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Funded by Bush-Hewlett

Amaresh Das (Business) will participate in the scholarship of teaching working group. Dr. Das is particularly interested in two types of pedagogy: active learning and the use of the Internet and World Wide Web.

Dr. Lisa Schulte (Psychology) will participate in the scholarship of teaching working group. Dr. Schulte is interested in conducting research on new teaching methods and materials.

The English Department's World Literature Teaching and Learning Community was first established in fall 1997, as part of a peer review of teaching project. Ten faculty members met for two years (through spring 1998) to share ideas on course content, pedagogy, and assessment. The teaching circle then expanded to include World History (HIST 1030 and 1040) faculty members, allowing the community to continue its peer review from an interdisciplinary approach, with a triple focus: learning in the respective disciplines, contextualizing literature with history, and assessing learning goals. During the 2000-2001 academic year, English Department faculty members (Drs. Violet Bryan, Richard Collins, Bruce Danner, David Lanoue, Michele Levy, and Mr. Mark Whitaker) and two students will form a teaching and learning community. The community will focus on three goals:

• analyzing and refining the assessment tool developed last year
• developing course approaches and materials to address the results of the assessment tool
• continuing to broaden their abilities to teach central texts that are sometimes "under taught"
• encouraging faculty members to extend their influence into the teaching community by actively pursuing the scholarship of teaching.

Drs. Nancy Martino (Communications) and Deborah Bordelon (Education) will continue a project that began in fall 1999 as a collaboration among education and speech pathology faculty and students. During the 2000-20001 academic year, Drs. Bordelon and Martino will collaborate in writing a scholarly paper to be submitted in a refereed publication.

The Comparative Literature Initiative will engage charis of six humanities and social sciences departments [Drs. Gerald Boodoo (Theology), Jay Ciaffa (Philosophy), Sr. Barbara Hughes (History), Michele Levy (English), Beverly Mason (Sociology), and Susan Spillman (Languages)] in a yearlong discussion of how to construct an inter-disciplinary major in Comparative Literature, with a minor in a foreign language and appropriate upper-level courses in related humanities and social sciences. The Initiative will bring the departments more closely together as they explore common theoretical and curricular issues. The explorative conversations will consider collaborative curriculum structuring and course creation, which can benefit not only the participating disciplines themselves, but also Xavier's liberal arts program as a whole. The Initiative, in addition to enhancing the role of the humanities and social sciences at Xavier, will improve the rigor and coherence of students' education. It will also serve to recruit better-prepared humanities and social science majors and secure new funding sources for infrastructure, library holdings, and additional program support.

Drs. Jerry Farmer (Theology) and Fred Humphrey (Philosophy) will continue developing a project that began in August 1999. Faculty and students will collaborate in using Dr. Martin Luther King's 1963 "Letter from Birmingham Jail" to promote active student learning by encouraging students to move from particular historical concerns to more broad based and universal conclusions. Dr. Farmer will incorporate Dr. King's letter as a case study in his Moral Theology course (THEO 2500). At the same time, Dr. Humphrey will include Dr. King's letter as a case study in his Great Books in Philosophy course (PHIL 1030). For this particular module on King's letter, the two classes at Xavier will be linked to Dr. Brian Fitch's (University of Wisconsin-Stout, Department of English and Philosophy) English Composition class and Dr. Alec Kirby's (University of Wisconsin-Stout, Department of Social Sciences) American Government class. Each faculty member and his students will discuss Dr. King's letter via six inter-university teleoconferences. The synchronous discussion will be supplemented by asynchronous discussion using Blackboard, a Web-based course management software. Drs. Farmer, Fitch, Humphrey, and Kirby will work with students to develop a series of questions that will be placed on the discussion board to guide students in their classrooms, the teleconferences, and in the online discussion. Since each institution has its own unique character, participants in this project will also be exposed to issues of cultural, ethnic, and geographical diversity.

