The Journal of Effective Teaching an online journal devoted to teaching excellence Volume 13/Issue 2/September 2013 The Journal of Effective Teaching an online journal devoted to teaching excellence Volume 13/Issue 2/September 2013 Online at http://www.uncw.edu/cte/et/ The Journal of Effective Teaching an online journal devoted to teaching excellence EDITORIAL BOARD Editor-in-Chief Dr. Russell Herman, University of North Carolina Wilmington Editorial Board Diana Ashe, English John Fischetti, Education Madeleine Bombeld, Library Science Russell Herman, Mathematics and Physics Caroline Clements, Psychology Colleen Reilly, English Pamela Evers, Business and Law Associate Editor Caroline Clements, UNCW Center for Teaching Excellence, Psychology Consultants Librarian - Madeleine Bombeld Reviewers Andrew Bourelle, University of New Mexico, NM Eva Jorgensen-Graham, UNC Wilmington, NC Emily Boren, UNC Wilmington, NC Grace Keyes, St. Mary’s University, TX Michelle Britt, UNC Wilmington, NC Kristen A. Frey Knepp, Virginia Tech, VA Barbara C. Buckner, Columbus State Univ., GA Roseanne McDougall, LaSalle University, PA Donald Bushman, UNC Wilmington, NC Nancy McCormick, Middle Tennessee State, TN Michelle d’Abundo, UNC Wilmington, NC Beth Allred Oyarzun, UNC Wilmington, NC John Fischetti, Southern Louisanna University, LA Linwood J. Randolph, UNC Wilmington, NC Rachel Goff, University of South Florida, FL Charles A. Lynn, UNC Wilmington, NC Jana Hackathorn, Murray State University, KY N. Eleni Pappamihiel, UNC Wilmington, NC Jace Hargis, Higher College of Technology, UAE Jana Robertson, UNC Wilmington, NC Scott Imig, UNC Wilmington, NC Jack Tessier, SUNY Delhi, NY Submissions The Journal of Effective Teaching is published online at http://www.uncw.edu/cte/et/. All submissions should be directed electronically to Dr. Russell Herman, Editor-in-Chief, at [email protected]. The address for other correspondence is The Journal of Effective Teaching c/o Center for Teaching Excellence University of North Carolina Wilmington 601 S. College Road Wilmington, NC 28403 USA FAX 910-962-3427 (ISSN 1935-7869 for limited print issues and ISSN 1935-7850 for the online issues) The Journal of Effective Teaching, Vol. 13, No. 2, 2013 ©2013 All rights reserved. The Journal of Effective Teaching an online journal devoted to teaching excellence CONTENTS Letter from the Editor-in-Chief: Are Grades a Necessary Evil? Russell L. Herman …………….…………………………………................................. 1-5 Scholarship of Teaching Teaching Beginning College Students with Adapted Published Research Reports William R. Klemm ………….………………………..………...................................... 6-20 Student Research in an Introductory Psychology Course: Outcomes of Two Experiential Learning Projects and Implications for Instruction of Human Subjects Research Christina A. Downey ………….……………………..………..................................... 21-37 Effective Teaching Student Perceptions of Teaching Transparency Alecia D. Anderson, Andrea N. Hunt, Rachel E. Powell, and Cindy Brooks Dollar ……………………………..……….................................. 38-47 Undergraduates’ Perceived Knowledge, Self-Efficacy, and Interest in Social Science Research Stefanie S. Boswell ………………..…………………..……….................................. 48-57 Educational Innovation in the Design of an Online Nuclear Engineering Curriculum Simin Hall, Brett D. Jones, Catherine Amelink, and Deyu Hu …............................... 58-72 Improving the Quality of Instruction Through a Service Teaching Framework Terry Husband …….……….………………………..……….................................... 73-82 Is Truthiness Enough? Classroom Activities for Encouraging Evidence-Based Critical Thinking Sue Kraus, Sharon R. Sears, and Brian L. Burke …..………..................................... 83-93 Is it Incivility or Mental Illness? Understanding and Coping with Disruptive Student Behavior in the College Classroom Mary E. McNaughton-Cassill ……………………..………..................................... 94-108 CALL FOR PAPERS The Journal of Effective Teaching is accepting submissions for review for the Spring 2014 issue. Manuscripts will be due October 31, 2013. The expected publication date will be February 28th. Articles will be accepted in any of the Content Areas supported by the journal. The Journal of Effective Teaching, Vol. 13, No. 2, 2013 ©2013 All rights reserved. ii INFORMATION FOR AUTHORS The Journal of Effective Teaching is an electronic journal devoted to the exchange of ideas and information about undergraduate and graduate teaching. Articles are solicited for publications which address excellence in teaching at colleges and universities. We invite contributors to share their insights in pedagogy, innovations in teaching and learn- ing, and classroom experiences in the form of a scholarly communication