and determines if anyadjustments to class test scores should be made.A classroom suggestion box encourages studentinput to the program. Because early problem resolu-tion is a major instructional objective, suggestions arepresented to the entire class for discussion on the daythey are submitted.Field trips to an area detention facility and thecounty's Superior Court for role-playing modulesreflect a progressive instructional shift from acontent-centered to an application-centered mode.Team-building projects, such as planning for gradua-tion activities, encourage sharing of individualstudent resources to meet common academy goals.While uniforms are not required, a dress code for ac-ceptable classroom attire is enforced. Strict adher-ence to the code by students and instructors pro-motes the critical sense of professional pride. To pro-mote pride in the academy, quality hats and t-shirtsbearing the academy's name and logo are availablefor purchase.The majority of students are representing (and/orbeing sponsored by) various law enforcementagencies; their badges are displayed collectively inthe classroom, providing an important reminder thatas students and as professionals they are involved inmeeting common, shared goals. The names of theinstructors (employed by various agencies) appearon student binder covers; their resumes and businesscards are bound and displayed.Students are encouraged by the public support oftheir activities. Awards for individual achievementsand honors are built into the program, and many aresponsored and /or financially supported by commu-nity groups and businesses. As well, a sizablenumber of active community volunteers serve theacademy in various advisory capacities.


Instructors and the program coordinator encourageextensive press coverage of the academy's activities.The newsletter, Excellence Together, is published atthe conclusion of the training sessions and profilesstudents, instructors, and special events.At the conclusion of each academy, students' gradesmust be reported to their respective law enforce-ment agencies. However, academy instructors feelthat grades alone do not provide adequate informa-tion about the student. Therefore, the programcoordinator showcases each student in an individualletter and mails it to his/her department head,highlighting that student's achievements andcontributions to the program.A formal graduation ceremony is held in SuperiorCourt, with guest speakers, local officials, and

members of the press giving the correctional officersa dignified finish to an intense learning experience.

Critical to the academy's success has been the activenetworking with other correctional academies. Sharingprogram outlines, promotional brochures, and supple-mental materials has resulted in improved coursedevelopment and student achievement.

Michael Mangiaracina, Instructor, Law Enforcement

For further information, contact the author at YoloCounty Sheriff's Department, 814 North Street, Wood-land, CA 95695.

Test Preparation From the Student Point of View

At least one week before any major test, I enter a set ofstudy questions into Microtest, a test-generating com-puter program. These questions are drawn from a testitem bank (which I have developed over several semes-ters) and, therefore, will include some of the samequestions that will appear on ;he actual test. I programthe computer to print a "study test" without answers andgive it to the students. (I also ask the publishers of ourtextbooks for copies of their computerized testing pro-grams. Many have test banks and will supply them freeof charge to instructors.)

The students then choose their teams for the test (seeInnovation Abstracts, Volume XII, Number 7, "Why NotTeam-Testing?"). The study test forces the students toseek out the answers to the test items. Students marktheir books, make notes, identify page numbers and booktitles, and so on. By test day, the study tests look well-usedfantastic! On or before test day, I answer anyquestions students have about the study test.

On test day, they can't wait to get started. Typically,students are shocked when they see the first actual testand discover that most of the test items are not the sameas those on the study test! But they quickly realize thatthey know the material, and the teams go to work toformulate their answers.

When the tests are returned, they invariably say thingslike, "Oh, we misread the question," or, "I told vou guysthat was the wrong answer; but n00000h, vou wouldn't

listen to me." A new definition of what it means to be astudent begins to take shape.

After one test, a student asked, "You really believe inTQM (total quality management;, lon't you?" I said,"Sure do. Why do you ask?" "You just gave us anexample of it," he said. "You told us at the beginning ofthe class what you expected us to learn, you told us howwe should go about learning it, you gave us studyquestions to show us how well we should learn it, yougave us this test to see if we had learned it, and then wegot instant feedback on how well we did. If that's notTQM, what is it?"

Joy ;e the world!

Toni 0. Harris, Instructor, Business Management

For further information, contact the author at St. Philip'sCollege, 1801 Martin Luther King Drive, San Antonio, TX78203-2098.


May 8,1992, Vol. XIV, No.15

The LInr.rorsay of Texas at Austin, 1992

Further duplication is perrrptted by MEMBER

institutions br the an persorneI

INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publication of the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (WOO),

Department of Educational Administration, College of Educalan, EDB 348, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

78712. (512) 471 7545 Funding in part by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and the Sid W. Richardson Foundation. issued weekly

when classes are in session dunng fall and spring terms. ISSN 0199 106X

41.*- INNOVATIONABSTRACTSVOLUME XI V, NUMBER 16

IV' II

"1'.

k I. .1 I I l

The Course Selection System: An Innovative Toolfor Increasing the Success of Entering Students

The ProblemCommunity and junior colleges currently collect a

great deal of information from their incoming studentsfor use in advising and course placement decisions.Information typically collected from new matriculatedstudents includes demographic data, prior academicperformance, and scores on assessment tests of basicskills. With the exception of scores on the assessmenttests, little if any of the information gathered fromincoming students is used systematically in decisionsregarding initial course placements. At best, counselorsare given a computer-generated profile of studentbackground characteristics and assessment scores.However, the information in the profiles is not linked tostudents' chances for success in the array of introduc-tory courses offered at the college. Typically, counsel-ors review assessment scores and information aboutstudents' academic performance in making recommen-dations about the courses in which students shouldenroll.

The approach in place at many community collegeshas several shortcomings.1. Counselors have no empirical evidence about the

relationship between student characteristics andsuccess in entry-level courses. Thus, their advice issomewhat subjective and is likely to vary fromcounselor to counselor.

2. Counselors must rely primarily upon scores onEnglish and math assessment tests and self-reports ofprior educational experience in recommendingcourses. The test scores or the combination of testscores and prior experience usually have not beenvalidated for predicting students' success across thearray of entry-level courses.

3. Counselors rarely have adequate time to meetindividually with each student to review the compre-hensive information that could be used in makingcourse selection recommendations.

The Course Selection SystemThe Course Selection System overcomes each of the

shortcomings listed above. It automatically incorpo-q:.")

rates multiple criteria into course selection advice. Ityields information on the probability of first-timecommunity college students succeeding in specificentry-level classes. Students and their advisors areprovided with a computer printout showing in whichcourses students have a high chance of succeeding.

Information obtained from a survey of students'educational backgrounds, assessment test answers, andaspirations are scanned into a microcomputer. Theinformation is analyzed, using coefficients producedfrom logistic regression analyses. A printout is pro-duced identifying basic skills placement levels andcourses which a student has a high probability ofcompleting with a passing grade. This printout can beeasily used and interpreted in individual or groupadvising sessions.

This Course Selection System yields information thatallows counselors to assist students in course planning.The variables that contribute to success in specificcourses are provided to counselors for use in advisingstudents on actions they can take to improve theirchances for success.

The variables that predict student success variedfrom course to course. Of the 60 variables examined,the most common predictors were:

English test scoreReading test scoreMath test score (or math level)High school grade point average (self-reported)Interaction of units planned and number of hoursemployedInteraction of highest math class completed andgrade in last math classImportance of college to the student and to thoseclosest to the studentAgeHigh school attendedStudents' chances of successfully completing courses

can be improved by following advice based on theCourse Selection System. A comparison was madebetween successful course completion of students whoselected courses based on the college's existing advising

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD)Community College Leadership Program, Department of Educational AdministrationCollege of Education, The University of Texas at Austin, EDB 348, Ausfin, Texas 78712

scheme (assessment scores and counseling) versus therecommendations that would have been given tostudents using the variables found to be the bestpredictors of student success in the course. In manycases, if students had followed the advice of the CourseSelection System, they would have been placed moreaccurately in their first semester classes. The gainsranged from 2% in fine arts appreciation classes, to 11%in foreign languages, to 41% for some social scienceclasses, to 47% for introductory economics classes.

Advantages of the Course Selection SystemThe Course Selection System can enhance the

efficiency and validity of the advising process for newstudents in the following ways:1. It allows colleges to use more information about

students in making course placement recommenda-tions than just performance on tests.

2. It provides counselors with valid informationregarding the relationship between students'characteristics and their probability of success inparticular courses.

3. It provides counselors with specific information onwhich factors are associated with success in particu-lar courses. For example, the factors that proved tobe the best predictors of grades in accounting classeswere the interaction of number of hours worked andunits enrolled (the more hours employed, the lesslikely to pass), math level, and grade received in lastmath class. Such information could provide coun-selors with valuable insights in advising students.

4. It provides students with a printout of courses inwhich they have a high chance of succeeding duringtheir first semester. In addition, students are given ahandout entitled "Paths for Success" which identi-fies important factors related to success in particularcourses.

5. It provides information that can be readily used bystudents and counselors in selecting a wide range ofintroductory courses including English and math.

6. It heightens a college's awareness about the charac-teristics of students that may influence success.

7. It provides a systematic way to examine whether theprocedures for placing students into classes arebiased against any ethnic group.

8. It can increase students' chances of succeeding intheir courses during their first term in college. Thisis very significant in light of the research showingthat first semester students are often high-riskstudents.

ConclusionA major goal of assessing students is to increase

their probability of success by recommending appro-priate classes and support services. The uniqueapproach described in this article provides counselorsand students with a valuable tool to achieve thisobjective.

jack Friedlander, Dean, Academic Affairs, Santa BarbaraCity College

Elaine Cohen, Dean, Instruction, Diablo Valley College

Eve Kelemen-Lohnas, Director, California LearningAssessment Retention Consortium (LARC)

For further information, contact Jack Friedlander atSanta Barbara City College, 721 Cliff Drive, SantaBarbara, CA 93109-2394.


August 21,1992, Vol. XIV, No.16

CYThe University of Texas at Austin, 1992



INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publication of the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (N1SOD),


78712, (512)471-7545. Funding in part by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and the Sid W. Richardson Foundation. issued weekly

when classes are in session during fat and spring terms. ISSN 0199-105K

INNOVATIONABSTRACTSVOLUME XIV, NUMBER 17

"(

1211; PI

zi*I' 11 I l a I. II 41

ipti ; I 01 ; i1:1 I I l

These Are My Goals . . . But Are They My Students' Goals?

As instructors, we have expectations for the outcomeswe want students to experience upon completion of thecourses we teach. Many of us include learning objectivesin the handouts we give to students. These objectivesdescribe what we hope to accomplish as instructors thatis, our goals. The assumption we make is that the stu-dents will read these statements, see the inherent wisdomcontained in them, and adopt them as their own. Theproblem is that our students may not adopt these goals astheir own. In fact, they may have learning goals that arevery different from ours. This has important implicationsfor student learning and for our teaching.

Instructors' Learning GoalsInstructors often want their students to have what is

referred to as mastery goals for the courses they teach.Mastery goals involve understanding the material, beingable to use it, relating the material to other knowledge,using it to reorganize a portion of their current knowledgealong a new dimension, and so on. Mastery goals relate to

a particular type of motivational orientation, called amastery orientation. This orientation is most typicallyfound in experts, or in novices who want to become moreexpert in an area. This motivational orientation is part ofthe reason we can get so excited about our areas ofspecialization, particularly when we come across a newfinding or a new level of understanding about a subtopic.It is also why we enjoy going to professional meetings orconferences where we can talk to other specialists in ourfield who share our excitement and orientation. Now let'slook at goals from a student's perspective.

Students' Learning GoalsStudents may also have mastery goals and a mastery

motivational orientation for courses they are taking. Thisorientation often results in intentions to develop a higherlevel of expertise in the area. However, it is unlikely thatthey have this orientation for all, or even most, of thecourses they are taking. We know from numerous studiesof experts and novices that it takes a lot of time and effortto become an expert. We also know that most peopledemonstrate expertise in a small number of clearlydefined domains. It is unlikely that students could

(.1

maintain this level of effort and commitment in eachcourse given their other academic, personal, social, andperhaps occupational demands. In addition, moststudents are not interested in every course to the samedegree as they are in every other course. Think back toyour own college days. Can you honestly say that youenjoyed every course you took? Did you put in as mucheffort in each course? Did you see the same relevance ineach course for your future life goals?

Our students face the same problems that we did.Some students, particularly in introductory level courses,often have what are called performance goals for many ofthe courses they are taking. Rather than being primarilyconcerned with mastering the material, they are concernedabout getting a passing grade and avoiding failure. Thisdoes not mean they do not have some mastery orientationas well, only that their dominant wish is to performadequately (hoWever they define that) in the course.

I have taught an introductory statistics course at TheUniversity of Texas for a number of years. When I walk inthe first day, I usually find a sea of faces turned in mydirection, with expressions that range from apathy to hate,with a few smiles thrown in. I love statistics and think it isa crucially important and fascinating content area ... howmany of my students do you think share my feelings ormotivational orientation? Very few. Most of the studentsin the class are not them because they want to becomestatisticians. They are there because taking statistics isrequired for a number of different majors at The Univer-sity of Texas, including: nursing, educational administra-tion, allied health professions, and social work. It wouldbe unrealistic for me to assume that even a sizable minor-ity of my students have a mastery orientation (and this hasbeen confirmed in a study where measures of bothmastery and performance motivational orientations weregiven to the students in this course). What then are we todo as faculty to cope with this problem? How can we helpstudents to adopt at least some level of mastery goals forour course?

