This is the final booklet in our Scholarship of Teaching and Learning series. The purpose of the series is demonstrating how the Glassick, Huber & Maeroff standards for scholarly work apply to teaching at Western. In each booklet we try to offer several views of each standard, applying them to issues of concern for us and providing self-assessment and bibliographies to help with further investigation. Past booklets can be viewed at: http://www.wku.edu/teaching/booklets/goals.htm. Our emblem for this series has been each of the continents of the world to represent that teaching is a journey and that discovery is one of its pleasures.

Our final theme, Reflective Critique, invites you to partake of that pleasure with regard to your own teaching and offers a number of ideas on how to accomplish that. According to Glassick, Huber & Maeroff (1997) [1] reflective critique of scholarly work involves evaluating one’s own work, thinking from multiple perspectives and using that evaluation to improve future work. To paraphrase their questions, do you:

a.         critically evaluate your teaching as it is unfolding and after you are done?

b.         bring an appropriate breadth of evidence (multiple perspectives) to bear on that critique?

            At least do you get feedback from others?

c.         is that critique used to improve future work?

In our booklet we cover elements of reflection about teaching and also provide some reflective activities you can do with your students.

Sally Kuhlenschmidt

Faculty Center for Excellence in Teaching

“All works of scholarship, be they discovery, integration, application, or

teaching, involve a common sequence of unfolding stages. We have found

that when people praise a work of scholarship, they usually mean that the

project in question shows that it has been guided by these qualitative standards:

1) Clear Goals, 2) Adequate Preparation, 3) Appropriate Methods, 4) Effective

Presentation, 5) Significant Results, and 6) Reflective Critique.”[2]

Additional copies of the booklet are available if you call 270/745-6508.

[1], [2] Glassick, Charles E.; Huber, Mary Taylor; and Maeroff, Gene I. Scholarship Assessed: Evaluation of the Professoriate. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass (1997).

II. Knowledge Survey – Individual Development

© E. B. Nuhfer

INSTRUCTIONS: This is a knowledge survey rather than a “test.” For purposes of answering this survey, assume that you are in a face-to-face interview with either an onsite visitor from an accrediting agency or a member of the university committee who is assessing your performance.

Mark a 3 if you can do this very well now for a peer review; mark a 2 if you have significant partial knowledge but would not be satisfied with that as your basis for a final response; mark a 1 if this ability has not yet been given attention that is satisfying; fill in blanks.

Part I. Knowing myself as a professor

3 2 1 I clearly know the two major reasons why I became a college professor.

3 2 1 I clearly know two aspects of my work that are most satisfying.

3 2 1 I clearly know two aspects of my work that are challenges or frustrations

3 2 1 I can recall a mentor who was a particularly positive influence on my teaching, and the setting in which my memory was formed.

3 2 1 I understand the significance of that memory with respect to how I teach today.

3 2 1 I know three traits for which I would like to be remembered as a teacher.

Part II. Knowing what I want/need to do

3 2 1 “Successful teaching” for me means achieving the following outcomes for students with respect to content knowledge: ____________________________________________.

3 2 1 “Successful teaching” for me means achieving the following outcomes for students with respect to students’ attitudes: ____________________________________________.

3 2 1 “Successful teaching” for me means achieving the following outcomes for students with respect to values: _______________________________________________.

3 2 1 “Successful teaching” for me means providing students with the following experiences: ______________________________________________________.

3 2 1 “Successful teaching” for me means achieving the following outcomes for students with respect to levels of thinking: _____________________________________________.

3 2 1 I understand how each of my courses fits into the department/college/ university curriculum in regard to what it is supposed to achieve in each of the five areas boldfaced above.

Part III. Understanding the pedagogy I’ve chosen.

3 2 1 I employ the following as my dominant pedagogical method(s) ______________________ and I choose this (these) method(s) because _____________________________________.

3 2 1 When I lecture, I understand that I must do the following to employ the lecture method to achieve maximum success.

3 2 1 My favorite non-lecture approaches to teaching are _________________________.

3 2 1 I know that these chosen non-lecture approaches are effective because __________________________________________________.

3 2 1 I have considered the following non-lecture approach/model and rejected using it because __________________________________________________.

3 2 1 There are several well-established models through which to recognize students’ levels of thinking. The model I’m most familiar with is ___________________________________.

3 2 1 I’ve chosen to utilize this particular model in my teaching practice because __________________________________________________.

3 2 1 In each of my courses, I know the general distribution for levels of thinking that I want to emphasize.

