Special Insert to The Scarlet - March 24, 2005

Initiative for Teaching and Learning Excellence

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ITLE grants fund improvements in teaching enterprise

In his September 2004 State of the University Address, UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman stated his on-going commitment to sustaining and improving undergraduate education.

"While research can be measured in dollars, ultimately our teaching success is measured by how well we help our students achieve their full potential. . . . The tragedy of wasting even one mind should compel us to continue to devote our energies to achieve even higher levels of student learning and success," he said.

The chancellor also noted that faculty and administrators have in the last few years struggled to find ways to support the teaching enterprise in innovative and effective ways.

"I am now convinced that for us to make substantial progress, we must insist that student learning outcomes be the measure for the success of any effort to enhance the undergraduate experience. Great teaching does not depend on how good students feel about the experience but on how much they learn," he said.

"The shift to student learning poses many questions. Can we change the structure of higher education so it measures students' progress by their learning achievements rather than by how long they sit in a classroom? Is our curriculum structured and coordinated in such a way that facilitates interdisciplinary thinking? Can we allocate the valuable time of faculty toward those students who might benefit the most from faculty attention? Can we more fully exploit technology to enhance student learning at less cost? How will we respond to the growing pressure for giving dual credit for high school courses or for accepting credits from other institutions of varying overall quality? The answers to all of these questions are much easier if we focus on learning outcomes."

The chancellor announced a new initiative on teaching and learning funded by a grant of $427,000 from the University of Nebraska Foundation. He also stated his intention to secure additional funding. The goal is to support projects related to selective implementation of the recommendations of the Transitions to the University Task Force report or for such other activities relating to undergraduate education. The task force was created in May 2003 to review and assess the effectiveness of first-year undergraduate orientation programs and courses.

"All of us at the university have an opportunity and a responsibility to help make sure students are better when they leave than when they enter. We hope to support these efforts wherever we find them," he said.

Later in the fall, an internal competition was announced to solicit proposals; 100 proposals were submitted by the deadline, Jan. 14.

"When the Initiative for Teaching and Learning Excellence was launched we knew that our faculty and staff were eager to get support for specific projects that would enhance student learning," said Barbara Couture, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs. "But to receive 100 proposals from across the campus - this response far exceeded our expectations."

Couture appointed an advisory committee to review and assess the 100 proposals received. This committee of faculty, staff, and students represented Academic Affairs, the Teaching Council, the Academy of Distinguished Teachers, the Instructional Technology Advisory Committee, the General Purpose Classroom Advisory Committee, the Academic Planning Committee, ASUN (Student Government), the Academic Senate, the Office of Undergraduate Studies, and Student Affairs. This advisory committee forwarded its recommendations to a panel in Academic Affairs and Undergraduate Studies. That group forwarded recommendations to Couture, who made the final decisions on funding. The review at each step made special notice of project goals, project plans, assessment plans, impact, and budget.

"I wish to thank the 15 members of the faculty/staff/student advisory committee who reviewed the proposals;" said Couture. "They had an especially difficult task, as funding this year could only support a quarter of the proposals submitted.

"The Initiative for Teaching and Learning Excellence will help faculty and staff create the best undergraduate experience for our students through engaged teaching that focuses on learning," Couture said. "I am delighted that the chancellor has provided funding for a wide range of projects, including ones that bring new technologies into the classroom, involve whole departments and programs, assist individual instructors, and enhance student advising. ... In reviewing the proposals submitted, I was impressed by the depth and range of innovative classroom projects, many incorporating new instructional technologies and involving faculty and staff partnerships across several disciplines and units. We look forward to learning from those who received awards what projects worked best to improve student learning."

Advising for Life Grants of from $5,000 to $25,000 each to colleges to reform advising to clarify and simplify program requirements, increase faculty-student contact and emphasize advising beyond academics.

EXTENDING THE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AND HUMAN SCIENCES ORIENTATION TO PROMOTE STUDENT EFFICACY AND SUCCESS Dan Schmit, Instructional Technology Marjorie Kostelnik, Education & Human Sciences Fayrene Hamouz, Nutrition and Health Sciences Jim Walter, Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education Jim Cotter, Education & Human Sciences Karen Kildare, Education & Human Sciences $18,000 The College of Education and Human Sciences is linking student recruitment professional academic advising, career-focused advising by faculty and alumni, targeted practicum and internship placement and post-graduation support. Students need help, however, to learn to use the system effectively. The college will orient students using innovative, multimedia technology. An introductory CD-ROM (video game) will be sent to each incoming student prior to entering the university. The CD-ROM will be updateable and interactive and, to make sure it resonates with the targeted age group, be designed with the help of first-year students as well as junior and senior high school students. The CD-ROM will be written so that students are encouraged to see their advisers the first, third and six months of their first year in order to complete orientation. A pilot CD-ROM will be created in spring, 2005.

