Quality Undergraduate Education

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Quality Undergraduate Education

• MSU Sociology Department TA Workshop
• August 25, 2006
• Geoffrey Habron
• Fisheries and Wildlife
• Sociology
• Bailey Scholars
• habrong_at_msu.edu
• Berkey 401A
• 432-8086

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Learning Instructor Students
Instructor
effective
Student Learning Outcomes
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Backward Design

• Stage 1 Identify desired outcomes and results.
• Stage 2 Determine what constitutes acceptable
  evidence of competency in the outcomes and
  results (assessment).
• Stage 3 Plan instructional strategies and
  learning experiences that bring students to these
  competency levels.

Wiggins, G., McTighe, J.(1998). Understanding
by design. Alexandria, VAAssociation for
Supervision and Curriculum Development. http//pix
el.fhda.edu/id/six_facets.html http//www.ubdexch
ange.org/resources.html
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Learning Outcomes
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Meeting the Challenge of Teaching Sociology in
the Twenty-First Century

• Report of the Task Force on the Undergraduate
  Major
• Liberal Learning and the Sociology Major .
• American Sociological Association. January 2005.
• lthttp//www.asanet.org/governance/LiberalLearningU
  pdate.pdfgt

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Deep Learning (ASA)

• Relates previous knowledge to new knowledge
• Relates knowledge from different courses
• Relates theoretical ideas to everyday experience
• Relates and distinguishes evidence and argument
• Organizes and structures content into a coherent
  whole and
• Emphasis is internal, from within the student
• Deep learning clearly implies increasing
  integration among topics, courses, and
  out-of-class experiences.

Pg. 44
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MSU SOC Undergraduate Mission

• Illustrate sociological perspectives
• Help students develop skills in critical thinking
• Introduce and explain strategies and methods for
  conducting sociological research

Gold and Pyle. 2005. MSU Sociology Department
assessment plan. January
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MSU SOC Undergraduate Principles

• Student responsibility for learning
• Active learning and research skills
• Doing sociology
• Team learning
• Computers
• Job skills
• Life skills
• World as a classroom
• Integrate graduate and undergraduate education

Gold and Pyle. 2005. MSU Sociology Department
assessment plan. January
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Instructor Factors

• Pedagogy
• Strategies

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PedagogyStudent-centered Learning

• With such an approach, the impact on student
  learning is the key variable in all course,
  department, and institutional decisions. From
  this perspective, we must consider, for example,
  student variables and diversity, the impact of
  the environment on learning, learning styles, and
  the scaffolding for learning. Covering the
  content is not the important objective in this
  paradigm rather, it is nurturing student
  learning.

ASA Pg. 44
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Strategies7 Principles of Undergraduate Education

• Encourage student-faculty contact
• Encourage cooperation among students
• Encourage active learning
• Give prompt feedback
• Emphasize time on task
• Communicate high expectations and
• Respect diverse talents and ways of learning.

Chickering, A. and Z. Gamson. Seven Principles
for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education.'
American Association for Higher Education,
1986. http//honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committe
es/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/7princip.htm http//
www.byu.edu/fc/pages/tchlrnpages/7princip.html
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Student Factors

• Outlook on Learning (Where they start)
• Intellectual development
• Learning Styles (How they learn)
• Multiple intelligences

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Lee Knefelkamp. Models of Intellectual and
Identity Development http//www.greaterexpectation
s.org/briefing_papers/ModelsIntellectualIdentity.h
tml
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Learning StylesMultiple Intelligences

• Intrapersonal self smart
• Interpersonal people smart
• Visual image smart
• Musical sound smart
• Logical-mathematical logic smart
• Bodily-kinesthetic body smart
• Naturalistic nature smart
• Verbal linguistic word smart
• David Lazear. Eight Ways of Knowing Exploring
  Multiple Intelligences
• http//www.multi-intell.com/MI_chart.html

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Learning Instructor Students
Student-centered - ASA
?
?
Intellectual development William Perry
Instructor
effective
?
Multiple intelligences Howard Gardner
?
7 Principles - Chickering and Gamson
Student Learning Outcomes
Deep learning - ASA
?
Doing sociology MSU SOC
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Resource

• MSU Office of Faculty and Organizational
  Development (grad students too!)
• Deb DeZure, Director
• Patty Payette, Coordinator
• Lilly Teaching Seminars
• Meet Michigan
• Mid-term class assessments
• http//www1.provost.msu.edu/facdev/index.asp

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Lilly Teaching Seminars Fall 2006

• Issues in Evaluating Teaching A Comprehensive
  Perspective
• Using Demonstrations to Promote Conceptual
  Understanding in Chemistry Making Connections on
  the Macroscopic, Microscopic, and Symbolic Levels
  
• Making Classroom Lectures Interactive and
  Effective Engaging Students in Course Content
  through Interactive Lecturing  
• Getting Beyond Covering Content in your Courses
  Introduction to the Readiness Assurance Process
  and Team-Based Learning
• Designing, Managing and Grading Effective Group
  Assignments
• Designing Games and Simulations for Learning
• Teaching for Successful Intelligence Teaching
  and Assessing Students with Diverse Learning and
  Thinking Styles

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• There is a wealth of research, theory, and
  practical ideas on important approaches to
  teaching and learning in higher education should
  inform discussions about, and choices made for,
  the sociology major and curricular or pedagogical
  reforms. Three of these are briefly discussed
  here
• learning-centered instruction,
• deep learning, and
• best practices.

Pg. 44
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MSU Boldness by Design

• http//strategicpositioning.msu.edu/default.asp

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Enhancing the Undergraduate Experience Task
Force Recommendations

• Enhance the first year experience assist
  students in making a strong academic and social
  transition, and in creating appropriate
  expectations about their undergraduate education
• Promote the improvement of and rewards for
  successful college teaching
• Articulate, target and expand opportunities for
  undergraduate students to develop cultural
  competencies.
• Promote and integrate more active and applied
  learning in undergraduate education
• Modify the undergraduate curriculum and related
  policies so that our goals for undergraduate
  liberal learning are met
• Enhance the physical environment in ways that
  support learning for the students, faculty and
  staff at MSU
• Continue the review of graduate programs and
  graduate teaching and the mentoring of graduate
  students.

http//strategicpositioning.msu.edu/documents/BbDI
mperative1_002.pdf
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Report of the Working Group on Improving
Undergraduate Education Goals for Liberal
Learning

• 1. Integrated Judgment
• 2. Advanced Communication Skills (both writing
  and speaking)
• 3. Cultural Competence (addressed in
  recommendation 2)
• 4. Analytical Thinking
• 5. Literacy in Science and Mathematics
• 6. Effective Citizenship