Posted on 3 Comments on The NEW (and Improved) Blazenet

The NEW (and Improved) Blazenet

By now many of you have had to interact with the new Blazenet and I thought I would take a few minutes in this post and give a short tour of the more important, relatively speaking, aspects of Blazenet for Faculty.

First, Blazenet is no longer the repository for Faculty Modules of the curriculum used in either our on-site or online courses.  These modules can now be found in a Faculty Module Library in Canvas.  The student modules are also no longer available on Blazenet and can be found on the Canvas course-site.  This is a big improvement regarding keeping the modules lined up with each other and with the Canvas build-out for the course.  You should automatically enrolled in the Faculty Module Library if you are scheduled to teach a course but if for some reason you don’t have access or can’t find it, contact your Dean.

Second, recording attendance in Blazenet is both the same AND different. Before attendance can be posted the first time the course has to have the gradebook set-up.  There are help videos for this which I will mention later in this post.  Once the grade book is set up, posting attendance is relatively siattendancemple: from the home page, click on “Self-Service” drop down and choose the options which gets you to “Faculty Information.”  From there click on either Class Roster or Grading and select the appropriate course.  Click on the link for Grade book and it should take you to a screen with information like in the picture on the left.  Click on Attendance and the appropriate date to record attendance.  Note that dates only show up as they arrive on the calendar.

Third, you can email one or more students from the same place you mark attendance.  Instead of clicking on Attendance choose the “Send E-Mail to Students” link.  This is helpful for keeping all communication with a student in a tracked repository in case there are any questions that arise later, e.g. grading.

Fourth, this is also where you will come to post your final grades for the course so you can be paid.

Fifth, from the menu select Faculty Homepage and you will find helpful Quick Links and, more importantly, How-To videos under the FAQ section.  Simply click on the appropriate question to discover short tutorials which answer the question.

Sixth, from the menu select Faculty Resources/Adult and Graduate to be taken to a page with a variety of resources designed to assist you.  QuickLinks, FAQs, contact information for the respective Deans, and Forms & Documents which includes the most recent Adult Studies Faculty Handbook September 2016.

If there is more information you would like to see available on Blazenet, be sure to let me know at rupchurch@belhaven.edu.

Posted on No Comments on Teachers Guide to Using Google Forms

Teachers Guide to Using Google Forms

The article below comes from Educational Technology and Mobile Learning.  They do an great job on providing information to educators about technology that will enhance the classroom experience, as well as ideas about how to use technology more effectively for teaching.

This particular article deals with Google forms.  You may remember this being touched on in one of our webinars: Google Docs in the Classroom.   Google forms is a powerful application for conducting polls, gathering information, etc.  I think if you take the time to read through this guide a lot of ideas about how you can use it will come to mind.

If you have any questions or would like some personal instruction on using google forms, or just want to brainstorm on a teaching idea, don’t hesitate to contact me: rupchurch@belhaven.edu

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Teachers Guide to Using Google Forms

Google Forms is a powerful tool with huge educational potential for teachers and educators. Besides being free and easy to use, Forms works across different devices and is seamlessly integrated with other Drive services such as Docs and Spreadsheets. As a teacher, you can use Forms for a variety of purposes including: planning an event, making surveys and polls, creating quizzes, collecting feedback and other information from students and many more.  READ MORE

Although this is a separate article from Educational Technology, it bears on the above in that it shows you how to set up forms so that you can be notified when students submit responses to the form(s) you have created.

Read about this here

Posted on 3 Comments on “We can, you can’t.”

“We can, you can’t.”

So I’m talking with a new Instructor and he shares this with me:  He is in his first night of the class and it is 9:40 and he’s come to a stopping point so he asks the students if it is OK if class is dismissed early.  They reply with some amusement, “we can leave early but you can’t.”

I have to say the students’ response surprised me because it says that some faculty have employed the practice of dismissing students earlier than 10pm and then staying on to 10pm themselves doing one thing or another before leaving.  We have hundreds of excellent Instructors who ARE holding their classes to the full time.  I want to thank you for that and commend you for your diligence and integrity.

I’m hoping this is a rare occurrence, but I need to make sure there is no ambiguity on this point.  The truth is that we are attempting to establish a culture of ethical practices and excellency, neither of which are achieved by allowing students to leave early but staying ourselves until the full time.  This not only lessens the educational experience but it says to the student that “fudging” on the policies of their organization must be OK if it is OK for a Christian Instructor in a Christian Institution to do so.  YOU ARE A MODEL IN EVERY ASPECT OF YOUR CONTACT WITH STUDENTS, DO THE RIGHT THING!!!  Or, to put it in simple terms, no, you can’t let students go earlier than 10:00pm even if you stay the full time.

