April Showers Bring May Workshops

Just as the weather starts to warm up (fine-ally!), we're hoping that you stay inside for a bit and take one of the Canvas workshops we have lined up for May--during Finals Week and Intersession.

Check them out:

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If you see something you're interested in taking, log in and sign up using the PD auto-registration.

Hope to see you in A210!

Beyond Campus: Teaching at Sherman Hospital

Last semester I was lucky enough to observe one of our nursing faculty members, Mary CaDavid, on the clinical portion of her Nursing 230 course.

The clinical took place at Sherman Hospital in Elgin, a sparkling new ship-like facility just off the highway at Randall Road. Mary had six students working on the Saturday morning that I visited, although I was only there for a few hours and only got to meet and observe three students.

Each of Mary's students was assigned three patients. At the beginning of the morning, I sat down with Mary and one of her students, Toni, to touch base about one of Toni's patients. The two went through each element of the patient's chart with care, checking and double-checking symptoms, medical history, medication, and diagnosis.

They also did preventative problem solving, with Mary asking Toni questions like, "What is the worst possible thing that could happen to your patient today?" Toni answered that this particular patient could suffer a seizure, so Mary walked Toni through making sure that the room inventory included things like pads on the bed rails, a tongue blade, and oxygen.

I asked Mary about this question, which I found so simple but so obviously important, as well as another prompt for her students about their nursing diagnosis. This is what she had to say:

They need to relate this question to the reason for hospitalization. Often the reason the patients were hospitalized is no longer the thing keeping them in the hospital. For instance, a patient came in with a hip issue, but now has pneumonia. From this stance, the students must think of "worst case scenario."  I then want to know their nursing diagnosis and nursing priorities. I don't want to hear things like "give them the antibiotic for the pneumonia"--that is a physician order. I want to know how they will intervene, such as increasing fluids, mobilizing the patient, or by incentive spirometry.

Sherman Hospital in Elgin--one of the MCC Nursing clinical sites

During this one-on-one meeting, I was impressed by both women: with Toni, for her methodical questioning, her ability to listen to everything Mary was explaining, and her careful follow up questions; and with Mary, for her patience and calm presence, her on-the-spot scenarios and questions leading her student to think critically and answer comprehensively, and her obvious mastery of the subject matter.

At the end of the day I was honored to observe one of our talented faculty members in action, and I vowed to be even more aware of the practical applications of my content area (English composition). I want my students to consider how they can act and how they can be responsible. Hopefully this will give them a more valuable, relevant, and personal learning experience.

If you're interested in being observed in your non-traditional classroom or your traditional classroom, let me know!

Faculty On Display!

Less than a month ago, we put a call-out to faculty on behalf of the Department of Career Services. They were planning a panel discussion for students who were wondering, "What can I do with a major in (fill in the blank here)" and needed faculty participation.

And boy, did you all step up to the plate!

Our students will now have a variety of terrific faculty members (although every MCC faculty member is terrific, so I didn't really need to add that) to query about the ins and outs of particular majors and career paths.

So please promote the event to your students, and if you have time, please come down yourselves!

Look at the great line-up!

Thanks for all your hard work, faculty!

Spring Into April With Professional Development!

The April Professional Development Calendar is chock full of good workshops. Hopefully you'll find something you like! Check out the monthly schedule and then register through the Professional Development auto-registration system.

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And remember: if you spot a workshop you'd love to take but can't because of your schedule, let us know what times are best for you and we'll try to work it out!

Getting to Know our Returning Adult Students

On February 20, a few of us were able to participate in a webinar, hosted by the Chicago Area Faculty Development Network (CAFDN), entitled "The Returning Adult Student."

The CAFDN moderators (Tony Labriola from Governor State and Mike Sukowski from Chicago State) were joined by four adult students: Lisa, a student at Chicago State; Robin, an NIU doctoral candidate who is also currently working at Gov. State; and Matthew, a U.S. veteran student at Harper College, studying nursing and working in the Harper tutoring center.

The focus of the webinar panel discussion was What Our Students Want, and we'd like to give you a run-down of some of the excellent questions and answers from the session.

Question: What makes a model instructor?
Answers:

• A model instructor is personal, cares about learning, is motivated and inspired (Robin). 
• A model instructor pushes students to learn and helps them to understand, works one-on-one, and breaks down complex material (Lisa).
• A model instructor writes her own PowerPoints (not the textbook's), answers personal questions, and tailors material--either the whole class or as individual students (Matthew).

