An International Forum for Innovative Teaching

CONTENTS
1 Commentary
Muriel Harris, Ph.D.

3 The Concertatio: What a

Way to Review for a Test

Stan Kajs, Ph.D.

4 Seven Strategies for

Motivating Students to
Participate and Learn

Vo l u m e

I s s u e

M a y

2 0 0 2

Helping Students Become

Competent Writers
Muriel Harris, Ph.D.
Professor of English
Director of the Writing Lab,
Purdue University
West Lafayette, Indiana
harrism@cc.purdue.edu

Dorene J. Fox, Ph.D.

6 Blackboard: The 24/7

Classroom
Dr. Robert J. Snyder

8 Staging an Event as a

Learning Experience
Barbara Mueller

10 Critical Thinking

Beyond the Academy:

Using Interactive
Software to Help
Students Cope with
Problems of Living
Elliot D. Cohen, Ph.D.

12 Meet the Authors

Those of us who teach know the importance of

being able to communicate effectively when we
write. But when the phrase good communication skills required appears in job listings and
institutional accreditation requirements, the
phrase is too often equated with the ability to
be grammatically correct. Though appropriate
and correct use of language is expected in documents written by the educated, there is an
equal (and many will emphatically pound the
nearest desk to insist) even more compelling need
to be able to write documents that communicate
clearly, logically, and cogently. And because
teaching writing skills is a labor-intensive job,
instructors in all areas of study who incorporate
writing assignments in courses should find
comfort in knowing that the writing center (or
writing lab or writing workshop, etc.) on
their campus can provide the type of individualized assistance that all student writers benefit
from as they work towards this competency.
Because I greatly prefer to spend my instructional time in the Writing Lab on my campus,
my intent here is to explain what writing centers
can offer students (and their instructors) as
students learn to write more clearly, logically,
and cogently. In doing so, I invite readers of
The Successful Professor to contribute their own
comments on how to assist students and also to
consider visiting their local writing center to
learn how to make the most effective use of its
tutorial help and writing resources. But first, it
may help to amplify what we all have in mind

when we talk about clear, logical, and cogent

writing:
Clear writing requires several skills in addition
to not writing muddled, confused, easily misunderstood prose. In addition, clear writing requires
precision in word choice. For example, it is
grammatically correct to writethat was a good
movie, butgood doesnt communicate much
information because its unclear why the movie
is good. Perhaps the writer liked the movie because
of its plot or perhaps because of the star power
of its lead actors or maybe there were interesting
special effects. When I meet one-to-one with a
student who might have written that sentence, in
a writing center tutorial, I ask why the movie was
good and what was good about it, hoping that she
will see that as one of her readers, I need clarification. If the student explains that she liked the
music in the sound track and/or humorous dialogue,
Id help her work toward more informative, specific statements that explain why she thought
the movie was good. Clarity also requires giving
the writers intended audience all the information
they need in an order in which they can best
absorb and understand it, leading them logically
through an argument, a process, an action, etc.
As a tutor, I can spend some time with the
writer, pointing out where I got confused or lost.
The writer then sees first-hand the problems the
writing is causing a reader. In doing this, I hope
the writer will begin to realize the need to consider
his or her audience while writing. Moreover, I can
respond as a reader in a setting that is outside
continued on pg. 2 ..............

Helping Students

continued from pg. 1 ..........

the classroom, outside the constraints of being
the grader whom the writer must please. In my
classroom, I unfortunately return to being the
teacher in a position of power. In that setting
the student is not likely or prone to argue with
me or to ask questions that might possibly indicate a lack of knowledge. In the tutorial, Im
just someone who can help, freeing the student
to ask any and all questions and/or ramble for
a bit as he or she searches for answers and
understanding of whats needed and why. The
talking we do helps the student generate ideas
as well as ask more openly for help when he
doesnt understand what Im getting at. In short,
tutors can talk in settings that teachers cannot
as easily replicate, and a tutor talks one-to-one
with the writer, focusing on her concerns, questions, confusions, need for information, and
preferred modes of learning.
Logical writing uses valid arguments and sound
reasoning in which the underlying assumptions
are also surfaced. For example, to write about
how a particular water purification system works
and then to recommend its installation as a
solution is not a logical conclusion because it
assumes that this particular treatment is the best
system available. Logical writing, intertwined
with the need to be clear and well organized,
proceeds from statement A to statement B by
explaining to the reader how and why statement
B follows in logical sequence from A. Logical
writing thus also requires that the writer include
relevant material and delete whatever is irrelevant
to the purpose, goal, and audience for the paper.
As a tutor, Ive often found that my most useful
question to the writer is to ask why something
is included in the paper. In the conversation that
follows, the student may either realize that the
sentence or paragraph is really just a digression
or that some missing steps (usually information
or explanation of some kind) are causing my
confusion.
Cogent (or compelling) writing is forceful, persuasive, and again, aware of the audience
that is, what arguments, word choices, assumed
set of values, common ground, and appeals
(both emotional and logical) will win over readers.
To effectively argue or achieve any purpose, from
a job application (purpose:hire me!) to a
research paper (purpose:accept my conclusions!
or learn what Im presenting here!), the writing

The Successful Professor

(ISSN 03087) is published
6 times a year by
Simek Publishing LLC
PO Box 1606
Millersville, MD 21108

See our website at

www.thesuccessfulprofessor.com

for Subscription Rates,

Disclaimer, and Copyright
Notice.

Stanley J. Kajs,
Editor/Publisher.
Contact us at
editor@thesuccessfulprofessor.com

Would you like to share your

teaching successes with your
colleages from other colleges
and universities? If so, then
submit an article describing
your most effective teaching
strategy or technique to
The Successful Professor.
Visit our website to view the
Guidelines for Articles.
www.thesuccessfulprofessor.com

The Submission Deadline for

Volume 2 is October 1, 2002.

