knowing our students, ourselves, and our slo’s in ... · knowing our students, ourselves, and our...

KNOWING OUR STUDENTS, OURSELVES, AND OUR SLO’S IN GENERAL

EDUCATION PHILOSOPHY #1130

UW-P ASSESSMENT SHOWCASE, MAY 17, 2017

MARY LENZI, PH.D. PHILOSOPHY-HUMANITIES

Lenzi, 5/17/17, UW-P ASSESSMENT SHOWCASE, LAE General Education Panel

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FOR: LA&E GENERAL EDUCATION PANEL:

ELIZABETH GATES (PSYCHOLOGY); JAMES ROMESBERG (ENGLISH); MARY LENZI (PHILOSOPHY)

11 – 11:45 AM

SOME OBJECTIVES FOR TODAY

• YOUR 8 PAGE XEROXED PACKET IS TO ACCOMPANY THE POWER POINTS., IT INCLUDES THE SLO’S; 8 CORE COURSE QUESTIONS, COURSE ASSIGNMENTS, AND THE MEANING OF LIFE STUDENT SURVEY.

• THESE EXCERPTS FROM MY SPRING SEMESTER 2017 INTRO TO PHIL #1130 COURSE (TWO SECTIONS) ARE TO REPRESENT THE CUMULATIVE APPROACH TO TEACHING AND LEARNING IN OUR COURSES, AND CONVEY THE DELIBERATIVE PROCESS OF COURSE DESIGN WITH SLO’S IN MIND.

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PHIL 1130 COURSE DESIGN WITH SLO’SIN MIND

• THE SPRING 2017 COURSE SYLLABUS AIMS TO MATCH EACH SECTION OF A SYLLABUS WITH PARTICULAR COURSE ASSIGNMENTS TO ASSESS STUDENT LEARNING WITH SLO’S.

• THIS DESIGN AIMS TO INTEGRATE COURSE OBJECTIVES FOR EACH SECTION OF A SYLLABUS WITH EVERY OTHER.

• BY DOING SO, ONE CAN INCORPORATE TEACHING AND LEARNING THE SUBJECT MATTER IN ANY SECTION WITH ANY OTHER SECTION [TO INTEGRATE PREVIOUS SECTIONS WITH THOSE IN THE CURRENT SECTION AND THOSE FORTHCOMING].

• THEREBY, IF ALL GOES AS PLANNED, ONE CAN DETERMINE AND ASSESS THE CUMULATIVE EFFECTS OF STUDENT LEARNING, IN THE CONFINES OF A SEMESTER-LONG COURSE.

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GENERAL BACKGROUND

WE EXAMINE TEACHING AND LEARNING PHILOSOPHICAL SUBJECT MATTER BY USING SOME OF THE WAYS PHILOSOPHERS ASSESS THEMSELVES AND CONVEY THEIR PHILOSOPHICAL POINTS.

• WE ONLY HAVE TIME FOR A FEW ILLUSTRATIONS, YET THE SAME APPLIES TO OTHERS [PHILOSOPHERS AND PHILOSOPHICAL SUBJECT MATTER].

.FIRST, TURN TO P.8 IN HANDOUT TO CONSIDER THE MEANING OF LIFE COURSE COMPONENT.

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MEANING OF LIFE IN-CLASS STUDENT QUESTIONNAIRE AND RANKING

BACKGROUND:

• TEACHING-LEARNING FROM PHIL 1130 STUDENTS’ FIRST IN-CLASS RESPONSES (2/27) TO SECOND ONES (5/10):

EACH TIME STUDENT RESPONSES AND RANKINGS WERE MATCHED TO DIFFERENT COURSE CONTENT AND LEARNING, WITH SLO’S IN MIND.

• STUDENT INPUT INTO THE MEANING OF LIFE ALSO FULFILLS SLO’S IN DIRECT TEACHING AND LEARNING OF CH. TEN, “WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE,” AND THEREBY CONNECTS TO ALL SUBJECT AREAS THIS SPRING SEMESTER 2017, AS SYLLABUS INCLUDED

CHAPTERS ON SOCIAL, POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY, PHILOSOPHY OF BELIEF IN GOD IN WESTERN TRADITION OF MONOTHEISM, NON-WESTERN EASTERN TRADITIONS IN PHILOSOPHY, POLITICS, ETHICS, AND RELIGION, AND CONTEMPORARY OUTLOOK OF PERENNIAL PHILOSOPHIC PROBLEMATIC QUESTIONS, SUCH AS

• “WHAT IS FREE WILL,” “WHAT IS ART?” “WHAT IS THE CONNECTION OF THE [HUMAN] MIND TO THE BODY,” “WHAT IS A GIFT.”

