Paige Bodily
Meg VB Wood and Christi Boggs
English 2035
1 March 2016
Aid
and Initiate a Science Initiative
Learning
in a public community can sometimes be tricky. Whether it be secondary
education or higher education, mathematics or the sciences. Teachers of all
levels can struggle to truly help their students master the curriculum. They
are charged with a task to teach many in a limited time with limited materials.
Many higher education systems have created large lecture halls to maximize
space, time, and resources. Some would think of this as a solution. But is it
efficient on all aspects? Are the students learning? Is there a better method
that could allow a professor to teach many and
have the students absorb information? The University of Wyoming’s Learning
Actively Mentorship Program (LAMP) would like to implement a system that
does. This paper will delve into LAMP:
what it is, some of the issues that if faces, and a possible solution to those
issues.
WHAT IS LAMP
LAMP is a group specifically
dedicated to creating a successful active learning environment for the sciences
at the University of Wyoming. Active learning according to
BusinessDictionary.com is “an educational process where students become vigorously
engaged in assimilating the material being taught rather than absorbing it
passively in a lecture format” (WebFinance).
In order to make
this a reality LAMP plans to create an active learning facility, hire
experienced individuals to assist in the transition, and increase enrollment in
seminar courses. First, LAMP wishes to
transform lecture halls into classrooms that can facilitate a positive active
learning environment. The classrooms will consist of tables that allow students
to work in groups, large screens for each table, and a level floor so the
professor has easy access to all tables and groups. This will create the
necessary space in order to make the active learning classrooms successful. Second,
LAMP will hire two extensively experienced instructional facilitators to
demonstrate effective ways to use the classrooms (Watson). They will have
advanced science degrees which will enrich their instruction to the science
professors who will be teaching in the classrooms. Hiring these individuals
will ensure a smooth transition for professors who are accustomed to lecturing
and guarantee the facility will be used the way it was intended. Third, LAMP
anticipates an increase in undergraduate seminar course enrollment due to
different teaching methods, an expected rise in pass/fail rates, and a newfound
excitement for the sciences.
After creating
this new environment complete with classrooms, instructional experts and
students, LAMP will be successful in creating an active learning environment
for the science programs at the University of Wyoming. But these steps might
not be as simple as they seem. LAMP also faces some challenges that need to be
addressed.
PROBLEMS
Even though LAMP has a decent plan in
place it has some weaknesses that affect LAMP’s ability to achieve its goals. Some
of these struggles include clearly communicating its goals (Watson),
“Turning feelings of exclusion to feelings of inclusion” (Watson),
and a lack of web presence.
In regards to
communicating its goals, LAMP’s relationship with the community and with other
faculty is jeopardized. Its relationship with the community is compromised because
the community may not understand LAMP’s goals and how it will positively affect
them, which might lead to the community not supporting LAMP like they could if
they were better informed of LAMP’s goals. The relationship with other faculty
is jeopardized because lack of communication could lead to tension within
university departments. This ties into the second problem: helping other
departments feel included in the initiative. Since LAMP has received
substantial funds to carry out its plan, it seems other departments that are not
involved in LAMP feel left out, and possibly unwanted, which is not LAMP’s intention.
Better communication between departments within and without LAMP might clear up
that feeling of exclusion.
Another important
thing that LAMP is missing is web presence. Right now LAMP has a very small
page on the University of Wyoming’s webpage and what is written on the page is
hard to follow and not easily understood. The program cannot be found anywhere
else online. This lack of web presence affects students and parents, government
officials, and community members that might show interest in the program. With
a web presence that is easily understood and accessible, LAMP will be able to
communicate its goal, market its program, and update the community as the
program progresses.
Overall, LAMP
struggles with communicating its goals, helping other departments feel included
rather than excluded, and it lacks a web presence. Although LAMP has these
gaps, it should not despair because there are solutions.
A SOLUTION
Though there may be many solutions to
these issues, one particular solution could be to reorganize LAMP’s webpage.
Reorganizing the webpage will make it easier to effectively communicate LAMP’s
goals and easier for people to understand those goals.
The University of
Arizona College of Medicine has an “Active Learning Methods” tab under their
education webpage organized by different instructional methods used there (Active Learning Methods (Tucson)). Cornell University
Center for Teaching Excellence also has an “Active Learning” page, however it
is located under the “Engaging Students” tab and is organized in a
question/answer manner and has easy-to-read bullets (Active Learning ). Whittier College is another higher
education school that has an “Active Learning” page on its website (Active Learning).
In all three
cases, active learning tabs were included under the academic or educational
part of the website, which are geared toward prospective students. If LAMP took
a similar approach in establishing a website geared toward prospects that could
be easily located and easily read, it might solve some of its communication
problems. It would also help market the program and gain more students in the
program, thus fulfilling two of its goals.
Therefore,
reorganizing LAMP’s webpage on the University of Wyoming could be one solution
to help LAMP achieve its goals.
CONCLUSION
To conclude, Learning Actively
Mentorship Program (LAMP) is part of a science initiative program that wishes
to expand the University of Wyoming’s science programs and pass/fail rates by
implementing active learning classrooms. While trying to achieve this goal,
LAMP struggles to communicate, has conflict with other departments feeling
excluded, and lacks a web presence. One solution to this goal could be to create
or reorganize a webpage dedicated to explaining the program and that is located
under an academics tab that can be easily located by prospective students. Once
this is accomplished, I hope the awareness of LAMP is increased, the community
will embrace the program, and there will be success in the program for years to
come.
Works
Cited
Active
Learning. Whittier College. 2014. Web. 1 March 2016. <http://www.whittier.edu>.
Active
Learning. Cornell University. 17 December 2015. Web. 1 March
2016. <http://www.cte.cornell.edu>.
Active
Learning Methods (Tucson). The University of Arizona (Arizona
Board of Regents). 2016. Web. 1 March 2016. <http://medicine.arizona.edu>.
Watson, Rachel. “The LAMP Program.” University of Wyoming. Laramie, WY. 4
February 2016.
WebFinance.
Active Learning. Business Dictionary.com
(WebFinance, Inc.). 2016. Web. 1 March 2016.
<http://www.businessdictionary.com>.
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