The Successful Professor

TM

must be cogent. If as a tutor, I play devils advocate,

the writer in her efforts to convince me, is also
checking the strength of her arguments.
Clear, logical, and cogent writing is thus the
product of clear, logical, and cogent thought,
and the act of writing often clarifies our thought
processes, causing us to revise and refine our
writing. This formulation and reformulation of
writing is the basis of the often-repeated rationale
for writing in all courses and disciplines:Write
to learn hence the often-repeated statement,
I dont know what I think until I see what Ive
written. We learn as we struggle to write documents that truly communicate, both to ourselves
as writers and to our readers. Thus, to help our
students learn subject material and to help them
become adept in written communication, instructors in all fields can incorporate writing into the
class, even in large lectures where students can
be asked at the end of the hour to write for five
minutes reflecting on what they have heard in
the lecture, to pose questions they have, to answer
brief questions posed by the teacher, or to share
new insights gained by listening to the lecture.
Students can keep journals of their textbook
readings and read each others papers, commenting
as readers on what they dont understand, what
information is missing, what needs to be explained,
and so on. Composition courses lay the groundwork for writing skills, but to hone their skills
all writers need to keep on writing after that
introduction. All writers face new types of writing
and new types of documents in various courses.
Having practiced the research paper in freshman
English does not completely prepare a management or civil engineering student to write an
effective proposal or progress report.
The challenge for instructors is to help students
become competent writers in the subject matter
of the course. While it is a formidable task to
respond to the writing as well as the content of
papers, one solution has been to add a writing
component where a tutor assists with writing skills.
Another is to have students respond to each others
writing (thereby sharpening their skills as critical
readers). Another is to make use of the writing
lab or center where tutors interact one-to-one,
helping each writer with his or her individual
concerns. Many writing centers also have websites
or OWLs (Online Writing Labs) that any instructor
continued on pg. 3 ..............

VOLUME 1 ISSUE 3

Helping Students

continued from pg. 2 ..........

anywhere can link to, referring students to their
instructional handouts and hypertext tutorials
on a variety of writing skills. Many of these
OWLs also have resources for teachers. While
the goal of all instructors is to help our students
understand, retain, and apply the knowledge
offered in our courses, we also want them to
be able to communicate that knowledge to
others. From extensive personal experience
in a writing lab (for more years than I care to
count), I know that tutorial assistance can be a
valuable asset in the process of helping students
become the competent writers we want them
to be.
Resources
Colorado State Universitys Writing Across
the Curriculum:
http://aw.colostate.edu/reference/wac-faq/
page2.htm
(Extensive resources for teachers)
International Writing Centers Association:
http://iwca.syr.edu
(Lists of Online Writing Labs and resources
for writing)
M.I.T Online Writing and Communication
Center:
http://web.mit.edu/ writing/ Faculty/createeffective.html
(Information on creating effective assignments)
Purdue University OWL (Online Writing Lab):
http://owl.english.purdue.edu
(Extensive instructional resources for writers
and resources for teachers, including
PowerPoint workshops that teachers can
download and use in classes)

Ray Johns,Professor of Economics at Hagerstown

Community College in Maryland, is the author of
the Commentary in the fourth issue for distribution
in August 2002. The title of his article is Before
Critical Thinking Comes Independent Thinking: The
Special Educational Challenge of Teaching Students
to Think. He wrote this enlightening article during
his 2000-2001 Fulbright Fellowship in the Ukraine.

The Successful Professor

TM

The Concertatio:
What a Way to
Review for a Test!
Stan Kajs, Ph.D., TSP Editor

Do you want to introduce your students to

an engaging interactive strategy to help them
review for an exam? This activity requires
preparation, discipline, clarity of language,
presence of mind and even diplomacy.
This review strategy is called the
Concertatio.
Concertatio is the Latin word for contest,
especially a contest in words. A participant
is called a concertator, which means a rival.
Purportedly, in medieval universities students
would ask each other questions in a test of
knowledge called the Concertatio. I have used
this strategy for more than ten years and have
found it to be an effective way for students
to review for an exam.
Object of the Activity
The object of the Concertatio is for students
on two teams to answer questions from assigned text chapters, films, and lectures under
study in order to acquire the most number
of points within a specified time. In so doing,
students demonstrate their knowledge of the
material for the exam and exchange their
knowledge with peers.
Players

Captains: I designate the two students who

score the second and third highest on the
previous exam as the captains and permit them
to choose their own teams. As team leaders,
they have certain responsibilities and privileges.
During the Concertatio, only they may speak
to their team members or the President to
discuss or challenge a question, an answer,
or a ruling. The captains also serve as accountants, keeping score of their team members
correct responses and the team points. They
give the professor the results at the end of
the Concertatio.
Team Members: The captains choose their
teams. After the team members are selected,
they sit on one side or the other facing each
other. The participants may speak during the
activity only to ask or answer questions or
to seek clarification on a question. They may
have their questions in front of them, but their
text and notes must be set aside.

Participants are one of three designations: the

President, the Captains, or the Team Members.
President: The student who scored the highest on a previous exam may be designated
as the president. I only designate a student
as president if that person made a perfect
score on the previous exam. Until the students
become familiar with the activity, the professor should preside. The president rules
on the acceptability of challenged questions,
answers, and objections by team captains;
awards and deducts points; and keeps the
activity progressing. The president is the
only player allowed to have the text open
or to consult the text for answers. The decision of the president is final.

Play
Question/Answers/Challenges: The captain
who chose his or her first team member
second may begin the play by either asking
or answering the first question. The person
who asks a question selects any individual
on the opposing team to answer. The person
selected has one minute to give the answer
or to challenge the questioner. The person
asked may request the question be repeated
or clarified but may not ask for hints or clues.
Nor may this person receive assistance from
team members. Before answering the question,
this person must respond by making one of
continued on pg. 4 ..............

VOLUME 1 ISSUE 3

The Concertatio

continued from pg. 3 ..........

the following three statements: I will answer
the question, or I do not know the answer,
or I challenge. He or she may not begin to
answer and then challenge. Nor may this
person change answers and expect credit.
The questioner must acknowledge whether
the response is correct or not, but is not
penalized for not knowing the correct answer.
Should the person asked not know the correct
answer, the questioner should give the correct
answer as a courtesy to the group in order
to make the Concertatio a positive learning
activity. Should the person asked know the
answer to the question, he or she receives
one individual point and one point for the
team. But if answered incorrectly or not at
all, the opposing team receives a point.
If the person asked a question does not
know the answer, he or she may challenge
the questioner. When challenged, the questioner must give the correct answer or the
opposing team receives two points. Then the
other team asks a question, and the process
continues. Each person may be asked only
one question per round. To keep track of who
has not been asked a question during a round,
the students display a placard in front of them
that reads: Please Ask Me a Question, an
idea suggested by one my students to avoid
confusion and delay. With a large class, individual name placards facilitate the process.
Penalties: A team loses points earned if
members violate the rules mentioned above.
Participants may not speak to each other or
speak out during the activity. Only captains
are allowed to speak at will, but not to aid
team members. Silence and patience are
difficult for students who become overly
enthusiastic and impassioned. To facilitate
the learning process, students are required
to give the page number of their questions
and their answers or risk losing one team point
for each offense. Giving the page numbers
provides the source of the questions for students who later want to study the specific
material.
Questions: Students should prepare between
20 to 30 questions in advance of the
Concertatio. The questions must be multiple

