Lisa Nalbone Confessions of a Working Learning Why a ...me to find more creative ways to engage...
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Volume 2 Number 5 November 2003 Karen L. Smith Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning www.fctl.ucf.edu Why a Collaborative Environment Makes Sense in Student-Centered Learning Dude, How’s My Class? Confessions of a Working Parent Balancing Academia and Family Effective Teaching Award Portfolios Don’t Throw Out the Baby with the Bathwater Mentoring: Building Community and Supporting Success Newly Renovated International Student Center to Facilitate Negotiation of SEVIS Requirements for International Students UCF-Fit Final Reminder Summer Conference 2003 Reports Graduate Teaching Assistant Certificate Program Faculty Forum Classroom Observations Course Innovation Projects Awards for Excellence in Graduate Teaching and Research Summer Faculty Development Conference 2004 Relay For Life New Final Grade Roster Teaching-Related Conferences Contents ...continued on page 2 T he sometimes subtle, sometimes not so subtle, shift from teacher-centered to stu- dent-centered methodology has challenged me to find more creative ways to engage stu- dents in a manner that is meaningful to them, supporting theories that students learn best when they have a stake in what they learn. In teaching various levels of Spanish, one of the strategies I enjoy incorporating deals with collaborative learning. The appeal of this learning environment spans the disciplines and the levels within those disciplines. After years of asking students to write or talk about common, everyday subjects, I realized in speaking to my students and colleagues that students usually enjoy the challenge of discussing a topic in a new light. For exam- ple, instead of asking students to write about their plans after graduating, I simply modify the assignment to make it pertinent to class. I ask them to interview one or two classmates and find out about their plans and then incor- porate their findings in the writing assign- ment. To include the element of technology, depending on the course set-up, the informa- tion gathering portion of this type of assign- ment could be accomplished through NetMeeting (this works especially well in the collaboration classrooms) or through the WebCT forums. The 'together everyone accomplishes more' idea behind the concept of 'team' certainly applies in this kind of activity that taps into so Why a Collaborative Environment Makes Sense in Student-Centered Learning Lisa Nalbone many more skill levels than a typical first-person narrative from personal experience. It builds the identity of class as a group of individuals working together rather than students just working for themselves. Students may begin to take ownership in their class and, more important, their learning. You might not be surprised to learn that students "need to go to class because someone might be depending on me for infor- mation and I need to get the information from someone else," instead of going to class for the notes or to fulfill an attendance require- ment. When working from the premise that students rely on each other, the feedback students give me falls into several categories: They are introduced to vocabulary /themes with which they might not be so familiar, thus enhancing their language and overall learning experience. The interview material provides a working outline from the beginning of the assignment. Students like getting to know their classmates better. Classmates use a variety of grammatical structures and verb forms that the writer might not otherwise use. The writer also has to modify these structures to fit in with the reporting aspect. This assignment encourages students to become better listeners. It encourages them to demonstrate forethought in the interview process, to make sure they have enough quality material to include in the final product. Interviews provide a forum for speaking practice. Lisa Nalbone, Instructor Foreign Languages, has taught Spanish at UCF for 12 years, most recently developing strategies for collabora- tive learning at the intermediate level and in a course required by majors/minors in the language. She implements technology when creat- ing collaborative activities.
Transcript of Lisa Nalbone Confessions of a Working Learning Why a ...me to find more creative ways to engage...
Volume 2 Number 5 November 2003
Karen L. Smith Faculty Center for Teaching and LearningP.O. Box 160066 CL1-207Orlando, FL, 32816-0066
Karen L. Smith Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning www.fctl.ucf.edu
Why a CollaborativeEnvironment MakesSense in Student-CenteredLearningDude, How’s My Class?Confessions of a WorkingParent BalancingAcademia and FamilyEffective Teaching AwardPortfoliosDon’t Throw Out theBaby with the BathwaterMentoring: BuildingCommunity andSupporting SuccessNewly RenovatedInternational StudentCenter to FacilitateNegotiation of SEVISRequirements forInternational StudentsUCF-FitFinal Reminder SummerConference 2003 ReportsGraduate TeachingAssistant CertificateProgramFaculty ForumClassroom ObservationsCourse InnovationProjectsAwards for Excellence inGraduate Teaching andResearchSummer FacultyDevelopment Conference2004Relay For LifeNew Final Grade RosterTeaching-Related Conferences
The Faculty Focus is a publication for all instructors at the University of Central Florida. This includes full- and part-time fac-ulty and teaching assistants at all UCF campuses. Its purpose is to provide an exchange of ideas on teaching and learning forthe university's community of teachers and scholars. It is envisioned that this publication will inspire more dialogue amongfaculty, whether in hallway discussions, departmental meetings, or in written articles. Toward this latter goal, the FacultyFocus will lead to an annual "Best Practices" edition where some of the ideas that were generated in the bi-semester editionswill be expanded and developed into full articles. The annual edition will be peer-reviewed and disseminated regionally. Thisrepresents an opportunity for faculty to reach their peers throughout the growing Central Florida community. The FacultyFocus invites you to contribute your ideas on teaching and learning in a short essay. See the guidelines for submission onlineat <www.fctl.ucf.edu/focus/guidelines.htm>. Publication dates will be the middle of the first and last full months of eachsemester, and submission deadlines will be the Friday of the week prior. MLA format is preferred. Please send your submis-sions to Faculty Focus, [email protected].
Submissions
Check us out Online!
www.fctl.ucf.edu
Contents
Faculty CenterCL1-207, 407-823-3544
...continued on page 2
The sometimes subtle, sometimes not sosubtle, shift from teacher-centered to stu-
dent-centered methodology has challengedme to find more creative ways to engage stu-dents in a manner that is meaningful to them,supporting theories that students learn bestwhen they have a stake in what they learn. Inteaching various levels of Spanish, one of thestrategies I enjoy incorporating deals withcollaborative learning. The appeal of thislearning environment spans the disciplinesand the levels within those disciplines.
After years of asking students to write or talkabout common, everyday subjects, I realizedin speaking to my students and colleaguesthat students usually enjoy the challenge ofdiscussing a topic in a new light. For exam-ple, instead of asking students to write abouttheir plans after graduating, I simply modifythe assignment to make it pertinent to class. Iask them to interview one or two classmatesand find out about their plans and then incor-porate their findings in the writing assign-ment. To include the element of technology,depending on the course set-up, the informa-tion gathering portion of this type of assign-ment could be accomplished throughNetMeeting (this works especially well in thecollaboration classrooms) or through theWebCT forums.
The 'together everyone accomplishes more'idea behind the concept of 'team' certainlyapplies in this kind of activity that taps into so
Why a Collaborative Environment Makes Sense in Student-CenteredLearningLisa Nalbone
many more skill levels than atypical first-person narrativefrom personal experience. Itbuilds the identity of class as agroup of individuals workingtogether rather than students justworking for themselves. Studentsmay begin to take ownership intheir class and, more important,their learning. You might not besurprised to learn that students"need to go to class because
someone might be depending on me for infor-mation and I need to get the information fromsomeone else," instead of going to class forthe notes or to fulfill an attendance require-ment.
When working from the premise that studentsrely on each other, the feedback students giveme falls into several categories:
They are introduced to vocabulary/themes with which they might not be so familiar, thus enhancing their language and overall learningexperience. The interview material provides aworking outline from the beginningof the assignment. Students like getting to know theirclassmates better. Classmates use a variety ofgrammatical structures and verbforms that the writer might nototherwise use. The writer also has tomodify these structures to fit in withthe reporting aspect. This assignment encouragesstudents to become better listeners. It encourages them to demonstrateforethought in the interview process,to make sure they have enoughquality material to include in thefinal product. Interviews provide a forum forspeaking practice.
Lisa Nalbone, Instructor ForeignLanguages, has taught Spanish atUCF for 12 years, most recentlydeveloping strategies for collabora-tive learning at the intermediatelevel and in a course required bymajors/minors in the language. Sheimplements technology when creat-ing collaborative activities.
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While this last item applies specifically to the foreign lan-guage environment, we all have students who maintain alevel of disconnectedness with the class, who are introverts,who are more apt to work independently, etc. Collaborativeactivities encourage everyone to participate. Everyone mustbe involved.
Although this process might seem daunting at the beginning,the best advice I have received is to start small, knowing thata successful shift to student-centered learning is an evolu-tionary process. By incorporating collaborative activities, Ihave gained a deeper appreciation for the class both on themerits of the individual students as well as of their accom-plishments as they work together.
Teaching-Related Conferences
Peter Telep is a member of theWriter's Guild of America, is a pro-duced television writer, and is theauthor of over twenty novels rangingfrom television and film adaptationsto science fiction, medical drama, andmilitary action/adventure. He earnedhis B.A. and M.A. from theUniversity of Central Florida and hasbeen a GTA, Visiting Instructor, and
is currently a Permanent Instructor of English at theUniversity of Central Florida.
