Part+1+-+Introduction

** I. Introduction **
 * Identify the purpose and primary audience for your portfolio
 * The purpose of my portfolio is to be a gathering place for all of the strategies and ideas that I've learned about in my BP classes and in my first three semesters of teaching VHS - Introduction to Psychology
 * My primary audience will be my colleagues in this course.
 * This site will also serve as a place for me to reflect and try out new ideas.
 * Identify the standards or goals that will be used to organize your portfolio.
 * I plan to organize my portfolio by instructional strategies, such as discussion starters, podcasts, screencasts, wikis, etc.
 * I hope to choose one lesson or course area from my current VHS class to update for each of the strategies.
 * Select the technologies you will use to present your portfolio.
 * screencasting, using Jing
 * shared documents, using GoogleDocs
 * podcasting, using GarageBand or Audacity
 * collaboration, using wikispaces

** II. Description: ** **//Note//**: This course is intended to teach and reinforce crucial academic skills to help students strengthen their background in the subject area prior to taking an advanced level course.
 * Review and describe the course description of the online course in which you are completing your practicum

Introduction to Psychology is a course designed to prepare students for the study of psychology at the college level. The focus of the course will be on mastering necessary academic skills that will assist the student in furthering his/her study of the subject. Such skills include reading for understanding and note taking, critical thinking and problem solving, researching and writing, thesis statement writing and essay structure, etc. Basic psychology vocabulary terms are introduced, and content emphasis is placed on building the students’ background in the subject area so that he/she is prepared for an advanced course.

__[|Syllabus]__


 * What do incoming students know about the course from the course description? Is it accurate? Is it appropriate? What is the "hook" that makes students pick this course over other courses?
 * I think that student will get a good idea of what the course is about. The description is accurate but I'm not so sure that it is appropriate. There is no "hook" or something that makes students want to take the course. However, the course always has a waiting list. I believe that is more of a testament to the popularity of the subject matter than the VHS catalog description.
 * To what degree can a course outline prepare a student for "self-reliant" learning?
 * A good course outline could prepare students for self-reliant learning by describing the technologies used, the problems and topics addressed, and the skills needed. Students will be able to see if the course is a good match for their learning style and for their skill set.
 * The description also includes the broad objectives for each week along with listing some of the activities.
 * A "learning-centered" syllabus can be an important learning tool that will reinforce the intentions roles, attitudes and strategies that you will use to promote active, purposeful, effective learning. How does the course description support this "learning-centered" approach?
 * I don't think that my course description supports the learning-cented approach but after a bit of research I'm not so sure the description would be the correct place for such a document. I do, however, like the learned-centered format and have done a little research on it so that I can rewrite my syllabus following some of the suggestions.
 * I found a good resource in Iowa State University's [|Learning-Centered Syllabi Workshop] [] and plan to incorporate some of their ideas as I rewrite my syllabus.