Instructional ImplicationsThe first implication from work in the area of acaderV.z

goals is that both teachers and students must be aware of

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF ANDORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD)

Community College Leadership Program, Department ofEducational Administration


their goals before they can analyze and use them to help

guide their thoughts and behaviors. Many students comeinto a course without a clear idea of why they are there orhow the course content might relate to present or futureplans. Particularly .n entry level or general education

courses many studentshave not thought past the fact thatthe course is required for transfer credits, graduation, orcertification. It is important for each instructor to setaside some time at the beginning of the course to talk

about goals.This can be done in a number of ways. One popular

method is to have a class discussion where studentsbrainstorm how the content area beingcovered could be

of interest to them now or in the future in their academic,personal, social, or occupational life. Often students aresurprised to discover that what they are learning canimpact their lives in many different ways. For example,

in my statistics course, many students do not realize the

number of everyday statistics that bombard them,whether it be the probability that it will rain tomorrow or

the 9 out of 10 doctors that recommend Brand Q. Using

the discussions we have at the beginning of the semestergives me ideas for things I use to help make some of thestatistics we describe later have moremeaning for them. I

still cover the conceptual material I want to present, butnow many of my students have more reasons for wantingto learn it than simplygetting a better grade.

Another method for helping students to develop a

more balanced motivational orientation is to use five-

minute papers. Five-minute papers are short notes, or

letters, that students periodically write in class or ashomework. The content of the notes is abrief discussion

of how the content material in the curreltt sections of the

course can help the student reach his/her personal, social,

academic, or occupational goals now or in the future.

This is a way to maintain an ongoing dialogue about theimportance of the topics covered in the class for each

student. Again, for students to use goals, they must be

aware of them.A third method for enhancing student motivation is to

relate the content material to different career types. For

example, many students are shocked to find out howmuch writing is done by engineers or nurses as part of

their normal workday.A fourth method is to help students brainstorm about

their own futures. Many students, particularly those in

the 18-24 age range, have not given much thought to their

future goals. Becoming dearer about what we want out

of life helps us to relate our goals to our present behavior.Finally, instructors need to spend time modeling the

excitement and ways of thinking about their content

areas. Sharing with our students our own excitement andhelping them to think in ways that are appropriate to ourfields helps students in two different ways. First, it helpsthem to understand what it is that draws us to ourchosenareas. Second, it helps them decide if this is an area theymight want to pursue.

Each cF us has stories of instructors who excited usabout an area. For many of us, these areas became moreinteresting to us and perhaps became our own majorsand professions. I can remember a history class I took in

college. I hated the prospect of the long reading list andtedious hours of studying. One day the instructorpointed out the differences between reading a historybook, such as the book we were reading at the time on theGreat Depression, and reading a book in other areas. Iwas a science major and was reading for the details butnot the feelings and emotionsof the people involved. Idid not understand how to find the main ideas in ahistory book or how to think about what I was studying.He did not make me a history major but he did start alifelong love of history. My motivation still had a heavyperformance orientation, but now it had a masteryorientation component as well.

Claire E. Weinstein, P °lessor, Educational Psychology

For further information, contact the author at The Univer-sity of Texas at Austin, EDB 352, Austin, TX 78712.

PLAN NOW TO ATTEND NISOD's

FIFTEENTH INTERNATIONAL

CONFERENCE ON

TEACHING EXCELLENCE AND

CONFERENCE OF

ADMINISTRATORS

May 23-26, 1993Austin, Texas

For more information, write or call: SuanneRoueche, NISOD, The University of Texas atAustin, EDB 348, Austin, TX 78712-1293,

(512) 471-7543.


August 28,1992 Vol. XN, No.17©The University of Texas at Ausin, 1992

Furter duc6cation is permitted ty MEMBER

istiMiers fof bit am personnel

INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publicationof the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD),

Department of Educational Administration,College of Education, EDB 348, The Universityof Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

78712, (512)471.7544 Funding in part by the W. K Kellogg Foundation and the Sid W. Richardson Foundation. Issued weekly

when classes are in session during (at and spring terms. ISSN 0199-106X

4t INNOVATION ABSTRACTSVOLUME XIV, NUMBER 18

e.1 ."

Role-Playing a ComputerStudents in my beginning programming courses,

computer literacy courses, and program design coursesoften have a difficult time grasping how a computeroperates. To my students, the computer remains amysterious box from which, when a sequence of keys isstruck in the proper order, offers wonderful andunexplainable results. To contradict the assumptionthat the computer remains in complete control, I haveused role-playing as a teaching tool.

Many of the fundamental concepts of how a com-puter operates can be illustrated in just one short role-playing session. This semester I used the followingprogramming example (from BASIC programming) inmy Introduction to Computer Information Systemsclass (which serves as both a computer literacy courseand an introduction to computer science course). Thissample program allows the novice student to see goodprogramming style employed in a short, simple pro-gram.

Using one student as a constant memory location andfour students as variable memory locations distin-guishes between the two types of locations. Theconstant memory location has just one thing to remem-ber, regardless of the number of times we "run" theprogram. The variable memory locations also remem-ber just one item of information, but the distinguishingcharacteristic remains that their piece of informationchanges every time we run the program. This gives methe opportunity to discuss the nondestructive read/destructive write characteristics that they have beenreading about in the text.

The student playing the control unit must be veryconscientious throughout the entire process. Theinterpreter for this program must go line-by-linethrough the program. The control unit's delight overencountering the REM statements or comment state-ments and not having to act is obvious. The communi-cation between the control unit and the remaining partsof the computer is fun to watch. The user tells the inputdevice to have the control unit retrieve our programfrom the secondary storage device (limitless"

3

2 k I t ;it I I.

memory). Then the control unit uses its primarystorage capacity (stored program concept) and displaysthe program on the output device. All the while theinterpreter is talking to the control unit. When the userstates his/her name, the input device tells the controlunit the name. The control unit promptly assigns thename to a variable memory location, and we proceedwith the program. When we get ready for the computa-tion, the control unit must retrieve from memory theneeded information, giving the content to the arith-metic/logic unit, and then store the results that itreceives. Then it must tell the output device the resultsof the computations. We do each line of the programwith all the corresponding parts of the computer beingaccessed. Once we have run the program, I recruit anew user; and we rerun the program, discussing whathappens to the previous values in the variable memorylocations and how "dumb" the computer issince wehave to tell it exactly what to do.

If things get a little rowdy or loud during the role-playing, then I jump in with a short explanation of howcircuits are densely packed on a chip and a little"crosstalk" should be expected by any experienceduser. I point out that when results do not turn out theway they expect that they might want to do some"deskchecking" to see if the program logic is correct, orthey might just want to rerun the program to see if thesame thing happens again.

This exercise seems to get more of the class involvedand makes some of the abstract topics more relevant.When the terms appear on a test, the students deal withthem in a much more positive way. And, it makes thepeople in the hallway wonder what's going on and howstudents could be having fun in a computer classroom.

Charles Babb, Instructor, Computer Science

For further information, contact the author at NeoshoCounty Community College, 1000 South Allen,Chanute, KS 66720-2699.


Poetry Across the CurriculumAn Approach to Critical Thinking

Each semester as their poetry unit approaches,English instructors invite me to their classes to readand discuss my poetry. This practice, wi ich began inan effort to combat students' dread of studying poetry,has become a tradition.

I compiled a booklet that included poems that hadboth contemporary appeal and universal scope and adiscussion of figurative language, sound patterns,meter, suggestions for writing poems, an explication ofa poem, and a glossary of terms. Questions weredesigned to encourage students to think about feelingsand language. These booklets were printed and placedin the campus bookstore where students could pur-chase them for a nominal fee and bring them to classthe day of the program.

When I read the poems aloud, poetry comes to lifefor the students. They are actually hearing the soundpatterns and rhythms of poetry in its original form--asong or recitation. After I read and discuss each poem,we have an open discussion, during which time thestudents talk about the meaning of the poem. At thisphase of the lesson, I do not call on individual stu-dents, but rather I let them respond to questions as aclass or recall experiences at will. Often the instructorwill relate aspects of my poetry to lessons previouslycovered in class.

This summer, in one of the classes, the instructorsuggested that I include a writing assignment. Afterconcluding my usual program, I gave the students anassignment sheet instructing them to re-read three orfour of my poems and to select the theme of one ofthem with which to create their own poem. The resultsfar exceeded any expectations. Many of the studentscompleted the assignment in about 15 or 20 minutes,several of them read the poems to the class, and wewere delighted with their quality. The studel", whohad not finished writing by the end of the class periodwere allowed to complete the assignment at home.Later, I entered all of the poems in the computer andmade a booklet. Students were elated to see theirnames in print. About half of the class had neverattempted to write poetry.

As a spin-off, I went to this same instructor's cre-ative writing class. Some of my poems are based onthe painting of a local artist, so we had a lively discus-sion about his art. Following my presentation to theclass, the college art students held an exhibit of their

works. The creative writing instructor had her stu-dents view the art, write a haiku or a five-line poemabout any painting, then read the poems to the class.Both the speech and art instructors were present for thereadings, and students then gave the poems to therespective artists.

As news of my poetry reading has spread to thereading instructors, I have been invited to their classrooms to illustrate reading comprehension throughpoetry. As a result of a staff development workshopon critical thinking, one of the psychology instructorsand I have discussed the possibility of presenting asimilar program in her class, stressing the psychologi-cal dimension of the poems.

What began as a program to help students under-stand and appreciate poetry further developed intofostering critical thinking and transcending curriculumboundaries. This program is easily implemented andinvaluable for improving faculty communication andfor showing students that all disciplines are interre-lated.

Elaine McDermott, Instructor, Learning Lab

For further information, contact the author at theLearning Resources Center, Jefferson Davis Campus,Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, 2226Switzer Road, Gulfport, MS 39507.

a 6


September 4, 1992, Vol. XIV, No.18

Olhe University of Texas at Austin, 1992

Further duplication is pernted by MEMBER

instiztions for the/ own personnel

INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publication of the National Institute la Staff and Organizational Development (NLSOD),

Department of Educational Adnunistration, College of Eduction, EBB 348, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

78712, (512) 471.7545. Fundiv in part by the W K Kellogg Foundation and the Sid W Richardson Foundation. Issued weekly



"*. INNOVATION ABSTRACTSPUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD); COLLEGE OF EDUCATION,

711E UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN WITH SUPPORT FROM THE W. K. KELLOGG FOUNDATION AND THE SID W. RICHARD..§ON FOUNDATION

Oedipus Wrecks

Once a semester my institutionally generic dassroom istransformed. Desks are pushed back and tables arranged.Carefully, with only a few self-conscious giggles, thejurors file in. Four young attorneys follow, proceeding to 5.

their places with cards and legal pads in hand. Then, thejudge enters the courtroom, takes her place, and solemnlyintones the words which begin the closing arguments in .

the case of the State v. Oedipus Rex.Whether born of desperation to combat the end of the

semester slump or a rational stretch to become moreinterdisciplinary, the trial of Oedipus has become one ofthe most delightful and productive assignments in myComposition II class. End-of-term evaluations reveal it isequally popular with students.

The assignment is eminently doable and enhancescurrent classroom practice.1. Teach the play as you normally would. I begin with

the usual introduction to Greek drama, especially thetragedy. The historical social context of the play, thecast of characters (especially the role of the chorus), andthe play's organization all merit discussion. Traditionalapproaches to the play from the Freudian to the old 6.

fate/free will controversy engender some livelydiscussion, but keep it tantalizing rather than exhaus-tively thorough.

2. Discuss. Once students begin to discuss the play, The

Moebius strip nature of some of the issues engagesthem. Then as frustration begins, I ask what our societyhas devised to resolve intricate moral issues of guileand blame. Inevitably, someone suggests the legalsystem as a place to resolve knotty questions. 7.

3. Relate and review. The introduction of the legalsystem allows for the review of the class's previousknowledge of courtrooms, occasionally with surprisingcandor. Much of the students' information, however,comes from the media. Media literacy is a naturalunforced topic at this point, and I manage to work in areview of the recent films with legal issues. Sooner orlater Glenn Close's outfit in Jagged Edge is mentioned,and the segue becomes the dance since performancehas joined in.

4. The trial preparation begins. From performanceand the law, it is only a short hop to the assignment

of the trial. Volunteers offer to appear as attorneysand the jury foreman. The rest of the class serves asthe jury. I am the audience.The expert visits. To acclimate students to the realworld of a trial, I impose on a colleague who is bothattorney and actress. Taking a break from her duties:,in the paralegal program, she visits the class. Shereviews the process of the trial from indictment toactual events in the courtroom. Her discussion of thecomplementary roles of prosecution and defensethe state's burden and the defense's rightsremindboth attorneys and jurors of the responsibilities eachside bears. In addition, her theatrical experiencefurnishes her with credibility to cover elements ofpresentation style. Should you not have access tosuch a Renaissance person in your hallway, do notdespair. Paralegal programs on campus or collegestaffs ran often provide names of willing orimposable attorneys. And, after all, the elements oforganization for the closing arguments closely reflectthe pattern long taught in persuasive writing.On the day of the trial, enjoy. The class only doesthe closing arguments of the trial process. Anythingthat happens in the play is permissible as evidence.The testimony of the shepherd, Teiresias, and Jocastais alluded to in court, and interesting legal questionsarise in considerations of the admissibility of thedead queen's evidence. Fortunately, my colleaguereturns as judge and rules efficiently and withoutfear of appellate court review.Trial day is a day of surprises. I have never failed tobe amazed at the variety of students who volunteer.From the best to the worst, from the most gregariousto the most inhibited, students of all sorts rise to thetaskand the bait. They will substitute live perfor-mance for written essay. Their performances arelikewise amazing. Shy quiet students becomeaggressive and eloquent in Oedipus's defense.Students who misplace texts and forget due datesenter the class with notes and quotes organized forthe most effective prosecution of this unnaturalcriminal. Lawyers who all semester have worn jeansand shorts appear in navy blue and pearls or dark

4-3 -Cf

ME NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL. DEVELOPMENT (NISOD)

Community College Leadership Program, Department of Educational Administration


coat and tie, grasping the importance of costumingto modern as well as early Greek audiences. Evenjurors dress for the occasion and listen most atten-tively to their classmates.