Dude, How’s My Class?Peter Telep
The Hawaii International Conference on EducationJanuary 3-6, 2004Honolulu, Hawaii
http://www.hiceducation.org/
Teaching for WisdomThe Collaboration for the Advancement of College Teaching & Learning
February 19-20, 2004St. Paul, Minnesota
http://www.collab.org
SITE 2004--Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International ConferenceMarch 1-6, 2004 Atlanta, Georgia
http://www.aace.org/conf/site/
Association for American Colleges and Universities:The Network for Academic Renewal Conference
Valuing General Education and Assessment: Campus-Wide Collaboration for Engaged LiberalEducation
March 4-6, 2004Long Beach, California
http://www.aacu.org/meetings/generaleducation/index.cfm
2004 AAHE Learning to Change ConferenceLearning in 3-D: Democratic Process, Diverse Campus, Digital Environment
American Association for Higher LearningApril 1-4, 2004
San Diego, Californiahttp://www.aahe.org/convenings.htm
2004 AERA Annual MeetingAmerican Educational Research Association
April 12-16, 2004San Diego, California
http://www.aera.net/meeting/
Educause Southeast Regional 2004June 7-9, 2004Atlanta, Georgia
http://www.educause.edu/
CALICO 2004June 9-13, 2004
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvaniahttp://www.calico.org/
Syllabus 2004 11th Annual Education Technology ConferenceJuly 18-22, 2004
San Francisco, Californiahttp://www.syllabus.com/
Educause 2004October 19-22, 2004
Orlando, Floridahttp://www.educause.edu/
E-Learn 2004-World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and HigherEducation
November 2-6, 2004Washington, District of Columbia
http://www.aace.org/conf/eLearn/
National Lilly Conference on College & University TeachingNovember 18-21, 2004
Oxford, Ohiohttp://www.iats.com/conferences/schedule.shtml
Have you ever asked your students for their input on howa particular assignment should be graded? Have you
ever considered polling your students at the end of each weekto see how your course might be improved?
When I first began teaching composition as a GTA, Ibelieved that asking for student input regarding the course oreven on a particular assignment would damage my credibili-ty. I could never admit to students that I wasn't sure about thecourse or materials. I assumed they needed a champion whowas as confident as he was unequivocal. Thus, I forged on,grading papers and becoming frustrated when students "justdidn't get it." At semester's end, I would pour over my stu-dent evaluations, note common strengths and weaknesses,and become more determined to improve next semester.
Of course, like many of you, I shared my triumphs and chal-lenges with my colleagues. During a conversation with Dr.Beth Young, Director of the University Writing Center, Ilearned that she polled her students weekly to see how wellthey liked the course and what help they needed regardingparticular concepts. She distributed index cards and askedstudents to respond anonymously. She also discussed theresults of the poll with her students and made adjustments tothe course as needed. At that time, I was teaching a coursewith a web component, so I decided to develop a polling sys-
tem via WebCT's quiz function. Every Friday, studentslogged on anonymously and discussed the course withoutfear of jeopardizing their grades or alienating themselvesfrom me. Sure, my ego was occasionally bruised, but I wasable to make course adjustments that better met the students'needs without sacrificing my credibility. In fact, studentscommented on how the process made me seem more crediblebecause I was open-minded enough to listen to their sugges-tions and actually implement them. Moreover, this was myfirst step in realizing that I did not need to be the sage on thestage with all the answers. And while the students needed mefor a grade, I needed them just as much to make the coursemore effective.
This semester in my Fiction Writing class, I've continued theprocess of ongoing student assessment. I created severalrubrics for critiquing stories, distributed them to the class,and asked students to makes suggestions for improvementbefore we actually use them in our workshop. Once I receivetheir suggestions, I revise the material, post it online, andhave students comment again to see if we had reached thefinal draft. Not only have I been seeking their advice toimprove the course materials, but I have been modeling theimportance of drafting and revision—key skills in any writ-ing course.
Admittedly, it does take some courage to ask students whatthey think of your course and course materials, and you willundoubtedly receive some comments that are not as useful asothers. However, engaging in this process allows you toaddress challenges early on so that there are no shocking sur-prises come course evaluation time. Additionally, theprocess empowers students by making them active partici-pants in how they will be taught and graded. They begin toown the course, trust in you and the materials, and considerthe process fair.
But most of all, getting students involved in how you teachthe course demonstrates your care and concern for them. Idon't know about you, but I became an instructor to changethe world—one student at a time.
"The aim of curriculum is to awaken, not ‘stock’ or ‘train’ themind. That goal makes the basic unit of a modern curriculumthe question. Given the intimidating, easily trivialized mass ofknowledge, what the modern student needs is the ability to
see how questions both produce and point beyond knowledge(whether one’s own or the expert’s). Educational progress
would thus be measured as the ability to deepen and broad-en one’s command of essential questions by marshaling
knowledge and arguments to address them.”
Grant Wiggins
Vol. 2, No. 5 2003Vol. 2, No. 5 2003
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Stacey Tantleff Dunn, AssociateProfessor in Psychology, joined UCFin 1996 from the University of SouthFlorida. Her primary research is inbody image and eating behavior. Sheis greatly interested in the scholarshipof teaching and has won both aGraduate Teaching Award and a TIPaward.
Confessions of a Working Parent:Balancing Academia and FamilyStacey Tantleff Dunn
As a faculty member with a 4 year-old and baby on theway, I can't help but reflect upon how lucky I feel to have
a job that truly allows me to balance family and work…atleast to some degree. Flexible hours, ample vacation days,and a sense that time spent at work has meaning and valuehave all made it possible to keep working hard, even whenthe sweet face of my little girl makes me want to never leaveher side.
In many ways, the idea of having it all is a fantasy. After all,trying to do it all results in constant sacrifices. In my firstfew years at UCF I literally worked all the time. Not becauseI was a masochistic freak or because I was overcome by fearsof not making tenure, but because I loved what I was doing.The fact that my husband was also an assistant professor inthe same department with an office next door to mine madeit really easy to spend late nights and weekends in the office,trying to figure out how to be a good academician and relish-ing in the freedoms and challenges of the job. My senior col-leagues would tease us that we really needed to develop somehobbies and get out more, but we mutually decided that wewere doing what we enjoyed and what felt good, and we hadthe rest of our lives to find hobbies.
Well, we finally found a "hobby"—making and sustaining afamily. We were a little nervous to announce we were preg-nant, but we received an enormous outpouring of support.Our colleagues genuinely seemed happy for us, and with theexception of one or two sarcastic comments (e.g., "Nicecareer move"), we felt optimistic that we could make it allwork. It was sort of interesting (okay, it was sexist) that peo-ple often asked me how I was going to manage working witha baby and assumed that this would not be an issue for Mike,but people quickly understood that we were a team and wereboth faced with the challenges of being working parents.
Then came baby. It was quite a transition. At work I felt likeI was not giving 100% and therefore was failing. At home Ifelt like I was not fully present for my daughter when I wor-ried about work. In addition to juggling two roles I loved, Iwas dealing with the adjustment of going from a workaholicto a guiltaholic.
And then, something miraculous started to happen. Myteaching evaluations were still really good. My articles werestill getting published. My progress toward tenure seemedright on track. My daughter was thriving and meeting manydevelopmental milestones earlier than expected. I began torealize that the countless hours I spent in class preparationmay not have been what made my classes any good. Therewas more to measuring students' learning than obsessingover their essay exams. Not having endless time to completevarious tasks meant I had to get them done more efficiently,not necessarily less effectively. In most of the ways that mat-tered, I was still doing a good job.
Or so I tried to convince myself. It wasn't until somethingelse started to happen that I truly became at peace with myeverlasting balancing act. On the back of my teaching eval-uations students were writing that I was "an outstanding rolemodel." Female students at the end of class were saying thatthey were "inspired" by how I seemed to handle being aworking mom. They hoped to someday pull off the same bal-ancing act, but previously weren't sure it were really possible.Even more astounding were the comments from other juniorfaculty. "Thanks for paving the way" some of them said justmonths before announcing their own pregnancies. Within avery short time, five other faculty members had babies andnearly all of them frequented my office to show off baby pic-tures, compare stories, or just talk about the balancing actwe're all struggling with.
Overall, I genuinely consider being a parent and a facultymember to be two incredible gifts for which I am eternallygrateful. Both take a lot of time, passion, skill, and commit-ment, and both give back an enormous sense of meaning andfulfillment (albeit in different ways). We at the FacultyCenter are really interested to learn more about your own bal-ancing act. Log on to the Faculty Forum so we can talk aboutand exchange ideas!
Effective Teaching Award PortfoliosTerri Fine
Terri Susan Fine has been on the UCFfaculty since 1989. She has servedon numerous teaching award com-mittees during that time. Her owninterests focus on American politicswith an emphasis on women and pol-itics, political parties and public opin-ion.
During the summer of 2002 I experienced, or rather mycar experienced, the unfortunate circumstance of five
breakdowns in six weeks. Soon thereafter, I decided to buya new car. The process was difficult. I had not purchased acar in several years, and I knew that the car dealers "had mynumber" because I was driving an older car that would have
Vol. 2, No. 5 2003Vol. 2, No. 5 2003
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UCF Relay For Life 2004The Relay for Life is the American Cancer Society's signa-ture event and the number one non-profit special event in thecountry. UCF will host the Relay on April 3rd and 4th at theUCF track. If you are not on a team but would like to be,come join our team at the Faculty Center. For more infor-mation go to <http://www.fctl.ucf.edu/events/relayforlife/>.
