Friday @ the Center
December 4, 2009
Upcoming Deadlines for SPU Internal Grants
Three SPU-funded grants supporting research are available each year: The Faculty Research Grant (FRG), Senior Faculty Grant (SFG), and SERVE Grant in Vocation and Theology. The first two programs support direct research expenses, student assistants, a summer stipend, or release time to pursue a scholarly project. Priority in FRGs is given to pre-tenured faculty; SFGs are limited to tenured faculty. The Faculty SERVE Vocation Grant supports research and curriculum that center on theological exploration of vocation in a wide variety of disciplines. Complete descriptions of each program and NEW interactive application forms are now available on the CSFD website. Applications to support work during the 2010-2011 academic year are due on Feb. 1, 2010. Final awards will be determined by the Faculty Development Committee.
Academic Writing: How to Revise
Faculty who struggle with the process of writing up their research might want to reflect on the findings of a 1986 review article in American Psychologist, in which John R. Hayes and Linda S. Flower identify how expert writers work with respect to three aspects of the writing process: planning, sentence generating, and revising. Hayes and Flower found that expert writers focus on global problems as they revise, while novice writers focus on local problems. Novice writers are primarily concerned with word choice, phrasing, and sentence structure, while expert writers focus on evaluating the form and shape of their argument, using the paragraph as the smallest unit of creation or analysis. When it comes down to individual words and sentences, expert writers are more concerned with supporting global meaning than with nice-sounding phrasing or unusual words.
Teaching Idea #5: Integrating the Arts and Philosophy
In addition to writing a traditional paper on their philosophy of education, graduate students in Debby Espinor’s “Foundations of American Education” class are required to do a creative presentation of their educational philosophy in 5 minutes or less. Students write a poem, paint a picture, make a movie, do a dance, etc., and creative works are performed during the last two class sessions in the ARC Cabaret. This assignment requires students to draw on two strikingly different learning styles and provides memorable concrete images of more abstract philosophical commitments. Visit University iTunes to hear Debby talk more about the project.
Faculty Development: What's Happening in December?
• Blackboard: The Grade Center. Instructional Technology Workshop. Dec. 10
• BlackBoard Basics. Instructional Technology Workshop. Dec. 10.
• Blackboard: Collaborative Learning. Instructional Technology Workshop. Dec. 11
• Faculty W-Course Writing Workshop, led by Tom Amorose. Dec. 11. (registration closed)
• The Fall Faculty Mentor dinner, featuring Ross Stewart talking on “It's Not All About You!” Dec. 14. By invitation only.
• Using Blackboard Assessment Tools. Instructional Technology Workshop. Dec. 17.
• Lecture Capture Technologies: Using Camtasia Relay. Instructional Technology Workshop. Dec. 18.
• Sign up for Instructional Technology Workshops here.
Best Wishes for Exam Week,
Susan Susan VanZanten |
 |
