Hi Staci,
Many thanks for your thoughtful reply, and for the specific chemistry
and "muddy point" paper ideas. They are indeed useful, and I will be
certain to pass along to you and the group any ideas I come across or
develop.
Paul
Paul C. King, Instructor
Massasoit Community College
S 537
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(H) 781-784-2195
On Sep 3, 2008, at 5:00 PM, Staci Johnson wrote:
> Hi Paul,
>
> I am fairly new to TBL and am still learning, but I am happy to
> share what I
> have learned and used. I have been using TBL in my biology courses
> for the
> past 2 semesters. I also teach Biology for Non-Majors in our
> Evening Adult
> program at Southern Wesleyan University. This class is 5 4-hour
> sessions
> which covers all of Essential Biology (20 chapters).
>
> I am currently in the 'chemistry' section of a traditional Biology
> for Non-Majors
> course and have a couple of activities that I have used with my class.
> -Our first activity was to make a poster showing covalent, ionic,
> and hydrogen
> bonds. I wanted them to describe these bonds in a way that an
> elementary
> school student would understand. We then posted all of the posters,
> observed them, and talked about what we did and did not like.
> -Our last class period, I had my TAs build fatty acids, glycerol,
> glucose, amino
> acids, and water with molecular models. Each team worked as a
> member of
> the FDA to tell me if a fat-free cake mix could yield the monomers
> in front of
> them. This activity required them to identify each molecular model
> and
> determine which monomers were part of a lipid. We then had class
> discussion
> after teams revealed their 'decision'.
>
> Another tip I received from a wise instructor was to use 'muddiest-
> point'
> papers. The students take a minute at the end of class to write
> the 1 thing
> they are most confused about. It is great information for me to
> know what I
> can help them with - either by posting information online or by
> addressing it
> during our next class period.
>
> I hope this information is helpful to you. If you have a great
> idea of what to
> use in your class, I woud love to know about it. Good luck!
>
> Staci N. Johnson
> Adjunct Professor of Biology
> Southern Wesleyan University
> Phone - 644-5218
> [log in to unmask]
> Office - Brower 123
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