Dan Schmit

TESTING THE IMPACT OF DRAMATURGICAL TEACHING IN THE LEADERSHIP CLASSROOM John Barbuto Jr., Agricultural Leadership, Education & Communication $5,000 In the grant seeker's model, dramaturgical, or "acting," teaching replaces experiential activities with the experiential classroom. In the leadership classroom, dramaturgical teaching involves the instructor modeling the leadership style being taught. To this end, the undergraduate leadership course, ALEC 302, Dynamics of Effective Leadership in Organizations, was redesigned. For example, in the section of the class dealing with power and politics, the instructor establishes a strict learning environment that is competitive and formal. Student evaluations have been generally positive and interest has shifted toward testing the impact this method has on learning. The grant will allow the continuation of data collection, data analysis, the writing and publication of a manuscript and a seminar discussing the dramaturgical technique.

John Barbuto Jr.

Laurie Bellows

CREATING AN INTERACTIVE DVD TO ENHANCE TA TRAINING Laurie Bellows, Office of Graduate Studies $22,500 The grant will allow the creation of dramatized video vignettes that depict a range of difficult situations between undergraduate students and teaching assistants. A discussion leader's guide will accompany the DVD. The design, development and delivery of the DVD will involve a collaborative effort among the Department of Theatre Arts, Office of Graduate Studies, and Nebraska Educational Television. The training vignettes will encourage reflection on and discussions about difficult teaching situations that can help prepare new teaching assistants for initial teaching experiences. These situations could include sexual harassment, a grade dispute, discriminatory behavior, disruptive behavior, or a perceived cheating incident. This project will help faculty and teaching assistants teaching first-year courses manage their classrooms more effectively, thereby creating a climate for successful instruction at UNL.

DEVELOPMENT OF A COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AND HUMAN SCIENCES SIGNATURE COURSE Jim O'Hanlon, Education & Human Sciences John Scheer, Nutrition and Health Sciences Charles Ansorge, Educational Psychology $25,000 The college is creating a new course, Families, Schools and Communities, which will instill in undergraduate students an understanding of college in these constituencies. There are several strategies the college has in mind in creating the course. The college intends to make the course learner-centered, with students taking an increasingly active role in their education. The course will reduce faculty teaching time without sacrificing instructional quality. An increasing focus will be placed on learning outcomes. Students will be given the opportunity to do research. Knowledge gained from teaching distance courses will be applied. Lastly, teams of faculty as well as practitioners in the field will be involved in the creation of the course. Students will proceed along two parallel tracks, one to develop a knowledge base and the other to apply the knowledge to a series of case studies.

Jim O'Hanlon

ENRICHING INTERNATIONAL STUDIES Andrew Wedeman, Political Science Patrice McMahon, Political Science $15,000 Students face two major barriers to a full international experience. Many are apprehensive about immersing themselves in a foreign culture, and travel is expensive. This grant will address these barriers through revision of the International Studies curriculum. A combined service-learning and study-abroad experience will be introduced for sophomores and juniors in International Studies, and will also be accessible to students in Political Science, Modern Languages and other disciplines. The experience is designed to provide students with insight into their local community, a foreign society, and themselves. It will begin with service to a local immigrant community, followed by an intensive study-abroad tour of that community's place of origin, and conclude with an introspective assessment by the student.

Andrew Wedeman

Amy Goodburn (inset) and Joy Ritchie

EXPANDING THE WOMEN'S STUDIES CURRICULUM: SUPPORTING INTERDISCIPLINARY COURSE DEVELOPMENT AND ASSESSMENT Amy Goodburn and Joy Ritchie, both English and Women's Studies Rose Holz, History Karen Lyons, University Honors Program Jan Driesbach, Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery $23,900 The Women's Studies program, with no faculty lines of its own, draws faculty from many disciplines. A primary obstacle to developing new courses has been lack of faculty time and resources. The new funds will be used for curriculum development, including a half-day retreat focused on creating four new course proposals and generating ideas for community outreach. Faculty in the Women's Studies program will implement the changes through a two-year plan. The plan provides a structured and sustained process for expanding the curriculum and supporting both faculty and student interdisciplinary research and teaching clusters. Future activities will include development of more outreach and internship possibilities and a pilot of a new lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender/queer studies course.

