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Blended Learning Series

Blended learning has come to mean everything from web-enhanced face-to-face learning to, but not including, courses that are fully online. Integrating online technologies can enhance and enrich learning; online tools also help differentiate instruction. A recent meta-analysis reported by the U.S. Department of Education found that blended learning produced higher performance on learning outcomes than either online or face-to-face learning.

The Blended Learning Series, co-sponsored by IT, is offered from 8:30-10:00 on Third Wednesdays in Lindell 202, and includes the following spring workshops:

January 18 – Digital Video and Audio Tools (Scott Krenz and Nathan Lind)
February 15 – Web Access: Universal Online Design Principles (Hans Wiersma, Eric Strom, and CLASS resources)
March 14 – Online Assessment Techniques and Academic Integrity (Scott Krajewski and Emily Hoisington)

If you plan to attend any of these sessions, please rsvp to Sarah Hedstrom (hedstrom@augsburg.edu)

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Leadership Series

This series is designed for all campus leaders, and is offered on Tuesdays. It includes the following spring sessions:

January 17, 2011, OGC100, 4:00-6:00 – Relationship Building: Developing Intercultural Competence (Karen Lokkesmoe)
February 14, 2012, OGC100, 4:00-6:00 – Influencing: Adapting to Interpersonal Differences (Brad Lashbrook)
March 13, 2012, Marshall, 4:00-6:00 – Executing: Leading Teams (Aaron Griess)
April 24, 2012, Marshall, 4:15-6:00 – Innovating: Facilitating Social Change (Paul Pribbenow)

For more information, please contact Velma Lashbrook (lashbroo@augsburg.edu). To rsvp for this series, please contact Sarah Hedstrom (hedstrom@augsburg.edu).

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CTL/Dean Grant Deadlines

International Travel Grant Applications due January 15
Two competitive grants are available for international travel during FY13 (June 1, 2012-M1y 31, 2013). These grants pay up to $2000 toward travel to present at an international conference. Applications should be submitted using the standard applications for Professional Travel on the CTL website. Those applications dated January 15 or earlier will be considered for this award.

Dean's Internationalization Summer Travel Applications due January 15
Two competitive internationalization travel grants (up to $2500 for airfare) are available to support teaching, scholarship, or service collaboration with Augsburg International Programs or Partner Institutions that facilitate internationalizing the Augsburg campus and curriculum. Applications are due January 15.

Hoversten Peace Seminar Applications due February 1
The next biennial Hoversten Peace Seminar will be June 1-9, 2012 in El Salvador. This is an opportunity for faculty, staff, and students to experience a Center for Global Education (CGE) program together, at a subsidized cost ($1090 for faculty and staff, $890 for students). The deadline for applications is February 1. More information is available on the CGE website (http://www.augsburg.edu/global/).

Faculty Summer Scholarship Grant Applications due March 15
Two Dean's Summer Scholarship Grants ($4000) and two Grangaard Summer Scholarship Grants ($2000) are available to support faculty summer scholarship activities. Applications should be submitted electronically no later than March 15. For more information and to receive an application form, contact Velma Lashbrook (lashbroo@augsburg.edu.)

Instructional & Course Design Grant Proposals due March 15
Up to eight Instructional and Course Design Grants ($3000 each) are available to support faculty summer course design activities, using L. Dee Fink's Creating Significant Learning Experiences and D. Randy Garrison & Norman D. Vaughan's Blended Learning in Higher Education. The purpose of these grants is to support the development of instructional design skills, as well as their application to a specific course. Tim Pippert and Cari Maguire serve as consultants for grant recipients. Applications are due no later than March 15. For more information and a proposal form, and to submit applications, contact Velma Lashbrook (lashbroo@augsburg.edu).

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Special Writing Lab Hours Next Week

Because some students begin classes this weekend, the Writing Lab will offer special hours next week. Tutors will be available to help with any writing task from Monday, Jan. 9, through Friday, Jan. 13, 5:30 - 8 pm each day. The Lab is located on the street level of Lindell Library, just left of the circulation desk. No appointments are necessary; just bring whatever you are working on!

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Embedding Diversity and Global Learning

This series of workshops focuses on Augsburg's Model of Diversity and Global Learning and how it is being used to help embed diversity and global learning in the curriculum and co-curriculum. These sessions will be held from 3:15--5:00 on Mondays.

January 30, Riverside - Interpersonal Competence – using Intergroup Dialogue and other communication tools to develop empathy and improve relations with others (Laura Boisen, Nancy Rodenborg, and Vivian Jenkins-Nelson)
February 20, OGC 100, - Intercultural Competence – using cultural immersion to develop better understanding of other cultures (Orv Gingerich and Cheryl Leuning)
April 2, OGC 100 – Personal Competence – using self-assessment tools to better understand self (Tom Morgan and Velma Lashbrook)

To rsvp for these sessions, please contact Sarah Hedstrom (hedstrom@augsburg.edu).

