I've been teaching our capstone level History course since 1995, and like Paul, it is completely discussion-based. Participation is 20% of the grade, and evaluated daily. 65% of the final grade comes from 3 analytical papers that students submit and another 15% is from a presentation at the end of the semester.
I got away from the heavy names-and-dates model some time ago, and the course is much better as a result. Class periods are centered around a variety of critical thinking questions on a given topic (using Hergenhahn's text), with students first discussing responses within small teams and then all groups presenting their ideas to the entire class. I can go into a lot more detail (e.g., syllabi, sample outlines, etc.) off-list if you want; feel free to e-mail me. Cheers, Lou - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Dr. Lou Manza Professor & Chair of Psychology Lebanon Valley College 101 N. College Avenue, Annville, PA 17003 Phone: 717.867.6193 | Fax: 717.867.6894 | [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> | www.lvc.edu<http://www.lvc.edu/> This message may contain confidential or privileged information. Unless you are the addressee (or authorized to receive the information on behalf of the addressee), you may not use, copy or disclose the information to anyone. If you received this message in error, please advise the sender by reply email, and delete or destroy the message. Thank you. </ ________________________________ From: Paul C Bernhardt [[email protected]] You don’t indicate the level of the class. I have been teaching it as one of our capstone courses for seniors. Therefore, YMMV. I do a strict discussion format. No lecture at all. I treat it as if all students have read before coming into the room and I raise questions about various historical turns, outside historical issues that may have influenced psychology, ask students to compare and contrast, etc. Students are graded daily for participation (though I’ll probably go for a weekly grade in the future to reduce my evaluation load and their stress). I am fortunate that the class is generally small (about 15 students). I use a short and to-the-point text that reduces the ancient history a bit and has chapters for material after 1960 when most other texts appear to think the history of psychology ended. (A Brief History of Psychology, 5th edition by Wertheimer (2012). ISBN 9781848728752). I think this encourages the students to actually read (though I see a lot of them cramming in the hallway before class). In the past I’ve done a ‘history of psychology at our school’ project. But, it is played out. I’m considering, but not sure I have the energy to create, a “Reacting to the Past” type activity. It is a role play in which the students take on personas connected to an event in history and then play their roles as the event’s elements unfold. They must know that person well to do a good job on it. But, creating that kind of activity is extremely time consuming… probably not in the coming semester. (Search Reacting to the Past) to find out more about this ingenious program that has been largely used in history classes, among others. The issue you raise with students remembering all the names and dates is very problematic. I’m not happy with their scoring on specific points of historical note, either. I’m not sure how I want to address it in future semesters. I’d love to see other’s ideas. On Jan 8, 2015, at 12:10 PM, Ken Steele <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: from Ken Steele: Hi all: I took over a History and Systems class (Yes, Chris, that is the title) in the middle of last semester on an emergency basis. I followed the syllabus of the original instructor. It seemed to follow a common format. The initial 3/4 of the semester was lecture and the last 1/4 was student presentations of classic studies. I could see that most students hated having to sit through the presentations. In addition, the memory load of names and facts was overwhelming for many students. I will need to teach the class again this semester and I have been searching for a different approach on the STP and SHoP sites without much luck. Syllabi are either very similar to the one I used or are very individual, having been developed over many years. My idea is that I want students participating from the beginning (whether doing presentations or involved in projects) to avoid the 12 weeks of lecture/3 weeks of presentations approach. If you know of such an approach then I would be grateful if you could share it with me. Ken PS - The assigned textbook is by Schultz and Schultz. --- 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=41444 or send a blank email to leave-41444-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
