Past Newsletters
Volume I, Issue 2, April 29, 2005
Inside this issue:
Universal Design | Grand Opening | Sencer Summer Institute | Project Success | Our New Website | New Books
The Teaching and Learning Center is having their Grand Opening celebration on Friday, April 29, 2005 from 2:00 until 4:30. Come and see our new, beautifully appointed new office which is attached to the new faculty/staff lounge. We will have the computer available to anyone who wishes to browse around our new website. Please look at all the brochures and other informational literature we have on the table in our office and find out more about the exciting things that we are involved in. We will be serving delicious desserts along with the wonderful company of others from around the UW campus. We are looking forward to seeing you Friday at our celebration!
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Universal Design
Sequels have a way of not being nearly as good as the original. I think, though, that universal design is something that is worth a second look. I was intrigued with the concept and decided to speak with Reneé Sartin Kirby who is the Coordinator of Disability Services. There were a few questions about universal design that needed to be cleared up. Here, in a nutshell, are the results of that conversation and follow up research.
Q: What is the purpose of universal design in the classroom?
A: It is intended to maximize the learning of every student.
Q: What do you think is the greatest misunderstanding about universal design?
A: The greatest misunderstanding is that this process is laborious for the instructor.
Q: Are there any ways that we can generate more understanding about this concept?
A: We can have more Brown Bag lunches, readings and workshops held by those who have incorporated universal design into their teaching.
Q: Do you think it would be a good idea for professors to use VARK testing at the beginning of the semester to get an idea of how their students are learning and do you think professors will see this as just one more task they are required to perform?
A: VARK testing is a good idea but it is not the only way to get an idea of how to best teach in the classroom. It is possible that some professors will see this as just one more thing they will have to do for the students.
Q: Would we be able to give adequate instruction and support to faculty who wanted to implement universal design in their classroom?
A: At this time we have some support for this but not much. I have written a proposal to be part of a Universal Design Institute which would allow me to come back to the Institution and work for one year on implementing universal design on campus with my colleagues. (I am pleased to note that prior to the printing of this newsletter I was informed by Dr. Kirby that her proposal was accepted. Congratulations!)
Q: Do you think it should be required of faculty to be more sensitive to their students needs for alternate types of instructions?
A: Recommended would be a better way to say it. Many professors on our campus already provide various types of instruction in their courses including PowerPoint, videos, overheads, handouts, D2L and other methods.
Q: How would we be able to show faculty that universal design will benefit their classroom?
A: There is no one way to show that universal design will benefit the classroom. Some faculty are motivated by research and others by talking to colleagues; both need to happen.
Q: Does Parkside have the capability, technologically speaking, to fully implement universal design?
A: No, not yet. The Teaching and Learning Center can help—but we are just beginning to offer sessions on what it is and how to implement it.
Q: I know that Parkside has D2L (Desire to Learn) on the web. How useful is this website for students with disabilities?
A: It is accessible. It is a question of being comfortable using a new system. Accessibility is not the same thing as comfort level when using technology. We continue to refine and create a greater user friendliness on D2L.
Q: Does Parkside have any plans for developing and implementing universal design techniques among faculty members?
A: Not that I am aware of at this time.
We thank Dr. Kirby for her input and look forward to the information and techniques on universal design that she will be being sharing with us in the upcoming year.
For more information about universal design in the UW System see, “Commitment to Universal Design in Education on University of Wisconsin-System Campuses : Part I: Conceptual White Paper on Universal Design in Education on UW-System Campuses “ which is available on our literature table.
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The University of Wisconsin-Parkside is strongly committed to free expression and academic discourse. Therefore, a group of faculty is prepared to embrace SENCER-ship this summer. Note, however, that S.E.N.C.E.R. is an acronym for, “Science Education for the New Civic Engagement and Responsibility”. SENCER is an NSF-supported program of AACU that is dedicated to the pedagogical synergism of science education and civic engagement. Several UW-Parkside faculty members comprise a team that has been selected to participate in the SENCER Summer Institute in San Jose , California , August 5 – 9. These include Lori Allen, Don Cress, Chris Evans, Vera Kolb, Jim Robinson, Carmel Ruffolo, Carol Lee Saffioti-Hughes, Anne Statham, Carol Tebben, Scott Thomson, Joy Wolf, and Gary Wood.
SENCER courses are usually, but not always, for non-science majors e.g., “Gen. Eds”, and seek to deliver scientific content and principles within the context of “capacious, unsolved public issues”. Part of the team activities in San Jose will include exploration of such course development for UW-Parkside, in the context of our campus' virtually simultaneous engagement in developing: 1) general education curriculum, 2) teacher preparation structure and curriculum, 3) the first year experience at UW Parkside, 4) broader involvement in the scholarship of teaching and learning, and 5) expanding upon our activities in community-based learning and community-based research.
