Curious David Redux

Paean: Reflections on My First 32 Years of Teaching at Carroll

No longer can I ignore the emails from campus indicating that Fall semester will soon begin. Nor can I put off too much longer that manuscript review which is due September 3. Time to doff my invisibility cloak and return to campus rejuvenated, reinvigorated, enriched by extensive reading, and with a clear (closely guarded) plan of what I want to accomplish over the next five years. Invite me to coffee if you'd like to trade closely guarded secrets!

I did an unusually large amount of reading this summer---at least 20 novels including Stieg Larson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, Richard Russo's Straight Man and his Empire Falls, Rebecca Newberg Goldstein's 36 Arguments for the Existence of God, David Lodge's Thinks; Gary Shteyngart's Super Sad True Love Story, Lesley Kagen's Whistling in the Dark, Benjamin Taylor's The Book of Getting Even, and Brady Udall's magnificent The Lonely Polygamist. Among the nonfiction books I found especially interesting, provocative, or intellectully stimulating were Chris Anderson's Free: The Future of A Radical Price, Nicoholas Carr's The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains, and two books by social psychologist Ellen Langer, The Power of Mindful Learning and Counterclockwise: Mindful Health and the Power of Possibility. More about each of these good reads can be found elsewhere. What else should I read?

The other day I decided to read cover-to-cover and, yes, word-by word the official 2010 - 2011 Carroll University catalog. How things have changed since I joined the Carroll community! I wonder if I have changed to the same degree (but please don't send me photos of me from 1977).

Of the 120 individuals listed as Carroll faculty for 2010 - 2011 (included are administrators and librarians with "faculty status") I am now seventh-most senior in years of continuous service. Three of those faculty listed who are more senior than I plan to make 2010 - 2011 their last year here (or so I have been told). Almost half the faculty and most administrators have only been at Carroll since 2006. 

It might make an interesting exercise in my statistics class to use this data (faculty colleague, academic degrees earned, institutions from which degrees were earned, years of continuous service, academic rank) to better see who we are and how we have changed. Hmm, carpe diem (seize the the teaching moment)---I think I may have developed the content of my first Lab in PSY205 "Statistics and Experimental Design" on September 1.

What are the responsibilities of a senior faculty, such as I, who is such an increasingly scarce commodity? I've seen far too many former colleagues across these 32 years at my stage of faculty development become bitter, angry, despondent, frustrated or exhausted, as they tried to do too much (serving on every committee and task force and accreditation visit) or resisted institutional change they found inappropriate. How can one protect the integrity of an institution one has grown to love, preserve traditions deserving of being kept, and be guided and anchored by the collective wisdom and core values of Carroll's founders---and yet be open to new ideas and supportive of younger colleagues who need the opportunity to make mistakes and to have the same growth opportunities as did I?

In a week I'll have an opportunity to have lunch with members of Carroll's 25-year Club (faculty, staff, and emeriti) who have served Carroll for at least 25 years. I enjoy that annual celebration with these campus colleagues, faculty and non-faculty, who have been mentors, friends, teachers and role models to me.  How many lives these dedicated individuals have affected---and continue to do so as they've shaped and lived core institutional values across the years and have produced a rich collective legacy of traditions, successes, failures, and reasons for celebration. How they have enriched my life and inspired me.

Disentangling Oneself from the Stickiness of the Web

Thesis:

"Anonymous blog comments, vapid video pranks, and lightweight mashups may seem trivial and harmless, but as a whole, this widespread practice of fragmentary, impersonal communication has demeaned interpersonal interaction." So writes Jaron Lanier in a provocative and thought-provoking book You are not a gadget which I am currently reading. How curious (ironic, creepy) to find a preview version of it online.

Antithesis:

"The Web has accelerated access to learning. There has never been a time in the
history of this planet when so much learning was possible throughout our lifetime. Not
only is learning access instantaneous, but you can also learn from global partners via
technology that is increasingly social, ubiquitous, and inexpensive. Despite persistent
complaints about the state of education today, when it comes to opportunities to learn
outside as well as inside schools, these are auspicious times."  So writes Curtis J. Bonk, on the other hand, in his online prequel to the book The world Is open: How web technology is revolutionizing education which I also  am reading. Not surprisingly, much of this is also available online.

