Download The Boathouse Muder

The Boathouse Murder
Mixing Student Learning, Fun, and Detective Work
Jay Wildt
ACA Summit - Asheville
About Me…
• RRT, RPFT
• The University of
Charleston
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Business
Leadership
Ethics
Natural Science
• Politically Incorrect
Biology
• Love to play!
• I AM a student!
Research Interests
• First Year Experience
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Engagement
Persistence
Learning
Student satisfaction
Humor in Pedagogy
• Application to FY students
and outcome attainment
regarding Science
• A few other findings…
Things I have found to be true…
Other truths…
Mores findings…
University of Charleston
• Undergraduate and
Graduate Degrees
• Diverse
• Modern
• Technologically
Supportive
• Pedagogically
Innovative
• A Great Place to Work!
UC’s First Year Experience
• Mentoring Groups
• Peer Educators
• First year Co-Curricullar
Activities
• FYE Courses
• Humanities
• Social Science
• Natural Science
• Portfolio Building
• LLO’s
• Embedded Outcome
Attainment
UC’s Liberal Learning Outcomes
and Natural Science
Citizenship
Communication
Science
•Writing Portfolios
(COMM 101 &
COMM 102)
(Biology)
Ethical Practice
Creativity
Critical Thinking
• Student centered
learning
• Roundtable Process
• Assessment
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Rubrics
Primary Trait Analyses
Portfolios
The ePortfolio
• Chalk and Wire
The Course – Politically Incorrect
Biology (NSCI 115)
• Provides attainment of:
– Science (Biology)
outcome for non-science
majors
– Communication
outcomes
• COMM 101 or COMM 102
• COMM 103 (partial)
– Critical Thinking
outcome
NSCI 115 Learning Strategies
• Writing as Assessment
– Autosomal Recessive
Disorders
– Environmental Issues
– Henrietta Lacks (ethical
issues in science)
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Lab Experiences
Film
MERL
The Boathouse Murder
The Boathouse Murder
• Similar to many other
HS and college exercises
• Make it unique & fun!
• Hands on
• Gain experience in
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Problem solving
Group work
Speaking
Crime Scene Analysis
The Assignment
• Decide on team name
• Perform Analysis in
Groups
• Determine Perpetrator
• Develop Introduction
• Build PP to help
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Describe suspects
Explain processes
Announce results
Show motive
The Scenario
It Was a Dark and Stormy Night…
• The Overview
• Suspects are named
• Two days of in-class
investigation (Blood type,
fingerprint analysis, DNA
mapping)
• One week of presentation
development
• One day of in-class
presentation preparation
and practice
• Presentation day
Crime Scene Analysis
• Blood Typing
• Fingerprint Analysis
• DNA Electrophoresis
Mapping
The Presentations
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The Introduction
Process Description
Culprit
My Assessment
– Rubrics
• Communication
• Assignment specific rubric
• The winner is…
A few examples…
• Team Introduction
– Team Free Eric
– UC CSI
• PowerPoint
Presentation
– Team NIU B
Working Toward Group Goals
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Effective Interpersonal Skills
Group Maintenance
Communicates commitment to group goals
and works hard to carry out assigned roles.
Actively helps identify group goals.
Actively promotes effective group interaction
and participates in group interaction without
prompting. Expresses ideas and opinions in a
way that is sensitive to the feelings and
knowledge base of others.
Takes initiative to identify changes or
modifications necessary in the group process and
works toward carrying out those changes.
Communicates commitment to group goals
and effectively carries out assigned roles.
Participates in group interaction without
prompting. Expresses ideas and opinions in a
way that is sensitive to the feelings and
knowledge base of others.
Helps identify changes or modifications necessary
in the group process and works toward carrying
out those changes.
Communicates a commitment to group goals
but does not carry out assigned roles.
Participates in group interaction with prompting
or expresses ideas and opinions without
considering the feelings and knowledge base of
others.
When prompted, helps identify changes or
modifications necessary in group process, or is
only minimally involved in carrying out those
changes.
Does not communicate commitment to group
goals and does not carry out assigned roles.
Does not participate in group interaction, even
with prompting, or expresses ideas and
opinions in a way that is insensitive to the
feelings or knowledge base of others.
Does not attempt to identify changes or
modifications necessary in the group process,
even when prompted, or refuses to work toward
carrying out those changes.
Group Process Rubric
• Working toward goals
• Effective interpersonal communication
• Group maintenance
UC Holistic Speaking Rubric
Speaking Rubric
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Idea development
Non-verbal and verbal message consistency
Audience awareness (organization of ideas; language, etc. appropriate for setting)
Use of feedback
Student Reactions to Experience
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“Didn’t seem like schoolwork”
“Great fun”
“How does this apply to Science?”
“Will this be on the test?”
“But I’m not going in to criminal science”
“One of my group members did not
contribute”
Final Analysis
• Experiences like this are a work in progress
• Be aware of the school climate and individual
student reaction to “murder”
• Be flexible
• Be generous with praise
• Be open to failure – it too is a learning experience
• Assess in a transparent, consistent manner
• Be willing to be taught by your students
– For example
New Words – New Ideas
• Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which
renders the subject financially impotent for an
indefinite period of time
• Intaxicaton : Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which
lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.
• Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through
the day consuming only things that are good for you.
• Sarchasm : The gulf between the author of sarcastic
wit and the person who doesn't get it.
Old Words – New Ideas
• Coffee, n. The person upon whom one coughs
• Flabbergasted, adj. Appalled by discovering
how much weight one has gained
• Frisbeetarianism, n. The belief that, after
death, the soul flies up onto the roof and gets
stuck there
• Abdicate, v. To give up all hope of ever having
a flat stomach
Thank You!
Questions?