![the productions of Protogenes,[10] which so greatly delighted him
that he offered to purchase the whole. Before this, Protogenes was
entirely unappreciated by his countrymen, but the approbation of
one so distinguished as Apelles, brought him into notice, and his
fame soon became established.
Another story of Apelles is told as having given rise to the well-
known maxim, Ne sutor ultra crepidam: Let the shoemaker stick to
his last. Apelles placed a picture, which he had finished, in a public
place, and concealed himself behind it, in order to hear the criticisms
of the passers-by. A shoemaker observed a defect in the shoe, and
the painter forthwith corrected it. The cobbler came the next day,
and being somewhat encouraged by the success of his first remark,
began to extend his censure to the leg of the figure, when the angry
painter thrust out his head from behind the figure, and told him to
keep to his trade.
Apelles excelled in grace and beauty. The painter, who labored
incessantly, as we have seen, to improve his skill in drawing,
probably trusted as much to that branch of his art, as to his coloring.
We are told that he only used four colors. He used a varnish which
brought out the colors, and at the same time preserved them. His
favorite subject was the representation of Venus, the goddess of
love,—the female blooming in eternal beauty; and the religious
system of the age favored the taste of the artist.
Apelles painted many portraits of Alexander the Great, who, we are
told, often visited his painting room. It is not easy to reconcile his
rambling life with this account, unless we suppose that Apelles
followed him into Asia; a conjecture not altogether improbable, if we
read the account of the revelries at Susa, after Alexander’s return
from India, and of the number of all kinds of professional artists
then assembled to add to the splendor of the festival.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/25344628-250519011540-48ed20fd/85/Designing-Effective-Teaching-And-Significant-Learning-Zala-Fashant-65-320.jpg)
![[10] Protogenes, a painter of Rhodes, who flourished about 328
years B. C. He was originally so poor that he painted ships to
maintain himself. His countrymen were ignorant of his merits,
before Apelles came to Rhodes and offered to buy all his pieces,
as we have related. This opened the eyes of the Rhodians; they
became sensible of the talents of their countryman, and liberally
rewarded him. Protogenes was employed seven years in finishing
a picture of Jalysus a celebrated huntsman, supposed to have
been the son of Apollo and the founder of Rhodes. During all this
time the painter lived only upon lupines and water, thinking that
such aliment would leave him greater flights of fancy; but all this
did not seem to make him more successful in the perfection of his
picture. He was to represent in this piece a dog panting, and with
froth at his mouth; but this he could never do with satisfaction to
himself; and when all his labors seemed to be without success, he
threw his sponge upon the piece in a fit of anger. Chance alone
brought to perfection what the utmost labors of art could not do;
the fall of the sponge upon the picture represented the froth of
the mouth of the dog in the most perfect and natural manner, and
the piece was universally admired. Protogenes was very exact in
his representations, and copied nature with the greatest nicety;
but this was blamed as a fault by his friend Apelles. When
Demetrius besieged Rhodes, he refused to set fire to a part of the
city, which might have made him master of the whole, because he
knew that Protogenes was then working in that quarter. When the
town was taken, the painter was found closely employed, in a
garden, finishing a picture; and when the conqueror asked him
why he showed not more concern at the general calamity, he
replied, that Demetrius made war against the Rhodians; and not
against the fine arts.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/25344628-250519011540-48ed20fd/85/Designing-Effective-Teaching-And-Significant-Learning-Zala-Fashant-66-320.jpg)
![DIOGENES.
This eccentric individual was a native of Sinope, a city of Pontus, and
born 419 B. C. Having been banished from his native place, with his
father, upon the accusation of coining false money, he went to
Athens, and requested Antisthenes, the Cynic,[11] to admit him
among his disciples. That philosopher in vain attempted to drive
away the unfortunate supplicant. He even threatened to strike him;
but Diogenes told him he could not find a stoic hard enough to repel
him, so long as he uttered things worthy of being remembered.
Antisthenes was propitiated by this, and received him among his
pupils.
Diogenes devoted himself, with the greatest diligence, to the lessons
of his master, whose doctrines he afterwards extended and enforced.
He not only, like Antisthenes, despised all philosophical speculations,
and opposed the corrupt morals of his time, but also carried the
application of his principles, in his own person, to the extreme. The
stern austerity of Antisthenes was repulsive; but Diogenes exposed
the follies of his cotemporaries with wit and humor, and was,
therefore, better adapted to be the censor and instructor of the
people, though he really accomplished little in the way of reforming
them. At the same time, he applied, in its fullest extent, his principle
of divesting himself of all superfluities. He taught that a wise man, in
order to be happy, must endeavor to preserve himself independent
of fortune, of men, and of himself; and, in order to do this, he must
despise riches, power, honor, arts and sciences, and all the
enjoyments of life.
He endeavored to exhibit, in his own person, a model of Cynic
virtue. For this purpose, he subjected himself to the severest trials,
and disregarded all the forms of polite society. He often struggled to
overcome his appetite, or satisfied it with the coarsest food;](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/25344628-250519011540-48ed20fd/85/Designing-Effective-Teaching-And-Significant-Learning-Zala-Fashant-68-320.jpg)
![[11] The Cynics were a sect of philosophers, founded by
Antisthenes, at Athens; they took their name from their
disposition to criticise the lives and actions of others. They were
famous for their contempt of riches, their neglect of dress, and
the length of their beards. They usually slept on the ground.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/25344628-250519011540-48ed20fd/85/Designing-Effective-Teaching-And-Significant-Learning-Zala-Fashant-72-320.jpg)
Designing Effective Teaching And Significant Learning Zala Fashant
- 1. Designing Effective Teaching And Significant Learning Zala Fashant download https://ebookbell.com/product/designing-effective-teaching-and- significant-learning-zala-fashant-50689256 Explore and download more ebooks at ebookbell.com
- 2. Here are some recommended products that we believe you will be interested in. You can click the link to download. Teaching Science And Investigating Environmental Issues With Geospatial Technology Designing Effective Professional Development For Teachers 1st Edition James Makinster https://ebookbell.com/product/teaching-science-and-investigating- environmental-issues-with-geospatial-technology-designing-effective- professional-development-for-teachers-1st-edition-james- makinster-4476886 Designing Teacher Evaluation Systems New Guidance From The Measures Of Effective Teaching Project 1st Edition Thomas Kane https://ebookbell.com/product/designing-teacher-evaluation-systems- new-guidance-from-the-measures-of-effective-teaching-project-1st- edition-thomas-kane-5310214 Designing Effective Organizations How To Create Structured Networks Michael Goold https://ebookbell.com/product/designing-effective-organizations-how- to-create-structured-networks-michael-goold-45694454 Designing Effective Instruction 7th Ed Morrison Gary Rross Steven Mkemp https://ebookbell.com/product/designing-effective-instruction-7th-ed- morrison-gary-rross-steven-mkemp-21977430
- 3. Designing Effective Digital Badges Applications For Learning Joey R Fanfarelli https://ebookbell.com/product/designing-effective-digital-badges- applications-for-learning-joey-r-fanfarelli-21985530 Designing Effective Feedback Processes In Higher Education A Learningfocused Approach 1st Edition Naomi Winstone https://ebookbell.com/product/designing-effective-feedback-processes- in-higher-education-a-learningfocused-approach-1st-edition-naomi- winstone-33445708 Designing Effective Assessments Accurately Measure Students Mastery Of 21st Century Skills James H Stronge https://ebookbell.com/product/designing-effective-assessments- accurately-measure-students-mastery-of-21st-century-skills-james-h- stronge-42724636 Designing Effective Library Tutorials A Guide For Accommodating Multiple Learning Styles 1st Edition Lori Mestre Auth https://ebookbell.com/product/designing-effective-library-tutorials-a- guide-for-accommodating-multiple-learning-styles-1st-edition-lori- mestre-auth-4675842 Designing Effective Controlled Foreign Company Rules Action 3 2015 Final Report Oecd https://ebookbell.com/product/designing-effective-controlled-foreign- company-rules-action-3-2015-final-report-oecd-6767448
- 7. Praise for Designing Effective Teaching and Significant Learning “I am a believer that building oneself as an educator goes beyond the academic environ- ments. While reading Designing Effective Teaching and Significant Learning I could identify countless applicable connections with my leadership work as an engineering manager for a creative software company. This book comes at a pivotal moment in the evolution of learn- ing: We have access to more information than ever, and technology is rapidly evolving. This means we need to be more strategic about what we learn and how transferable that is to the next task/job/industry. This book is both an invitation to reflect on our methods as educa- tors and a practical guide for not only faculty members but also industry leaders on how to successfully prepare individuals for a future where their contributions are rewarding and impactful.”—Manuel Castellanos Raboso, Engineering Manager, Adobe Inc. “This book combines an action-oriented guide to effective teaching with a reflective workshop on significant learning. The authors blend personal stories, practical techniques, critical ques- tions, and deep wisdom in ways that will resonate with busy faculty. I particularly appreciate the reminder to pay close attention to the students in our classes because, in the end, their learning is what makes our teaching meaningful.”—Peter Felten, Executive Director, Center for Engaged Learning, Elon University “Want to take your capabilities as a teacher from ‘Good’ to ‘Great’? This book can help you do that. It focuses on just the right range of topics and has a powerful blend of stories, examples of good course design, and substantive guidance.”—L. Dee Fink, former Founding Director, Instructional Development Program, University of Oklahoma “Well-organized and accessible, I appreciated how the book invites the reader to participate on the page in the enterprise of designing effective teaching and significant learning—two complementary aspects of effective instruction. This book will serve as a welcome refresher for seasoned educational developers and faculty and a friendly on-ramp for newcomers.”—Hoag Holmgren, Executive Director, Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education “Designing Effective Teaching and Significant Learning is a uniquely comprehensive resource for post-secondary instructors. Building on a tried and true course design process, the authors augment their step-by-step guide with examples and in-depth explorations of important top- ics. I expect this volume will help guide faculty from the first course they teach through ongo- ing growth and development across their careers.”—Cassandra Horii; Founding Director; Center for Teaching, Learning, and Outreach; California Institute of Technology “The authors of Designing Effective Teaching and Significant Learning demonstrate a deep understanding of the subject of college teaching and learning at both the conceptual and pragmatic levels through stories, examples, and techniques. Developing a deeper understand- ing of teaching and learning helps both the student and teacher succeed.”—John Mirocha, Executive Coach and Consultant, John Mirocha & Associates; and former Professor of Manage- ment, St. Thomas University
- 8. “Smartly anchored in L. Dee Fink’s seminal work, Creating Significant Learning Experiences, this course design book extends the framework into topics typically not included in this type of book—instructional software, learning management system usage, cognitive science, course assessment rubrics, and program and institutional evaluation—in addition to the sub- jects you’d expect. It features plentiful examples; relatable cases; and, for each chapter, opening points-to-ponder and closing summary action checklists. It pays particular attention to the needs of community college faculty.”—Linda B. Nilson, Director Emerita, Office of Teaching Effectiveness and Innovation, Clemson University “Designing Effective Teaching and Significant Learning builds on the work of L. Dee Fink by providing pragmatic advice to post-secondary faculty in the design of traditional, blended, and online courses. This book covers a broad range of topics, from basics in preparing or designing a course to more advanced concepts such as making courses accessible and assess- ing a program or institution. I found the chapter ‘Communicating in Your Course’ helpful in developing workshops for faculty on student engagement in online courses.”—Martin Springborg, Director of Teaching and Learning, Inver Hills Community College and Dakota County Technical College “This book is a great resource for higher education instructors willing to challenge their tradi- tional strategies and practices. . . . It promotes self-reflection on current teaching approaches and helps faculty understand, through illustrative examples, how the adoption of integrative strategies leads to significant learning experiences. In parallel, the reader is guided smoothly through the major steps of integrated course design: from using the taxonomy for signifi- cant learning to assessing and reflecting on the teaching and learning procedure, passing by defining and aligning the course outcomes with the learning and assessment activities, com- municating effectively, making the course accessible and integrating learning technologies. It is undeniably an inspirational and enlightening work . . . not to be missed!”—Faten el Hage Yahchouchi; Deputy President for Teaching and Learning, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK); Beirut, Lebanon
- 9. D E S I G N I N G E F F E C T I V E T E A C H I N G A N D S I G N I F I C A N T L E A R N I N G
- 10. About the Cover: The headwaters of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca in Minnesota are symbolic of the mighty impact that quality course design and teaching can have on students’ learning. What appears to start small gathers strength and power because the current, like learning, runs deep. The compass and blueprint reference course design excellence to guide our teaching and creation of significant learning experiences.