Dr. Judy Welch, Dr. Alison Morrison-Shetlar, and Dr. RuthMarshall are making another quilt as a gift for the Relay forLife. We are offering the quilt in a drawing which will bemade on Friday evening, April 3th at our Relay booth. If youwould like to place your name in the bowl for the drawing toreceive the quilt, please stop by the Faculty Center.
Proceeds go to Relay for LifeDonations are welcome, but not requiredStop by the Faculty Center (CL1-207) andenter now!
University of Central FloridaDivision of Graduate StudiesUCF Program Announcement
Awards for Excellence in Graduate Teaching and Research
Summer Faculty Development Conference 2004April 26, 27, 28, 29, 2004
RFP: Due 5 p.m., Friday, February 20, 2004
The Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning will pro-vide 120 $800/person grants for faculty members whoare transforming courses or programs by emphasizingthe Scholarship of Teaching (SoTL), assessment of learn-ing outcomes, service learning, interdisciplinarity, orother innovations. Faculty will receive assistance for thecompletion of a project that modifies their face-to-faceor web-enhanced courses or programs for the purposeof improving teaching, learning, assessment, and schol-arship. Faculty members from all colleges are invited toapply.
This year’s themes include:SoTLService LearningInterdisciplinarityDiversityEngaging students, assessment, instructionaltechnology, etc.Other
Final decisions will be provided to all applicants by March26, 2004.
The Division of Graduate Studies is pleased to announcethe availability of new awards for excellence in graduatestudent teaching and for excellence in thesis and disserta-tion research. Specifically, four new awards have beenestablished for graduate students, as follows:
Award for Excellence by a Graduate TeachingAssistant: This award recognizes excellence byGraduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) who areresponsible for a laboratory or other similarteaching assignment under the direction of afaculty member who serves as the instructor ofrecord. It focuses on the quality of the assistance provided by the GTA to the leadinstructor and students in the class.
Award for Excellence in Graduate StudentTeaching: This award recognizes excellencein teaching by Graduate Teaching Assistants(GTAs) who have independent teachingresponsibilities. It focuses on the quality of thestudent's teaching activities and the academiccontributions to those activities.
Award for the Outstanding Master's Thesis:This award recognizes excellence in themaster's thesis. It focuses on the quality andcontribution of the completed master's thesis.
Award for the Outstanding Dissertation: Thisaward recognizes excellence in the doctoraldissertation. It focuses on the quality andcontribution of the completed dissertation.
These recognitions will be awarded for the first time with-in the current academic year. Application materials mustbe submitted by Friday, February 6, 2004, and awardrecipients will be announced at the Research Forum to behosted by the Graduate Student Association and theDivision of Graduate Studies on March 22-23, 2004.University-level award winners will receive $1,000 cashawards.
Detailed information regarding the eligibility require-ments, application processes, submission materials, anddeadlines will be forthcoming from the Division ofGraduate Studies soon. Watch for this information on thegraduate website at www.graduate.ucf.edu.
Valerie Sims is an Assistant Professorin the Psychology Department. Shestudies human-computer interactionwith her many undergraduate andgraduate student collaborators. Herfavorite video game is Tetris.
Don’t Throw Out the Baby with theBathwaterValerie Sims
Let me begin by saying that I am not anti-technology. Infact, I revel in it. I love my laptop and my stereo system,
and I am proud to say that I am a great video game player. Ilove creating elaborate computer demonstrations to studyhuman-computer interaction and realism in virtual environ-ments. So, you might expect that my class lectures are tech-nologically savvy with beautiful PowerPoint slides, built inmpeg movies, and the utilization of everything a smart class-room can offer. You'd be wrong. I use chalk, and a board ofcourse, …and a good sense of humor. Why? It works. And,in this era of web classes, PowerPoint slides, and computerdemonstrations, it is novel. Yes, novel. My students com-ment that my classes are unique. They love that I am a badartist who draws stick figure examples on the board. Theylaugh at the impromptu jokes that are generated from this less
to be replaced. They knew that I was not "just looking."
I realize in retrospect that looking for a new car is much likesitting on a teaching award committee. During the car shop-ping process, it was a given that someone was going to getmy business much as it is a given that one or more applicantswill win a teaching award. There were several unknownswhen I went shopping, such as which dealer I would buyfrom and the make, model, color and accessories that I wouldeventually purchase. Yet there were several factors that wereknown before I started the process. First, I would have to betreated with respect. At one dealership, the assistant manag-er told me at least three times that I must be "emotionallyattached" to the car that I was presently driving. I left, tookmy business elsewhere, and complained in writing to thegeneral manager as well as Honda Motor Corporation.Second, I had to be given a complete picture. At that samedealership, when I asked the price of the car, I was only toldthat it would be $339 per month. I was not given the overallprice of the car regardless of my financing options. I wasalso told that the car that I wanted was not available and thatswapping with other dealers was not possible. This turnedout to be false. Finally, the presentation had to be accurate.At this same dealer, I was told that I had to make an appoint-ment for a different day just to take a test drive. This was notaccurate as any other dealer was more than happy to let aprospective buyer take a test drive. In summary, the onlyway that I would purchase a car would be if the dealer gaveme Complete and Accurate information presentedRespectfully, or CAR.
Members of teaching award committees are much like des-perate car shoppers. They too want complete and accurateinformation presented respectfully. They will make theaward determination, but will not likely favor your case ifthere are problems with your file. What makes teachingawards different from other professional awards, such as pro-motion and tenure, is that there is a limited number of teach-ing awards. Arguably, anyone applying for promotion ortenure may receive it regardless of how other candidates forthe same change in status are regarded by the committee.This is not true for teaching awards. Here are someapproaches to abiding by the CAR rule:
1. Be complete. If you state that you were involved in a proj-ect, taught a course, presented a paper at a conference, madea presentation to a community group, served on a communi-ty board, reviewed a textbook or served as a faculty sponsorfor a student group, make sure to include documentation withyour file. Documentation can be anything from pages fromweb sites that include your course material to thank-younotes from publishers and community groups. Committeeslook for such documentation, and it will distinguish you fromthose who do not provide it.
2. Be accurate. Make sure that you were involved in what-ever activities that you say that you were involved in and pro-vide proof (See #1 above). All too often, a candidate for anaward will claim that s/he was involved in a task (such as co-
PI of a grant) only for a member of the committee to alreadyknow that such information is false (the person may haveworked on the grant, but was not listed, or did not serve as co-PI). Being inaccurate, even once, will cast a shadow overyour entire file and will significantly reduce your chances ofreceiving the award.
3. Be respectful. This means that you should respect that thecommittee is comprised of your peers who are even busierthan you (after all, they are sitting on the award committee!).Provide details to any claims that you make. We are all greatteachers; saying that you are a great teacher disrespects thecommittee because it is a general statement that has little sub-stance. Another way to respect the committee is to provideany and all relevant information in the file. In this age of theInternet, it is too easy to tell the reader to seek out anothersource (such as "see my web page") rather than provide theinformation in the file. Remember that reading award filestakes time. Do not ask the committee to take extra time byperusing your web site or course home page. When you tellthe reader to go look something up on the Internet, and theroom housing the award files has no computer, you are beingdisrespectful of the committee members' time.
These tips do not guarantee that you will win a teachingaward; however, they will improve your chances because youwill make it easier for any committee member to understandand appreciate the merits of your case.
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Mentoring: Building Community andSupporting SuccessAlison Morrison-Shetlar
Everyone needs mentoring in some way throughout theirlives, be it professional or private. We look to each other
for clarity of vision, guidance, and support because withoutthese characteristics we lack goals, ambitions, or satisfactionin our lives. Educational institutions that have developedstrong mentoring programs for students and faculty havefound that when the mentoring is occurring between andamong students and faculty there is an increase in studentretention, an increase in faculty success and retention, anincrease in collaboration in teaching and research, and adecrease in resentment among colleagues. Mentoring canonly be a good thing—right? Well, only if there is investmentof time and energy and a commitment to the success of oth-ers.
Learning is the basis of mentoring, and must be nurtured andmaintained. Mentoring should be a journey for the mentorand mentee, weaving a web of interaction with each other andwith the participant's personal ecology. One component ofsuccessful mentoring is trust. You have to trust the peoplethat you are mentoring or that mentor you. So, to establish amentoring relationship, often we look to people with whomwe have already built a strong connection. We chose mentorswho have achieved what we want to achieve, or whom we
admire for their personal characteristics, or for any numberof other reasons. The next step is to build that relationshipinto a mentoring partnership that will benefit both partici-pants. Mentors should use a variety of methods to support,challenge, and provide vision for the mentee.
Support can come in the form of a safe place where the men-tor serves as an enabler for new ideas, thoughts andapproaches. It can also mean “to bear the weight of” and “toprovide for or maintain,” offering an opportunity for thedevelopment and success of an individual. We all need toshare our successes and concerns with people who can lookobjectively at our situation and help us see our paths clearly.We must trust the people with whom we talk; otherwise, wecannot clearly articulate our wishes and desires.
