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2021-2022 - LInc Faculty Fellowship Discussion Group

The LInc Faculty Fellowship Discussion Group 

Monthly discussions among LInc Faculty Fellows centering on course and instructional transformation. Discussion focus on key principles in teaching and learning, and on research-based recommendations on instructional techniques aimed at improving student learning. 

Participants: 
LInc Faculty Fellows: Boris Kozinsky, Dan Levy, Jia Liu, Kelly Miller, Elsie Sunderland
LInc: Eric Mazur, Lisa Frontado 
LInc Pedagogical Fellows: Salma Abu Ayyash, Robert Haussman, and Deniz Marti
Active Learning Lab: Anas Chalah 


Welcome New Fellows
Tuesday, June 29, 2021 - 9:00-10:00am  
Discussion Leader: Eric Mazur, PhD 


Backward Design and the Development of Learning Goals- I
Friday, September 17, 2021 - 10:30-11:45am
Discussion Leader:  Kelly Miller, PhD 

Readings: 

  • McTighe, Jay. Understanding by Design : Professional Development Workbook. Alexandria, Va. :Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2004. CH.1 What is Backward Design. 
  • Reynolds, Heather & Katherine Dowell Kearns (2017) A Planning Tool for Incorporating Backward Design, Active Learning, and Authentic Assessment in the College Classroom, College Teaching, 65:1, 17-27.


Depth vs Breadth
Friday October 315, 2021 - 10:30-11:45am 
Discussion Leader: Jia Liu, PhD

  • Petersen, Christina & Baepler, Paul & Beitz, Al & Ching, Paul & Gorman, Kristen & Neudauer, Cheryl & Rozaitis, William & Walker, Jd & Wingert, Deb. (2020). The Tyranny of Content: “Content Coverage” as a Barrier to Evidence-Based Teaching Approaches and Ways to Overcome It. CBE life sciences education. 19. 10.1187/cbe.19-04-0079.
  • Modo M, Kinchin I. A conceptual framework for interdisciplinary curriculum design: a case study in neuroscience. J Undergrad Neurosci Educ. 2011 Oct 15;10(1):A71-9. PMID: 23626496; PMCID: PMC3598188.

Guiding Questions: 

  • How to balance depth and breadth for highly interdisciplinary course materials
  • How to balance depth and breadth in a one-semester course
  • How to balance depth and breadth for students with very different backgrounds
     

Rethinking grades—Bringing meaning to an ill-defined measure
Friday, Dec 10 - 10:30–11:45am
Discussion Leader: Robert Haussman, PhD 

Teaching More by Grading Less (or Differently) by Schinskey and Tanner. 
Specifications Grading - We may have a winner by Robert Talbert. 

Optional
How to Set Up Mastery-Based Grading in Your Classroom from the Cult of Pedagogy Podcast. The corresponding article is also available on Perusall if you would like to comment.
More resources

Guiding Questions/ Discussion

  • Robert Haussman and Salma Abu Ayyash have prepared the following guiding questions for you to consider as you read the materials. These questions together with your comments on Perusall will help to frame the 12/10 discussion.

    When we talk to a student, we (hopefully) care more about their answer to “What did you learn?” than “What were you taught?” Similarly, we should (hopefully) be able to answer “What did your student learn?” with similar certainty as “What did you teach your student?”

    For Friday’s meeting, let us revisit Thorndike’s legacy—and Dewey’s defeat—of learning summed up as a grade (remember the LInc talk by Sanjay Sarma?). In particular, we would like you to ponder the following questions to anchor our discussion:

  • What do grades mean to you and your students in your class? (What is the interpretation of a B? When does a grade occur, what is its purpose, and is it actionable? How do considerations of fairness, consistency, motivation, or even ranking factor into your thinking?)
  • How do you define “mastery” in your class, and what opportunities do you (or could you) provide to increase your students' capacity to develop mastery?
  • If a student is struggling in your class, could you open your gradebook (or equivalent) and be able to identify exactly where they should focus their efforts?


To supplement the discussion we would like for you to read and discuss on Perusall the article Teaching More by Grading Less (or Differently) by Schinskey and Tanner. We would also like to discuss some alternative grading schemes that recent LInc Faculty Fellows have implemented, namely Specifications Grading. As an informal primer, please see the articles/blogs by Robert Talbert (Specifications Grading - We may have a winner) and Linda Nilson (Yes, Virginia, There’s a Better Way to Grade

Finally, if you are a podcast fan, we highly recommend the episode (and corresponding article) How to Set Up Mastery-Based Grading in Your Classroom from the Cult of Pedagogy Podcast. It details some common challenges and solutions that Mastery Grading approaches can address, as well as illustrates some insightful perspectives on equity in teaching and learning.

We have curated additional resources to help you delve deeper in thinking about grading and assessment in your course designs. You can find them in the Grading and Assessment resources document in the meeting folder on Perusall.


Curricular Reform — What are the obstacles and how to overcome them
Friday, February 18, 2022 - 10:30-11:45am
Discussion Leader: Elsie Sunderland, PhD  

Readings

  • Hyun, Eunsook & Oliver, Shawn. (2011). Comprehensive curriculum reform in higher education: Collaborative engagement of faculty and administrators. J. Case Stud. Educ.. 2. 
  • Optional [ A case study in Environmental Education ]
  • Vincent, Shirley & Focht, Will. (2011). Interdisciplinary environmental education: elements of field identity and curriculum design. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. 1. 14-35. 10.1007/s13412-011-0007-2. 

 
Guiding Questions

  • The core competencies/ identity of students (as the product) within a program
  • How to better engage faculty in curricular reform efforts (or at least not provide a roadblock to such efforts)

How faculty can work together to provide a better integrated curriculum for students – a curriculum which equips students to address contemporary problems in society and at the same time overcome “faculty culture” within specific disciplines. 


Bringing the best of online teaching into our physical classrooms 
April 15, 2022 -- 10:30-11:45am
Discussion Leader: Dan Levy, PhD 

When transitioning to teaching live sessions on Zoom, faculty members adapted as best as they could to the new environment. Relative to teaching in a physical classroom, many teaching practices felt inferior or simply more difficult. But over time, some teaching practices emerged as being better in a virtual Zoom classroom than in a physical classroom. Now that many of us are back to teaching in physical classrooms, a key question is whether we can incorporate some of what worked on Zoom into our physical classroom teaching. 

Readings: The following readings will prepare you for the discussion. Please plan to read prior to the discussion. 

  • Ho, Andrew. Five Lessons I am keeping post-pandemic. The Faculty Lounge. Harvard Business School Publishing Education. 7.6.2021 
  • Berges, Sonya; Martino, Shawna; Basko, Lynn; McCabe, Crystal. “Zooming” into Engagement: Increasing Engagement in the Online Classroom. Journal of Instructional Research, v10 p5-11 2021. 

Guiding Questions

  • What ideas/practices that emerged in online teaching have you brought into your in-person teaching?
  • What ideas/practices that emerged in online teaching would you like to bring into your in-person teaching? 
  • Please consider things you do (or would like to do) differently outside and inside the physical classroom. Do focus your attention though on things inside the classroom as this will be the focus of our discussion.