Question: Do you think instructors should be role models of teachers for those students also interested in teaching?
Answers:

• Yes, they should exhibit behaviors and attitudes that students would want to cultivate. Unfortunately, sometimes it's the behavior that students see that they don't want to emulate (Matthew).
• Yes, I've used teachers as models and was aware of how they taught. I took techniques learned from modeling to take into my own class (Robin).
• A model instructor is one we learn from and we want to be like. Instructors should be versatile in instruction. I ask questions and watch teaching style and how instructors help others in the class; I watch how they're helping students learn (Lisa).

Question: How do you feel faculty incorporate technology into the learning plan (or do they)?
Answers:

• Technology is used across the board, but it's not always used well if it's forced on an instructor; it must be embraced by the instructor. If used well, it can be hugely beneficial, but forcing it could harm student outcomes. (Side note: My girlfriend teaches 3rd grade and all the teachers at her school have tablets--our instructors should have them, too [Matthew])!
• I'd like even more technology (but I have a background in tech.)--things like Google features or blogs to develop material. I always enjoy the activity workshops focused on technology (Robin).
• A lab connected to class where we can work hand-in-hand with the textbook is helpful. I don't have a tech. background, but anytime technology helped illustrate concepts from book was useful (Lisa).

Question: Are things changing in the classroom (i.e. changing from lecture)?
Answers:

• Lecture is important and it's not going away, but the interaction and discussion is important (Matthew).
• I prefer group activities, or small groups before large group discussion. Outside classroom projects are helpful so I can learn from my peers (Robin).

Question: What do you not like?
Answers:

• We don't like it when instructors lose patience. Don't let students identify that you've lost patience. Some students are at different levels, so work with all of them to the best of your ability. Don't show everyone a shortcut until they all understand the long way. Don't dump students on the tutoring center--you still need to have a professional relationship with those students for the rest of the semester (Lisa).
• You're responsible for your material. If you know there's a bad example, then get a better one. Don't be as confused as the students. Instructors can be heroes if they have a way to explain complex material in a way that makes people understand. Know your material and be responsible for it (Matthew).
• If you don't have the answer, admit it and get back to your students after you've checked. Be prepared with evaluation terms, such as rubrics, ahead of time, not the day before the assignment is due (Robin).

Question: How demanding should instructors be?
Answers:

• The most compelling pressures are those put on you by yourself, not someone else. I will invest more time and more creativity in assignments if I find the assignments themselves creative and challenging (Robin).
• Be demanding, especially in the lecture environment. Hold students accountable; they'll keep that knowledge available. You have the degrees we want, and that's why we're here, so be demanding of us (Matthew).

Stay tuned to the Professional Development calendar for information about all upcoming webinars and face-to-face workshops--we hope to see you down in A210!

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.

It's FDAC! (and that's a painting by MCC's own Matt Irie in the background)

Now that you see how obviously friendly we are, let us know what we can do to help you get developed!

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!)

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?!)

It's that time of year when you wish you owned this t-shirt

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.

What part of crafting a syllabus have you honed over the years?

Add your ideas in the "Comments" section below!

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:

• 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.])

 Please contact me with your information by Friday, April 19, and thanks!

*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 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. 

 

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: 

• 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!

Graduate Credit Opportunities This Spring and Summer

If you're looking for some graduate level coursework--face-to-face or online--check out some terrific offerings detailed below.

March & April Face-To-Face:
This spring MCC will be hosting a Performance Learning Systems & Rockford College graduate credit course, Designing Motivation for All Learners. Faculty enrolled in this course will "explore the various dimensions of motivation, beliefs in ability, and self-efficacy as they analyze learner orientations and learning preferences"--review the full syllabus , and then register for this great faculty development opportunity!

A graduate credit course opportunity right here at MCC this Spring 2013

March Online:
If you're unable to make the two weekend commitment for the PLS class, why not try the webcast course Differentiating for Diverse Learners sponsored by Advantage Discipline and Spring Arbor University? The webcast format is meant for easy viewing at times that are convenient for you!

Summer Face-To-Face:
And if you're more of a face-to-face student but are waiting for something to come up when you'll have more free time, Advantage Discipline and University of St. Francis are partnering for Relationships + Resources = Results: Education's Essential Equation this summer. The five day course will be held at the campus of University of St. Francis in Joliet, IL--yes, it's a trek down to Joliet, but 3 graduate credit hours are quite an incentive (and you can always use your $300 Professional Development travel money for a hotel...)

You can also check out rolling online courses offered through Connecting Link or Illinois Online Network from University of Illinois--and hopefully there's something for you!