8 M.A. students
and 9 certificate students matriculated in 09-10.
(For
the M.A. this is lower than recent years' average of 13, but for the
certificate it is much more than ever before, primarily due to students from
other programs adding the CCT certificate.)
As of May Õ10, there were 31 students in
M.A. program and 13 in certificate program.
5 of the 31 had completed all course work
and were working, some with significant life/family interruptions, on
completing their capstone syntheses.
(4 more are in this situation but are behind in paying program fees, so
don't show up on Peopelsoft as students.)
5 of the 31
graduate in May and 4 more plan for August degrees.
In addition, 2
M.A. students and 1 certificate student graduated in December 09 and 3
certificate student graduate in May, including the first two in the new
"Science in a Changing World" Track.
Synthesis topics ranged from ÒMentoring Towards Resilient ThoughtÓ by Jeneen
Mucci, director of a teen after-school program, to " Navigating The Complexities In Teaching: Exploring
The Thinking Processes That Trigger And Sustain Teacher Development," by Marie Levey-Pabst, a high
school English teacher.
Anticipated
matriculants for Fall Õ10 = 4-8 in the M.A. tracks plus 3-5 certificate
students
Through regular,
online, other CCDE, and cross-listed sections and some independent studies CCT
instructors served over 241 course registrations, made up of almost an equal
number of non-CCT as CCT students (or soon-to-be matriculated students). 50% of these registrations were in
sections taught by core CCT faculty (and the new CCDE-funded assistant program
coordinator); 50% were taught by part-timers through CCDE. These numbers and percentages are very
similar to the previous year, except the registrations grew by 10% and all of
the increase was in sections taught through CCDE by part-timers and the
assistant coordinator.
1
[A]. Maintained a multi-year
course schedule that
ensures that, even if the CCT lectureship position were to be discontinued at
some point, matriculated students could still be served by regular CCT faculty
and they would have a maximum number of electives to choose from over a
two-year cycle.
2
[B]. Enhanced the coordination
with the Learning, Teaching and Educational Transformation (non-licensure)
track of the M.Ed. program,
drawing more M.Ed. students into CCT courses.[2]
3
[B]. Continued to
address the main shortcoming of the CCT curriculum, namely, some students get to the capstone synthesis
course but are not well prepared to write a major paper and/or do not finish
during the synthesis semester.
The Program:
a) continued an entrance
interview and formalized a mid-program check-in[3],
both of which draw attention to a series of measures designed to support
students through to timely completion of their degree[4];
b) established a weekly
writing support group[5];
c) continued the day-long
intensive synthesis-completion sessions each semester ("Marathon
days"); and
d) established an expectation
of completion of capstone synthesis within a year of taking the synthesis
seminar.[6]
4
[A,B]. Promoted
the practice of students assembling a "Reflective Practice (or
MetaCognitive) Portfolio"[7]
during the course of their CCT studies (now a program
requirement).
The goal is to help students:
a) perceive the interconnections among courses; and b) be better prepared to
synthesize their theory and practice when they get to their capstones (see #3
above).
5 [A]. Continued
the CCT Network[8], a series of monthly
activities (with recordings made available as podcasts[9])
(in conjunction with CrCrTh688, Reflective Practice[10]) and the online social
network site.[11]
6 [A]. Extended
the use of the CCT wiki for documenting CCT activities, tools and resources,[12] and enhanced course
interactions through creation of wikis for each CCT student.[13]
7 [A, B]. Promoted
CCT's "Science in a Changing World" track[14]
in both the Certificate and M.A. Program by:
a) establishing a reliable
schedule for the four alternative core courses, which began in Spring '10;
b) joining the
University-wide Professional Science Masters initiative and taking steps
towards certification;
c) hosting "Changing
Science, Changing Society," an exposition of initiatives, coalitions, and
social movements engaging with scientific, technological, and social change[15];
d) using the SICW wiki for
documenting SICW activities[16];
e) creating an online social
network site[17]; and
f) continuing the
Intercollege faculty Seminar on Humanities and Sciences both semesters.[18]
8 [B]. Continued
to build recognition at UMB and in the Boston/New England area for CCT-centered
work in the SICW area.
In 09-10 CCT provided some
funds for the 7th annual New England Workshop on Science and Social
Change (actually two workshops)[19]; and see #7 above.
9 [B, C]. Expanded
the partnership with Continuing Education (CCDE) with the goals of increasing online
offerings and enrollments (targets were exceeded[20];
see #2) so as to fund a 50% Assistant
Coordinator,[21]
promoting the SICW emphasis, preparing for a CCT M.A. program for students in
China (which was cancelled at the last minute), and scheduling Certificate
courses on Cape Cod.[22]
10 [A]. Instituted
a CCT-style course evaluation for online courses to supplement the official
ones, with plans to make these visible to prospective students.
11 [A]. Students and commentators on student presentations, and CCT
Network participants were brought via skype into regular CCT classes and
events from a distance (from Perth to
London to Bogot‡ to Texas).
