Grand Beginnings: Podcasting to Build Teaching Skills, Spread Awareness of Information Literacy, and Foster Library-Subject Faculty Collaboration
Awarded to: Rosalee Stilwell, Tracy Lassiter, Portia Diaz, Jennifer Woolston, Tim Hibsman, Theresa McDevitt, Joann Janosko, and John Branscum
“Our Information Literacy Teaching Circle received a grant to purchase headsets and other equipment necessary to record a series of information-literacy related podcasts. We feel information literacy is a core competency for 21st-century students to have. In order to highlight this skill and develop it among faculty, too, we have recorded two podcasts and scripted two others that, upon final editing, will be posted on the Reflective Practices website. Also, Dr. Hibsman's Research Writing class prepared a handbook that includes information literacy and library-related summaries. This pdf document also will be posted on the RP site for faculty use.”
Winning the WAGES Game: Learning How Gender-Specific Realities in the Academic Workplace Disadvantage Women
Awarded to: Maureen McHugh, Tracy Lassiter, and Theresa McDevitt
“We three formed the ‘Feminist Pedagogy' Teaching Circle. With our grant, we purchased seven copies of the WAGES board game. WAGES is an acronym for Workshop Activity for Gender Equity Simulation, and it was developed from empirical data by Stephanie Shields, a Penn State psychology professor. It reveals how patterns of thinking cause gender discrimination, which leads to significant pay disparity in academia. However, we feel the game demonstrates biased thinking against any minority group. Copies are available at Stabley for faculty/staff to borrow. We officially premiered WAGES at the Sex and Gender Conference held April 12.”
Technologies for Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages at IUP
Awarded to: Shijuan “Laurel” Liu, Jean-Louis Dassier, Christina Huhn, and Sean McDaniel
“The purpose of the project was twofold: (1) identify resources and facilities available for the teaching and learning of foreign languages (TLFL) with technologies at IUP, and (2) facilitate discussions and provide mutual support among faculty regarding TLFL. The team has had productive discussions and achieved its goals in 2011-2012. Additionally, the team is developing a survey on student use of technology, and will be reporting all above-mentioned findings to interested students and faculty.”
Hands-On Exercises for Teaching Introductory Statistics
Awarded to: Christoph Maier, Diane Shinberg, John Uccellini, Larry Feldman, Kelli Jo Kerry-Moran, Mavis Pararai, Alvares Nosedal-Sanchez, and Russell Stocker
“During the Spring 2012 semester, our teaching circle was awarded funds for equipment to be used throughout the IUP community in courses that contain a statistics component. We surveyed instructors across campus to determine their levels of interest in using hands-on resources and the types of materials that would be most beneficial. Several items were purchased including: dice, stopwatches, scales, tape measures, vernier calipers, and beakers. All items are housed in the CLEM room in Stright Hall and are available for faculty checkout. Additionally, we are sharing ideas and classroom activities through a common folder on the X drive.”
Writing for Publication: Harnessing the Potential of the Virtual World to Build a Professional Learning Community
Awarded to: Crystal Machado, Courtney McLaughlin, and Hayat Messekher
“To increase membership and participation, technology was infused into our teaching circle. Group membership has doubled and will soon triple with members from China, Algeria, Pakistan, Austria, and the U.S. The group has had three face-to-face meetings, a virtual meeting, and a hybrid meeting. Members collaboratively developed a grant proposal and an IRB application using Google Documents. A group Wiki was created to support pedagogical exploration and collaborative research projects. Circle members will be presenting papers that describe how the virtual world is being used to develop a professional learning community at two different conferences in May.”
Promoting Health-Care Technologies Among Nursing Students
Awarded to: Terri Calderone, Lisa Palmer, Julie Greenawalt, and Cindy Zidek
“The primary goal of this project is to foster collaboration and share technology teaching strategies in nursing with the Nursing and Allied Health Professions faculty. Health care professional roles continue to change as technology use in health care increases at a rapid rate. This grant funded access to a National League for Nursing webinar entitled ‘SMARTcare: How a Tactical Innovation Can Support Nurses in Public Health'.”