Challenge is an essential element of the mentoring process.We should be critical of ourselves and our decisions; thushaving someone as a sounding board for our ideas and beliefsis crucial to our success. Also defined as “a test of one's abil-ities or resources in a demanding but stimulating undertak-ing,” a mentor that challenges her/his mentee to think in newways can promote informed risk-taking to foster growth.
A person with experience can often open doors to others whoare not as well informed. A person with intelligent foresightcan take mentees to thought processes that they may not haveconsidered and provide insights and directions only experi-ence affords. Helping people create a vision for themselvesand supporting them to be successful in that vision is one ofthe most satisfying parts of mentoring.
How can a mentoring program be successful and sustainable?In higher education mentoring has to be seen as an integralpart of an organizational culture that values learning. It has toserve the community and benefit the participants. Just likeany good educational program, it has to have a focused, clearand concise mission or purpose with well-defined outcomes.Mentoring needs support from the faculty, chairs, deans anduniversity administration; participants at all levels shouldchampion mentoring. If this occurs, everyone involved willbenefit by increasing personal and professional satisfaction.
Throughout our lives there are people who have touched usin some way, changed our direction, or challenged ourbeliefs. These people have taught us things about ourselvesand our lives that no other, at that place and time, could havedone. In an educational setting these people are your peers,people whom you respect. All of them have an effect on yourprofessional lives. Equally, you have affected people in yourprofessional and private lives by your own personal charac-teristics. These are serious responsibilities and ones thatshould be treated with respect and that should incorporatereflection.
What are the roles and responsibilities of the mentor andmentee? Both need to be mutually accountable for their rolesin the mentoring process. You should only mentor one or twopeople at a time; too many become a drain on time and ener-
"The only way to help students become ethical people, asopposed to people who merely do what they are told, is to
have them construct moral meaning. . . That's why droppingthe tools of traditional discipline, like rewards and conse-
quences, is only the beginning. It's even more crucial that weovercome a preoccupation with getting compliance and
instead bring students in on the process of devising and justi-fying ethical principles.”
Alfie Kohn, Beyond Discipline: From Compliance toCommunity
scripted form of lecture. They empathize when I occasional-ly misspell a word on the board, or in haste, leave out a keydefinition. Why? Because they are doing the same things.They are generating notes based on the discussion, and theyare learning how to put key concepts together themselves.These may not be perfect notes. They may have omissionsand errors, but they reflect active learning. They reflect inte-gration. This type of learning resembles the real world,where everything to be learned is not scripted in gorgeousslides, carefully omitting controversial or "irrelevant" issues.In this type of learning, the students are making their owndecisions about what to keep and what to discard, and indoing so, they are becoming savvy consumers of psychology.So, what does this all mean? It means that for the time being,I am going to keep sneezing from all of the chalk, and my stu-dents are going to keep taking their own notes. I'm not readyto throw out the baby with the bathwater.
Stricter government regulations after September 11th havebrought about increased government monitoring of interna-tional students. According to Dr. Patricia Bishop, ViceProvost and Dean of Graduate Studies, "Federal auditors,enforcement agencies and FBI are assigned to college cam-puses for reviewing our procedures and following up on ourstudents and scholars." In response to this situation, UCF hasformed ISC (International Service Center) to replace ISSS(International Student and Scholar Services). They have hired7 new people, added technology, and changed procedures tomeet federal audit requirements. The new ISC intends toreduce redundancy and has trained its staff thoroughly inunderstanding the SEVIS and NAFSA requirements. Theirgoal is to track and maintain current status for all interna-tional students and scholars on F and J visas at UCF.
International students are very important to UCF as ourvision for the research university takes off and the campus
7FACULTY FOCUS
Vol. 2, No. 5 2003
6 FACULTY FOCUS
Vol. 2, No. 5 2003
gy and your mentoring will be less effective and certainly notsustainable. Equally as a mentee, you should have one or twomentors with whom you have strong and regular contact.That person is not one to whom you should whine about yourfate, but should be there to understand your situation andguide and challenge you with well-informed ideas and sug-gestions.
Mentors can and probably should change with time. Facultypeers are the most common mentors, especially those whohave experience in the institution and know the requirementsfor success (written or unwritten). New faculty should lookfor a more seasoned faculty member to be their guide in thetenure and promotion process, the development of a researchprogram, etc. New faculty also look to other new faculty todevelop a “like” community where support and affirmationare central to their success. Mid-career and senior facultymay look to their chairs, deans or peers for support and guid-ance while at the same time being mentors for the more jun-ior faculty. We should all be mentors and mentees for sus-tainability of mentoring to occur.
Mentoring builds a community of wisdom, and can balancethe mind, heart and spirit. Development of a mentoring struc-ture within an academic unit should result in a happier, moreproductive and satisfied educational community.
Newly Restructured International ServiceCenter to Implement SEVIS Requirementsfor International Students and Scholars
wants to be as welcoming as possible to scholars from aroundthe world. Most of the international students at UCF areenrolled at the graduate level. Faculty should be aware of the SEVIS requirements, if onlyto refer students they might be advising or employing asGTA’s to the International Service Center when questionsarise. The ISC, directed by Dr. Saleha Suleman, is fully pre-pared to counsel students on how to best comply withSEVIS, so faculty need not be well versed in the details ofthis automated tracking system. Faculty do need to knowhowever, that SEVIS affects
how students should register for classeswhen they can travel to their native countryhow they are permitted to be employed on or offcampus.
For example, full-time enrollment, (12 credits per semesterfor undergrads; 9 credits for graduate students) is required ofevery international student on F and J visas. A full courseload is not required in the summer (exceptions are GTA’s andGRA’s).
Students on an F-1 visa will only be allowed to take one dis-tance learning (online) course or 3 online credits per semes-ter counting toward the full-time course load. Students maytake additional online courses above the full-time courseload. International students in the Engineering andComputer Science programs may only register for 3 creditsof FEEDS courses. They may register for more than oneFEEDS course if the additional course is designated "L" (forLive FEEDS modality) in which attendance will be taken, forwhich one live class or exam is mandatory. Generally, facul-ty are not required to monitor attendance of internation-al students; ISC will monitor students' enrollment and statusupdates. Faculty who advise international students shouldencourage them not to apply to programs for which morethan 25% of the courses are offered online because theSEVIS requirements will make it difficult for those studentsto complete that program in a timely manner.
Advisers are warned to advise international students on F-1visas not to register for courses outside their declared field ofstudy. Taking classes outside the major field may be per-ceived as a violation of SEVIS and could cause the student tolose visa status. Losing visa status can make traveling in andout of the United States difficult for students and can ulti-mately prevent them from finishing their course of study.
Graduate students who are writing dissertations, taking onehour of thesis or 3 dissertation credits, should submit the spe-cial status request form so the ISC can report to SEVIS thatthey are maintaining their immigration status. Departmentsshould always communicate with ISC with regard to studentswho are finishing dissertations. If international studentsintend to take less than a full course load, they must submit areduced course load form to ISC in order to get consultationand permission to take a reduced course load and maintaintheir F-1 status.
Faculty should also know that if a student needs to drop aclass after the add/drop deadline, they should refer him/her toISC to get informed advice on how to maintain status.Students intending to drop a class for medical reasons orbecause of academic difficulty based on language and adjust-ment to a new academic culture should be referred to ISC.Financial difficulty is not a valid reason for dropping acourse of study.
International student on F-1 or J-1 visas can only work 20hours per week during fall and spring semesters and 40 hoursper week in the summer. New F-1 and J-1 students are onlyallowed to enter the United States 30 days prior to the start ofa given semester. This is not negotiable with the federal gov-ernment, so do not expect your graduate research assistantsto work the summer before commencing classes.
The bottom line for faculty and program directors is thatSEVIS implementation is a federal mandate and the univer-sity must comply with SEVIS in order to maintain our eligi-bility to recruit and bring international students and scholarsto UCF. Students and faculty must work through ISC toinsure full SEVIS compliance.
Graduate Teaching AssistantCertificate Program
The Karen L. Smith Faculty Center for Teaching andLearning invites Graduate Teaching Assistants toenroll in our GTA Certificate Program. Students willreceive group and individualized instruction byFaculty Center staff and experienced UCF profes-sors, as well as textbooks and materials. GTA's willattend a 12 week, non-credit program with a $200stipend.
Themes
1. Presentation skills and practice2. Balancing the many roles of TA's3. Course design and management4. Delivery of instruction, teaching strategies5. Learning differences among students6. Instructional technology (hands on)7. Giving assessment and soliciting feedback8. Building a peer support network9. Professional survival skills, ethics, legal issues
Interested graduate students should register onlineat <www.fctl.ucf.edu/events/gta> and follow theinstructions. Written approval from departmentchair or graduate coordinator is required.Participation is limited, so please enroll early.
Two classes will be offered:Wednesdays (4:30-7:20pm) Jan. 14th - April 7thFridays (1:30-4:20pm) Jan. 16th - April 9th.
Please register by January 9th.
Register at <www.fctl.ucf.edu/events/gta>
FOR MORE INFORMATION,PLEASE CONTACT THE FACULTY CENTER
"What great teachers appear to have in common is love oftheir subject, an obvious satisfaction in arousing this love in
their students, and an ability to convince them that what theyare being taught is deadly serious.”