The Successful Professor

TM

choice, true/false, or short answer. They must

require only one answer on a topic of some
significance. (I disallow questions on dates
and minutiae.) Questions must be clear and
concise and created in the spirit of examining
a students knowledge in preparation for an
exam. Questioners should have a list of questions in front of them, but not the answers.
Point System: Students receive one point for
each question they answer correctly. They
also receive points based on their teams
performance. I award 5 points to each member
of the winning team and 2 points to each on
the opposing one. Even if a student is not on
the winning team, he or she receives incentive
points for participating in the Concertatio.
In addition, the captains receive 5 extra points
for their work, and the president receives 5
points for his or her leadership. These points
are added to the upcoming exam grade for
each student.
Evaluation
Of course, all the students enjoy receiving
the extra points. Many actually enjoy the
challenge and the camaraderie. Most of the
students who participate have told me that
the Concertatio helps them prepare for the
exam. However, the real preparation, as we
know, comes before the students arrive to
play. Their reviewing the text material and
writing up the questions constitute much of
the preparation for the exam. The Concertatio
itself gives them the forum to express their
knowledge and to learn what they have overlooked. Few classroom activities I have used
provide students with this type of opportunity
for quick interactive exchange of ideas. only
a few students prefer not to participate for a
variety of reasons: lack of preparation or fear
of embarrassment. Most embrace the social
and intellectual features provided by the
Concertatio and view this activity as an opportunity to demonstrate their preparation of exam
material, discipline, presence of mind, and
knowledge.

Seven Strategies for

Motivating Students to
Participate and Learn
Dorene J. Fox, Ph.D.
Professor of Mathematics
Louisiana State University at Alexandria
South Alexandria, Louisiana
dfox@lsua.edu

Stephen Lieb in Principles of Adult Learning

presents four critical elements to ensure that
participants learn. They are motivation, reinforcement, retention, and transference. These
elements, fortunately, are addressed to some
degree in a successful classroom, and each
has an effect on the other elements. My goal
in this article is to examine what affects student
motivation and present specific techniques
to foster motivation in mathematics courses.
Several factors affect the students motivation. One is to perceive that learning is a
means to an end. Many college courses provide
an ultimate means to an end, but unfortunately
they do not provide an immediate means to
an end. Second and the most common motivating factor noted by adult learning theorists
is the classroom atmosphere. Three of Dr.
Dorothy D. Billingtons Seven Characteristics
of Highly Effective Adult Learning Programs
focus on the classroom environment. The
environment she advocates is safe and
supported, and one in which the professor
encourages experimentation and creativity,
and treats adult students as peers. Stephen
Lieb argues that instructors should establish
a friendly and open atmosphere where stress
is low and participants know that the teacher
will help them learn. A third factor affecting
motivation is student perception of errors.
According to Ron and Susan Zemke in 30
Things We Know For Sure About Adult
Learning, adults take errors personally and
therefore take fewer risks, especially in front
of their peers. They find periods of interminable sitting and the absence of practice
opportunities to be high on the irritation
scale. Therefore, reasonable intellectual
challenge and active involvement in learning
continued on pg. 5 ..............

VOLUME 1 ISSUE 3

Seven Strategies

continued from pg. 4 ..........

are also very commonly accepted factors that
affect motivation.
The following are pedagogical techniques
that I use to address the classroom environment
issues as well as the elements of motivation,
reinforcement, retention, and transference.
Facilitate Constructive Notetaking.
One way I show students that I am willing to
help them learn is to facilitate constructive
note taking. I provide fill-in-the-blank worksheets that discuss the key concepts. The
blanks contain key words that the students
fill in as I use the overhead. Students find
this approach to be very helpful. This technique keeps the students actively involved
in taking notes; it keeps their notes organized; it gives me points of reference in their
notes; and they can easily obtain someone
else's notes when they are absent. Another
way to facilitate constructive note taking is
to have students write a note card on each
concept to prepare for a test. I have my students develop a collection of note cards for
each test. They hand in their note cards
before the test, and their note card grade is
part of their test grade. I am very specific
about what should go on each note card,
i.e., Notecard 1: Write the formula for P(A
U B) and give an example. Sometimes I am
very specific about the example, especially
if this problem is the type frequently missed
on the exam.
Ask One-Step Questions.
One way I motivate students to participate
actively in a non-intimidating fashion is to
ask one-step questions in class. Asking students
to do the entire problem can be intimidating.
If students are afraid to be called on, then
the stress factor is high. You have probably
heard before that you cannot let a student
get off with I don't know. Therefore, this
concern is even more reason to ask one-step
questions that can lead the student to answer
without much trouble. A one-step question
is very simple, such as, What is the first
thing we should do to solve this equation?
or What will the equation be after we distribute? Asking one-step questions assures

The Successful Professor

TM

that everyone will be asked a question and

therefore requires everyone to pay attention,
but this technique does not make them feel
so anxious or nervous that they cannot concentrate on the real task of learning the material. This approach also requires the teacher
to learn the students names, which is also
a motivating factor.
Have students work examples in class.
Another way I motivate students to participate
(and therefore learn) is to have the students
work examples in class. We are constantly
telling students that math is not a spectator
sport, yet many teachers teach math as if it
is. We do not teach how to play the piano by
having students watch the instructor; so why
do we teach math in this way? After working
a few problems for demonstration purposes,
I have the students work a few similar problems. While they are working, I walk around
to provide discrete and encouraging feedback.
I use one-step questions and the incentive
of a participation grade to encourage students
to work the problems. I also use this opportunity to observe how the students with
difficulties are doing so I can ask them questions I know they can answer. Obviously, this
approach meets the active involvement in
learning factor and is a great opportunity for
me to provide feedback.
Allow students to correct incorrect work.
A fourth way I motivate students to learn is
to allow them to correct their homework. One
way I encourage them to learn from their
mistakes is by accepting homework only when
it is done correctly and/or acceptably. Messy
papers, inappropriate grammar, and incomplete sentences need to be remedied. Not only
does this requirement encourage them to
learn the material, but it also eliminates the
need for assigning partial credit to homework. I note the perfect papers throughout the
semester or wait till the end and have the
students turn in all the perfect papers at once.
This collection of work is what I call their
portfolio. Either way, students do not receive
negative feedback; they just receive suggestions for improvement. This approach takes
some of the risk out of handing homework
in to be graded and motivates students to
correct their mistakes rather than just discarding

their graded work.

