>On Sat, 26 Jan 2002, Charlotte Manly wrote:
>
>> Louis,
>>
>> Interesting.  I didn't realize you spent so much time on community
>> building.  (There's probably a big literature on forming effective
>> groups too.)  But one question: where is it all leading? 
>
>Ah, the game's afoot.

Not really.  I don't have much time for games.  Have you spent much time with junior 
faculty lately?

>
>What can you
>> do in a class that has these communities that you can't do using the
>> more usual approaches to classroom discussion?
>
>Bear with me because I'm not talking about a pedagogy per se

Okay.  So you build community and you enjoy teaching (in the broadest sense of the 
word) and your students enjoy learning (in the broadest sense for at least some of 
them) and you don't have a problem with attendance at a large and probably 
anonymous-feeling university, so obviously your community-building is effective.  I'll 
guess that when you get to the subject matter, you have classroom discussions that are 
more wide-ranging (possibly conceptually deeper) and that involve more students more 
actively than is usual for this class size (maybe even for any class size).  I don't 
know that, but that is what I would expect and it would be one of the first things I'd 
measure.  (Come to think of it, is this a GenEd class or an elective or one for 
majors?  And what year are the students?)  And you don't have an explicit goal at this 
point.

It's an interesting idea; I'll file it away for future reference.

Charlotte

> >
>> And btw, how big are your classes?  And how big (or anonymous) is your campus?
>
>Classes:  40-55
>Campus:  10,000
>
>Make it a good day.
>
>                                                       --Louis--
>
>
>Louis Schmier                     www.therandomthoughts.com
>Department of History             www.halcyon.com/arborhts/louis.html
>Valdosta State University        
>Valdosta, GA  31698                           /~\        /\ /\
>229-333-5947                       /^\      /     \    /  /~\  \   /~\__/\
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>
>
>
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-- 
=================================================
Charlotte F. Manly, Ph.D.                      Psychological & Brain Sciences
Assistant Professor                                317 Life Sciences Bldg
ph: (502) 852-8162                                 University of Louisville
fax: (502) 852-8904                                Louisville, KY  40292
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.louisville.edu/a-s/psychology/
http://www.louisville.edu/~cfmanl01


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