-- J. Epstein, Masters: Portraits of Great Teachers
The Center is offering faculty an opportunity to have theirteaching peer-observed. Simply contact the Center and let usknow when you would like someone to come to your class.This is not an evaluation but rather an informal way to havean external review of your teaching. We also offer videotap-ing of the class if you wish.
Classroom Observations
Attention faculty! Do you want to get in shape this spring?Improve your health? Or make some new friends? JoinUCF-Fit. The purpose of the UCF-Fit program is to buildcommunity at UCF through fitness and wellness activities.All students, faculty, and staff will earn points for all activi-ties participated in. Incentives will be received as the pro-gram progresses and points begin to accumulate.
You design your own program and keep track of your ownprogress. We give you the tools and resources to accomplishyour goals and provide you with the opportunity to makesome new friends while doing it—and earn some prizes, too!
All you need to do is sign up, and fol-low the road to better health.
Look for the UCF-Fit announcementsthis January.
UCF-Fit
Don't forget to check out the Faculty Forum, our online fac-ulty discussion board. Sign on and join the discussions!
http://forum.fctl.ucf.edu/forum/
Faculty Forum
Faculty participants in the Faculty Development SummerInstitute 2003 are reminded that their final reports of progresson course/curricular innovations are due to be submitted notlater than Friday, January 16, 2004. Please see the templateprovided to you during the Institute, complete all sectionsand submit an electronic copy to [email protected]. Be sureto include the names of all team members. Please contact ouroffice if any assistance is needed.
Final Reminder Summer Conference 2003Reports
Stricter government regulations after September 11th havebrought about increased government monitoring of interna-tional students. According to Dr. Patricia Bishop, ViceProvost and Dean of Graduate Studies, "Federal auditors,enforcement agencies and FBI are assigned to college cam-puses for reviewing our procedures and following up on ourstudents and scholars." In response to this situation, UCF hasformed ISC (International Service Center) to replace ISSS(International Student and Scholar Services). They have hired7 new people, added technology, and changed procedures tomeet federal audit requirements. The new ISC intends toreduce redundancy and has trained its staff thoroughly inunderstanding the SEVIS and NAFSA requirements. Theirgoal is to track and maintain current status for all interna-tional students and scholars on F and J visas at UCF.
International students are very important to UCF as ourvision for the research university takes off and the campus
7FACULTY FOCUS
Vol. 2, No. 5 2003
6 FACULTY FOCUS
Vol. 2, No. 5 2003
gy and your mentoring will be less effective and certainly notsustainable. Equally as a mentee, you should have one or twomentors with whom you have strong and regular contact.That person is not one to whom you should whine about yourfate, but should be there to understand your situation andguide and challenge you with well-informed ideas and sug-gestions.
Mentors can and probably should change with time. Facultypeers are the most common mentors, especially those whohave experience in the institution and know the requirementsfor success (written or unwritten). New faculty should lookfor a more seasoned faculty member to be their guide in thetenure and promotion process, the development of a researchprogram, etc. New faculty also look to other new faculty todevelop a “like” community where support and affirmationare central to their success. Mid-career and senior facultymay look to their chairs, deans or peers for support and guid-ance while at the same time being mentors for the more jun-ior faculty. We should all be mentors and mentees for sus-tainability of mentoring to occur.
Mentoring builds a community of wisdom, and can balancethe mind, heart and spirit. Development of a mentoring struc-ture within an academic unit should result in a happier, moreproductive and satisfied educational community.
Newly Restructured International ServiceCenter to Implement SEVIS Requirementsfor International Students and Scholars
wants to be as welcoming as possible to scholars from aroundthe world. Most of the international students at UCF areenrolled at the graduate level. Faculty should be aware of the SEVIS requirements, if onlyto refer students they might be advising or employing asGTA’s to the International Service Center when questionsarise. The ISC, directed by Dr. Saleha Suleman, is fully pre-pared to counsel students on how to best comply withSEVIS, so faculty need not be well versed in the details ofthis automated tracking system. Faculty do need to knowhowever, that SEVIS affects
how students should register for classeswhen they can travel to their native countryhow they are permitted to be employed on or offcampus.
For example, full-time enrollment, (12 credits per semesterfor undergrads; 9 credits for graduate students) is required ofevery international student on F and J visas. A full courseload is not required in the summer (exceptions are GTA’s andGRA’s).
Students on an F-1 visa will only be allowed to take one dis-tance learning (online) course or 3 online credits per semes-ter counting toward the full-time course load. Students maytake additional online courses above the full-time courseload. International students in the Engineering andComputer Science programs may only register for 3 creditsof FEEDS courses. They may register for more than oneFEEDS course if the additional course is designated "L" (forLive FEEDS modality) in which attendance will be taken, forwhich one live class or exam is mandatory. Generally, facul-ty are not required to monitor attendance of internation-al students; ISC will monitor students' enrollment and statusupdates. Faculty who advise international students shouldencourage them not to apply to programs for which morethan 25% of the courses are offered online because theSEVIS requirements will make it difficult for those studentsto complete that program in a timely manner.
Advisers are warned to advise international students on F-1visas not to register for courses outside their declared field ofstudy. Taking classes outside the major field may be per-ceived as a violation of SEVIS and could cause the student tolose visa status. Losing visa status can make traveling in andout of the United States difficult for students and can ulti-mately prevent them from finishing their course of study.
Graduate students who are writing dissertations, taking onehour of thesis or 3 dissertation credits, should submit the spe-cial status request form so the ISC can report to SEVIS thatthey are maintaining their immigration status. Departmentsshould always communicate with ISC with regard to studentswho are finishing dissertations. If international studentsintend to take less than a full course load, they must submit areduced course load form to ISC in order to get consultationand permission to take a reduced course load and maintaintheir F-1 status.
Faculty should also know that if a student needs to drop aclass after the add/drop deadline, they should refer him/her toISC to get informed advice on how to maintain status.Students intending to drop a class for medical reasons orbecause of academic difficulty based on language and adjust-ment to a new academic culture should be referred to ISC.Financial difficulty is not a valid reason for dropping acourse of study.
International student on F-1 or J-1 visas can only work 20hours per week during fall and spring semesters and 40 hoursper week in the summer. New F-1 and J-1 students are onlyallowed to enter the United States 30 days prior to the start ofa given semester. This is not negotiable with the federal gov-ernment, so do not expect your graduate research assistantsto work the summer before commencing classes.
The bottom line for faculty and program directors is thatSEVIS implementation is a federal mandate and the univer-sity must comply with SEVIS in order to maintain our eligi-bility to recruit and bring international students and scholarsto UCF. Students and faculty must work through ISC toinsure full SEVIS compliance.
Graduate Teaching AssistantCertificate Program
The Karen L. Smith Faculty Center for Teaching andLearning invites Graduate Teaching Assistants toenroll in our GTA Certificate Program. Students willreceive group and individualized instruction byFaculty Center staff and experienced UCF profes-sors, as well as textbooks and materials. GTA's willattend a 12 week, non-credit program with a $200stipend.
Themes
1. Presentation skills and practice2. Balancing the many roles of TA's3. Course design and management4. Delivery of instruction, teaching strategies5. Learning differences among students6. Instructional technology (hands on)7. Giving assessment and soliciting feedback8. Building a peer support network9. Professional survival skills, ethics, legal issues
Interested graduate students should register onlineat <www.fctl.ucf.edu/events/gta> and follow theinstructions. Written approval from departmentchair or graduate coordinator is required.Participation is limited, so please enroll early.
Two classes will be offered:Wednesdays (4:30-7:20pm) Jan. 14th - April 7thFridays (1:30-4:20pm) Jan. 16th - April 9th.
Please register by January 9th.
Register at <www.fctl.ucf.edu/events/gta>
FOR MORE INFORMATION,PLEASE CONTACT THE FACULTY CENTER
"What great teachers appear to have in common is love oftheir subject, an obvious satisfaction in arousing this love in
their students, and an ability to convince them that what theyare being taught is deadly serious.”
-- J. Epstein, Masters: Portraits of Great Teachers
The Center is offering faculty an opportunity to have theirteaching peer-observed. Simply contact the Center and let usknow when you would like someone to come to your class.This is not an evaluation but rather an informal way to havean external review of your teaching. We also offer videotap-ing of the class if you wish.
Classroom Observations
Attention faculty! Do you want to get in shape this spring?Improve your health? Or make some new friends? JoinUCF-Fit. The purpose of the UCF-Fit program is to buildcommunity at UCF through fitness and wellness activities.All students, faculty, and staff will earn points for all activi-ties participated in. Incentives will be received as the pro-gram progresses and points begin to accumulate.
You design your own program and keep track of your ownprogress. We give you the tools and resources to accomplishyour goals and provide you with the opportunity to makesome new friends while doing it—and earn some prizes, too!
All you need to do is sign up, and fol-low the road to better health.
Look for the UCF-Fit announcementsthis January.
UCF-Fit
Don't forget to check out the Faculty Forum, our online fac-ulty discussion board. Sign on and join the discussions!
http://forum.fctl.ucf.edu/forum/
Faculty Forum
Faculty participants in the Faculty Development SummerInstitute 2003 are reminded that their final reports of progresson course/curricular innovations are due to be submitted notlater than Friday, January 16, 2004. Please see the templateprovided to you during the Institute, complete all sectionsand submit an electronic copy to [email protected]. Be sureto include the names of all team members. Please contact ouroffice if any assistance is needed.
