Exploring Your Dreams

This fall, Dr. Susan Santo is teaching a new Honors course (UHON390), Exploring Your
Dreams. We thought we'd share a little bit about the course with the EDAD community.
A brief interview with Dr. Santo follows:

 Q: This is the first time you have taught a course in dreams. Can you tell us how this all
began?

A: I got a call for new courses from the Honors Department and they said it did not have to
be a course you’d previously taught. I have been interested in dreams all of my life and am
a member of the International Association for the Study of Dreams and subscribe to their
scientific journal. Also, I was a Psychology major in college, so developing this class was
of great interest to me.

Q: How is the course structured?

A: The first part of each class is a lecture on the topic for the week. This Tuesday, we
will have a guest speaker, Gary Cheeseman, from the Division of Curriculum & Instruction
in the School of Education. He will talk about Native American beliefs regarding dreams.
After the lecture portion of the class, we spend some time with dream interpretation.
A few of the students will volunteer to share one of their dreams and the rest of students
listen and offer interpretations. One method we use, developed by Montague Ullman, is
called “If It Were My Dream.” Students listen to the dream and ask lots of questions. Then, beginning with the phrase, “If it were my dream, this is what it might mean…” they relay
an interpretation. This allows the dreamer to have their own interpretation without someone
else’s interpretation overlaid. The dreamer responds to the interpretation and there is further discussion. Sometimes we use a dream dictionary during the interpretation.

Q: Are you getting good feedback from the students?

A: Students seem to really enjoy the class. They are becoming much more articulate in
their Interpretations and discussion. We touch on many aspects of the field, including
the science behind dreams, what happens during the dream, looking at various cultures
and how they view dreams.We also look at Freud and Jung, along with more contemporary
theorists. We look at what people dream, nightmares, post-traumatic stress and dreams, as
well as creativity and problem solving in dreams. We’ve looked at the dreams of children
and we had the young daughter of one of my graduate students visit the class and share
her dreams with us.

Congratulations to Dr. Gerald McGraw!

Gerald McGraw, EdD, Educational Administration

The University of South Dakota, 2014

MULTIMODAL INTEGRATION OF

ANATOMY AND PHSYIOLOGY CLASSES:  HOW INSTRUCTORS UTILIZE MULTIMODAL TEACHING IN THEIR CLASSROOMS

Dissertation directed by Dr. Karen Card

Multimodal teaching methodology attempts to create a deeper meaning to course content by activating the higher cognitive areas of the student’s brain, creating a more sustained retention of the information (Murray, 2009). The introduction of multimodality teaching methodologies as a means to more optimally engage students has been documented within educational literature.  However, studies analyzing the distribution and penetration into basic sciences, more specifically anatomy and physiology, have not been forthcoming.  This study used a quantitative survey design to determine to what degree higher learning instructors integrated multimodality teaching practices into their course curricula.  The study had a two pronged purpose designed to interpret not only the degree of penetration and dispersion of multimodality based methodologies, but additionally to identify what the causal effects were that facilitated or inhibited that distribution into higher learning anatomy and physiology courses.

The instrument used for the study was designed by the researcher based on evidence found in the literature and sent to members of three associations/societies for anatomy and physiology instructors: the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society; the iTeach Anatomy & Physiology Collaborate; and the American Physiology Society.  Instructors totaled 182 faculty members of two and four year, private and public higher learning colleges collected from the three organizations collectively with over 13,500 members in over 925 higher learning institutions nationwide. 

            The study concluded that the expansion of multimodal methodologies into anatomy and physiology classrooms is at the beginning of process that there is ample opportunity for growth.  Instructors continue to use lecture as their primary means of interaction with students.  Email is still the major form of out of class communication (43%).  Most instructors felt that the quality and quantity of multimodal training they receive is sufficient.  Instructors felt that they are receiving support from their administration and that the administration understands the benefits of integrating multimodal experiences into the classroom.  Instructors with greater than 16 years of teaching anatomy and physiology are less likely to use video or animation in their classroom than instructors with fewer years. 

Pre-Registration Begins late October!

Pre-Registration (Priority) for Spring 2015 term begins Mon. Oct. 27 - Fri. Nov. 14. Please contact your adviser to find the courses that fit your program. Click on the tab at the top of the blog labeled Spring/Summer Courses for a list of the upcoming classes offered in the Division of Educational Administration.

Dakota Days, October 5 - 11th!

October 5-11th marks a big week on the USD campus...Dakota Days!

Karen Card with Charlie Coyote

South Dakota's annual homecoming celebration, Dakota Days - or D days - attracts spirited alumni back to campus while allowing current students to display their creativity in planning and promoting the week-long festivities. The celebration dates back to 1914 when President Robert. L. Slagle encouraged an event to "promote campus spirit and harmony." The result was "South Dakota Day" (later shortened to "Dakota Day" and now the week-long celebration "Dakota Days") as students elected royalty, built floats, paraded through the streets of Vermillion and cheered on the University's football team - in much the same way they do today.

EDAD Faculty to Present at Conference

Three faculty members are slated to present papers at upcoming conferences.

Dr. Avoseh will present Botho: Botswana's Indigenous Power for Humanizing the "Vuvuzelas" of Globalization at the Pre-Conference of the Commission for International Adult Education (CIAE) of the 63rd Conference of the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education. 

Abstract:
This presentation derives from the research component of the author’s Fulbright award. The main objective of the research was to explore participation within its Tswana rendering of Botho. The study focused on Botho as an indigenous power and human framework. Globalization is related to the study because it has imposed cultural, economic, social, political, and other values across human interconnectedness in rapid successions. Many traditional societies especially in Africa have lost their indigenous backgrounds and frameworks. However Botswana still has a robust cultural and indigenous apparatus in place for combating the “Vuvuzelas” of globalization.

Dr. Bright and Dr. Santo will presenting a paper at the 2014 American Association for Adult and Continuing Education Conference (AAACE) in Charleston, South Carolina, Nov. 4-7. Their session is titled Helping Adult Learners to Thrive in Their Third Age and is described below:

“The Third Age refers to the years between 55 and 75 when a person becomes freed from the responsibilities of work and yet is still healthy. This workshop will provide attendees with tools for working with Third Age adults seeking to determine how they should live the rest of their lives.”