Due to our geographic setting along the Lake Michigan corridor, our position within the growing urban areas of Racine and Kenosha, and our location between Milwaukee and Chicago, there is no shortage of environmental issues that need to be addressed by our community. Growth and expansion, remediation of brown field sites, lead and mercury contamination, conversion of agricultural lands to urban use, energy development, and protection of Great Lakes water quality and source, are all issues of immediate concern, which require a base of scientific literacy. Thus, course development will focus on specific environmental issues in southeastern Wisconsin, bringing together humanities scholars, social scientists, and natural scientists to produce an integrated—and hence, more relevant—approach to science literacy.
We believe that the students who get to know science through its application to environmental issues can develop effective civic voices. We are particularly committed to encouraging our SENCER-educated students to become panels of experts who can help to inform their larger communities about important issues, hopefully also helping to obliterate come of the anxieties associated with reports containing statistical and scientific data. One goal will be to offer our student experts to attend parent-teacher organizations within the regional school districts. These expert panels will also be a signal to in-service teachers in our neighboring districts that UW-Parkside is a source of support for their classroom activities related to science education.
During the course of the Summer Institute, our team will work intensively on devising a campus-wide plan for weaving SENCER principles into the missions of the Teaching and Learning Center, the First Year Foundations Council, the Institute for Community-Based Learning and Research, the Teacher Preparation Steering Committee, and University General Education. The reason that our proposed team is so large is to insure representation from all of these campus entities, and we are especially proud that our administration supports this endeavor by providing supplemental travel and lodging expenses for our expanded team.
In the two years following our SSI participation, we hope to build support for our SENCER-infused campus view, and to secure funding to support specific innovations that accompany the plan. We will also continue with course development, with the goal of formally presenting one or more UW-Parkside courses as SENCER Models.
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Our New Website
The Teaching and Learning Center is happy to announce that we are in the process of completing our first website. Hopefully, by the time you receive this newsletter we will have it up and running on the web. Thanks to Beth McGee our UWP Web Designer and Coordinator who gave us many tips and a ton of valuable advice we were able to complete a beautiful website in a fairly short amount of time. There are many features you will enjoy on this website. We will have our current and past newsletters, a bibliography of our titles, in web and pdf view, our Brown Bag Lunch and Special Programs schedules, plus a list of websites, and conferences you can attend (along with attached websites for easy viewing and registration). Please feel free to browse our new website on the computer in the office during our grand opening and offer any advice on content or layout to us. We would love to hear what you think of it and how we can improve on it so that we may serve you better.
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Project Success
Student Support Services (SSS), which has also had a major funding proposal accepted to support Project Success, a First-Year Structured Learning Community Experience. Project Success which will begin Summer 2005, will place approximately 50 students, who are also elegible for SSS program, in learning communities designed to give them a sense of community and interconnectedness, as well as foster their academic success. According to SSS Director Chris Zanowski, “a common cohort of SSS students that will that link developmental education course with general education courses, a University seminar, integrated assignments, an integrating theme, extended instructor time with students, peer tutor assistance, advising, service learning, and cultural activities.” The courses these students take are team-planned, but not all are team-taught and the instructors that are a part of this program are chosen because of their desire to be part of a learning community. Additionally, all courses that are offered in Project Success fulfill the general education or major requirements. Students benefit not just by becoming more academically successful (because many are first-generation, low-income or students with documented disabilities) but because they are able to establish close friendships with other students and mentoring relationships with UW-Parkside faculty and staff. To this end, we have several instructors who will be attending a Curriculum Planning Retreat through the Washington Center for Improving the Quality of Undergraduate Education at Evergreen State College in Seattle , Washington . This retreat will be held May 12-13, 2005 and we have seven faculty/staff members who will be attending: Chris Zanowski, Tania Rodriguez, Edwardo Vargas, Chris Evans, Roseann Mason, Charlotte Short and Mary Weller. This retreat is specifically designed for faculty and staff who anticipate working together in learning communities. The retreat workshops include: Designing a Learning Community in an Hour: An Introduction to LC's, Strategies for Integrating Courses, Designing Effective Assignments, Assessing the Value of Integration, Racial and Linguistic Diversity, Reflective Practice and Staying Grounded, and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. We are looking forward to seeing the results of this retreat. New Books on Their Way
Here are some new titles you can expect to see soon in the Teaching and Learning Center.
Learning Communities: Reforming Undergraduate Education
Building Faculty Learning Communities
Promoting Active Learning: Strategies for the College Classroom
Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses
Creating Learning Communities: A Practical Guide to Winning Support, Organizing for Change, and Implementing Programs
Community-Based Research and Higher Education: Principles and Practices
General Education and the Assessment Reform Agenda
Service Learning and Learning Communities: Tools for Integration and Assessment
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