- 11. DESIGNING EFFECTIVE TEACHING AND SIGNIFICANT LEARNING Zala Fashant, Stewart Ross, Linda Russell, Karen LaPlant, Jake Jacobson, and Sheri Hutchinson Foreword by L. Dee Fink
- 12. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The CIP for this text has been applied for. First published 2020 by Stylus Publishing, LLC First Edition, 2020 Published 2023 by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Copyright © 2020 by Taylor & Francis Group All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. ISBN 13: 978-1-64267-005-9 (pbk) ISBN 13: 978-1-64267-004-2 (hbk) ISBN 13: 978-1-00-344411-4 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9781003444114
- 13. This book is dedicated to the students we have taught, the colleagues we have collaborated with, the mentors we have learned from, and our supportive families. Thank you all for helping us make this project a reality.
- 15. ix CONTENTS FOREWORD xi L. Dee Fink PREFACE xiii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xix PART ONE: STARTING 1 PREPARING FOR YOUR COURSE DESIGN 3 PART TWO: DESIGNING 2 INTEGRATING YOUR COURSE DESIGN 23 3 COMMUNICATING IN YOUR COURSE 60 4 CREATING A LEARNING FRAMEWORK 89 5 DEVELOPING LEARNING ACTIVITIES AND TECHNIQUES 109 6 MAKING YOUR COURSE ACCESSIBLE 133 7 INTEGRATING LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES 146 PART THREE: ASSESSING 8 ASSESSING STUDENT LEARNING 173 9 ASSESSING COURSE QUALITY 207 10 ASSESSING YOUR PROGRAM AND INSTITUTION 228 PART FOUR: REFLECTING 11 REFLECTING ON YOUR TEACHING 255 12 LEARNING HOW TO LEARN Advancing Your Professional Development 271
- 16. x CONTENTS EPILOGUE 281 APPENDIX A 283 Initial Design Phase of Integrated Course Design APPENDIX B 285 Knowing Your Students APPENDIX C 293 Standard Syllabus Design and Content APPENDIX D 297 Automated Messaging Examples APPENDIX E 299 Rubric Examples for Student Learning Activities GLOSSARY 307 OUTCOMES 311 ADDITIONAL READINGS AND RESOURCES 315 REFERENCES 319 ABOUT THE AUTHORS 329 INDEX 335
- 17. xi FOREWORD been far bey W hen I finished writing the original edition of Creating Significant Learn- ing Experiences in 2003, I thought the book had good ideas in it, but one never knows how others will receive it. However, the response to it has ond anything I dared to hope for. As soon as the book came out, the requests for campus workshops on the ideas became so great that within two years I retired from my full-time job at the University of Oklahoma to do almost full-time consulting. In fact, my wife has often quipped (correctly) that “Dee didn’t retire, he just changed jobs!” One year after that, the demand for workshops continued to rise, so I contacted three fellow faculty developers whose workshops I admired and recruited them to lead my workshop too as members of Dee Fink & Associates. Coauthor Stewart Ross was one of these associates. My associates and I have now led hundreds of campus workshops in nearly every state in the United States and in more than 20 other coun- tries in Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. The other exciting development has been hearing that the book has frequently been selected as one of the primary texts for courses on college teaching for graduate students and prospective college teachers. What accounts for this response to the ideas in that book? When I asked people this question, they mention two parts of the book. First, they like the taxonomy of significant learning that builds on the famous taxonomy of desired kinds of learning created by Bloom, Engelhart, Furst, Hill, and Krathwohl (1956). Many mention that they especially like the new kinds of learning in my taxonomy, such as understanding oneself better, learning how to interact with others more effectively, embracing new values or interests and rethinking old values, and learning how to keep on learning after the course is over. These are the kinds of learning many teachers had intuitively felt were important but were not sure were legitimate learning goals for a college course. They said they were thrilled when the taxonomy gave them permission to include these new kinds of learning as explicit goals for their courses. However, although the taxonomy prompts and inspires teachers to strive for a broader set of learning goals for their courses, it also challenges them with how to get these new kinds of learning to happen. This led to the second idea readers say they like in the book, the model of integrated course design. This model describes a step-by-step process that creates a high likelihood that a majority of students will actually achieve the desired kinds of learning because the teacher has the right learn- ing and assessment activities for each kind of learning and has put these activities into a dynamic sequence. The net effect of these ideas has been to give teachers a new sense of empow- erment. Many of our workshop participants report they feel a new capacity for
- 18. xii FOREWORD intentionality. The ideas take much of the mystery out of teaching because they have a fuller understanding of what teaching involves, and they have a new set of tools to get good teaching and good learning to happen for a greater proportion of their students. However, even though the ideas of integrated course design seemed clear and relatively straightforward after people read the book or participated in a workshop, questions still arise when they start to perform each of the substeps involved. Ques- tions included the following: Should I write the learning goals this way or that way? Are these learning and assessment activities appropriate for that learning goal? Is this a dynamic teaching strategy and sequence of activities, or is there a better sequence to use? And it is here where Designing Effective Teaching and Significant Learning comes in. This book offers readers two sets of helpful resources. First, this book draws on the extensive experiences of the contributors in working with and listening to teach- ers as they implement the ideas from Fink (2003). They note where teachers and instructional designers feel challenged and offer specific ideas, strategies, and tips on how to deal with questions like the following: How can I understand what challenges my students face in learning this material? How can I integrate technology to extend active learning through real-world and team-based experiences? How can I assess these new kinds of learning, the ones that go beyond purely cognitive learning? How can I better meet the learning needs of a greater diversity of learners? How can I be sure my course and its materials are accessible, meeting the Americans with Disabili- ties Act (1990) requirements so all learners can learn? And so forth. Second, this book discusses several questions that go beyond course design per se, for example, How can I work with students more effectively? How can I assess my course in terms of its own stated learning goals and the degree to which it contributes to the institution’s learning goals and mission? How can I reflect on my teaching to clearly identify my strengths and areas where change is needed? and How can I develop a plan for continuously expanding my teaching capabilities? Teachers who learn how to implement the basic principles of learning-centered course design, and who learn how to address all the additional tasks related to teach- ing effectively, will greatly enhance the quantity and quality of student learning and their own joy in teaching. L. Dee Fink University of Oklahoma, Norman (retired) September 2018
- 19. xiii PREFACE wor A uthor Stewart Ross attended an integrated course design workshop in 2000 conducted by L. Dee Fink (2003) where he first learned about the taxonomy of significant learning, which changed his professional and personal life. This kshop helped him realize that his concern for adding value to college student lives was important and necessary. He had long felt that students’ learning information and passing tests only to forget most of what was on the test was not good enough for college teaching and learning. Just as powerful, however, he was fortunate to meet and befriend Fink and soon became a presenter of the workshop. To date, he has conducted more than 160 integrated course design workshops nationally and internationally along with teaching this design through online courses. He has worked with hundreds of faculty around the world who have taken the workshop or had him critique their completed course designs. He has now had the opportunity to contribute to the book you have in your hands or are reading electronically. In this book we provide examples of how faculty have taken theory into practice, creating rich, exciting courses for their college students that lead to engagement, motivation, and deep learning. Faculty who use the taxonomy for significant learning (Fink, 2003) to create courses that lead their students to lifelong learning, critical thinking, and the ability to learn how to learn after the course is over. According to an anonymous workshop participant, The principles of Integrated Course Design have the potential to let students drive their own learning and generate their own momentum with my role to give over- sight, coaching, and motivation. I plan to use principles such as backward design. I now realize that many of the principles are for life rather than just academic education. Ross began his career teaching for 1 year at a high school then 2 years at a com- munity college before moving to university teaching. During his first year at the university he wrote lectures; delivered them the next day; and gave high-stakes, 100-question, multiple-choice exams at midterm and at the final. If students did poorly, he never blamed himself and thought they hadn’t studied enough. He did not think much about giving or receiving feedback or how he might improve student learning; he was too busy teaching. It was all about sharing information and expect- ing students to make it their own, somehow magically turning it into knowledge they could use. When Ross reflected on those early days of his teaching, he realized that students were not learning well, mainly because of his lack of knowledge about, and align- ment of, course outcomes, assessments, and learning activities. He had never thought
- 20. xiv PREFACE much about what he really wanted students to learn and how they would learn. His goal had been to create mini music majors in an introductory music apprecia- tion course. Over time, he became an award-winning instructor as he moved from a teacher-centered to a learner-centered paradigm. Ross also learned much from the faculty participating in his course design work- shops. Faculty are no longer content to share information with students hoping they will remember it long enough to pass tests. They are looking for powerful tools to use as they endeavor to increase student learning. Foundational knowledge is crucial to learning, but there is so much more. Students need to know how to use information. They need to see the connections among ideas in a course and from course to course and from courses to their own lives. Before graduating from college students should learn about themselves, develop confidence, and construct their own learning and a better understanding of who they are in their own ethical development. In today’s world our students must be able to work using innovative thinking and with people from diverse backgrounds. They need to deliver information and ideas through a variety of technologies that best communicate with their audience; and the commu- nication needs to be collaborative rather than one way. Setting the Tone: Good Teaching to Rich Learning It is even more important for our students to find ways to learn how to learn on their own after their courses are completed and the degree is awarded. They need to learn about how they learn and how they plan to continue learning to advance in their career. This book is written for faculty who want to assist students in these pursuits, not so much with theory but with actual examples from experienced teachers and those who develop courses using significant student learning as their goal. In the olden days, cars had hood ornaments that identified the designer of the car. When driving, no one focused on the hood ornament but looked farther down the road to see where they were going. Not taking current course design ideas into consideration is a lot like focusing our eyes on the hood ornament of the car instead of looking down the road. Course design can’t just be about finishing the course. It needs to prepare students to look farther down the road. If your course design has been the same for a number of years, and it doesn’t prepare students to perform the skills they need for success in work and life, then it is time for a redesign. Today institutions struggle with how to retain students while preparing them for an ever-changing future society and workplace. Much more energy is being poured into showing students how a course is a part of a continuous curriculum that leads to the final goal of a certificate or degree. Support for student learning comes academi- cally from learning centers that provide tutoring and advising help. We applaud this effort, but we can’t stop there. We need to examine the core of learning, which is the course and the engagement the instructor has with the student. We need to show how the course is a part of a curriculum that leads to a successful life and career. As
- 21. PREFACE xv much as going to school is a great experience, success in the workplace is the goal. To paraphrase Shakespeare’s Prince Hamlet, The work’s the thing. Using This Book to Deliver Significant Learning The purpose of the book is to provide you with the benefit of your knowledge and collective years of teaching in a variety of disciplines and of our faculty development experience. As in Ross’s experience described earlier, we have been faculty and admin- istrators at two- and four-year colleges and universities and have presented at many international disciplinary and teaching and learning conferences. This team has been recognized for its outstanding teaching and educational innovations. In the field of faculty development we have directed teaching and learning cent- ers on college and university campuses and led a campus network of leaders system- wide who have conducted more than 500 workshops, webinars, and conferences for more than 10,000 faculty members. We have learned that all full-time and part-time faculty members need to be at their best as everyone is on the starting lineup on the academic team. This content in this book is designed for all faculty, new and expe- rienced, tenured and adjunct. You will learn about ideas that you can implement immediately and those that will need deeper planning. The overarching content of this book considers all the elements of course design and its overall impact on student learning, effective teaching, and institutional mis- sion. The design of the book provides you with the opportunity to start at the begin- ning and read to the end or examine individual chapters to gain more knowledge on a topic. It is meant to deliver just-in-time learning so you can benefit from the content of the chapter you need when you need it. Whether you are new, early, middle, or later-career faculty, you will be able to use the chapters as you need them for ideas and strategies for your work on campus. Each chapter follows the same format, the same way you should provide consist- ency for your students to learn in your course design, and includes these elements: Points to Ponder is an overture to prepare your mind for the thinking and acts as a hook for the content. Vignettes provide real faculty and student experiences that set the tone for how the chapter content plays out in teaching and learning. Content is what you should know and how it can be applied in your teaching to provide significant learning. Boxes titled Bright Ideas provide stories that detail the experiences faculty have had in course design that worked well in our courses and that you can add to your courses. We also include Jot Your Thoughts boxes where you can write your notes so you don’t lose your own good ideas while reading. Reflect on This Chapter contains questions for reflection as you develop a plan for using the content in your teaching practice. Action Checklists for each chapter are intended to help you apply the content to your course design.
