The Faculty Ulysses Contract

Joe Tranquillo

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Conference: 2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Seattle, Washington
Publication Date: June 14, 2015
Start Date: June 14, 2015
End Date: June 17, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-692-50180-1
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Reflective & Critical Pedagogies
Tagged Division: Liberal Education/Engineering & Society
Page Count: 24
Page Numbers: 26.1532.1 - 26.1532.24
DOI: 10.18260/p.24870
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/24870
Download Count: 601

Paper Authors

biography

Joe Tranquillo Bucknell University

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Joe Tranquillo is an Associate Professor of Biomedical and Electrical Engineering at Bucknell University. Joe was the founder and inaugural chair of the Biomedical Engineering Society Undergraduate Research Track, and co-founder of the KEEN Winter Interdisciplinary Design Experience. He currently serves as the Chair of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Biomedical Engineering Division (BED), the co-director of the Institute for Leadership in Technology and Management (ILTM) and is co-editor of the Morgan and Claypool biomedical engineering book series. Joe is the author of three undergraduate textbooks. His work has been featured on the Discovery Channel, TEDx, US News and World Report, and CNN Health. He has won the national ASEE BED Teaching Award, Bucknell’s Presidential Teaching Award, and is currently a National Academy of Engineering Frontiers of Engineering Education Fellow and an NSF Pathways to Innovation Faculty Fellow. When not working Joe enjoys improvisational dance and music, running trail marathons, backpacking, brewing Belgian beers and most of all enjoying time with his children and wife.

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Abstract

The Faculty Ulysses Contract Every teacher has encountered the situation where a student asks a question about material from class. On the one hand, we could simply answer the question. On the other hand, we could challenge the student to discover the answer on his or her own, as is the case in Problem Base Learning and other inductive pedagogical methods. In both cases, the assumption is that the faculty member is the content expert. What I will present is a way to assign problems and projects where the faculty member is not the content expert. The result is the Faculty Ulysses Contract, after the hero of the Odyssey who took actions in the present to ensure that he would be incapable of making a bad decision in the future. Just as Ulysses gave up power in the present to prevent disastrous actions later, faculty can cede their position as the content expert now to prevent a short-‐circuit in learning later. Ceding the position of content expert does not mean that authority is given up. The faculty member is still in control of the structure, assignments, grades and other logistics of the class. I will discuss how to structure an environment where a virtuous cycle of both actions and thoughts encourages students to become their own Chief Learning Officers. In their careers students will work in noisy environments where their bosses will likely not have the answer. They need practice making decisions in these more authentic environments. Issuing a Faculty Ulysses Contract eliminates the “right answer” (even for the faculty), and grades must therefore reflect processes, decisions, intentions and results – the same measures of success used in the real world. Faculty can learn in these environments too. By issuing a Faculty Ulysses Contract, we naturally become more engaged and can model the good habits of thought and action that lead to learning. It is also a way of being actively empathetic to the frustrations inherent in learning something new. Included in the paper will be a more detailed argument for Faculty Ulysses Contracts, tools for successful implementation, the synergies with other pedagogical approaches, student perceptions of the technique, classroom case studies and a discussion of the barriers to faculty adoption. 1

Citation
Format

Tranquillo, J. (2015, June), The Faculty Ulysses Contract Paper presented at 2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Seattle, Washington. 10.18260/p.24870

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -                                           The  Faculty  Ulysses  Contract    Every  teacher  has  encountered  the  situation  where  a  student  asks  a  question  about  material  from  class.  On  the  one  hand,  we  could  simply  answer  the  question.  On  the  other  hand,  we  could  challenge  the  student  to  discover  the  answer  on  his  or  her  own,  as  is  the  case  in  Problem  Base  Learning  and  other  inductive  pedagogical  methods.  In  both  cases,  the  assumption  is  that  the  faculty  member  is  the  content  expert.  What  I  will  present  is  a  way  to  assign  problems  and  projects  where  the  faculty  member  is  not  the  content  expert.  The  result  is  the  Faculty  Ulysses  Contract,  after  the  hero  of  the  Odyssey  who  took  actions  in  the  present  to  ensure  that  he  would  be  incapable  of  making  a  bad  decision  in  the  future.  Just  as  Ulysses  gave  up  power  in  the  present  to  prevent  disastrous  actions  later,  faculty  can  cede  their  position  as  the  content  expert  now  to  prevent  a  short-‐circuit  in  learning  later.      Ceding  the  position  of  content  expert  does  not  mean  that  authority  is  given  up.  The  faculty  member  is  still  in  control  of  the  structure,  assignments,  grades  and  other  logistics  of  the  class.  I  will  discuss  how  to  structure  an  environment  where  a  virtuous  cycle  of  both  actions  and  thoughts  encourages  students  to  become  their  own  Chief  Learning  Officers.      In  their  careers  students  will  work  in  noisy  environments  where  their  bosses  will  likely  not  have  the  answer.  They  need  practice  making  decisions  in  these  more  authentic  environments.  Issuing  a  Faculty  Ulysses  Contract  eliminates  the  “right  answer”  (even  for  the  faculty),  and  grades  must  therefore  reflect  processes,  decisions,  intentions  and  results  –  the  same  measures  of  success  used  in  the  real  world.      Faculty  can  learn  in  these  environments  too.  By  issuing  a  Faculty  Ulysses  Contract,  we  naturally  become  more  engaged  and  can  model  the  good  habits  of  thought  and  action  that  lead  to  learning.  It  is  also  a  way  of  being  actively  empathetic  to  the  frustrations  inherent  in  learning  something  new.      Included  in  the  paper  will  be  a  more  detailed  argument  for  Faculty  Ulysses  Contracts,  tools  for  successful  implementation,  the  synergies  with  other  pedagogical  approaches,  student  perceptions  of  the  technique,  classroom  case  studies  and  a  discussion  of  the  barriers  to  faculty  adoption.                                                                                                                                      1  
AU  - Joe Tranquillo
CY  - Seattle, Washington
DA  - 2015/06/14
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - The Faculty Ulysses Contract
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/24870
DO  - 10.18260/p.24870
ER  -