studying dentistry is a pretty unique thing. when i think about where the lectures and exams lead, i half-disbelievingly laugh: 'we're going to be dentists!' it feels real good.
congrats to us on having a semester in the bag. enjoy the holiday and time away... get some rest, and let's do it again.
25 December 2008
19 November 2008
followup meeting about weekly quizzes
we shared your ideas:
weekly quiz--paper, please
two rooms, please
consistency, please
the implosion of blackboard was 'chaotic', 'a circus', 'a disaster'
66% said that the 'method of admin of that quiz interfered with ability to perform'
50% blackboard success rate
we thanked them many times for making a decision that was tough for them: curbing blackboard-based weekly quizzes for the remainder of the semester.
weekly quiz--paper, please
two rooms, please
consistency, please
the implosion of blackboard was 'chaotic', 'a circus', 'a disaster'
66% said that the 'method of admin of that quiz interfered with ability to perform'
50% blackboard success rate
we thanked them many times for making a decision that was tough for them: curbing blackboard-based weekly quizzes for the remainder of the semester.
05 November 2008
met with weekly quiz givers
some faculty want to re-instate blackboard for weekly quizzes asap: next tues. class officers and faculty negotiated a win-win. faculty are able to conserve substantial pre- and post- quiz (wo)manpower by going digital, and we’ll have the use paper and a back button, avoiding arbitrary constraints.
if you feel inclined, please thank a basic science instructor for the concession.
if you feel inclined, please thank a basic science instructor for the concession.
met with deans
as you know, the deans invited us to provide the agenda:
1.thank you
2.can you help us understand the ‘why’ behind multi-course testing (midterm, final)?
3.how can students and instructors maximize the take-away from lecture?
4.scheduling CPR certification, power crisis in nagle
here’s what i took from it…
1.people like being thanked
2.curriculum design is very far beyond my experience. deans and faculty gave reasons for the frequency of combined quizzes, based on some findings in education research (as examples, they gave articles that i emailed to everybody). i have confidence in their interest in us and in their experience in education. rather than focus on un-doing the multi-course testing, i recommend we look for ways to make it more comfortable. suggestions?
3.nyucd invests heavily in teacher education. i hope we will see improvement in the quality of presentations from a few of our lecturers. additionally, if you have innovative suggestions for format (perhaps something that worked well at your undergrad school), they are interested in hearing about it.
4.next year the CPR scheduler will be respectful of exam schedule. as for nagle power, the reply was kinda harsh, albeit practical: get another battery.
1.thank you
2.can you help us understand the ‘why’ behind multi-course testing (midterm, final)?
3.how can students and instructors maximize the take-away from lecture?
4.scheduling CPR certification, power crisis in nagle
here’s what i took from it…
1.people like being thanked
2.curriculum design is very far beyond my experience. deans and faculty gave reasons for the frequency of combined quizzes, based on some findings in education research (as examples, they gave articles that i emailed to everybody). i have confidence in their interest in us and in their experience in education. rather than focus on un-doing the multi-course testing, i recommend we look for ways to make it more comfortable. suggestions?
3.nyucd invests heavily in teacher education. i hope we will see improvement in the quality of presentations from a few of our lecturers. additionally, if you have innovative suggestions for format (perhaps something that worked well at your undergrad school), they are interested in hearing about it.
4.next year the CPR scheduler will be respectful of exam schedule. as for nagle power, the reply was kinda harsh, albeit practical: get another battery.
12 minute meeting
some have said 'greatest 12min of my life' but i don't think we should be too hasty...
we voted:
a. for an in-house solution to providing transcription service (managed by sahel). subscribe for a fee, transcribe to get paid.
b. general sentiment toward multi-course-same-day exams: half ‘indifferent’, almost half ‘negative’, a handful ‘positive’
other highlights:
get yourself mentored
let's follow the lead of ryan harris and others and show some caring and sharing
we voted:
a. for an in-house solution to providing transcription service (managed by sahel). subscribe for a fee, transcribe to get paid.
b. general sentiment toward multi-course-same-day exams: half ‘indifferent’, almost half ‘negative’, a handful ‘positive’
other highlights:
get yourself mentored
let's follow the lead of ryan harris and others and show some caring and sharing
13 October 2008
representing 2012
next month, there is a class officer meeting with some deans. i believe they are showing real interest in our class by allowing us to bring the agenda to that meeting.
what would you like to say?
what would you like to say?
representing 2012
in a couple of weeks the class officers will be meeting with the basic science faculty that arranges and administers the weekly quizzes.
what's on your mind?
what's on your mind?
