1. The Creative Classroom
Jake Cohen
Pamela Thielman
Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC)
December 9, 2014

2. Workshop Goals/Outline
Discuss advantages of active learning using WAC principles
Offer and model strategies for creative classroom activities and writing assignments
Provide time for questions

3. Warm-Up: “Snowball”
Identify one question you have about student engagement in the classroom. Write it on the question section of your paper.

4. Benefits of active learning
New modes of content delivery and learning (Emerson and Taylor 2004, Metros 2008)
Interactive (Knight and Wood 2005, Gee 2003)
Fun! (Garner 2006, Robinson and Kakela 2006)
Technology – use it, don’t fight it
Teaching portfolio
Publication
– Journal of Interactive Technology & Pedagogy

5. Creative Classroom activities reinforce WAC practices:
Low-stakes writing
“Low-stakes learning”
Creative Classroom activities reinforce WAC practices:
Clarity
Scaffolding
Assignment Design
Interactivity
Writing-to-learn
Active Learning

6. Strategies for content-based creative work
Be very detailed in your assignment / give written assignment
Be transparent about the function of the activity
Be mindful of time and length of activity components
Provide models for creative work
Ensure students have necessary technology and can easily seek help
Make activities specific to your field/class – it’s your creative classroom

7. Different types of creative activities
No-Tech Activities
Games
Multimedia Activities (Low- and High-Tech)

8. I. No-Tech Activities Brainstorming Concept Maps Debates
Real-world Word Problems
Guest Speakers
Instant Feedback

9. Instant Feedback: Color-coded Cards
“Kairós is the modality of time through which being opens itself, attracted by the void at the limit of time, and it thus decides to fill that void.”
Antonio Negri, “Kairós, Alma Venus, Multitudo,”
in Time for Revolution, trans. Matteo Mandarini (New York: Continuum, 2003).

10. II. Games Some options: Snowball question game Bingo
Jeopardy-style game

11. Low Tech Strategy #1: Audio/Visual Writing Prompt
Incorporate A/V texts into class
Controversial video
Audio Recording
Recorded Lecture
Don’t worry about technical language! (music, film, etc.)
See handout for example writing prompt

12. Low Tech Strategy #2: Online Activities, Tutorials, Lectures
Investigate if your textbook publisher has activities you can use
Instant feedback – clickers or iPads or smartphones
Twitter feed, polleverywhere.com
Sample online lecture: Lesson on musical Romanticism

13. Higher Tech Strategy #1: Student-generated project
Have students generate a multimedia project (see handout)
“Being in Brooklyn” – Project from ENG 1101 and SPE 1330 Learning Community, Fall Profs. Jody R. Rosen and Justin Davis.
Omeka (ex.: Bard Graduate Center)
VoiceThread

14. Higher Tech Strategy #2: Blogs

15. Group Activity: Snowball Reprise

16. Questions?
Pamela Thielman: Jake Cohen:

17. Works Cited
Emerson, Tisha L. N., and Beck A. Taylor “Comparing Student Achievement Across Experimental and Lecture-Oriented Sections of a Principles of Microeconomics Course.” Southern Economic Journal 70: 672–93.
Garner, R. L “Humor in Pedagogy: How Ha-ha Can Lead to Aha!” College Teaching 54(1):
Gee, James Paul What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Knight, Jennifer K., and William B. Wood “Teaching More by Lecturing Less.” Cell Biology Education 4: 298–310.
Prince, Michael “Does Active Learning Work? A Review of the Research.” Journal of Engineering Education 93: 223–31.
Robinson, Carole F., and Peter J. Kakela “Creating a Space to Learn: A Classroom of Fun, Interaction, and Trust.” College Teaching 54: 202–06.