INSTRUCTOR: Cheryl Albers, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Sociology
OFFICE LOCATION: Classroom Building B322
OFFICE HOURS: Tuesdays 1:30 to 3:00 and Wednesdays 9:30 to 11:00, and by appointment
TELEPHONE NUMBER: 878-3292
E-MAIL ADDRESS: ALBERSCM@BSCMAIL.BUFFALOSTATE.EDU
http://faculty.buffalostate.edu/alberscm/index.html

INTRODUCTION: This is my first opportunity to teach in an honors course and I am very excited to work with you this semester. I volunteered to teach this course for a number of reasons.

First, I have been working with the Carnegie Academy of Teaching and Learning (CASTL) for seven years http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/castl. This is a dedicated group of educators who are trying to improve higher education through the systematic study, documentation, and dissemination of pedagogical issues. Student voices in this initiative have been under represented. Two years ago at a conference I heard faculty and students from Western Washington talk about a model for including students in their CASTL work. There work is discussed in an Inventio article http://www.doit.gmu.edu/inventio/past/display_past.asp?pID=spring02&sID=bulcroft. and at their web site http://www.wwu.edu/depts/tla/resources.shtml. I wanted to give Buffalo State students an opportunity to build on what they have done and adapt it for our campus. This is a cutting edge of academic investigation that is rapidly expanding. I sincerely believe that you, the honors students at Buffalo State, have the potential make a significant contribution to improving higher education by engaging in focused study of the same problems and questions being addressed by other CASTL researchers.

Second, my daughter recently transferred to The Evergreen State College in Olympia WA http://www.evergreen.edu. The entire curriculum there is developed around the Learning Communities model of focused inquiry. She has found this the most challenging and productive educational experience of the three colleges she has attended. I wanted to try to incorporate some of the characteristics of this curriculum into my teaching. My daughter is sitting next to me now, home for the break between quarters, reworking drafts of her creative writing. When I asked her permission to include her experience in this course outline she responded "Just warn them that they will have to work very hard, but the investment has a great pay off in how much you learn."  

Third, this year I read several books on teaching including "What the Best College Teachers Do" by Ken Bain and "Teaching with Your Mouth Shut" by Donald Finkel, that have caused me to rethink my role as a teacher. Using these texts as a guide, I want to run a very different kind of classroom; one that is not teacher focused or student focused, but rather one that joins all of us as a community of learners tackling a problem, and making a meaningful contribution.

Fifth, I am committed to the value of interdisciplinary learning. I am now a sociologist specializing in life course studies, but I began my academic career as an undergraduate at the University of Minnesota. As a member of the first cohort of an interdisciplinary family studies major, I experienced the rich understanding that results form applying the perspectives of many disciplines to one central concern. I believe the focus of this course, understanding and improving college level learning, requires the insights of many social sciences, making it a perfect choice for HON 302 Social Science Seminar

PURPOSE OF THE COURSE: 

Students in this class will join the professor and other interested members of the campus community in an international initiative called the scholarship of teaching and learning (SOTL). In order to be competent SOTL participants, students will become familiar with a wide range of social science theory relevant to higher education including organizational culture, organizational change, and adult learning. They will use this knowledge to undertake Action Projects to better understand the learning environment at Buffalo State, to share that understanding with others, and to use the evidence gathered through Action Projects to design strategies to strengthen the learning environment.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

COURSE FORMAT:

Research/Writing Groups
A substantial component of this class involves working with a research group, using social science methodology to conduct an on campus field study (see Ethnographic Inquiry Project under the Course Evaluation section below). Research groups are expected to do a significant portion of their work outside of class, but there will also be days when we focus on these projects during class time. This is particularly important in the beginning and end of the semester. In the early stages, coordination between groups will be necessary in order to be sure that the work of the various groups fits together into the most accurate assessment possible within this framework. Near the end of the semester, the total group will need time to pull together the findings of various groups to create an overview for our final report.

Open Ended Seminars
Seminar days are an opportunity for students to deepen their understanding of the ideas introduced in some commonly experienced (homework reading, movie, lecture, etc.). aspect of the class.

Students determine how this can best happen. Only you can do the hard work of thinking. In preparation for these sessions, every student in the class will develop written questions that arise out of thinking about the class material. These must be thoughtful questions, deserving of the efforts of the class to increase understanding by inquiring together into meaning of some aspect of class material. On seminar days, the designated student co-leaders will begin the class by asking classmates to share the questions they developed after reading the material. The co-leaders will then work with the class to determine the order, and the manner in which, the group wished to address these questions.

