Notes & NewsNotes & NewsMike Siebenaler

Graduate AssistantMike has been married to his wonderful wife, Heidi, for nine years. Both of them take care of Heidi’s 13 year-old brother in Bowling Green.

Mike received his undergraduate degree in technical writing at BGSU in 1995, then worked at local companies for eight years before returning to BGSU’s technical writing graduate program. At CTLT Mike assists with..

• Blackboard consulting.• Specialized programs including EndNotes

and the CPS system.• Seminars/troubleshooting.

Featured Staff Member:Student Feedback: Contributing to Curricular Change

February, 2004 * Volume 4, Issue 4

The Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology * 201 University Hall * 419-372-6898 * http://ctlt.bgsu.edu/

As a teacher, it is not too early to begin thinking about getting feedback from your students about how they are learning in your course. Yes we use quizzes, tests and projects to assess student learning in general, but in what ways are we getting timely feed-back from students about how they are or are not learning in our courses.

Of course we do administer student evaluations at the end of the semester, which provide faculty with some kind of feedback about our teaching and student learning, but these assessments may come too late to benefi t particular class. Often the feedback does not help as much as we would like in order for us to improve as teachers.

Early Semester Student Feedback Strategies

If you want to use student feedback in a more constructive way for improving a class, consider a fast and constructive technique in-volving student feedback that is used early in the semester. Known by various names, such as Small Group Instructional Diagnosis (SGID) or Group Instructional Feedback Technique (GIFT), this technique requires colleague/facilitator to visit your class for about 20-25 minutes to work with your students to get their responses to three prompts such as:

• Give one or two examples of specifi c things your instructor does that really help you learn in this course?• Give one or two examples of specifi c things your instructor does that make it more diffi cult for you to

learn in this course?• Suggest one or two specifi c, practical changes your instructor could make that would help you improve

your learning in this class.

In general, the facilitator administering this assessment uses a process that allows students in small groups to compare responses and then come up with a short list of responses that are representative yet focused. The facilita-tor writes down the focused comments from the students choosing only the most important comments as chosen by the students. The responses are given a percentage representing those who agree with the comment. After the session, the facilitator summarizes the student responses and provides feedback to the instructor based on student comments. The entire process is very professional and allows anonymity to students while giving very helpful feedback to an instructor.

CTLT offers SGIDs throughout the year through a confi dential process administered by the Director. If you choose to support a colleague by offering to administer such an assessment, CTLT will work with both faculty to guide them in the process. If you are interested in participating in one of these SGIDs or want to learn more, call Dan Madigan (Director) at 2-9398 to make an appointment to discuss this strategy.

Published ByThe Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology

Intro to Blackboard M Feb 16 9:00-11:00 F Mar 5 9:00-11:00 Blackboard Assessment Tool W Feb 18 9:00-10:30 F Mar 5 1:00-2:30 W Mar 17 10:00-11:30 T Mar 23 2:00-3:30 Blackboard Online Communication Tools Th Feb 19 9:00-11:00 Blackboard Gradebook T Feb 17 1:00-2:30 W Mar 3 10:00-11:30 M Mar 15 1:00-2:30 W Mar 24 2:00-3:30 Advanced Content Creation for Blackboard 6 W Feb 25 2:00-4:00 T Mar 2 10:00-12:00 F Mar 26 10:00-12:00 Intro to HTML T Feb 24 9:00-11:00 Intro to Powerpoint F Feb 20 9:00-11:00 Intro to Dreamweaver Th Feb 26 9:00-11:00 Tenure & Promotion W Feb 19 11:30-1:00 F Mar 19 11:30-1:00 M April 19 11:30-1:00

All workshops will be held on site at 201 University Hall.Register for workshops online at: http://ctlt.bgsu.edu/workshops/registration.php or call 372-6898. For updated information on our workshops please visit: http://ctlt.bgsu.edu/workshops/list.php.

CD labeling W Feb 11 4:00-4:30 T Feb 24 2:00-2:30 Photo Manipulation/Enhancement W Feb 11 11:00-11:30 F Feb 20 11:30-12:00 Text Scanning F Feb 6 4:00-4:30 T Feb 17 10:00-10:30 iTunes F Feb 13 2:30-3:00 DVD Photo Album M Feb 16 1:00-1:30 Film & Slide Scanning T Feb 10 10:30-11:00 F Feb 27 2:30-3:00 Digital Photography Th Feb 12 2:00-2:30 W Feb 18 2:30-3:00 Transfer Video to DVD M Feb 9 12:00-12:30 Th Feb 26 3:30-4:00 Intro to Videography M Feb 9 1:00-3:00 T Feb 10 2:00-4:00 iMovie M Feb 23 12:00-1:30

CTLT offers a varied program of technology workshops during the year to faculty and graduate teaching assis-tants. These workshops are designed not only to present information about technology, but also to incorporate the application of the technology into teaching and learning. For example, participants in the “Blackboard On-line Communication Tools” workshop are taught how to use email, the discussion board, and the virtual class-room. However, in addition to learning the technology, concepts of effective online communication are taught. Topics include: setting expectations, management of messages and time management, assessment of online communication, how to encourage student participation, how to facilitate a chat and discussion, and the role of the instructor in a chat or discussion.

All CTLT seminars are free and are open to faculty and graduate teaching assistants. Here are just a few reasons why it is benefi cial to attend a CTLT technology seminar:

• Learning the technology so you can use it more effectively.• Tips and information about the use of technology in teaching and learning are presented. • It is an opportunity to network with colleagues across the university and see how other faculty are using it.

A list of current workshops is provided below and can also be found on the CTLT web site at http://ctlt.bgsu.edu/workshops/index.php. To register for a workshop, contact Kris Sautter at ksautte@bgnet.bgsu.edu or register online at http://ctlt.bgsu.edu/workshops/registration.php.

CTLT Technology Workshops

Workshop Schedule