Events, Topics, and DUE Dates
Information
Due Date: 01/28/2008
Description: Introduction, Course Goals
Topics:The first activity in the course is to post introductions.
Question 1.1Please post something about yourself to course Discussion 1.
TOP
Due Date: 02/04/2008
Description: Read the ULM
Topics:I'm trying to advance our understanding of learning in a way that will begin to inform systematically classroom teaching processes. Read the ULM. As you work through this course, I also will be working on a book, Introduction to Instructional Science. To access this book, you will need a course id and password. I'll provide these via e-Mail.
Question 2.1On the basis of your reading and prior knowledge, describe what you think are the greatest STRENGTHS of the ULM.
Question 2.2On the basis of your reading and prior knowledge, describe what you think are the greatest WEAKNESSES of the ULM.
Due Date: 02/18/2008
Description: Working Memory
Topics:Working memory [Baddeley, A. D., & Hitch, G. J. 1974. Working memory. In G. Bower (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation. (Vol. VIII, pp. 47-90). New York: Academic Press.] is at the heart of understanding the ULM. This model has evolved since their time. I am especially impressed by the notions that Cowan (and Engle) bring to this construct.In 2007, according to Google Scholar, there were >10,000 papers with "working memory" in the title. (There are just a few from 2008 so far. The 2007 Google Scholar search seems to include use in the abstract as well as in the title.)
Question 3.1Find TWO papers in 2007-2008 with working memory in the title or abstract that are of interest to you and summarize them in a brief abstract that YOU write. Please include a link to the paper in your response.
Question 3.2Write a brief summary of working memory as you would present this topic to a series of new college or university instructors in disciplines other than education or psychology (chemistry, English, artists, etc.)
Due Date: 02/08/2008
Description: Flow
Topics:Flow feels good.
Question 4.1Find any paper since 2000 on Flow by Csikszentmihalyi and summarize that paper.
Due Date: 03/10/2008
Description: Main Paper 1
Topics:I want to spend the entire TEAC 960 seminar for Spring 08 visiting the ULM. It seems to me that, to do this, I need to help students focus. So, I'm thinking I should have each student prepare two papers.
That seems a bit restrictive to me, so I'm going for a third option, a related topical paper -- but one that I must approve in advance. Here's the deal.
In other words, there are four patterns: right/wrong, wrong/right, right/topical, and wrong/topical. The papers are to be of a length appropriate for making the author's point. They are to be scholarly, meaning that they should include appropriate and, almost necessarily, extensive [current] references. They are to be submitted as HTML pages with a folder containing any needed additional files (images). Either links or pdf copies of the references are to be made available as well.
Question 5.1Submit a paper on what's right OR what's wrong with the ULM. Include references. 2-30 pages. Suggested length, 5-10 pages.
Due Date: 04/07/2008
Description: Main Paper 2
Question 6.1Submit EITHER the paper you didn't submit on 3/10 OR the topical paper that you negotiated.
Due Date: 04/21/2008
Description: Option 1
Topics:TBA if/as needed.
Due Date: 04/28/2008
Description: Option 2
Topics:TBA if/as needed/
Due Date: 05/05/2008
Description: Option 3
Access
You access all of the TEAC 960 materials provided starting from my Web site.dwb4.unl.edu/iTech/TEAC960/TEAC960S08/TEAC960S08Access.htmlAccess from the site permits anyone to view a course description, the course syllabus, and public readings. Enrolled students may access forms for submitting assignments, active discussions, and archived discussions.To access your particular materials, choose your name from the pull-down menu. Your temporary password is the same 'name' that UNL BlackBoard uses for you, usually something like s-smith8.
Course Prerequisites
There are no specific prerequisites for this course.It would be good if you have taken EDPS 854 and TEAC 859.
About Dave Brooks
I teach many of the technology courses at UNL. I work in the area of technology, and especially with high school chemistry teachers. You can learn more about me at my Web site or from my biosketch.I post the doctoral dissertations of the recent doctoral students I have mentored.
Course Content
This course deals with motivation in the context of Web-based learning.It builds on recent work of David Brooks and his collaborators.
Course Management; WWW
This is a Web-only course. Electronic discussion is required. Assignments are submitted on the Web. Consider each date topic as if it were a target deadline. Your assignment MUST be posted by 1 PM central time of the target date. Usually there will be discussions posted within 24 hrs of the target time. I usually send a group e-mail to annouce this posting.There are penalties for excessive lateness.
Communication; E-mail
I communicate via e-mail. You must have access to an e-mail account and to the World Wide Web if you are in this course. No exceptions! You should check your e-mail at least once every 48 hours. All assignments are turned in using the Internet. You will be able to access the posting page from my Web site, http://dwb.unl.edu, first under the "courses" entry, and then for this course (TEAC 960, Spring 08).
Participation in Discussion
Discussions are of key importance in the course. Your participation in electronic discussions is required for TEAC 859. You must contribute to EACH discussion. A contribution is made based upon content analysis, not reports about the weather or your pet cat.I track ALL of your contributions; I determine whether you have accessed the contributions of others.
Meetings
There are no face-to-face (F2F) class meetings. I am available for campus meetings with you, however. Also, I am available by telephone or using Web-based video. If something goes wrong in your life such that meeting a class target schedule becomes problematic, be certain to contact me as soon as possible.
Course Books
There is NO course book.
