Writing blog entries for the Saltise website will be a great opportunity to document how teachers in the department are using the classroom boards, and how they orchestrate lessons around them. We can survey teachers on frequency of use and type of activity. It will also be useful to document the Chemistry Department’s practices and to steal their good ideas.
We can survey students on how they like the boards. Our department is testing a new way of evaluating courses and teachers through online surveys, and we can easily add a question about the use of the student whiteboards in class:
- Do students enjoy class when they are asked to stand to solve a problem?
- Do more students buy into the idea of making mind maps when they see their peers making them?
I hope that through documenting what we do and how students respond to it, we can convince our colleagues to try new things. It will be especially appropriate to present a workshop at the Saltise conference which will take place at John Abbott College. We would certainly hold the workshop in our newly equipped classroom.
I am very happy by the response I got from my colleagues when I suggested that the Physics Department apply for this grant: Bruce Tracy, Nanouk Pare, Greg Mulcair, Michael Dugdale have all agreed to taking pictures, filming and documenting their activities in the classroom. Phoebe Jackson (on maternity leave this semester) has agreed to help organize the June workshop. Using our new equipment, documenting our practices and finding ways to move forward will truly be a team effort.