We could extend this discussion to teaching activities, structure of courses/course syllabi, rubrics, etc. Few of us invent any really new activities; we usually borrow and adopt to local needs. Do we need to footnote a pair-share activity every time we use it? What about student poster sessions as final activities in lab classes? What about intro psychology textbooks that use the same chapter organization and often organize topics within chapters in near-identical ways? When I read research methods texts, the chapter on quasi-experimental designs nearly always reads like an extended paraphrase of Campbell and Stanley.
The person who develops entirely new activities and presentation styles is novel and creative. The early adopters may be perceived as equally novel and creative, although all they did was recognize a great idea and adapt it. Eventually these become common practice. When every student speaker at every convocation starts to coordinate the speech with a sound track, people will say the performance is stale and derivative. Think of all those Elvis impersonators! :-) Early on, we feel that something should be cited. After multiple adoptions and modifications, it becomes common knowledge. This can be a tricky judgment. I think many students struggle with the idea of when an idea requires a citation and when it is common knowledge. At some point, a transition occurs. How do we define when that line has been crossed and explain it to our students? _____________________________________________ Claudia J. Stanny, Ph.D. Director Center for University Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Associate Professor NSF UWF Faculty ADVANCE Scholar School of Psychological and Behavioral Sciences University of West Florida 11000 University Parkway Pensacola, FL 32514 – 5751 Phone: (850) 857-6355 (direct) or 473-7435 (CUTLA) [email protected] CUTLA Web Site: http://uwf.edu/cutla/ Personal Web Pages: http://uwf.edu/cstanny/website/index.htm --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=27280 or send a blank email to leave-27280-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