8. Observe the jury deliberations. After the attorneyshave presented their cases and the judge has giventhe jury its instructions, stand back and be surprisedagain. Jurors, whose greatest attention was previ-ously given to the clock, often repeat attorneys'arguments nearly verbatim and argue cogently forthe merits of their views. The jury foreman earns hisstripes leading the discussion and handling thevotes. Verdicts have varied wildly. Recently,students in one section voted to acquit Oedipus ofincest (the issue of intent) and convicted him sum-marily of murder, while in another class he wasfound not guilty of incest, but a mistrial was de-clared on the charge of murder.

9. Expect the unusual. One student, on the day of theattorney's visit to begin trial preparation, asked ifthe attorney were related to a traffic court judge of

the same name. Her affirmative reply seemed tounnerve him a bit. Later in class, he brought thehouse down by asking if he should apologize to herfor his traffic ticket lest he jeopardize his client'scase. One student, a poised and polished youngwoman, came to class late the day of the big case.Asking sheepishly to see me before the trial began,she confessed to being so alarmed at the prospect ofher debut as prosecution that she was unable tokeep her Cheerios down. With encouragement andassurances that her hasty exit, if necessary, wouldnot prejudice her case or her grade, she proceeded todeliver a fine and compelling summation. Hence-forth, all novice attorneys will be known as OedipusWrecks, but I have not lost one yet.

Delia Palermo, Associate Professor, English

For further information, contact the author at St.Petersburg Jr. College, P.O. Box 13489, St. Petersburg,FL 33733.

Using the Opaque Projector in Composition Classes

How I stumbled across the opaque projector in thedark recesses of the library has escaped me, but I knewimmediately that this antiquated "monster" would be avaluable teaching aid in English composition r. I couldput the students' work up on the screen the day theassignment was due and did not have the expense ofmaking transparencies, nor need lead time to accom-plish this task before using the students' essays in class.

With the opaque, I displayed each student's essay onthe screen, and we critiqued the essays together. Atfirst the students were hesitant to make negativecomments; however, with no names showing on theessays and with some prodding from me, they soonsaw the value of this method. I was amazed at howwell the students could discern problem areas andequally amazed at how well they thought of strategiesto make the piece of writing more effective. One of thereasons this method worked so well was that we wereusing "real" students' works, students who weresitting in the classroom.

Now, 10 years later, I continue to use the opaqueprojector to teach composition. We have purchased sixopaques for our English faculty and have conducted in-service workshops on using the opaque in teaching

composition. I understand that some faculty will neverfeel comfortable with the process, just as some studentswill never feel comfortable with their work beingcritiqued by an audience of their peers. Therefore, Iwill never dictate that faculty use the opaque, just as Iwill never force students who have a serious problemwith the process to participate.

This method of critiquing essays allows instructorsto give immediate feedback on a student's writing, andit reduces the workload as they no longer have tospend as much in-office time commenting on indi-vidual papers. It allows the students to participate inthe analysis of many pieces of writing during thesemester, helping them develop their critical thinkingskills while expanding their "writer's toolbox" ofeffective writing strategies.

Dee Frassetto, Department Head, Humanities

For further information, contact the author at Okla-homa State University, 900 N. Portland, OklahomaCity, OK 73107-6195.


September 11,1992, VoL XIV, No.19

OThe University of Texas at Austn, 1992

Further duplication is pemitted by MEMBER

instiuticas tor their win persomel

INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publication of the National Wavle kr Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD),

Department of Educational Administration, allege of Education, EDB 348, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

78712, (512) 471-7545. Fundiv in part by the W. K Kellogg Foundation and the Sid W. Richardson Foundation. issued weekly

when classes are in session during lal and spring terms. ISSN 0199-106X


4.ti: INNOVATION ABSTRACTSI Of II I I

I 1 1 I I,

Measuring Student and Institutional Effectiveness..A Vocational Education Perspective

In this era of fiscal austerity, the demand for informa-tion regarding institutional outcomes is increasing.Measures of institutional effectiveness and quality aregradually shifting from institutional attributes such asfaculty credentials, enrollment figures, teacher-to-studentratios, quality of facilities, number of books in the library,etc., to measures of economic outcomes and individual"consumer" benefits. The increased vocationali7ing ofhigher education and the adoption of "marketing"orientation (coupled with rising costs of education to theconsumer) have contributed to this shift.

A number of technical, vocational, and communitycolleges are now assessing institutional outcomes basedon quantifiable attributes, such as the number of studentswho find jobs after graduation, the number of studentswho find training-related employment, the number ofstudents off public assistance after graduation, the in-crease in students' earning power, and the programtransfer effectiveness. In addition to these quantitativeindicators, other qualitative indicators that are receivingincreased attention are the extent to which students usetheir education to improve their quality of life and per-sonal development after college.

Alberta Vocational College (AVC) Lac La Biche con-ducts three surveys to measure student and institutioneffectiveness: (a) point-of-entry, (b) point-of-leaving, and(c) follow-up.

Point-of-Entry (POE) SurveyThe first study surveys entering students on the

premise that the first step in assessing institutionaloutcomes is to examine the mission and mandate of thecollege. With this caveat in mind, the point-of-entrysurvey assesses whether the college is meeting its mandateof providing educational opportunities and enhancingeducational access and participation for its target popula-tion.

A self-completion questionnaire is administered in thefirst week of September. The survey --,,rovides a beginningstudent database to assess and evaluate a variety of issuesrelated to the college mission and mandate:

Demographics: age, sex, marital status, and otherbackground information;Employment status prior to coming to AVC;Sources of information about AVC;Sources of financial aid;Program of study;Rsidence while attending AVC;Factors affecting a student's decision to attend AVCLac La Biche;What students like and dislike about the college.

Point-of-Leaving (POL) SurveyWhile the point-of-entry survey is designed to collect

information on student background, the point-of-leavingsurvey is tailored to examine college experience of pro-spective graduates.

As the name suggests, this survey is carried outannually two weeks before the end of each full-timeprogram. The survey is administered in class to allgraduating students by the Department of Planning,Research, and Development. It examines whether stu-dents achieved their academic goals at the college, bysoliciting students' perceptions of their training, employ-ment prospects, and future educational plans.

Objectives of this survey are:

To provide information about the perceptions andproblems of students before they graduate;To assess how well students are prepared to meetthe challenges of the employment marketplace;To better understand the type of image the gradu-ates of AVC take with them to the labour market;To obtain a comparative analysis of students'perception of their training before and after gradua-tion;To understand the perceived job information needsof students;To collect basic information necessary for futurestudent follow-up studies;To gather information on student's perception oftheir instructors.


Community College Leadership Program, Department of Educational AdministrationCollege of Education, The University of Texas at Austin, EDEI 348, Austin, Texas 78712

Follow-up SurveysFollow-up surveys assess the impact of college atten-

dance on students. This first follow-up survey is con-ducted three months after graduation. This is central tothe mission of most vocational college programs, sincetimely/rapid job placement is an overriding concern of allvocational training programs. Rapidly shifting economicconditions and the need for institutional response to achanging labour market dictate that feedback for pro-gram modification occurs more frequently than theroutine annual follow-ups prevalent in many evaluationsystem models. The short duration of most vocationaltraining programs and the value placed on immediateemployment by sponsors of such programs make a three-month follow-up of AVC graduates a sine qua non of AVCprogram evaluation procedures.

Each fall, the Office of Institutional Planning, Research,and Development sends a questionnaire with a stampedreturn envelope to individuals who graduated from thecollege in the spring of each year. Respondents also arecontacted by telephone in an effort to maximize thenumber of responses. In addition to the three-monthfollow-up survey, a one-year follow-up survey of gradu-ates is conducted to further explore labour marketexperiences, continuing education pursuits, satisfactionwith college services, and relatedness of training toemployment, earnings, etc.

Objectives of this survey are:1. To gather data on graduates' employment-related

experiences three months after graduation;2. To explore how AVC graduates are able to apply

their training to the demands of the job market;3. To provide data on graduates' perception of their

training at AVC;4. To provide comparative detailed information on the

labour market experiences of graduates by pro-gram;

5. To find out whether graduates are better off, worseoff, or the same economically after graduation;

6. To identify the employers of AVC graduates;7. To identify the location of employment of gradu-

ates;8. To document further educational activities of AVC

students.

ConclusionThese surveys provide a balance between quantitative

and qualitative assessment of institutional effectiveness.

1. POE results provide information useful toward thedevelopment of an institutional marketing plan

program, specific marketing strategies, and enroll-ment projections.

2. POE allows an institution to monitor the impact ofcollege on students by surveying students uponarrival and after graduation.

3. POL results enable an institution to access itsmission and mandate focusing on the extent towhich institutional or program goals have been metfrom the student's perspective.

4. Follow-up surveys provide a verification of changesin economic circumstances of graduates and value-added effects of training and education. Thetriangulation model allows the college to determinewhether graduates are better off, worse off, orunchanged as a result of their training.

5. Follow-up surveys provide a validation for rel-evance of training to emr loyment situatione.g.,strength of relationship of training to employment.

These surveys provide important data for document-ing the operational effectiveness of vocation programsand are significant components in recurrent re-evaluationof program and institutional effectiveness.

Bob Adebayo, Research Coordinator

Bill Lieshoff, Research Director

For further information, contact the authors at AlbertaVocational College, Planning, Research, and Develop-ment, Box 417, 9531-94 Avenue, Lac La Biche, Alberta,TOA 2CO3 CANADA.


September 18,1992, Vat XtV, No. 20

©The University of Texas at Au*, 1992


nstrTrtanc for their GYM porsomet

INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publication of The National hsitute la Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD),

Department of Educational Administration, College of Education, EDB 348, The Univemiry of Texas at Await Austin, Texas

78712, (512) 471-7545. Fundkig in part by the W. K Kellogg Foundation and The Sid W Richardson Foundation. issued weal*

when classes are in session during fal and scring tams. ISSN 0199.106X


'7011/ Z

00I 1

Collaborative Writing: English and MathStudents often take courses without ever recognizing

how they may be related. They may move from Englishto math courses, for example, and never see connectionsbetween the two. Instructors, too, for a variety ofreasons, may fail to make these connections for them-selves or for their students. Math instructors may feelas uncomfortable with writing as English teachers mayfeel with statistics.

We, a math instructor and an English instructor,prior to our collaboration, had exchanged pleasantriesbetween classes, but never engaged in conversation.How-r,er, last fall we heard an interesting account of anunintended collaborative teaching situation. A studentsought the advice of her statistics teacher from theprevious semester after listening to her report writinginstructor (in the English department) describe a termproject which required, in part, collecting and analyzingstatistical data. The student, surprised at the writingrequirement, asked how one could set up the question-naire in order to analyze the results and present themgraphically. English and statistics seemed like anunlikely mix, she felt. The statistics teacher was notfamiliar with the requirements for the English course,but became acutely interested since her department hadrecently instituted a similar mandatory paper for herclass. Thus, urged by this student's questions, wesought each other out to discuss how to help studentsenrolled concurrently in these courses, and we devisedthis collaborative strategy.The Collaboration

We assigned reports for our students that required acollaborative English/statistics effort. We both ex-plained the tools to be used for the project and dis-cussed the types of surveys, and the students developeda hypothesis which could be used for both classes.Statistics placed heavy emphasis on learning samplingtechniques and designing the questions to facilitatenumerical analysis. Engh. emphasized designing thesurvey format and the use of tone, grammatical struc-ture, and readability. When the students' surveys werecompleted and the data tallied, each question wasanalyzed using appropriate statistical tools.

The ResultsThis collaborative approach improved the quality of

the reports significantly. The six students enrolledconcurrently in the two classes offered their assistanceto the other students more readily than did the studentswho were not enrolled in both. Statistics students whowere in the English class helped their peers analyze andgraph data, and English students who were in thestatistics course helped their fellow students designtheir report and create the survey questions. As aresult, students produced reports that were written andanalyzed with greater detail and precision.

As well, when students were asked to critiqueanother student's report on the English final exam,more were able to comment effectively about writingstyle and statistical analysis. Statistics students pointedout that they had developed an increased ability torecognize a well-written report, as well as appropriategraphs and valid statistical analysis.

Although we conceived the collaboration as a meansof producing better papers, we discovered additionalbenefits: Students became more aware of how disci-plines can be related, and instructors from differentdisciplines learned to collaborate.Conclusions

Admittedly, we each still feel more at home in ourrespective fields, but we have gained insight into theother's area of exINertise. We plan to include the com-puter instructor and the computer lab in next semester'sproject. The more proof we provide that one disciplinesupports another, the more relevant each becomes.

Barbara Murray, Instructor, English

Jennifer Walsh, Instructor, Mathematics

For further information, contact Barbara Murray atDaytona Beach Community College, West Campus,1155 County Road 4139, De Land, FL 32724.


Community College Leadership Program, Department of Educational AdministrationCollege of Education, The University of Texas at Austin, EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712

Law & Security Simulations: Integrating Theory and Practice

Simulations test student skills and allow them toapply their working knowledge and instinctive reac-tions to seemingly real situations. For instance, dem-onstrating to a student how to handcuff a prisoner andlisting the reasons for maintaining control of thesubject will never have the same impact as a prisonerescaping from a student during a simulation exercise.