Dr. Ruddell, Dean in Houston wrote a great post on Taming the 10PM Titian which I encourage you to read.   I know also there are a variety of posts within this blog under the Category “Collaborative Teaching Ideas” which could be used quite effectively to fill that last hour if you are running low on ideas.  This also goes back to the Collaborative Learning Strategy which I’ve written on before.  You know things will slow down after 9:00pm, so plan some more energetic activities during that time.

 

Posted on No Comments on Strategy for Using Peer Reviews to Improve Student Papers

Strategy for Using Peer Reviews to Improve Student Papers

By Kim Priesmeyer
Full Time Faculty, Belhaven Houston

As an instructor who assigns a lot of writing, I’m always looking for ways to engage students in peer review.  However, just telling students to “peer review each other’s papers” can be unproductive, or even worse, dull.  Typically, students don’t know what to do with those papers, and comments can be uninspiring.

One way to bring energy and effectiveness to the process is something called Round Robin Peer Review (also available on the Faculty Resources tab under “Other Resources).  It’s pretty easy for any instructor to use, and it can be modified for any assignment depending on the requirements.  It keeps students and papers moving, and it gives peer reviewers a specific focus.  Here are the basics:

  1. Pass out the peer review form and have each student write his name at the top where it says “writer’s name.”
  1. Tell students to pass their paper and their form to the right. They should now be holding someone else’s paper and form.
  1. Inform students that they will be given 10 mins. to critique just the first category on the peer review form. Set a timer.
  1. When the timer goes off, students will pass the paper and form to the right. The next peer reviewer will critique only the second category for 10 mins.  And so on…

Ways to modify for your course:

  • Change the categories to peer review
  • Set different time limits for each session
  • Provide critique expectations (for example, I might require a three-sentence critique minimum)

Ways to coach students before the process begins:

  • Model the process with a couple of volunteers
  • Provide examples of “critique” comments that are specific and useful
  • Tell students it’s OK for the peer reviewer and writer to communicate during the process
  • Prepare students for constructive criticism: it’s not about complimenting each other; it’s about improved writing
  • Tell students they’re not required to make suggested changes, but they must at least consider them
  • Give students permission to write on each other’s papers; peer review isn’t always neat and tidy

Give it a try and let me know your thoughts.  You can email me at kpriesmeyer@belhaven.edu

Posted on 2 Comments on Additional Resources

Additional Resources

We have had some amazing webinars over the past year and in some cases those webinars have had accompanying handouts.  I was thinking about this when I was setting up the last webinar and thought about the fact that there are many of you who haven’t been able to attend a weblog1binar or taken the opportunity to view a webinar, and thus are missing out on these great resources.  With that in mind, I asked to have the Faculty Resources page of the Blog re-designed to make those handouts available to you.  To get to them, you simply click on the Faculty Resources box at the top of the Blog page.  This will take you to the Resources page.  In the right navigation pannel you will find the full listing of all the webinar recordings that have been made so far.  Below the blog2webinar list is a short list of White Papers and now below that is a list of Other Resources which is essentially the handouts from the webinars.  I think you will find there are some extremely useful tools there and encourage you to take a look.

I am continually looking for ways to get useful information into your hands.  If you have an idea for a webinar either that you would like to see, or perhaps one that you feel would benefit a majority of our faculty, I encourage you to contact me at rupchurch@belhaven.edu.  This is also true for a White Paper.  I will be happy to evaluate it for inclusion on this site.

Blessings,

Posted on No Comments on 5 Excellent Rubric Making Tools for Teachers – re-post

5 Excellent Rubric Making Tools for Teachers – re-post

This is from the original article which can be found HERE

Rubrics are scoring charts used to assess and evaluate a particular learning or teaching activity. As is explained in this guide, rubrics are helpful for both teachers and students: teachers can use them when designing lesson plans and grading assignments; students can use them to make sure they meet the learning expectations and requirements of an assignment or project work. Rubric making should not be a complicated task . . . (read more)

Posted on 2 Comments on Collaboration is More Than Busy Work

Collaboration is More Than Busy Work

I know there are some who are reading this whose opinion of collaborative exercises is low, that is assuming they read this at all!  I have to confess that I have seen some collaborative exercises/assignments that really were nothing more than busywork, or worse.  It is a fact that any collaborative exercise or assignment that doesn’t have clear learning outcomes probably fits that description.

