Editor's Note
Last semester, Ken Bain, author of What the Best College Teachers
Do, spoke at the Carlson School of Management. In her review
article, "Learning as an Unnatural Act," Kate Martin
explains Bain's assertion of what it takes to dislodge naïve
misconceptions among learners. What does it take to help a novice
in any field to become an "adaptive expert" who thinks
nimbly and can easily transfer his or her learning to new domains?
Bain asserts that students must be given authentic and challenging
problems before instructors take a didactic teaching approach.
The learning struggle helps students understand what they don't
fully know.
In the article "Sparking Students through Problem-Based
Learning," Mary Brakke and Kevin Smith explore the effects
of problem-based learning (PBL), a method that embodies much of
Bain's research. What happens when students grapple with
unstructured and real world problems? How do they formulate evidence-based
responses to questions such as "are genetically modified
organisms safe?" In addition to analyzing how students adapt
to a PBL model, Brakke and Smith are also interested in formally
measuring student motivation and study habits. The article details
their struggles with classroom assessment and formal survey instruments.
With this issue, we continue to publish excerpts from the Making
Meaning of a Life in Teaching program. In her essay, "My
Magnificent Seven: A Memoir of Students Who Have Shaped My Teaching," Kathleen
O'Donovan reflects on what she terms her "reservoirs
of revelation." In this excerpt, she recalls one student,
a Cambodian scholar, whose personal struggle reminds us of how
much we learn from our students, particularly when we are drawn
into their world as learners. We'd like to remind you that
now is a good time to think about enrolling in the Making Meaning
program for the Fall of 2008.
Ilene Alexander reviews a recent set of workshops on the "Pedagogy
of Revolt" given by noted scholar, Cherrie Moraga. Moraga
problematizes the conditions of teaching and learning within a
large institution. She reminds us to examine the privileged status
of education and the radical power of "contrary moments" that
emerge
while teaching.
In the previous issue, we briefly outlined the history of the
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), and we promised to
further outline the role of SoTL in the framework of faculty work.
Specifically, we need to understand how SoTL relates to the idea
of "good teaching" and to that of "scholarly
teaching." Do these three categories make sense when we look
at the educational facet of an instructor's career? To learn
more about all of this, read "What is ‘Scholarly Teaching'?"
Finally, we'd be remiss if we didn't offer a token
eulogy for the soon-to-be razed Science Classroom Building. While
many disparaged its concrete-block construction and its labyrinthine
halls, we at the Center for Teaching and Learning will miss our
home of nearly three years. Though the wrecking ball will be pulverizing
this loveable bomb shelter, CTL will relocate to Suite 425 of the
University Office Plaza at 2221 University Ave.
(We like to think of it as stadium seating for the new football
complex.) Until that move in the late spring or early summer, you
can still find us by the river.
– Paul Baepler
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