The primary task for instructors in the Law &Security Program is to set up teaching conditions thatare as close to real life as possible--e.g., roadways oncollege property are blocked off for accident scenes;the campus pub, college plant, conference dining room,storage rooms, and any other useful areas are bor-rowed for crime settings.

The law enforcement community gets involved.Volunteers from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police,Ontario Provincial Police, the Canadian Pacific Police,and the Thunder Bay Police Department each offer inwriting n( more than four different situations (actualexperiences of these officers) and oversee their ownsimulations. Actors from high school drama clubsassist in making the simulations come alive; makeup isapplied by professionals to enhance the reality of thescene. College professors who are involved in the L&SProgram by teaching photography, crisis intervention,psychology, forensic science, and sociology give freelyof their time to analyze the students' responses to thesesituations.

Following the simulation exercises, the studentsprepare for court. They arrive in the courtroom setting,appropriately dressed and ready to present theirevidencereports, articles gathered at the scene,testimony, photographs and/or slides, court briefs,motor vehicle reports, and planned drawings.

Everything the students have been learning comestogether. They build their confides: 'e that they havethe intuition, reflexes, maturity, and leadership quali-ties to walk into difficult situations and handle themwell. The simulations afford the students a realisticlook at their chosen careers. Some come to the realiza-tion that this line of work is not for themfor example,one former student assumed everyone in the housewas dead and turned to face a gun and an actor whoshot him with blanks.

Faculty meet in the evening, on their own time, toplan events. The quality of the L&S program is up-graded through the social and intellectual contact withthe policing agencies in the community. The involve-ment between educators and police departments builds

trust and credibility for the program. Moreover, theagencies are afforded opportunities to interact withand observe the students as potential employees.

Direct contact with potential employers (agencies)heightens students' desires to perform well duringsimulations and in the classroom. It is not enough topass along information and expect students to grasp itssignificance. Application of theory must be presentedin a meaningful way.

Colleen M. Clarke, Professor, Law & Security Adminis-tration Program

For further information, contact the author at theConfederation College of Applied Arts & Technology,Department of Applied Arts, P.O. Box 398, ThunderBay, Ontario P7C 4W1, CANADA.


September 25,1992, Vol. XIV, No. 21


Further duplication is parted by MEMBER

nshitions for their awn gammet

INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publication of he National Walla far Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD),

Department of Educational Admigstration, College of Edua.lidn, EDB 348, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

78712, (512) 471.7545. Funding in part by the W. K Kellogg Foundation and to Sid W. RichardsonFoundation. Issued weekly



PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD), COLLEGE OF EDUCATION,

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN WITH SUPPORT FROM THE W. K. KELLOGG FOUNDATION AND THE 510 W. RICHARDSON FOUNDATION

Between Scylla and Charybdis

Student retention and the emphasis placed on it by mynew employer was giving me the jitters. I had recentlybeen hired at the community college, and, although I hadtaught for several years, both at my alma mater, andelsewhere, none of those institutions had even hinted attrying to retain students. They had all, of course, exhortedme to uphold high standards, and, to the best of myknowledge, I had. It was not unusual to see severalstudents "drop" after the first exam.

I had never given any thought to the "dropouts," letalone worry about "retaining" them. In my experience,after one tough exam, the "weak" got going. I was leftwith strong, well-motivated students, and things workedout. I was a strong believer in making the students thinkand apply what was taught, rather than simply recognizesentences from the textbook. This method ensuredlearning, but, also ensured a high dropout rate.

How could I stop the exodus? I could, of course, havemade the exams easier. I could have dropped their lowestgrade or curved their exams. I could have discarded somequestions which the majority thought were tricky, but thatwent against my grain. Not that I have never resorted tosuch practices; but, when I did, it bothered me enough totake away my job satisfaction.

Such strategies are commonly employed, and I learnedunder several professors who regularly used all or most ofthe above. However, when I looked back at my owneducation, I realized that I had retained what had beentaught by those teachers who were considered "hard,""tough," or "too demanding." Because of their uncom-promising attitude, their students had to buckle down andlearn, or drop and run!

Some of my students, and not just those at the commu-nity college, had high school diplomas but were unable towrite one good short paragraph. They either made grossgrammatical errors, spelling mistakes, or compositionalerrors. Yet some said that I was a hard teacher and thatthey had made As and Bs throughout high school, or inother courses they had taken. So, I had come to theconclusion that their school system had indeed let themdown and given them a false impression of their capabili-ties. I had no desire to add to that. I could not bury myhead in the sand either. This was a community college,

/.7

and it was the mission of our institution to educate thecommunity. So it was essential to reach out to studentsand retain them.

After much thought, I took the only option available tome. I told my students they could take re-exams if theyfelt they did poorly. I assured them that the tests wouldcover only the material covered in class. I took theresponsibility of covering everything that was essential atthe level being offered. The exam would have ohecompulsory essay question and 50 objective questions.The objective questions were mostly multiple choice;however, the wording was not the same as in the text-book, or as in the transparencies used in class. They wereallowed to leave five objective questions blank, withoutpenalty. If they chose to answer them, they would becounted. (I was not about to forgive them their mistakes,only the opportunity to bank on what they knew for sure.)

I repeatedly told my students that if they knew theimportant points and had understood what was presentedin class, I saw no reason why they could not earn a full100% on my tests.

After I shared the grades on the first exam, I went overthe exam in class, explained why the correct answers werecorrect, and why the incorrect answers were incorrect. Ialso displayed the best essays on the notice board (withthe permission of the authors). I wrote what made mesingle out those essays as excellent.

While going over the exam, some students wouldinterject as I spoke and say, "But I thought youmeant ... ". I would respond, "Yes, sometimes we do notquite understand the concepts as the conveyor wants usto. That is precisely why I allow re-exams. I give you theopportunity to re-learn the material correctly. Demon-strate to me that you have, and I will gladly give you theA you will then deserve."

Even with this generous offer, very few studentsventured to take re-exams. Some students did drop thecourse. I repeated the procedure after the second exam;and this time to encourage more of the students to tryagain, I announced that I would set aside one class period


Community College Leadership Program, Department of Educational Administration

College of Education, The University of Texas at Austin, EDS348, Austin, Texas 78712

for re-exams, when those who wished to re-study and tryto do better could take a re-exam, and those who did notcould instead watch a video on the current topic. I alsotold my students that the re-exam would be of the samedifficulty level as the first, and if per chance they didpoorly on the second one, I would keep the better of thetwo grades. This worked like magic.

With the threat of further failure removed, secure inthe knowledge that they would get another chance atdoing better with nothing to lose, many students availedthemselves of the opportunity. My class, as a whole, didbetter. They experienced the pride of accomplishment,and I experienced the joy of success.

A few of my students, especially older women, werevery keen on making As. They would make high Bs, tryagain and still make Bs. I patiently went over theirexams, pointed out their flaws, and allowed them to tryagain. The questions were never repeated. They were, ofcourse, very similar. I simply selected another set ofquestions from the various test banks I have collectedover the years. This meant a lot of work. But thesestudents were determined, and they indeed did make As.

One student in particular took a 100-level GeneralPsychology course with me in the fall, and a 200-level LifeSpan Development course the following spring. Amaz-ingly, in the fall she took every exam over three to fourtimes before she managed to make an A, whereas in the200-level course, she made As on the very first attempt onmost of the exams and did not have to take a single re-exam to earn her A. She had learned how to learn.

TriI have found that my retention rate has improved

tremendously, and, what is more, my students are morerelaxed and seem to enjoy my lectures. More important, Ifeel relaxed and am enjoying teaching more than ever.

Allowing re-exams does mean a little more work (anunderstatement!), but the results in terms of the quality ofeducation, goodwill among students, and a positivereputation for the teacher and the institution, makes it astrategy second to none. I am looking forward to bring-ing home the Golden Fleece.

Anila Ragade, Instructor, Psychology

For further information, contact the author at JeffersonCommunity College (Southwest), 1000 CommunityCollege Drive, Louisville, KY 40272.

Keeping In Touch With Students

My students are responsible for reporting their everyabsence during the semester via memorandum. It is aconfidential "in-house" communication. The memo canbe handwritten in ink or typed with this standardinformation: To: (instructor), FROM: (the student),DATE: (day submitted), SUBJECT: (a detailed explana-tion of the absence).

This writing assignment further requires that thestudent: (1) follow the writing format correctly (if formatis incorrect or explanation does not clearly explain, thenthe student must rewrite the memo); (2) compose thecontentacknowledging and identifying why he/shewas not in class and directing the content to the statedaudience; (3) submit the memo at the beginning of thefirst class following the absence; and (4) affix initials to thewriting. [The student knows it is read, even though nograde is assigned.]

The recordkeeping (taking roll every class meeting,recording absences, and reading/recording memos) iswell worth the instructor's time: Current events in thestudents' lives are shared via the written memoranda,events that rarely are communicated to the instructorface-to-face.

Do the memos make a difference in a student'sdecision to attend the class? I am not sure. But thememos continue to help me know more about mystudents and what is happening in their world.

Mary B. Funk, Adjunct Faculty, English

For further information, contact the author at JohnsonCounty Community College, 12345 College at Quivira,Overland Park, KS 66210-1299.

)

Suanne D. Rouoche, Editor

October. 2,1992, Voi XN, No. 22

©The University of Texas at Ausin. 1932

Further duckaton is permitted by MEMBER

institutions for their awn parsamal

INNOVATION ABSTRACTS s a publication of the Naknal Minute kr Staff and Organizatixkil Development (NISOD),

Depatnent of Educational Admhistabon, College of Education, EDB 34g The Unnrersiry of Texas at Ausbn, Austin, Texas

78712, (512)471-7545. Funding in part by the W. K Keiogg Foundaion and two Sid W. Richardson Foundation. Issued weeldy

when dames are in sossion during and spring tens. ISSN 0199-106X


ilret INNOVATION ABSTRACTSi

' 10'"0"0 1 2 II I,1 a 1. I 1 I 0

An Open Letter of Confession to My Scientific ColleaguesDear Colleagues,

O.K., I'll admit it. I've avoided discussions withsome of my colleagues in the humanities and socialsciences about innovative teaching techniques. Andyes, like some of you, I have felt some guilt about notemploying the most recent, hot instructional techniqueslike collaborative learning. And I'll admit that I'vewondered what the heck issues such as "culturaldiversity," "political correctness," and "critical think-ing" have to do with me and my "pure discipline" ofscience. In my guilty confusion, I've retreated to thesanctity of my discipline in the firm belief that the lawsof gravity do not discriminate on the basis of age, sex,race, physical ability, national origin, or lifestyle. I'mfirm in my belief that DNA is always politically correctand that the application of gas laws is the essence ofcritical thinking. As a faculty member trained in themethods of science, I have found comfort in knowingthat, indeed, my discipline is exempt from these issuesand that I need not worry about them in the comfort-able surroundings of my science laboratory.

One day, in a moment of weakness, no doubt, Iallowed guilt to creep into my thinking about teachingmethodologies. I had a momentary bit of insight Ithought might be worthy enough to share with those ofyou who might have had similar feelings of inadequacy.Science is not exempt from the discussion, nor are we inscience behind the curve on these issues. On thecontrary, science has always been on the cutting edge ofpedagogy! For a moment, let me share with you someof the examples of applications I've used for years in thelife sciences that address these matters. My biggestproblem was not recognizing the inherent innovativevalue in methods which I'd been using all along.

Innovative Teaching Methods. We in science callcollaborative learning experiences "laboratories"youknow, the things that happen in often smelly places latein the afternoon after all the rest of the folks have leftcampus for the day. I ask you, what is more collabora-tive than a pair of lab partners quizzing each other overbody parts and using discovery methods when their

teacher is not immediately available to answer a ques-tion? Collaboration and the scientific method are two ofthe most powerful tools tl'at we in science have alwaysused. And what better example of writing across thecurriculum can you find than a student struggling tomake a laboratory report comprehensible.

Gender. Gender is a basic teaching tool in the lifesciences. Beyond the mere differences in plumbing,there are a host of issues that address the question ofdifferences and similarities between the sexes. Basicgenetic issues such as sex-linked and sex-influencedinheritance patterns are perhaps the most obviousexamples. But we also address these issues whencomparing behavioral adaptations among species,skeletal differences, hormonal influence on fat distribu-tion in males and females.

Of course, one should never overlook the opportu-nity to highlight the scientific achievements of womensuch as Rosalind Franklin and her important contribu-tions to the description of the structure of DNA. Norshould we ignore the achievements of Lavosier, Curie,and Agassiz who have made significant contributions tothe world of science, both in their own right and ascontributors to the work of their husbands.

Age. Developmental biology is a foundation for usin the biological sciences. The aging process is acontinuation of that idea. Wrinkling skin, skeletaldegeneration, or sagging body parts do not alwayscaptivate the mind of a 20-year-old. But those facts oflife clearly sensitize students to the personal issue ofaging. Noting that gravity affects anyone who managesto live long enough and that varicose veins are part ofthe price we pay for being bipedal in a gravitationallyunforgiving environment provides us with the opportu-nity to demonstrate our "interdisciplinary" roots.

Ethnicity. Indeed, gravity is color-blind, but thereare good reasons to discuss matters of biologicaldifferences in ethnicity. A classical application such assickle cell trait is a perfect link to concepts such asnatural selection and adaptation. Another favorite inanatomy is a discussion of how melanocyte distributionin skin is similar despite definite differences in skincolor. But we can also use science to highlight thecontributions of scientists of color whenever we present

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD)COMmunity Colege Leadership Program, Department of Educational AdministrationCollege of Education, The Unhersity of Texas at Austin, EDB 348, Austin, Texas 7871g

the historical evidence leading to our present state ofknowledge.

