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U N I V E R S I T Y O F P I T T S B U R G H |
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A newsletter devoted to the support of teaching and learning at the University of Pittsburgh |
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U N I V E R S I T Y O F P I T T S B U R G H |
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A newsletter devoted to the support of teaching and learning at the University of Pittsburgh |
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Planning Course Organization and Learning ActivitiesBy Scott Kiesling, Linguistics
In the third year review of my teaching, there was some concern, based primarily on student evaluations, about the organization of my courses. Terrified, I went to CIDDE for help. I met with a CIDDE instructional designer, who, in the course of several meetings and classroom observations, discussed some of the basics of course design. Basics, mind you, that I had never studied or learned about. The instructional designer also made several excellent suggestions about how to effectively use audiovisual materials and handouts to promote student engagement. But it was learning the logical planning process in which one defines goals and objectives and then crafts the material around these that really helped me. I realized that I had been eagerly introducing new Web and database technologies into my courses without first clarifying the relevant instructional goals and learning objectives; now I knew how to make sound decisions on what technique to use. I followed every tidbit of advice, and found that I was becoming not only a better teacher, but that teaching was easier and I was more confident in the classroom. During the next year, the revised class was rated in the ninth stanine for organization! I am now an associate professor with tenure. One of the things I liked about the process at CIDDE was the view that everyone can be a good teacher by following the proper planning processes, and the acknowledgement that we (faculty) know the material and what needs to be learned. CIDDE facilitated the process of teaching in a wonderful manner.
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A newsletter devoted to the support of teaching and learning at the University of Pittsburgh |
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for Instructional Development & Distance Education |
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