However, I’m glad to say, that is not the norm.  When well designed and thought through, collaborative exercises/assignments are powerful tools to achieve student learning, particularly with adults.  There are quite a few posts in this category already here on the faculty blog (simply click on the Collaborative Teaching Ideas link under Categories to the right) and many more examples of excellent activities can be found by searching the web.

But I want to reinforce the importance of having clear learning outcomes before adding these activities.  I’ve said this before and I truly believe it, collaborative teaching can feel like controlled chaos, and sometimes only marginally controlled!  Without the boundaries of clear learning outcomes, the can quickly activities deteriorate into a waste of classroom time.

It takes some time to effective plan and implement these activities – which is one of the reasons I think many Instructors eschew them entirely or find them ineffective when they do try them.  Planning the outcomes, and then designing the activity so that it achieves the outcomes, including the debriefing which is a big part of the learning, can make connections for adult learners that just don’t happen through lecture.

So here is the process I use:

  1. What is the subject or topic that I want to reinforce/teach?
  2. What do I want the student to walk away knowing? This is the learning outcome and I put this down in a clearly written sentence.
  3. Think about what learning activity can I use which will get the students to engage the topic or subject.  Sometimes it is a hands on experience, other times it requires movement, other times it can be problem based or through role playing or debates.  There really are so many options that it is hard to list them all.  I have included a longer list under Faculty Resources/White Papers titled Collaborative Teaching Options.
  4. Work out the plan for implementing the exercise in class including resources you need to bring with you and how much time it will take.  It usually takes a few times to get the time figured out correctly.
  5. Conduct the exercise, being cognizant that things can drift out of control and you need to stay engaged and provide direction.  It is not “Practice that makes Perfect,” but “Guided practice that makes perfect.”
  6. Debrief the exercise and hone in on the learning outcome by asking questions that direct the students to think about the exercise in relationship to what you wanted them to come away with.  You may want to plan your debrief questions ahead of time.
  7. Refine the exercise for the next time you use it.

I hope you’ll give it a try.  It can be amazingly rewarding to see the light come on in a student’s eyes as they engage in the debrief and make a crucial connection to their life.

Posted on No Comments on Mel Brooks, Ben Stein and Principles of Facilitative Teaching

Mel Brooks, Ben Stein and Principles of Facilitative Teaching

By Dr. Rick Upchurch,
Asst. Vice President for Adult Studies

In February, I presented a webinar on Andragogy.  At the time I wasn’t able to record it due to technical difficulties.  Last week I had the opportunity to re-record the webinar, which you can find at this LINK.

I’m not going to include the all the content from the presentation in this post.  What I will do is try to reinforce the fact that teaching adults is DIFFERENT than teaching 18-22 year olds, and requires different methodologies.  It also requires faculty who approach the endeavor from a different perspective.  Since the average age in our classes is 38 years of age, it is easy to see we are dealing with an audience which has had 20 years of life experiences beyond High School.

Andragogy was first coined as a unique term in 1833 by Alexander Kapp.  However, it was Malcom Knowles who made the term popular in the 1980s.  Knowles put forth six assumptions about adult learners which form the foundation of his learning theory for adults.  I’m not going to describe these assumptions, if you want to know more about them you can easily “google” them, or simply watch the webinar.  What I am going to do is share with you what those assumptions MEAN for teaching adults.

1st – you should know the students in your class wouldn’t be there if they weren’t serious about getting their degree.  They are investing a lot of money with the hope of improving their life.  For them the experience is more than the content, it also includes self-accomplishment and self-worth.  You carry the burden of bringing a return on their investment.

2nd – treat your students as you would like to be treated, or even better, as you would hope an Instructor would treat your mother.   Patronizing attitudes or demeaning language is unacceptable and creates a barrier to learning.   Along with this goes the importance of respecting the experience the students are bringing into the classroom.  Mining for that experience should be one of the key activities of the Instructor early in the course to best maximize that student’s learning and to bring important experiences into the classroom for everyone to learn.

3rd – Take the time, to make sure your students understand why what you are teaching is important and how it fits.  When you do, their engagement in the class and learning will increase.  Bring in stories, case studies, examples and illustrations of the relevancy of the information and how it fits.  Draw upon students’ experiences, good and bad, to demonstrate the importance of the information.

4th – Don’t lecture more than 15-20 minutes at a time without changing up and adding an active learning experience.  Students should be doing 70% of the talking.  This can be accomplished by having them teach key topics, asking PCQ (Process Comprehension Questions), which are open-ended questions requiring them to apply the information learned, working in small groups on projects or case studies, etc.  There are several great posts to the faculty blog which outline some of these activities.