Part IV. Understanding how successful I’ve been

3 2 1 When a class session ends, I know the students have understood and achieved what I intended because ___________________________________________________.

3 2 1 I know that the pedagogical approach I’ve chosen is good practice because ____________________________________________________.

3 2 1 When a course ends, I know that I’ve been successful in improving students’ mastery of content knowledge and/or skills because ________________________________________.

3 2 1 If my students were asked: “What are the most valuable experiences that were provided for you in this class?” most would answer _______________________________________.

3 2 1 If my students were asked: “Aside from factual knowledge or skill proficiency, what was the primary change in your awareness with respect to values and/or attitudes that this class produced?” most would answer _______________________________________________.

3 2 1 If someone read my syllabus, they would deduce the following key points about teaching philosophy in terms of (a) my core values, (b) intended outcomes in student learning and growth, (c) pedagogical methods I favor, (d) levels of thinking I’ll expect, (e) distribution of responsibilities between student and teacher ___________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

This survey is developed by and reprinted with permission from:

Ed Nuhfer, Director of Faculty Development/Professor of Geoscience
California State University Channel Islands
Camarillo, CA 93012-8599
805/437-8826, FAX 805/437-8554
ed.nuhfer@csuci.edu

III. Faculty Comments on the Role of Reflection in Teaching

"Throughout the semester, I usually give my students ample opportunity to anonymously provide me with feedback. As the semester comes to a close, I take a moment to consider what I have heard and read to find ways to improve the course, update or modify the information students receive, and change assignments to make them more meaningful to practitioners in the field. Reflection lets me find ways to incorporate these comments into action. Reflection allows me to put aside all of the items and tasks that should be done in teaching and just listen to what the "artistic" side of teaching is telling me. I find that I can be more creative and imaginative when I listen with my artistic ear. Reflection also allows me to consider why something that "should" have worked, didn't. I often find that my reflection not only provides me with a clearer understanding of why students are not being engaged but also "gives" me the solution." - Jim Berger, Associate Professor, Special Instructional Programs, WKU

“Right after class I do a cost-benefit analysis for each topic, activity, or video I discussed or used. Each has to pass the "I couldn't have used those precious minutes any better than I did" test. I make quick adjustments to lectures for clarity, adding good examples that came up, especially from student discussion. Last, I ask myself whether, right now, 15 minutes after class, my students could list the most important ideas we discussed that day. I may have come up short, or should I say LONG on this point. Now, you'll find me carrying around a post-it note that says ‘summarize the big picture’ which I intend to do each day. I carry one more note that DEMANDS I stop five minutes early to do it.” - Carrie Pritchard, Assistant Professor, Psychology, WKU

“All classes have specific material in their content that is difficult for the students to comprehend. After teaching the content a number of times, I prepare for these situations by wondering how individual students approach the difficult idea. Before going to class, I prepare a few alternate definitions for these specific times. My definitions usually approach the concept from different points of view. The points of view that I am prepared for are aligned to the various colleges that represent our university. If this does not work in the classroom, and a student does not understand an idea, I ask them their major, and try (on the fly) to explain it from their experience. If they still do not understand, I urge them to make an appointment in my office because a critical conversation will be needed, but the class must move on to the next concept.” - Scott Dobler, Instructor, Geography and Geology, WKU

IV. The Course Portfolio for Reflective Activity

By Nancy Givens, Faculty Center for Excellence in Teaching, WKU

“I would argue that teaching, like other forms of scholarship, is an

extended process that unfolds over time. It embodies at least five

elements: vision, design, interactions, outcomes and analysis.”

-Lee Shulman, President, Carnegie Foundation, 1988

Course Portfolios are a useful tool for faculty to provide a foundation for the intentional and extensive work they put into planning and offering a course. They can be helpful in at least three important functions, i.e., improving the course; making the content, plan and your reflective improvements available for further use; and creating documentation for decisions about hiring, promotion and tenure.

Dan Bernstein and Ellen Wert assert, in Making Visible the Intellectual Work in Teaching, as reprinted in Tomorrow’s Professor, #554, Mar. 30, 2007:

“No scholar spends months in the library, laboratory, or field and then discards the information, notes, data, and artifacts collected during those visits. The materials represent the scholar's intellectual effort during that time. They also are the basis of the books, papers, and articles that help spread ideas and information, teach others how to be scholars, and make up the record of the scholar's work that is judged during hiring, promotion, and tenure.”

