The Craf T THEINCLUSIVECLASSROOMSPROJECT

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1 APRIL 2017 The Craf T THEINCLUSIVECLASSROOMSPROJECT Please join us Monday, March 27t h f rom 12:00 t o 1:30 p.m. in t he Cent er f or Teaching f or a special present at ion by Maria Trumpler, Direct or of t he Of f ice of LGBTQ Resources at Yale Universit y. During Yale?s campus prot est s in t he f all of 2015, many st udent s of color spoke publicly about comment s and act ions in classrooms t hat made t hem f eel t hat t hey did not belong at Yale. In response, t he Int ercult ural Af f airs Council st art ed t he Inclusive Classrooms project t hat is based on peer-led discussions of experiences and suggest ed best pract ices f or f acult y. Maria Trumpler will share t he peer discussion guide, some of t he best ideas f or pract ices t hat result ed, as well as some of t he challenges of bringing st udent s and f acult y t oget her around t his t opic. This is a special opport unit y and we hope you will join us. Co-sponsored by t he CFT and t he Of f ice of t he Dean of t he College / Associat e Dean Elizabet h Skomp. Lunch will be provided; please sign up HERE.

2 Teaching wit h Blogging: Lessons Learned On February 23, Assist ant Prof essor Melody Crowder-Meyer (Polit ics) shared some lessons she learned f rom incorporat ing group blogs int o her Campaigns and Elect ions course. She shared her primary object ives f or requiring her st udent s t o blog: t o encourage t hem t o engage more f ully wit h t he polit ical campaigns t hat were happening, to increase t heir civic engagement, t o encourage bet t er writ ing, t o def eat procrast inat ion on t heir f inal paper, and t o enhance t heir social media skills. Af t er discussing her blogging requirement s and assessment, Melody shared what worked and what didn?t f rom her own perspect ive and f rom t he point of view of her st udent s. St udent f eedback at t he end of t he semest er was most ly posit ive, and Melody says she will use a modif ied version of t his t echnique in f ut ure classes. However, she caut ions t hat?simpler is bet t er? when ut ilizing blogs, bot h f or t he st udent s?sake and t he prof essor?s. If you missed Melody?s inf ormat ive present at ion, you can wat ch it HERE (and view her slides HERE). Melody?s experiment wit h blogging in t he classroom was support ed by an Innovat ive Teaching grant f rom t he Cent er f or Teaching.???? An Int roduct ion t o Spat ial Humanit ies Richard Apgar (Asst. Prof. of German) and Margo Shea (Mellon Fellow wit h t he Collaborat ive f or Sout hern Appalachian St udies) joined us on February 15 t o present t heir ongoing work in t he new f ield of Spat ial Humanit ies. Bot h Richard and Margo part icipat ed in t he DuPont Summer Seminar on t he t opic in June, 2016 wit h Dr. John Corrigan (Universit y of Chicago). Af t er def ining and explaining t he root s of Spat ial Humanit ies, t hey discussed using?big dat a? and geospat ial visualizat ion not only as research t ools but also as a way t o present t he result s of inquiry. Margo and Richard were candid about bot h t he possibilit ies and t he limit s of t his approach, and t hey openly shared t heir own f orays int o t he realm of spat ial humanit ies. Margo present ed st udent-generat ed work f rom a?deep map? assignment in a class she t aught in t he Advent semest er of 2016: Place, Memory, and Ident it y. Richard shared his ongoing scholarly project of mapping t he German Enlight enment period. Links t o RESOURCES and SLIDE DECK