WE DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO DO ALL THE READINGS AND TOPICS ON ORIGINAL SYLLABUS, INCLUDING CH. TEN, THE LAST ONE ON SYLLABUS!; ONE SECTION (8) DID A BIT MORE THAN WE COULD ACCOMPLISH IN THE OTHERSECTION (9) OF PHIL 1130, DUE TO THE DIFFERENT DEBATE TOPICS STUDENTS SELECTED.

AS A RESULT, FALL 2017 COURSE DESIGN WILL BE CHANGED SOMEWHAT.

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A CHANGE OF PLANS:DUE TO THE CURRENT CRISIS OF TRUTH, ALTERNATIVE FACTS, FAKE NEWS, AND

ALTERNATE REALITIES…THE SYLLABUS IN WEEK 4 (FEB 13-15) WAS CHANGED AFTER FIRST TWO WEEKS OF SPRING SEMESTER 2017.

ON BEHALF OF SLO 1.9, WE EXAMINED THIS CRISIS TO FIND OPTIONS FOR PROPOSED SOLUTIONS.BY DOING SO THE COURSE REINFORCED THEIR LEARNING OF INITIAL SYLLABUS SECTIONS ON SOCRATIC DIALECTICAL PROCESS, PROBLEMATIC PHILOSOPHICAL CLAIMS, LOGICAL AND CRITICAL REASONING, AND SHORT LIST OF FALLACIES [FROM THE FIRST CHAPTERS IN EACH OF OUR TWO TEXTBOOKS],

• FOR THE 1ST TIME, I DECIDED TO INTRODUCE NEW COURSE MATERIAL REGARDING 12 COGNITIVE BIASES TO MEET THE NEEDS OF OUR STUDENTS GIVEN THE OBVIOUS , ONGOING STREAM OF SOCIAL POLITICAL EVENTS IN 2016-2017.

• [THIS NEW CONTENT REPLACED THE SYLLABUS SUBJECT AREA LISTED AS CH. 3, “SOCRATES AND PLATO.”]

• THE RELEVANT COURSE MATERIAL WAS PLACED ON D2L, INCLUDING :SHORT VIDEO TUTORIALS, INCLUDING LISTS, BRIEF INFORMATIONAL DEFINITIONS AND EXAMPLES OF 12 BIASES, AND THESE FORMED THE BASES FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING.

• THE FIRST GRADED TAKE-HOME ESSAY ASSIGNMENT USED THIS SEGMENT OF THE COURSE IN DIRECT CONNECTION TO THE SYLLABUS SUBJECT AREAS STUDIED IN THE COURSE.

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DEBATE PREPARATION AND AWARENESS

2 PAGE XEROXED HANDOUT + ADDITIONAL DEBATE FILES LINKED ON D2L

NOTE: THE DEBATE ASSIGNMENT WAS ANOTHER 1ST TIME TEACHING AND LEARNING TRIAL INTRODUCED INTO MY PHILOSOPHY COURSE ROTATION.

THERE WERE 3 SEGMENTS TO THIS OVERALL DEBATE ASSIGNMENT, WITH PROGRESSIVELY SEPARATED AND GRADED PARTS*

TO ADDRESS SPECIFICALLY SLO’S 3.2 & 4.3 IN TERMS OF CORE COURSE QUESTIONS 1-8

*[SEE MY TYPED COMMENTS ON PROS AND CONS. FOR INSTANCE, WE DID LESS OF THE SYLLABUS AREAS THAN IN MY PREVIOUS COURSES IN INTRO PHIL #1130.

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FROM MACRO TO MICRO: STUDENT ASSIGNMENTS

& SLO ASSESSMENT

P.S. I CAN STOP HERE IF NO TIME REMAINS FOR OUR PANEL’S TIME

SLOT: 11 -11:45 AM.

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MATCHING SLO’S WITH CORE PHILOSOPHY QUESTION TO TOPIC, READING, LECTURE,

ORAL AND WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS

THE MATERIAL AND EXAMPLES IN REMAINING SLIDES SHOW THE MIXING AND MATCHING OF SUBJECT MATTER TO SLO’S, AND ASSIGNMENTS, THROUGH STUDENT -TEACHER AND STUDENT -STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

FOR EXAMPLE, HOW TO USE TWO SAYINGS OF PRE-SOCRATIC HERACLITUS FOR THE PARADOXICAL APPROACH TO SLO LEARNING, WHILE REFERRING BACK AND FORTH TO PREVIOUS, PRESENT, AND UPCOMING COURSE MATERIAL.

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THE COMMONEST OF SAYINGS SHOW SOME RARITIES OF MATCHING PHILOSOPHIC CONTENT WITH SLO’S: EXAMPLE #1 –

A FRAGMENT FROM HERACLITUS {PRE-SOCRATIC FROM EPHESUS, 535-475 B.C.E.}

THE WAY UP IS THE WAY DOWN’ FOR SLO’S 1.9 AND 2.1 IN PHILOSOPHY.