“Yet semester after semester, most college teachers discard the evidence of the intellectual effort they put into teaching. The ideas of the course, decisions about texts, assignments, creative solutions to problems that crop up during the course, innovative plans for next year…exist only in the busy teachers' minds. Teachers design assignments and then review and evaluate their students' papers, tests, performances, labs, and projects, but typically, the only trace of that enormous effort (the teacher's as well as the students') is the students' final grades.”

The Course Portfolio, or creating a written record of each course you teach, is a practical way for you to document the intellectual work you do in preparing and teaching classes. It provides a record of your efforts and the results of those efforts. It also supplements and can balance student and peer evaluations of your teaching and scholarly activity. The process of creating one is simple, since most of the materials for it are produced in the process of planning and teaching the course.

A course portfolio typically includes the following components:

Goals for the course
Course design, lesson plans and activities assigned to achieve these goals
Samples of student work that demonstrate the depth and breadth of learning
Reflection on course effectiveness, and what worked and didn’t work well
Ideas for improving the course the next time it is offered
Peer comments on the course design and students' achievements

The Peer Review of Teaching Project (PRTP) has created an international repository for course portfolios written by faculty who teach at postsecondary institutions. Its web site (http://www.courseportfolio.org/peer/pages/index.jsp) offers opportunities to explore others’ course portfolios, share your own portfolio, and receive peer review comments, in addition to listing useful books and resources for further information.

Course portfolios help to “capture” the intensive work done in preparing classes, and make it more possible to share effective practice among faculty members, instructors and graduate teaching assistants (GTAs). Encouraging their use and providing access to course portfolios is also an effective way to promote reflective practice among faculty. Additional benefits identified by Bernstein and Wert are:

· By presenting examples of student work, teachers shift the focus of conversation from presentation style to learning and understanding

· In writing and reflecting, each teacher articulates what has been effective in promoting learning and can use those insights to improve

· By sharing work with peers, teachers are able to get helpful feedback from colleagues that can strengthen their work

Web References

Resources on Course Portfolios, March 26-28, 2004 Peer Review Project Conference: http://www.unl.edu/peerrev/conference/

Handbook for creating course portfolios, University of Wisconsin-Madison, College of Engineering, http://www.engr.wisc.edu/services/elc/portfolios.pdf

Easy instructions for adding and sharing course portfolios in Blackboard Learning Systems, http://library.blackboard.com/ref/a157ea6f-5acf-46fb-92c4-0bf85f24f1ac/add_portfolios_to_a_course.htm

Excellent summary of the what’s, why’s and how’s of course portfolios, University of Technology Sydney, http://www.clt.uts.edu.au/courseportfolio.html

The Course Portfolio, by William Cerbin, American Psychological Society, APS Observer, Teaching Tips, Vol. 14, No. 4 (April 2001) http://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/0401/tips.html

Peer Review of Teaching Project: http://www.courseportfolio.org/peer/pages/index.jsp

An international repository to learn more, share portfolios, and receive peer review.

V. Reflective Critique and Student Ratings

By Sally Kuhlenschmidt, FaCET Director/Psychology, WKU

Student ratings are one source of data on our teaching. They aren’t the only source, but they do provide some information we don’t usually obtain elsewhere. Using this as a source of data, we can apply our disciplinary critical thinking skills to evaluating the information and gleaning productive information from it for our teaching. I invite you to reflect on student ratings as a part of instructional life. Following is a set of questions that may help deepen thinking about student ratings and lead you to find some profit for yourself in the results.

Reaction

What is your emotional reaction to student ratings?

How can you improve your capacity to objectively weigh the information presented, glean what is most helpful and move on?

Interpretation

What assumptions do you have about student ratings?

What are the limitations of information from students?

What are the advantages of having access to this information from students?

What is the most important or useful information one can get from student ratings.

How might sharing student ratings with an objective reviewer help in interpreting the results?

Improvement

How can you use information from student ratings to improve future work?

How can we obtain greater depth of information or cross-checks on teaching issues raised by student ratings?

What other information would be helpful in improving teaching?

VI. Critical Reflection and Technology

Visit: http://www.wku.edu/teaching/online/usetech.htm to work through a decision tree that will help you evaluate whether to adopt a particular technology for your class.

VII. The 3 Rs of Sabbaticals: Rest, Renewal and Reflection

By Nancy Givens, Faculty Center for Excellence in Teaching, WKU

Sabbaticals have been part of faculty life for over 100 years. They can offer a valuable time for renewal and research, a break when one can focus on “one thing” without interruption for a period of time. The goal may vary, from scholarly enrichment, to improving teaching, promoting course and curriculum development, enhancing artistic performance and creative growth, or uninterrupted study and research or travel. Whatever the activities, sabbatical time should foster faculty renewal, growth and development, career development, and the academic excellence of the university.