MATHEMATICAL METHODS FOR BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE Glenn Ledder, Mathematics Bo Deng, Mathematics David Logan, Mathematics Irakli Loladze, Mathematics John Osterman, Biological Sciences $24,400 The grant funding recognizes the need for a new mathematics curriculum for life science students. Currently, life sciences students need a total of 23 credits of standard courses at UNL to meet recommendations by the National Research Council in its BIO2010 report. The challenge is to develop a manageable credit total and yet more closely adhere to these recommendations for life sciences students. The grant project team aims to meet the council's recommendations with just three mathematics courses (plus one statistics course). The second of the three courses, Mathematical Methods for Biology and Medicine, is in the planning stage. Project funds will be used to host a planning workshop on the course, develop curriculum materials, offer the course in 2006-2007, and to present results at professional meetings.

Glenn Ledder

Paul Savory

NATIONAL INTERNET REPOSITORY FOR COURSE PORTFOLIOS Paul Savory, Industrial and Management Systems Engineering Amy Goodburn, English Amy Burnett, History $24,820 Course portfolios kept by faculty for one of their undergraduate courses are a valuable medium for capturing the scholarly work of teaching by combining inquiry into the intellectual work of a course with careful investigation into the quality of student performance. A fall 2004 survey found that all faculty strongly agreed or agreed that writing a portfolio helped improve the course that was the subject of their analysis. The grant will expand the current effort to include creation of a national Internet repository or archive that will store and facilitate the distribution and external review of electronic faculty course portfolios. The project objective is to create a process for having course portfolios recognized as a high-quality, evidence-based measure of teaching effectiveness.

OMAHA LANGUAGE LEARNING IN THE HANDS OF STUDENTS: STUDENT-CENTERED NATIVE LANGUAGE CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT Mark Awakuni-Swetland, Anthropology and Geography Todd Jensen, Instructional Technology Katherine Walter, University Libraries $13,800 This grant will support the creation of an up-to-date Omaha language dictionary. Students will overhaul, systematize, and expand the current dictionary as a major part of their in-class work. The students will benefit by having their knowledge of phonetics, phonology, syntax and grammar strengthened. The dictionary will be available to students, teachers, scholars and community members on the Omaha Reservation through the Web site <http://umonhon.unl.edu>. Sound files will be created for all entries on the Web site in cooperation with Todd Jensen of Instructional Technology, and Katherine Walter, chairperson of University Libraries. Students will also record an Omaha story, following the Omaha philosophy of building for future generations. The project will also contribute information for University Libraries and the University of Nebraska Press as they begin work on a series of Native American dictionaries.

Mark Awakuni-Swetland

Tim Wentz

TEAM-LEARNING ASSESSMENT IN A MULTI-DISCIPLINARY COURSE Tim Wentz, Construction Management Bruce Fischer, Construction Management Stuart Bernstein, Construction Management $4,505 The Department of Construction Management and the Architecture Program joined in 2002 to develop an interdisciplinary undergraduate course on mechanical systems in commercial buildings. Both programs had a core course on mechanical systems that was required for an undergraduate degree. The similar scope of the two courses presented an opportunity to develop synergy between the programs. The grant will be used to further integrate team-based learning with a service-learning component into an interdisciplinary course. Students will work on upgrading a former church into a space for The Meeting Place, a non-profit organization that focuses on people with alcohol and drug addictions. The project is ideal because it offers a challenge for both architectural and construction management students to adapt the building for a new, multipurpose use.

Christy Horn

ACCESSIBLE LABORATORY ENVIRONMENTS FOR TEACHING BIOLOGY Christy Horn, ADA/504 Compliance Officer William Glider, Biological Sciences $15,094 The goal of this classroom development project is to revamp a biology laboratory into an inclusive and accessible environment for all students, including those with disabilities. It is intended that instead of changing curriculum to accommodate such students, the barriers to a meaningful experience for disabled students should be removed. Glider has worked with the Services for Students with Disabilities Office to provide accommodation to students with disabilities, but in many cases the method used was to assign a graduate student to work with the student. The grant will fund incorporating technology into the lab and providing materials that will allow students with disabilities to experience the full range of lab work. Strategies will be implemented for students who are visually, hearing, or mobility impaired, or learning disabled.

DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTERACTIVE CLASSROOM FOR FRESHMAN COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY STUDENTS James Goedert, Construction Systems $35,000 The college won funding to convert the Construction Systems Computer-Aided Design/Engineering Graphics computer laboratory into an interactive teaching center primarily for freshmen and sophomores in the Construction Systems program. The funds obtained will be applied toward phase two of this project. The converted classroom will have a permanent instructor station and interactive media. Equipment purchased will include a Smart Board, three projectors, three retractable projection screens and a control center built into a podium. This and other materiel will enhance the ability of instructors to convey and students to grasp the complicated software that is a critical component of the discipline. Students will be able to view the instruction and immediately perform the task. Assessment will include tracking students' grades and their subjective impressions.

James Goedert

Marjorie Kostelnik

RENOVATING 11 HOME ECONOMICS BUILDING Marjorie Kostelnik, Education & Human Sciences $61,440 The formation of the College of Education & Human Sciences in 2003, and the concurrent formation of the Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences, led to challenges regarding location of faculty and resources that were split between the City and East campuses. The college continues to move toward greater integration of its resources. Proposed changes by the college are to upgrade room 11 in Home Economics on East Campus into an auditorium with modern technology, required by the Healthy Lifestyles and the Textiles lecture classes held there. The Healthy Lifestyles Laboratory will be moved from Mabel Lee Hall on City Campus to Ruth Leverton Hall on East Campus. The college will convert space that will become available on the ground floor of Mabel Lee Hall into a classroom. ROOM 31 HE: REDESIGNING A 1973 CLASSROOM TO MEET STUDENT LEARNING NEEDS OF THE 21ST CENTURY Marjorie Kostelnik, Education & Human Sciences Nancy Miller, Textiles, Clothing and Design Tim Carr, Nutrition and Health Sciences Harriet McLeod, Textiles, Clothing and Design Vince Quevedo, Textiles, Clothing and Design Barbara Trout, Textiles, Clothing and Design Fayrene Hamouz, Nutrition and Health Sciences Georgia Jones, Nutrition and Health Sciences Doug Abbott, Family and Consumer Sciences Susan Churchill, Family and Consumer Sciences Pauline Zeece, Family and Consumer Sciences Charles Ansorge, Educational Psychology $42,000 Room 31 in the Home Economics building was originally designed as a foods demonstration classroom and still contains equipment for that purpose. The room is now used, however, by a variety of classes, including Family and Consumer Sciences; Nutrition and Health Sciences; Textiles, Clothing and Design; and Entomology. None currently use the room's kitchen, so it will be removed. Currently the arrangement of the room reflects an old-style approach to teaching and learning that is teacher-oriented and treats students as listeners only. CEHS was awarded funds to redesign the room, with the goal of seating at least 100 students in a new configuration. The redesign will include making space for instructors to circulate among the students. Stationary chairs with be replaced by movable ones to increase interaction possibilities. The lighting system will be modified so that brightness is adjustable.

ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY LABORATORY MULTIMEDIA John Osterman, Biological Sciences $12,840 The school won funding for the improvement of lab space. The school has a series of five courses that the faculty deem necessary to cover the breadth of biology. BIOS207 Ecology and Evolutionary Biology introduces students to ecology in the context of evolutionary theory. The lab for the course will benefit from multimedia equipment to assist in data collection, distribution and presentation to groups. Four major experiments are performed during the semester, including a long-running selection experiment using plants. Students conduct presentations at the end of the experiments then give the results. For group projects, the in-class computer can analyze the results separately, then combined. An LCD projector and video presenter will let students show the plant phenotypes along with the analysis. The lab will also be renovated, including the finishing of the ceiling with acoustical tiles.

John Osterman

Kevin Lee

DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERACTIVE ENGAGEMENT COMPONENTS FOR A LARGE-ENROLLMENT INTRODUCTORY PHYSICS COURSE Kevin Lee, Physics and Astronomy Stephen Ducharme, Physics and Astronomy Carl Lundstedt, Anthropology and Geography $12,050 Major advances in physics and astronomy instruction have been developed over the past two decades with learner-centered methods proving the most effective. Nearly all Physics and Astronomy classes are taught using these approaches. The grant will fund pre-class materials, in-class materials, and post-class materials. In pre-class, a Web-based system will let students familiarize themselves with class material so that in-class time may be spent applying the concepts. In in-class, students will discuss conceptual questions among themselves and vote on answers to problems, providing a snapshot of the class's understanding. Students also will spend time collaborating on exercises with the instructor and graduate students circulating to provide guidance. In post-class, students work advanced problems online with hints and comments incorporated into them. Recitations further build skills through group problem-solving.