12 [A]. CCT
approaches were displayed at the Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award
presentation on "Engaging colleagues in a Caring University"[23]
and ran through the spring CIT faculty seminar on "Engaging Students
in a Changing University," [24]
both led by Peter Taylor. Experience developing a writing support group was
shared at the Teaching for Transformation Conference[25]
and experience using wikis in multiple ways was demonstrated at the annual
Educational Technology conference.[26]
13 [B]. Nina Greenwald and David Martin helped organize
Minds In Motion, in
collaboration with Arts Learning, a statewide arts advocacy and programming
organization.[27]
14 [A]. A tribute event was held to
recognize Nina's Greenwald's 25 years of contributions to CCT.[28]
Areas that need more development
15. Efforts
to boost M.A. recruitment
stalled (even as Certificate numbers and overall course enrollments grew[29]). After this year Nina Greenwald's
appointment will be on a course-by-course basis, so she cannot be expected to
continue to lead recruitment. The
CCDE-funded CCT assistant has been following up on indications of interest from
students taking online courses and—once he has his required teaching in
place—may make greater use of the CCT Network events and social network
site to coach alums to become active in outreach and recruitment).[30]
16. The
administrative division of labor in CCT[31]
continued to place almost all of the administrative burden on the Program
Coordinator. Gradually some of this may be taken
over by the CCDE-funded program assistant—again, once he has his required
teaching in place.
17. Developing
the weekly Writing Support Group (see #3b) was a wonderful learning experience,
but cannot claim to be the magic bullet for ensuring completion of overdue
syntheses and or pre-synthesis research courses for students who have
difficulty with extended writing projects (or of addressing the concern under #19).
18. A
significant backlog of students who have finished
all course work, but not their syntheses, remains (despite measures in #3 and
4). These students are now being
urged to graduate with a Certificate and reapply for admission to the M.A. when
they have a complete draft of their synthesis. The completion contract for students who do not finish their
synthesis in a semester (see #3d) draws attention to this option.
19. The
higher frequency of students of color in the need-writing-improvement and
overdue syntheses categories continued to be a concern. The Program took stock of its efforts
around diversity[32] and Denise Patmon led the core faculty
in a personal diversity audit.
Follow-up is needed.
20. Systematic
discussion by the
core faculty of things
(other than synthesis completion and diversity issues) that the Program is
not doing well, with a
view to identifying and prioritizing improvements, was not undertaken. Perhaps the '10-11 AQUAD reviews will reactivate
such discussion.
1.
Goals: See
#A, B, C and #1-14 above.
2.
Program
development: See #1-14 above.
Possible governance actions: see footnote 3.
3.
Faculty
Achievements related to CCT: See #12-14 above.
4.
Program
Strengths: See #1-20 above and footnotes, which indicate that CCT provides a
model for pedagogical innovation, reflective practice, program documentation on
the internet, and planning that makes the most of limited resources.
5.
Weaknesses:
See #15-20 above.
6.
Collaborations:
See #2, 7b&c, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13 above.
7.
Student
support outside OGS: none.
8.
OGS
stipends: One ¼-time GAs
earmarked by OGS for CCT plus one faculty member's RA (also funded by OGS)
allowed for two CCT assistants.
9.
Additional services
needed from OGS: Response to these annual reports; Informative notes from GPD
meetings; Initiation of a practice of minutes and/or timely informative
feedback from GSC on proposals; and Negotiation with Deans to arrive at
equitable CLRs for GPDs (or track coordinators) based on workload after
allowing for staff support (or lack thereof).
[1] The lectureship for 09-10 was confirmed in mid-August '09. It will not be continued in '10-11.
[2] Peter Taylor was coordinator of both CCT and LTET this year.
[3] Governance approval may be sought for making this check-in have teeth/consequences.
[7] http://cctrpp.wikispaces.umb.edu Each student now has a private
cct-xx.wikispaces.umb.edu on which to prepare this portfolio (where xx = the
student's last name). These wikis are closed to outside viewers, but the
template can be viewed at http://cct-template.wikispaces.umb.edu
[8]
files/CCTNetwork
The goals of the CCT Network are to: a) organize, in
a sustainable fashion, personal and professional development, community
building, and educational-innovation activities beyond the formal CCT program
of studies, supplementing students' education through the involvement of alums
and continuing alums' education by their involvement in the education of
students and each other; and b) stimulate visitors to apply to join CCT based
on their experience of the Network activities and of CCT community-building.
[10] This 1-3 credit course allows students to get credit for
participation in and reflection on the CCT Network activities, as well as
providing a structure for supervision of students outreach activities in
schools, workplaces, and communities.
[12] Updates
were made to the draft of a book, Taking Yourself
Seriously: A Fieldbook of Processes of Research and Engagement (based on the tools of CrCrTh 692 and 693). files/TakingYourselfSeriously
[13] See note 7.
[14] The SICW track builds on an area of strength for the CCT core faculty and brings in associate faculty from the Sciences. It has the goal that "students graduate well prepared to move across the persistent divide between sciences and humanities, to participate in questioning and shaping the direction of science and society, and to teach and engage others to participate in this important endeavor."
[20] A survey of the
students taking online CCT courses in the fall indicated that:
the promotion of CCT thru LTET probably accounted for most of the
increase in online students that semester;
cultivating/maintaining lines of communication with other UMB
programs is an important way to get students in courses; and
at least for people who have emails and reply to online surveys (response rate 26/61), the ways that get them interested in the CCT program is thru their web searches and when the Program follows up after they take a course as a non-matriculated students.
[21] Jeremy Szteiter was hired as a result of a competitive search in October '09 after the hiring freeze was lifted.
[22] There were two well-attended open houses during the summer about these courses, but they ended up not enrolling enough students to run in the fall or spring. After a successful half-day workshop, a problem-based course is scheduled for the fall along with other half day promotional workshops.
[27] Nina
Greenwald and David Martin took responsibility for different segments of the
program. Teachers were involved in hands-on activities in each of the Arts, and
also generated ideas on ways to stimulate thinking strategies through the arts
in the classroom. This may lead to an off-site offering of CrCrTh630,
Creativity & Criticism in Literature and Arts, which may attract students
to join the Program.
[29] See note #21.
[30] The core faculty under the multi-year course schedule—see #1—could serve 15-18 M.A. matriculants.