Congratulations to the 4 following projects, which were awarded Curricular Redesign Grants for the 2007-2008 grant cycle.
“Investigating Wikis in Courses and Cross-Campus Collaborations in the UWS”
Nancy Chick, Associate Professor of English, UW-Barron County
Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz, Professor of Communications, UW-Parkside
Jakob Iversen, Associate Professor of MIS, UW-Oshkosh
Campuses Involved: UW Colleges, UW-Barron County, UW-Marathon County, UW-Washington County, UW Parkside, UW Oshkosh, UW Eau Claire, UW Green Bay
Abstract: UWS faculty and staff are beginning to investigate the possibilities of using wikis in their courses and in their professional collaborations. The organic development and tracking of knowledge and knowledge-sharing through wikis offers great potential university settings, a potential our project proposes to systematically investigate and disseminate. This project will focus and structure a handful of these investigations of wikis as sites for meaningful interactions in two deliberate ways:
- Student Learning Sub-Projects: sites of students’ collaborative learning, demonstration of such learning, and instructors’ assessments of learning in both single and multi-multidisciplinary course settings and in both undergraduate and graduate collaborations; and
- WiscWiki Hub: the site for all faculty collaborations on this project and thus an illustration of how wikis can be used for professional development activities–from brainstorming and organizing, to collaborative writing of formal materials, to public sharing of products.
“Collaborative Learning Models and Pedagogical Practices for Undergrad Research in Math and Science, Through Team Development of Learning Objects for the PRAXIS II”
Robert Hoar, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Mathematics, UW-La Crosse
Sherrie Serros, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics, UW-Eau ClaireCampuses Involved:
UW-La Crosse, UW-Eau Claire
In addition, faculty and student participants will represent 8 to 10 other UW System campuses, including the UW Colleges
Abstract: Our project seeks to help reverse declining student achievement in math and science and to increase the number of qualified teachers in those fields, as mandated by No Child Left Behind. Further, to address pedagogical needs observed in earlier projects, we will emphasize faculty development and student learning research by:
- Identifying, implementing, and assessing best practices for different models of collaborative learning in undergraduate math and science research.
- Documenting (through the Lesson Study approach) team work, reflection, and discussion of pedagogical learning. Differences in novice-expert thinking in math-science problem-solving will be examined to make expert processes more accessible.
Building on 2006-07 project results—but with greater emphasis on science—we will expand the existing Learning Object (LO) collection addressing math-science problems released by ETS (the producer of PRAXIS exams required for teacher certification). Our
project will create 96 LOs for distributed, customizable learning by pre-service teachers preparing for PRAXIS exams and existing teachers seeking to strengthen their knowledge.Each semester, 12 UW/UW Colleges math, science, andeducation faculty will each develop one expert-novice student team. Teams will meet weekly to discuss content and create storyboards on a template designed to communicate animation and content to
programmers for formatting. Like-models of teams will connect for cross-mentoring. Co-PIs will ascertain faculty needs, share new approaches and challenges, and facilitate building, sharing, assessing, and publishing LOs online.
“Enhancing Active Learning in Political Science Using Student Response System Technology”
Geoffrey D. Peterson, Associate Professor of Political ScienceCampuses Involved: UW-Eau Clair,UW-Stevens Point, UW-La Crosse
Student Impact: At least 300, depending on the faculty involved
Course Impact: A minimum of 15 courses across the system
Abstract: The primary goal of this project is to create a cross-campus community of political science faculty interested in using Student Response System (SRS) technology in their classes. The community will be both on-line and in person and will be created using workshops, web portals, and e-mail lists. The workshops will be held on several campuses and will assist faculty in understanding the theory and the practice behind them implementation of SRS technology. The web portal will be used to establish a common set of effective SRS exercises that will be made available across the system. All of the faculty taking part in the community will participate in at least one on-campus workshop and will also participate in the on-line web portal.
This project will help political science faculty understand the scholarship and technology behind SRS technology and provide them with tools and templates to develop their own SRS exercises in class. The on-line data base will offer all political science faculty the ability to upload, download, and critique SRS exercises The dissemination of the results of this project through political science conferences and publications hopefully will encourage faculty from both inside and outside the UW system to explore and further develop student response system technology.
“Using Technology to Enhance the First Year Experience: Implications for Academic and Co-Curricular Learning”
Jude A. Rathburn, Assistant Professor, Department of Business Administration, UW-River Falls
Lisa Larson, Coordinator of Center for excellence in Teaching and Learning, UW-Superior
Lorna Wong, Director of Instructional Technology Services, UW-Whitewater
Lori Allen, Co-Director of First Year Experience Program, UW-Parkside
Karen Ryan, Director of Educational Technology Center, UW-River FallsCampuses Involved: River Falls, Superior, Whitewater, Parkside
Abstract: In this curricular redesign project we will build upon and extend the work of previous grant recipients as we discover new ways to use technology (e.g. visual learning tools, podcasting, student response systems, wikis, electronic portfolios, email, instant messaging, social networking technology, etc.) to enhance the academic and co-curricular learning experiences of first year students. Over the past five to ten years, faculty and staff on our campuses (e.g. UW-River Falls, UW-Superior , UW-Whitewater and UW-Parkside) have recognized how important it is to intentionally develop and evaluate meaningful learning experiences for first year students, both inside and outside the classroom. In recent years, experts in the first year experience (FYE) have challenged us to recognize that the majority of the first year students who walk through our hallways today, are very different from their predecessors. These “millennial learners” are predominately visual learners who are well versed in multi-tasking, prefer to learn through teamwork and structured experiential activities, and are comfortable using technology to communicate with and stay connected to friends and family members.
However, even though many of these first year, millennial students come to college relatively comfortable with technologies that facilitate communication, they are not well prepared to use technology to enhance their skills and experiences as learners. Consequently, one of the primary objectives of this curricular redesign project is to help faculty and student services staff identify and incorporate technologies that will enhance the technological literacy and academic success of first year students as they learn what it means to think and behave like a college, rather than a high-school student.
Furthermore, our proposal recognizes and incorporates another crucial element to promote the success of first year students – a focus on student learning, both inside and outside the classroom. Research shows that first year students have a much greater chance of success when faculty and student affairs professionals work together to develop well-integrated, academic and co-curricular learning experiences that impact cognitive and emotional development, as well as academic skills (Gardner, Upcraft and Barefoot, 2005). Therefore, participants in this project will also redesign courses so that they include at least one significant, co-curricular learning component that builds upon the application of technology and enriches the learning environment for first year students.