Grades
The base grade in this course is A. If everything is both timely and adequate, expect an A.Your evaluation is based upon your discussion and the quality and timeliness of your written responses. Writing counts for 80% and discussion 20%. In TEAC 859, silence is not golden -- it is costly, up to a grade and a half (i.e., A- --> C+)This is a graduate course for researchers, and aims at addressing new and heretofore unaddressed or under-addressed topics.The grading is inherently subjective.Final letter grades are awarded as follows:An A+ will be awarded for those who complete all work and for whom the instructor feels that special creativity or ingenuity has been demonstrated. When your work does not meet "A" standards, you will be notified by e-mail. When I do this, I expect to give you specific comments about what needs to be done to improve the work. Also, I will comment if your discussion work is not appropriate (i.e., A level). Rather than give a grade less than an A, I expect to notify you about all less-than-A work for revision and resubmission until it meets the A standard. A grade of less than A from me means either that you did not meet the standard, or that you often turned in less than standard work. (If I feel that I'm frequently returning work, then I'll give a B or C . This is a graduate course. It's not my job to tell you over and over that your work is not up to the standard.)If you do not participate in discussions, your work will not be A even though the assignments submitted may be at that level. A grade of W (Withdrawal) will be issued for those who withdraw in compliance with UNL guidelines.A grade of F will be issued for academic dishonesty, submitting plagiarized work, misuse of UNL computing facilities, or similar unacceptable behavior. Plagiarism means, among other things, submitting work that is not your own writing. When you submit work written by others, use quotation marks. I will use all of the other grades available in accord with my view of the appropriateness of the work submitted. However, work may be resubmitted until it receives a grade of A-. ALL resubmitted work must be in BEFORE 6/16/08 for reconsideration.
Written Assignments
A written assignment is due at 1 PM central time on each event date. ALL of your written assignments must come in electronically on the Web; no exceptions. You submit assignments by first accessing the course menu page (as indicated above) and choose Assignment. Then, from the next page, choose the assignment you want to work on. These are done one-at-a-time.Any assignment may (should) be rewritten and resubmitted if the grade is lower than an A-. You have 7 days after notification about a written assignment to resubmit for a regrade for full credit. Do not expect explicit feedback on your assignment. This is a graduate course and most submitted work is ok. If the work is below standard, you'll receive an e-mail from me.
Late Penalties
Assignments are accessible for submission according to the schedule. After a due date/time. The assignments page is LOCKED and you must contact me to open your access for submitting the assignment. Late assignments, especially without prior notice, will result in lowered grades.When you 'log-in' at the Website, you enter your e-mail address and provide a password. This leads to the creation of a list of materials available to you -- but not necessarily to others. You can always review submitted material, and read my usually sparse feedback comments.
Feedback
This course is based upon two key ideas among others. First, feedback is the gold standard of teaching. Second, self-regulation is a goal for all learners. I expect graduate students to be effective self-regulators and that, as such, they ought not require the same quantity of feedback that is appropriate for a freshman. In other words, if you do a routine graduate-level job on a routine assignment, don't expect feedback. Assume that the feedback, too, would be 'CEHS' routine (e.g., good job).My favorite comment for feedback is 'ok. ' In 960, this translates to 'A.'
Technical Details
Spell check your documents before submitting.Examine your material in Web format. That is, submit your responses and then look them over. When you write on a word processor, and then paste that material into a Web form, expect problems. Quotation marks (often called smart quotes) and special symbols give trouble.
References; Face Validity
The references you submit for this course must come from the WWW. Submit a URL. You may NOT use references that require password access. On your URLs, indicate the date that YOU accessed the URL.In research, there is a concept called face validity: Does something make sense? The idea of time-on-task makes sense and is borne out by research. Some things that make sense are not borne out by research. Anytime you say something that is not well supported -- be that something I don't believe in like multiple intelligences or learning styles, or something I do believe in like pedagogical content knowledge -- expect to be challenged. This is not a course in faith; this is a course intended to increase your understandings of learning based upon the best available recent literature. To be influenced by face validity is to be human. Generally speaking, to make decisions based upon it is unwise -- and possibly stupid.
How This Course Works
This course is based upon reading and discussion. In order to participate effectively, you must read the readings. Sometimes you may be asked to work in groups to respond to particular problems or questions. Most weeks, however, we will engage in discussions.It's one thing to know what authors have said, and quite another about what is meant. You are expected to know what they have said! In other words, you are expected to read closely and not reinterpret authors' writings with your personal meanings.If you believe in something that I don't believe in -- like learning styles -- it's not my job to change your mind. It IS my job to make sure that you know the literature. I develop deep respect for those who change my mind about something that I've thought about for a while. Ways to do this include presenting new literature, or making more powerful arguments. While you are entitled to your own opinion, you are not entitled either to make up what the literature says, or to point to weak studies that fly in the face of strong studies.
Passwords
In order to access some of the course materials you may need an id and a password. I'll e-mail passwords if and when the time comes.
Conduct
Civility during Web-based discussions is expected. I am the arbiter of civility. You are expected to conduct yourself in a manner that encourages the active participation of all persons in the class. The writing samples submitted in this course are to be original with the named author or authors. Submitting any string of 40 or more characters that are written by someone else but not attributed is considered plagiarism. To cite the work of others, use quotation marks and give a citation sufficient that I can readily determine the exact original source.
Scholar Practitioner Model
All instruction at Teachers College is based upon the scholar-practitioner model. This is especially true of my courses, since these essentially always include the latest research results and stress debunking of notions that do not enjoy strong research support.
Diversity
"The University of Nebraska is committed to a pluralistic campus community through Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity. We assure reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act."Students with disabilities are encouraged to contact me for a confidential discussion of their individual needs for academic accommodation. It is the policy of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to provide flexible and individualized accommodation to students with documented disabilities that may affect their ability to fully participate in course activities or to meet course requirements. To receive accommodation services, students must be registered with the Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) office, 132 Canfield Administration, 472-3787 voice or TTY
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