Final Reminder Summer Conference 2003Reports
5FACULTY FOCUS
Vol. 2, No. 5 2003
8 FACULTY FOCUS
Vol. 2, No. 5 2003
Mentoring: Building Community andSupporting SuccessAlison Morrison-Shetlar
Everyone needs mentoring in some way throughout theirlives, be it professional or private. We look to each other
for clarity of vision, guidance, and support because withoutthese characteristics we lack goals, ambitions, or satisfactionin our lives. Educational institutions that have developedstrong mentoring programs for students and faculty havefound that when the mentoring is occurring between andamong students and faculty there is an increase in studentretention, an increase in faculty success and retention, anincrease in collaboration in teaching and research, and adecrease in resentment among colleagues. Mentoring canonly be a good thing—right? Well, only if there is investmentof time and energy and a commitment to the success of oth-ers.
Learning is the basis of mentoring, and must be nurtured andmaintained. Mentoring should be a journey for the mentorand mentee, weaving a web of interaction with each other andwith the participant's personal ecology. One component ofsuccessful mentoring is trust. You have to trust the peoplethat you are mentoring or that mentor you. So, to establish amentoring relationship, often we look to people with whomwe have already built a strong connection. We chose mentorswho have achieved what we want to achieve, or whom we
admire for their personal characteristics, or for any numberof other reasons. The next step is to build that relationshipinto a mentoring partnership that will benefit both partici-pants. Mentors should use a variety of methods to support,challenge, and provide vision for the mentee.
Support can come in the form of a safe place where the men-tor serves as an enabler for new ideas, thoughts andapproaches. It can also mean “to bear the weight of” and “toprovide for or maintain,” offering an opportunity for thedevelopment and success of an individual. We all need toshare our successes and concerns with people who can lookobjectively at our situation and help us see our paths clearly.We must trust the people with whom we talk; otherwise, wecannot clearly articulate our wishes and desires.
Challenge is an essential element of the mentoring process.We should be critical of ourselves and our decisions; thushaving someone as a sounding board for our ideas and beliefsis crucial to our success. Also defined as “a test of one's abil-ities or resources in a demanding but stimulating undertak-ing,” a mentor that challenges her/his mentee to think in newways can promote informed risk-taking to foster growth.
A person with experience can often open doors to others whoare not as well informed. A person with intelligent foresightcan take mentees to thought processes that they may not haveconsidered and provide insights and directions only experi-ence affords. Helping people create a vision for themselvesand supporting them to be successful in that vision is one ofthe most satisfying parts of mentoring.
How can a mentoring program be successful and sustainable?In higher education mentoring has to be seen as an integralpart of an organizational culture that values learning. It has toserve the community and benefit the participants. Just likeany good educational program, it has to have a focused, clearand concise mission or purpose with well-defined outcomes.Mentoring needs support from the faculty, chairs, deans anduniversity administration; participants at all levels shouldchampion mentoring. If this occurs, everyone involved willbenefit by increasing personal and professional satisfaction.
Throughout our lives there are people who have touched usin some way, changed our direction, or challenged ourbeliefs. These people have taught us things about ourselvesand our lives that no other, at that place and time, could havedone. In an educational setting these people are your peers,people whom you respect. All of them have an effect on yourprofessional lives. Equally, you have affected people in yourprofessional and private lives by your own personal charac-teristics. These are serious responsibilities and ones thatshould be treated with respect and that should incorporatereflection.
What are the roles and responsibilities of the mentor andmentee? Both need to be mutually accountable for their rolesin the mentoring process. You should only mentor one or twopeople at a time; too many become a drain on time and ener-
"The only way to help students become ethical people, asopposed to people who merely do what they are told, is to
have them construct moral meaning. . . That's why droppingthe tools of traditional discipline, like rewards and conse-
quences, is only the beginning. It's even more crucial that weovercome a preoccupation with getting compliance and
instead bring students in on the process of devising and justi-fying ethical principles.”
Alfie Kohn, Beyond Discipline: From Compliance toCommunity
scripted form of lecture. They empathize when I occasional-ly misspell a word on the board, or in haste, leave out a keydefinition. Why? Because they are doing the same things.They are generating notes based on the discussion, and theyare learning how to put key concepts together themselves.These may not be perfect notes. They may have omissionsand errors, but they reflect active learning. They reflect inte-gration. This type of learning resembles the real world,where everything to be learned is not scripted in gorgeousslides, carefully omitting controversial or "irrelevant" issues.In this type of learning, the students are making their owndecisions about what to keep and what to discard, and indoing so, they are becoming savvy consumers of psychology.So, what does this all mean? It means that for the time being,I am going to keep sneezing from all of the chalk, and my stu-dents are going to keep taking their own notes. I'm not readyto throw out the baby with the bathwater.
Vol. 2, No. 5 2003Vol. 2, No. 5 2003
9FACULTY FOCUS4 FACULTY FOCUS
UCF Relay For Life 2004The Relay for Life is the American Cancer Society's signa-ture event and the number one non-profit special event in thecountry. UCF will host the Relay on April 3rd and 4th at theUCF track. If you are not on a team but would like to be,come join our team at the Faculty Center. For more infor-mation go to <http://www.fctl.ucf.edu/events/relayforlife/>.
Dr. Judy Welch, Dr. Alison Morrison-Shetlar, and Dr. RuthMarshall are making another quilt as a gift for the Relay forLife. We are offering the quilt in a drawing which will bemade on Friday evening, April 3th at our Relay booth. If youwould like to place your name in the bowl for the drawing toreceive the quilt, please stop by the Faculty Center.
Proceeds go to Relay for LifeDonations are welcome, but not requiredStop by the Faculty Center (CL1-207) andenter now!
University of Central FloridaDivision of Graduate StudiesUCF Program Announcement
Awards for Excellence in Graduate Teaching and Research
Summer Faculty Development Conference 2004April 26, 27, 28, 29, 2004
RFP: Due 5 p.m., Friday, February 20, 2004
The Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning will pro-vide 120 $800/person grants for faculty members whoare transforming courses or programs by emphasizingthe Scholarship of Teaching (SoTL), assessment of learn-ing outcomes, service learning, interdisciplinarity, orother innovations. Faculty will receive assistance for thecompletion of a project that modifies their face-to-faceor web-enhanced courses or programs for the purposeof improving teaching, learning, assessment, and schol-arship. Faculty members from all colleges are invited toapply.
This year’s themes include:SoTLService LearningInterdisciplinarityDiversityEngaging students, assessment, instructionaltechnology, etc.Other
Final decisions will be provided to all applicants by March26, 2004.
The Division of Graduate Studies is pleased to announcethe availability of new awards for excellence in graduatestudent teaching and for excellence in thesis and disserta-tion research. Specifically, four new awards have beenestablished for graduate students, as follows:
Award for Excellence by a Graduate TeachingAssistant: This award recognizes excellence byGraduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) who areresponsible for a laboratory or other similarteaching assignment under the direction of afaculty member who serves as the instructor ofrecord. It focuses on the quality of the assistance provided by the GTA to the leadinstructor and students in the class.
Award for Excellence in Graduate StudentTeaching: This award recognizes excellencein teaching by Graduate Teaching Assistants(GTAs) who have independent teachingresponsibilities. It focuses on the quality of thestudent's teaching activities and the academiccontributions to those activities.
Award for the Outstanding Master's Thesis:This award recognizes excellence in themaster's thesis. It focuses on the quality andcontribution of the completed master's thesis.
Award for the Outstanding Dissertation: Thisaward recognizes excellence in the doctoraldissertation. It focuses on the quality andcontribution of the completed dissertation.
These recognitions will be awarded for the first time with-in the current academic year. Application materials mustbe submitted by Friday, February 6, 2004, and awardrecipients will be announced at the Research Forum to behosted by the Graduate Student Association and theDivision of Graduate Studies on March 22-23, 2004.University-level award winners will receive $1,000 cashawards.
Detailed information regarding the eligibility require-ments, application processes, submission materials, anddeadlines will be forthcoming from the Division ofGraduate Studies soon. Watch for this information on thegraduate website at www.graduate.ucf.edu.
Valerie Sims is an Assistant Professorin the Psychology Department. Shestudies human-computer interactionwith her many undergraduate andgraduate student collaborators. Herfavorite video game is Tetris.
Don’t Throw Out the Baby with theBathwaterValerie Sims
Let me begin by saying that I am not anti-technology. Infact, I revel in it. I love my laptop and my stereo system,
and I am proud to say that I am a great video game player. Ilove creating elaborate computer demonstrations to studyhuman-computer interaction and realism in virtual environ-ments. So, you might expect that my class lectures are tech-nologically savvy with beautiful PowerPoint slides, built inmpeg movies, and the utilization of everything a smart class-room can offer. You'd be wrong. I use chalk, and a board ofcourse, …and a good sense of humor. Why? It works. And,in this era of web classes, PowerPoint slides, and computerdemonstrations, it is novel. Yes, novel. My students com-ment that my classes are unique. They love that I am a badartist who draws stick figure examples on the board. Theylaugh at the impromptu jokes that are generated from this less
to be replaced. They knew that I was not "just looking."