Political Correctness. It is important for studentsand teachers alike to realize that science is not exemptfrom the debate over political correctness. Currentevents are a continuous source of examples of wherescience and politics collide. One need go no furtherthan the daily newspaper to find examples of thecollision of these two forces. Spotted owls, abortionand the right to die, rain forest destruction, and theecological catastrophes masked in the glow of a "clean"Middle Eastern War all give us pause to think andchallenge our ideas about right and wrong. Perhaps noother issue than the debate over evolution vs. creationis so demonstrative of the fact that at least the biologi-cal sciences are not exempt from the issue of politicalcorrectness.

Critical Thinking. Despite the jargon, criticalthinking is simply helping students make informedchoices. It is the reason that all of us in education exist,whether we teach a course called critical thinking orsomething else. Regardless of the confines of mydiscipline, my job as a teacher is to help students makegood decisions about an array of choices they facedaily. Science is a perfect forum for developing criticalthinking skills, for indeed the scientific method is littlemore than learning to make choices which are based onevidence gathered through a variety of scientificmeans.

Well, I feel better now, having shed my guilt andshared a few of my secrets with those of you who mayhave had similar doubts about the applicability ofcurrent pedagogical issues to your discipline. I hopethat you'll be able to throw off those chains of guilt andfree yourselves of those nagging doubts about yourability to teach utilizing the most fashionably innova-tive techniques. I also hope that this letter has been asgood for you as it has for me, and that you'll thinkabout your own discipline and perhaps some of theways you may already be addressing the needs of ourincreasingly diverse student population. Perhaps thesebrief musings will spur your thinking in new direc-tions.

Candice Francis, Associate Professor, Life Sciences

For further information, contact the author at PalomarCollege, 1140 West Mission Road, San Marcos, CA92069-1487.

A Tale of Three DisciplinesTwo disciplines, Lite- _tore and Desk-Top Publish-

ing, joined to challenge students to create a practical,scholarly class proict.

Students in Muiticultural American Literature(1) read six monographs by Hispanic, Native Ameri-can, Vietnamese, Japanese, African-American, andPolish-American writers, and (2) chose six areas forinvestigationfood, marriage and death, holidays,education, family life, and work. Then each studentwas assigned an oral history project. Each was tolocate and interview someone from another culture(i.e., was born in a different country or had strong tieswith a foreign country or foreign culture, etc.). Afterthe interview, each was to complete the oral history,take a black-and-white portrait picture of theirinterviewee, and submit both a paper copy and a diskformatted for Word Perfect to the Lit instructor.

The Lit instructor, after grading and returning thepapers to the students for necessary revisions, submit-ted the disks to the Desk-Top Publishing instructor sothat the students could create a book. The students inDTP decided on layout, font size, etc., and wereresponsible for acceptable placement of the photograph(or any artwork). [The title page was designed by ourpublic relations coordinator.]

A contest was held in the two classes to title theanthology. Over 75 titles were proposed, and a three-member panel selected the winning title. The winnerreceived a $20 gift certificate to a local restaurant.

The university print shop copied the pages andphotographs, and the university library bound thebook. We sent the anthology to the Library of Con-gress to be copyrighted.

This anti tology of oral histories was a huge successwith both classes. Students understood the relevanceof interdisciplinary cooperation. Their interviewing,writing, editing, and critical thinking skills werechallenged. They took pride in involving LamarUniversity-Orange with its community by linkingscholarship with public service. Both classes realizedthe culmination of their semester's work in a real bookwhich was printed, copyrighted, and distributed toTyrell Historical Library, Institute of Texan Cultures,and Texas Historical Foundation.

Joan Lyons, Instructor, English

For further information, contact the author at narUniversity-Orange, 410 Front Street, Orange, TX 77630.


October 9,1992, Vol XN, No. 23

OThe Universay o1 Texas at kaki, 1%2

Further duplication s permrised by MEMBER

rstrtutixs for they arm personnel.

INNOVATION ABSTRACTS a a publication of he National Insblute for Staffand Organizational Development (NISOD),

Department of Educational Admnatabon, College of Education, EDB 348, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

78712, (512) 471- 7545. Fundhg in part by the W. K Kellogg Foundation and the Sid W. Richardson Foundation. Issued weekly



INNOVATION ABSTRACTSPUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD); COLLEGE OF EDUCA770N,

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN WITH SUPPORT FROM THEW. K KELLOGG FOUNDATION AND THE SID W. RICHARDSON FOUNDATION

Encouraging Students to ReadHaving taught in college-prep, community college,

university, and private-college settings, I have come to astartling conclusion: Students do not read. I havetaught a wide range of courses, from basic compositionto conversational Norwegian, from vocational commu-nications to advanced Spanish grammar.

Some of the experiences that led to my conclusionwere: Students signed up for my junior-level surveycourse on Ibsen but did not know who he was; studentsin my fourth-semester Spanish grammar course hadtrouble with the readings about South America, becausethey did not know anything at all about the geographyor economics of the continent; students in my English IIresearch course tried to write term papers on novelsthey had never read.

These scenarios are familiar to all college instructors.My proposal is that we grab the students the momentthey approach the front doors of the college. It is at thatpoint we can start a development process.

The fcllowing recommendations are offered as stepsin addressing the literacy crisis:1. Get involved. Participate as much as possible in a

progressive placement process. Encourage theregistration process to use as many assessmentinstruments as possible. Serve on committees toread writing placement samples. Keep a tally ofhow many "undecided" freshman students have orhave not taken advanced reading, composition, andliterature courses in high school. Make a personalnote of how many technical-program students haveextensive liberal arts backgriunds. And mostimportant, become involve I with all the "border-line student" cases those who could benefit fromdevelopmental math, reading, and writing coursesbut who try to opt for regular courses instead. Helpthose stt -lents get the content and study-skillsassistance they need now to avoid failure andfrustration later on.

2. Become informed. Find out what is taught in thedevelopmental courses. Serve on a board, visit

classes, ask about the reading assignments. Read-ings should lead them from the general to thespecific; writing projects should firm up the basicsand prepare them for the wide range of assign-ments to come in English I and other courses.

3. Investigate. Explore what students readand thenwrite aboutin their freshman English courses.How do the texts relate to your field of teaching?What kinds of articles are required in your Intro toBusiness course? Will students be able to transferthe skills needed to critique poetry to the skillsneeded to abstract an article in Business Week foryour class?

4. Become a reading advocate. Share with studentsthe news you have come across in your field. Helpthem see how all things are related by bringingarticles from other fields to class. Give the studentspoints for summarizing articles or pamphlets on aproblem or issue related to your course. Make timeto reward their reading projects aloud and inwritten form.

5. Encourage development and diversity in students'schedules. We always complain that studentscannot read maps and cannot locate the Pacific orAtlantic Ocean. We must urge students to get abasic sense of geography. If not, all our attempts atteaching multiculturalism and international issuesmakes no sense to them.

6. Encourage credits for reading. Push your adminis-tration to offer more one-credit elective courses oncurrent events, on novels, on the history of Ger-many. Students enjoy such courses and, if offeredquality materials, will be reinforced in their at-tempts to "learn more about the world."

7. Network with other teachers. Take a psychologyinstructor to lunch and discuss learning disabilities.Look for parallels in subject matter. Students oftencomplain that their first few years of courseworkhave no connection. Encourage collaborationbetween colleagues. Consider how closely relatedbasic reading, writing, speech, and psychologycourses are in their overall attempt at describinghuman interaction and communication.

(

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD)Community Colege Leadership Program, Department of Educational AdministrationCo liege of Education, The Utiversity of Texas at Austin, EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712

8. Team teach. Help your institution offer morelinked courses such as English I plus Intro toSociology or Intro to Teacher Education plus Introto Economics. Help students draw out relation-ships.

9. Fight for small class sizes. The fewer the students,the more time to help them. Keep the reading andwriting courses well under 20 students. There issimply not time to respond to 30 or 40 assignmentsper section each week. These are the building-block courses in which students should be getting astrong foundation for completion of their certifi-cate, two-year degree, or possible universitycoursework.

10. Become an example. Read everything. Subscribeto the local newspaper, to business magazines, to

teaching journals. Read three novels every sum-merone old, one new, and one of your bestfriend's choosing.

Implementing changes in students' attitudes aboutreading depends on you. If we want students to havean appreciation for reading, we are the ones to developit.

Thomas L. Hansen, Consultant, Education

For further information, contact the author at theDepartment of Curriculum Improvement, Illinois StateBoard of Education, 100 N. 1st Street, Springfield, IL62777.

Curiosity and Problem Finding /Solving:Powerful Teaching, Learning Allies

In my humanities course I encourage my students tobecome "artists," though they secretly resent the ideaas another crazy gimmick by a less-than-orthodoxinstructor. In the humanities course, students arebombarded with hundreds of images which are to bediscussed and memorized for later testing. Unless thestudent has retained at least one feature of the image,typically he will not recall the image during the identi-fication portion of the objective test. Reluctantly, thestudents have accepted the corollary to the artistscheme that "problem finding" can achie%2 manysurprising learning experiences.

With this strategy, I encourage my students toexplore their classroom environment carefully, and Iencourage the sensitivity of a student's momentarycuriosity. I frequently include stimuli that are unique,original, or, at times, slightly bizarrean unusualobject or a portion of a larger object, which has some-thing to do with the development of culture some-where on our planet. I begin by asking the obvious:

"What is it?" or "What does it do?" or "Do you knowwhere it comes from?" or "What is wrong with it?"

It is essential to point out to the students that howthe problem is stated or defined will determine, ingreat part, how it is answeredthe narrower thedefinition, the narrower the solution. Ask a student,"What do you use a camera for?" and the answermight be, "To take pictures." But the question "Whatcan a visual artist gain from using photography?"requires answers that might encompass a largercollection of ideas about related disciplines (i.e.,advertisement, graphic design, etc.).

Alberto Meza, Assistant Professor, Humanities & English

For further information, contact the author at Miami-Dade Community College, Medical Center, 950 NW20th St., Miami, FL 33127.


Octotor16,1992, Vol. XN, No.24

4DThe University of Texas at Ausin.1902Further duplications parrotted ty MEMBER

insiitrtims br tar own personnel.

INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a pubbathon of the National hstaite la Staff and Organizational Development (N1SOD),

Department of Educational Adminisroon, College of Education, EDB 348, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

78712, (512) 4 71.7545. Fundlig NI part by the W. K Kellogg Foundation and he Sid W. Richalson Foundation. issued wee*

when classes are in session dung fal and sprang tens. ISSN 0199-106X


INNOVATION ABSTRACTS: v to;

' u

Audible Commas

1 1 I O . I.

As an English instructor, I am frequently faced with thetask of teaching comma usage to college freshmen, manyof whom have a paranoia about commas and feel that, ifthey have not learned commas by now, they will neverlearn them. We go through the rules in the handbookrepeatedly, but even after successfully completing theexercises, many students do not transfer that knowledgeto their own writing. Most of all, they are less thanenthusiastic about spending several class periods listeningto comma rules.

In my search for a new approach to teaching commas, Ithought back to my undergraduate work-study job whereI listened to dictaphone tapes from which I typed letters.My boss would say the punctuation aloud, since while Iwas typing I never knew when a sentence would end. Inoticed that after just a few letters I began to "hear" thepunctuation in my mind whenever I talked or listened toothers. Most of our language skills are not based onmemorized rules but on what sounds right: nativespeakers never make a mistake in the use of "a" versus"the," but who among them could explain the rule forchoosing an article? I never even thought about it until anESL student asked me, and then I was stumped by therationale. I thought there must be a way for students tolearn to "hear" commas so that they would not have torely only on grammar rules which are painfully memo-rized and quickly forgotten.

I used one of my English 99 courses as an experimentalgroup and the other as a control group to determine if aninstinctive use of commas can be as effective as a rationalapproach. At the beginning of the quarter, the studentstook a pre-test in which they inserted commas into aliterature excerpt and answered True/False questions onthe comma rules. The number of commas missing or usedincorrectly on the pre-test and on their first writingassignment represented the students' previous knowledgeof commas.

For the experimental group (which I called the Roman-tic class) I typed two short stories, revising as necessary toinclude various comma usages. I distributed stories, andthen I read them aloud, saying "comma" when oneappeared, while the students followed the words. Iemphasized the importance of staying with the reader sothat their exposure to correct comma usage would be

visual as well as aural. After I finished the stories, eachstudent took a turn reading one paragraph until we hadread them through a second time. When we finishedreading, students asked some questions about whycommas were used in certain places, and I answered withthe appropriate rule as simply stated as possible, alsonoting that it was natural to pause at that spot.

We learned commas this way for two class periodswhile the control group (the Classic class) spent two classperiods working on comma rules and exercises in thehandbook. But while the control group took their commawork as a bitter pill, the experimental group seemed toenjoy it. After two days of intensive work, we onlydiscussed commas when a student asked a specificquestion pertinent to his or her writing. For both classes, Iresponded with the comma rules and also pointed out thatthe comma "sounded right" there.

At the end of the quarter, both classes took a post-testand submitted their final writing assignment. On thetests, the Classic group showed a much greater improve-ment. Their scores increased 16% on the literature sectionand 18% on the True/False questions, compared to theRomantics' 1.5% improvemen. on the literature and 16%drop on the True/False.. In terms of comma usage in theirown writing, however, the Romantic class improved by62%, nearly twice the Classics' 34%. These results suggestthat students can use commas correctly in their ownwriting without knowing the rules. Since the rules are soeasy to forget, I find these results encouraging.

