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| It's FDAC! (and that's a painting by MCC's own Matt Irie in the background) |
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
It's Your Faculty Development Advisory Committee!
Thanks to Peter Lilly's student intern, we were able to get a snapshot of the Faculty Development Advisory Committee after the March meeting.
Now that you see how obviously friendly we are, let us know what we can do to help you get developed!
Friday, March 22, 2013
It's On The Syllabus
As you're on Spring Break, you might use some of your time off (not much--it's your break, after all) to think about your Intersession, Summer, or Fall semester syllabus. To help out, we've come up with some ideas for that very reason.
Keep it Green
If you're trying to cut down on paper waste, don't ask the Duplication Center to print out copies of your syllabus for each student. Instead, create a separate one page document for only the course schedule and due dates. Post both documents--your full syllabus and your schedule only--on the LMS. That way, students can print out only the shorter document if they feel they really need a hard copy of the schedule for the semester. (Idea donated by Paul Stahmann--thanks, Paul!)
Keep it Consistent
Does your syllabus have any policies that your rarely (or never) enforce because they're hassles? (e.g. withdrawing students for lack of attendance; writing Student Conduct Reports for cell phone use; accepting late work but then getting thirty late student papers on the last day of class that you have to grade in one afternoon?) Well, consider making it easier on yourself and re-examine those policies.
If you're never really going to withdraw a student who misses four classes, then don't include it in your syllabus; if you're not really going to fill out extra paperwork for that student who occasionally texts in class, then take out that language; and if you really, really don't want to be stuck grading thirty late papers the day before grades are due, then have a deadline for late work or a zero tolerance policy for late work (I'm doing this in my creative writing course this semester--it's a cinch to enforce and amazingly effective in getting students to turn in work).
But as Ellen Zimmerman, Counselor and Coordinator of First Year Experience, says each time she teaches our "Boundaries with Students" workshop for new faculty members, be consistent with whatever your policy is, and make sure you're comfortable enforcing it.
Keep it Clear
Of course everything in your syllabus is clear--all of our syllabus are clear! But sometimes you do something in a classroom that you feel is unnecessary to explain or include in the syllabus, like using technology (specifically, our LMS to enhance your class, or a class blog or wiki).
Students registering for face-to-face courses might be caught off guard with that, as new faculty member Timothy Linnehan (Instructor of Philosophy) found out. One of his returning adult students was thrown off by the technology he used, both in class and as supplements outside of class. Although technology is a necessity and an excellent pedagogical tool, if you have specific technological expectations for your students--or other expectations--it's good to communicate those as soon as possible, and the syllabus is the perfect vehicle!
Keep Them Accountable
Are you sick of students asking questions this late in the semester that they should already know the answers to? (because those answers are on the syllabus?!)
Well there are a few methods used by MCC faculty that could
at least save you peace of mind, if nothing else. You could pull up the syllabus at the start and end of each class so students get used to using it as a guide to the course.
Or you could give your students a syllabus quiz, either in class the first week or through the LMS as homework. But if you're not crazy about a quiz, you could give your students an interactive Poll Everywhere survey--it's a fun way to check their knowledge (and a way to get them to use their cell phones for good rather than for evil).
Some faculty members also include a "sign here" page of the syllabus that students must sign to confirm that they've read and understood the syllabus. And some faculty members (me) just get used to repeating the phrase "It's on the syllabus." (so that they're even saying it in response to "How are you today, Mrs. Power?")
For more ideas about using the new MCC syllabus template, sign up for one of our "The New MCC Syllabus" workshops in April--log into the Professional Development auto-registration for information.
Keep it Green
If you're trying to cut down on paper waste, don't ask the Duplication Center to print out copies of your syllabus for each student. Instead, create a separate one page document for only the course schedule and due dates. Post both documents--your full syllabus and your schedule only--on the LMS. That way, students can print out only the shorter document if they feel they really need a hard copy of the schedule for the semester. (Idea donated by Paul Stahmann--thanks, Paul!)
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| And yours might be even shorter than mine! |
Keep it Consistent
Does your syllabus have any policies that your rarely (or never) enforce because they're hassles? (e.g. withdrawing students for lack of attendance; writing Student Conduct Reports for cell phone use; accepting late work but then getting thirty late student papers on the last day of class that you have to grade in one afternoon?) Well, consider making it easier on yourself and re-examine those policies.
If you're never really going to withdraw a student who misses four classes, then don't include it in your syllabus; if you're not really going to fill out extra paperwork for that student who occasionally texts in class, then take out that language; and if you really, really don't want to be stuck grading thirty late papers the day before grades are due, then have a deadline for late work or a zero tolerance policy for late work (I'm doing this in my creative writing course this semester--it's a cinch to enforce and amazingly effective in getting students to turn in work).
But as Ellen Zimmerman, Counselor and Coordinator of First Year Experience, says each time she teaches our "Boundaries with Students" workshop for new faculty members, be consistent with whatever your policy is, and make sure you're comfortable enforcing it.