Assign a variety of homework assignments.
A fifth way I encourage students to learn is
to assign a variety of homework assignments.
Constantly turning in practice problems from
the book can prove to be monotonous.
According to Ron and Susan Zemke, media
such as books, videotapes and programmed
instruction have become popular with adults,
and they can learn well and much from discussing problems with their peers. Therefore,
I assign essay questions so students practice
communicating and explaining their reasoning;
I assign students to watch videos on applications of mathematics and answer a set of
related questions in complete sentences; I
assign group activities to encourage them
to communicate and listen to other students;
I assign online research assignments; and I
assign self-directed projects that incorporate
many of the concepts discussed in the course.
Assign Group Activities.
Group activities are probably one of the most
popular types of nonstandard assignments.
Group activities allow adults to share ideas,
to learn from each other, and to contribute
in a risk free manner. Different disciplines
have different group structures/dynamics. In
math it is very easy for only one or a few
of the group to do the thinking/work. Here
are some techniques I use to avoid this problem and have a successful group activity:
1) I assign a group activity the day before
the students form their groups. In this way
everyone has a chance to think about the
problem before the next class. 2) I allow
time at the beginning of the class period
for students to share their ideas. 3) I make
clear that each members role is to see that
everyone in the group understands the question
and ways to solve the problem. This step
encourages those who have the problem
solved to share what they know rather than
not participate. 4) I facilitate number 3,
further, by requiring students to ask fellow
group members rather than me. With fellow
students as resources, many students will be
more likely to participate. 5) Students hand
in their own papers in their own words.
continued on pg. 6 ..............

VOLUME 1 ISSUE 3

Seven Strategies

continued from pg. 5 ..........

Duplicate papers are not accepted. This requirement encourages students to share ideas rather
than copy them and let someone else do the
work. It also encourages them to practice
communicating their own thoughts and reasons.
Use technology in the classroom.
Another way to encourage students to participate and therefore learn in the mathmatics
classroom is to have them use technology such
as graphing calculators or computers with
graphing software. According to the National
Council of Teachers of Mathematics
(NCTM),Technology is essential in teaching
and learning mathematics; it influences the
mathematics that is taught and enhances
students learning. I find that using the graphing calculator in the classroom encourages
students to stay focused on operating the
calculator and therefore helps them learn many
abstract mathematical concepts. The graphs
also provide a focus for students to discuss
these concepts.
The extent that you as a teacher use these
techniques may depend on the abilities of your
students. For example, in a remedial math
course you may assign a very extensive portfolio and use very little technology in the
classroom because of the level of the students
math abilities. And the extent to which you
use these techniques will, of course, also
depend on your teaching style. Stephen Lieb,
Ron and Susan Zemke, and Dorothy Billington
indicate that an effective teacher simply
demonstrates that he or she cares about the
students and their learning the material. So,
as an effective teacher, you will want to
incorporate as many of these techniques or
other similar techniques to keep your students
motivated in the classroom.
References
Billington, D. D. (2000). Seven characteristics
of highly effective adult learning programs.
New Horizons for Learning.
Retrieved 21 February 2002 from
http://www.newhorizons.org/article_billington1.html

Lieb, S. (n. d.). Principles of adult learning.

South Mountain Community College.
Retrieved 21 February 2002 from
http://www.hcc.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/adults-2.htm

Blackboard: The 24/7

Classroom

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

(2000). Principles and standards for school
mathematics.
Retrieved 21 February 2002 from
http://www.nctm.org/

Assistant Professor of Mass

Communication
Department of Computer Science &
Communication Technologies
College of Business Industry Life
Science/Agriculture
University of Wisconsin, Platteville
Snyderro@uwplatt.edu

Zemke, R., & Zemke, S. (1984, March 9).

30 things we know for sure about adult
learning.
Innovation Abstracts, 5, 8. Retrieved 21
February 2002 from
http://www.hcc.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/adults3.htm

Dr. Robert J. Snyder

In its advertising, Blackboard claims that

more than 1,500 institutions in more than
100 countries use its product.1 In the fall of
2001, faculty at the University of WisconsinPlatteville began using a new, online course
management tool, CourseInfo Blackboard.
Blackboard is centrally maintained and made
available to all UW campuses by the UW
System. Anthony Valentine, coordinator of
the Learning and Technology Center at
UW-Platteville, refers to Blackboard as an
online course management utility. Valentine
says, Blackboard allows instructors to publish
course materials, conduct communications
and coordinate class events online with minimal knowledge of HTML and Web design.
In its first year of use at UW-Platteville,
a handful of pioneering faculty, a total of nine,
used Blackboard for approximately 30 of
their courses. While discussing their perceived
strengths and weaknesses of the program,
faculty agree that their use of Blackboard
enabled them to be innovative, engaging, and
interactive in their teaching. Four of these
full-time faculty share their use and assessment of this software tool.
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Philip Parker used Blackboard for two sections
of his Computer Applications course. Professor
Parker finds that this tool provides a practical
solution to a specific teaching problem: he
had no method for securely transferring exam
grades and homework scores via other computing resources. He utilized the Blackboards
Student Dropbox function to remedy this
continued on pg. 7 ..............

