CLOTHING THE EMPEROR SERIES FEATURING ADVISORY COUNCIL ORGANIZATIONS

INITIAL PAIRS/TRIOS AND TOPICS:

• AAC&U - ACRL - POD: Info Lit and Gen Ed Requirements  
   
• AIR - ISSOTL:  Policies & Practices for Evaluating Scholarship of Teaching/Learning  
   
• EDUCAUSE - SCUP:  "Sustainability and Design of ""Smart"" Classrooms"  
   
• HBCU-FDN - MERLOT - League: "Features of MERLOT that can be used most easily, quickly, and inexpensively - and effectively"  

• draft:  POD - who else?: "[Online?] Student Course Evaluations"

Instructions from Steve:

With the hope of stimulating you to respond most actively, I've taken some liberties and used my "Clothing the Emperor" framework to get started.  For each topic I've included first a statement about the issue that is as neutral as I could make it.  Then I follow with 2 or 3 "polarizing" statements - statements that describe some aspect of the issue that reflects extreme and potentially opposing views.  I've tried to make those statements in language that is clear but NOT intended to inflame.  This description is meant to introduce you to the direction and focus of the online conversation; it will also serve as a planning document for the preparation of the event. 

NOTE:  If this works, we'll keep re-pairing you so that you will have opportunities to work more closely with each other org represented in our Advisory Council over time... or at least with some of the ones that you find most likely to share some important concerns or goals...

Please respond by letting us know if:

1.  The suggested "pairing" is just dandy and I'd be happy to participate myself (or someone else from my org will) ...  OR..... "You're crazy!  How about, instead, pairing us with ....?"

2.  Similarly for the topic:  "It's just dandy"  or suggest a better topic or better title for the same topic

3.  Similarly for the neutral and polarizing statements:  "They're just dandy"  or "Here are some improvements..."

AAC&U - ACRL - POD Info Lit and Gen Ed Requirements  

• "Every college and university should develop explicit guidelines and/or requirements about the concepts and skills often associated with ""information literacy.""  These requirements should be included within the institution's General Education requirements.  Some institutions may find alternative terms more useful than ""information literacy"" and ""general education"".

Why AAC&U, ACRL, and POD?  

General education is a significant interest of AAC&U, Information Literacy is an important theme for ACRL, and the success of most institution-wide efforts involving these programs depends greatly on the work of faculty development professionals - POD constituents.

To accomplish the above,

a.  What kinds of help would academic administrators and faculty hope to get from librarians and faculty development professionals?

b.  What kinds of help would be easiest to get? 

c.  What kinds of help would be unlikely to get, but highly desirable?

d.  What kinds of help would librarians hope to get from academic administrators, faculty, and faculty development professionals?

e.  What kinds of help would be easiest to get? 

f.  What kinds of help would be unlikely to get, but highly desirable?

g.  What kinds of help would faculty development professionals hope to get from librarians, academic administrators, and members?

h.  What kinds of help would be easiest to get? 

i.   What kinds of help would be unlikely to get, but highly desirable?

Polarizing statements:

• " Our institution needs explicit information literacy requirements for all first year students.  These requirements need to be supported by methods for assessing individual student progress and by a well-coordinated institution-wide program for helping students acquire and use relevant skills and information resources.  
• Most of our incoming students are already quite experienced and adept at using new information resources and tools.  All we need to do is establish or use an appropriate entrance test of basic information literacy and rely on our librarians to provide a small remedial program for the few students who might need it each year. 
• "Most of our faculty members and professional staff have begun to use a few new information resources and tools quite well within their own fields of expertise.  However, our institution has an obligation to provide professional development options adequate to engage and enable every one of these skilled professionals to master  at least the use of the information literacy skills and new information resources that we require of our students."
   

AIR - ISSOTL  Policies & Practices for Evaluating Scholarship of Teaching/Learning  

• "Every college and university should develop its own guidelines for supporting, assessing, and recognizing faculty members' scholarly accomplishments in improving teaching and learning.

Why AIR and ISSOTL? 

AIR constituents are institutional leaders in assessment and ISSOTL advocates more constructive assessment of Scholarship of Teaching/Learning.

To accomplish the above,

a.  What kinds of help would institutional researchers hope to get from faculty members and other academic leaders who support Scholarship of Teaching/Learning?

b.  What kinds of help would be easiest to get? 

c.  What kinds of help would be unlikely to get, but highly desirable?

d.  What kinds of help would faculty members and other academic leaders who support Scholarship of Teaching/Learning hope to get from institutional researchers?

e.  What kinds of help would be easiest to get? 

f.  What kinds of help would be unlikely to get, but highly desirable?

• "Our institution should clarify the extent to which faculty members are encouraged/discouraged from focusing their efforts on improving teaching and learning in their own courses here. 
• "Our institution has a longstanding tradition of commitment to the highest quality in undergraduate education.  Our faculty members reflect this in the ways they prepare for, conduct, and frequently improve their own courses.  Our graduates do well when they go on to more advanced education or other career paths, and our alumni are very supportive and uncomplaining.  We don't need to encourage a new approach or recognize a new kind of scholarship." 
• "By encouraging more of our faculty members to fulfill their obligations to improve teaching and learning by doing scholarly research and publication ABOUT their own pedagogy, we are enabling some of our less able teachers to avoid making any significant changes in the ways they teach their own courses."

