Check Your References

Click on the familiar quote to the right and check out the author. Huh? I have seen this quote attributed to many other authors including Lao Tzu and the basis upon which Dale's Cone of Experience is built -- although the research it is based on turns out to be shady at best even though it makes sense intuitively.

The point of this short blog post today is that we have got to make sure that when we tell students something it is factual and will withstand scutiny or we risk putting our integrity and respectability on the line. Never mind having students go out into the world and spread our inaccuracies.

National Outreach Scholarship Conference

I am at the 10th annual National Outreach Scholarship Conference at University of Georgia. You food enthusiasts would have loved the opening reception at the football stadium at club level. The food and personal service were exemplary. The honor bar was not that bad either.

While at this Conference I have seen the countless ways that faculty in all disciplines connect their classrooms to national and international venues to enhance student learning and make the lives of others -- no little or great the need -- a little better, whether the project is little or big in scope, which in turn enriches the lives and learning of those who serve. This was evident in the more than 100 poster sessions that were available for viewing and discussing during the first day of the Conference.

The keynote by Dr. Gee, President of Ohio State University, wondered aloud what is going to take to recognize and reward the efforts of those who connect their classroom to touch the lives of others -- as compared to rewarding resarch on a singular topic in some obscure research journal that may benefit the community at large -- when it comes to merit pay and/or promotion & tenure. I could not agree more.

If interested in this conference for the future, which will be held next year at North Carolina State University, the URL is: www.georgiacenter.uga.edu/conferences/outreach_conference/index.phtml

We are the Problem!

So, just when you think the challenges and joys that come from teaching are modern day issues along comes a painting done in the mid-14th century of a teacher in the classroom of those times. Look familiar? See the kids talking? How about the one sleeping? Or, the male student eye-balling the female in the second row?

If your classroom looks like this one, perhaps it is time to make a change and try something different and realize it is not the students that have a problem with learning -- it is our approach to teaching, perhaps!

For more information on this painting of a medievel university lecture and the role of the professor through the ages, check out a great powerpoint at:
www.sloanconsortium.org/conference/proceedings/2007/ppt/1191515466567.ppt

Keep Doing What You Do!

FELC Summit Registration Now Available

We are very pleased to announce that registration is now available on our website!

Our Summit is unlike any other in that the focus is 100% on improving the quality of teaching among culinary arts and hospitality educators. One of the featured speakers that will conduct a two part workshop on the first day of the Summit is Anthony Gregorc, who is the foremost authority on Thinking Styles. If you are familiar with his work or not he is an EXCELLENT speaker who will have you spellbound on student learning. The second day of the Summit is where peers will present posters, roundtables, papers, and workshops concerning best practices in teaching math to students and other teaching topics. The second day closes with the Ulimate Teaching Competition where attendees judge the presentations to determine the winner for 2010. Plus, all meals are covered during the Summit when staying at our host hotel and enjoying all meal functions from the opening to the closing reception.

Information on registering for the Summit, as well as submitting refereed and non-refereed proposal presentations as well as entering into the Teaching Competition are also available at: www.fooded.org/annualsummit.html

Lecture Tips

I encourage everyone to read McKeachie’s chapter on lecturing, which is also the principle text of our teaching certification program that is currently being beta tested. Here are five tips to take into consideration before giving your next lecture:

1. Interject information into a lecture that you are excited about because the research has found that enthusiastic teachers tend to move around the class and have greater eye contact which will prolong the attention span of the students beyond the typical 12 – 20 minutes where basic lecturing techniques are used.

2. Avoid giving students a steady succession of new concepts to give them a chance to take proper notes; this is important because research has shown that those students who take notes remember more material than those that do not. Besides, note taking is a more complex cognitive process than one may realize. The student has to first connect the material that is being presented to information stored in long term memory in order to comprehend what is being said by the lecturer and hold it in working memory long enough to write it down. So when lecturing build in redundancies so that students will get the basic points that need to be covered in a variety of ways and at various times during the lecture to help them take better notes.

3. Do NOT use the lecture to offer up a systematic, condensed version of the knowledge that is to be conveyed in the class covering outside readings, the assigned chapter, etc. The goal should be to teach students to learn and think by delivering lectures that are designed to analyze the course materials, formulate good questions, solve problems, challenge conventional wisdom, and so forth. So when planning the lecture don’t start by asking yourself what should be covered as much as determining what you really want the students to remember long term.

4. You cannot simply explain concepts to students during the lecture in hopes that they will comprehend them as you had intended; you must provide examples. Believe it or not, the words you use in a lecture to describe something may not be pictured the same way by each and every student whether the class has 5 or 50 students; in fact there are students who cannot picture things in their mind at all.