In its statement of principles on leaves of absence, the AAUP (1995) states:

“Leaves of absence are among the most important means by which the teaching effectiveness of faculty members may be enhanced, their scholarly usefulness enlarged, and an institution's academic program strengthened and developed. A sound program of leaves is therefore of vital importance to a college or university, and it is the obligation of faculty members to make sure of the available means, including leaves, to promote their professional competence. The major purpose is to provide opportunity for continued professional growth and new, or renewed, intellectual achievement through study, research, writing, and travel.”

WKU policy provides for sabbatical leaves for the purpose of professional improvement of the faculty. Such leaves are not automatic with tenure or the accumulation of years of service and are regulated by budgetary, legal and other considerations. Faculty applications for sabbatical must include a general outline of proposed activities for the period of the leave, including some indication of their contribution to the applicant’s professional improvement, and must be endorsed by the department head. The application should include reflective answers to questions on the intrinsic worth of the proposed activity, such as:

1. In what way(s) will you improve professionally?

2. How, will the University community benefit if you succeed in accomplishing the proposed endeavor?

3. How does your proposal have significance to the larger community or your academic discipline?

A College Sabbatical Advisory Committee appointed by the dean of each college receives applications and makes recommendations to the dean. Find details on the eligibility and other requirements at http://www.wku.edu/pcal/facultystaffinfo/forms/SABBATICAL%20LEAVE%20GUIDELINES.pdf

References

AAUP. (1995).

Zahorski, K.J. (1994). The Sabbatical Mentor: A Practical Guide to Successful Sabbaticals. Boston: Anker Publishing Company, Inc.

VIII. Using Questions to Encourage Reflective Critique

in Yourself and Your Students

By Barbara Kacer, FaCET Faculty Associate/Curriculum and Instruction, WKU

“We all acknowledge, in words at least, that ability to think is highly important; it is

regarded as the distinguishing power that marks man from the lower animals. But since

our ordinary notions of how and why thinking is important are vague, it is worthwhile to

state explicitly the values possessed by reflective thought. In the first place, it emancipates

us from merely impulsive and merely routine activity. Put in positive terms, [reflective]

thinking enables us to direct our activities with foresight and to plan according to

ends-in-view, or to come into command of what is now distant and lacking. By putting

the consequences of different ways and lines of action before the mind, it enables us to

know what we are about when we act. It converts action that is appetitive, blind and

impulsive into intelligent action.” - John Dewey

Reflection is based upon investigation of an issue and is based upon a questioning strategy that promotes critical thought. Whether one asks others the questions or one asks oneself the questions is of little importance. The quality of the questions and the resulting critical thinking and reflection is the issue.

One might wonder how something as simple as a question can be the basis for reflective thinking. Simple, closed-ended questions—those requiring straightforward who, what, where, when (predictable) information—do not in and of themselves require reflective thinking. These questions can lead to more sophisticated questioning, however.

Open-ended questions require one to construct an original answer, which can be risky business for both the teacher and for the students. The teacher risks unexpected responses that may take the class in unintended directions. The teacher risks being a partner in learning rather than the ultimate purveyor of knowledge, and this may be uncomfortable territory for a teacher new to guiding students to becoming reflective thinkers. For students, if interaction is taking place in a public forum such as a classroom, participation can also feel risky. An instructor must have built rapport so that students feel comfortable enough to participate, to offer a minority opinion, and to respectfully disagree with either peers or the teacher.

At least two situations can threaten the reflective learning that occurs in the classroom. While there may be nothing quite as intellectually stimulating as a lively discussion, a well-intentioned discussion may also drag on endlessly until the class is finally over. Or, a discussion may be dominated by a few students who are actively thinking while the remainder of the class slouches in their chairs terminally bored.

In the first situation, discussions that seem to move in slow motion sometimes occur because the teacher does not have a clear focus on the expected outcomes. Reflection occurs at the analysis/ evaluation level of Bloom’s Taxonomy and thus requires the thinker to deconstruct the whole and render judgment based upon criteria. For example, this may occur as a teacher critiques a science experiment or a speech. In either case, the teacher is critiquing based upon a set of criteria that perhaps are formally set up in rubric format. A question such as, “What do you think?” does not lead a student to analyze. Rather, the teacher can lead the student to reflective thinking by framing questions that lead the student to critically consider each of the criteria under consideration. To simply ask a student to analyze may leave the student wondering, “analyze what?” Framing analysis questions helps students begin to answer that question and, in turn, helps students learn how to reflect.

