Category: Presentations

Language Instruction: brainstorm on language placement, diagnostics and refreshers

LACOL

As a preview and prelude to LACOL’s “Language Instruction Hack-a-thon” next May at Swarthmore College (https://lacol.net/language-hackathon), you are cordially invited to join a team meeting on Monday, December 12, 2016. This session is particular relevant for faculty and technologists with an interest in language placement/diagnostics and refreshers, and especially anyone who is curious to know more about plans for the hack-a-thon. 

Meeting: LACOL Language Instruction: pre-hack-a-thon brainstorm on language placement, diagnostics and refreshers

Special Guest Speakers: 

  • Chico Zimmerman, Professor of Classics, Carleton College
  • Clara Hardy, Professor of Classics, Carleton College

Session Agenda:

  • To launch the conversation, Professors Zimmerman and Hardy from Carleton College will share an update on their Latin placement project. Throughout the summer and fall, they have been designing a more effective placement test for Latin and exploring a number of web-based tools/platforms for delivery – see: https://lacol.net/latin-placement-lacol2016.  Thought focused on Latin content, their work provides excellent food for thought with broad relevance to diagnostics and refreshers for modern languages as well.
  • The remainder of the session will focus on plans for the hack-a-thon. What are the shared goals?  What pre-work can help to lay a solid foundation?  What kinds of productive “hands on” work can faculty and technologist do together in person in May?  
  • A small group of faculty has done some brainstorming about the hack-a-thon already.  We will share initial ideas and build from there.

Dec 12 Meeting Minutes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gbUfAj_6M6fh8_ReCMY_bFePz7T5wIQJIuNc03tHEPU/edit?usp=sharing

Webinar: Carleton Cube Debrief (October 19)

LACOL

Meeting:

Debrief on Carleton’s CUBE pilot (online summer bridge program for quantitative skills)

On October 19, LACOL held a webinar with special guests Melissa Eblen-Zayas and Janet Russell from Carleton College.  In this one-hour session, Melissa and Janet shared their experiences running the first iteration of the ‘Carleton Undergraduate Bridge Experience’ or CUBE, a new online summer bridge program designed to support entering students with quantitative skills and reasoning.  Carleton’s creative approach to developing CUBE riveted the audience at the June LACOL workshop as the pilot was just getting underway.  Now in this “debrief” session, you can hear all about what went into running the program in the first round, how students responded, and the lessons that were learned.  The meeting was held in Zoom with ample opportunity for Q&A and discussion.  Contact Liz Evans (eevans@haverford.edu) for more information.

Special Guests:

  • Melissa Eblen-Zayas, Associate Professor of Physics and Director of the Perlman Center for Learning and Teaching, Carleton College
  • Janet Russell, Director of Academic Technology, Carleton College

Related Resources:

Date:

Wednesday, Oct 19

screen-shot-2016-10-19-at-2-22-05-pm

Dr. Candace Thille speaks to LACOL at Haverford College

LACOL

Candace_croppedWorld-renowned open learning pioneer Dr. Candace M. Thille (Stanford University) delivered a captivating keynote address on the campus of Haverford College on Saturday, June 18th. This talk was a major highlight on the program of LACOL2016, a two-day, consortium-wide workshop organized by LACOL.  In her remarks, Dr. Thille shared thoughtful and provocative commentary on the opportunities and risks ahead as we move further into the blended, digital future of teaching and learning for the liberal arts. She invited faculty, staff and students at small liberal arts colleges to engage and contribute to shaping a more positive, open and transparent future.

Speaker: Dr. Candace Thille, Stanford University
Keynote Talk: The Science of Learning, Technology, and Student Success in Liberal Education
Date: Saturday, June 18th
Time: 11:30am-12:30pm
Location: Stokes Auditorium on the campus of Haverford College

Video Highlights:

https://youtu.be/QQhTbXgcYyI
Candace Thille Keynote, “The Science of Learning, Technology, and Student Success in Liberal Education” LACOL 2016, June 18, 2016 at Haverford College

https://youtu.be/HzEgm7-hGWc
Q&A with Candace Thille: algorithms, feedback and measuring the unmeasurable

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Vassar’s Ben Ho on games for teaching Economics

LACOL

In this clip, Ben Ho, Associate Professor of Economics at Vassar College, shares his thoughts on economic motivations, learning theory and the use of games to teach economics as part of a liberal arts curriculum.  Prof. Ho is a behavioral economist who uses economic tools like game theory and experiments to understand social systems such as apologies, identity signaling, and climate concerns.  This talk was part of a series of conversations on innovative use of digital and online approaches for teaching and learning at the 2014 consortium-wide workshop held at Pomona College.

https://youtu.be/giyBHZKy8po

Prof. Ben Ho discusses games for teaching economics

Ho sees students responding very positively to the use of games for class, and this is reflected in their learning.   He says:

I have always considered classroom games an essential part of my pedagogy. It gives students a way to fully engage in strategic thinking. Games like MobLab greatly simplify the task of implementing games in class, its highly polished presentation impresses students, and has been the most positively commented upon change to my teaching, with lots of unsolicited positive feedback both after class and in course evaluations.

 

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Dr. Randy Bass speaks at Carleton about a future design for learning

LACOL

In the fall of 2015, Carleton College’s Learning and Teaching Center and Information Technology Services hosted Randy Bass, Georgetown’s Vice Provost for Education, and a leading thinker on innovation in higher education.  In this clip from his campus talk, Dr. Bass invites faculty to look proactively and efficiently at the evolving Liberal Arts landscape.

https://vimeo.com/140367009

According to Bass:

One of the most important things for any institution, especially ones that know that their survival isn’t threatened by the changes in the ecosystem, is to try to be a model of reinvention, to try to reimagine what it is that we most deeply value that is now existing in the world. The most important design question to ask is what kind of experimentation does an institution need to do so that institution can live fully in its time.

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