Please play the video while reading my blog...you know...to set the mood!
I'm getting a pretty late start on my new post. I am juggling so many obligations that my time management skills have really been tested. I will say staying busy makes time go by "faster" even though faster may be relative in a graduate students eye.
If you are wondering about the video above it serves two purposes.
#1: For some reason I think Dr. C likes this song.
#2: Our first tech talk involves video media (go team rumplestiltskin)
In class last week we discussed wikis and pinterest. I may be stepping over the line a bit, but I think pinterest is more of a girly social media. I am basing this on the fact that I know dozens of women, but no men who actually use it. However, I did some scouring and found an interesting pin that I wanted to share!
I can't even explain how I came across this image, but it is golden! From an academic standpoint I can see the allure of using this social media to organize teaching ideas, etc, but in terms of application to my field and in my classrooms I am not sure I would enjoy incorporating it. However, our newest "project" in the future faculty meeting is course design of our dream course. I have decided to incorporate blogging into the class design, but still do not have all my ideas put together.
The course is an introductory biochemistry/genetics course for non-science folk (bio-daddy-fat-sacks as they like to call it). I whole-heartedly believe that non-science major science courses are crap. Students are expected to memorize a wealth of basic biology concepts that they will never use in their lives. My course focuses on scientific problems in everyones life with the hope students will leave the class with the ability to make more informed decisions regarding these problems. Topics include: genomic medicine (the future of personalized medicine), nutrition, bio-fules, etc. I want to have students make a note when they are confronted with scientific decisions in everyday life and then blog about those experiences.
If anyone has any ideas/comments I would love to hear them.
Sherry Fashion Forward Clouser symbolic image: Every time I hear wiki I think turntable.
Ladies and gentlemen of EDHI9040. This is what I refer to as a sub-blog!
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention in this post that the division of biological sciences is performing a job search for a tenure track teaching position, which is heavily SOTL oriented. They are now in the interviewing process and Jeremy R., Virginia S., and myself are getting some interaction with the candidates. See Jeremy's post for details.
Yes I realize that you can edit previous posts, but the past is the past. It does no good to try to change it.
You know Matt, I was thinking tonight that I should incorporate a video into my blog since that's our Rumpelstiltskin first-born this semester; I'm glad to see that you took the iniative to follow through.
ReplyDeleteI think the challenge with blogging for those who aren't really interested in it is ensuring that (from a teacher's perspective) your students are actually engaging in and getting something from the blog rather than merely typing something to fulfill a course requirement. Although maybe they'll learn something despite their apathetic intentions? Also, I think it'd be important to find a way (via the blogging activity or otherwise) to ensure that not only are students blogging about/identifying when they're confronted with scientific decisions but that the activity also facilitates further development of the students' ability to make informed decisions using science.
FURG, loving your blog. At first I thought the vid was going to be a clip of the show Arrested Development but the band works just as well. And the song really added to my experience of the blog reading. Not only did I like the song, but it allowed me to read your blog through your personality. I actually found myself laughing out loud (particularly at the DJ cat). I like your idea about course design for non-majors. I also think that would be a good idea in major courses as well, considering not all biochemists will be graduate students (even if we wish they would), some may want to be nurses, doctors, industry workers, or none of the above. I think altering your class to meet the needs of all students would be great. You could even give different tests based on different backgrounds so the knowledge is applied properly to every student. Although I am sure some problems would arise with that "not being fair."
ReplyDeleteHow did you know I would like that song? Hmmm.
ReplyDeleteOne of the tenets of adult learning theory is that adults are more likely to learn when they have a need to know. Making connections between your discipline and student lives strengthens their need to know. Finding ways for students to identify those connections for themselves is even better!
DJ Cool-Cat. Sweet.