- 22. xvi PREFACE Chapter Overviews Part One: Starting Chapter 1, “Preparing for Your Course Design,” is the overture to planning for course design. As with any journey, some preparation is needed to set up the success of the endeavor. A discussion of significant learning leads to the examination of taxonomy frameworks. The identification of your course’s situational factors leads to a deeper look at the expectations others have about your course, the characteristics of the learners, and your own characteristics as their teacher. Finally, your analysis of the situational factors will help you with the pedagogical challenges you need to address in your design. Part Two: Designing In chapter 2, “Integrating Your Course Design,” you will learn that designing your course properly allows you to teach interactively and provides students with signifi- cant learning experiences. You will have the opportunity to engage in Fink’s (2013) integrated course design to develop and align learning outcomes, assessments, and activities in your face-to-face, blended, and online courses. An example of a com- pleted three-column table (Table 2.5) demonstrates course integration that you can use as a model for your own course design. Chapter 3, “Communicating in Your Course,” focuses on planning integrated, multiple approaches to communicate to develop a welcoming and engaging environ- ment for learning. A variety of communication tools and strategies are discussed to better engage students before, during, and at the end of the course to develop a more student-centered experience. Examples are provided so you can analyze the effective- ness of current strategies on the path to designing a communication plan that can be integrated into the course design. Chapter 4, “Creating a Learning Framework,” describes and summarizes research- based learning models and current thinking about learning processes as they relate to teaching and learning in various formats. This chapter provides the foundation for chapter 5 because it reinforces the course design model. To practice the theory presented in chapter 4, chapter 5, “Developing Learning Activities and Techniques,” describes learning activities as well as provides templates and sample activities and techniques appropriate to bridge the course outcomes to the assessments and to promote active learning and stronger student engagement. As accessibility for all learners is critical for student success, in chapter 6, “Mak- ing Your Course Accessible,” you will discover how to make your course and content materials meet requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990). A discus- sion of providing accommodations for student learning provides insights to broaden pedagogical practice, which benefits all students, not just those who need accommo- dations. These skills are also important to teach students so they can develop their own accessible materials in the course and the workplace.
- 23. PREFACE xvii Chapter 7, “Integrating Learning Technologies,” illustrates that technology can serve as a great way to increase engagement and enhance the quality of learning expe- riences. Identifying a need and choosing appropriate tools and strategies to embed in the course can support learning activities, help students meet course outcomes, and prepare them for work after graduation. We include a discussion about choosing tools that will help faculty with course management so they can spend more time working with students. Part Three: Assessing As understanding types of assessments and strategies to use multiple measurements to assess the whole student will make assessing student learning more fruitful, chapter 8, “Assessing Student Learning,” includes developing backward- and forward-looking authentic portfolio assessments. We include an examination of the components of rubric development. A crosswalk comparison (Table 8.2) demonstrates how to link learning activities with assessment techniques. This is a valuable addition to assist- ing your course design as it provides ways to design using a blend of assessments and activities that are informal and formal or formative and summative, and offers a variety of learning types and possible technology requirements. Finally, a discussion of how faculty can use assessment results is included. In chapter 9, “Assessing Course Quality,” using the best practices of designing face-to-face, blended, and online courses provides opportunities to assess the quality of a course. Gathering student feedback in reflection activities and course evaluation surveys are ways to measure what is working and what can be improved to build a stronger course through continuous improvement. Because faculty are expected to provide academic leadership in program and institutional assessment, chapter 10, “Assessing Your Program and Institution,” dis- cusses the need to integrate micro to macro levels of assessment from the student to the course to the program or department or to the institution by providing continu- ity for quality. Since some programs and departments and all institutions are required to measure their outcomes for accreditation, knowing how your course relates to the curriculum of the program or department and how these align with the institution’s mission completes the overall assessment picture. Part Four: Reflecting Reflecting on your teaching is key to continuous growth, improvement, and sustain- ability. Additionally, there are a variety of steps required for promotion and tenure. Chapter 11, “Reflecting on Your Teaching,” focuses on what you can do to archive your work to monitor your performance and demonstrate your accomplishments as evidence of your quality work. As with our students, we need to assess where we are in our practices and envi- sion the pathway we want to take to achieve our goals. Reflection is the first step in thinking about your teaching and identifying where you are on your career pathway.
- 24. xviii PREFACE Chapter 12, “Learning How to Learn: Advancing Your Professional Development,” is a discussion of how to use professional organizations and campus resources to help you create your professional development plan for career advancement. The chapters in this book provide more than 70 Bright Ideas on teaching and learning with spaces for you to take notes so you can add your ideas to create an action plan for changes you want to implement in your courses, teaching, and pro- fessional development. That is the first step to making the changes you think will enhance your teaching and significant learning for your students. Each chapter has an Action Checklist based on the chapter content to help you organize your next steps. Two additional chapters, which are available on our website (https://encoreprodev .com/book), discuss the needs of new faculty. The first chapter, “Making a Strong Start on Your Campus,” focuses on key questions faculty have when starting in a new position or on a new campus. Ranging from logistics to garnering support from col- leagues, this chapter will help them navigate the important challenges they need to address first to lead to success. Because building a relationship with your supervisor is something that will ben- efit your work, the second chapter on our website, “Working Effectively With Your Dean and Department Chair,” will help you understand the role your dean or chair plays in the administration and help you navigate your career. This person also plays a significant role in your life and can help guide your direction, provide wisdom during academic challenges, and assist you in growing professionally. Our philosophy is that reflection on the teaching practice is one of the most important tools in learning and professional development, so we provide the space to write your thoughts throughout the book under Jot Your Thoughts. Make this book your own. We intend for you to be an author too, so write your reflections about what you are learning. Our goal is for you to use this book as a guide to refer to so often that the pages will be well worn as your progress in your teaching career. In the back of the book, an area that is sometimes skipped over by the reader, we provided appendixes with additional material for use in your design. A glossary con- tains terms that may be new to you, and outcomes for each chapter have been pro- vided to assist your learning. We also include an Additional Readings and Resources section for further reading and study. Our team of educators took great pleasure in writing this book, and we are pleased that L. Dee Fink has written the foreword. The ideas presented here are tried and true. All the team members have stood in front of their peers and shared their strategies to improve faculty teaching and student learning. In return, they have helped thousands of students achieve their dream of a successful life and career while providing them with the confidence to change themselves in an ever-changing world. All educators go through these steps in learning to teach and in developing sig- nificant learning. You are not alone. Our goal for this book is to provide you with a wealth of ideas to help you design courses that provide significant learning to change the lives of your students and help you achieve your mission and the mission of your institution.
- 25. xix ACKNOWLEDGMENTS wor A s we reflect on the pathway to publishing, we would like to individually acknowledge the people who helped develop our careers and made this book possible. Ours is a collaborative team, and we have been fortunate to have ked with one another in faculty development for many years. Our individual strengths have helped each of us to grow as we have taught and made presentations together. We have easily passed the baton of leadership and content expertise to one another, recognizing how teaming our strengths could benefit our students and insti- tutions. Collectively, we would like to thank those who went before us to lead and to teach us what we needed to know to design effective teaching and significant learn- ing experiences for our students. Many of us have benefited from the work of L. Dee Fink. A special thank-you goes to Cheryl Neudauer for her contributions to several chapters of this book. Zala Fashant Thank you to my higher education colleagues with whom I have had the honor of working during my positions in teaching, faculty development, and administration. Forming a team to turn great ideas into practice created a community of learners that helped my own growth. I want to thank Gordon Mortrude, education professor and mentor who helped fuel my desire to be the best teacher I could, and my former principal C. Elaine Burgess, who encouraged me to be my best by creating memory makers for students in the classroom and who helped launch my career as a college administrator. Further thanks go to my elementary, high school, undergraduate, and graduate students, who helped me realize that all learners share the same desires and fears and that common threads exist in all levels of education. As a faculty developer, I think back to the first time I heard a presentation by L. Dee Fink at an international conference. Thanks, Dee, for inviting me to coach faculty at your national work- shops. Finally, I appreciate the support of family and friends who understand my desire to share what I learned with others to help them on their own teaching journey. Stewart Ross It is always a challenge to thank people when there are so many to thank. However, I was fortunate to become friends with L. Dee Fink 16 years ago when I was a par- ticipant in an early workshop he was conducting on integrated course design. Just a couple of years later I became the founding director for the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Minnesota State University, Mankato, where I worked
- 26. xx ACKNOWLEDGMENTS with more than 600 full-time professors over a 10-year period. I learned much dur- ing that decade, and I was also presenting workshops nationally and internationally on course design for Dee Fink & Associates and on active learning and other subjects related to quality teaching and learning at the university level. After more than 160 workshops, I am indebted to those faculty who not only learned how to improve their courses and create high-quality new courses but also helped me better under- stand the needs of faculty in terms of improving student learning. And I am indebted to the hundreds and hundreds of students I worked with in my teaching career. It is my distinct honor to have contributed to this book on teaching and learning, and I am forever grateful to Zala Fashant, colleague and friend for so many years. Linda Russell My first and most important thanks go to the hundreds of students who over the years have taught me how to be a better teacher and a better human being. Also, a thank-you goes to my husband, John Mirocha, and my children, Erin and Jordan, who are my number one supporters. It has been a bit of a role switch for them to be rooting for me from the sidelines. Cheryl Neudauer provided valuable contributions to this book and was so much fun to collaborate with. Finally, I thank my good friend Diana Hestwood for the many brainstorming and processing sessions while writing this book and for 29 years of wonderful friendship and professional collaborations. Karen LaPlant This book was the brainchild of Zala Fashant and wouldn’t have been possible with- out his project management and writing and keeping us on task or Linda Russell’s writing and editing or Jake Jacobson’s, Sheri Hutchinson’s, and Stewart Ross’s writ- ing. It is a book filled with what we have learned over the past 30 years. It is all the information I wish I had available when I began teaching in higher education. As attributed to Ben Franklin and several others: “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” Jake Jacobson Creativity, teaching, writing, research, and publishing are team sports, and I am proud to have been working with and been supported by some the best in education from around the world. Nevertheless, first and foremost, my thanks go to my students; it is their trust that drove me to become a better teacher and later a faculty developer to teach those lessons learned. This is why I am able to engage in and meld the careers I love. Explicit—Expliceat! Ludere scriptor eat. Loosely translated, this means: “It is finished—let it finish! Let the scribe go out to play.”
- 27. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xxi Sheri Hutchinson This book was created from the combined knowledge and skills of dedicated profes- sional educators who serve their students around the world. The lessons in this book are from hard-fought battles on the educational playing field that isn’t level for our students, much less for the faculty and staff. We wish to express our sincere thanks to everyone who helped lift us up and also to those who set up roadblocks along the way. We always appreciate the gracious supervisors we work with and are grateful for the less gracious supervisors who taught us life lessons on what we should not repeat. Thanks to Zala Fashant for being one of the gracious supervisors and for pushing us into this project, often with many polite and kind nudges.
- 31. 3 1 P R E PA R I N G F O R Y O U R C O U R S E D E S I G N Points to Ponder In thinking about designing the courses you teach, consider the following questions to examine your prior knowledge: • What are your experiences in teaching your courses as a new or midcareer faculty and how does that affect your course design proficiency? What data do you receive about your course’s success? What measures do you use to deter- mine how well the course is working? • How well are students succeeding? What changes in content or practices will help students be successful in their careers? • In thinking about your courses, which would you most like to redesign? Jot Your Thoughts As the midsemester exams were graded, Catherine enjoyed a hot mocha at the local coffee shop. She reflected on her classes, students, teaching, and where she was in her career. In her seventh year of teaching full time, having been an adjunct for three years previously, so many things had changed. Catherine thought about what she knew now that she didn’t know when she started. She taught her first courses as mirror images of the way she was taught at her uni- versity. She hadn’t struggled as a student so it was difficult to understand why her stu- dents didn’t just get the content. As a student she was able to memorize well; apply the
- 32. 4 STARTING material; and ace the tests, even essay exams. As a graduate assistant, she got high ratings from her professor as she graded assignments and completed the work he passed on to her. She was glad that she provided a bit more feedback to her students now as it seemed to help them perform better. Catherine was very confident in her current disciplinary knowledge. As a subject mat- ter expert she had attended professional association conferences every other year to be sure she knew what changes were taking place in her discipline so she could modify her course content. Her students were performing fairly well. She referred them to the learning center as needed and worked with her department to offer study sessions. However, she noticed most of her students didn’t take the opportunities for extra help. The course completion and pass rates were on par with her colleagues, matching the department average. But something was nagging at Catherine. Could she make her courses and teaching any better? She had gone to some campus teaching and learning workshops, picking up some great tips here and there. She had learned about her students. Every time she had a student with a learning challenge she learned a bit more about making accommoda- tions. She knew that some students weren’t college ready. Perhaps they just needed to try harder, but she also wondered what she could do to help them succeed in her courses. She had inherited her courses and had made a few changes over the past five years. How- ever, she still felt a bit trapped to teach like her peers. She had a mix of face-to-face and online courses. Students seemed to like the flexibility of online courses, but she felt a dis- tance in communicating with them that she didn’t feel when she met with her classroom courses. What could she do to bridge that gap? Catherine knew how she learned but didn’t understand how others learned. She gained some perspective by talking with the students who came in during office hours. What could she do to help students who were not great at the memorization and apply- ing content like she was? She also began to wonder how her courses could be designed to make learning accessible to all her students from the start so she would need to make fewer changes to help them during the semester. Was there new technology that could help her communicate with her students and provide learning in a more significant way so students would benefit in their career long after they left her course? Catherine gave tests and allowed students to choose projects in some of her courses. Was this enough? She knew students were passing tests but wondered if she was really assessing their mastery of the course outcomes. Hearing about some of her colleagues on campus who were assessing the quality of their courses, she wondered how her courses would compare to theirs. In a couple of years, Catherine’s department is going to reapply for accreditation, and she wanted to be sure her courses would help the department in the evaluation. She was also asked by her dean to sit on a faculty committee to prepare for the institution’s upcoming accreditation. Catherine’s reflection was giving her some insights. She knew she wanted her courses to significantly affect her students’ learning, prepare them for their careers, and help guide them to successful lives. She opened up a book she got at her campus center for teaching and learning, Designing Effective Teaching and Significant Learning, and began reading. Planning for Course Design Designing your courses to deliver effective teaching and significant learning is argu- ably one of the most effective ways to set students up for success. Our goal in writing
- 33. PREPARING FOR YOUR COURSE DESIGN 5 this book is to assist you as you consider all the elements of course design and its over- all impact on student learning, effective teaching, and institutional mission. Blending your prior knowledge and experiences with the content in this book will help you improve your current practice, making teaching even more enjoyable as you see your students more engaged in their learning. We have seen the impact of well-designed courses. We have worked with faculty worldwide to help them deliver the kinds of courses they have always wanted to teach. More important, in this book we share the stories of how faculty have transformed courses from theory to practice. As faculty developers and leaders in course design, we realize how course design models have expanded over the years. We start with Fink’s (2013) foundation of integrating course design and provide additional design concepts to expand the course blueprint to implement plans for communication, accessibility, technology integration, and the assessment of course design as it fits into the assessment of programs and institutions and how you can use what you learn to meet your professional goals. Let’s start this journey by discussing how you can prepare for designing your courses. Fink (2013) explains the process of design that goes beyond creating an out- line for delivering content. Using Fink’s integrated course design approach, faculty develop an intentional course plan by considering the situational factors, reflecting on their big dream for what they want students to take from the course, developing outcomes and assessments first, and then adding the bridging learning activities. Fink (2005) provided the following steps in designing courses for significant learning: In the initial design phase (Steps 1–5), Designing Courses That Promote Significant Learning, if professors want to create courses in which students have significant learn- ing experiences, they need to design that quality into their courses. How can they do that? By following these basic steps of the instructional design process: • Step 1. Give careful consideration to a variety of situational factors. Use the backward design process. • Step 2. Determine learning goals. What do you want students to learn by the end of the course that will still be with them several years later? • Step 3. Create feedback and assessment procedures. What will the students have to do to demonstrate they have achieved the learning goals? • Step 4. Develop teaching and learning activities. What would have to happen during the course for students to do well on the feedback and assessment activities? • Step 5. Think of create ways to involve students that will support your more expansive learning goals. Check to ensure that the key components (Steps 1–4) are all consistent and support each other in integrated course design (Fink, 2005). This abbreviated list of steps is a valuable resource for you in designing your course. See Appendix A for the complete document, where you will find descriptions for each of Fink’s (2005) elements for course design. Chapter 2 will provide the opportunity to use this as you examine your own courses.
