Tis the season to read your student evaluations. What is the best advice? Fellow blogger Dean Dad says to look for outliers. It’s really about spotting the folks who are badly trailing the rest of the pack. Putting much weight on the difference between the lower middle and the upper middle is missing the point. There is a terrific article about residential learning communities that also talks about fostering a sense of community at an institution. Howard Schien says, "Fostering community involves conveying an attitude that this community values intellectual engagement. Fostering community involves incorporating concepts like support, acceptance of difference, the value of lively discourse, and willingness to introduce new ideas into the classroom, into non-credit programming, and into the social structure of students’ everyday lives in the residence hall." Want to attract more majors to your discipline. Offer more courses that utilize active learning methods and engage your students. That is the advice from a report presented at the latest meeting of the American Anthropological Association.

The lofty college completion goal that has emerged as the closest thing to a national higher education strategy in a half century will not succeed without much more aggressive leadership than national, state and higher education leaders have shown so far. That is the conclusion of a report released today by three education policy centers. The report goes on to say that "it is clear that American colleges and universities must enroll and graduate more students to meet workforce needs and help ensure the country’s economic competitiveness but current funding policies are eroding rather than increasing opportunity and attainment." A new book paints an interesting picture of higher education at this point in history. It contains some rather jarring survey information about a variety of topics in higher education. Administrators are more confident than either students or faculty members about how well their institutions are educating students. Fifty-two percent of university leaders said their universities do an "excellent" job of educating, compared with 34 percent of students and only 26 percent of faculty members who feel that way. Thirty-six percent of administrators and 28 percent of faculty members said the most pressing problem in higher education is the need for more resources, while students said the biggest problem is the cost of tuition. Have you heard about blended learning? There is an interesting article in The Education Digest that illustrates how it can be used in your classroom. Lubbock has become the first test site for a different type of state data system, one that aims to move districts from collecting data solely for accountability to collecting it to improve schools. To enable schools, districts, and state officials to more easily share and use data, the TEA is developing a more flexible information-system platform. The platform will offer smaller districts a shared, state-sponsored student-information system. It will also make it easy for districts with existing systems to connect to a new data platform that will serve as the hub for district-specific data, feeding relevant student, classroom, and campus information directly to educators and enabling seamless reporting of compliance data to the state.

The pressure on students to build their resumes as quickly as possible is creating a multitude of problems. Now there is a movie that exposes the issue. The Race to Nowhere portrays the pressures when schools pile on hours of homework and coaches turn sports into year-round obligations. Left somewhat unexamined is the role of parents whose high expectations contribute the most pressure of all. Are you using team based learning in your classroom? Do you like Vegas? You can combine the two by having your proposal accepted for presentation at the 10th Annual Conference on Team Based Learning in Higher Education being held March 3-4, 2011 in Vegas. They are accepting poster abstracts until December 15. There is a good article that explains the concept of team based learning by Clark, Nguyen, Bray, and Levine. Although it focuses on nursing education, you can easily apply their approach to other disciplines. The Call for Proposals for the 2011 Great Lakes Conference on Teaching and Learning is now open. This year's conference tracks include: Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and Research/Creative Activity, Mobile Learning and New Media, and Meaningful Learning Experiences: Integrated Learning Outcomes and Assessment Measures. Proposals are due February 1, 2011 while the conference will be held in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan from May 11-13, 2011. Students and their parents are mostly to blame for poor college-graduation rates, according to a poll released today by the Associated Press and Stanford University. The better the education people get, the stronger the U.S. economy will be, the poll also shows.

Faculty have complained for years that the level of civility in their classrooms has continued to decline but what do the students in the same class think about the disturbing activities? That is what a recent study by Mupinga, Nora, and Yaw sought to determine. They discovered that allowing a cell phone to ring; using a Palm Pilot, iPod or computer for non-class work; arriving late or leaving early; packing up books before class is over; and text messaging are the five behaviors students in the study indicate are both quite uncivil and occur with more than mid-level frequency. The study also offers some strategies for dealing with the annoying interruptions. While we all hope that our students are intrinsically motivated to perform well in our classes, common sense tells us that just isn't always true. Isaacson and Was have developed a diagnostic learning approach that is designed to provide students with weekly feedback identifying specific deficiencies in their metacognition and learning strategies. Students are given weekly tests that require them to make meta-cognitive choices that will improve their test scores. Research points to a significant relationship between metacognition and learning. Millennials, born between 1982 and 2003, have been called the next “Great Generation” but what sets them apart and why do they require different teaching pedagogies? Wilson and Gerber apply generational studies to the topic and make some interesting conclusions.

