College of Life Sciences | University of Maryland | Fall 2003

EDUC 388 section 0501

Guided Experience in College Teaching

Fall 2003
Wednesdays
12:00-1:50 p.m. Room 0215 Symons Hall
office hours: by appointment

Instructor	T.A.
Wendy Loughlin, Academic Advisor	Bethany Burton
Life Sciences	Student, College of Life Sciences
1300 Symons Hall	phone 301-
phone 301-405-3086	e-mail :bmburton@wam.umd.edu
e-mail: wloughli@deans.umd.edu

Purpose | Required | Grading | E-Journal Guidelines | Lecture Schedule

Purpose of the seminar:

This course is designed to achieve the following objectives:

to increase understanding of the First Year Experience;
to explore effective methods of teaching college freshmen;
to provide opportunities and methods for reflection and discussion;
to integrate seminar discussions with classroom experiences;
to apply critical thinking skills to developmental issues;
to strengthen the teaching and advising skills of the LFSC peer mentors.

Required

Reading packet
The Freshman book, "Dead Man Walking"

Grading

The final grade for this course will be earned on the basis of the following criteria:

Mandatory attendance and class participation. (20%)
Preparation for and leading of one class discussion. (10%)
Journal (30%)
Reading guides (10%)
Synthesis paper (20%)
Portfolio (10%)

* Because this course is discussion-based, it is imperative that you attend and that you have done required reading assignments before class.

* For each unexcused absence, your final grade may drop by one letter.

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E-Journal Guidelines

Purpose

The purpose of the journal is to provide you with a framework to incorporate what you learn in your observations and teaching experiences in UNIV 100 with the readings in the packet. Each journal should address the following:

Discussion of your work as a teaching assistant
Discussion of the week's packet readings and how or if they intersect with your UNIV classroom experiences.
Your own understanding of the previous week's topic as a result of the classroom discussion.

You should append lesson plans you have created or other items you create in support of your instructor's course plans. These items may become part of your portfolio. You do not need to use footnotes but should credit your sources if you are reflecting on or using their thoughts and ideas.

Procedure

Your journal should be created as a word document and e-mail attached to both Bethany and me via e-mail, every Friday morning. We will respond to your journal before class each Wednesday. We will split the class and each of us will respond to half the class each week, switching and responding to the other half the following week. You should send your journal to both of us every week, however. For some journal entries, we will require you to answer certain questions in addition to the topics listed above.

Evaluation

Journals should be carefully written and spell-checked. They will not be graded but will be marked either satisfactory or unsatisfactory. If they are unsatisfactory, they will be returned to you and you will be given the opportunity to redo them before the next class. Anything of a personal nature you share with us, either in your journal or in meetings outside of class, will be kept confidential.

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If you have a documented disability and require special accommodations, please see Wendy or Bethany.

All students are expected to adhere to the Code of Academic Integrity. All violations of the Code will be referred to the Student Honor Council.

EDUC 388 SYLLABUS

We reserve the right to alter this syllabus and add homework assignments without notice, based on our assessment of our needs as a group.

The format for the class, in general, will be discussion of the readings in the first hour, followed by nuts and bolts work on UNIV topic areas. Weekly discussions of readings will be led each week by a different student.

Date	Topic
September 3	Week One Topic: Introductions Readings for following class meeting: Taking Retention Seriously: Rethinking the First Year of College; Requiring Students to Write about their Personal Lives; Connecting Students to Institutions: Keys to Retention and Success.
September 10	Week Two Topic: Who's Coming to College Building Trust with Students; Encouraging Student Involvement in the Classroom; Interpersonal Communication Skills: Creating the Helping Interaction.
September 17	Week Three Topic: Classroom Climate - Introduced Reaching the Second Tier: Learning and Teaching Styles in College Science Education; www.mtsu.edu/~studskl/; Memory Principles - Chapter 4.
September 24	Week Four Topic: Nuts and Bolts-Study Skills, Getting Started Understanding the Tensions and Emotions of Learning; Understanding Group Process; Student Development Theory; take MBTI on line if not already completed.
October 1	Week Five Topic: Student Development Theory and Learning Styles Learning Styles and Intellectual Development; Learning Styles - Chapter 7.
October 8	Week Six Topic: Learning Styles, continued Preparing for Discussion; Getting Discussion Started.
October 15	Week Seven Topic: MBTI and Discussion and Classroom Climate No Readings. Prepare for meeting with Wendy and Bethany.
October 22	Week Eight Topic: Watch Dead Man Walking and meet with instructors White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack; Encountering Diversity on Campus and in the Classroom: Advancing Intellectual and Ethical Development; Intercultural Competence.
October 29	Week Nine Topic: Diversity Part I Bringing Social Class…; Life on the Border; How College Affects First Generation Students.
November 5	Week Ten Topic: Diversity Part II Critical Thinking: Promoting it in the Classroom; Critical Thinking - Chapter 2; Knowing, Understanding and Thinking: the Goals of Freshman Instruction.
November 12	Week Eleven Topic: Promoting Critical Thinking No Readings
November 19	Open Class - you decide
November 26	No Class
December 3	Week Fourteen Topic: Reflections and Assessment Those Who Can't…; portfolios
December 10	Portfolios and Party

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