JUST-IN-TIME TEACHING AND LEARNING IN GENERAL BIOLOGY AND HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY LABORATORY COURSES William Glider, Biological Sciences David Woodman, Biological Sciences $22,800 The General Biology lab, taken concurrently with a General Biology lecture, enrolls about 1,200 students annually, and is popular for Arts & Sciences students completing a required lab credit. The Human Physiology lab, also taken concurrently with a lecture, enrolls about 500 students annually. Both lab courses have functional Web sites. There are three programs to be put into place to strengthen these labs. "Just in time" learning activities will be built into both labs. This consists of a series of online questions that students will be required to answer before coming to lab. A series of online sample quizzes will be created for use by students to review for the weekly quizzes. A series of interactive PowerPoint presentations will be created for the teaching assistants, with the aim of standardizing material presented.

William Glider

Charles Ansorge

PREPARING INTENTIONAL STUDENTS USING TECHNOLOGY Charles Ansorge, Educational Psychology Linda Pratt, English Paul Erickson, Information Services Marie Barber, EE&O Instructional Design $25,000 This grant's interdisciplinary partners will work together to sponsor a series of six highly interactive workshops focused on innovative ways of using technologies to improve teaching and the redesign of courses. Five key areas will be addressed: Students should be intentional learners, defined as the ability to deal with the unknown or unscripted problems. Technology provides a means toward best practices in redesigning instruction and achieving quality enhancements and increased student learning. Best practices will also highlight strategies that cross disciplines and grade levels. Improvement of online education can bring learning effectiveness, access, and student and faculty satisfaction. Finally, technology in classrooms and courses appropriately applied will provide a dynamic, futuristic and passionate participatory learning environment for students.

VISUAL RESOURCES/UNIVERSITY LIBRARY DIGITAL INSTRUCTION INITIATIVE Edward Forde, Art and Art History, and Joan Giesecke, University Libraries $22,500 The Department of Art and Art History has an art slide collection of more than 100,000 slides that are used annually in more than 40 courses. The slides eventually age and become discolored, and are accessible by only one instructor at a time. This project will completely change the instructional use of visual images by building a new university digital archive. A partnership between the Department of Art and Art History and University Libraries will build and establish the archive. The grant is sought to create a digital archive of the slides and train faculty in the use of the digital images in classes and how to link the content with Blackboard courses. Specific image databases can be set up for any class, and the images will be accessible to all university instructional programs, faculty and students.

Edward Forde and Joan Giesecke

Linda Major and Debra Mullen

PIONEERING GLOBAL FRONTIERS: UTILIZING THE E.N. THOMPSON FORUM ON WORLD ISSUES AS A GUIDE Debra Mullen, Undergraduate Studies, and Linda Major, Student Involvement Patrice McMahon, Political Science Patrice Berger, University Honors Program $24,760 The E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues is a vehicle for Nebraskans to learn about cultures other than their own. This project will expand and deepen the current efforts of the forum. The project consists of three parts. The first will have the students prepare for the forum in advance through co-curricular activities so they can critically interact with the teacher. The second component will support faculty who integrate Forum topics into their curricula. The third component will create the E.N. Thompson International Scholars Community. The goal of the community is to provide first-year students with the opportunity to explore world issues, engage in service learning that augments classroom experience, and to participate in forum events, including meeting with the forum speaker in a small-group setting. Students will work within a targeted selection of coursework and meetings focused on international studies.

GREENING THE CURRICULUM: ECOLOGICAL LITERACY IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT Nathan Krug, Architecture, and Duncan Case, Interior Design Kevin Houser, Architectural Engineering Bruce Fischer, Construction Management Kip Hulvershorn, Community and Regional Planning $25,000 A primary contention for expansion and enhancement of a university education through curriculum greening is to acknowledge that human society is affecting the environment in ways that are historically unprecedented. A cross-disciplinary task force has been assembled from architecture, architectural engineering, community and regional planning, construction management and interior design. The grant will promote and provide the integration of principles of sustainability and "green building and development" in multiple disciplines. The grant will also set up a framework and expertise to provide university-wide, as well as continuing education, in the area of sustainability in relation to the built environment. The mission of the task force, composed of the co-authors listed above, will be to identify a set of shared courses from the five programs that would benefit from the integration of green building and development practices.

Nathan Krug and Duncan Case

This special edition was produced by the Office of University Communications. Tom Hancock wrote the articles about each grant and took the photos for this edition. Kim Hachiya edited this section and wrote the overview article; Amy Hensley did the graphic design. Special thanks to Dave Wilson, academic affairs, for managing the project.