Drs. Jay Ciaffa (Philosophy), Fred Humphrey (Philosophy), Michele Levy (English), and Jonathan Rotondo-McCord (History) and students will research questions pertaining to tragedy at the intersection of literature, literary theory, philosophy, history, and art, beginning with the classic instances of this dramatic form, such as Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. This collaborative work will follow the scholarly discussion surrounding tragedy and the historical developments emerging from these debates. The faculty and students will determine how competing visions of tragedy operate to inform the way in which tragedy has been defined, and also the kinds of tragedies that examine the most coherent scholarly theories of tragedy.

Several faculty members will participate in the Course Portfolio Working Group, led by Dr. David Lanoue (English). The faculty include Drs. Deany Cheramie (English), Sr. Jean Marie Craig (Education), Dominique Gendrin (Communications), Barbara Green (Biology), Elizabeth Hemenway (History), Ms. Donna Howell (Chemistry), Shamsul Huda (History), Dana Jamero (College of Pharmacy), Ms. MaPo Kinnord (Art), Nancy Martino (Communications), Krishawnda Rogers (College of Pharmacy), Paul Schafer (Philosophy), Sr. Mary Ann Stachow (Theology), and Marc Welt (College of Pharmacy). More information about course portfolios is available on-line.

Funded by Mellon

Dr. Gerald Boodoo (Theology) will use technology to enhance the understanding of scientific and theological concepts in his Theology and Science course (THEO 3850). Presentation slides will image basic concepts related to developments in cosmology, quantum physics, chaos theory, information theory, microbiology and genetics as they relate to theological reflection. These slides and other course materials will be organized using a course website to make the material accessible for review and comment by students, as well as the university community at large. In order to facilitate continuing discussion on the course subject matter, e-mail discussion will also be incorporated into the course.

Ms. Deany Cheramie (English) will develop a "Handbook for Freshman Composition and World Literature Instructors" that will be especially useful to adjunct faculty members. The handbook will include information about course requirements and University and Departmental policies and procedures. The handbook will be available in hardcopy and on the Web.

Mr. Arnold Crump (Communications) will use a Web-based management system to:

• Allow more time for student-centered learning experiences and interaction
• Provide access to information and files for projects and documentation
• Facilitate posting of course description, syllabus, office hours, etc.
• Allow online testing
• Allow online grading of objective and essay test
• Automatically update grade book
• Facilitate the creation of course materials
• Allow chat for group meetings
• Support e-mail for individual and class communication.

Dr. Bruce Danner (English) will integrate JSTOR and other electronic journals into Shakespearean Comedy (ENGL 3040) and Shakespearean Tragedy (ENGL 3050). These resources will enhance students' access to secondary resource materials in Shakespeare and Renaissance culture. Students will read selected articles for class discussion and research articles for use in their writing.

Dr. Amaresh Das (Business) will create a manual for a set of topics covered in Statistics I (ECON 2070), the main purpose of which is to introduce students to the statistical capabilities of Microsoft Excel, the leading analytical software used in the business world. The manual will be designed in conjunction with the textbook used in the course, although it can be used along with the other texts too.

Dr. David Lanoue (English) was funded by the Mellon grant during summer 2000 to write a design document for a website that presents over 600 haiku by the Japanese master, Issa. The website is already the most comprehensive Issa site on the Web. Dr. Lanoue intends to make it much more interactive, informative, and engaging. He is especially interested in allowing visitors, even those with computers that lack Japanese fonts, to view Issa's original Japanese texts alongside his translation. The website, once fully developed in spring 2001, will be incorporated into World Literature (ENGL 2010).

Ms. Patrice Melnick (English) will write a design document for a project that she began in fall 1999. During the 1999-2000 academic year, Ms. Melnick maintained a website that included a calendar of literary readings and workshops in the New Orleans area. The calendar includes dates of readings, venues organized by area, and biographical information on visiting and local writers.