My role in these sessions is secondary. I will help the class stay focused and productive, help keep the conversation civil and orderly, and summarize the work at the end of the session. But the topics and discussion on these days will be totally dependent on what students feel needs to happen for them to butter understand the work we are doing.

REQUIRED READING:

Beebe, James. 2001. Rapid Assessment Process: An Introduction. New York: Altamira Press.
Durst, Russel. 2003. You are Here: Readings on Higher Education for  College Writers. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Elder, Linda and Paul, Richard. 2004. The Miniature Guide to The Human Mind.  Foundation for Critical Thinking.
Elder, Linda and Paul, Richard. 2005. The Miniature Guide to The Foundations of Analytic Thinking. Foundation for Critical Thinking.
Light, Richard. 2001. Making the Most of College: Student's Speak Their Minds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Additional Reading Assignments will be made from several academic journals that cover the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning such as MountainRise http://mountianrise.wcu.edu/ and Inventio http://www.doit.gmu.edu/inventio/. We will also be reading resources used by other members of the CASTL initiative http://www.carnegiefoundation/org/castl/ Most of these are available on line through the Buffalo State Library Another web site that contains articles for this class is http://www.criticalthinking.org

COURSE CALENDAR AND READING ASSIGNMENTS:

Date	Topic
1-17	INTRODUCTION TO THE CLASS: Collaborative Inquiry
1-19	UNDERSTANDING HUMAN LEARNING: Applications to Higher Education				Elder & Paul, Analytic Thinking
1-24	The Human Mind: Contributions from Psychology				Elder & Paul, The Human Mind; Durst, 263-310
1-26	Collective Meaning Making: Contributions from Sociology				Durst, 188-191; Light, 1-80
1-31	Learning Culture: Contributions from Anthropology				Durst, 40-87
2-2	UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH				Beebe, Introduction
2-7	Ethics of Studies with Human Subjects				Beebe, Chapter 7
2-9	Working in the Field				Beebe, Chapter 1 & 6
2-14	Data Collection Techniques				Beebe, Chapter 2 & 4
2-16	Data Analysis				Beebe, Chapter 3
2-23	Writing Reports				Light, 81-242
2-28	Exam One
3-2	UNDERSTANDING HIGHER EDUCATION AS A SOCIAL INSTITUTION
3-7	Functions of Higher Education: Development of Reason and Knowledge				Durst, 101-114, 130-148, 233-234,
3-9	Training to be a Contributing Member of Society				Durst, 195-209, 217-232, 257-260
3-14	Providing Service to the Society				Durst, 174-187
3-16	Education as Big Business				Durst, 115-129
3-28	Freedom and Accountability				Durst, 149-161, 252-256
3-30	Power and Control
4-4	EDUCATION AND CULTURE
4-6	Reflecting or Changing the Broader Culture				Durst, 1-11, 94-97, 235-241
4-11	Organizational Culture				Durst, 210-216
4-13	Sub Cultures				Durst, 166-173
4-18	Ritual and Ceremony
4-20	Honor's Convocation
4-25	Norms and  Values				Durst, 162-165, 242-250, 311-320, 329-342
4-27	Artifacts and Symbols
CEP Week	Exam Two

COURSE EVALUATION:

Your grade will be determined by your mastery of the material covered in this course as demonstrated by; developing questions for open ended seminars, four essays, your written reactions to eight essays written by other members of the class, co-leading one class seminar, two exams, and a final report on your action project.

Your overall class grade will be determined as follows:

Two Tests 20% of Course Grade

The tests will be given on the dates in the above course calendar. Each test will cover only the material from lectures and reading since the last test. Tests may consist of multiple choice, short answer, matching or essay questions.

Three Essays 15% of Course Grade

Topics for these essays will be discussed in class. They will involve your thinking about the material presented in class.  

Six Letters to Classmates Commenting on Their Essays 15% Course Grade

Bring two typed copies to class, one to hand in at the beginning of class and one to work from during class. Questions should provide evidence of analytic thinking about the articles and should therefore address issues such as:

• What is the main idea of this piece?
  
• What information or experience is being used to support this idea?
  
• What assumptions are being made?
  
• What are the implications of thinking this way?
  
• What are alternative ways of thinking about this?
• What questions are raised by this idea?

Co-Leading Seminar Group 5% of Course Grade

Once during the semester you will co-lead the open ended seminar group. These seminars are an opportunity for students to determine how to best use a class period to advance their learning. They will begin in the third week of class. By then, the class will have done enough reading and thinking to begin determining how you want to structure this class period. Seminar topics might grow out of readings, or be related to action projects. 

