Office of Instructional Improvement Volume 2 No. 6

Renton Technical College January 2004 Office of Instructional Improvement Volume 2 No. 6

Here’s What Worked for Me… Please send us tips for this new section—what’s working for you—inspired by a faculty member’s suggestion that if we pooled our strengths and creativity, it could only benefit our students.

Rapping in the Kitchen … Mimi Reed used rap to break the ice and get students thinking about a variety of recipes and ingredients in the Culinary Arts Program. The assignment was for students to rap or sing a recipe. Presentations varied from a country and western presentation of a smoked ham sandwich, to a rap recipe for ambrosia. The students joined into choruses, supported shy class members and laughed in all the right places! A community-building experience! Ask her about it. mailto:[email protected]

Motivation Bucks… Donna Maher, Sandi Goldsbary and Shannon Sharpe distribute “Medical Bucks” to motivate students in the Medical Office Program. Later in the school year students will be able to redeem their “bucks” at an auction for prizes solicited from community businesses. Find out more: mailto:[email protected]

Faculty Room Many individuals have asked about the video How to Give a Talk shown at the December team meeting. The presenter is Patrick Winston from MIT and the tape is in the RTC Library with the call number: 371.396/WINSTON/1997. Noreen Light of the Emergency Dispatch Program shares her notes on the video, which can be a helpful reminder of the tips Professor Winston shared. Click here to access Noreen’s notes.

Great idea for Tenure Candidates Brian Thompson of the Ford Asset Program suggests that other tenure teams ask tenure candidates to submit the full Program Self-Study from the Accreditation Report to their tenure team. This not only gives the team members a quick orientation to the field of study, but also gives a glimpse of the continuous improvement process for that program. A great idea, which originated with Daryl Walker of the Commercial Building Program!

Faculty Publication Congratulations to Jim Coan of the Surveying Engineering Program on the publication of his article, “Weights of Observations” in the Winter 2003 edition of Evergreen State Surveyor. Send him congratulations at mailto:[email protected] Being published is great publicity for your program and the college. Let Faculty Focus know about your publications so we can “pat you on the back.”

Mnemonics Webpage Often the best way to help a student remember the order of things is a mnemonic like ROY G. BIV to remember the colors of the rainbow in order (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet), or “lefty-loosey, righty-tighty” to remember how a knob or screw works. Often a good exercise is to have students come up with a mnemonic for information they must memorize and recall. Here is a webpage that has collected mnemonics in many fields. You might find a mnemonic to help your students or contribute some your class has come up with. http://users.frii.com/geomanda/mnemonics.html Differentiating Instruction for Student Success We have diverse classrooms. Students come with different levels of preparation, different learning styles, and intelligences. This article explains how we can orchestrate our knowledge in four areas: our students, the curriculum, cognitive theory and differentiated instruction practices to bring all the students to the finish line. http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/teaching_techniques/modified_concerto.html

The Socratic Method You don’t have to speak Greek to use the Socratic Method to further classroom discussion. It is a great way to break up a lecture and make it more interactive. This article from the Stanford Center for Learning and Teaching discusses this method and the steps you need to take to use it effectively. If you find yourself sometimes talking to a sea of blank stares, this method will get your students involved. http://ctl.stanford.edu/teach/speak/socratic_method.pdf

Do Your Students Understand? Are you frequently asked to repeat key points because students are having difficulty following the lesson? Do students turn in assignments that just repeat the information you have given without any evidence of analysis or synthesis? This excerpt from Troubleshooting Your Teaching by Geoffrey Quires includes pointers on how to reach more of the students more of the time. http://ctl.stanford.edu/Tomprof/postings/489.html

Why Can’t They Spell? In many programs where flawless written work is a desired competency, there is an increasing concern about student’s spelling and lowering standards. This article speaks to some of the causes for this challenge and some possible solutions. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/05/1070351785633.html

Earn your Masters Degree in the Comfort of your own Home Azusa Pacific University is advertising a 15 month online M.A. in Educational Technology which gives you the support of working in a 15-student cohort, focuses on technology-supported curricular tools and uses interactive online strategies. Check out the website at http://www.apu.edu/educabs/graduate/advanced/masters/edtech/online/ Or contact the program director, Kathleen Bacer, Ed.D., mailto:[email protected]

UDL Pilot Information & Thank You The Universal Design for Learning Pilot wants to thank Kinsey Fobes for his help training pilot instructors on how to use their new Interactive Whiteboards! Stay tuned for a chance to see what the Pilot Instructors are doing! During Winter Quarter, the Disability Services grant will be providing information and training opportunities for those of you who are interested in finding out more about the teaching strategies and assistive technologies being used by the pilot instructors. For more information on the concepts of Universal Design for Learning, look at Ohio State Fast Facts http://telr.osu.edu/dpg/fastfact/undesign.html or CAST’s site at http://www.cast.org/udl/

The Learning Challenges Screening and Assessment System Update: We have identified and served 33 students now through the Disability Services grant. Only 4 of these students have required formal learning disability assessment. The majority have been served very successfully by strategies in the classroom! If you have a student with a learning challenge and you would like some help through the Disability Services grant, contact Cathy Jenner at 425-235-2352 x 5639 or [email protected].

Quotable “It's what you learn after you know it all that counts." ~ John Wooden

For more information regarding the articles in the Faculty Focus or to give input or suggestions of things you would like to see incorporated into this newsletter please contact the Office of Instructional Improvement.

The mission of the Office of Instructional Improvement is to advance educational strategies, seek to improve the quality of learning environments, and support RTC staff as they prepare a diverse student population for work.