[SIDE NOTE: FOR THE GENERAL EDUCATION STUDENTS IN OUR PHILOSOPHY COURSES, DEDUCTIVE, INDUCTIVE, AND ABDUCTIVE REASONING AND PROCESSES APPLY TO OTHER SUBJECT AREAS ACROSS THE UNIVERSITY.]

THE LADDER OF INFERENTIAL REASONING, REASONING UPWARD AND/OR DOWNWARD:

• MOVING UPWARD FROM BOTTOM STEP TO TOP

- EVIDENCE (OBSERVABLES; DATA; FACTS) TO OPINIONS OR BELIEFS; TO TESTING; TO HYPOTHESIS; TO THEORIES; TO META-THEORIES; EVEN TO UNITY OF THEORIES IN A CERTAIN AREA OF KNOWLEDGE

• OR , MOVING DOWNWARD FROM TOP STEP TO BOTTOM

- MOST GENERAL HIGHEST LEVEL OF THEORIES; TO HYPOTHESES; TO TESTING BELIEFS OR OPINIONS; FACTS, DATA.

TAKING EITHER DIRECTION, UP OR DOWN, ONE CAN TEACH AND LEARN THE SAME MATERIAL.10


ADDRESSING CORE QUESTIONS WITH EXAMPLE #1: HERACLITUS SAYING, ‘THE

WAY UP IS THE WAY DOWN’

SEE CORE COURSE QUESTIONS, 1-8, P. 3 ON YOUR HANDOUT PACKET (P. 5, ON ORIGINAL COURSE SYLLABUS).

• Q 1. METAPHYSICS; ONTOLOGY—REALITY AND TYPES OF BEING;

• Q 2. EPISTEMOLOGY—EVIDENCE AND CONDITIONS FOR KNOWLEDGE, TRUTH, EXPERIENCE

• Q 5. IDENTITY (SAMENESS AND DIFFERENCE) UP-DOWN

• Q 8. RE: WESTERN & NON-WESTERN PHILOSOPHIES, THEORIES, AND METHODS

*SUCH QUESTIONS AND PHILOSOPHICAL MATTER TARGET KEY METAPHYSICAL AND EPISTEMOLOGICAL ISSUES IN ANY BRANCH AND SUBJECT MATTER IN PHILOSOPHY: LOGIC, LANGUAGE, ETHICS, AESTHETICS, THEOLOGY, SOCIAL-POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY, AND NATURAL [SCIENTIFIC ] PHILOSOPHY.

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MORE PHILOSOPHICAL USES OF HERACLITUS EXAMPLE #1

FURTHER WE CAN TEACH AND LEARN TO DISTINGUISH, COMPARE/CONTRAST, TO EVALUATE ALTERNATIVE WAYS OF KNOWING AND BEING, LIKE THE FOLLOWING:

1. PERCEPTUAL OR SENSE-BASED KNOWLEDGE VS. LINGUISTIC, LOGICAL, MATHEMATICAL, SCIENTIFIC STABILITY, HISTORICAL BASES OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT HUMAN EXPERIENCE, OR

2. HUMAN EXPERIENCE VS. REALITY ITSELF, BEYOND IMMEDIATE HUMAN EXPERIENCE, TO MEDIATED EXPERIENCE THROUGH LANGUAGE, LOGIC, LANGUAGE , WORDS, CONCEPTS, DEFINITIONS, AND MEANING,

3. REGULARITY, PATTERNS, AND LAW-LIKE ORDER OF NATURAL PROCESSES AND LAWS, OR

4. NON-RATIONAL, IRRATIONAL, TRANSCENDENT ASPECTS OR SOURCES OF EXPERIENCE, KNOWLEDGE & REALITY


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EXAMPLE #2 HERACLITUS ‘YOU CANNOT STEP INTO THE SAME RIVER

TWICE.’

CONTINUING TEACHING TOWARD SLO LEARNING, 1.9, 2.1:

TOPIC: SAMENESS (IDENTITY) & DIFFERENCE:

PROBLEMATIC QUESTION, OPTIONS FOR PHILOSOPHICAL RESOLUTIONS:

IF WE KNOW THAT EVERYTHING CHANGES THEN WHAT REMAINS THE SAME?