Ethnographic Inquiry Project 35% of Course Grade

This project will be based on the social science methodology outlined in the "Rapid Assessment Process" text. This technique involves small teams undertaking research design, data collection, and analysis. The goal of these studies is to produce a product that captures the insight and perspective of participants in the local system. For our purposes, this means conducting field work, here at Buffalo State, to produce a report on the learning culture of our campus. Each team will determine the primary focus of their study, and select the social science techniques (interviews, observations, focus groups, artifact analysis, etc.), most suitable for for their purpose.

This paper gives you an opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of the connections between the material covered in class and readings, as well as exercise your perception, analytic and writing skills. This is your chance to make a real contribution to the growing body of literature on the scholarship of teaching and learning. It is a challenge to make a substantive contribution in just 14 weeks. You will need to start early and meet with your team often as you work on this assignment. The minimum length for this paper is 5 double spaced pages with one inch margins in 12 point font.

Your grade will be determined by how well your research team exhibits each of the following:

• the ability to determine and monitor the expectations for participation and work standards for members of the team;
  
• an understanding of, and ability to apply, chapter two of the Beebe text "Data Collection" ;
• an understanding of, and ability to apply, chapter three of the Beebe text " "Iterative Analysis and Additional Data Collection";
• an understanding of, and ability to apply, chapter six of the Beebe text "Successful Rapid Assessment Process";
• evidence of implementation of appropriate ethical social science research procedures such as informed consent and confidentiality;
  
• evidence of sound social science documentation techniques such as field logs, time lines, task assignments;
• meeting deadlines, keeping appointments, keeping commitments to the research team;
• a final report that evaluates and summarizes your project in a way that is useful to others;
• a final report that meets criteria reflecting the quality of the organization, mechanics, content, and presentation.
  

LATE WORK POLICY:

Papers are due at the beginning of the class period.  Points will be deducted for each calendar day that the paper is late.

ATTENDANCE:

Attendance will be taken. Material covered in class will be included on exams and will be different from material covered in the text. THEREFORE coming to class increases your chance of doing well on exams and improving your final grade. In addition, this class involves a substantial amount of group work. These groups will benefit from consistent membership participation.

Students are advised to find a study partner who is willing to share information from missed classes. Any printed material distributed will be available at the next class, but it is the student's responsibility to ask me for such material.

Attendance is mandatory on the day of scheduled exams. Missed exams may only be made up with a written excuse from a physician or the Health Office, or at my discretion.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS:

1. This class will involve extensive class discussion, often in small groups. The effectiveness of this class in meeting its goals depends on individuals’ willingness to participate, their respect for the opinions and feelings of others and ability to stay on task. This class will be conducted according to the Buffalo State College oath of matriculation, which stipulates that students conduct themselves "with dignity, honesty and civility, respecting the views and diverse backgrounds of ... teachers and peers".

2. During this course, there will be occasions when I or other class members are structuring class activities or lectures. Respectful, dynamic interaction will be an integral component of these classes. However, students are never allowed to act in a disruptive or threatening manner. If such behavior occurs, I will exercise my right to ask that individual to leave the classroom. If refused, I will exercise my right to notify University Police. The responding officer will determine whether an arrest should be made or whether a referral to medical or counseling staff is appropriate. If a student is perceived as a danger to himself, herself, or others, the dean of students, may propose an interim suspension until a hearing is held. Any student removed from class will have the right to a hearing.

3. Students should be familiar with the college policy on academic misconduct as outlined in the undergraduate catalog. Consistent with this policy, plagiarism, cheating on assignments or examinations, or other academic dishonesty, will result in a failing grade for the course.

4. If requested by students letter grades may be attached to exams or the paper. Such grades serve ONLY to help students compare their performance on one specific assignment to that of other students in the class. Final grades are based on accumulated points over ALL assigned work.

5. Any student who requires accommodations to complete the requirements and expectations of this course because of a disability is invited to make his or her needs known to the instructor and to Marianne Savino, coordinator of services for students with disabilities, South Wing 120, ext. 4500.

6. Buffalo State College faculty and staff want all students to feel safe on campus. Be alert and walk in pairs, especially after dark. Consider using campus safety services, including the Bengal Buggies, Escort Van, Motorist Assistance Program, and walking escorts. Blue light emergency phones located throughout the campus provide direct access to the University Police. For all emergencies on campus, call University Police at ext. 6333.