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2007 REPORTS FROM BREAK-OUT
GROUPS
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| • Plagiarism - Discovering it by searching Google and turnitin.com - Taking disputes or suspicious work to the Department Chair - Making the confrontation with the suspected plagiarist a learning experience • Sending students to the Learning Center to improve writing skills • Sensitivity to multiculturalism - Opening a discussion about what constitutes "the canon" - Looking for strengths of various non-Western and non-Anglo modes of thinking and how they can be applied • Establishing strict rules at the outset for students ================= 1. There are no podiums in classrooms so one has to get used to lecturing in a different way. 2. Bring your own chalk on the first day. Not every dept. has chalk available. Classes have blackboards. 3. Most classes are not smart classrooms. 4. Be consistent on the syllabus. It is a contract between professor and students. Be very clear and go over the syllabus in a detailed manner on the first day of class. Plan a class by class program and try to stick to it. 5. Don't make special adjustments for students who ask for this. Often students ask if they can have extra credit for doing both essays, for example. It is not fair to make changes for one student. If there are special circumstances, that is different. Build extra credit into an exam, perhaps, and then say that there is no other means for attaining extra credit except on the exams. 6. Don't be too lax at the beginning of the semester in order that students may like you. They like to be challenged. It is very hard to become stricter once you are perceived as being very relaxed. 7. How much information do you share with students? Keep it very professional? Discuss personal life? Depends on course and context. 8. Be clear with students about your discipline and how you became a professor (what a PhD is, etc.). 9. Be clear about rules on plagiarism. 10. Institute a mid-semester student evaluation. This enables you to correct problems before the semester is over. It also allows students to vent before they do the actual evaluations! 11. Getting to know students names is essential. Ask for photos, do multiple introductions. 12. Have a clear attendance policy. 13. Some people felt grade range should not be too narrow, other said this was not a problem. 14. Grades can't be changed later. 15. Apply for a web page. =============== SYLLABUS § To articulate your expectations clearly and explicitly. § To provide rubrics and examples of assessments: target based, satisfactory, & unsatisfactory. § To list your attendance policy (including punctuality) and count 10% of the course assessment towards participation. § SOE faculty in light of NCATE: National Council Accreditation of Teacher Education) discussed the importance of listing standards on syllabi. INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES § To give an assessment within the first four weeks. § For extremely large classes (50+), to give frequent assessments such as bimonthly quizzes and/or discussion groups to keep students on task. PLAGIARISM § Faculty inquired as to whether BC had a site license for software which would ascertain plagiarism. The Associate Provost replied it is under discussion. § Faculty inquired as to “procedures” for students who were suspected of plagiarism. The Associate Provost discussed some of the specific committees that deal with these incidents and informed faculty that a new Faculty Handbook will be available via web very shortly.
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