In terms of the students' feelings about the teachingmethods, all of the students in the Romantic class, exceptone, said that they liked the approach. The Romanticmethod will work better for some students than for others;some appreciate knowing the rules. In the future, I plan touse a combination of both methods, reading commasaloud and then covering the basic comma rules, but it willbe important to read first for the feel of commas.

Marian Anders, Instructor, English

For further information, contact the author at PierceCollege, 1601 39th Avenue, S.E., Puyallup, WA 98374 -2272.

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD)Community Colege Leadership Program, Department of Educational AdmiristrationCollege of Education, The University of Texas at Austin, EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712

OPTIONS: An Approach to the Recruitmentand Retention of Female Students in Technical Areas

The faculty and staff at Danville Community Collegerealized that after almost 30 years of supposed equalaccess to educational programs, most women enrolling atthe college were entering the traditional female careerareas: nursing, childcare, education, and secretarial.Attempts to encourage women to enter trade or technicalcurriculums had met with very little success. Recruit-ment of female students was very difficult, and thosewho did enroll in the programs often dropped outwithout completing significant amounts of the curricu-lum.

The college examined a variety of factors that werethought to have an impact on the recruitment andretention of female studentsthe academic skills offemales in the technical areas; instructors' attitudestoward female students; male students' attitudes aboutfemales in the curriculum; and employers' reactions tofemales in technical jobs. We found that the academicskills of entering females were good; male instructorswelcomed female students into the technical curricula;male students exhibited little resistance to female stu-dents in technical curricula; and many employers indi-cated they like to employ qualified female technicians.

**V

So what was going wrong? From discussions withfemale technical students, we learned that they weremoderately satisfied; however, they repeatedly madecomments such as "I'm lonely being the only female inmost of my classes," "I'd like to have another woman totalk to somefimes," I'd like a chance to talk about mykids instead of sports!" or "The guys are nice, but when Itry to talk to them about how they feel about things likecareer decisions, they don't want to talk." It appearedthat the female students missed the forms and topics ofcommunication that were more common among women.

A plan was formulated to recruit a large group offemale students, keep them together as a group whileworking on their technical and math skills, expose themto successful women working in technical fields, andencourage the communication and bonding that ap-peared to be missing for the isolated female student in atechnical curriculum. Danville Community College

received a gender-equity grant to assist recruitmentactivities. The program was called OPTIONS to reinforcethe broad spectrum of career choices available to women.The key component of the recruitment effort was to givefemale technical students a "warm up semester" byplacing them in all-female dasses. During the firstsemester, the students took such courses as BlueprintReading, Industrial Mathematics, Technical Writing,Introduction to Trade and Industrial Career% Tools andTerminology, and Human Relations; all of these classesare required in the majority of technical curricula at thecollege. The students were encouraged to talk about theirfamilies and their feelings about entering a nontraditionalfield, luncheons were held, the "buddy system" wasencouraged, and verbal reinforcement was used fre-quently.

During the next academic year, these students willenter regular classes including both female and malestudents. It will take several years to determine if thisapproach to recruitment and retention of female studentsin technical areas is significantly effective. However, thetechnical areas of the college had a one-year increase(approximately 114%) in enrollment of female students.Student surveys of the program indicated a high level ofsatisfaction, and instructors were enthusiastic andoptimistic about the success of the participants.

Boyd Motley, Division Chair, Engineering & IndustrialTechnologies

Janet Tate, Coordinator, OPTIONS Program

For further information, contact the authors at DanvilleCommunity College, 1008 S. Main, Danville, VA 24541.

Suanne D. Antioch., Editor

October 23,1992, Vet xN, Na 25ZThe Uriversay of Texas at frost% 1932

Further duplimecn s permitted by MEMBER

irghtitiors for their own permit

INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publication of he National Insitute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD),Deparenent of Educatonal Admilistration, College of Education, EDB 348, The Universiy of Texas at Amin, Austin, Texas

78712, (512) 471.7545 Funding in part by the W. K Keliogg Foundallon and he Sid W. Richardson Foundation. issued weeidy


itet INNOVATION ABSTRACTSVOLUME XIV, NUMBER 26

PUBLISHED BY THOIATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD), COLLEGE OF .111CATION, -

THE UNIVERSITY OF TOCAS AT AUSTIN WITH SUPPORT FROM THE W. K KELLOGG FOUNDATION AND THE SID W. RICHARDSON FOUNDATION)10.

Students as Psychological Consumers

It is an exciting time to study psychology. The field isexploding, the controversy between research and clinicalpractice is growing, and applications of psychologicalresearch are affecting virtually all aspects of our lives.Recognizing that very few of my introductory studentswill take a second course in psychology, or that no morethan five will major in psychology, I invite students todiscover the principles of psychology as they apply totheir lives.

We live in a world filled with information and misin-formation about what makes people do what they do.Popular culture, as seen on television and in the press, hasfed us a regular diet of both serious and sensationalaccounts of (a) the effects of mind-altering drugs; (b) themotivation of serial killers and child abusers; (c) thetherapeutic possibilities of behavior modification tocontrol habits such as smoking; and more.A Healthy Dose of Skepticism

With so much quasi-scientific and "pop psychology"available, it is getting more difficult for the public todistinguish reputable psychological work from what R.D.Rosen (1977) calls "psychobabble." Even at the introduc-tory level, students should be able to inquire aboutbehavioral antecedents and consequences and to viewwiih skepticism the explanations in popular media reportson psychology and other social sciences.They Know More Than We Give Them Credit For

My experience with community college students is thatthey understand a great deal more than we give themcredit for knowing. Even though most of the studentsenrolled in an introductory class have no previous formalinstruction in psychology, many bring a high level ofawareness to their studies. Some have knowledge andstrong opinions about many issues facing psychology.Yet, others may be interested in the scientific facts andtheories that will aid in understanding pervasive socialand personal problems.

The issue for many community college students is notability, but motivation. They ask why they should learnthe material. The instructor and the textbook are invita-tions to the fascinating and exciting world of psychology,but the student determines whether he or she will acceptthe invitation. The invitation that gives students a com-pelling reason to learn is most likely to be accepted. One

compelling reason for learning is application. The issuesexamined by psychologists have the wonderful quality ofbeing relevant to students in their everyday lives. Thepsychological method is rigorous, careful, and cautious;but the issues examined in the field have inherent interestand application.

One of the course requirements used to challengestudents is the Psychological Consumer Review (PCR). Inthe syllabus, I state: 'TCRs ... provide each student anopportunity to develop a keen sense of how psychologyapplies to everyday life. Each student has the opportunityto earn a maximum of 100 points by submitting 10 articlesread from a magazine, newspaper, or journal relating toour study of psychology." In class I invite students to becautious of "pop psychology" and quasi-scientific infor-mation, and show them various examples of what I mean.In addition, two books on reserve in the library contain aseries of contemporary articles relating to the six areas ofstudy covered in the course. Students are encouraged toturn in their psychological reviews as they coincide withchapter readings and class discussions. My goal is tocreate a continuous flow of relevant informationinsideand outside of classto present students with a view ofpsychology as an intellectually cohesive discipline and asa challenge for students to explore, analyze, and discernamong the bombardment of psychological information.Thinking Critically

Prior to assigning the review as a course requirement,time was spent determining what specific student learninggoals and objectives I hoped would be achieved. What isthe purpose of having students complete psychologicalreviews? How would this be integrated with what isbeing covered in class? How could this challenge studentsto develop reflective skepticism, to challenge those whosay they have all the answers to life's problems?

By encouraging students to think critically, I give theman opportunity to make sense out of their world byexamining their thinking and the thinking of others, toclarify and improve their understanding. It is by question-ing, making sense of things and people, and analyzingthat we examine our thinking and the thinking of others.Psychological Consumer Reviews

On a 3" x 5" index card, students address the followingelements of the psychological review:

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOO)

kC)).; Community College Leadership Program, Department of Educational AdministrationCollege of Education, The University of Texas at Austin, EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712

I. Source Article (magazine, newspaper, journal)Date of ArticleAuthor (if known)

2. What is the main point(s) of the article?3. What does this have to do with my understanding

of what we are currently studying in class? Whatdoes this have to do with my life?

By having students turn in a copy of the article with theindex card, I have an opportunity to refer to the articlewhen reviewing and evaluating each psychologicalreview.

Students have responded favorably to the effectivenessof the psychological reviews:

'The main point of this article is the focus onquestionable reliability of eyewitness memory.Citing researcher Elizabeth Loftus, who we studiedin class, and Freud shows that what is 'remem-bered' may not have happened. This article showsthe current legal implications of psychologicalresearch. It is very interesting to see my studiescome to life in current events."

"This article ties in with our discussion of childdevelopment . .. Reading the article brought toreality some of the issues I read about in the book."

".. While reading this I was surprised at how closethis article followed the chapter in our book. I havegained a better understanding of the psychologicalsteps involved in the process toward adulthood. Iam getting to see how some of the changes thathave occurred within my life co-relate with eventstudies in the article and give me a better under-standing of what may happen down the road andhow I can better prepare myself."

"The main point of the article is that millions ofAmericans suffer from dyslexia ... This is a veryimportant article, because I have an uncle who haddyslexia when he was younger, and this gives me abetter understanding of his problem."

"Working in a psychiatric hospital, we are seeingpatients with MPD, some who have been misdiag-nosed and others who are true MPD patients. Ibelieve this article, along with what we studied inclass, will help me work with this type of patientmore effectively."

"The main point of the article is that Jeffrey Dahmeris pleading he is innocent by reason of insanity.

This article made me really think about whether ornot having a mental disorder, or claiming to haveone, should excuse a person's responsibility fortheir actions."

'The main point of the article is that differentcultures of people have different patterns of cogni-tion. Among the same I.Q. level, people in differentcultures score better on different parts of the test. Itmakes me think, 'What if a teacher is teaching insuch a way that doesn't help me as much, but willhelp the next person a whole lot?' It may not evenbe the teacher's fault that this is happening. It maybe because of a lack of awareness of other cultures."

Hidden Benefits DiscoveredI have thoroughly enjoyed reading the many psycho-

logical reviews this past semester. In addition, I havebeen able to keep up with the psychological informationstudents are exposed to in their everyday lives. Much tothe pleasure of my English colleagues, students also haveapproached the written reviews as a "writing as learning"exercise. The very process of writing facilitates learning.

Students indicated the reviews enabled them to retainmore information while preparing for their final exams.Interestingly, memory research suggests that thinkingcritically and creatively about informationorganizing it,analyzing it, evaluating it, and understanding how it canbe applied, is crucial. I hope that these skills will assiststudents in succeeding in class and will enhance the basicskill of using information.

Psychology is more than a body of knowledge; it is away of approaching and analyzing the world. Studentsare able to develop a scientific and applied attitudetoward psychology, a personal understanding of cogni-tion and behavior, and a sense of psychology as anintegrated discipline in which critical thinking andproblem solving skills are more important than memori-zation of numerous details.

Rene Diaz-Lefebvre, Professor, Psychology

For further information, contact the author at GlendaleCommunity College, 6000 West Olive Avenue, Glendale,AZ 85302.

Suisun* D. Roueche, Editor

October 30,1992, Vol. X1Y, Na 26

eThe University of Texas at /Won, 1592

Further dupikatcs s permaIed Pi MEMBER

irstitutiors for that trim persomel.


Departnmit of Educational kiminisirabon, College of Education, EDB 348, The UniVersty of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

78712, (512) 4 71-7545. Fundog !I Pan by the W. K Kellogg Foundation and the Sid W Richardson Foundation. issued weekly

when classes are in session during fa and spring tens. ISSN 0199-106X


INNOVATION ABSTRACTS: S. It 18 It It. 9 2 0 I. S I

IP I 0

I '0'I I f

An Approach Toward Teaching Nontraditional Literature

For the 1991 fall semester, I offered a nontraditionalliterature course: Major Black Writers. I decided, sincethis was a nontraditional course, that I should teach it in anontraditional fashion. I felt that my students might getmore out of the c'ass and that I might enjoy teaching itmore. First, I should explain how I taught a traditionalliterature course, i.e., Survey of British Literature, Part I.

For a traditional course, I felt obligated to teach in atraditional manner, which meant I gave my students amid-term examination, comprehensive final, a researchpaper assignment, and regular (almost daily) quizzes.This approach, it seemed to me, was best for two reasons.One, I was most comfortable teaching Chaucer,Shakespeare, Milton, etc., in a way that is organized eitherby genre or by chronology. Most anthologies are orga-nized this way, as well. Two, I taught traditional literaturecourses this way simply because that is how they aretaught at almost all other colleges and universities; mytransfer students would not have any trouble convincingan English professor that my Survey of British Literature,Part I, is virtually identical to the one his own institutionoffers.

For Major Black Writers, however, I finally decided thistraditional approach would hurt the class. Since thecourse was designed by the University of Kentucky tocover more material than a traditional survey, I wasobliged to cover major black writers from Africa, theCaribbean, as well as the United States. Further, thecourse was to touch upon oral literature in addition towritten texts. Obviously, any type of genre or chronologi-cal organization would be very difficult to find. I alsodecided, since the course would typically transfer only asan elective, that I was not under any obligation to researchthe most common ways of teaching it. Therefore, I wasliberated from tradition and consequently would haveonly one overriding goal for the course: I wanted mystudents to enjoy so thoroughly the reading that theywould read other black authors on their own. I succeededin that goal!

I selected four books, one film, and a variety of oralworks that could represent the range of mate .al I wantedto cover. Then I outlined the course of study and how Iwould evaluate students' progress: I would require areading journal (35% of the semester grade), a portfolio of

creative work (50%), and steady attendance and classparticipation (15%).

