Curricular Collaboration with Technology Report on a three-year inter-institutional program Scott E. Siddall Scott E. Siddall Denison University Granville, Ohio Copyright Scott E. Siddall, This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author.

First, some context Who are we? What is “The Program?” –Faculty development –Experiments in collaboration This presentation is also available at:

The Challenges We share common goals –e.g., to enhance learning But, we often devise solutions in isolation –At institutional level, at individual faculty level –Examples: Institutions hire LCT language faculty Instructors develop new curricular material for similar courses

The Challenges Why does this happen? –Lack of information about each other –Lack of time, opportunity to become aware Administrative vs. curricular collaboration Unique issues of curricular collaboration –Autonomy of faculty members –Review based on individual work –Role of discipline-specific methods Shared solutions aren’t just about efficiency –Enhanced learning –Hence the program’s name

The Program Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Andrew W. Mellon Foundation , $735,000 Denison University Denison University and Kenyon College Kenyon College Denison University Kenyon College Now Five Colleges of Ohio, –Adds in Oberlin, Wooster, Ohio Wesleyan OberlinWoosterOhio WesleyanOberlinWoosterOhio Wesleyan

The Program “Exploring the Possibilities” workshops “Colloquia on Technology in Learning” Faculty grants Not a linear process – faculty can engage at any point Remote Collaboration Classrooms Remote Collaboration Classrooms

The Program Operational elements : Faculty review committee Steering Committee –Fiscal and credit implications were waived Student liaison program Assessment of courses, student perceptions Shared access to Blackboard, ERes

Create Awareness Logo Workshop souvenirs

Newsletters

Web presence

The Experience “Exploring the Possibilities” workshops Focus on pedagogy - not training Example session: –Sociologist and librarian discuss use of online library resources –Biologist demonstrates electronic reserves –Mathematician discusses innovative technology for teaching calculus –Economist reviews advanced uses of spreadsheets –Historian discusses pedagogical uses of and listservers –Biologist presents online syllabi –Historian reveals the benefits of student-authored web projects

The Experience “Colloquia on Technology in Learning” “Organic” experiences, led by faculty participants A critical success factor Focus on - Discipline-specific needs Faculty interests, skills Success depends on - Curricular compatibility Personal compatibility

The Experience More than 150 faculty members participated in some manner (47%) 20% of colloquium participants are involved in funded projects $240,000 supporting 22 faculty projects About half of the projects met their stated goals All project participants learned a great deal about colleagues, collaboration, technology

The Experience Broad types of faculty collaborative projects –Classes shared between campuses –Shared development of curricular materials –Shared faculty expertise, co-training

Collaborative Projects Classes shared between campuses Clash of Cultures: Middle Eastern Studies Gender and Family in South Asia Greek Drama Today

Collaborative Projects Shared development of curricular material Access to examples in abstract algebra Symbolic computing to enhance learning in probability and statistics Shakespeare on Film

Collaborative Projects Shared faculty expertise Enhancing spatial analyses in the classroom (GIS) Print making in a digital world

Collaborative Projects Less commonly taught languages Chinese Language and Literature Beginning and Intermediate Japanese Three semesters of Arabic Chinese taught in remote collaboration classroom Web-based video clips for studying beginning Chinese

Benefits Availability of specialized courses More and improved curricular materials Greater awareness leading to new opportunities –Sabbatical replacements –Guest lectures –Pooled enrollment for very small courses Enhanced learning (self-assessed outcomes)

Costs Time –Takes time to change a culture steeped in individual scholarship Stipends, release time –Collaboration takes more resources than independent efforts –Designing and redesigning courses is expected; fund the added overhead Support –Local training and consulting – staff and student –Mission-critical production support Infrastructure –Inter-campus network capacity –Faculty desktop systems –Classroom systems Facilitator

Factors for Success Get faculty members talking to their disciplinary colleagues at other schools Collaborative potential is exponentially proportional to the number of faculty members from different campuses Provide flexible funding Define “technology” broadly Provide local, technical support Senior administrators need to communicate with each other and support the program

For more information…. This presentation: EDUCAUSE’s “Effective Practices and Solutions” More about the program:

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