3 Being CREATivE in t he Upper-Level Seminar On March 2, Assist ant Prof essor Elise Kikis (Biology) shared wit h us how she experiment ed wit h a new way of exposing her st udent s t o scient if ic research in her Biology of Aging course. From a meet ing wit h Ashley Morris (C'97), a biology prof essor at Middle Tennessee St at e Universit y, Elise was int roduced t o t he CREATE met hod. The CREATE (Consider, Read, Elucidat e t he hypot hesis, Analyze and interpret the data, and Think of the next Experiment) method uses an intensive analysis of primary literature to humanize research science for undergraduates. In Elise's Biology of Aging course, she used some aspect s of t he CREATE met hod. In part icular, her st udent s f ocused on t he t raject ory wit hin a single research lab group. St udent s were int rigued by how one of t he PhD st udent s in t his research lab event ually f lourished in his own independent career. Elise t reat ed t he classroom like a lab meet ing, where t here would be a minut e lect ure t o set up t he meet ing, t hen a robust discussion about t he work under st udy. In concert wit h t he Universit y's recent emphasis on public speaking, st udent s in Elise's course also gave f ormal and inf ormal present at ions associat ed wit h t he scient if ic research t hat was st udied in t he course. To increase st udent success, she f ocused on ext ensive planning prior t o t he f ormal present at ions by her st udent s. She scheduled at least t wo 1-on-1 meet ings wit h each st udent t o discuss t he science in t he research paper and t o help wit h t he organizat ion of t he present at ion. For t he inf ormal present at ions, Elise gave each st udent group t he t ask of int erpret ing a f igure f rom t he assigned research paper. These groups would discuss f or a short period of t ime and subsequent ly explain t he f igure t o t he rest of t he class. It is clear t hat f rom implement ing t he CREATE met hod, her st udent s were more engaged in t he classroom and less t hreat ened by t he rigor of t he scient if ic research. If you missed Elise?s present at ion, you can wat ch it HERE.

4 Most Likely t o Succeed by Tim Jesurun Visit ing Assist ant Prof essor of Psychology The award-winning document ary Most Likely To Succeed was shown at t he SUT on March 6t h (wit h a discussion af t erward). The f ilm addressed several issues relat ed t o t he st at e of educat ion in America t oday. Our educat ion syst em was designed about 125 years ago t o produce t he labor f orce needed f or t he indust rial revolut ion. The goal was t o mass-produce workers who could f ollow direct ions and complet e repet it ive t asks wit hout errors. The syst em was t weaked t o meet t he rising demand f or repet it ive whit e-collar jobs in t he middle of t he 20t h cent ury. We now live in a world where robot s can do repet it ive manual jobs and comput ers can do a growing amount of whit e collar jobs, such as beat ing Ken Jennings at Jeopardy and writ ing news st ories. Theref ore, what we need t o be doing now is producing young adult s t hat are ready t o be creat ive and social, t wo t hings comput ers are f ar behind us in. Sadly, our school syst em has not adapt ed and is st ill working t o produce now out dat ed skills. So t he document ary t akes a dive int o High Tech High, a high school in which t he barriers bet ween subject s is lowered, st udent s direct much of t heir own learning, and where t est s and quizzes are replaced wit h long-t erm t eam project s. Breadt h of educat ion is reduced, but dept h, and most import ant ly higher-order t hinking, is increased. This is held up as a model f or bet t er educat ion, rat her t han t he st andardized t est crazed educat ion syst em we current ly have. Our f irst t opic in t he discussion af t erwards was what we t hought some of t he import ant skills were t oday t hat schools should be t eaching. We t alked about : - public speaking and oral communicat ion - risk t aking, f ailure, and learning f rom f ailure which are punished in school - how dif f erent t eamwork is in t he workplace f rom group work in school and t he challenges of group work - how t he t eachers in t he f ilm worked hard t o help st udent s t o be self-direct ed and let t hem have a great deal of cont rol over t heir goals, class t ime, and t he use of resources Next we discussed major changes we wish could happen in educat ion t oday. Some of t he ideas included: - helping st udent s f ind t heir passions at a younger age and pursue t hem - making a gap year bet ween high school and college mandat ory - reducing ef f ort s at t eacher account abilit y, which are most ly about st udent st andardized t est s scores, and t rust ing t eachers more t o use t heir creat ivit y and insight t o educat e our children I f inally prompt ed t hem t o t hink about college in part icular even t hough t he f ilm was most ly f ocused on high school. We t alked about : - how educat ion moves st udent s t hrough t he checkpoint s, but has much less room f or individualit y and independent t hought t han t here should be - t he art if icial rules of college admission and big money behind t he t est prep and college prep indust ries - how higher educat ion is not suf f icient ly diverse, especially around socio-economic st at us and geographic regions. Finally we summarized our t ake away wit h t he t hought t hat it would be ideal if our educat ion syst em was designed t o creat e bet t er human beings, not bet t er st udent s.