Keep it Clear
Of course everything in your syllabus is clear--all of our syllabus are clear! But sometimes you do something in a classroom that you feel is unnecessary to explain or include in the syllabus, like using technology (specifically, our LMS to enhance your class, or a class blog or wiki).
Students registering for face-to-face courses might be caught off guard with that, as new faculty member Timothy Linnehan (Instructor of Philosophy) found out. One of his returning adult students was thrown off by the technology he used, both in class and as supplements outside of class. Although technology is a necessity and an excellent pedagogical tool, if you have specific technological expectations for your students--or other expectations--it's good to communicate those as soon as possible, and the syllabus is the perfect vehicle!
Keep Them Accountable
Are you sick of students asking questions this late in the semester that they should already know the answers to? (because those answers are on the syllabus?!)
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| It's that time of year when you wish you owned this t-shirt |
Or you could give your students a syllabus quiz, either in class the first week or through the LMS as homework. But if you're not crazy about a quiz, you could give your students an interactive Poll Everywhere survey--it's a fun way to check their knowledge (and a way to get them to use their cell phones for good rather than for evil).
Some faculty members also include a "sign here" page of the syllabus that students must sign to confirm that they've read and understood the syllabus. And some faculty members (me) just get used to repeating the phrase "It's on the syllabus." (so that they're even saying it in response to "How are you today, Mrs. Power?")
For more ideas about using the new MCC syllabus template, sign up for one of our "The New MCC Syllabus" workshops in April--log into the Professional Development auto-registration for information.
What part of crafting a syllabus have you honed over the years?
Add your ideas in the "Comments" section below!
Monday, March 18, 2013
We Want YOU to Welcome Students!
If you had a captive audience of hundreds of brand new
freshmen students, what would you say? Would you offer some advice to
avoid pitfalls? Share something exciting from your classroom or your
work on campus? Or would you give a few words of inspiration?
Well, guess what? You'll have that captive audience at New Student Convocation on Thursday, August 15!
We're looking for faculty members interested in giving their own or a collaborative short welcome segment (2 - 5 minutes) at the Convocation ceremony. Each of the four short segments will exemplify our fantastic faculty here at the College by focusing on one of the four tenants of Excellence in Teaching: Subject Matter, Pedagogy, Assessment, and Professionalism.
So if you're a willing and able faculty member, we want you! Please contact Laura Power (that's me!) with the following:
*You thought we couldn't possibly come up with another acronym here at MCC, didn't you? Well, we did. And it's E.T.
Well, guess what? You'll have that captive audience at New Student Convocation on Thursday, August 15!
We're looking for faculty members interested in giving their own or a collaborative short welcome segment (2 - 5 minutes) at the Convocation ceremony. Each of the four short segments will exemplify our fantastic faculty here at the College by focusing on one of the four tenants of Excellence in Teaching: Subject Matter, Pedagogy, Assessment, and Professionalism.
So if you're a willing and able faculty member, we want you! Please contact Laura Power (that's me!) with the following:
- Your E.T.* tenant (will you talk about an exciting classroom project or technique, your work with students outside of the classroom, research in your field, or the transformations you're making in your classroom or department? whatever it is, we'll take it!)
- Your format (Ignite-style presentation [it's a built in five minutes!], speech, or something else altogether?)
- Your time preference (if you want 5 minutes, you've got it, but you're welcome to write and perform a 2-minute ditty about assessment [music department and Robert McCord, I'm looking at you…])
- Your buddy (this one's optional, but if you'd like to do a presentation with a colleague, go for it! [although that doesn't mean you get twice as much time. sorry.])
*You thought we couldn't possibly come up with another acronym here at MCC, didn't you? Well, we did. And it's E.T.
What Can Students Do...
Contributed by Flecia Thomas, Dean of Student Success
The Department of Career Services is planning a series of thirty minute seminars entitled “What Can I Do with a Major In…?” on Thursday, April 18th from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. and we would love your help!
We hope to showcase a variety of
faculty who are working in their chosen majors. During each thirty minute session
we would like to have at least two faculty panel members address the following
as agenda:
The Department of Career Services is planning a series of thirty minute seminars entitled “What Can I Do with a Major In…?” on Thursday, April 18th from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. and we would love your help!
We would like to invite at least one faculty member
per department to be featured as one of two panelists for these seminars.
Each seminar would have two faculty speakers who will share their insights for
twenty minutes and answer questions for the remaining ten minutes. This will give our
students the opportunity to gain insight into careers associated with the
majors they are considering.
- How did you select your major and are you working in a career related to your major?
- How much education did you receive in order to attain your current position?
- What insights can you provide into the job outlook for your major?
- What information could you provide on other possible careers that one could pursue with your major?
If you are interested in being a
featured faculty panelist, please check your e-mail for a message from Laura Power regarding the sign-up process (which is very easy!).
Thank you for your time and have
a terrific day!
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