A new bridge between faculty and students: students teachingfaculty to integrate the student knowledge of information technologyinto their instruction

摘要

Students are increasingly aware that the faculty are keeping upwith the rapid change of information technology at a much slower pacethan the student body. The Science and Technology Wing (STWing), astudent-run living-learning program at the University of Pennsylvania,has taken on the initiative to create and develop an informationtechnology course for faculty to close this gap. Many benefits for bothstudents and faculty are expected from this experimental program. As aresult of their participation in this course, it is expected thatfaculty will more efficiently make use of the resources that are alreadyavailable to them. In addition, they will be able to critically andadequately integrate the students' information technology knowledge astools in their instruction. Undertaking this challenge is expected toenhance the growth and maturation of participating students. Havingstepped into the role of “teacher”, the students gaininsight into the pedagogy and henceforth become better“learners”. Surveys will assess the faculty needs and theSTWing student members teaching potential. The program will start inMarch 2000. The paper presents the initial evaluation of the program