Workshop on Academic Civility - Week Three: Academic Civility by Design

After reading the activities described in the third part of the workshop on academic civility, consider the different ways in which civility was addressed--in the syllabus and course climate, as part of in-class content, and as part of an assignment for a class.

• In what ways do these approaches to designing with civility in mind reflect rhetorical listening, dialogic civility, or epistemological differences?  
• If civility is "collaboratively owned," how can designing for civility contribute to academic civility?
• In what ways do you address in/civility in your classes?
• How can you enhance civility in your classes, from course climate to assessment activities?
• Which of these activities has the most relevance for your own teaching? Why?

To respond to these questions, feel free to post a response below. (No login is required.)
Or, email your thoughts to vtlc@uwc.edu

Workshop on Academic Civility - Week Two: Identifying the Challenges of Academic Civility

In the second week of the workshop, Marnie Dresser shared a presentation that asked us to consider our role in contributing to classroom civility.

The quotation that she used from Robert Boice's book Nihil Nimus: Advice for New Faculty Members indicated that "students and teachers are partners in creating" classroom in/civility.  Several of the

• What is your ideal vision of academic civility in your classroom?
• What problems have you experienced?
• In what ways may you have contributed to incivilty?
• What are your “hall of shame” stories as a student?  Professor?  What can you learn from them?
• How can we cultivate academic civility on an institutional level (as is suggested by Hassel & Lourey's article)?

Feel free to leave a response below, or to email vtlc@uwc.edu 

Workshop on Academic Civility - Week One: An Introduction to Academic Civilty

In week one of the spring 2012 VTLC workshop on civility, you were introduced to the concepts of civility, pedagogical considerations, and best (and worst) practices of civility in the classroom:  Given what you've read and your experiences with teaching:

• How do you define academic civility?
• What problems with incivility do you have in your classes?
• Are there ways in which this behavior extends beyond the classroom to other environments at the university?
• How can we help students understand when their behavior is interfering with their learning?
• How do you already do any of these successfully? 
• Which one(s) do you want to try to improve, and how might you do that?

Feel free to post a comment below or to email your response to vtlc@uwc.edu