David F. Feldon in his article Why Magic Bullets Don't Work (Change 2010) encourages us to "let our students in on the secret once we have figured out what content needs to be taught." He notes that students "sincerely appreciate knowing up front what they will be learning, what is expected of them, how they will be assessed, and how all of these elements fit together." Sharing this, he explains, prevents them from "extraneous effort." Steven J. Bell writes in an op-ed piece that many professors are perplexed by their students’ entitlement complex. To their way of thinking, say the faculty, students see themselves as customers who deserve being treated as “always right” no matter how wrong, rude, inconsiderate, or otherwise bizarre they behave. Bell suggest that "faculty members should try designing an actual experience for their students, modeled on the principles and qualities of iconic user experiences." In case you missed it, The Chronicle of Higher Education published a story about recent legislation passed by our Texas legislators that applies to the time it takes students to graduate. Legislation signed into law this year will require all students to file degree plans after completing 45 semester hours of courses. Students who were tempted to wait out the recession by dabbling in a few more courses will have to convince advisers that all of the classes they're enrolling in count toward their degrees. The new law, House Bill 3025, will also allow transfer students to receive credentials retroactively when the credits they earn at an upper-level college complete the requirements for an associate degree they started at a junior college.

Blastoff occurs on August 16 at 8:30 a.m. and the countdown has begun. All sessions will be held in the Galloway Building. The folks at the Center for Distance Education will be presenting three sessions on Blackboard and there promises to be something for the beginner as well as the expert. In addition, we will have a sessions to help you rev up your research activity including a session on using your experience in teaching and learning to create scholarship and a session that will explain how you can have that scholarship published in a peer-reviewed journal. This is an event packed with professional development opportunities to help you grow as a teacher. We are still collecting ideas for Faculty Learning Communities (FLC) for the fall semester. Research shows that FLCs tends to improve the culture of the institution. In addition, one study revealed that junior faculty who participated in FLCs were tenured at a significantly higher rate that for those who were not in FLCs (Cox, 1995). There are two types of FLC: cohort based and topic-based and we hope to offer both. So send in your ideas to todd.pourciau@lamar.edu now. As we move closer to the first day of class for the fall 2011 semester, we wanted to share some tips with you. Students establish their habits on that first day so it is important for you to set the tone. Foster community by making students feel comfortable and welcome. That means you should arrive early and greet them as they enter the room. Have your name and the course name on the board. Learn their names as soon as possible and there are all sorts of ice breakers that can help you do this. Patterning also begins on that first day so you have to be really clear about your expectations and the roles that each of you will play. If you are making full use of the teaching toolbox by using active learning methods as well as traditional styles (which is what we said in our QEP) then make sure you begin the first day modeling your expectations. If you expect them to speak in class, write in class, engage in small group discussions, and develop a network of support among their fellow classmates, ask them to do this on the first day as well. Keep your message clear to avoid confusion. Remember, your CT+LE is ready to help you with any of these suggested strategies, so come by and visit us on the sixth floor of MJGL, give us a call at x8426 or send us an email.

We just wrapped up our orientation session for the ACES Fellows cohort 3 and it was terrific. This cohort of Fellows is really impressive and will definitely build upon the foundation laid by cohorts 1 and 2. The group includes Sara Gubala (Political Science), Michelle "Mo" Ozmun (Dance & Theatre) Amy Smith (English & Modern Languages) Julie Wilhelm (English and Modern Languages), and Golden Wright (Dance & Theatre). The Fellows were joined by presenters Tom Matthews, Todd Pourciau, and Randy Smith who were assisted by Rezvan Khoslessen. Provost Steve Doblin also stopped in to thank the group for their courageous leadership and willingness to improve their teaching. We will continue to share updates as the academic year progress about all of our ACES Fellows and their impact on the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP). Look for ACES Fellows alumni Jeremy Shelton and Cecil Johnson at the Faculty Development Fall 2011 Blastoff event on August 16. They will be presenting sessions about their experiences with course redesign and the implementation of active learning methods. There was an intriguing article on the prospect of conducting interdisciplinary research or collaborating across departments and how that scholarly work is treated during the promotion and tenure process. Just recently, the University of Southern California became one of the first institutions in the country to provide departments and committees with clear and explicit instructions on how to weigh interdisciplinary research and collaborative scholarship when rewarding faculty. USC wants to better support interdisciplinary scholarship largely because it serves a competitive advantage, according to the article.

Research shows that active learning encourages students to take ownership of their education. Using active learning methods in your classroom compels students to develop life-long skills like critical thinking and time management. Linda Nilson, Director of the Clemson University Office of Teaching Effectiveness and Innovation, will visit LU on September 27 and 28. One of her planned workshops is Transforming Your Students Into Self-Regulated Learners. Hold the dates on your calendar now and look for more detailed information in your inbox soon. Since we frequently utilize the electronic journal service of the MJGL, this article by Steve Kolowich on the evolution of the peer-review process was very interesting. Joe Pickrell, a doctoral student in biology at the University of Chicago asks, "Left unanswered … is a more fundamental question: why do we publish scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals to begin with?" Do you find yourself struggling to create posters that catch your colleagues eyes while expressing your scholarly intent? A colleague recommended the use of PosterGenius. I took a look and it appears that it would be very useful. See what you think. With the advent of ereaders like Nook and Kindle, you knew the publishers would look for new ways to keep them relevant. The textbook arena is the natural next step. It certainly provides a nice alternative to carrying around tons of heavy textbooks. Sarah Kessler writes in her article on the subject, "Barnes & Noble focused on the etextbook game in 2010 with the release of its free desktop ereader, Nook Study. The software allows students to read, search and annotate textbooks, as well as keeps track of course-related documents. Students can also use the Internet to look up definitions and other information, like formulas, directly from the text." We are still accepting ideas for Faculty Learning Communities that we first discussed July 1 on this blog. Look for more information about this exciting program here and in your inbox.

