Associate Editor: Tell us your perspective on creating your textbook, Digital Logic with Laboratory Exercises, with Global Text Project.
Dr. Jim Feher: What can I say, I may be biased, but I think the Global Text Project (GTP) is just a fantastic organization. I've always been a huge proponent of open source software and the free exchange of ideas that is made possible by using the Creative Commons License. So when I was thinking about writing a lab manual and came across the GTP, I was immediately excited about the possibility of working with them to release my manual.
When I contacted the GTP, I was impressed. Not only did I find an organization with an underlying philosophy of making materials freely available that I agreed with; I also found a group that had in infrastructure in place that was able to assist me in the development and distribution of my text. Because the helpful and knowledgeable staff at GTP was able to help in assembling of my materials, I was able to concentrate on writing the text and not get bogged down in so much of the formatting required for the project.
The entire process of writing my text was very rewarding and I look forward to the opportunity to enhance my current edition or starting a new text. I would strongly encourage anyone considering writing a text to look into working with the GTP. They will not only help provide valuable assistance in developing the text, you will also know that your efforts are more likely
to reach a vast audience that could not otherwise afford quality texts.
This is multi-part series, keep checking back! More to come from Dr. Jim Feher!
Dr. Feher teaches Computer Science at McKendree University in Lebanon, Illinois, USA.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Frank W. Spencer PHD on GTP text Educational Psychology, a review
Posted August 13, on his blog (http://www.frankwspencer.com/)
"As part of the Global Text Project, Kelvin Seifert and Rosemary Sutton have written Educational Psychology: Second Edition. It is a textbook, covering such topics as student development, diversity, special needs, classroom management, instructional methods, assessment, and teaching thinking skills. It is written for teachers. I'll concentrate on the chapter, Facilitating Complex Thinking. The authors distinguish three types of thinking: critical thinking, creative thinking, and problem solving. Metacognition, or considering your own thinking, is seen as an important part of critical thinking. Creative thinking is discussed in terms of divergent thinking. Finally, problem solving is described through the use of the nine dot and four lines problem. Well-structured and ill-structured problems are distinguished, with ill-structured problems usually having more possible solutions, and requiring more creative thinking. Some strategies to teach for problem solving are problem analysis (breaking it down into parts), working backward from the final solution, and analogical thinking, or using the solutions to similar problems that you have solved in the past.
Later on in the chapter, Seifert and Sutton give a good example of using concept maps. They present a concept map of child development as drawn by a teacher and one as drawn by a professor at a university. The maps themselves and the differences between the maps are interesting illustrations of how we use connections between ideas to understand. Madeline Hunter's effective teaching model is presented, consisting of (1) prepare students, (2) present information, (3) check for understanding, (4) give guided practice, and (5) provide for independent practice. This educator (Hunter) is an interesting person to learn about. Near the end of the chapter, inquiry learning and cooperative learning are discussed. Some strategies for encouraging cooperative learning are presented. This chapter is good to read, even if you don't have time to read the whole book, and the price is right. Overall, the book gives a good introduction to the use of psychological information in the teaching process."
For more from Frank W. Spencer, a school psychologist and private practitioner, please check out his blog (http://www.frankwspencer.com/).
"As part of the Global Text Project, Kelvin Seifert and Rosemary Sutton have written Educational Psychology: Second Edition. It is a textbook, covering such topics as student development, diversity, special needs, classroom management, instructional methods, assessment, and teaching thinking skills. It is written for teachers. I'll concentrate on the chapter, Facilitating Complex Thinking. The authors distinguish three types of thinking: critical thinking, creative thinking, and problem solving. Metacognition, or considering your own thinking, is seen as an important part of critical thinking. Creative thinking is discussed in terms of divergent thinking. Finally, problem solving is described through the use of the nine dot and four lines problem. Well-structured and ill-structured problems are distinguished, with ill-structured problems usually having more possible solutions, and requiring more creative thinking. Some strategies to teach for problem solving are problem analysis (breaking it down into parts), working backward from the final solution, and analogical thinking, or using the solutions to similar problems that you have solved in the past.
Later on in the chapter, Seifert and Sutton give a good example of using concept maps. They present a concept map of child development as drawn by a teacher and one as drawn by a professor at a university. The maps themselves and the differences between the maps are interesting illustrations of how we use connections between ideas to understand. Madeline Hunter's effective teaching model is presented, consisting of (1) prepare students, (2) present information, (3) check for understanding, (4) give guided practice, and (5) provide for independent practice. This educator (Hunter) is an interesting person to learn about. Near the end of the chapter, inquiry learning and cooperative learning are discussed. Some strategies for encouraging cooperative learning are presented. This chapter is good to read, even if you don't have time to read the whole book, and the price is right. Overall, the book gives a good introduction to the use of psychological information in the teaching process."
For more from Frank W. Spencer, a school psychologist and private practitioner, please check out his blog (http://www.frankwspencer.com/).
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