5 VICTORIA- SEWANEECOILPROJECT by Paige Schneider Teaching Prof essor of Polit ics In 2015 I had t he opport unit y t o t ravel t o Minneapolis wit h f acult y colleagues f rom t he Mellon Globalizat ion Forum (MGF) t ask f orce t o part icipat e in t he Associat ion of American Colleges and Universit ies (AACU) Global Learning conf erence. One session t hat I f ound part icularly int erest ing was on Collaborat ive Online Int ernat ional Learning or COIL. The present ers at t he COIL session shared most ly posit ive experiences about using a variet y of inf ormat ion t echnology plat f orms t o connect t heir classes wit h st udent s and colleagues f rom ot her colleges and universit ies around t he world. There is a consensus t hat st udent s who have t he opport unit y t o engage personally wit h people f rom ot her count ries are more likely t o be responsible and knowledgeable global cit izens. St udy abroad programs serve t his purpose well. But, as t he St at e Universit y of New York?s (SUNY) COIL Inst it ut e f or Globally Net worked Learning has f ound, virt ual collaborat ions bet ween st udent s f rom dif f erent count ries in a classroom set t ing can be a cost ef f ect ive way to f acilit at e cross cult ural underst anding and shared learning on import ant global issues. In 2013 Sewanee Spanish prof essor Angela Jordan conduct ed a successf ul collaborat ion bet ween her Sewanee st udent s in Spanish language classes and English language st udent s at t he Universidad del Nort e-barranquilla, Columbia, demonst rat ing t he educat ional benef it s of virt ual exchanges f or language learners. I considered t he benef it s of t his t ype of int eract ion f or st udent s in polit ics and women and gender st udies, and decided t o pursue t he project idea. I reached out t o a Ugandan prof essor t hat I met at Vict oria Universit y in Kampala? Lina Zedriga? t o see if she was int erest ed in a COIL exchange. Lina planned t o t each a class on women and human right s in t he spring t erm, and I a seminar on gender, violence and power. We would have roughly equivalent numbers of st udent s. I applied f or and received a Cent er f or Teaching grant t o help f acilit at e t he collaborat ion. Over t he next t wo mont hs, we agreed on a basic t imeline f or joint class meet ings, key t hemes t hat we would discuss as a group, collaborat ive project s in which t he st udent s might?t win? or pair up, and ways t o document our work. Looking back, t he course planning was by f ar t he easiest aspect of t his endeavor! We f aced a number of key challenges. Kampala and Sewanee are nine t ime zones apart? except when t he U.S. revert s t o st andard t ime in November. Lina and I had agreed t o Skype f or a meet ing in December but I had f orgot t en about t he t ime change t hat occurred in t he U.S. in November when we set our meet ing t ime. It is not easy t o explain t he concept?day light savings t ime?