The Successful Professor

TM

VOLUME 1 ISSUE 3

Blackboard

continued from pg. 6 ..........

problem. Each enrolled student has a secure
dropbox on the Blackboard site that only he
or she can access. This feature prevents
students from seeing others grades, such as
they could if grades were posted on a shared
workspace. Professor Parker also uses
Blackboards gradebook function which keeps
students grades secure and confidential.
Students can access only their own scores and
grades for the class and thus easily track online
their progress during the course. Professor
Parker says that Blackboard, unlike most other
software he has used, does what it claims it
can do without any surprises; it is easy for
both faculty and students to use. He says one
advantage of Blackboard is that it does have
a low-cost to high-benefits ratio. The only real
cost to him was in the time it took him to set
up and manage his site. He will most likely use
Blackboard for other courses.
Speech and Criminal Justice
Tom Jonas uses Blackboard for his Criminal
Procedures and Evidence course, as well as
for three sections of Public Speaking. He
uses the software tool to set up small groups
for his sections in Public Speaking. These
groups then utilize Blackboard's Virtual
Classroom function to hold chat groups about
the course. This feature helps his students
acquire team-building skills for group
presentations. Professor Jonas also uses
Blackboard to save paper by having students
submit their speech critiques via the Dropbox
function. In a university computer lab on the
first day of class, Professor Jonas introduces
his students to Blackboard and has them
access the Internet and attempt to log onto
Blackboard. He spends time helping students
with log-on problems and finds that the more
sophisticated computer users in his class help
other students on this first day of class. He
says having students solve problems together
is an excellent way to encourage collegiality
within his class.
Professor Jonas did note one problem when
he allowed students to complete an essay exam
at home. Because Blackboard is accessed
through the Internet, studentstaking and

The Successful Professor

TM

submitting exams via Blackboard at a remote

site becomes possible. However, if the student's
file server cuts them off, then the exam may
become lost. Next time, Jonas says, he will
have students take the exam during class time.
Industrial Engineering
Professor Swaminathan Balachandran uses
Blackboard for all of his courses, including
Simulation, Work Measurement and Design,
and Human Factors Engineering. He says that
prior to using Blackboard, he used the universitys VAX mainframe to host his course
web pages. One problem that Professor
Balachandran found was that he continuall y
ran out of storage space during the semester.
He does not have this problem with
Blackboard, which has no set quotas or computer storage space limitations. Valentine says
that, practically speaking, there is a storage
limit. However, because UW-Platteville has
its own Blackboard server,Valentine predicts
it will be a long time before the university
reaches any file server storage limits.
Also, no longer a problem for Professor
Balachandran is loading other files onto his
Blackboard sites. That process was cumbersome and time-consuming using the mainframe. One lesson about using Blackboard
that he learned was to organize his documents
and external links into folders so that students can avoid scrolling through pages upon
pages of material at the site .
Introduction to Mass Communication,
Broadcast News and Promotional Writing
I use Blackboard in all of my courses. Prior
to coming to UW-Platteville in the fall of 2001,
I had taught at Miami (Ohio) University.
While at Miami, I had the opportunity to start
using Blackboard for similar courses. I see
Blackboard as an extension of my classroom.
Students, at any time, can access course
material such as assignments, documents,
practice test questions and external links
through its tool bars, other students via its
email function, and course announcements
on its front page. For example, I have set up
relevant external links for all of my courses.
Production courses have external links to
professional associations. Such links may
have lifelong use as students venture out of
school and begin their professional careers.

My Introduction to Mass Communication

course has the greatest variety of links.
Students can visit sites ranging from Gun-Free
TV Day to the Freedom Forum, The
Advocate newspaper and the official web site
for comedian George Carlin (the subject of
a very important broadcasting obscenity
case). Students are asked to visit and write
about some of these web sites in journals,
which are shared in class throughout the
semester. This project then has worked out
as an excellent means for exposing students
to cultural diversity and helping students to
appreciate the fine arts.
I also use Blackboards email system
extensively. All my classes receive regular
email. These messages may be as simple as,
Good discussion today. See you on Thursday.
Quiz on Friday. Bring a pencil. These types
of message help build collegiality in the class
and demonstrate to the students that their
professor is thinking of them beyond their
regularly scheduled meeting times. I find it
easier to contact my students via Blackboards
email function than other currently available
university email resources. Because emailing
the entire class, or a group, is so convenient
with Blackboard, I find that students enrolled
in my production courses use Blackboards
email system and chat rooms to encourage
teamwork and cohesiveness on production
projects.
About the only complaints any of these
professors received from students concerning
Blackboard was that some students had

continued on pg. 8 ..............

VOLUME 1 ISSUE 3

Blackboard

continued from pg. 7 ..........

difficulty logging on. Most of the time this
difficulty was due to studentsusing the wrong
password. A student enrolled in my
Introduction to Mass Communication had
this response to Blackboard: This is the
first time Ive used a program in association
with a class. We were sent messages,
assignments, test scores and links through
this medium. Frankly, Im impressed. I can
see in the future using a program such as
this where it would be possible for a class
to go paperless. I learned how the Internet
could be more than a research device. It can
be a good liaison between teacher and student.
The possibilities are endless.
In conclusion, overall reaction to
Blackboard by both faculty users and students
at UW-Platteville has been positive. The
reason is the efficient access to course materials
online. With Blackboard's email function,
communication outside of the classroom
between enrolled students and the faculty
member is convenient and efficient. Grades
can be posted online with studentsright-toprivacy protected. And, as long as a student
has Internet access, the course Web site is
available 24-hours a day. Thus, the classroom
becomes extended beyond its regularly
scheduled meeting times.
Reference
1 This information came from an advertisement in T.H.E. Journal, volume 28, number
10, May, 2001, p. 40.

Staging an Event as a
Learning Experience
Barbara Mueller
Assistant Professor of English
Cerritos College
Norwalk, California
bmueller@cerritos.edu

Class, we will begin by doing some visualization, so take a deep, cleansing breath, and
relax your mind. Ready? I want you to
visualize the best learning experience you
had in primary or secondary school. What
do you see? Uh, oh. I hope you didnt draw
a blank. However, think of this: Can you
remember a time when you were learning
something because you were doing something? What significance does that event have
in relation to your overall learning process?
Special events can be profound markers
of life stages and passages. Birthdays, graduations, and anniversaries mark the rhythms
of our individual experience and parallel
the universal rhythm of seasons, of historical
and cultural traditions, and of current trends
and contexts. Acknowledgment of these milestones not only has deep archetypal roots, but
is also part of an evaluation cycle indicating
what came before, what is to come, and what
will come after. As educators, we are constantly looking for tools to facilitate learning.
Incorporating an event is a natural. And here
are the reasons:
An event can be linked to a learning community theme, question, and issue and matched to
appropriate learning objectives, goals, and
outcomes. Mostly ideas for events are like
fruit in season ready for the picking if we
just takes a trip around campus, see what is
being promoted at the local bookstore, look
at our calendars, consider student experience,
culture, or current trends, or consider the
issues of our disciplines.
An event connects students to community
in a way that celebrates. Celebrating is
something most college students do well
and frequently but mostly outside the classroom. (Homework, in fact, generally becomes
secondary to events). On the other hand, when
the homework becomes what students