- 34. 6 STARTING Bloom’s and Fink’s Taxonomies Many of you are familiar with the six levels of Bloom and colleagues’ (1956) tax- onomy: Remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creat- ing. Many instructors incorporate a variety of these levels in their courses as they scaffold content and experiences to engage students in learning. It is best to use level-appropriate verbs to match where your course lies in the curriculum pathway. Anderson and Krathwohl’s (2001) revised version of Bloom’s taxonomy names six distinct levels of skills (as shown in Figure 1.1): 1. Remembering: recalling information; remembering facts, vocabulary terms, and basic concepts 2. Understanding: demonstrating the understanding of facts through comparison, organizing, providing descriptions or main ideas 3. Applying: using acquired knowledge to solve problems and navigate new situa- tions 4. Analyzing: breaking down information into components, discovering the rela- tionships between parts, cause and effect, identifying inferences and supporting evidence 5. Evaluating: judging the quality of information, ideas, or work based on criteria 6. Creating: putting together parts into a whole; developing models; synthesizing new processes, ideas, or products If you were teaching the beginning course in a series of courses, you would tend to use more of the lower level outcomes to start and transition to using the higher level outcomes that are appropriate for the advanced skill levels you would like Produce new or original work Design, assemble, construct, conjecture, develop, formulate, author, investigate Create Evaluate Analyze Apply Understand Remember Justify a stand or decision appraise, argue, defend, judge, select, support, value, critique, weigh Draw connections among ideas differentiate, organize, relate, compare, contrast, distinguish, examine, experiment, question, test Recall facts and basic concepts define, duplicate, list, memorize repeat, state Explain ideas or concepts classify, describe, discuss, explain, identify, locate, recognize, report, select, translate Use information in new situations execute, implement, solve, use, demonstrate, interpret, operate, schedule, sketch Figure 1.1 Bloom’s taxonomy. Note. Bloom’s taxonomy includes the hierarchical domains of remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, and create. From “A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy: An overview,” by D.R. Krathwohl, 2002, Theory Into Practice, 41, 212–218.
- 35. PREPARING FOR YOUR COURSE DESIGN 7 students to achieve as the course progresses. If your course is one of the final courses in curriculum, you would focus on the higher level skills knowing that students had mastered the lower level content in the foundation courses. Higher level course out- comes would be less about understanding at the knowledge or comprehension level and more about analysis, evaluation, or creation. It is possible to use all of the levels in the same course, but unless students will demonstrate new understanding in an advanced course, your outcomes will use verbs appropriate to the comprehensive and application levels and then move to the analysis and evaluation levels. All levels of Bloom and colleagues’ (1956) taxonomy are included in the first three domains of Fink’s (2013) taxonomy. Fink wanted students to focus on how the course would transform them so that the results stayed with them after the course was completed. As shown in Figure 1.2, Fink emphasized that the course would add the domains or values of the human dimensions, caring, and learning how to learn, which would provide a lasting effect on learning through the course content as they moved on to other courses in the curriculum and, eventually, the workplace (Fink, 2013). Foundational Knowledge Understand and remember * nformation * deas Application * kills * Thinking: critical, creative, and practical * anaging projects Integration Connecting * deas * eople * ealms of life Human Dimensions Learning about * neself * thers Caring Developing new * eelings * nterests * alues Learning How to Learn * Becoming a better student * #'$ !' a subject * $ Figure 1.2 Fink’s taxonomy of significant learning. Note. Fink’s taxonomy includes the domains of foundational knowledge, application, integration, human dimensions for self and others, caring, and learning how to learn. From Creating Significant Learning Experiences, p. 30, by L.D. Fink, 2003, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Copyright 2003 by L.D. Fink. Used with permission.
- 36. 8 STARTING In Fink’s (2013) taxonomy of significant learning, course outcomes are created for all the areas. They are related to one another but aren’t a hierarchy where you build on the lowest level to get to the highest level, which is why Fink’s model isn’t in the shape of a pyramid like Bloom and colleagues’ (1956) but is instead in the shape of a circle (Figure 1.2) with the domains connected like pie pieces. The following details the domains of the taxonomy of significant learning as seen in Figure 1.2. • Foundational knowledge consists of new information, ideas, and content introduced in the course or from prior learning that students bring to the course from previous courses and experiences. • Application is the demonstration of skills and critical, creative, and practical thinking through learning activities and measured in assessments. • Integration of connections (through finding similarities and interactions) are made within the course, with other courses, and life-work experiences. • Human dimensions include what students learn from the content as it applies to themselves and as they develop a deeper understanding by interacting with others. • Caring is the adaptation to or changes learners make by valuing the ideas, feelings, and interests about what they are learning. • Learning how to learn is what students discover about the way they learn in the course or discipline and being a self-directed, lifelong learner. Fink’s (2013) taxonomy provides a way to have a more outward-looking, beyond- the-course teaching philosophy for students by designing for the human dimensions, caring, and learning how to learn domains. Situational Factors Each course has a set of situational factors (Fink, 2013), which are conditions that can affect the course delivery and its design. These factors can range from the size of the room and whether there are tables and chairs or desks to a reflection of what you, the instructor, bring to the learning experience. They help you identify the founda- tion for your course. The more in-depth the analysis of the situational factors is, the more valuable this step is in the course design process. Following are examples of situation factors: • Specific context of the situation. These factors frame the course; for example, the time the course is scheduled, the way the course is delivered (online, face- to-face), the technology requirements, the physical classroom arrangement (lecture, lab), and where this course is offered in the curriculum. • Expectations of others. Who are the stakeholders affected by this course? The answer here could be the students, other faculty, department, dean, advisory
- 37. PREPARING FOR YOUR COURSE DESIGN 9 board, and so on. What specific expectations will be in play for this course design? Is this a required course or elective course? How are students prepared for this course, and how does this course prepare them for what they take next and take away for use in their professional careers? • Nature of the subject. What are the discipline-specific demands? Science, English, nursing, and business each require different ways of thinking, writing, explaining, and creating meaning. What does the discipline or field require of students on completion? Is the course centered on physical or mental skill sets? Are there safety considerations in labs or working areas? • Characteristics of learners. Identifying the characteristics of the learners is key. Are your students ready for the level of the course—introductory or advanced? Do they have experience with online learning if your course is delivered online? Do you have students with learning challenges? What knowledge you acquire about the learners who tend to take this course will help you with its design. • Characteristics of the teacher. This part is a self-analysis and a look at what you are bringing to the course. What is your level of teaching experience; are you a new or veteran faculty member? Is this the first time you are teaching this course, or are you teaching this course differently, perhaps online for the first time? Do you feel confident in teaching the course? Are you feeling any internal or external pressures in teaching this course? This is more personal even though it relates to the expectations of others previously discussed. For each situational factor, reflect carefully on whether these conditions are in or beyond your control. In our workshops some faculty answer the question of control quickly before really thinking it through. Many times, with our guidance and deeper reflection, they realized there were things they could do to mitigate problems. If you can control the condition, then adjust accordingly. If the con- dition is beyond your control, you shouldn’t waste valuable time trying to fix it or consider it greatly in the course design. Changing course catalog outcomes or requirements by accrediting agencies are examples of factors you may not be able to control. It is better to spend your time designing a course that embraces what you can’t change and work with what you can adjust. Think about a current course you might like to redesign. How would each of these situational factors play into the construction of your new course? Table 1.1 will help you identify your course’s situational factors. Although all faculty understand the importance of reflecting on information that will affect teaching their courses, many take only a glance at the situation and context that frame their teaching. For instance, a new faculty member arriving on campus to teach four courses realizes the importance of answering some basic questions: How many students are in the course? What level in the curriculum is the course? What disciplines are represented? and What is the size and shape of the room? These are important concerns and need to be addressed; however, to design a quality course many more questions need to be examined. Consider the following:
- 38. 10 STARTING Situational Factor Your Course’s Situational Description Specific Context of Situation Class size Course level: introductory, advanced, graduate Meeting time and frequency Delivery: classroom or lab, blended, online Physical classroom conditions Technology requirements Expectations of Others Learning expectations placed on the course by: • Curriculum • Faculty colleagues • Institution • Profession • Accreditation • Society Nature of the Subject Student perception Theoretical, practical, or combination Convergent or divergent Important changes or controversies in the field Characteristics of Learners Student attitudes to subject College ready, advanced Age or experience level Prior learning foundation Student life conditions: Full time, part time, family, working, professional goals Characteristics of the Teacher Philosophy of teaching Attitude about course or subject Perception of students Experience in teaching Knowledge or familiarity of course content Teaching strengths or challenges TABLE 1.1 Situational Factors Note. This planning form offers an opportunity to identify a course’s situational factors. From Creating Significant Learning Experiences, by L.D. Fink, 2003, San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Copyright 2003 by L.D. Fink. Adapted with permission.
- 39. PREPARING FOR YOUR COURSE DESIGN 11 • Does this course lead into another course? • Who are these students, and where do they come from? • How do the skills and attitude of the teacher fit the needs of the students in this course? • What accreditation issues need to be taken into account? Examining the Expectations of Others as External Audiences We often analyze how to weave our courses into an established program or depart- ment curriculum. This is critical in delivering a comprehensive education that makes sense to our students so they can see the interrelatedness of the concepts they are learning. However, we also need to communicate the richness of the curriculum to external audiences including accreditation bodies, which we cover in depth in chap- ter 10, and the group of prime importance to our students, which is employers. Isn’t the major goal of higher education to position our students to be hired? Whether students are completing certificates, diplomas, or degrees, they need skills to compete in global markets. Many jobs today reach greater portions of the world than ever before. Teams work with colleagues who are in different time zones and conti- nents and have a variety of cultural perspectives. Employers are looking for graduates who bring a greater depth of skills to the workplace. We have met with a variety of employers in more than 25 campus programs, departments, and general education advisory committees, and they unequivocally require the following skills from the graduates they are hiring: • Problem-solving and analyzing data • Critical thinking, decision-making, and exercising judgment • Creative and innovative thinking • Teamwork and managing people • Written and oral communication • Resiliency and persistence demonstrating cognitive flexibility • Emotional intelligence, personal management, and professionalism • Digital and social media literacy • Self-motivation and a willingness to learn Knowing what employers require has helped us shape the curriculum of well- designed courses to produce graduates who master these skills in course work and demonstrate them in the workplace. Not every course design needs to have outcomes for each of the skills listed here, but we need to be sure these skills are part of the cur- riculum. Educators need to ask, How does the design of our courses prepare students to obtain and succeed in the best jobs possible?