10 October 2008
gds pow-wow
the class council met with dr bucklan this week. from what i can tell, gds is designed to be only slightly instructive. the intent is to learn the art by practicing it... very non-linear.
here are some other highlights:
-he's kinda big on punctuality (don't sweat it if everyone is late: prev lecture ends late, elevator stuck, etc)
-if you need some help with dental anat, get in touch with him
-he reiterated that he is very approachable
-previously released q's are out there somewhere. (anybody seen any? want to share?)
here are some other highlights:
-he's kinda big on punctuality (don't sweat it if everyone is late: prev lecture ends late, elevator stuck, etc)
-if you need some help with dental anat, get in touch with him
-he reiterated that he is very approachable
-previously released q's are out there somewhere. (anybody seen any? want to share?)
06 October 2008
paper and pencil
making this happen took:
like-minded administrators and instructors,
meetings,
even some dramatic tears.
there is a threshold when the push for 'paperless' is not worth the hassle of troubleshooting accident-prone technologies.
thanks to everyone who had a role in bringing about this change.
like-minded administrators and instructors,
meetings,
even some dramatic tears.
there is a threshold when the push for 'paperless' is not worth the hassle of troubleshooting accident-prone technologies.
thanks to everyone who had a role in bringing about this change.
01 October 2008
please appreciate the following people...
the result isn't what you hoped for, but we were close. very close. please appreciate our instructors and deans who were very accommodating as well as Thiki and Mital for taking on this endeavor for you.
"Hi everyone, just getting back to you about the exam schedule next week. We tried to rearrange the schedule to get one of our quizzes or Epi midterm rearranged but unfortunately we weren't able to for the following reasons: first, GDS lecture on Wed is a guest lecturer so we can't move the quiz to that class; second, we were unable to get a room assignment for Epi. The midterm is divided into two rooms and unfortunately all the other rooms that could accommodate that many people are being used. Just attempting to rearrange the room schedule would have been another feat in itself since we would have had to change 4 other department's schedules. Dr. Speilman, Dr. Morse, Dr. More and Dr. Bucklan all worked with us and really tried to help us out. They know it's going to be a stressful week and were willing to work with us but there just wasn't enough time to try to change the exams around. With that said we're going to look at the future exam schedule to see if there is any more weeks which have exams stacked up and if so we'll try to address them much earlier. Sorry guys we really did try it was just too short of notice.
-Mital and Thiki"
best of luck to us. this will be a tough week.
"Hi everyone, just getting back to you about the exam schedule next week. We tried to rearrange the schedule to get one of our quizzes or Epi midterm rearranged but unfortunately we weren't able to for the following reasons: first, GDS lecture on Wed is a guest lecturer so we can't move the quiz to that class; second, we were unable to get a room assignment for Epi. The midterm is divided into two rooms and unfortunately all the other rooms that could accommodate that many people are being used. Just attempting to rearrange the room schedule would have been another feat in itself since we would have had to change 4 other department's schedules. Dr. Speilman, Dr. Morse, Dr. More and Dr. Bucklan all worked with us and really tried to help us out. They know it's going to be a stressful week and were willing to work with us but there just wasn't enough time to try to change the exams around. With that said we're going to look at the future exam schedule to see if there is any more weeks which have exams stacked up and if so we'll try to address them much earlier. Sorry guys we really did try it was just too short of notice.