5. It is futile to cover the material at all costs. If time is winding down on the class and you suddenly realize that you still have 3 overhead transparencies do not rush through them pretending to be a speed talker. The simple truth is just because you said it does not mean the students learned it.

McKeachie's book is entitled: Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research, and Theory for College and University Teachers, published by Houghton Mifflin.

Green Week at Purdue

I wanted to share the information about Green Week on the blog today. It is a campus wide event that focuses on sustainability through field trips, lectures, demonstrations, and much more. This week the agenda was divided into components that are part of sustainability such as water and energy.

Perhaps Green Week could inspire such an event on your respective campus and if doing so already please send the information to me so I can share with those who read the FELC blog. Purdue Green Week information is at: www.purdue.edu/sustainability/

Learning Community Resource

As you may or may not know, the LC part of FELC is for Learning Community. That name came from our initial vision to have teachers teach each other to be better at teaching -- supported by those who are subject matter experts on various pedagogies. Indeed if you view the images of the first Summit you will see people gathered during the dine around and sharing their ideas on teaching culinary arts and hospitality education with a nice meal and a beverage of choice. In fact, if in grade school you got high marks on "plays well with others" our learning community is right for you!

That is why we kicked off the first Summit with Dr. Milt Cox, who is considered to be the father of the Faculty Learning Community concept in higher education. He delivered an exceptional keynote on what learning communities are all about and why they are so vitally important to the success of faculty these days. If interested in learning more about the concept and the essence of FELC, please consult the resources Milt Cox has available online at Miami of Ohio. Check out his website at: www.units.muohio.edu/flc

Authentic Assessment Resource

I was introduced to an online resource from Jon Mueller, Professor of Psychology, at North Central College in Illinois. Authentic assessment is one of those I mentioned in my blog in the series on Service Learning.

Mueller defines authentic assessment as "a form of assessment in which students are asked to perform real-world tasks that demonstrate meaningful application of essential knowledge and skills." Perhaps your students are doing this when in the lab to demonstrate to you that they grasped the information in your lecture on baking by making a perfect muffin. Or, working the front desk of a hotel to demonstrate they understand how to properly greet and check a guest into a room.

Check out this great resource at: http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/index.htm

Smart Brief on Sustainability

Perhaps many of you are getting Smart Briefs or unaware of this great news service. The regular Smart Briefs has the days news on what is happening in the Foodservice Industry provided by the National Restaurant Association. The service has just started specialized Briefs on matters such as Sustainability in the Foodservice Industry and the reason for this post. If want to keep pace with what the industry is doing to become more green then the special Brief is for you for FREE by subscribing at the following URL: www.smarbrief.com/sustainability

I have been getting the Briefs now for a couple of days and find them very useful to me in my research and teaching.

American Association of University Professors

The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) purpose is to advance academic freedom and shared governance, to define fundamental professional values and standards for higher education, and to ensure higher education's contribution to the common good. For more information visit: http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/

The AAUP publishes an online journal Academe that has no subscription fee and often has interesting articles, such as the latest issue, on "Creating LGBTQ-Friendly Campuses," "The Seven Habits of Highly Deflective Colleagues," "Retiring in a Time of Economic Uncertainty." The articles are well-written and informative so worth checking out from time to time. Check out the Academe's recent issue at: http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/pubsres/academe/

Michigan State Opens $13M Recycling Center

This in from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (http://www.aashe.org/)

"Michigan State University has opened its new Surplus Store and Recycling Center. The $13 million facility will accommodate three times the amount of materials as the former MSU recycling facility. A comprehensive recycling program, coupled with the facility, will allow the University to expand recycling collection in 553 buildings on campus. The five target materials are white paper, mixed office paper, newspaper, cardboard, and plastics. The 74,000-square-foot Center, which is registered for LEED Silver certification, features rainwater collection tanks, rooftop solar array panels that produce 10 percent of the electricity for the building, broad use of daylighting, and low-flow fixtures in restrooms."

Read the details at: http://news.msu.edu/story/6812/ then ask yourself, "What the hell is my campus waiting for to be sustainable!" We are educators to goodness sake, we are teachers for goodness sake, we are supposed to be shaping a positive future for our students for goodness sake!" "Am I a role model for students?" Then take action!

If indeed you, your students, or your campus are blazing a sustainable trail please send press releases, e-mails, etc., to me at mlalopa@fooded.org and I will be happy to post and celebrate your efforts!