Synthesis:

Stay tuned! I'm still trying to decide whether to move closer to the Web (while avoiding the spiders) by using more Internet tools personally and in my classes or to move away from it lest it take even control of me! The distinctions between science fiction and science fact are both harrowing and narrowing---and I am determined to be in control rather than be controlled by technology. Thoughts of Isaac Azimov'vs CAL and Arthur C. Clarke's HAL haunt and taunt me. Time for a vacation full of reflection, rejuvenation, redirection, and resolution of conflicting thoughts about how best to teach and to learn well.

Reading Recommendations

Note: This is a cross-post of a blog I published on the experimental Pioneer Place Ning that I am developing.

One of the first impressions visitors to my office comment upon is the number of books I have---and one of the first questions is, have you really read them all? Most I have read. Some are from my childhood!

Just finished removing all the books from the six floor-to-ceiling bookshelves in my study at North Lake in order to dust the shelves. Discovered in the process of putting them back a number of reading pleasures I'd forgotten experiencing.

We are in the process of moving father-in-law Walter Schmidits's books from Kaukauna to the hotel structure next to our home and creating a library there. Among the books are some he treasured when he was an English major at Carroll. Yearbooks; literature; treasures.

I've always loved reading and choose to protect some time for pleasure reading daily. Here are three books I have recently read (or am completing).

1. Malcolm Gladwell's What the Dog Saw---and other Adventures. I have enjoyed the three prior books by Gladwell (The Tipping Point; Blink; and Outliers). I think he writes well and creatively sees links that others do not. This book was somewhat disappointing in that it consisted entirely of pieces that he had previously published in the New Yorker, to which I subscribe both in paper and electronic form. Perhaps it was the book's title that led me to purchase it!

1. Rick Hanson and Richard Mendius's Buddha's Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love and Wisdom. I probably chose to read this book in part because it reflects some of the research interests of my colleague Chris May. Also, I am interested in ways to control my blood pressure and manage stress. Maybe I should consult my dog friends for advise:

2. 

3. Rebecca Newberger Goldstein's novel, 36 Arguments for the Existence of God. I've always found it amusing and edifying to read novels exposing the foibles and pretense of academics.

   
   

What do you recommend that I read?
Why?
Maybe we need a Pioneer Place Reading/Discussion Group.

Exploring Diigo in the Higher Education Classroom

I am a slow learner---reluctant to innovate my teaching methods for innovation's sake. I've become convinced, however, that it is time for me to cascade into the Carroll classrooms some of the elearning tools I began investigating with my freshman seminar 18 months ago. Last semester I investigated having students respond to some of my blogs. This semester I elected to introduce "social bookmarking tools."

Which social bookmarking tool should I share with them---there are so many and they serve many different functions. Is there value in introducing such a tool to my students? I'm beginning to have some answers. As Carroll's President is fond of saying, "stay tuned."

In the first week of two of my classes, "Introductory Psychology" (which has many freshmen among the 26 students) and "Psychological Testing and Assessment" (which is primarily juniors and graduating seniors among its 18 members) I have introduced students to one of the many "social bookmarking tools" which I have personally explored in the last 18 months, Diigo.

I chose Diigo over Zotero, Icyte and Delicious in part because Diigo is aggressively seeking out users in Education---providing special accounts for students.

I continue to be blessed with bright, hard-working research assistants. Though only a freshman, my present student research assistant quickly mastered how to use the tool and encouraged my introducing it into my classes. We made sure that all computers where we we demonstrate Diigo had a Firefox Browser with the Diigo toolbar installed. I'll write about their experiences (or have them do so here in the near future).

Gotta pursue investigating psychological "mythunderstandings."

Share with me any experiences you have using Diigo or social bookmarking tools.

--CD

Thinking Critically

One of the reasons that I enjoy teaching is that I am encouraged to think. I would argue that one of the missions of higher education is to develop thinking capabilities---and the joy of thinking --- in students. This can be done in a number of ways and it can be overdone. Similarly emphasizing "learning objectives" can be overdone---ironically resulting in the diminishing of the joy of teaching and of learning.

I find the term "critical thinking" over-used with users of the term very often having very different private definitions. I want my students (and me!) to be able to think deeply and to be perspicacious, to understand nuances and to recognize the quality of arguments, to know when it is appropriate to take something at face value or to trust one's intuition and when it is prudent to challenge what seems commonsensical or nonsensical.  And then there is the conundrum of how to measure this quality of thinking!