The Successful Professor

TM

thought school should be about telling some

stories, playing with the toys, meeting new
friends, gaining new knowledge, having fun
learning can become a joyful experience. As
learners we are influenced by the social,
emotional, and motivational contexts in which
we find ourselves. Creating a climate is part
of creating an event.
An event provides practice and application
of a theme, question, or issue. Not only do
students take responsibility for their own
learning, but they also develop leadership
skills and working teams to produce an event.
At the same time the capacity for communication and interaction increases as students
exchange information and instructions and
develop strategies to apply this information
in a shared context.
An event provides public voice/public arena
for students. The possibilities for event
parameters add a whole new dimension to
methods of instruction. Some important
questions to consider, thus assuring a successful outcome, include the following: Kinds?
Forums? Resources? Audience? Media
involvement? Value added? We may be
surprised at what facilities instructors have
available if only we ask. This shift in focus
changes how educators think of the contributions of students as well.
An event develops lifelong learning skills.
As learners become engaged in instructional
activities that demonstrate real-life connections, they are motivated to associate the concepts being taught with a real-life activity or
event. Students become actively involved in
the process of gathering, analyzing information, and using information to make decisions
and develop a project to be shared with classmates and even a larger campus or community
audience.
An event develops the imagination and nurtures the life of the human spirit. Students
think not only in words and pictures but also
in movement and sound as they interact with
each other and other participants in the event.
Appropriate events have the power to uplift,
enrich, and create harmony among their
participants.
continued on pg. 9 ..............

VOLUME 1 ISSUE 3

Staging an Event

continued from pg. 8 ..........

Kinds of events range from the formal to
the spontaneous and depend on opportunities,
talents, and resources available. What works
one semester may not work in another semester because necessary elements are not in
place, the climate is not quite right, or everything that can go wrong does go wrong. Dont
despair; if everything went as planned, the
concept behind events would fossilize. As a
starting point, keep in mind that the impor tant need is to let each celebration of student
learning take its own course. The flexibility,
which a good teacher brings, and the planned
or spontaneous embellishments, which
students add, merely enhance the learning
experience and keep the event vivid and alive.
Guidelines for planning
Hold a dress rehearsal.
Be informed of all the separate elements
that must come together to make the event
happen.
Generate checklists to make sure everyone
involved knows the schedule
Plan the activity and have back-up plans.
Do not forget to celebrate. After all, the
break in the routine was designed to have
some fun (food, prizes, and awards, videotaping to be watched later).
Keep events as special occasions; they are
not meant to be an everyday occurrence.
Remember to debrief and review the whole
process when it is all over.
An Example of an Event
The notion of integrating an event occurred
to me during semester planning using a new
text Writing Across the Curriculum by
Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen
for my English 100 Freshman Composition
in the spring semester of 2001. The English
Department at Cerritos College had chosen
Mary Shelleys Frankenstein as its department
novel. The Frankenstein novel unit became
a focal point around which to organize the
class.
The students decided to put Frankenstein
on trial using the You the Jury section in
Writing Across the Curriculum. The plan
was a street trial, much the same as the

The Successful Professor

TM

street trial, which sentenced Justine in the

novel. The You the Jury section of Across
the Curriculum included the IRAC model
(a mnemonic for Issue, Rule, Application,
Conclusion explained by Charrow, Erhardt,
Charrow 685-691) for discussing le gal
precedent cases. The model includes four
parts: identifying and presenting issues,
presenting the rule, analyzing facts and law,
anticipating counterarguments, and providing
a conclusion. The text also included legal
definitions and several case examples. Students
worked in teams for the prosecution to apply
the precedent cases with summaries of contexts in Frankenstein; they presented the
applicable legal rules, the precedent case outcomes, and ways the Frankenstein case was
similar. The four charges the students prepared
against Dr. Frankenstein were negligence,
nuisance, involuntary manslaughter, and
criminal homicide. Each student was to come
to class prepared with a three-minute oral
presentation. Students in three other English
100 classes were invited to join us.
On the day of the trial, we did not know
exactly what to expect, but students were
cautioned to be flexible, to go with whatever
happened, and to have fun. Students acted
as judge, bailiff, the monster, and the jury.
Another instructor played the role of Dr.
Frankenstein. The judges first order of business was jury selection. She established her
own criteria: jurors must have common sense;
they must be able to stay for two hours; and
they must be able to decide without passion
or prejudice on the evidence presented in the
case. Judge Linga found seven jurors. The
bailiff was asked to bring out the prisoners,
Dr. Frankenstein and his monster; and after
a brief statement of the case, the prosecution
teams began to present their charges. Dr.
Frankenstein, in character, challenged their
arguments in a way that was not only witty
but also applied rules to context. He also
solicited arguments for his defense from the
audience. The highlights of the trial were the
interactions of the judge and the monster
with Dr. Frankenstein. The jury found Dr.
Frankenstein guilty of nuisance and negligence
but acquitted him of manslaughter and
homicide. The interaction of classes was
spontaneous and attentive. After the reading
of the verdict, the monster became so angry

over the not guilty verdict of homicide and

manslaughter that he jumped up and strangled
Dr. Frankenstein. Even our students did not
know this staged ending was going to happen.
Students became active learners as they
applied professional language and rules of
law in the courtroom scenario. This event
changed the studentsperspectives of their
abilities as they met the challenge to demonstrate what they knew and used that knowledge
meaningfully in a campus-shared event. They
were mostly pleased at their own performances
in front of the other classes. Linga thought
she might consider becoming a judge. We
had a good time watching the trial on video
later as we debriefed. Their clever retorts,
thoughtful interactions, and engagement with
professional language made me see them in
a new light as well.
Follow Up
In the fall 2001 semester we made connections
to the Attack on America and the use of
biotechnology by the terrorists. Mary Shelleys
Frankenstein provided a perfect vehicle for
bringing contemporary contexts and enduring
issues together in this context as well.
References
Charrow, Veda R., Myra K. Erhardt, and
Robert P. Charrow. How to Present Your
Case Systematically and Logically.
Writing and Reading Across the
Curriculum. Ed. Laurence Behrens. New
York: Longman, 2000. 685-698.
Elliott, Deni. A New Warp and Weft in
the Classroom. The Chronicle of Higher
Education. 6 July 2001: B 5.
Palmer, Parker J. The Courage to Teach:
Exploring the Inner Landscape of a
Teachers Life. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Inc., Publishers, 1998.
Ruben, Brent D. We Need Excellence
Beyond the Classroom. The Chronicle of
Higher Education 13 July 2001: B15-16.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. NewYork:
W.W. Norton and Company, 1996.