6 t o someone f rom a count ry in which t his archaic pract ice does not exist. We were bot h bet t er prepared t hough, when in March we revert ed back t o daylight savings t ime. Fort unat ely, Lina t aught t hree hour long classes in t he evening, and my st udent s agreed t o meet earlier in t he morning, enabling us t o work around t he t ime change. Vict oria Universit y is a relat ively new privat e universit y wit h modern f acilit ies and bet t er t han average t echnology f or a Ugandan universit y. Nonet heless, colleges and universit ies in low income count ries obviously lack many of t he resources t hat we t ake f or grant ed. I sought t he assist ance of Freida Headrick in Library and Inf ormat ion Technology Services (t hanks Freida!) t o ident if y a t echnology plat f orm t hat might work f or t he collaborat ion and we decided t o t ry GoToMeet ing. Sewanee has a GoToMeet ing account and we could share t he resource wit h Vict oria. We held a pract ice session and all went well. But on t he day t hat my st udent s showed up bright and early f or our of f icial launch of t he collaborat ion, and t he I.T. specialist f rom Vict oria was on hand t o assist Lina?s class, we f ailed t o connect. Af t er a f rust rat ing t hirt y minut es wit h no luck, and no clear sense as t o why it was not working, we ended t he session. We t ried again on anot her occasion, but Int ernet service was apparent ly unavailable across much of Kampala on t hat day. At t his point I wondered if t he t echnological divide was t oo vast and if COIL was perhaps best suit ed f or part nerships bet ween colleges in high or middle income count ries. Sewanee student Walker Buxton in Kampala, Uganda, with some of the Victoria University students she met virtually in the COIL class. June Plan B was t o use Skype, or Google Hangout. Now early February, and wit h t he Uganda president ial elect ions looming, we hoped f or t he best. Unf ort unat ely, episodic violence and a heavy milit ary presence on t he st reet s of t he capit al cit y f orced a closing at Vict oria Universit y. Vict oria st udent s headed back t o t heir homet owns t o wait out elect ion season. They ret urned t o class in March, but midt erms were in f ull swing and t hen Sewanee st udent s depart ed f or spring break. It was not unt il Sewanee st udent s ret urned t o campus in lat e March t hat we had our f irst successf ul virt ual classroom meet ing over Skype. On t he day we f inally connect ed wit h Vict oria st udent s, t here was an exuberant out burst t hat I imagine was heard?round Spencer Hall. We f ormed int o small working groups according t o t hemat ic int erest s (i.e. women and healt h; gender and leadership; int ernat ional relat ions) and Sewanee and Vict oria st udent s t raded cont act inf ormat ion and made plans t o f ollow up wit h each ot her.

7 I had explored various online plat f orms f or t he collaborat ion and f ound Hight ail, a user f riendly plat f orm t hat easily incorporat es images, videos, and ot her f orms of inf ormat ion int o collaborat ive virt ual work spaces. Sewanee and Vict oria st udent s shared t heir biographies and pict ures on our space. We also decided t o creat e a Facebook page which drew only moderat e int erest f rom t he Vict oria side as Int ernet connect ions can be spot t y out side of class, and dat a f or mobile phones is pricey. In t he end, st udent s had t he most success connect ing over What sapp, which is similar t o Snapchat, f ree, and used widely in East Af rica. However, it is not conducive t o in-dept h discussions, so a combinat ion of Facebook, , and What sapp was necessary. The st udent assignment f or t he COIL project was t o post inf ormat ion about int eract ions wit h Vict oria st udent s t o a class journal on Blackboard. Vict oria draws st udent s f rom a wide range of count ries so Sewanee st udent s st ood t o learn about t he lives of t heir age peers f rom a diverse group of East Af rican and Horn of Af rica count ries. To t he ext ent possible, st udent s were t o draw connect ions bet ween what we were learning in class, and what t hey discussed wit h and learned f rom t heir Vict oria colleagues. A number of st udent s who shared insight s f rom t heir exchanges demonst rat ed clear connect ions wit h class mat erial and a deeper underst anding of import ant t hemes. One st udent post ed:?we t alked about t he civil wars in t he DRC and Mali (as pert ains t o my research paper) and she asked if I knew about Memba, one of t he vice president s of t he DRC. Alice t old me t hat 'he helped send his army t o quell a coup in Cent ral Af rican Republic but Our Hightail class virtual workspace where students posted their biographies.