A book I recently read shows promise for how I might better develop clearer thinking of my students---at least about popularized "findings" in psychology.  In 50 Great Myths of Popular Psychology: Shattering Widespread Misconceptions about Human Behavior, authors Scott Lilienfeld, Steven Jay Lynn, John Ruscio and Barry L. Beyerstein suggest that there are 10 major ways in which we are fooled by plausible sounding but specious claims:

• Repetition of the (false) claim across a wide variety of sources
• Our desire for easy, quick answers
• Our selective perception and memory
• Our predisposition to infer causation from correlation
• Our tendency to think that if one event follows another, it has been caused by it
• Exposure to biased samples
• Misuse of mental shortcuts
• Misleading media portrayals
• Exaggerations of kernels of truth
• Terminological confusion

The authors do an admirable example of thoughtful, careful examination of of fifty widely held "myths" in psychology  (e.g. most people use only 10% of their brain power). They spell out where possible the myth's origins, how the idea has been or can be tested, why the myth persists, and how one can better develop ways of reducing one's susceptibility to such faulty thinking. I'm impressed enough by the book that I intend to incorporate it into my Introductory Psychology class---though, as the authors suggest, the book should be required reading for all educators or journalists who attempt to popularize ideas and findings of psychology. The book provides much to think about.

Is it time to fold my tent? Preliminary thoughts about phasing out my teaching

                            Sometimes it seems that I have been at Carroll forever. That's a mixed blessing especially as I think through more seriously the formal date of my departure, and what I would like to accomplish before I leave. I hope to leave healthy and at a high point in my teaching career, feeling good about my extended Carroll family and the institution.

I've begun cleaning out my office. I've gotten into better habits of eating my lunch this academic year so I found no infamous collection of uneaten sandwiches. The very act of office cleaning itself is a several years' project since I have been such a hoarder of reports, student records, course development materials, committee work, articles written and articles read, books I meant to write, and articles I yet intend to read. It's fun and instructive to rediscover where I and the institution have been. Such thoughtful examination gives a historical context for assessing the directions we as an institution seem to be heading. And it's hilarious to be able to pass on to a former student (or parent who was a former student) a paper they once wrote thirty-years ago with the quip "I really SHOULD clean my office more often!"

I've begun to part with some of my books---especially current fiction. Books have given me so much pleasure across the course of my life. I, as I have documented in a number of earlier blogs, struggle with how technology may be affecting the nature and pleasure of the acts of thoughtful reading, critical thinking and reflective writing. I'm delighted to be a participant in the present book donation drive coordinated by the Carroll Harry Potter Club this year. I urge any readers also to support this endeavor and to visit the downtown Waukesha merchants who are also involved.

Two summers ago I was humbled at how much I have yet to learn about teaching and about learning as a friend Mary directed her, devoted blind Newfoundland dog Ernie to "rescue" me by swimming out to a rowboat (where I feigned being in distress) and towing me back to the shore.

Dogs continue to teach me so much! Some day soon I hope to be their full-time student.

I have been teaching Introductory Psychology since 1974 when I taught it for the first time at The Ohio State University. I often wonder whether that is a good use of my time---good for me, good for our psychology major students, and good for the institution. There is such a great risk that in my teaching it every semester as I have with a few exceptions since 1978, I'll get lazy in my preparation, that I'll get bored with the content (and communicate that boredom to my students) or that I'll get frustrated at my having to oversimplify things I have studies most of my life.

Should I not instead be teaching an additional upper-level course such as advanced statistical procedures  or the development of web-based surveys? Should I not be creating a new course as I did when I created a course on "Happiness" or my course on "Why War?" or my "Pioneering Web 2.0 Internet Tools"? I'd love to create a course on "Kindness." I'd welcome the opportunity to teach or to team-teach an interdisciplinary course, but in each of these instances to do so I must either teach an overload (which Carroll has discouraged) or NOT teach a course I usually teach. The introductory psychology class then becomes the "expendable" one under the rationale that "anyone" or "many" can teach it.

This semester for reasons that I don't fully understand I am especially enjoying teaching PSY101, Introductory Psychology. Is my enjoyment a random event? Caused by student self-selection bias? Due to time of day (noon)? Proof of the normal curve? Delusional on my part? Attributable to most of the students being upper classmen? A dream? A SIGN that it is time to fold my tent and to move on? A spell cast by the President of the campus Harry Potter Club who sits up front smiling?  Has my classroom been bewitched by Robin the Newf who so often enchants me?

I'm so CURIOUS that I've invited students in the class to comment and share their opinions.