Crossing the Boundaries: Models for Interdisciplinary Co-Teaching in Undergraduate Courses

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Crossing the Boundaries: Models for Interdisciplinary Co-Teaching in Undergraduate Courses A Practice Session presented at the

Conference on Higher Education PedagogyFebruary 6, 2014

+Our Team

Lesley University, Cambridge MASidney Trantham

Lasell College, Newton MACatherine ZeekLinda BucciMichael DaleyLori Rosenthal

Massachusetts College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences, Boston Linda Bruenjes

+Our Agenda

Overview Learning to Teach, Teaching to Learn [First Year Seminar]

Least intensive during the course Two perspectives focusing on a topic

Persuading People, Preserving Planet [Sophomore Multidisciplinary] Moderately intensive faculty interaction during the course Two disciplines focusing on a problem and related projects

Children and Violence [Course cross-listed in PSYC and Justice Studies] Highly intensive faculty interaction during the course Two disciplines focusing on a problem; modeling the process of changing

professionals’ mental models

Wrap-up and discussion

+First Year Seminar:Learning to Teach, Teaching to Learn Catherine Zeek: Chair & Associate Professor, Education

Department Linda Bruenjes: Associate Professor and Director of

Instructional Technology Shared interests in preservice teachers’ understanding

of effective pedagogy and use of instructional technology

Pilot three-credit FYS offered for students entering licensure programs at Lasell (Fall 2007)

+First Year Seminar:PlanningTwice co-taught Technology in Education

(TIE) Incorporated topics and experiences from TIEMeetings:

Frequent, extended, f2f during spring and summer preceding FYS to identify resources, assign roles, and create course structure

Weekly, often briefly, during fall semester to debrief and redirect

+First Year Seminar:TeachingLeast overlap in rolesDivided topics; assigned them to ourselvesEach class period: one lead and one

support

+First Year Seminar:EvaluatingBoth read / reviewed all student workCompared scoring on rubrics to develop

consistencyMet together with students to provide

feedbackDivided other student meetings

+Persuading PeoplePreserving PlanetDr. Mike Daley, Environmental ScientistDr. Lori Rosenthal, Psychologist

paper28%

yard trimmings14%

food waste14%plastics

12%

metals9%

rubber, leather, and textiles

8%

wood7%

glass5% other

4%

Municipal Solid Waste Stream

+How many bags do Lasell College students send to the landfill each academic year?

31,500 bags in landfill per academic year

Multiply this by the number of college students in New England

+Persuading People, Preserving the Planet

Using the tools of environmental science and psychology to create sustainable solutions

+Six Compliance Principles

• Social Validation• Reciprocity• Liking• Consistency• Authority• Scarcity

Which is a social validation message?

HELP SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT. You can show your respect for nature and help save the environment by reusing your towels during your stay JOIN YOUR FELLOW GUESTS IN HELPING TO SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT. Almost 75% of guests who are asked to participate in our new resource savings program do help by using their towels more than once. You can join your fellow guests in this program to help save the environment by reusing your towels during your stay

+Figure 2 is from an experiment by Goldstein et al. 2008 on towel reuse messaging in hotels. Without knowing much about the experiment, what does this graph imply to you?

+Compliance Principles

Social ValidationReciprocityLikingCommitmentAuthorityScarcity

Survey Results

+Core Areas of Inquiry

Apply the process of scientific inquiry to comprehend the natural world and to solve problems

Evaluate and understand how individual differences in mental processes and behaviors relate to beliefs, values, and interactions

Interpret and analyze the complex interrelationships and inequities in human societies in a global and historical context

Experience modes of self-expression and creativity

+Core Intellectual Skills

Read and respond in an informed and discerning way to written texts of different genres

Use listening and speaking skills to express ideas and information clearly and confidently in a variety of settings

Apply quantitative reasoning to solve problems effectively Use appropriate technological tools to solve problems

efficiently Collect, analyze, and synthesize appropriate data and sources

effectively, ethically, and legally Work effectively in collaborative settings Write clear, well-organized, persuasive prose

+Children & Violence

Linda BucciLasell CollegeNewton, MA

Sidney TranthamLesley UniversityCambridge, MA

+Children & Violence

Linda Bucci: former prosecutor & professor of criminal justice and legal studies

Sidney Trantham: clinical psychologist/neuropsychologist & associate professor of psychology

Shared interests in area of childhood violence and maltreatment

Three versions of the course (Spring 2004, Spring 2007, Spring 2009)

+Children & Violence

Course Development: Generative Stage Labor intensive Began 6 months – 1 year

prior to course Identified focus, purpose,

goals, objectives & course content

Worked on departmental & administrative buy-in

Curriculum review

+Children & Violence

Course Development: Refining Stage Narrowing focus of course Clarification of topics,

readings & assignments Creation of course

activities

+Children & Violence

Course Development: Finalizing Stage Re-confirmed guest

speakers, field trips Finalized syllabus Marketed course

+Children & Violence

INSTRUCT

DEBRIEF

PLAN

+Children & Violence

Both faculty present for all classes and all course-related activities

Some natural splitting of work but most assessment of students involved both faculty reviewing student work

Planning before & after classes on a weekly basis Modeling for students how professionals from different

backgrounds may see same issue from different perspective yet still work together

+Children & Violence: Class Scenarios

SCENARIO

YES NO MAYBE WHY?Use

statute

8 year old child does not separate from mother well at all. She never completely stops crying while in school. She startles easily and watches you all day from her seat. You speak to mom, asking if you can meet with both parents. She replies that she can handle it, that you cannot bother her husband with this.

EMT brings patient to hospital from scene of domestic assault. Female partner pushed her from behind, not realizing that she was holding their one year old son. Child was not injured but mom hit her head while protecting child from the fall.

Overly obese child comes to school with enormous lunch full of sweets, sodas and chips packed by Dad.

5 year old child has bruises on the upper part of her arm. When asked, mom says she grabbed her arm hard as she ran into the street with oncoming traffic.

A 14 year old child is found walking barefoot in the cold weather. She tells the police she has been locked in her parent’s basement for years.

A 6 year old child runs into a neighbor’s yard to retrieve a ball. The neighbor chases the child away by squirting him in the face with a hard stream of water.

A 12 year old goes to the orthodontist with broken braces and abrasions inside his lip. The mother reports that he fell when he was playing soccer. The child seemed to be frightened whenever his mother came close.

In school, a child asks to grab a pillow to sit on. The teacher asked why and the student says her bum is sore from when she was spanked for saying bad words to her father.

Is this a situation where you would report?

+Discussion

Linda Bucci / Lasell College / Newton, MA [email protected]

Lori Rosenthal / Lasell College / Newton, MA [email protected]

Sidney Trantham / Lesley University / Cambridge, MA [email protected]

Cathy Zeek / Lasell College / Newton, MA [email protected]