The reading journals, collected weekly, allowed me tomonitor the students' reactions. Each week's entry was tobe at least three pages; and, by the end of the semester,there were to be no fewer than 50 completed pages.Occasionally, I gave students specific questions to answerin the journal, but usually I left it entirely to each studentto respond to the readings. To accomplish this, I askedthem not so much to analyze the poems, stories, etc., butto respond to "How did this affect you emotionally?"Almost every student put a great deal of effort into thejournal. I responded in kind by giving lengthy writtencomments and reactions. Often I had a continuingdebatesome lasting for a month or morewith astudent about a particular work. I think I accomplished asmuch through these written dialogues as through dassdiscussions.

The creative portfolio (25+ typed pages) also workedmuch better than I could have anticipated. Students werevery apprehensive when they discovered they would berequired to write either poetry or short stories. Most haddone neither; all expressed doubts that their efforts wouldbe any good. I offered them constant encouragement, andby mid-semester, most of the students had begun to write.Typically, their first efforts were materials adapted fromtheir journal responses, but then they began to makeconnections between what we had read or discussed andtheir own lives. Suddenly, their writing became morepersonal; invariably, it also became more interesting. Atthe end of the semester, I was so impressed with thequality of their work that I decided to put t...,,;-!ther amagazine of the highlights. I retyped about 21 pages ofpoetry, designed a cover, then photocopied the pages andstapled them together. I distributed the magazine to myformer students the first day of classes the next semester.They, in turn, proudly showed it to friends and class-mates, which raised interest in the class for next year. Themagazine, originally only an afterthought, will now be afeatured attraction of the course 'n the future.

The third criteria in the evaluation process (attendanceand participation) was an obvious incentive for thestudents. While they tended to find the reading interest-ing and the class discussions invigorating, we had occa-

r

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD)`1Y Community Coiege Leadership Program, Department of Educational Administration

Cottage of Education, The University of Texas at Austin, EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712

sional off days. However, most students rememberedthat this part of the grade was significant, and so made anextra effort to attend and contribute.

Through all three class requirementsreading jour-nals, creative portfolio, and attendance and participa-tionI was able to measure the effort and time thestudents put into the course, as well as measure theirimprovement in writing and critical thinking. Further, Iknow the class was a success because a number ofstudents have gone on to explore black literature on theirown, and some have taken up creative writing and aresubmitting poems and stories to the college literarymagazine. I also know that 1 intend to teach the class asoften as I can.

So what does all this mean? First, a nontraditionalliterature course should have different goals than atraditional literature course. Rather than filling up thestudents with esoteric knowledge (who wrote what andwhen), the emphasis should be placed on "turningstudents on" to literature. The goal should be inspiringthem to enjoy reading during the course of the semesterand, with any luck, to continue to read after the semesterhas ended. Second, the success I had with Major Black

Writers has led me to change my approach to teachingtraditional literature courses. Although the earlierproblems I raised (e.g., a need for the class to be virtuallyidentical to similar classes at other schools) are still valid,the sheer success of the Major Black Writers course callsfor some of its points to be considered for use in tradi-tional literature courses, too. Currently, I am experiment-ing with the idea of requiring my students in suchcourses to keep reading journals; I am also intrigued withthe idea of having them write creativelyperhaps theycould use the Elizabethan sonnet form to explore theirown personal traumas and heartaches. In my case, whyshould I object if my course not only teaches my studentsthe esoteric knowledge that is so essential, but alsoinspires them to read outside of class and write on theirown?

Jim McWilliams, Instructor, English

For further information, contact the author atMadisonville Community College, 536 W. Center,Madisonville, KY 42431.

Tice joys of an All-Essay Comprehensive Final

In my sophomore-level economics courses, mystudents are allowed to "drop" one of the scores of thefive tests taken over the semester; but, if happy withthe first four test scores, they can skip the final. How-ever, the student who drops one of the first four testscores must show some knowledge of that section ofthe course on the final.

The first four tests combine multiple-choice andessay questions; and until recently, the final exam hadbeen multiple-choice questions, primarily because theycould be graded quickly. But, it had been my experi-ence that the best students were not taking the finalexam, that the overall scores were not very good, andthat I submitted my grade sheets with a vague feelingof disappointment.

For those reasons, now the final exams consist solelyof essay questions. I provide students with seven oreight questions the week before the scheduled exam;they come the day of the test and answer any five.

I have been pleased with the results. Fewer thanhalf of the students now take the final; that, plus the

fact that their answers are brief but good, makes theexams easy to grade. More importantly, the scores aregenerally high.

Is the final exam too easy? I think not. Studentshave had a week or more to prepare their answers, so Igrade the essays rather harshly. The final exam is mylast chance to see that students learn something, and Iam convinced that they must make a more seriouseffort to prepare for an all-essay test than they wouldfor a multiple-choice.

When my students perform well on an all-essaycomprehensive final, I take joy in knowing that (1) Ihave done my job as a teacher and (2) they, too, willhave a legitimate sense of accomplishment.

Danny Taylor, Assistant Professor, Economics

For further information, contact the author at NewMexico State University at Alamogordo, P.O. Box 477,Alamogordo, NM 88310.

Swine D. Rotsch., Editor

Novertber 6,1992, Vol XIV, Na 27

OThe University of at As*, 1992Further ducicatai s ixirmilIed bp, MEMBER

nuirtcns farther own personnel.

aNNOVATiON ABSTRACTS is a public:3ton ol the National hsitte lot Se and Organcadonal Deveioccient(N1S00),

Department of Educatonat Adinnistraion College of EdurAtm, EDB 348, The University of Texas at Ausan, /Wan, Texas

78712, (512) 471-7545. Fundev in pert by the W. K Kelm Fcvndason and he Sid W. Richanison Foundation. Issued weedy

when classes an n mown during (al and spring tom. lSSN 0199-106X

ktt INNOVATION ABSTRACTSVOLUME XI V, NUMBER 28

4 0: 0' / 0'"I 'II :40 1

_ 1 I I

Handicapped Awareness Day:A Special Teaching and Learning Experience

Have you considered how your college could promotea better understanding of the disabled-something morethan brochures on bulletin boards, or lectures on selectedtopics or teleconferences something low-cost, entertain-ing and uplifting, yet meaningful and informative? Isthere a need to know more about state and federalagencies, support groups and current electronic equip-ment available to aid the disabled? What about Section504 and the ADA-the Americans with Disabilities Act?What is your college doing to make the disabled in yourarea feel welcome? These are but a few of the questions aHandicapped Awareness Day could answer.

At Lake City Community College (LCCC), this day isdedicated to promoting a positive, yet realistic image ofthe abilities and needs of persons with disabilities. Inaddition, the event provides a way for the public to makedirect contact with agencies, such as Vocational Rehabili-tation, support groups, and companies that have pro-duced the most current equipment.

Picture a disabled student sitting at a display table,talking with a rehabilitation counselor or with others whohave a similar disability. Picture a student trying outequipment on-site.

Our program is comprised of three sections. Ourgymnasium houses 30 exhibitors:1. Vocational Rehabilitation from the Florida State

Department of Health and Human Resources2. Public schools-disability awareness art posters and

research papers3. Progressive Employment from the Columbia Associa-

tion for Retarded Citizens4. North Florida Mental Health5. Parent Information Office for the Deaf and Blind6. Florida School for the Deaf and Blind7. Three Rivers Association for the Deaf8. Audio Hearing Service9. Southern Bell-TDD equipment for the deaf10. Special Olympics and Boy Scouts11. Special Girl Scouts

12. Disabled American Veterans13. Florida Diagnostic and Learning Resource Systems

(Learning Disability Exhibit)14. Columbia County Public Library (enlarged print,

Recordings for the Blind, and ADA information)15. Florida Vision Systems16. LCCC's optical computer scanner/voice input and

output equipment17. Xerox Imaging Systems18. Kurzweil Personal Reader19. Adult Basic Education for the Visually Impaired20. Columbia County Visually Impaired Support Group21. North Florida Sales, and Rentals (canes, wheelchairs,

and equipment for physically challenged persons)22. Columbia County Extension Office (nutrition/safety

and home-related services and 4-H projects, such asraising guide dogs)

23. VA/Americans with Disabilities Act24. Briarwood Center for Independent Living25. Southern Media System (classroom materials for

special education)26. UpReach Pavilion (spinal cord and brain injury

center)27. Dental Hygiene for the Disabled28. Epilepsy Service Program for Shands Teaching

Hospital of the University of Florida29. EZ Reader30. Lake City Lions Club and related services, such as the

Eye Bank and glasses31. Suwanne Valley Community Coordinated Childcare

(childcare services for handicapped parents)

On the campus grounds outside the gymnasium, thereare additional activities. Campus tours on golf carts areprovided to introduce disabled high school students toour educational programs and facilities. A wheelchair-bound student demonstrates a customized van. Since hemakes directional signals with movements of his headrather than with his fingers, those watching his demon-strations clearly see how the disabled are able to cope with


severe physical problems. Veterans AdministrationMedical Center personnel and Disabled Veterans mem-bers demonstrate a bus with a wheelchair lift that com-plies with ADA standards. A car with an overheadwheelchair compartment is displayed.

The Girl Scouts of America participate from a 15-county area in north Florida; they conduct awarenessactivities such as Trust Walks (people are blindfolded),Crutch Walks, and wheelchair courses. This year, theyconstructed a disability maze with scouts providingawareness information and experiences such as lipreading to guide people to the finish. This group alsosells hot dogs and drinks with proceeds going to buyadditional electric doors for our campus and to helpprovide emergency funds for disabled LCCC students.Student government clubs and the Florida Association forCommunity Colleges sell "Country Store" homemadegoodies and raffle tickets to contribute to our "Doors forthe Disabled" project.

The second main event is presented under a largecircus tent. Performances take place on a raised rampstage from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. Sign languageinterpreters volunteer their services throughout the day.Events include:1. Special Education Boy Scouts presenting the flag and

leading the Pledge of Allegiance2. Campus vice president, student leaders, faculty, and

staff drawing for a 'Disability for the Day" (Theseindividuals assume a handicap until the afternoon andthen report their experiences and the barriers theyencountered.)

3. Awards to outstanding disability service providers4. Kids on the Block (disabled puppet show)5. Sign Language Songs by school children, sign lan-

guage instructor, campus signer, and faculty6. White Cane & Southeastern Guide Dog demonstra-

tions7. Gospel singers (A disabled student is a member of this

group.)8. Dance troupe and cheerleaders from Florida School for

the Deaf and Blind9. A disabled musician playing the piano and organ.

The third event of the day is the rough-and-tumblewheelchair basketball game. Free tickets are distributedto recreational centers and schools around our commu-nity to draw all ages to this event. A halftime show ispresented by the cheerleaders from Florida School for theDeaf, the LCCC dance team, and the Lake City JuniorHigh Falconettes Dance Group.

The costs are nominal, and the event may makemoney. Our costs consist of providing a lunch anddinner for the cheerleaders and dance troupe and wheel-chair basketball game referees. Donations cover otherexpenses. Once expenses are cleared, the balance is profitmade from refreshments, raffle, and small item sales. Theproceeds go toward the purchase of more electric doorsfor the disabled. Local clubs and organizations also aresolicited for a donation to defray expenses.

Some public school teachers and college instructorspresent Handicapped Awareness units or activities beforethe college day. Various disabled students from ourcampus make presentations in selected classrooms andscout meetings.

How can your campus plan a Handicapped Aware-ness Day?1. Form a planning committee composed of community

representatives from state and local agencies, dubs,businesses, volunteers, and campus personnel.

2. Select a chairperson for committees such as Schools,Volunteers, Program Development, Funds Solicita-tion, and Publicity.

3. Involve the Student Government Association andcampus clubs.

4. Develop a logo and theme.5. Research the latest equipment and materials and

invite new companies to attend.6. Seek to represent all disabilities.7. Invite public school superintendents, college boards

of trustees, churches, civic dubs, city and countyleaders, and business people.

8. Have your exhibitors and performers evaluate theprogram.

9. Stress that more than 43 million Americans withdisabilities need to be portrayed realistically and theirdisabilities need to be explained accurately.

10. Consider the needs of people with disabilities whenplanning events.

Handicapped Awareness Day has been a success!Local support groups have been formed, networkingwith state and federal agencies has improved, displayedproducts have been purchased, community involvementand awareness has been increaaed, and transition fromschools to college to jobs has been enhanced.

Edna Hindson, Counselor, Handicapped Services

For further information, contact the author at Lake CityCommunity College, Route 3, Box 7, Lake City, FL 32055.

Sturm D. Roueche, Editor

November 13,1992, Vol. XIV, Na 28

ZThe University of Texas at Mgr, 1932Fitter duplications permmed Py MEMBER

routers for ter own personnel.

INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publication of the National Insbeite for Staff and Organizational Development (NLSOD),

Department of Educational 'dmnistration, College of Education, EDB 348, The Universityof Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas

78712, (512) 4 71-7545. Funding in panty the W. IC Kellogg Foundabon and the Sid W. Richardson Foundatton. issued weekly

when das.ses are in session during fat and gong terms. ISSN 0199-106X

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Student Test Anxiety:What Can College Instructors Do to Help Reduce It?

Maria is a good student, but dreads taking tests. Eventhough she studies her course material carefully and feelsshe really knows it, when she walks into class to take anexam she begins to panic. Tim also wants to succeed incollege, but he has a very active social life and par;lcipatesin a number of extracurricular activities. Tim spends a fairamount of time studying, but he often finds himself notfully prepared for his exams. He often panics in testingsituations and worries about his performance in school.Like Maria, he spends a lot of his time both before andduring the test worrying about how he will do and theconsequences of failure.