You may recall that back in April we began the search for the next cohort of Active and Collaborative Engagement for Students (ACES) Fellows. This year's program attracted a large number of applicants who submitted their ideas on how best to redesign their core course. The ACES program is an integral part of the Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) at LU. We are pleased to announce that cohort 3 of the ACES Fellows has been chosen. Working together for academic year 2011-12 will be the following: Sara Gubala, Instructor, Department of Political Science, Michelle Ozmun, Assistant Professor, Department of Theatre and Dance, Dr. Amy Smith, Assistant Professor, Department of English and Modern Languages, Dr. Julie Wilhelm, Assistant Professor, Department of English and Modern Languages, and Golden Wright, Assistant Professor, Department of Theatre and Dance. Take a look at the ACES website for more information. You might have read the announcement this morning about Blackboard adding partnerships with publishers. In addition to its existing agreement with McGraw-Hill, they added Pearson, Wiley, Macmillan and Cengage for various content offerings. LU Center for Distance Education Director Johnny Jarrell thinks that these additional resources will be beneficial to our faculty and students. There will be a Blackboard track at the Faculty Development Fall 2011 Blastoff event on August 16 where you can learn more about this new initiative. Philip A. Titus and Dwayne D. Gremler write in their article Guiding Reflective Practice: An Auditing Framework to Assess Teaching Philosophy and Style, "A fundamental goal for every educator should be to grow continually as a teaching professional. Such instructional growth requires hard work and commitment. Specifically, serious growth requires an educator to engage regularly in an objective self-examination of his or her instructional beliefs and behaviors." Get a jump start on learning how to begin a self-examination program at the journaling session of the Blastoff. This method has been proven to help faculty members improve their teaching abilities and increase student learning.

Summer session 1 is history. Summer session 2 is in full swing. The beginning of the fall 2011 semester will be here in just over one month. We are energetically making plans to deliver the best Faculty Development Fall 2011 Blastoff ever. Many of you will be very interested in hearing from some of the past ACES Fellows about their experiences implementing active learning methods into their core courses. There will be two of the nine sessions total devoted to sharing best practices. We will be sending out an email selection survey towards the end of July so check your inbox. If you are doing research in the area of literacy, the Journal of Literacy Research is looking for you. To discover what types of articles they are looking for and how to submit, visit their website. We have added a number of books to the faculty development resource shelves on the 6th floor of MJGL (Mary and John Gray Library). The bookshelves are located in the corridor of the CT+LE suite of offices where you can browse and grab a free cup of coffee as well. Stop by anytime between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on weekdays. Have you incorporated the use of Wikipedia into your course yet? Many faculty apparently have done so and are asking their students to create entries for the online encyclopedia. Wikipedia recently sponsored an academic conference that allowed presenters to showcase their work. Laurence Miners and Kathryn Nantz have an interesting article that is recommended reading for anyone planning to transition from a sage-on-the-stage to a guide-on-the-side type of classroom instruction model. Here is a teaser, "We realized that if we wanted learning outcomes to change, we had to change as well. We used Fink’s taxonomy to identify goals for our courses and put them front and center on our syllabi. More important, we went over these goals with the students and, throughout the semester, made an effort to link class activities and assignments back to these goals." Finally, we are excited to announce that Linda Nilson, Director of the Office of Teaching Effectiveness and Innovation at Clemson University, has agreed to visit LU. Dr. Nilson will present several faculty development workshops on September 27 and 28. We will have more detailed information here and on the CT+LE website as soon as the agenda is finalized.

Now is the time to begin thinking about what type of faculty learning community (FLC) you would like to create. FLCs were first created in response to a lack of community, collegiality and interaction among faculty and have been around for more than 30 years. Research has proven the merit of FLCs and the concept continues to be honed to meet the needs of ever changing colleges and universities. Dr. Milton Cox, who was a co-facilitator at the summer institute we participated in last week, says that FLCs contribute measurably to faculty retention and satisfaction, intellectual development, and greater civic and academic contributions. Cox and others have conducted research that revealed that FLCs can heighten student learning, assessment, and learning outcomes and strengthen scholarly teaching and the scholarship of teaching and learning. CT+LE is bringing the FLC format to LU this fall. We are currently seeking information from everyone who might be interested in facilitating, co-facilitating or participating in a FLC. Now is the time to submit your ideas to us. Better yet, feel free to stop by our new facilities on the sixth floor of MJGL (pronounced muggle; Mary and John Gray Library) to discuss your ideas with us. To set an appointment, email Todd Pourciau (todd.pourciau@lamar.edu) or Rezvan Khoslessan (rkhoshless@lamar.edu). We have already received a few suggestions including the following: integrating sustainability lessons across the curriculum, implementing active learning methods into your course; developing a community book program, and exploring a first year student success program. We are looking for more and will be sharing the ideas as they come in so feel free to send us yours now. You can learn more about FLCs here and here.