which will be reviewed by experts in teaching scholarship. Articles should appeal to a broad campus readership. Articles which draw upon specific-discipline based research or teaching prac- tices should elaborate on how the teaching practice, research or findings relates across the disciplines. We are particularly interested in topics addressed in the particular Content Areas described at this site, including empirical research on pedagogy, innovations in teaching and learning, and classroom experiences. The Journal of Effective Teaching will be published online twice a year at the web site http://www.uncw.edu/cte/ET/. All manuscripts for publication should be submitted elec- tronically to the Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Russell Herman, at [email protected]. Articles will be reviewed by two to three referees. Manuscripts for publication should: • Follow APA guidelines (5th Edition). • Include an abstract and 3-5 keywords. • Typeset in English using MS Word format and 12 pt Times New Roman • Articles/essays on effective teaching should be 2000-5000. • Research articles should be 3000-8000 words. • Tables and figures should be placed appropriately in the text. All articles published in The Journal of Effective Teaching will be copyrighted under the Creative Commons "Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivs" license. The Journal of Effective Teaching will require that the author sign a copyright agreement prior to publi- cation. Deadlines for Upcoming Issues Spring 2014 Fall 2014 Submissions Due October 31, 2013 May 31, 2014 Notification of Acceptance December 31, 2013 July 31, 2014 Final Manuscripts Due January 31, 2014 August 31, 2014 The Journal of Effective Teaching, Vol. 13, No. 2, 2013 ©2013 All rights reserved. The Journal of Effective Teaching an online journal devoted to teaching excellence Letter from the Editor-in-Chief: Are Grades a Necessary Evil? Russell L. Herman 1 The University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, NC No matter how much we employ innovative teaching methods, investigate how students think and learn, or spend late hours networking with our classes, eventually most of us will have to grade exams and papers, post grades for courses, and fret over recording less than optimal grades for some students. Grades can disappoint both students and faculty. They have also been the subject of debate within and outside academic circles. Are grades necessary? There is an expectation that end-of-course grades are useful in providing information about student achievement. Some instructors say that students should come to class with a desire to learn and not have to stress over grades. After all, the university is a community of scholars and introducing grades into the mix is contrary to our goals. Other instructors would attribute some aspect of importance to grades. Grades are used for assessment; as feedback for both students and instructors; for evalua- tion of student performance; as motivation to learn; to increase competition amongst stu- dents; or, to rank and sort a cohort of students. The grades are then be used by parents, employers, or post-graduate institutions to open doors for further education. Setting high standards leads to a trust in the professional we count on such as doctors, nuclear engi- neers, chemists working with drugs, bridge engineers, and teachers. Current grading practices are relatively new. The first public exams, such as apothecary or civil service, started in the 1800's. By the 1900s, school systems had grown and the report card became a common instrument for reporting student progress (Moll, 1998). Grades were often reported as percentages. During the 20th century school systems ex- perimented with different grading systems. Now we mostly see letter grades with the pos- sible additions of plus/minus, pass or fail, and possible addition or deletion of some sub- set of these. Interesting discussions of this history can be found in Drum (1993) and Schneider and Hutt (2013).2 Grading is personal and the reasons for assigning and weighting grades are up to the in- structor. The composition, or what goes into a grade, could be based entirely, or in part, on examinations, effort, practice, and improvement. The University of Illinois at Ubana- Champaign Center for Teaching Excellence (2009) is one of many centers which pro- vides advice for all aspects of grading. Having decided on the approach to take towards grading which is appropriate for the discipline and level of the course, the instructor 1 Author's email: [email protected] 2 The difference between letter grades and percentages is referred to as norm-referenced or criterion- referenced, respectively (UNC Center for Faculty Excellence, 2012). The Journal of Effective Teaching, Vol. 13, No.2,