The Components of Test AnxietyThese students suffer from high test anxiety. For many

years we thought that test anxiety was manifested only inphysiological symptoms--sweaty palms, "butterflies inthe stomach," nervous tics, tense muscles, and rapidbreathing. Now we know that anxiety has two majorcomponents: cognitive and physiological. The physi-ological component, which is generally referred to asemotionality, refers to how much attention students pay tothe symptoms of their increased physiological arousal(examples above). The cognitive component, which isgenerally referred to as worry, refers to students' concernsabout their academic performance: Are they good enoughto make it? What will happen if they flunk out?

While the physiological component is important, it isthe cognitive component, worry, that negatively affectsstudents' academic performance. Excessive worryingpulls students' attention away from the academic task,whether this is preparing for or taking a test, reading a textassignment, or listening in class. For example, if studentsare worrying about the grade they will carn on a test orthe consequences of a bad grade, then their attention isdirected toward their own anxious thinking and awayfrom answering the questions. Students may havedifficulty remembering what they studied, or misread theinstructions or stem of a question. In fact, highly anxiousstudents often have less time to take an examination thanother students because they are spending so much of theirtime worrying about their performance rather than

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concentrating and focusing their attention on answeringthe test questions.

WorryThe Enemy of Effective ConcentrationWorrying about academic performance or achievement

usually is manifested in negative thoughts: (1) how theindividual compares with other students (e.g., "Thesestudents are all younger and a lot smarter than I am."); (2)the consequences of failing an exam or a course (e.g., "I'llnever pass this test! Well, I can forget about ever becom-ing an accountant"); and (3) the implications of failure forstudents' self-concept and their perceptions of theirabilities (e.g., "I must not be very smart if I am having somuch trouble with school.").

A number of problems can result from this type ofthinking. First, worrying is not task-focused thinking.Worrying involves having self-focused thoughts, usuallynegative, so students are often not able to concentrate fullyon the academic task at hand, particularly if it is difficult.Their attention is divided between task-relevant thoughtsand worrying (task-irrelevant thoughts). Because they arenot able to fully concentrate on the academic task, theirperformance is often not an accurate indicator of theirknowledge or expertise. Second, worrying can lead topoor performance, which can reinforce the negative self-thoughts, resulting in an increasing spiral of negativethoughts interfering with performance. Over timestudents may give up hope and decide to drop out ofschool rather than face further occasions for failure.Finally, students' self-concepts and their feelings aboutthemselves and their competence can suffer.

Identifying the Type or Source ofStudents' Test Anxiety

There are basically two different types of test-anxiousstudents. The first are the students with relatively poorstudy skills. They have trouble learning course material ina way that makes it meaningful and memorable. Lackinga reasonable repertoire of learning and study strategiesmakes it difficult to be effective and efficient as a student.These students are often unprepared for tests or otherevaluative tasks. The anxiety they experience is under-

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD)/ Community College Leadership Program, Department of Educational AdministrationCollege of Education, The University of Texas at Austin, EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712

standable given their accurate evaluation of their prepara-tion and the probability of periorming poorly.

The second type are the students who have a reason-able repertoire of learning and study strategies. Thesestudents know how to study and learn the material, butthey have problems when they have to demonstrate thatknowledge in testing or in other evaluative situations. Byworrying, they deprive themselves of the opportunity todemonstrate accurately what they have learned and theskills they have mastered.

Given these two types of students, it is important toknow something about the general nature of students'anxiety as well as the specific problems a given indi-vidual might be experiencing. One way to get thisinformation is by using published, or widely available,measures of test anxiety, such as: the Learning and StudyStrategies Inventory (LASSI) (Weinstein, Palmer, andSchulte, 1987), which includes a scale designed to mea-sure student anxiety and worry about school perfor-mance; the revised Worry-Emotionality Scale (Morris,Davis, and Hutchins, 1981); or the Test Anxiety Scale(Sarason, 1972). If you do not have access to formalscales, then you could interview students about theanxiety they feel and what they think might be contribut-ing to it. These types of discussions, on either an indi-vidual or class basis, can often help students to becomemore aware of their level of anxiety, identify the ways inwhich it may be interfering with their academic perfor-mance, and encourage them to do something about it.

How Instructors CanHelp Reduce Students' Anxiety

After identifying the type of anxiety a student may beexperiencing, the next step is trying to help the student dosomething about it. For students with poor learning andstudy strategies, it is helpful to refer them to learningassistance specialists or developmental educators. Manycampuses now have learning-to-learn or study skillscourses that can help students improve their learningstrategies repertoire and the effectiveness of their studyhabits and practices. You can also help students developmore effective study and learning strategies by demon-strating and modelling these processes as part of yourclassroom instruction.

For those students who have a repertoire of effectivestrategies but suffer from worrying about how they willperform on exams and the consequences of failure,referrals often have to be made to counselors or learningassistance specialists. These students need attentionaltraining to learn how to monitor their thoughts and tosubstitute task-relevant thoughts for task-irrelevantthoughts. These students need to learn how to monitor

the content of their thoughts so that they can quicklybecome aware of when they are going off-task andredirect their attention back to the test.

A simple technique you can teach your students to usefor this purpose is called thought stopping. Whilethought stopping does not deal with the psychologicalproblems that may underlie test anxiety (such as poorself-concept and low self-esteem), it does give students asimple tool to reduce its negative impact on performance.Basically, this technique involves getting students topractice monitoring their thoughts so that they becomeaware of whether or not they are focusing on an academictask or on their worry. At first, they might want tomonitor themselves (in practice situations) at 30-secondintervals. As they start to practice thought stopping, theywill be able to rapidly increase this interval to severalminutes and eventually get to the point where they willmonitor just a few times during an entire test.

The purpose of this monitoring is to help studentsbecome more aware of their thoughts and when they gooff-task. Whenever the students find they are worryingabout their performance rather than concentrating onanswering the questions, they need to picture a stop signor some type of wall and say "STOP!!" to themselves.They then redirect their attention to studying for the testor taking the test and continue until the next check. Overtime, they will be able to quickly realize when theirattention has wandered and ref: ,us on the test.

There are other things instructors can do to helpstudents who suffer from test anxiety: provide practicetests so that students can become familiar with the taskand the types of questions; use mastery testing wheneverpossible; discuss test-taking skills and how to create a testplan. These methods are designed to help familiarizestudents with taking tests and with the skills required todemonstrate effectively what they have learned.

Claire E. Weinstein, Professor, Ed, wational Psychology

Anastasia S. Hagen, Lecturer, Educational Psychology

For further information, contact the authors at TheUniversity of Texas at Austin, EDB 352, Austin, TX78712.

Suenne D. Roueche, Editor

November 20, 1992, Vol XN, Na 29

elhe Uriversity of Texas at Austin, 1932

Further dupicaticn rs pernirtiod by MEMBER

institrlicrs for their own persomel.

INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publication of be National Institute for Staff and Organizaticoal Development (NISOD),

Department of Educational Admiiisraion, College of Education, EDB 348, The University of Texas at Austn, Ausin, Texas

78712, (512) 471.7545 Fundiv in pail by the K Kellogg Foundation and tie Sid W. Richardson Foundation. Issued weekly


- aVOLUME XIV, NUMBER 30

INNOVATION ABSTRACTS10: II a

a 11 I . -

A Different ApproachTeaching Creative Writing in the Older Adult Program

Monterey Peninsula College's Older Adult Pro-graman outreach program that sends teachers to meetwith pupils who might not be able to attend campusclassesserves anyone college age or older, though themajority of the students are retired. Classes are held incommunity centers, retirement homes, nursing homes,or any place where 15 interested students and a teacherdecide to devote two hours a week to each other.

At the first creative writing class meeting, I requestthat all inhibitions about writing be left at home, thatspelling and grammar can always be corrected later,that what is needed now is the ability to record one'sthoughts. At the beginning of each two-hour class, Ipresent a springboard, then a suggestion for the subjectof the day's writing. We, myself included, write for abouthalf an hour. Then, as I sense completion, I open thefloor for sharing. In most classes, everyone shares,although there is no demand to do so. Occasionally,people choose to pass, and we all accept that there aredays when that is necessary. I always share last, andsome of my better writing comes forth during thesetimes!

Why does this work so well? I am certain that myenthusiasm and absolute belief that everyone has theability to write creates a positive setting. (One womanhad misread her catalogue and thought she was attend-ing a travel class; she has been with me for three yearsand delights at her initial mistake!) Also, critique isprimarily positive; appreciation of good work andacknowledgment of growth is forthcoming, as is thebalance, when one has not produced at one's usuallevel. Also, and this is of prime importance, because weshare deeply through our writings, a sense of commu-nity is created and friendships grow beyond the class-room.

What do I do? Usually there is an introductoryperiod. We speak of pertinent topics: learning about agood book someone has read, announcing a poetry

reading that is scheduled during the week, congratulat-ing a person whose work has appeared in a localpublication, welcoming someone back who has beenaway. Then I present the lesson.

I have been conducting this class for almost fiveyears (some of my students have been with me thatlong), and I am always collecting ideas. Of course, whatbetter springboard is there for writers than otherwriting? When I read a piece that I find special, it endsup in my lesson plans. Some examples of written worksthat I have used include: children's books, poetry,editorials, dialogues from novels, and essays.

These writing assignments are guaranteed to stimu-late students' imaginations:

Give each student a want ad around which tocreate a story.Hand out picture postcards; ask students to placethemselves in that setting.Use postcards; ask students to speak as thoughthey were an object on the card.Bring in flowers, both artificial and real, and askstudents to write their feelings about the contrast.Bring in seasonal food; ask students to use all theirsenses to write a memory.Play classical music; let the sound dictate thewriting.Pass out old Life, National Geographic, or Gourmetmagazines to stir memories.Bring an oil portrait of two people; have studentscreate a conversation.Copy the first paragraph of a novel; ask thestudents individually to continue.Write a past memory in the present tense. (This isgood for beginning students.)Write a letter (to someone you like, a publicofficial, the editor of a local paper, etc.).Create an abstract fabric collage; then see what it istelling you to write.


Choose a letter in the alphabet; write to it.Write a dialogue with a famous person.Imagine a special meal and guests.Create a character; describe thoroughly.

Most of all, we have fun. For many of my students,these two hours are the highlight of their week. Welaugh, and sometimes cry, together.

Most of all, we remember to remember; when someof us are published, so much the better. But the main

focus is our island of time where each of us takesothers on a journey to a place that is newly recalled orcreated. We leave enriched by these gifts.

Illia Thompson, Instructor, Creative Writing, Older AdultProgram

For further information, contact the author at MontereyPeninsula College, 33 Via Contenta, Cannel Valley, CA93924.

Debriefing Tests by Creating a Moment of Truth

Just prior to returning the results of the first test, I askstudents to submit anonymously their most accurateestimates of out-of-class time studying for the course. Ithen ask for a volunteer to determine the class's averagestudy time. Meanwhile, the tests are returned andreviewed; with an item analysis in-hand, I "throw out"individual test questions which appear to have beenunreasonablethat act of mercy alone helps to create abit of encouragement for the class inasmuch m oststudents get credit for one or more questions that havebeen discarded, thus slightly improving their scores.

Now for the moment of truth. I write the class's firsttest average on the -thalkboard, almost always to sighs,groans, and exclamations. (For my classes of 20 to 40students in Western Civilization and American History,test averages usually are in the 60s (D), certainly no morethan the low 70s (C-).) I then ask the student volunteer toreport the class's average out-of-class study time. With-out fail, the average is about one-half, never more thantwo-thirds, of the recommended "two hours out of classfor each hour in class" rule-of-thumb that is spelled out inthe syllabus. In fact, on one occasion a class averagedexactly 61 percent of the out-of-class time that wasrecommended while averaging a score of 61 on the test!The correlations are not usually lost on the students; ifthey are, I bring them to their attention!

With as little "preaching" but as much concern aspossible, I explain that if only one student has made an Aon the test, I consider the test valid, and especially so ifthe class average study time is demonstrably less than the"two-for-one" recommendation. I exhibit my willingnessto assume some responsibility for student performance

by granting credit for questions that were unreasonable,as per the item analysis. Likewise, I suggest that theremainder of the responsibility rests upon the student,given the deficiency in study time. To end the debriefingon as encouraging a note as possible, I sometimes prom-ise that if the class's average study time increases for thenext test, I will award bonus points to each student.

What is accomplished by this debriefing? First, itidentifies the difference between high school and collegeschedules. Having no significant reference point forcollege work other than their own high school experi-ences, students frequently dismiss the "two-for-one" rule.Second, after students see the class's average test perfor-mance correlated with the class's average study time,protests, such as "The test was too hard .. . The questionswere picky ... The test wasn't fair . .. The test didn'tcover the material we expected," are rare. This momentof truth has proven effective in maintaining an atmo-sphere of goodwill, professionalism, and encouragementin my classes.

Norman G. Raiford, Instructor, History

For further information, contact the author at GreenvilleTechnical College, P.O. Box 5616, Greenville, SC 29606-5616.

Suanne D. Rouechs, Editor

December 4,1992, Vol. X1V, No. X

©The University of Texas at Aus in, 1932

Further dupication is permitted by MEMBER

istiutions for their atm personnel.

INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publication of the National insOute kW Staff and Organizational Development (N1S00),

Department of Educational Administration, Collage of Education, EDB 348, The University of Texas at Austin, Ausin, Texas

78712, (512) 471.7545. Funding in part ty the W. K Kellogg Foundation and he Sid W. Richardson Foundation. issued weekly


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