VOLUME 1 ISSUE 3

Critical Thinking
Beyond the Academy:
Using Interactive
Software to Help
Students Cope with
Problems of Living
Elliot D. Cohen, Ph.D.
Professor of Philosophy
Indian River Community College
Fort Pierce, Florida
cohene@popmail.firn.edu

For over a decade, I have worked diligently

on developing pedagogical materials that
address this question: how can academicians
take steps to ensure that their students think
more rationally about their own personal
life issues?
My approach relies heavily upon my book,
Caution: Faulty Thinking Can Be Harmful
ToYour Happiness, which comes in either a
self-help or text edition in conjunction with
an interactive software program I have invented
and patented called Belief-Scan. I have
successfully used these tools in working clinically with individuals and in teaching my students critical thinking. Belief-Scan helps
students to think more rationally about their
personal lives.
Belief-Scan, now in Version 4.1, is a form
of artificial intelligence designed to check
beliefs for common thinking errors or fallacies, including those that are typically part
of the repertoire of critical thinking courses.
Its queries support creativity and autonomy
by requiring students to think about their own
thinking. Rather than telling students what
is faulty about their thinking, Belief-Scan
provides a reliable framework for assisting
in the determination of faulty thinking. As
such, the system tends to empower the student
rather than to create dependency.
Let me describe my own use of the system
in a three-credit critical thinking course, which
I regularly teach.

The Successful Professor

TM

Teaching A Critical Thinking Course

Using Belief-Scan
Each week students taking my course are
required to write essays on issues of personal
concern and to scan them for fallacies.
Students are asked to tackle personal issues
and problems and often choose ones dealing
with such issues as work or school related
problems and relationships with boyfriends
or girlfriends and with parents and siblings.
Belief-Scan Summary and Evaluation
forms are produced and handed in on a regular
basis. The student generates one each week,
and I usually collect them every other week.
These forms do not contain any of the personal data included in the documents that
students have scanned. Rather, they contain
the logical information that is derived from
such data. Thus, students are afforded maximum protection of privacy while reaping
the benefits of a course that applies directly
to their personal belief systems.
Belief-Scan summaries and evaluations
are not graded, but they are required. Grading
them is not recommended because doing so
can leave the impression that students who
have fewer fallacies recorded on their forms
might receive a better grade. This false
assumption can, in turn, encourage students
to cheat by answering Belief-Scan queries
inaccurately. Instead, I emphasize to students
that committing fallacies is part of being
human, that demanding perfection in the
elimination of fallacies is itself a fallacy, and

that scanning for fallacies confirms the computer adage junk in, junk out. Instead,
students are given credit for the completeness
and punctuality of their assignments.
The system of logic employed by BeliefScan and accompanying text discussed below
is non-technical in its formulation so that it
can be grasped by a wide variety of students.
As distinct from most other systems of logic,
it also incorporates fundamental principles
of cognitive psychotherapy, such as those
introduced by Rational-Emotive Behavior
Therapy (REBT). Incorporation of these
principles into the system aims at facilitating
student development of coping skills for
emotional stress (anxiety, guilt, anger, and
depression) and assertiveness. Utilizing these
principles, Belief-Scan provides feedback
on the specific fallacies and categories of
fallacies that may contribute to students' selfdefeating emotions and behavior.
When Belief-Scan locates or probes for
probable fallacies, it typically introduces
constructive standards for avoiding the fallacy
in question. For example, when a sample is
too small to support a generalization or it is
not representative, the system will convey
the need for sufficient number or diversity
in sample size. Similarly, when testing for
vague terms, the system will introduce and
explain definitional standards, such as noncircularity.
The Text
Caution: Faulty Thinking Can Be Harmful
to Your Happiness complements Belief-Scan
by addressing the same fallacy types and by
employing the same non-technical nomenclature and classification system. The concept
of a fallacy therein is itself defined in pragmatic terms as a way of thinking or reasoning
having a proven track record of frustrating
personal or interpersonal happiness. This
definition accordingly sets the stage for the
practical or applied mission of the course,
which is to bring logic to life.
At the end of each text chapter are many
exercises in the form of practice scenarios,
which are realistic dialogues containing types

continued on pg. 11 ..............

VOLUME 1 ISSUE 3

10

Critical Thinking

continued from pg. 10 ..........

of faulty thinking addressed in the chapter.
In class, students divide into small groups
to discuss these dialogues. They then reassemble as a class to provide individual group
presentations and class debates on the exercises addressed in the group. Groups are also
sometimes asked to invent and role-play their
own scenarios before the class.
Students are also encouraged to keep personal thinking logs in which they employ
course materials to examine and keep records
of their own cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses to personal life encounters.
The text contains suggestions for log keeping.
This matter can also be employed as entry
data for Belief-Scan analysis. In this manner,
students are able to track their own progress
as well as gain clearer practical understandings of their personal belief systems.
Fallacy Groups
Five different groups of fallacies are individually studied: factual, evaluative, logical,
relevance, and meaning. Belief-Scan has
controls that allow students to scan for one
or all of these five fallacy types. I generally
direct students to scan for all fallacy types.
In this way, students become familiarized
with each type even before they read about
them in the text or study them in class. So,
when I introduce new fallacies, students can
relate to them through their own prior life
experiences and examples.
The Top Ten
Recently, I have analyzed a classs BeliefScan summary/evaluation forms to determine
the frequency at which these students committed different fallacies. Thirty-one subjects
were included in the analysis, and results
were assessed in terms of the total times a
fallacy was committed divided by the number
of subjects committing the fallacy. While
this study is preliminary and a more comprehensive sample is required for validation, the
Top Ten fallacies these students committed
are listed in order of rate of commission and
defined in Table 1.
Instructors utilizing Belief-Scan should

