8:15 a.m., Feb. 3, 2009----Havidán Rodríguez, University of Delaware vice provost for academic affairs, welcomed more than 120 participants to the 16th annual UD Winter Faculty Institute on Jan. 6. Corresponding to the theme of the month-long program, "The Ecosystem of Learning at the University of Delaware," the day's events demonstrated how teaching tools and learning practices are rich, diverse and highly interconnected.

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To open the institute, three faculty members showcased their use of teaching practices and technology to enhance learning in the classroom.

Mark Serva, assistant professor, accounting and management information systems

One learning technique supported by UD's Institute for Transforming Undergraduate Education is problem-based learning (PBL). Serva discussed the basic tenets of PBL as well as its educational outcome during his session.

“The principal idea behind PBL is that you always start with the problem. The motivating factor is a problem based on real life complex situations,” Serva said.

All information necessary to solve the problem is not given initially-students need to identify other relevant information themselves.

“Using PBL, learning is active, integrated, cumulative and connected,” he said.

David Wilson, assistant professor, political science and international relations

Wilson's session on “Data driven potential: Clickers in the university environment” explained how clickers-also called personal response systems-can be used in the classroom as well as for other university functions.

“We use data all the time, but we don't always do the best job of collecting it,” Wilson said.

A clicker can be used to collect valid data in teaching, research and administrative activities. Clickers collect data from multiple-choice questions, surveys, numeric lists, true/false questions, an answer series and short answer questions.

“To make good inference, you need good data. And clickers are an excellent way to achieve that,” Wilson said.

Kathy Pusecker, outcomes assessment analyst, Office of Educational Assessment

The “First Year Experience” (FYE)-required for all new UD students-provides students with strategies and information crucial for a successful first year at the University. The program offers students the opportunity to link their academic interests with the campus community.

Pusecker shared her experience designing the “First Year Experience Portfolio Pilot” project in which students created an e-portfolio using the Open Source Portfolio (OSP) feature within Sakai.

Students must demonstrate that they have achieved four learning goals identified by FYE through being engaged learners who can apply knowledge and insights to new and different situations.

“We want to get students to think about how they think,” Pusecker said.

This pilot project not only allows students to fulfill the requirements of FYE, but it gives them an electronic format to submit their achievements.

“The e-portfolio will exist as long as the student is at UD. Students can collect all their achievements in one place over the life of their academic career,” she said.

And in keeping with the University's initiative for the planet, the e-portfolio permits students to demonstrate their learning using technology instead of paper.

Keynote speaker

Gardner Campbell's keynote presentation, “Insight, Symbiosis-Seeking, Intimacy: Awakening the Digital Imagination,” explored the challenging promise of technology to enhance education. Campbell is the director of the Academy for Teaching and Learning at Baylor University and associate professor of literature and media in its Honors College.

“Today I'll examine the elusive promise of technology to enhance education, including ways educators can change their thinking to turn that promise into a reality,” Campbell began.

Although computers are everywhere, “ubiquity and familiarity do not equate with understanding,” he said.

Campbell believes many educators have rejected technology, dismissing its value as “over-hyped underperformers.”

“If we keep thinking about computers as a toaster, we will remain at a level of devaluing them and dismissing their full potential in education. We have neglected to awaken our imagination to the possibilities of what we can make with computers and what this medium means,” he said.

Campbell suggested that the computer has not yet risen to the level of an integrated teaching aid. “Because we've used computers only superficially in education, we haven't received much in return,” he said.

The expanse of transformations that technology spurs can be enormous. To fully integrate the capabilities of technology with teaching to augment learning, Campbell urged educators to awaken their “digital imagination” and think in diverse and inventive ways.

“Learning through technology must be a thinking experience, not just a checklist of tasks,” he said.

Computers are more than an instrument to be used to complete tasks according to Campbell. “They are a way of thinking-not just a thinking machine, but a machine about thinking,” he said.

“Augmentation of intellect is a fundamental ambition of educational technology. Augmenting human intellect has as its goal to make the world better,” Campbell said.

Jane Noble-Harvey, associate professor, biological sciences, was excited about the keynote address.

"Gardner Campbell further inspired me to look at my role as a faculty member as a wonderful opportunity to be creative with ways to engage my students through the use of computing. I am currently exploring the Sakai LMS, which I will use with my online course in the spring semester. And I am very interested in the collaborative aspects of the blog, wiki and forum tools," Noble-Harvey said.

Poster session and afternoon program

Mathieu Plourde, coordinator of this year's institute and instructional designer, IT-User Services, explained the aim of the afternoon program.

“Faculty members need opportunities to discuss teaching and learning, to share their successes and failures. The afternoon program was designed to provide this informal time to let them connect beyond departmental boundaries,” he said.

Following lunch, participants were invited to join their peers to discuss teaching and learning with technology in an informal, technology-enhanced poster session. Twenty-two faculty practices were showcased through posters and computer monitors scattered throughout the Gallery and the Alumni lounges at the Perkins Student Center.

Participants were then invited to break into small discussion groups to tackle specific issues related to teaching and learning with technology, including Sakai@UD, faculty expectations about IT support, use of video, clickers, etc. The day concluded with a report back activity moderated by Gardner Campbell.

Feedback from evaluations revealed that most participants were very satisfied with the event. They enjoyed being challenged to think in new ways by the keynote address and learning about the strategies already being used by their peers. One faculty member wrote, “It was a great chance to meet other faculty on campus. A true social networking opportunity.”

For more information about the institute including videos of the presentations as well as photos, link to this Web site.

The institute is co-sponsored by the University of Delaware Library, Center for Teaching Effectiveness, Institute for Transforming Undergraduate Education, Office of Educational Assessment, UD Online, Office of Service Learning, Office of Educational Technology, Undergraduate Research Program, University Media Services and IT-User Services.

Organizers offered thanks to Fujitsu, Echo360 and eInstruction for their financial support of this year's event.