- 40. 12 STARTING A Deeper Look at the Characteristics of the Teacher Anthony arrived on campus, hired just before classes started. His visit with the depart- ment chair was helpful in obtaining the proper forms, class schedules, and the key to his office. However, in terms of teaching, there was not much time to discuss challenges. He did mention to the chairperson that of the four courses, he felt comfortable with two of them, had some work to do for the third, and had never taught or even thought about what to do for the fourth course. The chair mentioned that he might contact some other faculty who have taught the courses previously or visit the office of the retired faculty member to gain a better understanding of the factors he would be facing in these courses. Anthony got the key to that person’s office, where he found a possible textbook and a syllabus that had been used for years. Anthony did not actually redesign the course. He rewrote the syllabus and chose readings for the course from the textbook, which was published several years prior and was not an area of the discipline in which Anthony had much experience. As with many faculty, he started with what artifacts he could find and taught the course as it had been taught in the past. As he taught the course, he became uncomfortable with the text, so he researched new texts and ordered a new one for the spring semester. He knew he needed to redesign the course, so he took time during the course to keep notes about what he wanted to do differently. Anthony watched how engaged the students were in their learning and considered how he could develop better learning activities and assessments to demon- strate their mastery of the outcomes. He discovered that he needed to ask much better questions about this course and take a serious, in-depth look at the situational factors for solid clues on what the focus of the course should be and how he could create significant learning for his students. As an educational leader, you design experiences for students to succeed. By applying the ideas offered here, you will provide significant learning. As the instruc- tor, you have a limited amount of time and energy, so you have a choice to make: Be reactive or proactive. The reactive instructor responds to situations as they occur and works to correct them for each class every semester. The proactive instructor designs a course with the purpose of knowing that all the elements are in place and spends time interacting with students to guide their learning. The latter takes more time up front, but in the long run will save a lot of time and reduce stress as you don’t have to make corrections during the busiest time of the semester—while you are grading, communicating with students and colleagues, and doing campus work. A Deeper Understanding of the Characteristics of the Learners Knowing who your students are is the key ingredient in designing a student-centered course. Although this point is obvious, we are often busy with all the work we need to complete, so it is easy to forget our primary purpose. Integrated course design requires an examination of a course’s situational factors. The analysis needed in identifying
- 41. PREPARING FOR YOUR COURSE DESIGN 13 the characteristics of the learners helps you go beyond a one-course-fits-all or teach- to-the-middle design. As faculty, our mission is to develop learning outcomes and assess that students have mastered them. Knowing you will have many students from varying ages, cultures, experiential levels, prior learning knowledge, and skill abilities will help you design a course that will meet everyone’s needs. Building Readiness for College Learning Think about the students who may be taking your course. Your students might range from 16 years of age, taking advantage of concurrent enrollment in high school and a local college, to retired professionals returning as lifelong learners with varying edu- cational backgrounds. They may be concurrently taking developmental course work or receiving academic support, or they may have entered your course after a rigorous college preparatory advanced placement or international baccalaureate program in high school. Some students are the first in their families to attend a higher education institu- tion. They may not have many role models, beyond their high school teachers, with any sort of postsecondary experience. Without brothers and sisters or parents who have paved the way and can offer guidance, they embark on a journey into the wilder- ness of attending a course like yours. They have few references to assist them. It was never expected that they would even consider going to college. They don’t know what this experience has in store for them. It is easy for faculty to speak in the language of higher ed-ese, but at the same time students are trying to understand the meaning so they can succeed in your course. For more information see Appendix B. The number of students entering college who are underprepared continues to increase. Kuh, Kinzie, Shuh, Whitt, and Associates (2005) reported that “a study conducted by the American College Testing program found that 49% of high school graduates do not have the reading skills required to succeed in college” (p. 1). Your students represent a variety of backgrounds and experiences. For example, they may • come from cultural and linguistic backgrounds that are far removed from the academic culture; • experience difficulties with aspects of mathematics literacy, reading, or writing; • be diagnosed with mental illness or other conditions that make learning in college a challenge; or • vary extensively in college readiness. How can college faculty meet the needs of such a wide audience? This is the reality of considering the student side of the situational factors. In Appendix B we provide more information about working with academically underprepared students, usually those who scored below the acceptable pass rates on entrance exams and received developmental course work or support prior to or concurrently with college intro- ductory course work.
- 42. 14 STARTING Most new students will contend with some transition issues as they begin college. The reading and homework responsibilities outside class are greater, and the tests are significantly more difficult than most high school classes, so even very good stu- dents often have some challenges as they learn to navigate. However, if these students learn how to approach studying, taking notes, and talking with instructors, they usually will succeed. Many students haven’t thought through how taking courses will affect them and their schedules. Balancing work and family responsibilities with the course’s meeting time and workload is a change many don’t fully understand until they are a few weeks into college life. Providing information on how students can prepare for this balance is helpful. Many students are attracted to the convenience of online courses. Although this option may fit well into their schedules, some students don’t understand the com- plexity of learning online, which requires greater independence and responsibility in learning content and meeting course requirements. One may also argue that teaching online is more difficult as well, because instructors need to build community in the course, which is more difficult to do in the online environment. The technology in the course learning management system (LMS) used to build this community is mak- ing this task easier; however, faculty and students need training to use the tools in an online course. A deeper discussion of this is found in chapter 3. It is also helpful for faculty to facilitate a successful start to college by being explicit about the course performance expectations as well as designing the course in a way for students to have multiple opportunities to demonstrate their mastery of the content through applied practice in learning activities and assessment. Key Course Skills and Abilities In thinking about the differences between the way experts and novices perform in your discipline, how do novices move toward becoming experts? Where are the trou- ble spots that seem to slow down many of your students? One way to better under- stand the student perspective is to ask your better students to explain how they read, study, talk, and write in your course. What is involved here is disciplinary literacy. According to Shanahan (2017), Disciplinary literacy is based upon the idea that literacy and text are specialized, and even unique, across the disciplines. Historians engage in very different approaches Bright Idea What does it feel like to be a novice? You may have forgotten if you have not tried to learn something new in a long time. It’s good for teachers to try something new: a new exercise or sport, a new hobby, or anything that puts you into the students’ shoes. Try it. It will make you better. —Linda Russell
- 43. PREPARING FOR YOUR COURSE DESIGN 15 to reading than mathematicians do, for instance. Similarly, even those who know little about math or literature can easily distinguish a science text from a literary one. Fundamentally, because each field of study has its own purposes, its own kinds of evidence, and its own style of critique, each will produce different texts, and reading those different kinds of texts are going to require some different reading strategies. Scientists spend a lot of time comparing data presentation devices with each other and with prose, while literary types strive to make sense of theme, char- acterization, and style. (para. 6–7) Thus, you must design the course in a way that will actively and explicitly teach and model the ways you read, talk, write, and think in your discipline. This design strategy will help all students, but it will make the difference for students who are less ready for college. In addition, you will have students who have learning chal- lenges with sight and hearing and who will need additional design support. These challenges make the novice-to-expert pathway even more difficult. For most faculty, these kinds of challenges go well beyond what they experienced themselves as learn- ers. This is an example of making your course accessible for all students. Chapter 6 expands on these ideas. Identify the core concepts in your discipline that will be taught in your course. Seeing where your course is positioned in the curriculum is critical so you can intro- duce the appropriate concepts for student mastery. What are the foundational build- ing blocks necessary to learn the concepts? What are the minimal performance expectations? These organizing principles of creating a quality curriculum are dis- cussed throughout this book and specifically in chapter 9. They lay the groundwork for you to be able to identify levels of acceptable student work as you develop scoring rubrics that clearly describe your expectations. You can better diagnose a student’s errors in thinking or conceptual understanding and provide them with the appropri- ate feedback if you have identified the steps in the learning process. Course Accessibility for All Learners Have you ever thought what it would be like if you were a student with a learning challenge? Increasing numbers of students with disabilities are pursuing postsecond- ary education. Accessibility design needs to create opportunities for students who are challenged by blindness, low vision, hearing impairments, mobility impairments, Bright Idea Have your students who have successfully passed the course write a letter to a novice student on what helped them succeed in the course. Distribute the letters to students in small groups to discuss how this could help them this semester. For an online course, post several of the best letters in the course shell discus- sions and have your students write a reflection on what they learned by reading them. —Zala Fashant
- 44. 16 STARTING learning disabilities, health impairments, and psychiatric health impairments. If you have never experienced these challenges, then designing a course for students who need additional assistance may be beyond your scope of understanding. Thinking about accessibility on the front end of design helps you work with students imme- diately rather than learning which accommodations you will need to consider once the student enrolls in your course and then having to make the appropriate changes (Coombs, 2010). The key is remembering that accessibility is not just about disability. Accessibility increases learning for all students. It is the cornerstone for inclusion, equity, and ulti- mately student success. It isn’t just a positive design element; it is the law. Designing for accessibility doesn’t take large investments of time. A few simple guidelines can help you evaluate your courses to ensure that all your students have the opportunity to perform at their best. Small changes to existing courses can eliminate barriers and provide all students with more equitable opportunities to learn and to demonstrate their learning. Designing using a learning platform recognized for excellence in meeting these requirements will help you provide successful learning for all. Your campus resource person can tell you how the course learning platform supports accessibility. By con- verting your course materials, your students are able to view them or use their screen readers to view them. Doing so allows your students access to them and levels the playing field. As previously discussed, students come from a wide variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. For some, English is not their first language. In most classes, students have a variety of learning preferences, skills, and experiences, all of which affect their approach to learning. The strategies to make course materials accessible using multi- ple methods helps these students learn as well. Chapter 6 covers specific strategies to be sure your course is accessible for all students. Helping Struggling Students Succeed What do you do when students are not meeting academic expectations? Some of your students may be conditional admits who were admitted but have not met the entrance requirements, others may be on academic probation, and still others are graduates of developmental programming. All these students are at risk as they enter the college-level curriculum. Even with special programming, advising, and academic support, these students have not magically been fixed and will continue to be the least familiar with college demands. Ideally, the college provides continued support in the form of supplemen- tal instruction, tutoring, cocurricular options, and so on. They need a lot of practice to improve their study skills, testing skills, and appropriate college communication skills. There is no shame in not knowing what typical students know; instructors need to be explicit in instructions and make fewer assumptions. Being clear is not condescending. Developing checklists and rubrics for written work on assignments
- 45. PREPARING FOR YOUR COURSE DESIGN 17 or assessments is important for all learners. Sometimes additional practice opportu- nities are necessary to allow more time on task to learn concepts, procedures, and skills. Allowing rewrites on some work or providing selected nongraded quiz ques- tions to the entire class can be a confidence booster for some but a lifesaver for others. Additional practice is also great for students who have demonstrated deeper interest in the course, so it works for students who need extra help and those who have a greater interest. A key aspect in teaching is to have a clear understanding of what it is like to be a novice learner in a discipline. This can pose a dilemma for some faculty on two counts: first, you are an expert who has studied and worked many years to gain deep learning in your field, so remembering what it is like to be a beginner may have faded away. Second, you may never have actually struggled in your discipline. You may have chosen your discipline because you had a passion for the subject, natural abilities, a drive to succeed in the area, or a deep curiosity about it, and you may not have had too many roadblocks thrown your way. Many of you may also have had a variety of role models guiding you, so you felt supported in your decision to go on to postsec- ondary work. Most of us don’t earn degrees in fields we dislike, fail at, or have fears about. Our students at the undergraduate level are not so lucky. They must take a wide range of courses in general education, even ones that strike fear into their hearts and keep them up all hours trying to understand the material. Did you take any courses in your general education requirements that made you wonder if you really needed them and you felt you were unprepared to take? Think about fine arts majors taking traditional science courses. If the design of the course doesn’t allow them to bring their fine arts interests into the course as a way of applying the science content, then these students could dread the entire experience unless they happen to love science. For example, an interdisciplinary link could encourage music students to consider how temperature plays a part in tuning of instrument or in voice per- formance, or art students to describe how their medium reacts with other materials or the reaction that can take place in mixing types of paint, or the action on a clay sculpture being fired in a kiln. Realizing that you are very different from most of your students in the lower division courses is a first step to teaching in an accessible manner. In our workshops, we discuss how some faculty may be perceptually challenged because they are experts, and the learning in this discipline may have come easily for them because of their interest in it. Master musicians attempting to give lessons to children beginning an instrument can suffer from this as they have forgotten the technical skills of begin- ning to learn how to play an instrument. This perceptual challenge is even worse if the teacher was a natural and learned to play the instrument quickly. This difference is what often leads faculty to either not know how to advise a struggling student or to tell them to do something that is utterly unhelpful, such as “Just read the chapter again.” You may be even further from the experiences that most of our developmental students have faced, not having gone through school failing classes or being told you just needed to work harder or being shamed in front of other
- 46. 18 STARTING students. Did you ever have the pressure of being required to go up to the chalkboard to show how you solved a math problem or stand in front of the class to spell a word you didn’t know in a spelling bee? Many emotional aftereffects linger even years later for our most at-risk students. Your understanding of the characteristics of all learners, those like you and, more important, those most different from you will make you the teacher who achieves sig- nificant learning. Learners will benefit from a compassionate instructor who realizes students need specific, helpful activities and support to find their way to successfully master the outcomes in your course. Moreover, it will transform their lives, so the success in your course provides lasting effects on their career and life. Appendix B provides additional suggestions to try with your students. You will find they help all students, but they really can mean a breakthrough for developmental students. Jot Your Thoughts Some faculty don’t take much time to reflect on the critical step of identifying the situational factors as they jump into the task of building a course. This is the cornerstone in the foundation of course design. Identifying the situational factors is a key first step. We have found that many faculty who use this research and reflection in their planning continue to find additional situational factors as they design their courses, adding to their own significant learning. Pedagogical Challenges As you identify the course’s situational factors, one particular factor often rises to the top; we call it the pedagogical challenge. Pedagogical challenges need to be addressed during the first class meeting for face-to-face or blended courses or during the first week of an online course. Developing the solid foundation and environment where students can feel safe and have the opportunity to be successful provides a gateway for students who say they dislike the topic of your required course. You can develop the motivation to learn and build the foundation for students to succeed in a course. A Midwest university has three distinct groups of students. One group comes from a metropolitan area where traffic is heavy, high schools have numerous advanced place- ment courses, and most students are prepared for attending college through advising and
- 47. PREPARING FOR YOUR COURSE DESIGN 19 other programs. Another group consists of students from very small rural communities with populations of a couple of thousand or so. These students find the university to be a huge, scary place full of people different from themselves. Another group is made up of international students. They vary greatly in their response to the university based on the country and size of the city they come from. When these three groups are in a course, the faculty member needs to take some time to understand the different cultures and how to best design a course to embrace and value this diversity instead of allowing it to become a problem. In a classroom such as this it seems necessary to have some group work, if for no other reason than to help students benefit from the rich mix of ideas from those in the class. Understanding the cultural richness and the level of learners’ expertise will help you design a course that will provide pathways for student success (Gabriel, 2018). Identifying the situational factors that affect your course, and knowing which factors are in your control and which are not, is critical to designing significant learning. In speech courses, we often talk about knowing one’s audience. Situational factors involve knowing your audience on a grander scale. The macro factors involve an external audience of employers, professional organization competencies, and accred- iting organizations. Micro factors involve yourself and your students. What biases and perspectives do students come to this class with when they first enroll? What have they heard and what don’t they know that you can address from the very beginning? Identifying your own biases will help you improve your teaching so that all students can be successful in your courses. Completing thinking about your course’s situational factors and pedagogical challenges is the first step in preparing for course design. As Fink (2013) has asserted, many faculty are perceptually challenged in their teaching as faculty are often tal- ented in their discipline, and too often don’t understand why some students have problems and don’t learn easily or quickly. This seems to be one of the most pervasive pedagogical challenges faculty must understand and overcome in their teaching. In chapter 2 we discuss the additional steps needed for integrating course design. Reflect on This Chapter Now that you have completed reading this chapter and thinking about the content as it applies to your work, please reflect on the following questions. • How can Fink’s (2013) taxonomy help you deliver the concept of significant and lifelong learning for your students? • What courses do you currently have that need redesigning to provide significant learning for students? • How does identifying situational factors and the pedagogical challenges help you prepare for course design?