Have you considered applying for Faculty Development Leave? It could provide you the perfect opportunity to write a book, conduct research, create a new class or write a grant proposal. If you have been thinking about creating an innovative class infused with active and collaborative teaching and learning techniques, the Faculty Development Leave route is for you. Take a look at the policy and contact the Center if you are looking for some additional assistance. "Studying is still largely an independent endeavor," says Jonathan D. Becker, an assistant professor of educational leadership at Virginia Commonwealth University. Is that what you have found as well? The scholarship on this topic was thin but I did find research on peer effects that suggests that college students benefit when they take classes with or study with high-performing students (Winston & Zimmerman, 2004). If you are teaching an undergraduate class, it is understood that you will have expected learning outcomes. Do you also include these expectations when you are teaching a graduate-level class? There is an interesting discussion on this very topic. As the semester winds to a close, I hope that you and your students have enjoyed a productive term. Be sure to remind your students that you are looking forward to using their feedback via the course evaluations to improve your teaching. Also remember that the Center is here if you receive scores or comments that cause you to rethink your teaching methods. Committing ourselves to continuous improvement allows us to grow as educators.

As the number of adjunct faculty continues to grow on campuses across the U.S., there is growing concern that due to a lack of training and/or time, most are not using effective teaching methods. Roger Baldwin and Matthew Wawrzynski, two faculty at Michigan State, conducted the research and stressed in an interview that they fault the conditions part-time instructors work under, and not the instructors themselves, for their failure to use effective teaching methods more often. As talk ratchets up about possible budget cuts to Texas institutions of higher education, some students are taking a proactive stance. With state lawmakers facing a shortfall estimated at $24 billion, it’s more important than ever to involve students in such discussions. At the most recent Texas State University System Board of Regents held on the LU campus last month, student leaders from throughout the TSUS voiced similar concerns and offered suggestions as well as laying out their plan of action for the coming legislative session. A new report just released notes that of students who entered higher education in 2003-4, about half had earned degrees or certificates by June 2009, says the U.S. Department of Education. As for the rest, 15 percent were still enrolled, and 36 percent had left higher education. Do you think you could recognize good teaching if you saw it? What criteria would you use to determine what good teaching looks like? Having an in-class confidential evaluation might be a good start. If you are interested, feel free to contact your Center for Teaching and Learning Enhancement at x7553.

The recent revelation of the cheating scandal at UCF has also uncovered another side of the issue, outsourcing test questions. It seems there is a growing trend for some schools to "buy" test questions from a publisher-provided test bank. If you know the story of UCF and other mega-universities like it, you might understand why it makes sense financially and in terms of the number of students faculty are asked to teach. You can read more about this fascinating topic in a great article by Jason Jones. Included in the article is a nice example of techniques that can be used to build tests that not only encourage student collaboration but are very instructive for faculty not only in terms of learning outcomes but what the students really thought the class was all about. Have you had students complain about test anxiety? Do you consider that a legitimate impairment that should be considered when making decisions about a student's progress? There was an interesting case at the University of Manitoba recently. In addition, the issue has been emerging more in the scholarship of teaching and learning literature. Have you ever been involved in a faculty-led, discipline-specific discussion about what a student should know and be able to do by graduation? The Lumina Foundation is funding a project that is targeted at encouraging states to zero in on these kinds of nitty-gritty details about classroom learning and agree on the specific ingredients that make up a high-quality college education. The annual conference on Distance Teaching and Learning, being held August 3 though 5, 2011 in Madison, Wisconsin has issued a call for proposals with a deadline of January 19. You can submit your proposal online. There are a variety of topics under the broad categories of teach, learn, and connect.

Provost Steve Doblin led a very informative Lunch+Learn today on the topics of promotion and tenure. The faculty were very engaged and brought up a number of very important issues. If you are looking for advice on the entire process, feel free to contact us at the Center to set an appointment. As always, everything we do in the consulting arena is confidential. Do you keep a journal of your teaching experiences during the semester? I started that practice several years ago and it is always so interesting to look back at the end of the semester. I have actually started listing my preconceptions on the first day of class so that I can compare them to reality at the end. It has been so beneficial in helping me improve my teaching and has certainly made me much more student-centered. The national discussion about student cheating has exploded. After the revelation of the large-scale cheating incident at the University of Central Florida, the article by an individual who write papers for pay in the Chronicle added fuel to the fire. Research is slowly emerging in this area but there is a lot to do. If you are using unique techniques to impede cheating in your class that have proven effective, I encourage you to publish your results in one of the many journals focused on the scholarship of teaching and learning. I hope each of you has a very happy Thanksgiving.

Change magazine has an interesting article about course redesign at MIT in the physics department. The impetus to redesign came about because of the high failure rate in physics I and II courses. MIT utilized a best practices model names TEAL (Technology Enabled Active Learning). To quote from the article, "TEAL prevailed because everything was in place that was needed for an initiative of its scale to succeed. First, the reform was centered in a department. The introductory physics courses, Physics I and Physics II, were 'owned' by the physics department, and their problems were the department’s problems." An article out today claims that more than half a million college students now use wireless devices to register class attendance and take quizzes. It goes on to say that although the technology is relatively new, preliminary studies at Harvard and Ohio State, among other institutions, suggest that engaging students in class through a device as familiar to them as a cellphone — there are even applications that convert iPads and BlackBerrys into class-ready clickers — increases their understanding of material that may otherwise be conveyed in traditional lectures. Registration is moving briskly for the upcoming Lunch+Learn on the promotion and tenure process at LU that will occur on Monday, November 22. Space is still available and you can register by contacting the Center for Teaching and Learning Enhancement.