5th – Give the students a chance to practice what you are teaching and to demonstrate competency.  That is why class presentations are included in most of the classes.  When students demonstrate competency reinforce that and guide their practice to continued improvement.  Allow as many opportunities as possible for students to take the lead in discussions, and working in the front of the class.

This is really only a starting point and, as you know from watching the orientation, a Collaborative Learning Strategy will go a long way toward facilitating student learning.  In addition there are many great resources which can be consulted to assist in bringing these principles into the classroom, not the least of which is the information contained in some of the posts to this blog site.

Posted on No Comments on Making the Bible WORK in the Classroom

Making the Bible WORK in the Classroom

by Dr. Larry Ruddell,
Dean of Faculty, Houston

Faculty do you understand,  AND can you communicate to students, WHY we include the Bible in each class?

Belhaven sets itself apart by highlighting the Christian Worldview (CWV) in each and every class. It means bringing Biblical Truth to bear on each subject covered. For example, in Matthew 5:38-42 we could argue that an organizational behavior topic is under discuss – how to work out wrong-doing in organizations.

  • You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. (English Standard Version)(Bold added)

Notice the “secular” issue is raised (a misuse of Old Testament principle) and then Jesus applies critical thinking (the CWV) to accurately explain it; “But I say to you.”

This is the kind of fluid interaction we want to create in the classroom. We want to remove the barrier between the sacred and the secular … so ideally the Bible (which is CWV) is woven into the class discussion naturally. However, this is not always easy. One challenge we face with students is that they don’t see how studies (including Scripture readings) fit with everything else they are doing. So, the more we can help them see the connections, the more refreshing their education will be.

So, let’s get specific. How can we handle the weekly class Bible verses in a way that hits home?

Make sure students understand three (3) reasons why we include Scripture in each class:

  1. The Bible is good
  2. We want to model how to apply the Bible to the discipline
  3. Students need the info for their assignments

Let’s look at each reason in more detail. The first reason is the that the Bible is good; “The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; …” (Psalm 19:7) It is good and refreshing to get into God’s Word and be refreshed. This is how many faculty see the Bible Verses; as more a devotional exercise. This is fine but we want to go further to the second item; we [faculty] want to model how to apply the Bible to the discipline. See 2 Timothy 2:15 which reads; “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” It is not enough to read over a verse but we also need to help students understand (in context) and apply the verses to their respective disciplines! Finally, students need to include the CWV in their papers so let them the third reason for covering the Bible is that Students need the info for their assignments. We don’t expect students to be Bible scholars so we help them through prepare for weekly assignments by giving them explanations and applications of verses covered in class.

As you can see, all of us who teach at Belhaven need to be growing in how to handle the Word so we can pass on that knowledge to students. So, it is important to be involved in worship and Bible study. One recommendation is to read through the Bible and look for verses that apply to your discipline. You will be amazed at how relevant the Bible is … and you can pass on these insights to students!

In conclusion, we want faculty to understand and help students understand WHY we include the Bible in each class. This will further Belhaven’s CWV mission and bless students!

Posted on 1 Comment on CWV: Practical Applications for the Classroom

CWV: Practical Applications for the Classroom

by Paul Criss,
Dean of Faculty, Memphis and Desoto

This is a summary of the Webinar by the same title presented by Dr. Criss on May 17, 2016.  You can view the webinar at this link.  There are handouts that can be downloaded from within the webinar.

This webinar is an overview of worldview principles and how to apply them in the adult learner classroom. The presenter is Dr. Paul Criss who possesses sixteen years of experience teaching higher education worldview courses. The presentation begins with an overview of worldview discovery, the Christian Theistic worldview, and criteria for a well-defined personal worldview. Some questions answered in the first half are:

  • How is a worldview like a belly button, a cerebellum, or breathing?
  • What are the essential aspects of a worldview and why is it important?
  • How does an adult learner decide which worldview is best?
  • What is the faculty member’s role in worldview instruction?

The second half of the webinar includes a process to analyze ideas and concepts, as well as practical tools to use in the classroom, such as: CWV Integrated Lesson Plan, Cultural Analysis, Immunization Technique, Reflective Action, KWAT discussion, and Integrative Questioning. The presentation closes with an overview of resources (including discipline specific resources) and websites that have assisted the presenter in the past.

I encourage you to watch the recorded webinar and download the attached documents.