- 48. 20 STARTING Jot Your Thoughts Action Checklist Use Checklist 1.1 to apply the chapter content to your practice and help you identify the steps for implementing these ideas in your teaching. CHECKLIST 1.1 Preparing for Your Course Design Action Checklist Course Design Planning Downloaded A Guide to Creating Significant Learning Experiences (Fink 2003) from www.deefinkandassociates.com/GuidetoCourseDesignAug0 .pdf Identified the situational factors. Considered which factors are within my control and which are not. Identified which situational factor is my greatest pedagogical challenge. Read Appendix B: Knowing Your Students. , 5
- 49. PA RT T WO DESIGNING
- 51. 23 2 I N T E G R AT I N G Y O U R C O U R S E D E S I G N Points to Ponder In thinking about integrating the elements of your course design, consider the fol- lowing questions to examine your prior knowledge: • What do you really want your students to accomplish and take with them after they leave your course? • How will your course prepare your students for their career and their personal lives? • In thinking about one of your courses, how well are your learning outcomes, assessments, and activities aligned as they are integrated into your course design? • Do you currently use a variety of assessments to demonstrate mastery of the course outcomes and a variety of learning activities to provide practice for students to prepare for successful assessments? Jot Your Thoughts Sitting at a roundtable as coaches at one of L. Dee Fink’s conferences for designing courses for significant learning, we listened to faculty describe the courses they were cur- rently teaching. As faculty learned about methods for course design, they identified the situational factors they needed to consider in designing their course. After discussing the factors, faculty were asked to dream about why they want to teach this course and what they want their students to take with them after completing this course.
- 52. 24 DESIGNING So when we asked faculty to share their big dream for their course, many of them started with ideas like getting students to read the textbook, come to class prepared, complete assignments on time, and just show up for class. We wouldn’t argue that each of these are important for student success, but these are not big dreams. Instead, many faculty know what they want students to be able to demonstrate when they leave the class, and it usually goes beyond skill sets. Faculty often want to develop their courses to help students become successful citizens as they achieve their professional and personal goals, which can be accomplished through an engaging course design. We asked them to rethink and go bigger. How will this course change learners’ lives? We urged the faculty to dig deeper into the big dream by understanding how to separate their hopes for completing work from what they wanted as big dreams for their students to achieve. The next round of responses was much more visionary. Many fac- ulty gave a huge sigh of relief knowing that it was okay to design a course that would be more for students. They were excited to design a course that not only provided the right conditions for learners to achieve the course and department outcomes but also could take them beyond the end of the course and improve their professional and personal lives. One university faculty member said that this way of designing courses makes no course insignificant, and a technical college instructor told us that this style of design is a perfect match for the way he teaches as it aligns with technical education and meets employers’ expectations. Why Faculty Teach For most faculty, teaching students in courses designed using their big dream is really what they originally wanted to do. They wanted to be a teacher and mentor and develop learning that students remembered long beyond the end of the semester. They wanted to make a difference in the lives of their students much like someone had done for them. Designing courses this way delivered that opportunity. Course integration is one of the most powerful strategies you can use in your teaching. Aligning learning outcomes, assessments, and activities is vital to the qual- ity of the course, which needs to be in place to deliver significant learning for your students. As course design coaches we have seen hundreds of faculty transform their teaching and student learning. From what they tell us, faculty enjoy their teach- ing more after implementing their course redesign. They are proud to say that their students enjoy their learning more as well. Knowing that you have created a life- changing experience for your students is deeply gratifying and provides a way for you to have an impact on not only the students enrolled in your course but also each of the people they work with in the future and the ways they interact with their family and community. Course Design That Delivers Significant Learning The word curriculum (n.d.) is from the Latin currare, meaning running or course, as in a racecourse—in other words, a pathway. For our purposes, it could be used in
- 53. INTEGRATING YOUR COURSE DESIGN 25 terms of a pathway that provides a well-practiced structure to guide vehicles or a rigid path that doesn’t allow flexibility or movement because of the ruts created by others. Integrated course design using the taxonomy of significant learning guides your students through learning activities and assesses their mastery of the outcomes. A well-designed course provides student-faculty engagement so the students aren’t stuck in a rut with their learning. Students take your courses to learn from you as you are the expert in your discipline. They expect your course will show them a pathway to learning. The design of your course needs to be intentional for students to see why your content is relevant and how it will help them develop the skills they need to suc- ceed professionally and personally. Knowing the course is designed well gives you the confidence of delivering the content in a manner that will allow you to spend your time teaching and working with students individually. Most faculty want to share everything they know about the discipline with their students, but how much content can students absorb during the length of the course? Think of the last time you were at a buffet. Even if you arrived hungry, you couldn’t begin to eat everything. You would have to choose carefully as you filled your plate being careful not to overeat and also saving have room for dessert. Your students are the same. They can only handle a certain amount as they find places to organize, store, and apply all the learning. The design of a course and its integration into the curriculum are vital to stu- dent success. Content is layered from foundational to advanced. Early courses in a program build a strong foundation so that deeper learning can occur in later courses. A well-designed curriculum is cyclical as concepts link prior learning to new infor- mation at a higher level. Setting a strong foundation is important to support more advanced learning. Communicating your design is key for students to understand this learning pathway. Overall course design is basically the same for online, blended, and face-to-face courses. Great design applies to all forms of delivery because the major elements for a course are the same. In this chapter, we examine the design elements that course designers use to improve their course design skills. Fink refers to this as designing courses leading to significant learning (Fink, 2003). To help you better understand the course design process discussed here, it may help if you focus on one of the courses you teach. It helps to think about a course that isn’t going as well as you would like and that you think could be designed better. The redesign of this course isn’t about tweaking it here and there. Instead it’s about looking at the design through a new perspective, so you need to start from the beginning. The course outcomes may be predetermined and need to remain in your redesign. You may be able to repurpose some of the learning activities used previously if they are appropriate in your rede- sign, but don’t center the redesign on your activities. They are not the starting point. Focusing on keeping the things you had will not allow you to succeed in redesigning because you will spend a lot of your energy trying to make things fit, blending the old with the new. Getting away from your current mind-set and thinking about what is possible in a new way by using your imagination and innovation for the new course will help you succeed in the redesign.