The Presidents’ Alliance for Excellence in Student Learning and Accountability was mentioned a few weeks ago in a post that talked about a renewed commitment to teaching and learning. Now there is new reaction out today. One of the responses mentioned the Degree Qualifications Profile being developed by the Lumina Foundation which will provide a framework of specific student learning outcomes that define the associate’s, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees by showing at each level what students should know and be able to do with their knowledge. We had a spirited discussion at the retention workshop today. There are some terrific efforts occurring specifically in the Nursing Department and STARS that should and can be replicated. This is a conversation that needs to continue. By the way, research has shown that faculty and students who mutually respect each other create an environment for success. In addition, it is very important that faculty actively engage with their students both in and out of the classroom setting. If you encounter a student who wants to leave LU, find out why before you sign off of the drop form. Getting to know your students as human beings can make all the difference in the world when it comes to retention and completion. Just finished reading a terrific article on student engagement titled, "Improving student engagement: Ten proposals for action" by Zepke and Leach that we highly recommend.

In the most recent issue of the American Educational Research Association Division C newsletter, it was noted that over 1,000 proposals were submitted focused on learning and instruction. Of that total, over 27% focused on cognitive, social and motivational processes. This indicates how healthy the field of the scholarship of teaching and learning is and ensures that we will have an abundance of new research and scholarship emerging for years to come. The ACES Fellows along with members of the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) Steering Committee celebrated the success of the program yesterday at a gathering in the John Gray Center. We were honored to be joined by Provost Steve Doblin and Senior Associate Provost Kevin Smith (who also serves as QEP Steering Committee Chair). The occasion was marked by the unveiling of the poster advertising the ACES Fellows course offering for Spring 2011. The excitement continues to build for the workshop focused on retention that will occur on Monday, November 15. Please join us at 2:00 p.m. in room 702 of the Gray Library. You also still have time to register for the upcoming Lunch and Learn focused on the promotion and tenure process at LU. Provost Doblin will facilitate this interactive conversation on November 22 at noon in the Dining Hall.

The field of faculty development is very focused on helping faculty to develop themselves. It was very validating to attend the 35th annual Professional and Organization Development (POD) Network in Higher Education conference last week. One of the more interesting sessions focused on the preconceptions that faculty have about their students. Do you classify your students when the walk into your class or tell you their story? Do you raise or lower your expectations when you decide what "group" they belong to? David Green and Celia Popovic have a book coming out soon that explores this topic. If you can't wait, you might want to look at Dr. Popovic's dissertation work that focuses on the same topic. Preconceptions about our students can cause problems for everyone. We strongly suggest that you try to get to know your students better both in and out of class. Holding informal sessions in the Library or Setzer Center where you can interact with your students in a relaxed setting helps to form bonds and provides an additional link for the students to LU. That relationship development has proven to stunt the attrition rate. Think back to your college days and you too will (hopefully) remember fondly the relationships that you forged then that have survived to this day. Do your part to create Cardinals for life.

Looking to spend a semester in a beautiful location surrounding by cultural jewels and meeting new people? Have you ever looked at the Fulbright Scholar Program? Proposals for the next round are due February 18 so now is the time to begin putting your submission together. Here is a quote from a recent article you might want to read, "We are not far from the day when a student, finding unsatisfactory reviews of a faculty member on ratemyprofessors.com, will choose to take a class through open courseware online and then ask his home institution to assess him." During the recent POD Network conference in St. Louis, I attended a session that promised to help us understand what the Millennials are expecting out of college. One of the most surprising results from the data said that they realize that they need to learn (or relearn) how to study in a different way than they did while attending high school. So do you teach your students how to properly use Google to do research? Looking forward to the retention workshop this coming Monday.

Our students are important to us at LU and we are working hard to improve our retention rates. November 15 is the date of the workshop designed to help all units design retention plans. Just another step in maintaining the student-centered focus at LU. Two words that always get a reaction out of faculty are promotion and tenure. The process for both is often complex but Provost Steve Doblin promises to demystify the policy at the Lunch and Learn on November 22. To fully prepare for this event, we encourage you to take a look at three important documents which will be emailed to you upon registration: the Ad-Hoc Committee's Foundational Agreement on P&T; the LU tenure and/or promotion recommendation form; and, the second and fourth year review form. We are accepting pre-registration for both events at cpmumbach@lamar.edu. Visited the Department of Nursing on Friday to talk about the Center and QEP. What a positive group of folks. I know that our nursing students are in good hands. The Professional and Organization Development Network annual conference is being held later this week in St. Louis and we are attending so look for some new and exciting ideas upon our return.

The conversation at the Lunch and Learn on retention held this past Monday was very enriching. The room was filled with folks from almost every college and all of the student support folks were there. We were very encouraged with the commitment and passion and know that we will stem our attrition rate over time. If you missed the report by the U.S. Congressional Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance entitled The Rising Price of Inequality, you are encouraged to take a look now. We are also looking forward to the retention workshop to be held November 15. This event will be very active as we update or build retention plans for all of the units at LU. Please save the date now and plan to join us. Provost Steve Doblin will be facilitating the next Lunch and Learn about the promotion and tenure policy at LU. This informative event will occur on November 22. It is another save the date for now. Recently rediscovered a gem of an article about Generation Y that might be useful to help explain what motivates them in the classroom. Quoting from the article, "As faculty, we should try to see the world through the eyes of Generation Y, and be willing to learn from our students."

