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October, 2008

The Teaching Professor - October, 2008 - Full Issue PDF
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The Teaching Professor - October, 2008 - Full Audio MP3
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The Lesson is Too Much with Us: Recognizing Teaching Moments
By John A. Dern, Temple University, PA
In William Wordsworth’s well-known sonnet “The World is Too Much with Us; Late and Soon,” the titular line’s meaning hinges on two words, the latter of which may initially seem insignificant: “world” and “with.” “World” refers to human affairs; and, of all the definitions for “with,” Wordsworth uses it in the sense of “accompany” or “attend”: human affairs too much attend us. We are so concerned with the minutiae of daily life, with “getting and spending,” as Wordsworth says, that we miss what is truly important.

Vocabulary Tests as Game Shows
By Elizabeth C. McCarron, Bentley College, MA - emccarron@bentley.edu
Teaching an introductory information technology course for first-year students, I cover “fun” hands-on topics like creating Web pages, designing spreadsheets, preparing multimedia presentations, and building networks. Much to my students’ chagrin, I also need to ensure that they learn the “boring” vocabulary.

Thinking Outside of the Box
By Virginia Freed, Bay Path College, MA - vfreed@baypath.edu
I hesitate to use “Thinking Outside of the Box” as the title, because I know how the trite phrase rankles me when I hear others use it. The irony in using the cliché is always patent: in doing so, those who do, aren’t. But in this case the title refers to a literal box and how said box can stimulate real student thinking about learning.

When Teachers are ‘Present’
“Without presence, teachers are like guides in a theme park who tell the same joke a dozen times a day. We’re there, but we’re not there. With presence, teaching lives, it may or may not be good teaching, but it’s alive.” (p. 215) Jerry Farber makes this observation in the opening paragraphs of a “commentary” on teaching and presence.

Successful Classroom Management
By Jason Ebbeling, Menlo College, CA, and Brian Van Brunt, Western Kentucky University - brian.vanbrunt@wku.edu
Managing students who are disruptive, those who lack motivation and appear as though they would rather be any place than in the classroom, is easier when faculty take the right stance. Anything is possible when faculty have faith in the students they teach. Learning starts with a dedicated teacher interested in meeting the challenge of how to present content in a way that successfully navigates the barriers students erect.

How Blended Learning Works
By Jeffery Galle, Oxford College, Emory University, GA - jgalle@emory.edu
I took apart the first watch my parents bought me as a birthday present. As I remember it, I was more curious than perverse. I have always liked seeing how things work, how they are put together, in order to grasp the possibilities of design and function. Much later as a university professor, I wanted to see and experience just how technology could be used to make online assignments work.

The Truly Participatory Seminar
By Sarah M. Leupen and Edward H. Burtt, Jr., Ohio Wesleyan University - smleupen@owu.edu
In typical upper-division seminars, each week, one student leads 10 to 15 classmates in a discussion of an important research paper in the field or presents his or her own work to the group. Students not presenting are supposed to participate in the discussion but rarely do, despite professorial queries aimed at generating a lively, provocative exchange. Seminars using this format can be deadly dull. We decided to tackle the problem and would like to share our ideas for more interactive, exciting, and educationally enriched exchanges in seminars.