Deschooling Society

I have been reading Ivan Illich's book, Deschooling Society. Here are the opening two paragraphs:

Many students, especially those who are poor, intuitively know what the schools do for them. They school them to confuse process and substance. Once these become blurred, a new logic is assumed: the more treatment there is, the better are the results; or, escalation leads to success. The pupil is thereby "schooled" to confuse teaching with learning, grade advancement with education, a diploma with competence, and fluency with the ability to say something new. His imagination is "schooled" to accept service in place of value. Medical treatment is mistaken for health care, social work for the improvement of community life, police protection for safety, military poise for national security, the rat race for productive work. Health, learning, dignity, independence, and creative endeavor are defined as little more than the performance of the institutions which claim to serve these ends, and their improvement is made to depend on allocating more resources to the management of hospitals, schools, and other agencies in question.

In these essays, I will show that the institutionalization of values leads inevitably to physical pollution, social polarization, and psychological impotence: three dimensions in a process of global degradation and modernized misery. I will explain how this process of degradation is accelerated when nonmaterial needs are transformed into demands for commodities; when health, education, personal mobility, welfare, or psychological healing are defined as the result of services or "treatments."

Those two paragraphs characterize the essays in the book. Admittedly, the book is a challenging read given it is presented in a most intelligent manner and it is a sobering perspective on the American education system -- of which culinary arts and hospitality education is a part. So if open to criticism aimed at improving student learning check out Illich's book at: http://www.preservenet.com/theory/Illich/Deschooling/intro.html

Signals Feedback System at Purdue

Purdue has established a new feedback tool available on Blackboard vista for students, especially those wanting to know their performance in the large lectures.

According to the Signals brochure from Purdue:

"Students report that they value the individualized feedback and contact from their instructor that Signals provides, particularly in large enrollment classes. They also appreciate knowing how they are doing in the class early in the semester, in time to get assistance that will help raise their grades. Instructors who use Signals benefit from its ability to provide real-time feedback to students -- as frequently as needed and fully customized for each class situation. Providing feedback to students early in their academic careers gives them the opportunity to learn help-seeking behaviors, which they may use to increase their chances for success in subsequent classes."

I am going to experiment with it in my large lecture class of 200+ kids this semester but it would be great feedback for small class sizes, too. You can learn more about this program -- including televised news reports -- by visiting the following URL and consider adding it to your online learning software if possible: http://www.itap.purdue.edu/tlt/signals/index.cfm

Is Your School a Factory?

I recommend this thought-provoking article entitled, "The Global War on Taylorism." written by R. J. O'Hara for the Collegiate Way.

Here is an excerpt from the article that I hope will entice you to read it and ponder its implications and how we can do better by our students:

This very idea has appeared here many times. We have seen Michael Buckley, for example, drawing on John Henry Newman, seek to restore the interpersonal in higher education through residential colleges: “One does not need a university for books; they can be found at home and in libraries. But one does need a university to have a congress of teachers…. What the university uniquely gives—as a library cannot—is the personal interchange and influence of great teachers.” And we shouldn’t be surprised to find Newman himself an anti-Taylorist before Taylor: a university, he famously wrote, is an alma mater, not a foundry, or a mint, or a treadmill!

You can read the article at: http://collegiateway.org/news/2008-gwot

College for $99 a Month!

So you think you are competing for students now; wait until more find out about the college degree for $99/month.

The degree is offered by StraighterLine, which according to the article "is the brainchild of a man named Burck Smith, an Internet entrepreneur bent on altering the DNA of higher education as we have known it for the better part of 500 years."

Students can take as many courses as they like for a $99/month fee. Better still, the online degree has accredited partner colleges that award credit for those completing its courses!

The article is a little long but absolutely worth reading because it should force us to question if what we are doing to educate our students could be done better! Read this exceptional article at:
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/feature/college_for_99_a_month.php?page=all&print=true

You can also learn more about StraighterLine at:
http://www.straighterline.com/

Ending Mobile (Cell) Phone Abuse in Class

I belong to various listservs and read news and views about challenges educators face when trying to maintain student focus on the learning going on in the lab, classroom, or field. One of the newest, perhaps most prevalent distractions is the mobile (cell) phone. Students act as they are almost addicted to them by checking every second for a new message or reason to call someone for the most mindless of reasons. This includes the time spent in our classrooms.

I have read all kinds of ways to deter the use of phones in the class ranging from harsh tactics like confiscating the phone and not giving it back (wrong idea of course) or throwing a kid out of class. There are other less harsh measures such as stopping the class which also has its pro's and con's.

I have come up with a very simple, easy, straightforward way to resolve the mobile phone distraction in my three classes this semester. The first thing is that just before I begin my classes I take out my mobile phone and hold it up and say, "Okay time for us all to turn our phones off and put away until end of class." This has worked remarkably well to the point that I have not had to invoke the policy in the syllabus that simply states that those caught tending to their phones when classs is in session will have 50 points subtracted from their grade. So with no hoopla, fanfare, or angst on my part this simple approach to getting the mobile phone distraction out of my classes has worked better than expected. Give it a try. If you also have a tip of your own for handling mobile phone distractions let me know and I will post it on the blog.