-Mital and Thiki"
best of luck to us. this will be a tough week.
meetings should be short
we talked about:
12 min meeting agenda comes from blog comments
the class council serves the class
send an email if you want to be considered for ethics chair, clinical
rep, or student affairs chair
email exam challenges (with evidence) to nyu2012.cr@gmail.com
submit class t-shirt designs
we voted:
a.try to change GDS canine quiz from mon to wed (majority in favor, 99
signatures)
b.pursue transcription service (one-third in favor)
c.ask for more biochem questions on quizes (half in favor, half opposed)
d.get together for a 12min meeting every two weeks
now what?:
a.Thiki and Mital gave an amazing effort to make this happen
b.class council will look for ways to provide this service (please
volunteer to help if you're passionate about solving this)
c.stalemate
d.see you there
12 min meeting agenda comes from blog comments
the class council serves the class
send an email if you want to be considered for ethics chair, clinical
rep, or student affairs chair
email exam challenges (with evidence) to nyu2012.cr@gmail.com
submit class t-shirt designs
we voted:
a.try to change GDS canine quiz from mon to wed (majority in favor, 99
signatures)
b.pursue transcription service (one-third in favor)
c.ask for more biochem questions on quizes (half in favor, half opposed)
d.get together for a 12min meeting every two weeks
now what?:
a.Thiki and Mital gave an amazing effort to make this happen
b.class council will look for ways to provide this service (please
volunteer to help if you're passionate about solving this)
c.stalemate
d.see you there
30 September 2008
weekly quiz 4
running out of wildcards? we only get to drop 4, you know. post your reactions to today's quiz here.
29 September 2008
12 minute meeting
12 is a pretty solid number, don't you think? and packed with dds significance:
12 cranial nerves
12 permanent molars
+/- $12 M in combined tuition (this year)
and most importantly:
2012. a much-anticipated summer
come to tomorrow's 12-minute meeting, our first class meeting.
the agenda for the meeting comes from comments on my blog and other
important issues.
we'll vote and send the class council to task.
WHO: you and all your classmates
TIME: right after the weekly quiz is collected tomorrow
PLACE: where the weekly quiz is given
12 cranial nerves
12 permanent molars
+/- $12 M in combined tuition (this year)
and most importantly:
2012. a much-anticipated summer
come to tomorrow's 12-minute meeting, our first class meeting.
the agenda for the meeting comes from comments on my blog and other
important issues.
we'll vote and send the class council to task.
WHO: you and all your classmates
TIME: right after the weekly quiz is collected tomorrow
PLACE: where the weekly quiz is given
social activities
what do you want to do for class activities? we have a lot of interests between us. let's put 'em all here.
25 September 2008
scratch paper for weekly quizzes?
my guess is that the hesitation to let us use paper revolves around controlling cheating and to avoid leaking questions. your ideas of how to use paper while controlling for these?
24 September 2008
to the noisemakers
there are lots of comments about distractions toward the end of quiz time, so the high interest in the topic warrants a thread. what is a good solution?
23 September 2008
21 September 2008
build your own board question
let's quiz each other. creating a good question is tougher than answering one, and it's good practice for distinguishing 'correct' from 'almost correct.' reply with questions in board format.
first item of business
i grabbed this blogspot address a while back to give (future) patients a forum to critique my work, ask questions, discuss dentistry, etc.
until then, i’m offering it to my classmates. this is the best way for us to come up with solutions.
we’ll separate useful criticism from whining. we’ll sort what we can change from the things we have to roll with. we’ll perfect our solutions. we’ll take our propositions to appropriate people.
i’ll post a blog, please post replies. recurring themes will make their way to a class-wide poll. high vote-getters deserve our collective attention and i will post status updates on action taken.
so here goes: what is our first item of business?
until then, i’m offering it to my classmates. this is the best way for us to come up with solutions.
we’ll separate useful criticism from whining. we’ll sort what we can change from the things we have to roll with. we’ll perfect our solutions. we’ll take our propositions to appropriate people.
i’ll post a blog, please post replies. recurring themes will make their way to a class-wide poll. high vote-getters deserve our collective attention and i will post status updates on action taken.
so here goes: what is our first item of business?
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)