NUTSHELL NOTES "Teaching tips in a nutshell" - The University of Colorado at Denver's One-page Newsletter for Teaching Excellence

This issue provides information about a respected and successful UCD Office that many of us have not explored. Opportunities do abound here, and making contact is truly worthwhile.

Why do community service?

Teaching Aids: Community service projects are valuable teaching tools. Like most of us, students tend to internalize learning in a more meaningful way when they're able to experience theory in terms of application to real events. For faculty, community projects provide fertile ground for research and publication through case studies and surveys. Enterprising faculty find the connections they make through community projects may lead to further consulting.

Finding a project or other opportunity

Faculty wishing to identify a project or field placement agency may contact CCCD. This UCD office has 27 years experience with most rural and urban communities as well as non-profit and government agencies in the Front Range area.

Tips for integrating service and teaching

Expectations - Be clear with students about your expectations: how many hours per week they are expected to work at their field placement, what issues they should be analyzing, the nature of any work product, if any. These expectations should be included in your syllabus. Interested faculty may contact CCCD for a sample syllabus. It's equally important to be clear with placement agencies about all expectations—theirs, yours, and the students'.

Be Aware of Students' Limitations - If you require students to do community service work, the hours you expect them to spend engaged in outside reading, writing or research must be adjusted accordingly. Nine (9) hours per-week of outside work would normally be expected for a three (3) credit hour course. If four hours per week of community service is expected, this would leave a balance of only five hours weekly available for reading, etc.

Community Service Contract - Use a simple one page contract, signed by you, the student and a representative of the placement agency, which will spell out the above expectations and limitations. CCCD has sample contracts.

Journals - Consider requiring a journal instead of a final paper. A journal that includes a significant level of analysis can serve as a substitute for a paper in providing a measure of what the student is learning. It is essential that students understand that the journal is more than a diary of events. Students must be given direction by the instructor as to the type of analysis that is expected. Consider giving students specific questions to address throughout the journal. Finally, because the journal is ongoing, consider having students turn in the journal at mid-semester for a review by you. In the event any key element is missing, your mid-semester comments can help re-direct their efforts prior to final submission.

Grading - You may want to base a percentage of the student's grade on their field placement performance. However, make sure this is clearly stated in the syllabus. When contacting the agency for an opinion of the student's performance, keep in mind that personalities can sometimes get in the way of an objective evaluation. If there appears to be a problem, discuss this with the student and balance the agency comments against the student's own opinion as well as the content of their journal.

A Final Word About Expertise

When dealing with social problems, and particularly urban problems, it is easy to fall into the habit of believing that only specialists have the knowledge needed to solve those problems. This belief pushes out the community resident who is indeed an expert at knowing what it means to live with community problems, and at knowing how the community works. Although these citizens may not have a college education, or even a high school diploma, their first hand daily experience and commitment to solving a problem may provide simple, workable solutions that professionals could miss. In the end, we and the communities we work with are better served by seeing our relationship as a partnership where each partner brings a different, but essential, ingredient to the problem solving process.

For further information, contact Frank Ford of CCCD at 556-2824.

This article was solicited by me after many questions and impressions about CU Online and the CLAS initiative kept cropping up in my office. Those involved directly in CU Online can best answer these questions. Many thanks to the guest authors for informative articles on both sides of this issue. Best wishes for a great Holiday!!

What is CU Online? - CU Online is planned as a virtual campus of the University of Colorado offering courses and providing student services via the World Wide Web. CU Online is being piloted in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences on the CU Denver campus during the 96-97 academic year. The program is operating as a cash-funded enterprise within Extended Studies. Approximately 20 undergraduate credit courses will be offered beginning in January, and an additional 10 courses will be offered beginning in March 1997. We consider this Phase I as a "proof of concept" to identify and resolve governance and policy issues.

How do faculty and students interact online? - CU Online courses are offered completely on the Internet. Students don't have to travel to campus for classes; instead they can complete assignments and take tests whenever it best fits their individual schedule. A number of technologies allow students to interact with the instructor and their peers—these include e-mail, real-time chat groups, listserves, threaded discussions, and SeeMail (uses a video camera to capture a still photo attached to an e-mail message). In addition, faculty members can record lectures for students to play as part of the online course.

How are CU Online courses approved? - All CU Online courses and instructors are approved by the faculty of the department offering the course. The department first approves a course outline and the faculty member who will redesign the course for online delivery. Then the department chair (or designated curriculum review body) reviews the course online and approves it before it is offered.

Who can participate by developing courses? - For this academic year, CU Online is being piloted in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences on the CU Denver campus. Therefore, CLAS Denver faculty interested in teaching on-line are encouraged to discuss their interest with their department chair. Undergraduate core curriculum courses are the priority for development since these courses will serve the greatest number of students. Course developers are paid $1,000 to redesign the course for online delivery; course instructors are paid the regular honorarium rate to teach a course. All courses are offered through Extended Studies.

Faculty in other colleges and on other campuses are encouraged to express their interest to their department chairs as well. The system administration is currently working on a comprehensive Distance Education strategy for CU. A part of this strategy will be the development of an implementation plan to include other interested colleges within the CU system in CU Online.

What is the role of Real Education, Inc.? Real Education, Inc. is a software development firm that has been contracted by CLAS Denver to support the development of the CU Online interface on the World Wide Web. Real Education has no control over the course content and no ownership of the content of the courses developed for CU Online. Real Education is also responsible for technical support and marketing the courses outside the front range of Colorado. They are not paid from current university sources. They will recover their costs from revenue obtained from new enrollment in extended studies.

How does this affect programs using other technologies (CU Virtual Campus CIVICS Network)? - Many other technologies are being used throughout the CU system. Some of these technologies are being used to deliver distance education courses, while some are used to augment traditional classes. CU Online is not being introduced to supplant any other technologies. However, the use of the Internet broadens the reach of CU courses to an international audience. Within CLAS Denver, all distance education courses will use the CU Online system rather than any other distance education delivery systems. The reason for this is the need to deliver CLAS courses to International College sites in Moscow, Beijing, Nepal and Mongolia.

Who is in charge? - CU Online is managed at the System level by Dr. Richard Byyny, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dr. Bob Albrecht, Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs. On the CU Denver campus, the pilot is managed by Dr. Marvin Loflin, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Terri Taylor Straut, Director of CU Online.

What about copyright issues? - The CU system administration is currently developing a comprehensive document addressing copyright issues. CU Online will adopt the policy put forth in this document as soon as it is distributed from the CU System.

If you have additional questions about CU Online, please call 556-5947.