CTL Teaching Tips Archives Searchable Database
Websites on Teaching and Learning
Highlights from Articles
2004-2005
Issue
Ray
Launier's Bloom's Taxonomy & SLO Model
Critical Thinking Dispositions
Spring
2003 Issue
Ideas
for a New Semester, Lunde and Drummond
Engaging Students
Fall
2002 Issue
Service
Learning, Susan Broderick & Robert Ehrmann
Lou Spaventa Presents Palmer's The Courage to Teach
Jody Millward Earns National Award for Teaching Excellence
Spring
2002 Issue
Guidelines
for Seeking Academic Assistance, Dr. Jody Millward
Faculty Teaching and Learning Seminar, Dr. Jack Ullom
Student Hub and Syllabus Maker, Mark Ferrer and Jerry Pike
CTL's Weekly Teaching Tip Project
Graphic Organizers, Pat Chavez-Nunez
Fall
2001 Issue
Student
Motivation, Joe White
Student Health Survey on Risk Factors, Susan Broderick
SBCC's Transfer Rates, Dr. Andreea Serban
Email messages are welcome! Send in your ideas, suggestions, articles, questions and responses for possible posting on this page.
Santa Barbara City College
Committee on Teaching and Learning
"Creating a dialogue on learning and teaching..."
CTL's Functions and Responsibilities
1. Identifies and facilitates the incorporation of strategies
that enhance student success in the classroom and through campus learning
support services (Library and LRC).
2. Works closely with instructional faculty and Student Services to
integrate student success initiatives campus-wide.
3. Serves as liaison between faculty and Library staff on policies affecting
utilization of the library, its resources and other faculty matters.
4. Serves as liaison between faculty and LSS staff on policies affecting
utilization of the LSS, its resources and other faculty matters.
5. Provides oversight and general direction on tutorial allocations,
and policies for operation of the LSS (Library/LRC).
Submitting to the CTL's webpage:
If you'd like to contribute an article, please let CTL know by email. Thank you.
CTL Members, brainstorming in the Faculty Resource Center: (L-R around table:) Chris Johnston (Eng.), Gerry Lewin (Chair), Scott Brewer (Ed. Sup.), Nina Warner (Fine Arts), Jodi Simpson (Sci.), Paul McGarry (ESL/FL), Gail Tennen (Eng. Sk.), Pat Chavez-Nunez (ESL, FL/Ed.), Susan Broderick (Sen. Liaison), CTL's Muse, Mark Ferrer (Ed. Sup./Prof. Dev. Coord.), Jerry Pike (Ed. Sup.); (L-R back row:) Pam Guenther (Math), Denise Bacchus (Eng. Sk.), Evan McCabe (Health T/H. Srvcs.). Not pictured: Julie Alpert (ESL/FL), Jennifer Baxton (Eng.), Mo El-Soussi (Tech.), David Kiley (Library), and Jack Ullom (Admin. Liaison).
Scaffolding and Student Success
CTL's
charge from the Academic Senate has been to examine, analyze and synthesize
the obstacles to and solutions for Student Success this year. While the
committee made specific proposals to the Task Force, the opportunity to
discuss more subtle aspects of learning has been stimulating, challenging
and thought provoking.
Paul McGarry gave a presentation on Scaffolding and Student Success Oct.
10, 2005; he asked members to share their schemas and concepts of scaffolding.
Jerry Pike’s definition was teacher strategies that help students
reach what is otherwise inaccessible. Denise Bacchus described scaffolding
as building on prior knowledge. Mohammad concurred that scaffolding is
building on previous knowledge. Jack Ullom shared the dual perspective
of providing information in both a vertical as well as horizontal perspective.
Paul said that scaffolding “helps students to reach higher levels
of understanding. He introduced modeling as the first
scaffolding technique, which he demonstrated by a Think-Pair-Share activity.
The second scaffolding technique, bridging, is one of
the ways a teacher can tap prior knowledge. We can embed these strategies
in our delivery of instruction.
To demonstrate contextualization, Paul gave each pair
of CTL members an apple, asking them to use their 5 senses of sight, sound,
smell, taste, and touch and write down words of what they could say and
prove by exploring the apple. After creating their lists, Paul gave each
pair a plastic apple, instructing everyone to go down his/her lists and
cross out words that were no longer provable with the plastic as opposed
to the real apple. Then he gave a drawing of an apple, and finally, an
index card with the word “apple”, asking students to continue
to cross unprovable words from their list.
Paul asked the CTL members what the activity was intended to demonstrate.
Jodi said, “This is about Plato & the abstract.” Denise
said it was about prior and present knowledge. Gail said it was to show
that “meaning is rooted in context.” Paul used Gail’s
response to introduce the CTL to Cummins’ Quadrants, Jim Cummins’
schema that “what we teach” establishes the vertical continuum
from cognitively undemanding (or easy) to cognitively demanding (or difficult).
He explained the horizontal continuum, which suggests that “how
we teach” should include context embedded instruction that prepares
students to eventually cope with context-reduced instruction. As teachers,
we need to offer context to help students learn the material. To further
contextualize what he was trying to get across to the CTL, Paul showed
a short video clip from Stand and Deliver to demonstrate the need for
math teachers, for example, to use something understandable to students
(like real apples) to get across abstract academic concepts (in this case,
percentages, fractions, and decimals.)
Paul mentioned a few other scaffolding techniques, such as: schema
building (graphic organizers), metacognitive development,
and reformatting. Patricia Chavez-Nuñez shared
a mind-mapping schema.
Paul, with other CTL members, will work with the FRC to devise workshops on scaffolding and other excellent teaching strategies.