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IN PURSUIT OF TEACHING AND LEARNING EXAMPLE #2: HERACLITUS SAYING

WE FIND OURSELVES ADDRESSING THE OTHER SLO’S FOR GEN ED PHILOSOPHY., SLO 2.1, SLO 3.2, AND SLO 4.3. REFER TO HANDOUT ( P. 1, SYLLABUS)

• SLO 2.1: REPETITION, CHANGE, AND UNCHANGING IN DEMONSTRATION OF “FUNDAMENTAL IDEAS AT THE HEART OF THE ARTS AND SCIENCES”

• PERENNIAL WISDOM, COLLECTED HUMAN WISDOM HAS BEEN CONVEYED IN MANY WAYS AND CONSTITUTES THE SUBJECT MATTER AND COURSE CONTENT IN PHIL 1130.

• SLO 3.2: ….DIFFERENT TIMES, PLACES, HISTORY, CULTURES, PEOPLES, POLITICAL, ECONOMIC SYSTEMS

• EVERY CLASSIC, SACRED, WISE BOOK, OR SAYING OF THE SAGES BEARS REPEATING, BECAUSE EACH TIME YOU CAN FIND SOMETHING NEW AND APROPOS TO WHERE YOU HAPPEN TO BE IN THE STREAM OF YOUR LIFE AND HUMAN HISTORY, THAT IS,

• SLO 4.3 WHETHER AS A LIFE-LONG LEARNING HUMAN BEING OR AN ENTIRE PEOPLE, CULTURE, OR STATE

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EXAMPLE #2 HIGHLIGHTS CORE QUESTIONS #1-8

• ALL THE SAME AND ALWAYS DIFFERENT IS WHAT IS EVIDENT IN TEACHING AND LEARNING ALL KINDS OF WISDOM AND ACCUMULATED HUMAN KNOWLEDGE.

ONE MAY CONTEND THAT ‘ IT’ [‘X’ UNDER INQUIRY] CAN ALWAYS BE STEPPED IN REPEATEDLY.

YET IT MAY NOT FEEL NOR BE KNOWN , PERCEIVED, AND APPLIED IN THE SAME WAY.


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EXAMPLES OF SAYINGS #2, LIKE #1 ILLUSTRATE THE ORIGINS OF PHILOSOPHIAAS THE ‘LOVE OF WISDOM,’ FROM DAY ONE OF PHIL 1130

EXAMPLES OF SUCH WISDOM AND ITS HUMAN EXEMPLARS REAPPEARING IN HUMAN HISTORY WOULD BE:

--PHILOSOPHICAL (SOCRATES, PLATO, LAO TZU, HEGEL, DE BEAUVOIR; SARTRE, IRIGARAY, DERRIDA)

--SPIRITUAL (MOSES, BUDDHA, JESUS, MUHAMMED, GANDHI, MOTHER TERESA)

--ETHICAL-POLITICAL (CONFUCIUS, LINCOLN, MARX, M. L. KING, CORNEL WEST)

--ARTISTIC (HOMER, EURIPIDES, PLATO, HILDEGAARD, DANTE, DA VINCI, SHAKESPEARE, GOETHE, GEORGE ELIOT, PICASSO, T.S. ELIOT, DYLAN, CHUCK BERRY, THE ROLLING STONES, MOTOWN –DETROIT, BEATLES, JONI MITCHELL, SNOOP DOG, EMINEM, JAY Z)

--SCIENTIFIC (ARCHIMEDES, HIPPOCRATES, EUCLID, GALILEO, W. HARVEY, NEWTON; DARWIN; WATSON; EINSTEIN; HEISENBERG)

OR BILL ? 16


BILL NYE

BILL NYE “THE SCIENCE GUY” RECENTLY HAS MADE A SPLASH IN THE POP CULTURE SCIENCE WORLD FOR INTENSELY EMBRACING HIS NEW-FOUND LOVE OF WISDOM, NAMELY, PHILOSOPHY, AS HE IS A NEW CONVERT FROM THE STRICTLY SCIENCE GUY.*• HIS NETFLIX SHOW AND NEW BOOK REFLECT HIS CONVERSION, FROM

VOCAL CRITIC TO LOVER OF WISDOM WITHIN THE SAME YEAR, 2016-2017.

*AND REMEMBER TO BRING UP DURING IN -CLASS INTERACTIONS, THE TOO MANY TO MENTION ON ONE SLIDE OTHER SUCH RENOWNED PEOPLE, IN PAST AND PRESENT POP CULTURE, AND ESPECIALLY IN STUDENT DRIVEN QUESTIONS AND COURSE WORK.


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CLOSING REFLECTIONS ON EXPERIMENTS FOR ASSESSING SLO’S IN GENERAL EDUCATION PHILOSOPHY COURSE

#1130, SPRING 2017

TIME PERMITTING, I CAN SHARE SOME OF MY TYPED ALTERNATIVE DISCURSIVE

PRESENTATION ESSAY

C’EST FINIS: NOW TO EAT, ENJOY, AND LEARN CONTINUOUSLY, EVEN DURING LUNCHTIME….

THANK YOU FOR BEING HERE DURING FINALS WEEK.

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