Section 5: Trends and Issues in Various Settings

1. Rapid prototyping is using a workable model of the final product to help guide the development of it or shells that show the final appearance of a project.  One example of this is a building model.  Our church has a model of what the new church will look like and the area that it will take up.  This is an example of rapid prototyping.  This model is used to show how many people it will hold.  It also allows for people to point out any concerns/problems they foresee about the building before it is built.   One way rapid prototyping can be used in education is to have a model assessment to help create a summative assessment.  For example, our district gives us an assessment to give after each Math unit.  We use this as a model.   After we have finished reviewing it, usually it changes quite a bit.  We usually change the wording to match what we want to assess.   Sometimes we add or delete problems.  This model gives us  starting point and saves time.  By the end of the process we have a really good assessment for our students.
2. If I were a consultant working for the military, I would try incorporate technology in the different environments as much as possible.  Of course, the easiest place to do this would be the classroom.  I would use the best technology for learning the skills when the students were in the classroom training.  The base would be an environment for the students to get more hands on training and a place that could simulated to best represent the environment they are learning about.  Some technology could be used here then they could practice what they learned on the base.  The environment where they were deployed may or may not have access to technology.  If there is access, students could learn the skill and practice it in the environment.  However, if it was an environment of combat out in the dessert, they would have to rely on alternatives such as paper and pencil or hands on informal training.   An example of this might be how to operate a vehicle such as a tank.  Another example would be learning how to operate a type of gun.   Although technology may be the best type of training, one would have to use whatever means is available in that situation.  This is where one will have to be flexible and make it work!
3. Teachers will be introduced to the Step Up To Excellence methodology and GSTE by writing a five step improvement plan on how they can make a change to improve their school.  They would be given the steps for each model and descriptions.  Then they would be broken up into groups according to each step.  Each group would be responsible for writing a plan and giving examples for their step.  Once they had completed their section, they would share the description for each step and their vision for their part.  This would allow each group to become familiar with one part of the process and others would learn from them.  I am a true believer that we internalize more once we have studied it and discussed it.  I would facilitate the staff development and ask questions to guide new learning.   

Outline of Staff Development:
1.  Introduce Step Up To Excellence and GSTE
2.  Break staff into groups
3.  Give each group information about their section.
4.  Staff reads part
5.  Staff brainstorms ideas and records them on chart paper
6.  Share results
7. Facilitate learning


4.   The following are University offices for faculty development: for more information visit the websites below.

Harvard University http://www.faculty.harvard.edu/

• It is named Faculty Development and Diversity
• This department is under Central Administration and is the office of senior vice provest
• Provides leaership and oversight for faculty affairs
• They meet anywhere from once a month to four times a month.  Some of the programs offered include:  Academic Uses of Social Media:  Exploring 21st century communications, Junior Faculty Lunch, Book Publishing Advice, From Dissertation to Book

Azusa Pacific University  http://www.apu.edu/facultydevelopment/

• It is named Office of Faculty Development
• It is under the office of provest
• The Office of Faculty Development provides professional development opportunities for a faculty in the areas of teaching, learning, and scholarship
• Regular workshops, panel discussions and seminars are held regularly throughout the year

Drexel University http://www.drexel.edu/fde/Faculty%20Resources.html

• It is named the Office of Faculty Development and Equity
• It is under the office of provest
• This office creates a supportive and diverse environment for over 1,000 scholars who comprise Drexel's faculty
• Seminars and workshops are offered every few months.  There are also online resources that can be accessed by the faculty