Dr. Lisa Pollack (Physics/Engineering) will develop course content and activities that utilize a digital video camera to allow students to make their own movies of physics phenomena, and then analyze these video clips using the appropriate software. The activities will focus on topics from the introductory sequence that target common student misconceptions about these topics. Dr. Pollack will also develop pre- and post-tests to assess student learning and determine if use of the video camera helped bolster comprehension of specific physics concepts. The goals of this technology project are to address the difficulties students have in learning specific physics concepts by utilizing more cutting-edge technology in the classroom, and also to invigorate students about their own learning.

Dr. Carmen Rogers developed a design document during summer 2000 for multimedia activities in French 1010 and 1020. Once completed, the multimedia activities will complement the current textbook. The planned multimedia activities have three objectives:

• provide students with real interactive situations rarely found in textbooks and current electronic language programs
• enhance the cultural and historical topics that are briefly mentioned in the textbook
• facilitate the study of French outside the classroom through available technologies.

Dr. Todd Stanislav (Biology) will utilize a Web Course Management System for "delivering" a significant portion of Human Cytogenetics (Biology 4302) in spring 2001. At least six class meetings will be devoted to online asynchronous threaded discussions focused on research papers and two class meetings will use videoconferencing to interact with experts involved in the Human Genome Project.

Funded by P3T

Dr. Douglas Athey (Education) will integrate technology into two courses, Golf (PHED 2020) and Personal and Environmental Health (HLTH 2130). The primary goal of this project for the Golf course is the continuing development of PowerPoint presentations on the history of African-American participation in golf. The focus of the Personal and Environmental Health course is to develop student-authored websites and PowerPoint presentations on weight management, physical fitness, and environmental issues.

Dr. Deborah Bordelon (Education) will use a Web-based course management system to restructure Clinical Procedures in Remedial Reading (EDUC 4113RD). Dr. Bordelon will post the course syllabus, calendar, assignments, and announcements. The students will be able to post their discussions and reflections through electronic messaging. Students will also be encouraged to use the chat function and file sharing to exchange ideas. Online quizzes and student grades will also be made available through the management system.

Sr. Jean Marie Craig (Education) will incorporate technology into Physical Education courses. Students will learn the fundamental features of working with and building a Web page. Students will be offered a framework for understanding the Internet and an opportunity to become comfortable using the technology tools listed in the course syllabus. Students will have an opportunity to navigate the Internet, as an alternative to, or as a reinforcement of, programs that cover a range of topics from cutting edge technologies to new products. PowerPoint presentations and e-mail will also be used in the courses.

Dr. Elizabeth Hemenway (History) will use a course management system to integrate computer- and web-based materials more fully into World Civilization to 1500 (HIST 1030). As currently structured, HIST 1030 focuses on world civilizations from Neolithic times to 1500 CE. The course is generally taught in a traditional lecture format, with weekly group discussions of primary sources designed to supplement the lectures. The Web-based course management system will offer students a broader range of learning opportunities and require them to take more direct responsibility for their own learning.

Dr. Cirecie Olatunji (Education) will use a Web-based management system for Advanced Theories of Personality for graduate counseling students. At present, this course is taught incorporating weekly reflections on class experiences sent via electronic mail, with a mid-term group project in which students are encouraged to use PowerPoint for class presentation, and audio- and videotape case illustrations. By incorporating a Web-based course management system, this course will include a course website, a series of on-line chats with contemporary theorists in the counseling field, usage of Web-based resources, on-going discussion threads, and online assessments.

Dr. Paul McCreary (Mathematics) worked with Xavier students and local high school students and teachers during summer 2000 to develop a design document for a technology project that involves a computer algebra system for high school and college students. The project will also include a tutoring and consulting service.

Ms. Vera Walker (Communications) will use a Web-based course management system for Speech 1010. Ms. Walker will use PowerPoint lecture notes, online testing, and e-mail to enhance student communication and knowledge.

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