I realize in retrospect that looking for a new car is much likesitting on a teaching award committee. During the car shop-ping process, it was a given that someone was going to getmy business much as it is a given that one or more applicantswill win a teaching award. There were several unknownswhen I went shopping, such as which dealer I would buyfrom and the make, model, color and accessories that I wouldeventually purchase. Yet there were several factors that wereknown before I started the process. First, I would have to betreated with respect. At one dealership, the assistant manag-er told me at least three times that I must be "emotionallyattached" to the car that I was presently driving. I left, tookmy business elsewhere, and complained in writing to thegeneral manager as well as Honda Motor Corporation.Second, I had to be given a complete picture. At that samedealership, when I asked the price of the car, I was only toldthat it would be $339 per month. I was not given the overallprice of the car regardless of my financing options. I wasalso told that the car that I wanted was not available and thatswapping with other dealers was not possible. This turnedout to be false. Finally, the presentation had to be accurate.At this same dealer, I was told that I had to make an appoint-ment for a different day just to take a test drive. This was notaccurate as any other dealer was more than happy to let aprospective buyer take a test drive. In summary, the onlyway that I would purchase a car would be if the dealer gaveme Complete and Accurate information presentedRespectfully, or CAR.
Members of teaching award committees are much like des-perate car shoppers. They too want complete and accurateinformation presented respectfully. They will make theaward determination, but will not likely favor your case ifthere are problems with your file. What makes teachingawards different from other professional awards, such as pro-motion and tenure, is that there is a limited number of teach-ing awards. Arguably, anyone applying for promotion ortenure may receive it regardless of how other candidates forthe same change in status are regarded by the committee.This is not true for teaching awards. Here are someapproaches to abiding by the CAR rule:
1. Be complete. If you state that you were involved in a proj-ect, taught a course, presented a paper at a conference, madea presentation to a community group, served on a communi-ty board, reviewed a textbook or served as a faculty sponsorfor a student group, make sure to include documentation withyour file. Documentation can be anything from pages fromweb sites that include your course material to thank-younotes from publishers and community groups. Committeeslook for such documentation, and it will distinguish you fromthose who do not provide it.
2. Be accurate. Make sure that you were involved in what-ever activities that you say that you were involved in and pro-vide proof (See #1 above). All too often, a candidate for anaward will claim that s/he was involved in a task (such as co-
PI of a grant) only for a member of the committee to alreadyknow that such information is false (the person may haveworked on the grant, but was not listed, or did not serve as co-PI). Being inaccurate, even once, will cast a shadow overyour entire file and will significantly reduce your chances ofreceiving the award.
3. Be respectful. This means that you should respect that thecommittee is comprised of your peers who are even busierthan you (after all, they are sitting on the award committee!).Provide details to any claims that you make. We are all greatteachers; saying that you are a great teacher disrespects thecommittee because it is a general statement that has little sub-stance. Another way to respect the committee is to provideany and all relevant information in the file. In this age of theInternet, it is too easy to tell the reader to seek out anothersource (such as "see my web page") rather than provide theinformation in the file. Remember that reading award filestakes time. Do not ask the committee to take extra time byperusing your web site or course home page. When you tellthe reader to go look something up on the Internet, and theroom housing the award files has no computer, you are beingdisrespectful of the committee members' time.
These tips do not guarantee that you will win a teachingaward; however, they will improve your chances because youwill make it easier for any committee member to understandand appreciate the merits of your case.
Vol. 2, No. 5 2003Vol. 2, No. 5 2003
10 FACULTY FOCUS 3FACULTY FOCUS
Stacey Tantleff Dunn, AssociateProfessor in Psychology, joined UCFin 1996 from the University of SouthFlorida. Her primary research is inbody image and eating behavior. Sheis greatly interested in the scholarshipof teaching and has won both aGraduate Teaching Award and a TIPaward.
Confessions of a Working Parent:Balancing Academia and FamilyStacey Tantleff Dunn
As a faculty member with a 4 year-old and baby on theway, I can't help but reflect upon how lucky I feel to have
a job that truly allows me to balance family and work…atleast to some degree. Flexible hours, ample vacation days,and a sense that time spent at work has meaning and valuehave all made it possible to keep working hard, even whenthe sweet face of my little girl makes me want to never leaveher side.
In many ways, the idea of having it all is a fantasy. After all,trying to do it all results in constant sacrifices. In my firstfew years at UCF I literally worked all the time. Not becauseI was a masochistic freak or because I was overcome by fearsof not making tenure, but because I loved what I was doing.The fact that my husband was also an assistant professor inthe same department with an office next door to mine madeit really easy to spend late nights and weekends in the office,trying to figure out how to be a good academician and relish-ing in the freedoms and challenges of the job. My senior col-leagues would tease us that we really needed to develop somehobbies and get out more, but we mutually decided that wewere doing what we enjoyed and what felt good, and we hadthe rest of our lives to find hobbies.
Well, we finally found a "hobby"—making and sustaining afamily. We were a little nervous to announce we were preg-nant, but we received an enormous outpouring of support.Our colleagues genuinely seemed happy for us, and with theexception of one or two sarcastic comments (e.g., "Nicecareer move"), we felt optimistic that we could make it allwork. It was sort of interesting (okay, it was sexist) that peo-ple often asked me how I was going to manage working witha baby and assumed that this would not be an issue for Mike,but people quickly understood that we were a team and wereboth faced with the challenges of being working parents.
Then came baby. It was quite a transition. At work I felt likeI was not giving 100% and therefore was failing. At home Ifelt like I was not fully present for my daughter when I wor-ried about work. In addition to juggling two roles I loved, Iwas dealing with the adjustment of going from a workaholicto a guiltaholic.
And then, something miraculous started to happen. Myteaching evaluations were still really good. My articles werestill getting published. My progress toward tenure seemedright on track. My daughter was thriving and meeting manydevelopmental milestones earlier than expected. I began torealize that the countless hours I spent in class preparationmay not have been what made my classes any good. Therewas more to measuring students' learning than obsessingover their essay exams. Not having endless time to completevarious tasks meant I had to get them done more efficiently,not necessarily less effectively. In most of the ways that mat-tered, I was still doing a good job.
Or so I tried to convince myself. It wasn't until somethingelse started to happen that I truly became at peace with myeverlasting balancing act. On the back of my teaching eval-uations students were writing that I was "an outstanding rolemodel." Female students at the end of class were saying thatthey were "inspired" by how I seemed to handle being aworking mom. They hoped to someday pull off the same bal-ancing act, but previously weren't sure it were really possible.Even more astounding were the comments from other juniorfaculty. "Thanks for paving the way" some of them said justmonths before announcing their own pregnancies. Within avery short time, five other faculty members had babies andnearly all of them frequented my office to show off baby pic-tures, compare stories, or just talk about the balancing actwe're all struggling with.
Overall, I genuinely consider being a parent and a facultymember to be two incredible gifts for which I am eternallygrateful. Both take a lot of time, passion, skill, and commit-ment, and both give back an enormous sense of meaning andfulfillment (albeit in different ways). We at the FacultyCenter are really interested to learn more about your own bal-ancing act. Log on to the Faculty Forum so we can talk aboutand exchange ideas!
Effective Teaching Award PortfoliosTerri Fine
Terri Susan Fine has been on the UCFfaculty since 1989. She has servedon numerous teaching award com-mittees during that time. Her owninterests focus on American politicswith an emphasis on women and pol-itics, political parties and public opin-ion.
During the summer of 2002 I experienced, or rather mycar experienced, the unfortunate circumstance of five
breakdowns in six weeks. Soon thereafter, I decided to buya new car. The process was difficult. I had not purchased acar in several years, and I knew that the car dealers "had mynumber" because I was driving an older car that would have
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While this last item applies specifically to the foreign lan-guage environment, we all have students who maintain alevel of disconnectedness with the class, who are introverts,who are more apt to work independently, etc. Collaborativeactivities encourage everyone to participate. Everyone mustbe involved.
Although this process might seem daunting at the beginning,the best advice I have received is to start small, knowing thata successful shift to student-centered learning is an evolu-tionary process. By incorporating collaborative activities, Ihave gained a deeper appreciation for the class both on themerits of the individual students as well as of their accom-plishments as they work together.
Teaching-Related Conferences
Peter Telep is a member of theWriter's Guild of America, is a pro-duced television writer, and is theauthor of over twenty novels rangingfrom television and film adaptationsto science fiction, medical drama, andmilitary action/adventure. He earnedhis B.A. and M.A. from theUniversity of Central Florida and hasbeen a GTA, Visiting Instructor, and
is currently a Permanent Instructor of English at theUniversity of Central Florida.