So what would the Southeast Texas economy look like without Lamar University? There would be a $310 million dollar hole to fill and local government would be $8.7 dollars million poorer. That is very significant and solidifies the fact that LU is an economic driver for the region. Seems that Wayne State is experiencing a racial divide on the graduation front. Retention continues to be a top issue around the country. The Lunch and Learn on retention at LU planned for Monday, October 25 is your opportunity to provide leadership in this crucial area. Come with your ideas and a willingness to get involved. Calling all Art faculty who are looking for a short vacation to Massachusetts. The Jay and Deborah Last Fellowships offered by the American Antiquarian Society offer you the opportunity to do research on American graphic material of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries or perform projects using visual arts as primary documents for projects in American history and culture through 1876.

Did you know that of the 42,641 students who enrolled in college in Texas in 2004 only 14,864 graduated with a post-secondary credential as of 2009. That is a staggering loss of 27,777 students. Stemming the attrition rate at higher education institutions is consistently ranked in the top five when it comes to issues of concern for colleges and universities. Is there one solution to this complex problem? Of course not and that is why it is so important for everyone to become involved. Retention is everyone's concern here at LU. We will begin the conversation about this topic at a Lunch and Learn on Monday, October 25. You can register for the event now by sending an email to cpmumbach@lamar.edu or by calling the Center for Teaching and Learning Enhancement at x7553. The session, which will be held in the private dining room of the Dining Hall, will be facilitated by Drs. Oney Fitzpatrick and Sherri Shoefstall. To prepare to participate, we are suggesting the following material: How important are the first weeks of college? The long term effects of initial college experiences; Help Students Achieve; Promoting Student Retention: Lessons Learned from the United States; and, College Student Retention-Defining Student Retention, A Profile of Successful Institutions and Students, Theories of Student Departure. As mentioned above, this Lunch and Learn is a precursor for the retention workshop to be held on November 15. The conversation is richer when we have a diversity of voices.

"Institutions and doctoral candidates are recognizing a need for future faculty who can not only conduct research at top-tier universities, but also be effective in the classroom at a liberal arts or community college. Teaching certificate programs are filling that need at dozens of public and private institutions across the country, and the programs continue to expand. Administrators say the certificates not only give students an edge in the job market, but also teach the skills Ph.D. candidates need to be effective teachers – and faculty need to be lifelong learners." This is according to a story on InsideHigherEd's webpage. If you were not at the faculty development workshop on enhancing your PowerPoint presentation with vodcasts, you missed a terrific session. Presenter Kyle Boudreaux did a superb job and everyone left feeling energized and equipped to turbo-charge their class and conference presentations. We are still programming for the semester and have just added a Lunch and Learn on the promotion and tenure process at LU to be facilitated by Provost Steve Doblin. This is a can't miss event for all of those faculty who are looking to move up the academic ladder. Did you see the news that our online Nusrsing Master's degree was ranked second most affordable in the nation by GetEducated.com?

Just as LU gears up for renewed focus on slowing the attrition rate, the national media brings the item to the forefront again. Looking at the economic issues associated with dropout rates is alarming but it still doesn't override the imperative that our business is about educating and preparing students for the future. Education provides the best platform for people to live productive and happy lives. In addition, society as a whole benefits. Please hold the following two dates: October 25 at noon and November 15 at 2:00 p.m. The first is a Lunch and Learn on retention that will be held in the Dining Hall. The second is a workshop that will allow you to develop a retention plan for your unit. More to follow on both. The Writing Across the Curriculum Teaching and Learning Circle meeting held last Friday was terrific. Not only was the discussion lively but new ideas that should enhance the effectiveness of our writing curriculum emerged. The Circle is off to a strong start. Watch this space and the CTLE website for the next meeting date. If you are looking for a way to turbocharge your PowerPoint presentation, you must attend this Thursday's workshop "Creating Exciting Custom Vodcasts Using PowerPoint." There is still time to RSVP to cpmumbach@lamar.edu.

ACES Fellow Melissa Hudler is facilitating the first gathering of the Writing Across the Curriculum Teaching and Learning Circle on Friday, October 8 at 1:30 p.m. in Maes Hall. If you are interested in participating, contact us. Fellowship and food wrapped up in spirited discussion, isn't that what university life is all about? Participated in a webinar on teaching, learning and technology in the 21st Century. The engaging panel discussion focused on how emerging technology and other trends are shaping the future of higher education, the development of increasingly dynamic roles taken on by Chief Information Officers and Chief Academic Officers, and ideas on how to improve collaboration between IT and Academic departments on campus. It is definitely worth a look. Steele and Kilic-Bahi have written an interesting article about their attempt to improve student's quantitative literacy (QL) skills at Colby-Sawyer College. They suggest that we include more opportunities to practice quantitative skills in the curriculum. Research indicates that skills need to be practiced repeatedly in order to have a lasting effect on student abilities. Raising awareness, providing support, and presenting workshops in which faculty in many disciplines developed activities for their classes increased the amount of QL included in the curriculum.