- 54. 26 DESIGNING Jot Your Thoughts Your Big Dream Although it is important to identify the situational factors discussed previously, they can sometimes involve conditions you may not be able to change. It is important to remember that these factors have an effect on the course and are a starting point to the design. To balance what may be limiting factors in the design, it is important for you to focus on your big dream for your students. Consider the following: • How will taking your course influence students for the rest of their lives? • In what ways will taking your course make a difference in the way students will be successful? • How will your course provide insights that will enhance students’ professional and personal lives? By thinking about your big dream for this course you can communicate what you want the students to learn and how this learning will affect their lives beyond the classroom. As course design coaches, we have guided faculty in the redesign of their current courses, getting them to consider the full potential of what their course could offer learners. For faculty whose big dream focuses only on basic foundational knowledge con- tent, writing the outcomes for significant learning will be challenging. Big dreams go beyond using information to perform well on exams and receiving a passing grade for the course. A dream that only emphasizes memorization and passing exams is difficult to link to outcomes that extend beyond foundational knowledge. The richer the dream, the easier it will be to link it to learning outcomes based on Fink’s (2013) taxonomy of significant learning. Rich dreams often refer to students’ gaining confi- dence, understanding others better, seeing the connections of ideas in courses to the world around them, and so on. We discuss ways to write a broader set of outcomes by using all the taxonomy of significant learning domains (see Figure 2.1). The following is an example of a rich big dream. This course will explore the “Materials Culture” by encouraging students to analyze issues related to consumption patterns of themselves, their communities, the larger society, and differing societies around the world. Students will realize the intercon- nected nature of their everyday activities, which may seem disconnected at first. What they watch and see can (does) affect what they buy. What they buy affects
- 55. Random documents with unrelated content Scribd suggests to you:
- 56. His ambition to excel as an orator is said to have been kindled by hearing a masterly and much admired speech of Callistratus. For instruction, he resorted to Isæus, and, as some say, to Isocrates, both eminent teachers of the art of rhetoric. He had a stimulus to exertion in the resolution to prosecute his guardians for abuse of their trust; and having gained the cause, B. C. 364, in the conduct of which he himself took an active part, recovered, it would seem, a large part of his property. The orations against Aphobus and Onetor, which appear among his works, profess to have been delivered in the course of the suit; but it has been doubted, on internal evidence, whether they were really composed by him so early in life. Be this as it may, his success emboldened him to come forward as a speaker in the assemblies of the people; on what occasion, and at what time, does not appear. His reception was discouraging. He probably had underrated, till taught by experience, the degree of training and mechanical preparation requisite at all times to excellence, and most essential in addressing an audience so acute, sensitive and fastidious as the Athenians. He labored also under physical defects, which almost amounted to disqualifications. His voice was weak, his breath short, his articulation defective; in addition to all this, his style was throughout strained, harsh and involved. Though somewhat disheartened by his ill success, he felt as Sheridan is reported to have expressed himself on a similar occasion, that it was in him, and it should come out; beside, he was encouraged by a few discerning spirits. One aged man, who had heard Pericles, cheered him with the assurance that he reminded him of that unequalled orator; and the actor Satyrus pointed out the faults of his delivery, and instructed him to amend them. He now set himself in earnest to realize his notions of excellence; and the singular and irksome methods which he adopted, denoting certainly no common energy and strength of will, are too celebrated and too remarkable to be omitted, though the authority on which they rest is not free from doubt. He built a room under ground, where he might practise gesture and delivery without molestation, and there he
- 57. spent two or three months together, shaving his head, that the oddity of his appearance might render it impossible for him to go abroad, even if his resolution should fail. The defect in his articulation he cured by reciting with small pebbles in his mouth. His lungs he strengthened by practising running up hill, while reciting verses. Nor was he less diligent in cultivating mental than bodily requisites, applying himself earnestly to study the theory of the art as explained in books, and the examples of the greatest masters of eloquence. Thucydides is said to have been his favorite model, insomuch that he copied out his history eight times, and had it almost by heart. Meanwhile, his pen was continually employed in rhetorical exercises; every question suggested to him by passing events served him for a topic of discussion, which called forth the application of his attainments to the real business of life. It was perhaps as much for the sake of such practice, as with a view to reputation, or the increase of his fortune, that he accepted employment as an advocate, which, until he began to take an active part in public affairs, was offered to him in abundance. Such was the process by which he became confessedly the greatest orator among the people by whom eloquence was cultivated, as it has never been since by any nation upon earth. He brought it to its highest state of perfection, as did Sophocles the tragic drama, by the harmonious union of excellences which had before only existed apart. The quality in his writings, which excited the highest admiration of the most intelligent judges among his countrymen in the later critical age, was the Protean versatility with which he adapted his style to every theme, so as to furnish the most perfect examples of every order and kind of eloquence. Demosthenes, like Pericles, never willingly appeared before his audience with any but the ripest fruits of his private studies, though he was quite capable of speaking on the impulse of the moment in a manner worthy of his reputation. That he continued to the end of his career to cultivate the art with unabated diligence, and that, even in
- 58. the midst of public business, his habits were those of a severe student, is well known. The first manifestation of that just jealousy of Philip, the ambitious king of Macedon, which became the leading principle of his life, was made 252 B. C., when the orator delivered the first of those celebrated speeches called Philippics. This word has been naturalized in Latin and most European languages, as a concise term to signify indignant invective. From this time forward, it was the main object of Demosthenes to inspire and keep alive in the minds of the Athenians a constant jealousy of Philip’s power and intentions, and to unite the other states of Greece in confederacy against him. The policy and the disinterestedness of his conduct have both been questioned; the former, by those who have judged, from the event, that resistance to the power of Macedonia was rashly to accelerate a certain and inevitable evil; the latter, by those, both of his contemporaries and among posterity, who believe that he received bribes from Persia, as the price of finding employment in Greece for an enemy, whose ambition threatened the monarch of the East. With respect to the former, however, it was at least the most generous policy, and like that of the elder Athenians in their most illustrious days—not to await the ruin of their independence submissively, until every means had been tried for averting it; for the latter, such charges are hard either to be proved or refuted. The character of Demosthenes certainly does not stand above the suspicion of pecuniary corruption, but it has not been shown, nor is it necessary or probable to suppose, that his jealousy of Philip of Macedon was not, in the first instance, far-sighted and patriotic. During fourteen years, from 352 to 338, he exhausted every resource of eloquence and diplomatic skill to check the progress of that aspiring monarch; and whatever may be thought of his moral worth, none can undervalue the genius and energy which have made his name illustrious, and raised a memorial of him far more enduring than sepulchral brass.
- 59. In 339 B. C., Philip’s appointment to be general of the Amphictyonic League gave him a more direct influence than he had yet possessed; and in the same year, the decisive victory of Cheronea, won over the combined forces of Thebes, Athens, c., had made him master of Greece. Demosthenes served in this engagement, but joined, early in the flight, with circumstances, according to report, of marked cowardice and disgrace. He retired for a time from Athens, but the cloud upon his character was but transient for, shortly after, he was entrusted with the charge of putting the city in a state of defence, and was appointed to pronounce the funeral oration over those who had been slain. After the battle of Cheronea, Philip, contrary to expectation, did not prosecute hostilities against Athens; on the contrary, he used his best endeavors to conciliate the affections of the people, but without success. The party hostile to Macedon soon regained the superiority, and Demosthenes was proceeding with his usual vigor in the prosecution of his political schemes, when news arrived of the murder of Philip, in July, 336. The daughter of Demosthenes had then lately died; nevertheless, in violation of national usage, he put off his mourning, and appeared in public, crowned with flowers and with other tokens of festive rejoicing. This act, a strong expression of triumph over the fall of a most dangerous enemy, has been censured with needless asperity; the accusation of having been privy to the plot for Philip’s murder, beforehand, founded on his own declaration of the event some time before intelligence of it came from any other quarter, and the manifest falsehood as to the source of the information, which he professed to derive from a divine revelation, involves—if it be judged to be well founded—a far blacker imputation. Whether or not it was of his own procuring, the death of Philip was hailed by Demosthenes as an event most fortunate for Athens, and favorable to the liberty of Greece. Thinking lightly of the young successor to the Macedonian crown, he busied himself the more in stirring up opposition to Alexander, and succeeded in urging Thebes into that revolt, which ended in the entire destruction of the city, B. C., 335. This example struck terror into Athens. Alexander demanded
- 60. that Demosthenes, with nine others, should be given up into his hands, as the authors of the battle of Cheronea and of the succeeding troubles of Greece; but finally contented himself with requiring the banishment of Charidemus alone. Opposition to Macedon was now effectually put down, and, until the death of Alexander, we hear little more of Demosthenes as a public man. During this period, however, one of the most memorable incidents of his life occurred, in that contest of oratory with Æschines, which has been more celebrated than any strife of words since the world began. The origin of it was as follows. About the time of the battle of Cheronea, one Ctesiphon brought before the people a decree for presenting Demosthenes with a crown for his distinguished services; a complimentary motion, in its nature and effects very much like a vote in the English parliament, declaratory of confidence in the administration. Æschines, the leading orator of the opposite party, arraigned this motion, as being both untrue in substance and irregular in form; he indicted Ctesiphon on these grounds, and laid the penalty at fifty talents, equivalent to about $50,000. Why the prosecution was so long delayed, does not clearly appear; but it was not brought to an issue until the year 330, when Æschines pronounced his great oration “against Ctesiphon.” Demosthenes defended him in the still more celebrated speech “on the crown.” These, besides being admirable specimens of rhetorical art, have the additional value, that the rival orators, being much more anxious to uphold the merits of their own past policy and conduct, than to convict and defend the nominal object of prosecution, have gone largely into matters of self-defence and mutual recrimination, from which much of our knowledge of this obscure portion of history is derived. Æschines lost the cause, and not having the votes of so much as a fifth part of the judges, became liable, according to the laws of Athens, to fine and banishment. He withdrew to Rhodes, where he established a school of oratory. On one occasion, for the gratification of his hearers, he recited first his own, then his adversary’s speech. Great admiration having been expressed of the latter, “What then,” he said, “if you
- 61. had heard the brute himself?” bearing testimony in these words to the remarkable energy and fire of delivery which was one of Demosthenes’ chief excellences as an orator. A fate similar to that of his rival, overtook Demosthenes himself, a few years later, B. C. 324. Harpalus, an officer high in rank and favor under Alexander, having been guilty of malversation to such an extent that he dared not await discovery, fled to Greece, bringing with him considerable treasures and a body of mercenary soldiers. He sought the support of the Athenians; and, as it was said, bribed Demosthenes not to oppose his wishes. Rumors to that effect got abroad, and though his proposals were rejected by the assembly, Demosthenes was called to account, and fined fifty talents, nearly $50,000, as having been bribed to give false counsel to the people. Being unable to pay the amount of the fine, it acted as a sentence of banishment, and he retired into Ægina. Like Cicero, when placed in a similar situation, he displayed effeminacy of temper, and an unmanly violence of regret, under a reverse of fortune. In the following year, however, the death of Alexander restored him to political importance; for when that event opened once more to the Athenians the prospect of shaking off the supremacy of Macedonia, Demosthenes was recalled, with the most flattering marks of public esteem. He guided the state during the short war waged with Antipater, the Macedonian viceroy, until the inequality of the contest became evident, and the Macedonian party regained its ascendency. Demosthenes then retired to the sanctuary of Calauria, an island sacred to Neptune, on the coast of Argolis. Sentence of death was passed on him in his absence. He was pursued to his place of refuge by the emissaries of Antipater, and being satisfied that the sanctity of the place would not protect him, he took poison, which, as a last resort, he carried about his person, concealed in a quill. Most of the speeches of Demosthenes are short, at least compared with modern oratory. He rarely spoke extempore, and bestowed an unusual degree of pains on his composition. That style which is
- 62. described by Hume as “rapid harmony, exactly adapted to the sense; vehement reason, without any appearance of art; disdain, anger, boldness, freedom, involved in a continued stream of argument”— instead of being, as it would seem, the effervescence of a powerful, overflowing mind, was the labored produce of much thought, and careful, long-continued polish. If we compare the two greatest orators of antiquity—Cicero and Demosthenes—it may seem difficult to decide between them. By devoting his powers almost exclusively to oratory, the latter excelled in energy, strength, and accuracy; and as a mere artist, was probably the superior. Cicero, by cultivating a more extended field, was doubtless far the abler lawyer, statesman and philosopher. Of the value of their works to mankind, there is no comparison; for those of Cicero are not only more numerous and diversified, but of more depth, wisdom, and general application. We must also remark, that while the soul of Demosthenes appears to have been selfish and mean, that of Cicero ranks him among the noblest specimens of humanity, whether of ancient or modern times. If we compare the speeches of these great men with the efforts of modern orators, we shall see that the latter greatly surpass them in range of thought, power of diction and splendor of illustration. The question then arises, why did the orations of Cicero and Demosthenes produce such electrical effects upon their auditors? The reason doubtless was, that they paid the greatest attention to action, manner and tones of voice—thus operating upon their hearers by nearly the same powers as the modern opera. There was stage effect in their manner, and music in their tones, combined with most perfect elocution—and the application of these arts, carried to the utmost perfection, was made to the quick Italians or mercurial Athenians. These suggestions may enable us to understand the fact, that speeches, which, uttered in the less artful manner of our day, and before our colder audiences, would fall flat and dead upon the ear, excited the utmost enthusiasm, in more southern climes, two thousand years ago.
- 64. APELLES. Apelles was a celebrated painter of Cos, a little island in the Egean Sea. The date of his birth is not known, but he painted many portraits of Philip, and was still nourishing in the time of Alexander, who honored him so much that he forbade any other artist to draw his picture. His chief master was Pamphilius, a famous painter of Macedon. He was so attentive to his profession, that he never spent a day without employing his pencil,—whence the proverb of Nulla die sine linea. His most perfect picture was the Venus Anadyomene, which, however, was not wholly finished when the painter died. He executed a painting of Alexander, holding thunder in his hand, so much like life, that Pliny, who saw it, says that the hand of the king with the thunder seemed to come out of the picture. This was placed in Diana’s temple at Ephesus. He made another picture of Alexander; but the king, on coming to see it after it was painted, appeared not to be satisfied with it. It happened, however, at that moment a horse, passing by, neighed at the horse in the picture, supposing it to be alive; upon which the painter said, “One would imagine that the horse is a better judge of painting, than your majesty.” When Alexander ordered him to draw the picture of Campaspe, one of his favorites, Apelles became enamored of her, and the king permitted him to marry her. He wrote three volumes on painting, which were still extant in the age of Pliny,—but they are now lost. It is said that he was accused, while in Egypt, of conspiring against the life of Ptolemy, and that he would have been put to death, had not the real conspirator discovered himself, and thus saved the artist. Apelles put his name to but three pictures; a sleeping Venus, Venus Anadyomene, and an Alexander. Apelles appears to have been not only an excellent artist, but a man of admirable traits of character. Being once at Rhodes, he met with
- 65. the productions of Protogenes,[10] which so greatly delighted him that he offered to purchase the whole. Before this, Protogenes was entirely unappreciated by his countrymen, but the approbation of one so distinguished as Apelles, brought him into notice, and his fame soon became established. Another story of Apelles is told as having given rise to the well- known maxim, Ne sutor ultra crepidam: Let the shoemaker stick to his last. Apelles placed a picture, which he had finished, in a public place, and concealed himself behind it, in order to hear the criticisms of the passers-by. A shoemaker observed a defect in the shoe, and the painter forthwith corrected it. The cobbler came the next day, and being somewhat encouraged by the success of his first remark, began to extend his censure to the leg of the figure, when the angry painter thrust out his head from behind the figure, and told him to keep to his trade. Apelles excelled in grace and beauty. The painter, who labored incessantly, as we have seen, to improve his skill in drawing, probably trusted as much to that branch of his art, as to his coloring. We are told that he only used four colors. He used a varnish which brought out the colors, and at the same time preserved them. His favorite subject was the representation of Venus, the goddess of love,—the female blooming in eternal beauty; and the religious system of the age favored the taste of the artist. Apelles painted many portraits of Alexander the Great, who, we are told, often visited his painting room. It is not easy to reconcile his rambling life with this account, unless we suppose that Apelles followed him into Asia; a conjecture not altogether improbable, if we read the account of the revelries at Susa, after Alexander’s return from India, and of the number of all kinds of professional artists then assembled to add to the splendor of the festival.
