INSIDE DOUGLAS COLLEGE / JANUARY 23, 1990
VOLUME XI, NUMBER 26

 

4 INNOVATION ABSTRACTS

PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FQR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, WHE UNIVEASIT Y OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN ©

UNDATION AND THE SID W. RICHARDSON FOUNDATION

 

WITH SUPPORT FROM THE W. K. KELLOGG Fi

Podium: A Forum of Inquiry

In 1983, the Brookdale Center for Educational
Research was established to promote educational
research at the community college. The mission of the
center was to recognize the ongoing research, to encour-
age new research, and to publicize these projects in the
college and in the community. Research was broadly
defined to exceed the traditional structures established
in most institutions to include classroom research, grant
proposals, and special projects.

One of the original goals of the center was to develop
a journal that would publish the unique type of research
conducted at the community college level. It would
represent the efforts of the total college community
(faculty, staff, students) who contribute to the success of

he overall educational program.

In the fall of 1985, with a grant from the New Jersey
Department of Higher Education, Podium began to bea
reality. It took about two years for the first issue to get
off the ground. Each successive issue, now supported
by the college, is published annually. It has color and
illustrations, and its lively format is accessible to both
professional and lay audiences.

Subjects in Podium are as diverse as the college
community. Recent issues feature articles on the
“Vanishing Towns of the Pinelands,” “The Use of
Humor in Teaching,” and “Latchkey Children.” View-
points on challenging teaching methodologies include
articles on “Discovery Through Writing,” “Risky
Business,” and “New Computer-Aided Indexes.”
Research involving statistical data is represented by
articles on “The Reverse Transfer Student,” “The
Unknown States,” and “Who Are the Math Achievers?”
Each issue has interviews with faculty, authors, musi-
cians, and/or artists.

The journal is edited by a writing faculty member
who solicits manuscripts from the college community.
The role of the editor is to encourage and assist fledg-
ling authors to risk putting their ideas and experiences
on paper.

Podium has been enthusiastically received at the

llege. Several articles have been republished in other
journals. Copies have been circulated at college confer-
ences, workshops, and seminars in a variety of disci-

plines. It has become a model for other colleges. The
focus is so disparate that everyone seems to find
something to read and discuss.

Frank Paoni, Coordinator, Center for Educational Research
Freda Hepner, Editor, Podium

 

For further information, contact the authors at
Brookdale Community College, Newman Springs Road,
Lincroft, NJ 07738.

SEtCteee

The following is abstracted with permission from Podium ‘88.

Teaching by Storytelling

While one purpose of storytelling is entertainment,
the story is not a trivial device intended only for amuse-
ment. The story is one of the basic intellectual means
through which we make sense of the world and organ-
ize events and facts.

The purposes and uses of storytelling in the class-
room include:

1. Curriculum enhancement: Almost any area of the
curriculum can be enhanced by the addition and use
of storytelling as a form of presentation. Obviously
literature and the social studies courses seem to be
natural areas for the incorporation of storytelling as a
teaching technique. Yet, less obvious areas, such as
science and mathematics can benefit from the telling
of tales regarding beliefs, discoveries, and even
related mythology.

For example, the myths which complement the
names of the planets and stars of our universe can
entertain and inform the class. Anthropology and
sociology courses can be enriched by tales from the
folklore of diverse cultures. Philosophy and religion
are natural areas for the presentation of mythological
tales.

Almost any course and instructor can employ
what R. R. Ross, in The Storyteller, calls “the Experi-
ence Story”... “those remembrances that caught and
stirred our emotion at the time of their happening,
and imprinted themselves on our memories.” These
anecdotal stories can be tailored for any subject area,

 

  

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Community College Leadership Program, The University of Texas at Austin