If you have not discovered MERLOT yet, you are missing out on a great resource. MERLOT is a free and open online community of resources designed primarily for faculty, staff and students of higher education from around the world to share their learning materials and pedagogy. If you are teaching an on-line or blended course and would like to plan a virtual field-trip for your students, I encourage you to view Rodica Neamtu's podcast (about 51 minutes long) Crossroads of the Digital and Real Worlds: Virtual Field Trips for Online and Blended Courses. One of the foundational theories used in the scholarship of teaching and learning is Bloom's Taxonomy. A committee of colleges, led by Benjamin Bloom in 1956, identified three domains of educational activities: cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. The cognitive domain involves knowledge and the development of intellectual skills. This includes the recall or recognition of specific facts, procedural patterns, and concepts that serve in the development of intellectual abilities and skills. The affective domain (Krathwohl, Bloom, Masia, 1973) includes the manner in which we deal with things emotionally, such as feelings, values, appreciation, enthusiasms, motivations, and attitudes. The psychomotor domain (Simpson, 1972) includes physical movement, coordination, and use of the motor-skill areas. Development of these skills requires practice and is measured in terms of speed, precision, distance, procedures, or techniques in execution. The application of this information provides a very solid foundation for those of us who are involved in the academic world, especially at a teaching-oriented institution like LU.

ACES Fellow Dr. Jeremy Shelton recommends a chapter entitled "Taking Stock of What Faculty Know About Student Learning" written by Maryellen Weimer, professor emeritus at Penn St. It is from the book Taking Stock: Research on Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Are you being overwhelmed with requests on your time? Blogger Kerry Ann Rockquemore recommends you create a No Committee. When you are faced with making a decision on a request, tell the person you need to check your schedule and then bring it to your No Committee to discuss the pros and cons of accepting an additional service commitment. Some are predicting that the next U.S. News "Tsunami" will be the inclusion of net-price calculators on university Web sites which will allow families to compare the net prices of colleges. Experts suggest that universities develop net price calculators sophisticated enough to incorporate all institutional grant aid in addition to state and federal sources of aid, thereby lowering the net price that families will see online. Did you know that the best place to start when writing your teaching philosophy is at the end. You need to identify what it is you want your students to know and be able to do when they have completed your class. This decision should be shaped by your own ideas and philosophy and should naturally include developing critical thinking abilities, facilitating the acquisition of life-long learning skills, preparing students to function effectively in a world that is increasingly dependent on electronic resources, and developing problem-solving strategies both within a team and as a leader. Once you have written your teaching philosophy, be sure and share it with a colleague or two for feedback and then continue to revise it as you develop your teaching skills.

Working on a paper about attention deficit trait or information overload has prompted me to explore the other alternatives in this scenario. Some researchers are arguing that information overload may not be the problem at all but could be more fundamentally work overload. There may simply be too much to do, too much activity, or too many diverse duties and expectations. Having a balanced work-life load is essential to our mental well being. Our quality of life and attitude effect everything that we do. Solutions to information overload require us to take control of our information environment. Allowing the information to control us brings feelings of powerlessness and anxiety. Dr. Edward Hallowell offers the following tips: get adequate sleep; watch what you eat; exercise; and, take a daily supplement. Sounds like things your parents told you to do. In addition, he says you should: have a friendly face-to-face talk with a person you like every four to six hours; break large tasks into smaller ones; keep a section of your space free of clutter; reserve some "think-time" each day; and, slow down, move around and ask for help. Our thoughts and prayers are with our colleagues at the University of Texas at Austin where tragedy struck yesterday. Colton Tooley, a nineteen year old student, was described by fellow students who knew him as intelligent and incapable of hurting anyone. A U.S. Department of Education sponsored research report claims that the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English language arts and reading standards demand higher levels of cognitive complexity than do the ACT or American Diploma Project (ADP) national college readiness standards sets.

Did you know there is an organization focused on making our region an economic powerhouse? Leadership Southeast Texas (LSET) has brought together 70-80 of the region's citizens each year for the last two decades. The task at hand is to brainstorm ideas on how to improve the region, build the programming, market it internally and externally and work to ensure that the places we call home are sustained. The regional approach is so smart as we try to "compete" with mega-cities like Houston just 80 miles to our west. LU is an economic driver for the nine-county Southeast Texas Region (SETX). In this model, the mission of CTLE becomes even more important. LU is producing the workforce of tomorrow. Our students are critical thinkers who know how to work as part of a team or assume the leadership position. The task at hand for LSET is to harness this brainpower and funnel it to the communities that comprise SETX. Of course we are not alone in this quest. Eric Suder provides a good example of how we can get involved. Switching gears, there is now evidence that you can improve retention, and the University of Illinois at Springfield has done so by assigning staff members to serve as informal advisers and advocates for online students, says Ray Schroeder, director of the Center for Online Learning, Research, and Service. Do you have your students work in small groups? Are your colleagues utilizing the same active teaching method? Research by Hillyard, Gillespie, and Littig, show that student needs to understand and experience the benefits of learning in small groups but it cannot be happening in isolation. It requires campus initiatives and interdepartmental coordination for maximum effectiveness. Why not start a conversation with your colleagues about a sustained effort to utilize small group learning in your department.

