Blog Archive
- Mary Poppins Joins HSU Faculty! »
- posted on May 14, 2009 by Joan Van Duzer
What if Mary Poppins joined the faculty at Humboldt State? Would we soon be asking her why her students are so eager and engaged? My guess is that she might remind us, “In ev’ry job that must be done there is an element of fun …Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down … In a most delightful way …”.
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- Furloughs - “Moving Forward” - let’s talk about it….. »
- posted on August 13, 2009 by Riley Quarles
The recently imposed faculty furloughs have generated a climate of uncertainty that I believe warrants an open campus discussion. Humboldt State’s designated closure days for instructional faculty are:
Friday, August 21
Friday, November 20
Saturday, December 19
Friday, January 15
Friday, March 12
Monday, May 17- Continue Reading... »
- UDL: How has it worked for you and your students? »
- posted on September 3, 2009 by Tasha Souza
Over 200 HSU faculty have been trained in the principles of Universal Design for Learning in the last three years. I know that being introduced to the three principles of UDL has impacted the way in which I teach. For example, I am more thoughtful about utilizing multiple methods of expressing course content by different modes (visual, graphic, verbal, auditory, etc.) so students have varied ways to access the course content. In the past, the use of classroom discussions without any visuals dominated many of my class sessions.
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- Less is More … but HOW MUCH Less? »
- posted on October 8, 2009 by Joan Van Duzer
During Humboldt State’s Learning & Teaching Institute last May when Dr. Craig E. Nelson emphasized the importance of including “less content” and replacing some lecture time with learning activities in the classroom, I was reminded of an article by David Shieh that appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education just a couple months earlier, “These Lectures Are Gone in 60 Seconds” (PDF)
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- ‘Teaching Naked’ in the Classroom »
- posted on October 15, 2009 by Kristen Pope
Jeffrey R. Young wrote an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education about ‘teaching naked’ without technology. Here is an excerpt from his article “When Computers Leave Classrooms, So Does Boredom”:
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- Integrating ePortfolios into the HSU Classroom »
- posted on October 22, 2009 by Riley Quarles
Electronic Portfolios, or ePortfolios, are very powerful online organizers of student learning experiences. You might want think of them as learning management systems (like Moodle) on steroids.
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- To Click or Not to Click? »
- posted on November 13, 2009 by Joan Van Duzer
I’ve noticed that student response systems (aka “clickers”) seem to be growing in popularity in university classrooms. Last year my daughter, a junior at Oregon State University, told me that a clicker was part of her required materials list for several classes. As an instructional technologist, I couldn’t help wondering whether clickers are “just another gimmick” or a meaningful way to enhance learning by applying technology. How better to find out if clickers help than to ask students? So I decided to ask my daughter about her experience with clickers. She told me:
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- PECHA KUCHA: NOTES FROM THE FIELD by Andrew Stubblefield »
- posted on January 20, 2010 by Riley Quarles
This Fall Semester (‘09) in WSHD 333 Wildland Water Quality I tried several new techniques. In this posting I will talk about group presentations. Groups of 5-7 students chose term paper topics with a common thread (such as the Klamath River Basin). At the end of the semester they gave group presentations on their topic. I gave each group a range of options for how to use the 50 minutes. Most chose PowerPoint, one group had a poster session, and one group chose PechaKucha. (PechaKucha is a PowerPoint presentation, but limited to twenty slides and set on an automatic timer with only twenty seconds per slide.) It made for an interesting comparison of methods.
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- CSU Chancellor’s Office awards $4,500 to CELT for a Faculty Learning Community on Active Learning »
- posted on January 28, 2010 by Tasha Souza
Due to our current budget constraints and the influence these constraints have on instruction, the Chancellor’s Office Institute for Teaching & Learning (ITL) has awarded funding to HSU for a Faculty Learning Community on Active Learning with the goal of making effective course modifications for our new reality.
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- Combining Forces »
- posted on February 4, 2010 by Riley Quarles
Campus-wide, it’s no secret that HSU is weathering one of its worst budget crises ever. As such, we have all been faced with tough decisions about how to continue providing high quality services in the shadow of perpetually shrinking resources. For CELT, last year’s Learning & Teaching Institute, provided a clear outcome of improved student learning & success (see our full report here (.pdf)), and spoke loud and clear to us that we need to continue to consider this event a priority. With an eye towards greater campus efficiency and broader professional development outreach to those whose travel budgets have been reduced or cut altogether, this year – and hopefully for years to come – we will be consolidating efforts with the Diversity Action Plan Council and their annual Professional Development Day on Diversity to provide a comprehensive, 2-day professional development effort targeted at the entire campus community. The newly titled Institute for Diversity in Learning & Teaching is scheduled for Wednesday & Thursday, May 19th & 20th – so be sure to save the date!
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