8 couldn't st op his men f rom raping and molest ing women and children.? I t hought t his was?.usef ul in support ing Elisabet h Wood's argument t hat if t hose in higher up posit ions t olerat e sexual violence, it is more likely t hat t roops will engage in sexual violence, t han if t he higher up out right condemns and punishes t his sexual violence.? In a wide ranging conversat ion wit h one of t he young men in Prof. Zedriga?s class, a st udent st at ed:?at t his point I t old him t hat I was really int erest ed in women's right s, reproduct ive right s and human right s issues; I asked him his opinion on abort ion, even t hough I wasn't sure if t his would be cont roversial. He said he doesn't believe it is a cont roversial issue 'at all'-because?i believe every woman has a right t o decide if and when she want s t o get pregnant.' I t hought t his was really progressive of him and spoke t o an egalit arian mindset, perhaps. This [support s] t he research t hat shows t he younger generat ions of men in count ries being generally more progressive and f orward t hinking t han older, more conservat ive men, alt hough I wasn't sure if Julius was represent at ive of ot her young men f rom Tanzania.? By t he end of t he semest er, some st udent s had connect ed t o and sust ained a meaningf ul dialogue wit h one or more Vict oria st udent s, and t hose st udent s report ed f inding t he experience excit ing and f ulf illing. For t hose who experienced f ewer successf ul exchanges, t he experience was, at t imes, f rust rat ing. All of t he Sewanee st udent s were surprised at how much t hey had in common wit h t he Vict oria st udent s, and could clearly see t he ef f ect s of how social media and ot her inf ormat ion t echnologies f acilit at e t he global int egrat ion of diverse cult ures. The research t hat demonst rat es global dif f usion of norms around women?s human right s was corroborat ed in many of t he st udent exchanges, providing import ant insight t o Sewanee st udent s whose views of people in Af rica can be dist ort ed by unidimensional media represent at ions. According t o st udent f eedback, t he t ime dif f erence was t he single largest barrier t o connect ing and communicat ing wit h Vict oria st udent s. Wit h more t ime t o plan and schedule t he next COIL class, t his problem can be addressed. Challenges wit h t echnology and t he unreliabilit y and cost of access t o t he Int ernet are import ant considerat ions f or t hose who might consider a COIL project wit h a colleague in a low income count ry. Prof essor Zedriga and I would like t o t ry again, t hough. My hope is t hat it will be a bit easier t he second t ime around, wit h f ewer surprises, and more realist ic expect at ions of what we and our st udent s can hope t o accomplish over t he course of t he semest er. PAIGE SCHNEIDER

9 OUTSIDETHEGATES: UPCOMINGOPPORTUNITIES ACS Grant s Updat e The pre-proposal deadline f or t he grant cycle f or t he ACS is June 16. The st af f at t he ACS is available t o work wit h f acult y and st af f t o answer quest ions and help develop proposals. The ACS has several new out reach t ools t hat are ef f ect ive in generat ing int erest in t heir grant s programs. ACS grant s webpage Go here f or f ull inf ormat ion on t he program and process, including t ools f or f inding collaborat ors, a sample grant abst ract, award amount s and applicat ion f orms and deadlines. ACS Grant s Facebook group Go t o ACS Grant s Group and ask t o join. Here, you?ll f ind news and art icles relat ed t o t heir grant t hemes and can become a part of a growing communit y of innovat ors. If you have any quest ions, ideas, or suggest ions, please cont act Jennif er Dugan using t he inf ormat ion below: Jennif er Dugan, PhD Direct or of Facult y Programs Associat ed Colleges of t he Sout h 2970 Clairmont Rd., Suit e 1030 At lant a, GA Phone: Cell: jdugan@colleges.org Research on Teaching and Learning Summit Oct ober 13, 2017 Kennesaw St at e Universit y Kennesaw, GA Since 1993, t housands of educat ors in colleges and universit ies f rom across t he count ry and globe have part icipat ed in t his int erdisciplinary conf erence t o discuss and share experiences and innovat ive t eaching t echniques. The Summit of f ers concurrent sessions on cut t ing-edge issues in pedagogy and st udent learning in a relaxed, congenial at mosphere. There are also opport unit ies f or part icipant s t o net work wit h f ellow educat ors. Part icipant s report t hat t hey have learned many new ideas t hey were able t o bring back t o campus, and t hat t hey have been energized by int eract ing wit h a collegial communit y of educat ors invest ed in excellent t eaching. The keynot e speaker is Linda B. Nilson, Ph.D. f rom Clemson Universit y. Her t alk will be ent it led "Specif icat ions Grading: Rest oring Rigor, Mot ivat ing St udent s, and Saving Facult y Time". Talk Abstract: The way we have been grading student work for many decades earns low marks on a list of 14 criteria for assessing grading systems. This keynote presents an alternative system, specifications (?specs?) grading, that does better, especially in motivating students to achieve outcomes and produce high-quality work. Better yet, it saves you time. The system works effectively because it gives students more choices and control while holding their work to high academic standards. By the end of this keynote, you will be able adapt one or more of your courses to a pure or synthetic version of specs grading and revise your syllabus accordingly. Proposals are current ly being accept ed f or present at ions and post ers. Please consider at t ending and submit t ing a proposal f or t he Research on Teaching and Learning Summit. Proposal Submission Deadline: Monday, April 3, 2017