Want to be evaluated as an excellent teacher by your students? Research by Thomas Sherman and colleagues reveals there are five characteristics that are regularly and consistently attributed to college instructors selected as excellent: enthusiasm, clarity, preparation/organization, stimulating, and love of knowledge. They also report that in addition to these five characteristics, experience appears to be an important component of excellence. But what do you do the first time around? Being honest with your students is always a good policy. Realizing that you are in a learning environment and relaxing also helps. You will not have all of the answers all of the time. Letting your students know that you will find the answer and then making sure to follow up and come to the next class (preferably) with the answer is crucial. In addition, it is always good to ask the other students to participate by providing the answer. An active engagement would include having the students provide at least part of the answer themselves. Are you using your Inbox as a to do list? I heard that loud yes so let me offer you some help. Taskforce is a browser plug-in that interacts with your Google Mail or Google Apps account to help you get those pending items out of your inbox and onto a to-do list where they belong. Taskforce is still in beta, and thus you may run into some surprises as you use it.

I am anxious to get a copy of a new novel by first time author Alex Kudera, who has written about a day in the life of an adjunct professor who teaches at four urban universities. Bringing a comedic slant to what we do is sure to be a crowd pleaser on campuses around the world. Looking forward to October 8. That is when the Writing Across the Curriculum Teaching and Learning Circle will gather to discuss Elizabeth Wardle's excellent article "Understanding ‘Transfer’ from FYC: Preliminary Results of a Longitudinal Study." There is still time to join by simply contacting Circle Facilitator Melissa Hudler at melissa.hudler@lamar.edu. I hope you received the email yesterday announcing the upcoming workshop on students with disabilities to be delivered by Callie Trahan. The resources available for helping students overcome challenges have never been better. LU is blessed to have a diverse population of students and this workshop promises to be very beneficial.

I have been doing a lot of reading lately about how the brain works. It has also exposed me to several articles on educational games. The one that is really intriguing to me is Democracy, a government simulation game where the player must introduce and alter policies in seven areas - tax, economy, welfare, foreign policy, transport, law and order and public services. I could see obvious uses in political science but also think it would be interesting to have students in philosophy, accounting, social work, and civil engineering play the game as well. Let me know if you have used this type of teaching resource or have played it yourself. The Southern Regional Faculty and Instructional Development Consortium (SRFIDC) is currently accepting proposals (due December 13) for their annual conference to be held March 25-29. They are looking for proposals that focus on strategies, tools, pedagogies, or technologies related to this year's theme: Reflecting on the Past, Building for the Future. All sessions should include a strong and practical element of audience involvement. If you are interested in online course design, I would recommend this short (11 minute) podcast by Dr. Robin Smith.

Richard Sennett (1976) defined civility as "the activity which protects people from each other and yet allows them to enjoy each others company." He also noted that it may require a facade in order to maintain civility. Although that sounds like he is encouraging in-authenticity, I actually think he is saying that we need to be polite and respectful even in disagreement. As faculty, civility is part of our culture. We experience it in many ways throughout our academic careers. I found it very interesting the first time I attended a professional conference. It seemed at first blush that the "discussant" was being overly critical to the presenters. I soon realized it was part of the process when I saw the entire group at the head of the room gather together after the session. They were smiling and thanking each other for the feedback. It was definitely a lesson in civility. I am hoping to learn more from the Sandy Harris workshop on Thursday about this important topic. There was a nice article on the value of libraries that I wanted to share with you. I would also recommend an interesting article on the benefits of team-based learning and how it promotes student accountability that appeared in New Directions for Teaching and Learning.

We are accepting reservations for the conflict workshop on Thursday. In addition, you might want to check out Jeff Davidson's Complete Idiot's Guide to Assertiveness as well as Patrick Lencioni's Leadership Fable from the Library before the event. Defending Collegiality by Michael Fischer is also recommended reading. Tom Matthews is looking for a few more members for the Test Scanning, Scoring and Item Analysis Teaching and Learning Circle. Contact him at tom.matthews@lamar.edu. I wanted to remind you of a funding opportunity that we have had up on the Center's website for awhile now. The NEH Enduring Questions grant program supports the development of a new course that will foster intellectual community through the study of an enduring question. The grant deadline is September 15, 2010. Let us know if we can help.

The inaugural Lunch and Learn was a rousing success with 20 participants and a nice mix from business, education, engineering, as well as administrative units. So what did we learn? Critical thinking is a very important skill that is complex to measure but we are committed to helping our students acquire the ability and assured that they are fully capable of becoming "good" thinkers. It was a great opportunity for building community as well. We spent some time talking about the use of technology to enhance teaching which prompted an interesting discussion about digital versus immigrant natives (a term attributed to Marc Prensky) as it relates to technology. Daryl Ann Borel, Department of Educational Leadership Adjunct Assistant Professor, recommended a Teacher Tube video that sets the stage for engaged learning. There was also discussion about the need for faculty to get to know their students and to be deeply involved in their education. The idea of a learner-centered/oriented university emerged as the target for LU. Steve Busar, Director of the Southeast Texas P-16 Council, recommended a witty video that illustrates the predominance of technology in our lives. The conversation about critical thinking is to be continued.