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Spring Mindful Dialogue and Reading Circles

Mindful Dialogues – A New Culture of Learning
Douglas Thomas and John Seeley Brown's A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change, led by Annette Gerten.

Mindful Dialogues is a series of conversations designed to collectively examine issues relevant to higher education. During the spring, is leading dialogues on. James Duderstadt, President Emeritus of the University of Michigan described this work as, "A provocative and extremely important new paradigm of a ‘culture of learning,' appropriate for a world characterized by continual change. This is a must read for anyone interested in the future of education."

All sessions are held from 2:00-3:30 on Thursdays in Lindell 202. Each session includes a facilitated conversation about the reading and healthy snacks. Sessions will be held:

January 19 – Arc-of-Life Learning, A Tale of Two Cultures, and Embracing Change (Ch. 1-3)
February 16 – Learning in the Collective and The Personal With the Collective, and (Ch. 4-5)
March 15 – We Know More Than We Can Say; Knowing, Making, and Playing; and Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out (Ch. 6-8)
April 12 – A New Culture of Learning for a World of Constant Change (Ch. 9)

If you would like to participate in these sessions, please contact Sarah Hedstrom (hedstrom@augsburg.edu).


The Humanities and Democracy
Martha Nussbaum's Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities, organized by Marty Stortz and Merilee Klemp.

In this brief, but rich book, Martha Nussbaum argues the importance of the humanities to democracy. She believes that Americans increasingly treat education as though its primary goal were to teach students to be economically productive rather than to think critically and become knowledgeable and empathic citizens. She argues that this focus on profitable skills has eroded our ability to criticize authority, reduced our sympathy with the marginalized and different, and damaged our competence to deal with complex global problems. The loss of these basic capacities jeopardizes the health of democracy.

Faculty and staff are invited to participate in sessions to discuss this book and take a trip to St. Scholastica in Duluth, MN to hear Nussbaum lecture on February 23rd. By asking faculty/staff to lead each session, we hope not only to discuss her thesis, but to demonstrate it. Sessions will be held:

January 17, OGC 113, 3:40-5:00 pm – 1: The Silent Crisis (Marty Stortz & Merilee Klemp) and 2: Education for Profit, Education for Democracy (Jacqui DeVries)
January 31, OGC 100, 3:40-5:00 pm –3: Educating Citizens and 4: Socratic Pedagogy (Phil Adamo & Matt Haines)
February 7, OGC 100, 3:40-5:00 pm - 5: Citizens of the World and 6. Cultivating Imagination (John Schmit)
February 21, OGC 100, 3:40-5:00 pm –Implications for Augsburg (Marty Stortz & Merilee Klemp)
February 23, 7:30 pm, Mitchell Auditorium, St. Scholastica, Duluth, MN – "Why Democracy Needs the Humanities" (Martha Nussbaum)

To register for this book group, please contact Sarah Hedstrom (hedstrom@augsburg.edu).


Social Learning
David Brooks' The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Virtue led by Jacqui DeVries.

Wednesday, January 25, 12:15-1:15, OGC 100
Thursday, February 23, 3:10-4:30, OGC 100
Wednesday, March 28, 12:15-1:15, OGC 112
Thursday, April 19, 3:10-4:30, OGC 100

New York Times columnist Brooks attempts in The Social Animal to explain why so many of our contemporary social problems and inequalities have proven so intractable. Weaving insights from sociology, psychology, history and brain science into an engaging narrative reminiscent of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Emile (a classic study of how people learn), Brooks tries to "explain how these findings about the deepest recesses of our minds should change the way we see ourselves, raise our kids, conduct business, teach, manage our relationships and practice politics." His work is certainly not without critics, but his insights and findings can be valuable to educators, who grapple on a daily basis with the implications of his observation that "we're not rational animals, or laboring animals; we're social animals. We emerge out of relationships and live to bond with each other and connect to larger ideas."

To register for this book group, please contact Sarah Hedstrom (hedstrom@augsburg.edu).

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Ideas about Inclusiveness

This series of conversations is designed to help faculty and staff understand how to create an inclusive learning community that values all of its members. It includes discussions of teaching, advising, and coaching skills; and dialogues about specific differences and how they impact a sense of inclusiveness. This series includes a number of well-received sessions presented at the Creating and Inclusive Campus Conference last May.

The spring sessions will be held on Mondays 12:00-1:15.

January 23, OGC 100 - Matt Maruggi and Lori Brandt Hale, Religion, "The V-Word Dialogues: Teaching and Practicing Pluralism in the Classroom"
February 6, OGC 100 - Sheila Fox Wassink, CLASS, and panel, "Mentoring Students with Psychiatric Disabilities"
February 20, OGC 100 - Cari Maguire, New Programs, "Effective Strategies for ESL and Generation 1.5 Students"
If you plan to attend any of these sessions, please rsvp to Sarah Hedstrom (hedstrom@augsburg.edu).