The Successful Professor

conduct further studies of this nature. With

this list of fallacies, instructors may better
address the cognitive and emotional needs
of their students.
Validation
Anonymous student surveys of students who
have completed the course employing BeliefScan with Caution suggest increased student
proficiency in critical thinking in practical
contexts. For example, survey comments
indicate decreased frequency of self-defeating
emotional and behavioral responses among
students in confronting practical life problems
and situations.
In one study of 26 community college

Fallacy Name

students, 23 reported that use of Belief-Scan

helped them to improve their critical thinking
skills; 24 reported that the program provided
useful insights into their own thinking about
personal matters; and 22 reported that use
of the program helped them to notice fallacies
in their thinking that they previously did not
know they were committing. Subsequent
surveys have consistently been corroborative. While, at this juncture, more data need
to be collected and their significance evaluated, there is reason to think that instructors
who seek to instill critical thinking skills in
their students can, with the assistance of
Belief-Scan, help their students to apply these
skills to their personal problems.

Type

Definition

Commission
Rate

Vague Terms

Meaning

Trying to Communicate with another

person by using words or phrases that
lack a clear meaning .

4.52

Oversimplifying

Factual

Making a more complicated situation out

to be less complicated than it actually is.

4.35

Demanding
Perfection

Value Judgment

Insisting or requiring that the world

or some part of it exists without any
defects or flaws.

4.27

Damnation

Value Judgment

Negatively rating ones entire self or that

of another person.

4.20

DerivingIf
from Then

Logical

Given an If this then thatstatement,

thinking this must be true because one
thinks that is true. [Also known as
Affirming the Consequent.]

3.44

Awfulizing

Value Judgment

Exaggerating just how bad a situation

is by rating it asthe worst or nearly the
worst thing possible.

3.33

Jumping on
the Bandwagon

Relevance

Doing something merely because one

thinks others are doing the same thing.

3.30

Hasty
Generalization

Factual

Jumping to a conclusion about all or

most of a group on the basis of an
insufficient sampling of group members.

3.25

Unsupported
Explanation

Factual

Trying to account for why something

is true in a way that is not adequately
backed up by the facts

3.08

False Either-Or

Logical

Presenting a situation in such a way

that one says only two alternatives
while overlooking others.

2.75

Table 1. Top ten fallacies amongst 31 students enrolled in a critical thinking class at Indian River
Community College, Fort Pierce, FL, Fall 2000.

VOLUME I ISSUE 3

11

Critical Thinking

Meet the Authors

continued from pg. 11 ..........

Concluding Remarks
Successful academic instruction should
converge on real life. Rational processes of
thinking should not be left behind in the
classroom but should instead be harnessed
toward the clarification and solution of studentsproblems of living. My experience
suggests that this pervasive sense of success
can be advanced through studentsuse of
the interactive software program, Belief-Scan.
Thereby, they may be afforded a safe, dignified facility to explore the rationality of
their private thoughts on matters that transcend
the inherent impersonality of the classroom.
For additional information, including how
to acquire these materials, consult the website
www.tracewilco.com. This website also
includes a guided tour of the software, which
uses input gleaned from an anonymous student.
References
E. D. Cohen, Caution: Faulty Thinking Can
Be Harmful to Your Happiness (Ft. Pierce,
FL: Trace-Wilco, Inc., Text Ed., 1994;
Self-Help Ed. 1992).
E. D. Cohen, Belief-Scan 4.1: Artificial
Intelligence for Detecting and Diagnosing
Faulty Thinking, U.S. Patent No. 5,503,561.

Dr. Muriel Harris is a professor of English and the Director

(and founder) of the Writing Lab at Purdue University. Her
professional focus on writing centers includes authoring
numerous articles, book chapters, and Teaching One-to-One:
The Writing Conference (NCTE), and (founding and) editing
The Writing Lab Newsletter. She has also authored two grammar
handbooks, The Prentice Hall Reference Guide to Grammar and
Usage (soon to appear in the 5th edition) and The Writers
FAQs (Prentice Hall).
Dorene J. Fox, Ph.D., Professor of Mathematics at Louisiana
State University at Alexandria, graduated summa cum laude
with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics, from
Rockford College, Rockford, Illinois in May of 1982. Dr. Fox
attended the University of Southwestern Louisiana, in 1986, on
a Master's Fellowship and earned her Ph.D. in December of 1991.
Dr. Fox has been teaching at Louisiana State University of
Alexandria since 1991 where she was awarded the Huie Dellmon
Endowed Professorship in 1996 and the F. Hugh Coughlin
Endowed Professorship in 2001.
Robert Snyder, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Communication
Technologies, teaching in the area of mass communication and
serving as the faculty advisor for the universitys cable television
channel and mass communication student society. Dr. Snyder
taught previously at Miami (Ohio) University. He received his
Ph.D. from Ohio University in Mass Communication and his B.S.
in Radio-TV-Film from UW-Oshkosh. He hosted and produced
his first radio program at the age of seven and had a Sunday
comic strip syndicated nationally at the age of eight.
Barbara Mueller is an assistant professor of English at Cerritos
College in Norwalk, California. She is a recipient of an Outstanding
Faculty Award at her College and the NISOD Award (National
Institute for Staff and Organizational Development) for the 2001
academic year. She is involved in learning communities, Teacher
TRAC, and Womens Colloquium and enjoys serving on her
Colleges Curriculum Committee and the Staff Development
Committee. But her greatest satisfaction comes from engaging
students in the writing process and in helping them give structure
to their own experiences, ideas, and positions in order to communicate in a meaningful way.
Elliot D. Cohen, Ph.D. (Brown University) is Professor of
Philosophy and Chair of the Department of Humanities at Indian
River Community College in Fort Pierce, Florida. He is Editor-inChief and the founder of The International Journal of Applied
Philosophy and Editor and the co-founder of The International
Journal of Philosophical Practice. He is also the author of numerous
books and articles on critical thinking, counseling, and practical
philosophy.

The Successful Professor

VOLUME I ISSUE 3

12