Looking for Some Inspiration?

The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching has the U.S. Professors of the Year Awards Program.

According to the website:
"The Council for Advancement and Support of Education launched the awards program in 1981. That same year, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching began hosting the final round of judging, and in 1982, became the primary sponsor. The U.S. Professors of the Year program salutes the most outstanding undergraduate instructors in the country—those who excel in teaching and positively influence the lives and careers of students. Sponsored by CASE and The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, it is the only national program to recognize excellence in undergraduate teaching and mentoring. All undergraduate teachers in the United States, of any academic rank at any type of undergraduate institution, are eligible for the award. Entries are judged by top U.S. educators and other active participants in education."

If you visit the website posted below you will find a program brochure and entry form for 2009. Although this year's deadline to enter has come and gone it is still worth checking out if interested in applying in 2010. If visit the link for the 2008 award winners you will find the name, rank, and institution of the winner. You can read their passion for teaching statement, student introduction, and acceptance speech. It might also be a way for you to see how you measure up to those who have won awards and stay the course or correct it to enhance student learning. So check out: http://www.usprofessoroftheyear.org/

Are You Ready for a Throwdown?!

The Foodservice Educators Learning Community is pleased to announce a chance for culinary educators from secondary and post-secondary schools to compete in a culinary demonstration throw down a la “Bobby Flay.” Culinary Educators will be showcased at the Annual Summit to be held in Charleston, South Carolina, February 25-27, 2010 at the Culinary Institute of Charleston, Palmer Campus. The competition is designed to provide culinary arts educators a chance to show off their best practices when it comes to demonstrating culinary techniques, cooking styles, and culinary information in a visual medium.

Only 8 competitors will be picked for the final competition. Educators will be given 15 minutes to demonstrate a recipe or cooking techniques that reinforce excellent teaching doctrine; and can be added as a take away for our education tool box. The competitors will be on a cooking stage in an amphitheatre that seats 120 people. Each competitor will be judged from a panel of chefs and educators. Judging criterion will be based on not only technical skills sets, but also the competitors teaching skills, diversity of subject material, and delivery options that address the maximum amount of learning styles.

Time Requirements: The competition will take place on Saturday February 27, 2010 between 1:00-3:30 p.m. Competitors will be given a student assistant to help with their Mise en Place, and can set up on the stage a minimum of 15 minutes prior to going on. The Culinary Institute of Charleston will supply most culinary equipment and smallwares. Competitors will need to supply their own food, props and any visual materials to be presented. A.V. equipment will be provided (video, LCD, laptop computer, CD movie availability, screen, etc.). A list of cooking equipment and smallwares will be provided to the 8 finalists once they are accepted to compete. Please also bear in mind that those accepted to do a presentation must register for the Summit as a condition of acceptance.

Judging Criterion: The 8 finalists will be selected based on a review of submissions by members of the FELC Advisory Board, Dr. Mick La Lopa, and Michael Carmel. To be accepted please fill out the information requested below and submit it to Chef Michael Carmel electronically via e-mail at mcarmel@fooded.org by November 15, 2009. Those submitting proposals will be notified by December 15, 2009 as to whether or not accepted for the Summit.

Proposals must include:

Title of Presentation (that accurately represents contents of teaching module):

Teaching Module Topic: Please describe what you propose to teach in 75 words or less that can be published in the conference proceedings if accepted for the FELC Summit.

Full Description of Teaching Module: Please first list the topic, subject, or skill you plan to teach during your module and list the three key learning objectives you plan to accomplish as a result of teaching your module. In 500 words or less please describe the pedagogy you plan to use to teach your module, the intended audience, reference materials used to put together the module, and all materials needed to teach it.

Intended Audience:
___ Secondary Culinary Arts Educator / Student
___ Post-Secondary Culinary Arts Educator / Student
___ Both Secondary & Post-Secondary Educators / Students

Instructions for Submitting Proposals
To submit a proposal, please follow these basic procedures:

1. Send an e-mail to mcarmel@fooded.org that has the Last Name of the presenter and the
subject line of the e-mail (e.g., Carmel – Ultimate Culinary Educator)
2. In the body of the e-mail please put the title of the teaching module and the intended
audience.
3. Attach a Word document (version 2003-2007) to the e-mail that has the following:
a. A cover page with the title of the proposed teaching module, name of the presenter(s),
complete mailing address, phone number, and e-mail address.
b. The second page of the attached document should only have the title of the teaching module
and full description of the teaching module.

We are only accepting one submission per educator at this time. Should you have any questions concerning the call for proposals or the submission procedures please do not hesitate to send your questions via e-mail to Michael Carmel at mcarmel@fooded.org in time to meet the deadline of midnight, November 15, 2009.