EDUCAUSE - SCUP  "Sustainability and Design of ""Smart"" Classrooms"  

• "Every college and university should include in its annual and long-range planning activities an increasing focus on options for designing and equipping classroom spaces to enable and encourage faculty members and students to take advantage of newer options for improving teaching an d learning.  In this context, ""sustainability"" should be an explicit and high priority;  i.e., policies, decisions, and implementations of new spaces should reflect conscientious concern about environmental implications, flexibility/adaptability to adjust to the arrival of unanticipatable new options, respect for differences among teachers and learners, and ease of training and long-term maintenance." 

Why Educause and SCUP?

Educause's constituents are usually responsible for providing background info, advice, and technical support for "smart" classrooms, and SCUP's constituents are usually responsible for planning, designing, budgeting, and maintaining all classrooms.

To accomplish the above,

a.  What kinds of help would technology professionals hope to get from planners?

b.  What kinds of help would be easiest to get? 

c.  What kinds of help would be unlikely to get, but highly desirable?

d.  What kinds of help would planners hope to get from technology professionals?

e.  What kinds of help would be easiest to get? 

f.  What kinds of help would be unlikely to get, but highly desirable?

Polarizing statements:

• "At our institution it is very important to develop and implement standards for our ""smart"" classrooms - equipping almost all of them with the same basic equipment and resources (with additions for science labs, etc.) so that we can provide the most cost-effective training and maintenance." 
• """Sustainability"" must mean, first and foremost, sustaining the faculty!  Our plans for increasing the technological resources available in our classrooms must have as a top priority support for this institution's most precious resource:  the creativity and individuality of our faculty.  " 
• "Our faculty members are, appropriately, pre-occupied with their research and other scholarly activities.  They cannot be expected to find and adapt new teaching/learning technology options on their own.  Our other academic support professionals must provide and implement the plans for enhancing our classrooms, and doing so in ways that permit cost-effective maintenance and cost-effective professional development for those who will be using the new features."

HBCU-FDN - MERLOT- League "Features of MERLOT that can be used most easily, quickly, and inexpensively - and effectively"  

• "It is essential for those institutions where teaching and learning are the highest priorities and where resources are quite limited, to find ""low-threshold"" approaches to enable faculty members to use new technologies for improving teaching and learning.  MERLOT is a collection of instructional resources and tools for sharing them.  Faculty members can learn to use MERLOT quite easily, quickly, and inexpensively." 

Why HBCU-FDN, MERLOT, and the League for Innovation?

Many of the HBCU-FDN's and the League's constituents are interested in ways of improving teaching and learning with technology that are "low-threshold";  MERLOT is committed to providing, extending, supporting, and encouraging others to use its collection of descriptions of instructional resources - many of which are "low-threshold" for most potential users.

To accomplish the above,

a.  What kinds of help would HBCU-FDN and League constituents hope to get from MERLOT leaders, users?

b.  What kinds of help would be easiest to get? 

c.  What kinds of help would be unlikely to get, but highly desirable?

d.  What kinds of help would MERLOT's leaders and users hope to get from HBCU-FDN and League constituents?

e.  What kinds of help would be easiest to get? 

f.  What kinds of help would be unlikely to get, but highly desirable?

Polarizing statements:

• "At our institution, we should get our librarians and professional development staff to identify disciplines within MERLOT where the resources are especially likely to help our faculty.  We should then require all faculty within those disciplines to participate in workshops that introduce them to those MERLOT resources and related tools." 
• "Our faculty members are already very busy, and so are the staff available to help them learn about any new instructional resources.  The most we can reasonably do is to send a few email messages to the full faculty about the features and availability of MERLOT - and then hope that a few of them can figure out how to use it on their own.
• " Some of our faculty (older?  more focused on non-technological activities) are quite uncomfortable using the Web on their own.  We should let them avoid MERLOT even if it offers especially rich sub-collections of instructional resources related to courses that they teach. 

POD - Who else?  "[Online?] Student Course Evaluations; 

see:  http://www.tltgroup.org/ProFacDev/DangerousDiscussions/StudentCourseEval.htm
http://www.tltgroup.org/workshopplanning/studentcourseeval.htm"  

• "As more students and faculty members use the Web more comfortably more often, each college and university must develop policies and practices to make the most appropriate and effective use of student course evaluations in this new environment.  That includes:
  a.  Revising current practices to elicit student responses to new instructional uses of technology;
  b.  Exploring how the student course evaluation process might be made more effective, efficient, and congenial by using online options for obtaining student responses;  and
  c.  Developing professional development activities to enable faculty members to take advantage of the student course evaluation process to improve their own courses - and do so in ways that confirm to students that their responses have an impact." 

Polarizing statements:

• "Every student should be required to complete a course evaluation process at the end of every course.  The results of these responses should be available to all members of the college/university community (protecting the identify of the student respondents but revealing the identity of the faculty members associated with the aggregate course ratings).
  NOTE:  Students have already demonstrated their ability to produce their own Web-accessible versions of college/university course evaluations - and these results are not terribly likely to meet the goals held by faculty and administrators for student course evaluation programs.  See, for example:  http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/index.jsp " 
• "Allowing students to complete online surveys in which they are asked to evaluate the courses they have just completed may discourage thoughtful responses.  The results of such surveys must be carefully analyzed and interpreted by professionals who understand the process and who can maintain the highest standards of integrity and privacy.   Only those experts' interpretations should be used by administrators, and other forms of the results should kept entirely confidential.
• " There is too much unsubstantiated opinion about what kind of  response rates are adequate for what purposes when conduction student course evaluations.  Any responsible exploration of changing current practices should be preceded by professional research resulting in recommendations about response rates in this context.