We are in the final stages of preparation for the inaugural Lunch and Learn. The first session, focused on the concept of critical thinking, will take place in room 101 of the Dining Hall tomorrow from 12:00 noon until 1:00 p.m. Registration begins at 11:45 a.m. Critical thinking is one of the attributes that the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has identified as a required outcome for all core courses taught at LU. If you attended Dean Brenda Nichols session at the 2010 Faculty Professional Development Symposium, you are well aware of what a complex topic this promises to be for all concerned. This Lunch and Learn will only be the beginning of an ongoing discussion that will eventually need to include our students. The top article in The Chronicle of Higher Education today, Why Teaching Is Not Priority No. 1, focuses on a topic at the heart of the scholarship of teaching and learning. Happy to report that Colin Mumbach has joined the Center for Teaching and Learning as a graduate assistant. Colin is pursuing a master's degree in the Department of Art and holds a bachelor's degree in communication from LU. He joins Olivia Macon, the Center's original graduate assistant, who is pursuing an Ed.D. in educational leadership and holds a bachelor's and master's degree from Ole Miss.

The Chronicle of Higher Education is embarking on an interesting journey. Over the next few months, they will explore the issue of quality as it relates to universities. Should be an interesting study. James Lang has an interesting take on the topic of writing your teaching philosophy which is worth reading. It is a topic that I hope rises to the top of the conversation about teaching and learning at LU. Please remember that there are currently two Teaching and Learning Circles in the formation phase but there is always room for more. If you have an idea about a topic that you would like to explore, let us know and we will try to find a few others that are also interested. We have two requests from your colleagues who are looking to form a Circle exploring the use of blogs in the classroom. If you are interested, send us an email (omacon@lamar.edu). Time management is always a big issue and can be very costly for faculty. If you have not heard of the 80/20 rule, take a look at this podcast and try it out for yourself.

Our first Lunch & Learn is planned for Wednesday, September 8. The door to the private dining room in the LU Dining Hall will open at 11:45 a.m. Lunch is available for purchase from the Dining Hall and the conversation will begin at 12:00 noon. I would encourage you to read the advance material so that you can fully participate in the conversation. Pithers and Soden provide a nice overview of critical thinking in education in their article from 2007. Diane Halpern has written several books on the topic, two of which are available in the Gray Library holdings (Thinking Critically about Critical Thinking and Thought and Knowledge: An Introduction to Critical Thinking). Stephen Norris has a good article in Educational Leadership from 2003. In addition, Facione and Facione have written an informative article about critical thinking in the nursing education area from 1996. We are asking that you RSVP for this event by Friday, September 3 at 4:00 p.m. to tpourciau@lamar.edu. Hope we can fill the room so that the discussion will be lively and informative.

One of my favorite quotes concerning higher education comes from Cai Yuanpei, former Chancellor of Beijing University, who said, "A university is purely an institution of knowledge, not a place to develop one's qualifications or to put one's knowledge up for sale. A scholar should be interested in study and, what's more, cultivate moral qualities as a person of learning." There is an interesting op-ed piece on the opposite end of the civility in class argument. This one, by Billie Hara, is written from the student's perspective and focuses on the professional behavior of faculty. Another good read in preparation for the workshop on September 16 that will address this very topic. A few folks have asked about starting a blog and I tell them "if I can do it..." However, I wanted to mention another resource available for folks who are looking to build using an open source platform. Take a look at Omeka. I specifically encourage you to contribute to the Hurricane Memory Data Base which focuses on Katrina and Rita. If you have not added your memories to this project or accessed the material, I encourage you to do so very soon.

Welcome to the fall semester fellow Cardinals. Read an interesting article about Jeremy Short, who is a professor of management at Texas Tech University. He uses a graphic novel in his class instead of a regular textbook. The kicker is, he also co-wrote the novel with two co-authors. Having taken a similar management course as an undergrad pursuing a degree in economics, I anxiously took a look at the "new" textbook and found it fascinating and a great example of engaged teaching. Let me know what you think. We wanted to wish the ACES Fellows good luck as they either continue (co-hort 1) or begin (co-hort 2) to implement active and collaborative teaching methods into their classes this fall. One of the more fascinating activities we engaged in during the co-hort 2 training session involved the creation of teaching philosophies. As professionals involved in the business of teaching, we all have a philosophy, but the training activity focused on writing it down, fleshing it out and sharing it with our colleagues. This process serves to solidify a clear, concise account of your teaching approach, methods, and expertise. It is the best starting point as you begin to design your course. Goodyear and Allchin provide a nice overview of the benefits of a well developed teaching philosophy.

