WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
CIIA > SHOWCASE INDEX > SHOWCASE 2003
Center for Instructional
Innovation and Assessment

INNOVATIVE TEACHING SHOWCASE

2003
2004
ISSUE 05

This year's Showcase theme, Ties that Bind: Faculty-Student Collaboration at WWU, features instructors who chose to collaborate with students in very different, sometimes nontraditional ways.

THEME 

Mark Bussell, a Professor in the Chemistry Department, and two undergraduates in Chemistry, Melissa Pease and Autumn Burns, have worked collaboratively on original research designed to create cleaner burning fuels.


Dawn Dietrich, an Associate Professor in the English Department, and Tony Prichard, a graduate student in the English Department, have collaboratively taught English 364, Introduction to Film Studies. This collaboration has allowed them to model critical analysis of film for their students, and has greatly enriched the classroom experience for all.


Joyce Hammond, a Professor in the Department of Anthropology, and two graduate students, Maria Hicks and Jason Miller, were co-developers and co-teachers of a new field methods course called Participatory Action Research. By developing shared research and working cooperatively with others to create desired changes, students are better prepared for their future careers.


Mike Mana, from the Psychology Department, spent a summer working with Kyle Nelson, an undergraduate student, to fine tune the assessment tools that he uses in his Topics in Physiological Psychology course. Beginning with developing learning objectives and learning outcomes, then moving through the design of assessment tools that could be used to improve the course, they dramatically changed the way the course was taught.

Students must be expected to take responsibility for their learning through the process of "meaning-making" about the knowledge and skills they are learning as part of their higher education. Faculty must learn to listen to the voices of their students, and, as a result, attend to the learning needs and goals of today's students. Ultimately, student-faculty collaboration is about respect, trust, and relationship.


—Kris Bulcroft, Western Washington University, Showcase Theme