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CTL Night at the Theater - February 9

During both fall and spring semesters, CTL buys tickets to an Augsburg theater production and offers them to faculty, staff, and their significant others. Theater offers a unique way of learning or knowing – from stories that touch our hearts and mind. Experiencing it together adds a social dimension that allows us to discover what the stories mean to others and what new possibilities they see. Through theater we can be healed and transformed, as well as entertained. In addition to the performance, participants engage in an informal reception and discussion with the director and cast. All productions are in the Tjornhom-Nelson Theater. This spring, we have reserved tickets for:

February 9, 2012 - 365 Days/365 Plays, Directed by Martha Johnson
In the fall of 2002, Suzan-Lori Parks (Pulitzer-prize winning playwright) decided to take on the challenge of writing one play a day for a full year. 365 Days/365 Plays is the successful result, featuring 365 short plays whimsically exploring such divergent topics as sex, war, fairy tales, Indian mythology, American historical figures, love, politics, race, contemporary celebrities--and numerous other issues from American life. The world premiere of these plays was an extraordinary event: From 2006 to 2007 more than 700 theaters in major cities across America performed various pieces or sections from Parks' cycle. This production we will include selections from this body of work to create an entertaining, thought-provoking, and imaginative assortment of contemporary theater pieces.

Reservations are taken on a first-come, first-served basis. If you would like to attend this production, please contact Sarah Hedstrom (hedstrom@augsburg.edu).

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Well-Being Series

CTL sponsors a series focused on well-being. It includes a broad look at well-being based on Rath & Harter's book Well-Being: The Five Essential Elements. This monthly series is held 12:00-1:30 pm on the second or third Friday in the Augsburg Room, and includes a copy of the book and a diagnostic. It consists of the following spring sessions:

January 20 – Social Well-Being (Glenda Rooney)
February 17 – Financial Well-Being (Ashok Kapoor and Stephanie Ruckel)
March 16 – Physical Well-Being (Tony Clapp)
April 13 – Community Well-Being (Andrea Turner)

If you would like to participate in these sessions, please contact Sarah Hedstrom (hedstrom@augsburg.edu). If you sign up, you are expected to attend at least 4 sessions.

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Billy Mills Event

Billy Mills, 1964 Olympic Gold Medalist in 10,000 Meter run, will present here at Augsburg College on Friday, January 13, 2012 at 7 PM in the Chapel. He is an amazing speaker who motivates and inspires by telling his story. Please join us!! Free and open to everyone!!

Billy Mills was born and raised on the Pine Ridge (Lakota) Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Although Pine Ridge is very rich in culture and spirit, it is continually recognized economically as one of the poorest communities in America with unemployment reaching 80%.

Billy was orphaned by the age of 12 and sent to boarding schools. He graduated from high school at Haskell Indian School. Billy became involved in distance running and earned an athletic scholarship to the University of Kansas. Never winning a major race in track and field or cross country, he continued to show promise by his performances, making NCAA and AAU All-American seven times. Upon graduating from the University of Kansas, Billy was commissioned an officer in the United States Marine Corps., and continued training for the Olympic Team. He made the Olympic Team in two events, the marathon and the 10,000 meter run. He had trained his body, mind, and soul for "Peak Performance." And the world was about to see the greatest upset in Olympic history unfold.

Today Billy is an accomplished businessman, author, and National Spokesperson for Christian Relief Services. As National Spokesperson, he has helped raise over 500 million dollars in cash and in-kind for charities worldwide. He has received five honorary doctorates, and is the recipient of the Distinguished Service Citation, the highest honor that the University of Kansas Alumni Association can bestow upon an individual to acknowledge outstanding achievement for the betterment of mankind. A major motion picture has been made about Billy, titled "Running Brave," and has been a positive influence on many of our American youth. Billy Mills was recognized on several end-of-the-millennium lists, including being chosen as Sports Illustrated's Athlete of the Century for the state of South Dakota and Runners World Magazine the second greatest Olympic moment. In 2009, his race was chosen by Running Times Magazine as the greatest distance race on the track in the history of the Olympics. He is the only person from the Western Hemisphere to ever win the Olympic 10,000 Meter Run.

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For Rent: 2-room Suite, River View, Quiet 'Hood

Beautiful 2-room suite with hardwood floors. Suite includes private deck that overlooks wooded backyard, lily pond, Mississippi River. Pet-friendly. Quiet neighborhood, private home. Flower gardens, fenced back yard. $600/month. Option to have private bathroom for additional $50/month. Full details on Craigslist at:
http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/ram/roo/2780894383.html

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