Happy to report that we had over 70 folks for the 2010 version of the Faculty Professional Development Symposium. We did do video and it will be up soon so check out the Center's website. I want to thank the wonderful presenters that included LU's finest (in alpha order): Kathy Fraccastoro, Melissa Hudler, Johnny Jarrell, Tom Matthews, Brenda Nichols, Sherri Shoefstall, James Slaydon, Randy Smith, Henry Venta, and Steffi Yearwood. Special thanks to Olivia Macon and Robyn Hesse for pre- and post-opps. We also appreciate Mark Asteris and his staff for providing media services and the College of Business for allowing us use of the facilities. Hope to see many more of you either at the Center or at the next event.

There is a very interesting article in the Chronicle today entitled Teachers Without Technology Strike Back. I usually enjoy the material in the Chronicle but the comments in the discussion section usually validate my time much more. This article certainly created an interesting debate. Speaking of debate, I was at the College of Fine Arts and Communication on Tuesday and heard Dr. Mary Evelyn Collins announce that the Communication courses that teach public speaking are filling up quickly. There is a terrific article by Ruth Kennedy that reports results from an experiment using in-class debate as a teaching tool. The students in the course believed that participating in and observing in-class debate greatly enhanced their knowledge of the issues surrounding the debate topics covered. Debate is a fantastic active and collaborative learning method and is highly effective for helping students enhance their critical thinking skills. Hope to see you at the Faculty Professional Development Symposium tomorrow.

Met with Karen Nichols today to finalize plans for the new Resource Satellite for the Center to be located at the Library. You should be receiving an email about the upcoming Faculty Professional Development Symposium. You can view the agenda to make your selections for the event this Friday. There is a session or two that will interest everyone and I hope to see ya'll in Galloway starting at 8:45 a.m.

Just returned from the Fall Convocation where President Jimmy Simmons noted an article written by Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post. In a nutshell, the article is talking about higher education and the value of what you are required to learn as a student. The main point is forget Harvard, think Lamar! LU is one of only 16 universities that received a grade of "A" on the What Will They Learn evaluation. It is also interesting to note that the state of Texas had five schools on that top list (over 30 percent). CTLE will be hosting our kickoff event on Friday. Our website continues to evolve so remember to bookmark and visit it often for updates and new resources. By the way, the picture on the right is a male rose-breasted Grosbeak cardinal. While not the usual LU cardinal, they have been sighted on High Island.

One of the most frequent questions we continue to hear in the faculty development field is "How can I get tenure?" My good friend, Dr. Michelle Masse , is co-editor of a fascinating book (Over Ten Million Served: Gendered Service in Language and Literature Workplaces) that was recently released. The book discusses the idea of "faculty service" and how it should be evaluated in a tenure packet. It reminded me of Ernest Boyer's beautiful work on the scholarship of engagement. I would encourage you to read both. Tomorrow is such an exciting day for many of our Cardinals. Commencement exercises will occur at 9:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Congratulations to the graduates! I encourage you to go and make a difference in a world that is sorely looking for leadership. By the way, did you hear that the National Federation of the Blind gave Blackboard its top accessibility certification? Blackboard is the first learning-management company to earn the certification and the preferred learning-management system at LU.

Held the first training for the new cohort of ACES Fellows yesterday. This is a solid group building on the stellar faculty in the first cohort. You can view the entire list of Fellows. Not only are they a good source of information about the program but you should be advising your students to sign up for their sections this coming Fall Semester at LU. One of the interesting conversations we had yesterday was about teaching philosophies. I encourage you to perform a teaching-style audit at least once a year. Titus and Gremler have written a nice article describing an effective process that you can use. They believe, and I concur, that "educators must regularly engage in thoughtful self-examinations of their instructional beliefs and behaviors, because real growth comes only when educators carefully question and challenge their instructional beliefs and behaviors." There was an interesting article concerning poorly designed websites for colleges and universities. Designing an attractive website that is current and informative is very difficult but the good news is we are producing terrific graduates at LU that can help. The Art Department offers programs in electronic media and graphic design. Judging from the national conversation as well as the comments on the article, there is a great need for folks who are interested in pursuing this as a career.

Finalized the agenda for the upcoming Faculty Professional Development Symposium being held on August 20. I think that we are providing a nice mix of topics that will stir the conversation during the Fall 2010 semester at LU. Visited with Dan Apple (who was invited to visit LU by Dean Brenda Nichols) of the Learning to Learn program, about possibly creating a POGIL Center here. If you have not seen the podcasts of Ben Zander and the art of possibility, I encourage you to do so. He is very inspirational.

Center for Teaching and Learning Enhancement is coming together nicely. Goal is to build a center of excellence for all of the faculty and students at LU. We will use this blog to let you know of the progress. We also want to ignite a conversation on the scholarship of teaching and learning, specific to LU but we will also talk on broader terms when it is appropriate. Take a look at our website. We have also launched a revised website for one of the cornerstone programs, ACES. We are also conducting our first Needs Assessment Survey and have received over 110 responses but we are not satisfied yet. Faculty at LU can access the survey and share their views. Didn't want to close without talking about the return of football to LU after a 20 year absence. I am sure the Cardinals will show their pride. Go Big Red!