- 66. [10] Protogenes, a painter of Rhodes, who flourished about 328 years B. C. He was originally so poor that he painted ships to maintain himself. His countrymen were ignorant of his merits, before Apelles came to Rhodes and offered to buy all his pieces, as we have related. This opened the eyes of the Rhodians; they became sensible of the talents of their countryman, and liberally rewarded him. Protogenes was employed seven years in finishing a picture of Jalysus a celebrated huntsman, supposed to have been the son of Apollo and the founder of Rhodes. During all this time the painter lived only upon lupines and water, thinking that such aliment would leave him greater flights of fancy; but all this did not seem to make him more successful in the perfection of his picture. He was to represent in this piece a dog panting, and with froth at his mouth; but this he could never do with satisfaction to himself; and when all his labors seemed to be without success, he threw his sponge upon the piece in a fit of anger. Chance alone brought to perfection what the utmost labors of art could not do; the fall of the sponge upon the picture represented the froth of the mouth of the dog in the most perfect and natural manner, and the piece was universally admired. Protogenes was very exact in his representations, and copied nature with the greatest nicety; but this was blamed as a fault by his friend Apelles. When Demetrius besieged Rhodes, he refused to set fire to a part of the city, which might have made him master of the whole, because he knew that Protogenes was then working in that quarter. When the town was taken, the painter was found closely employed, in a garden, finishing a picture; and when the conqueror asked him why he showed not more concern at the general calamity, he replied, that Demetrius made war against the Rhodians; and not against the fine arts.
- 68. DIOGENES. This eccentric individual was a native of Sinope, a city of Pontus, and born 419 B. C. Having been banished from his native place, with his father, upon the accusation of coining false money, he went to Athens, and requested Antisthenes, the Cynic,[11] to admit him among his disciples. That philosopher in vain attempted to drive away the unfortunate supplicant. He even threatened to strike him; but Diogenes told him he could not find a stoic hard enough to repel him, so long as he uttered things worthy of being remembered. Antisthenes was propitiated by this, and received him among his pupils. Diogenes devoted himself, with the greatest diligence, to the lessons of his master, whose doctrines he afterwards extended and enforced. He not only, like Antisthenes, despised all philosophical speculations, and opposed the corrupt morals of his time, but also carried the application of his principles, in his own person, to the extreme. The stern austerity of Antisthenes was repulsive; but Diogenes exposed the follies of his cotemporaries with wit and humor, and was, therefore, better adapted to be the censor and instructor of the people, though he really accomplished little in the way of reforming them. At the same time, he applied, in its fullest extent, his principle of divesting himself of all superfluities. He taught that a wise man, in order to be happy, must endeavor to preserve himself independent of fortune, of men, and of himself; and, in order to do this, he must despise riches, power, honor, arts and sciences, and all the enjoyments of life. He endeavored to exhibit, in his own person, a model of Cynic virtue. For this purpose, he subjected himself to the severest trials, and disregarded all the forms of polite society. He often struggled to overcome his appetite, or satisfied it with the coarsest food;
- 69. practised the most rigid temperance, even at feasts, in the midst of the greatest abundance, and did not consider it beneath his dignity to ask alms. By day, he walked through the streets of Athens barefoot, with a long beard, a stick in his hand, and a bag over his shoulders. He was clad in a coarse double robe, which served as a coat by day and a coverlet by night; and he carried a wallet to receive alms. His abode was a cask in the temple of Cybele. It is said that he sometimes carried a tub about on his head which occasionally served as his dwelling. In summer he rolled himself in the burning sand, and in winter clung to the marble images covered with snow, that he might inure himself to the extremes of the climate. He bore the scoffs and insults of the people with the greatest equanimity. Seeing a boy draw water with his hand, he threw away his wooden goblet, as an unnecessary utensil. He never spared the follies of men, but openly and loudly inveighed against vice and corruption, attacking them with keen satire, and biting irony. The people, and even the higher classes, heard him with pleasure, and tried their wit upon him. When he made them feel his superiority, they often had recourse to abuse, by which, however, he was little moved. He rebuked them for expressions and actions which violated decency and modesty, and therefore it is not credible that he was guilty of the excesses with which his enemies reproached him. His rudeness offended the laws of good breeding, rather than the principles of morality. On a voyage to the island of Ægina, he fell into the hands of pirates, who sold him as a slave to Xeniades, a Corinthian. He, however, emancipated him, and entrusted to him the education of his children. He attended to the duties of his new employment with the greatest care, commonly living in summer at Corinth, and in the winter at Athens. It was at the former place that Alexander found him at the road-side, basking in the sun; and, astonished at the indifference with which the ragged beggar regarded him, entered into conversation with him, and finally gave him permission to ask him a boon. “I ask nothing,” answered the philosopher, “but that thou wouldst get out of my sunshine.” Surprised at this proof of
- 70. content, the king is said to have exclaimed, “Were I not Alexander, I would be Diogenes.” The following dialogue, though not given as historical, is designed to represent this interview. Diogenes. Who calleth? Alexander. Alexander. How happeneth it that you would not come out of your tub to my palace? D. Because it was as far from my tub to your palace, as from your palace to my tub. A. What! dost thou owe no reverence to kings? D. No. A. Why so? D. Because they are not gods. A. They are gods of the earth. D. Yes, gods of the earth! A. Plato is not of thy mind. D. I am glad of it. A. Why? D. Because I would have none of Diogenes’ mind but Diogenes. A. If Alexander have anything that can pleasure Diogenes, let me know, and take it. D. Then take not from me that you cannot give me—the light of the sun! A. What dost thou want? D. Nothing that you have. A. I have the world at command. D. And I in contempt. A. Thou shalt live no longer than I will.
- 71. D. But I shall die, whether you will or no. A. How should one learn to be content? D. Unlearn to covet. A. (to Hephæstion.) Hephæstion, were I not Alexander, I would wish to be Diogenes. H. He is dogged, but shrewd; he has a sharpness, mixed with a kind of sweetness; he is full of wit, yet too wayward. A. Diogenes, when I come this way again, I will both see thee and confer with thee. D. Do. We are told that the philosopher was seen one day carrying a lantern through the streets of Athens: on being asked what he was looking after, he answered, “I am seeking an honest man.” Thinking he had found among the Spartans the greatest capacity for becoming such men as he wished, he said, “Men, I have found nowhere, but children, at least, I have seen in Lacedæmon.” Being asked, “What is the most dangerous animal?” his answer was, “Among wild animals, the slanderer; among tame, the flatterer.” He expired 323 B. C., at a great age, and, it is said, on the same day that Alexander died. When he felt death approaching, he seated himself on the road leading to Olympia, where he died with philosophical calmness, in the presence of a great number of people who were collected around him. None of the works of Diogenes are extant; in these he maintained the doctrines of the Cynics. He believed that exercise was of the greatest importance, and capable of effecting everything. He held that there were two kinds of exercise,—one of the body, and one of the mind,—and that one was of little use without the other. By cultivation of the mind, he did not mean the accumulation of knowledge or science, but a training which might give it vigor, as exercise endows the body with health and strength.
- 72. [11] The Cynics were a sect of philosophers, founded by Antisthenes, at Athens; they took their name from their disposition to criticise the lives and actions of others. They were famous for their contempt of riches, their neglect of dress, and the length of their beards. They usually slept on the ground.
- 73. PLATO. It has been remarked by Coleridge, that all men are born disciples either of Plato or Aristotle: by which he means that these two great men are the leaders in the two kinds of philosophy which govern the thinking world,—the one looking into the soul, as the great well of truth; the other, studying the outward world, and building up its system upon facts collected by observation. The truth is doubtless to be found by compounding the two systems. Plato was born at Athens, in May, 429 B. C. He was the son of Ariston and Perectonia. His original name was Aristocles, and it has been conjectured that he received that of Plato, from the largeness of his shoulders: this, however, is improbable, as Plato was then a common name at Athens. Being one of the descendants of Codrus, and the offspring of a noble, illustrious, and opulent family, he was educated with the utmost care; his body was formed and invigorated with gymnastic exercises, and his mind was cultivated and trained by the study of poetry and of geometry; from which two sources he doubtless derived that acuteness of judgment and warmth of imagination, which stamped him as at once the most subtle and flowery writer of antiquity. He first began his literary career by writing poems and tragedies; but he was disgusted with his own productions, when, at the age of twenty, he was introduced into the society of Socrates, and was qualified to examine, with critical accuracy, the merit of his compositions, and compare them with those of his poetical predecessors. He, therefore, committed them to the flames. During eight years he continued to be one of the pupils of Socrates; and though he was prevented by indisposition from attending the philosopher’s last moments, he collected, from the conversation of those that were present, and from his own accurate observations,
- 74. very minute and circumstantial accounts, which exhibit the concern and sensibility of the pupil, and the firmness, virtue, and elevated moral sentiments of the dying philosopher. After the death of Socrates Plato retired from Athens, and, with a view to emerge his stores of knowledge, he began to travel over different countries. He visited Megara, Thebes, and Elis, where he met with the kindest reception from his fellow-disciples, whom the violent death of their master had likewise removed from Attica. He afterwards visited Magna Græcia, attracted by the fame of the Pythagorean philosophy, and by the learning, abilities, and reputation of its professors, Philolaus, Archytas, and Eurytus. He then passed into Sicily, and examined the eruptions of Etna. He visited Egypt, where the mathematician Theodorus, then flourished, and where he knew that the tenets of the Pythagorean philosophy had been fostered. When he had finished his travels, Plato retired to the groves of Academus, in the neighborhood of Athens, and established a school there; his lectures were soon attended by a crowd of learned, noble, and illustrious pupils; and the philosopher, by refusing to have a share in the administration of political affairs, rendered his name more famous and his school more frequented. During forty years he presided at the head of the academy, and there he devoted his time to the instruction of his pupils, and composed those dialogues which have been the admiration of every succeeding age. His studies, however, were interrupted for a while, as he felt it proper to comply with the pressing invitations of Dionysius, of Syracuse, to visit him. The philosopher earnestly but vainly endeavored to persuade the tyrant to become the father of his people, and the friend of liberty. In his dress, Plato was not ostentatious; his manners were elegant, but modest, simple, and without affectation. The great honors which were bestowed upon him, were not paid to his appearance, but to his wisdom and virtue. In attending the Olympian games, he once took lodgings with a family who were totally strangers to him. He ate and drank with them, and partook of their innocent pleasures and
- 75. amusements; but though he told them his name was Plato, he did not speak of the employment he pursued at Athens, and never introduced the name of that great philosopher, whose doctrines he followed, and whose death and virtues were favorite topics of conversation in every part of Greece. When he returned to Athens, he was attended by the family which had so kindly entertained him; and, being familiar with the city, he was desired to show them the celebrated philosopher whose name he bore. Their surprise may be imagined, when he told them that he was the Plato whom they wished to behold. In his diet he was moderate; and, indeed, to sobriety and temperance in the use of food, and abstinence from those indulgences which enfeeble the body and enervate the mind, some have attributed his preservation during a terrible pestilence which raged in Athens at the beginning of the Peloponnesian war. Plato was never subject to any long or lingering indisposition; and, though change of climate had enfeebled a constitution naturally strong and healthy, the philosopher lived to an advanced age, and was often heard to say, when his physicians advised him to leave his residence at Athens, where the air was impregnated by the pestilence, that he would not advance one single step to gain the top of Mount Athos, were he assured of attaining the longevity which the inhabitants of that mountain were said to enjoy. Plato died on his birth-day, in the eighty-first year of his age, about the year 348 B. C. His last moments were easy, and without pain; and, according to some authors, he expired in the midst of an entertainment; but Cicero tells us that he died while in the act of writing. The works of Plato are numerous; with the exception of twelve letters, they are all written in the form of dialogue, in which Socrates is the principal interlocutor. Thus he always speaks by the mouth of others, and the philosopher has nowhere made mention of himself, except once in his dialogue entitled Phædon, and another time in his Apology for Socrates. His writings were so celebrated, and his opinions so respected, that he was called divine; and for the elegance, melody, and sweetness of his expressions, he was
- 76. Welcome to our website – the perfect destination for book lovers and knowledge seekers. We believe that every book holds a new world, offering opportunities for learning, discovery, and personal growth. That’s why we are dedicated to bringing you a diverse collection of books, ranging from classic literature and specialized publications to self-development guides and children's books. More than just a book-buying platform, we strive to be a bridge connecting you with timeless cultural and intellectual values. With an elegant, user-friendly interface and a smart search system, you can quickly find the books that best suit your interests. Additionally, our special promotions and home delivery services help you save time and fully enjoy the joy of reading. Join us on a journey of knowledge exploration, passion nurturing, and personal growth every day! ebookbell.com