The second concern, domination of discussion, is more easily addressed. While calling out an answer may be viewed as an indication of engagement, calling out can also be seen as impolite and it does not give fair opportunity to all students in class to respond. In my experience, when presented with that viewpoint, many students have simply never thought about it that way. The amount of mental (reflective) time it takes a student to construct an answer may be a function of style or language, and differs among students. Some people take more time to formulate answers; others may have language differences (English language learners, speech/ language difficulties.) Therefore, it is in all students’ best interest to require “wait time” before accepting answers. Research also indicates that as wait time increases so does the quality of the response. A simple, personalized set of classroom procedures (with occasional gentle reminders) regarding how you are going to handle participation should suffice.

Questions, therefore, can be the entryway into deeper learning through stimulating reflection. Prepare questions in advance, and think about how to draw out the deeper learning.

References

Anderson, L. W. & Krathwohl, D. R. (eds.) (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives. New York: Addison Wesley Longman.

Blosser, P. E. (1990). How to ask the right questions. National Science Teachers Association: Washington, D.C.

Shermis, S. S. (1999). Reflective thought, critical thinking. ERIC Digest, D143. ED436007

http://changingminds.org/techniques/questioning/questioning.htm

http://imsa.edu/programs/pbln/problems/bernie/dewey.html

http://www.edu-design-principles.org/dp/viewPrincipleDetail.php?prKey=243

IX. Guided Reflective Thinking Activities for the Classroom

Kenneth W. Kuehn, Nancy Givens, and Ted Hovet

Last updated February 2008

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation,

which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” - Confucius

What is reflection?

Reflection is a part of the critical thinking process that engages participants in analyzing and making judgments about their knowledge - its underlying basis, its current condition, and its further implications. When applied in the classroom setting it can also provide students an opportunity to step back and think actively about the quality of their work, how they approach problem solving in the class, the academic goals of the class, and the strategies that are appropriate for achieving those goals.

Reflection Basics

Reflection activities are appropriate for large, general-education classes or small, specialized classes; they are appropriate for students at any stage of their education though the type of activity and methods employed will vary depending on the circumstance. Regular opportunities for guided, purposeful reflection should be incorporated as part of regular course responsibilities (i.e. the activity should not be spontaneous, or given for ‘extra credit’). The reflection activities chosen for the classroom should always have a point and the student should always know what that is. Reflection activities can be done anytime during a class or outside the classroom; they can be done at the beginning, middle, or end of the semester but the timing must make sense within the context of the course material. Reflection activities can engage students both in group and individual contexts.

Some important characteristics of effective guided reflection in the classroom include:

§ Communicating in writing student responsibilities for reflection by establishing well-defined criteria for evaluating their participation in the activity.

§ Establishing a framework for the reflection activity that moves from objective observations toward subjective responses and personal interpretation.

§ Challenging students to assess the knowledge, value, and skills necessary to complete the activity.

§ Providing lesson components and resources that prompt active inquiry and curiosity.

§ Creating a less-structured learning environment that prompts students to explore what they think is important about the lesson.

§ Providing a supportive environment and seeking closure on any emotional issues at the end of each reflection activity.

§ Leaving some cognitive or topical issues open for ongoing discussion and reflection beyond the classroom.

Working through the Reflection Process

Structure your reflection activities in the classroom around the five-step “Reflection Cycle”.

Select What topic are you reflecting on? Which issues does it address?

Describe Who? What? When? Where?

Analyze Why did you choose to do this? Where does it fit in? How did you do this?

Appraise What was the effectiveness? What was the impact?

How did this relate to your goals? What was the value of the activity?

Transform What would you do differently next time? Why?

How would this change be better? What have you learned?

Reflection Cycle Questions for Your Students

Becoming a reflective student requires time, practice, an appropriate environment, and activities that are supportive of the reflection process. Following are some example questions to employ for students to practice their reflective thinking on topics from the day’s lesson:

Select

What topic or aspect of this lesson has a particular interest or relevance to you?

What topic or aspect interested you the least, or seemed least relevant?

Why have you selected these topics?

Describe

What were the main content points from this lesson?

How did you relate to the lesson’s content personally?

Describe your classroom environment; is it optimal for thinking or participating?

How does this material fit into your college curriculum and educational goals?

What questions do you have about the material or its educational or personal relevance?