What is play? It’s hard to define, but some properties are (according to Stuart Brown, founder of the National Institute of Play) apparent purposelessness (done for its own sake), voluntary, inherent attraction, freedom from time, diminished consciousness of self, improvisational potential, and continuation desire. It’s hard to imagine bringing play into the classroom, and it may seem out of place. But it has been done, and there has been research showing the positive effects of play on creative thinking, problem solving, confidence, increased interest and mastery of subjects. It gives students a break from the perceived grind of completing assignment after assignment and doing what they’re told. The hope for this discussion is to learn a little about the usefulness of play and to brainstorm what it might mean to play in the classroom, to not only benefit the students but also ourselves.

Article on Play in the NYTimes
A TED talk on Play
A book on Play by Stuart Brown
Mitchel Resnick at the Media Lab at MIT, using play to teach computer literacy
Play = Learning, books and articles

February 5, 2010
3:00-4:00 pm
Prothro Room, library

Abstract: Getting students drawn into mathematics outside of the classroom is a huge challenge for mathematics faculty. We will discuss two ways of encouraging students to get involved in mathematics outside of the classroom: first by hosting a lecture series on campus, and second by getting students to attend conferences. For two years, SHSU hosted the Piney Woods Lecture Series in Mathematics, a program which invited well-known female mathematicians to campus. These women gave talks which were accessible to undergraduates, then met informally with students during a reception, and had dinner with nominated female students. Our presenters included Dr. Laura Taalman of James Madison University, Dr. Katherine Socha of St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and Dr. T. Christine Stevens of St. Louis University.

Jacqueline Jensen is an associate professor of mathematics at Sam Houston State University. She was the recipient of the national MAA 2008 Henry L. Alder Award for Distinguished Teaching by a Beginning College/University Mathematics Faculty Member and the 2006 Faculty Award for Outstanding Contribution to Students by the Texas Section of the MAA. She is currently the Southwest Councilor of Pi Mu Epsilon (the national college mathematics honors society), superb organizer of Texas Project NExT (New Experiences in Teaching) (Alison Marr and I have participated for the past few years), organizer of the Texas Undergraduate Mathematics Conference, and organizer of the Piney Woods Lecture Series, which invites well-known female mathematicians to her university. She is also a new mother of twins! The title and abstract of her talk is below. Although this talk focuses on engaging mathematics students, she is aware that there will be CS and other faculty present and her ideas are broad enough to appeal to all faculty.

Technology can be beneficial when

• When it helps focus learning and attention and keeps students on task
• When it is easy to use
• When it illuminates concepts
• When it works (most of the time)When it promotes metacognition
• When it catches misunderstandings
• When it helps in the exploration of relevant applications
• When it helps students of different learning styles
  (visual, kinesthetic, reflective, exploratory)
• When it makes our job easier

Technology can be detrimental when

• When it distracts
• When it is difficult to use
• When it obscures concepts
• When it doesn’t work

Rick Denman and I will discuss technology some of the technology that we have used in our courses.

This month, the Innovations in Teaching and Learning workshop will be dedicated to discussing student learning outcomes and how we might assess them, partly in preparation for SACS but also for strengthening our personal teaching practices. With the recent workshop on developing rubrics, it may be a good opportunity to explore different ways of assessing our students (to maybe realize that we’ve been doing it fine all along, or not). This will primarily be for the math and computer science department, but all are welcome.

For math/cs faculty, we have the following Program Mission (for the purposes of Department Annual Assessment):

“It is the purpose of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science to develop students’ concise and logical patterns of mathematical and algorithmic reasoning. The courses and experiences offered by the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science contribute to students’ understanding of the liberal arts and sciences and prepare students for postgraduate education and careers. Faculty in the department teach the breadth and depth of the mathematical and computer sciences with rigorous academic standards and a commitment to preparing students to be life-long learners.”

The catalog words it differently:

“Mathematics and Computer Science courses help students develop concise and logical patterns of thinking and encourage independent and creative work. The department seeks to develop in students an understanding of mathematical models and a facility with problem-solving techniques.”

We will try to answer the following questions (as well as any others you would like to add):

1. Are these accurate? Do you agree with these mission statements? Should we try to consolidate these statements?
2. How are we naturally teaching and assessing these skills in our courses?
3. Will it help our students learn better by clearly articulating to them what we hope will be their learning outcomes?
4. What assessment tools (rubrics (holistic, analytic, or if-then-else), exams/quizzes, online/hw comprehension questions, students putting problems on the board, portfolios, etc.) might be most effective for which courses, which assignments and which personalities?
5. What, if anything, could we do for SACS beyond what we will already do (final exam questions from select courses in addition to what we have done in the past)?

SACS

SACS standards for postsecondary institutions

Assessment types and examples at Carnegie Mellon

Fri Sept 18, 3:30-4:30pm

Thirteen.org, an online version of a New York based PBS station. Their explanation of Inquiry Based Learning.
Feel free to explore the tabs on the Thirteen.org page: Explanation, Demonstration, Exploration, Implementation

NPR Science Friday story about teaching scientific reasoning

Buisness Week article on IBL (in K-12 ed)

Inquiry in Computer Science

Inquiry in Biology

Inquiry in Chemistry

Inquiry in Physics