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11 ALLIEDACADEMICPROGRAMSPOTLIGHT Of f ice of Advising Reminders and Announcement s The t ime approaches f or us t o meet wit h advisees t o t alk about course select ion f or t he f all, and so we?ll soon be sending out advising preparat ion worksheet s t o advisees t o f ill out bef ore t hey meet wit h advisors. Be sure t o clear some t ime t o meet wit h advisees in t he week prior t o t heir course regist rat ion window, and cont act t hem early t o encourage t hem t o sign up f or appoint ment s (and get t heir PINs). We?ll also make f unds avail able soon f or a spring meal wit h advisors who are int erest ed in get t ing t oget her wit h t heir groups (or wit h individual advisees at McClurg or St irling?s? however you want t o spend your meal st ipend). For all current advisors Now? bef ore t he midt erm grades are of f icially calcul at ed? is a great t ime t o check in wit h advisees about how t hey are f eeling about t heir coursework t his semest er. For advisors of sophomores The of f icial major decl arat ion window f or f ourt h-semest er st udent s has now ended, but if you st ill have second-year advisees who have not decl ared, please urge t hem t o choose a major and new advisor. For new f acult y Keep your eye out f or an announcement about t raining sessions in May and August f or brand new advisors! These int eract ive small-group sessions will f amiliarize you wit h t he philosophy of advising at Sewanee, guiding st udent s t hrough t he General Educat ion requirement s, and t he dif f erent seasons of advising st udent s over t he f irst f our semest ers, and we?ll go over a number of hypot het ical advising scenarios. If you have any quest ions, cont act Laur yl Tucker (vlt ucker@sewanee.edu).

12 SEWANEEWELLNESSINITIATIVE Holist ic wellness at Sewanee...Where are we? and Where do we want t o go? The Sewanee Wellness Init iat ive (SWI) group along wit h t he Cent er f or Teaching are host ing inf ormal lunches where small groups of f acult y can share t heir t hought s on wellness. This is a f ollow up t o t he survey sent earlier t his semest er. From t hose responses we know t his is an import ant t opic, and we want t o hear more f rom you. This will be a f un lunch t o cat ch up wit h colleagues while sharing your views on how we can creat e an enriching place t o work t hat serves all of our wellness needs. Lunch dat es at t he Cent er f or Teaching: Thursday, April 6t h at 12:30 pm Wednesday, April 12t h at noon bet sy sandl in Co-Direct or, Cf T OURWEBSITEANDCALENDAR Associat e Prof essor, Spanish bsandlin@sewanee.edu DEONMILES Co-Direct or, Cf T Prof essor, Chemist ry dmiles@sewanee.edu Phot o Credit s: Yale Universit y. Teachcreat e.org. Paige Schneider. WordPress.