Dude, How’s My Class?Peter Telep
The Hawaii International Conference on EducationJanuary 3-6, 2004Honolulu, Hawaii
http://www.hiceducation.org/
Teaching for WisdomThe Collaboration for the Advancement of College Teaching & Learning
February 19-20, 2004St. Paul, Minnesota
http://www.collab.org
SITE 2004--Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International ConferenceMarch 1-6, 2004 Atlanta, Georgia
http://www.aace.org/conf/site/
Association for American Colleges and Universities:The Network for Academic Renewal Conference
Valuing General Education and Assessment: Campus-Wide Collaboration for Engaged LiberalEducation
March 4-6, 2004Long Beach, California
http://www.aacu.org/meetings/generaleducation/index.cfm
2004 AAHE Learning to Change ConferenceLearning in 3-D: Democratic Process, Diverse Campus, Digital Environment
American Association for Higher LearningApril 1-4, 2004
San Diego, Californiahttp://www.aahe.org/convenings.htm
2004 AERA Annual MeetingAmerican Educational Research Association
April 12-16, 2004San Diego, California
http://www.aera.net/meeting/
Educause Southeast Regional 2004June 7-9, 2004Atlanta, Georgia
http://www.educause.edu/
CALICO 2004June 9-13, 2004
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvaniahttp://www.calico.org/
Syllabus 2004 11th Annual Education Technology ConferenceJuly 18-22, 2004
San Francisco, Californiahttp://www.syllabus.com/
Educause 2004October 19-22, 2004
Orlando, Floridahttp://www.educause.edu/
E-Learn 2004-World Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and HigherEducation
November 2-6, 2004Washington, District of Columbia
http://www.aace.org/conf/eLearn/
National Lilly Conference on College & University TeachingNovember 18-21, 2004
Oxford, Ohiohttp://www.iats.com/conferences/schedule.shtml
Have you ever asked your students for their input on howa particular assignment should be graded? Have you
ever considered polling your students at the end of each weekto see how your course might be improved?
When I first began teaching composition as a GTA, Ibelieved that asking for student input regarding the course oreven on a particular assignment would damage my credibili-ty. I could never admit to students that I wasn't sure about thecourse or materials. I assumed they needed a champion whowas as confident as he was unequivocal. Thus, I forged on,grading papers and becoming frustrated when students "justdidn't get it." At semester's end, I would pour over my stu-dent evaluations, note common strengths and weaknesses,and become more determined to improve next semester.
Of course, like many of you, I shared my triumphs and chal-lenges with my colleagues. During a conversation with Dr.Beth Young, Director of the University Writing Center, Ilearned that she polled her students weekly to see how wellthey liked the course and what help they needed regardingparticular concepts. She distributed index cards and askedstudents to respond anonymously. She also discussed theresults of the poll with her students and made adjustments tothe course as needed. At that time, I was teaching a coursewith a web component, so I decided to develop a polling sys-
tem via WebCT's quiz function. Every Friday, studentslogged on anonymously and discussed the course withoutfear of jeopardizing their grades or alienating themselvesfrom me. Sure, my ego was occasionally bruised, but I wasable to make course adjustments that better met the students'needs without sacrificing my credibility. In fact, studentscommented on how the process made me seem more crediblebecause I was open-minded enough to listen to their sugges-tions and actually implement them. Moreover, this was myfirst step in realizing that I did not need to be the sage on thestage with all the answers. And while the students needed mefor a grade, I needed them just as much to make the coursemore effective.
This semester in my Fiction Writing class, I've continued theprocess of ongoing student assessment. I created severalrubrics for critiquing stories, distributed them to the class,and asked students to makes suggestions for improvementbefore we actually use them in our workshop. Once I receivetheir suggestions, I revise the material, post it online, andhave students comment again to see if we had reached thefinal draft. Not only have I been seeking their advice toimprove the course materials, but I have been modeling theimportance of drafting and revision—key skills in any writ-ing course.
Admittedly, it does take some courage to ask students whatthey think of your course and course materials, and you willundoubtedly receive some comments that are not as useful asothers. However, engaging in this process allows you toaddress challenges early on so that there are no shocking sur-prises come course evaluation time. Additionally, theprocess empowers students by making them active partici-pants in how they will be taught and graded. They begin toown the course, trust in you and the materials, and considerthe process fair.
But most of all, getting students involved in how you teachthe course demonstrates your care and concern for them. Idon't know about you, but I became an instructor to changethe world—one student at a time.
"The aim of curriculum is to awaken, not ‘stock’ or ‘train’ themind. That goal makes the basic unit of a modern curriculumthe question. Given the intimidating, easily trivialized mass ofknowledge, what the modern student needs is the ability to
see how questions both produce and point beyond knowledge(whether one’s own or the expert’s). Educational progress
would thus be measured as the ability to deepen and broad-en one’s command of essential questions by marshaling
knowledge and arguments to address them.”
Grant Wiggins
Volume 2 Number 5 November 2003
Karen L. Smith Faculty Center for Teaching and LearningP.O. Box 160066 CL1-207Orlando, FL, 32816-0066
Karen L. Smith Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning www.fctl.ucf.edu
Why a CollaborativeEnvironment MakesSense in Student-CenteredLearningDude, How’s My Class?Confessions of a WorkingParent BalancingAcademia and FamilyEffective Teaching AwardPortfoliosDon’t Throw Out theBaby with the BathwaterMentoring: BuildingCommunity andSupporting SuccessNewly RenovatedInternational StudentCenter to FacilitateNegotiation of SEVISRequirements forInternational StudentsUCF-FitFinal Reminder SummerConference 2003 ReportsGraduate TeachingAssistant CertificateProgramFaculty ForumClassroom ObservationsCourse InnovationProjectsAwards for Excellence inGraduate Teaching andResearchSummer FacultyDevelopment Conference2004Relay For LifeNew Final Grade RosterTeaching-Related Conferences
The Faculty Focus is a publication for all instructors at the University of Central Florida. This includes full- and part-time fac-ulty and teaching assistants at all UCF campuses. Its purpose is to provide an exchange of ideas on teaching and learning forthe university's community of teachers and scholars. It is envisioned that this publication will inspire more dialogue amongfaculty, whether in hallway discussions, departmental meetings, or in written articles. Toward this latter goal, the FacultyFocus will lead to an annual "Best Practices" edition where some of the ideas that were generated in the bi-semester editionswill be expanded and developed into full articles. The annual edition will be peer-reviewed and disseminated regionally. Thisrepresents an opportunity for faculty to reach their peers throughout the growing Central Florida community. The FacultyFocus invites you to contribute your ideas on teaching and learning in a short essay. See the guidelines for submission onlineat <www.fctl.ucf.edu/focus/guidelines.htm>. Publication dates will be the middle of the first and last full months of eachsemester, and submission deadlines will be the Friday of the week prior. MLA format is preferred. Please send your submis-sions to Faculty Focus, [email protected].
Submissions
Check us out Online!
www.fctl.ucf.edu
Contents
Faculty CenterCL1-207, 407-823-3544
...continued on page 2
The sometimes subtle, sometimes not sosubtle, shift from teacher-centered to stu-
dent-centered methodology has challengedme to find more creative ways to engage stu-dents in a manner that is meaningful to them,supporting theories that students learn bestwhen they have a stake in what they learn. Inteaching various levels of Spanish, one of thestrategies I enjoy incorporating deals withcollaborative learning. The appeal of thislearning environment spans the disciplinesand the levels within those disciplines.
After years of asking students to write or talkabout common, everyday subjects, I realizedin speaking to my students and colleaguesthat students usually enjoy the challenge ofdiscussing a topic in a new light. For exam-ple, instead of asking students to write abouttheir plans after graduating, I simply modifythe assignment to make it pertinent to class. Iask them to interview one or two classmatesand find out about their plans and then incor-porate their findings in the writing assign-ment. To include the element of technology,depending on the course set-up, the informa-tion gathering portion of this type of assign-ment could be accomplished throughNetMeeting (this works especially well in thecollaboration classrooms) or through theWebCT forums.
The 'together everyone accomplishes more'idea behind the concept of 'team' certainlyapplies in this kind of activity that taps into so
Why a Collaborative Environment Makes Sense in Student-CenteredLearningLisa Nalbone
many more skill levels than atypical first-person narrativefrom personal experience. Itbuilds the identity of class as agroup of individuals workingtogether rather than students justworking for themselves. Studentsmay begin to take ownership intheir class and, more important,their learning. You might not besurprised to learn that students"need to go to class because
someone might be depending on me for infor-mation and I need to get the information fromsomeone else," instead of going to class forthe notes or to fulfill an attendance require-ment.
When working from the premise that studentsrely on each other, the feedback students giveme falls into several categories:
They are introduced to vocabulary/themes with which they might not be so familiar, thus enhancing their language and overall learningexperience. The interview material provides aworking outline from the beginningof the assignment. Students like getting to know theirclassmates better. Classmates use a variety ofgrammatical structures and verbforms that the writer might nototherwise use. The writer also has tomodify these structures to fit in withthe reporting aspect. This assignment encouragesstudents to become better listeners. It encourages them to demonstrateforethought in the interview process,to make sure they have enoughquality material to include in thefinal product. Interviews provide a forum forspeaking practice.
Lisa Nalbone, Instructor ForeignLanguages, has taught Spanish atUCF for 12 years, most recentlydeveloping strategies for collabora-tive learning at the intermediatelevel and in a course required bymajors/minors in the language. Sheimplements technology when creat-ing collaborative activities.
