1) What are pedagogical approaches you use in social science classes?

Lecture to convey the use of a tool or technique
Lecture to synthesize material
Lecture to convey material not in the reading
Team or small group problem solving
General class discussion
Student presentations
In class writing to focus thinking
Email-based discussion lists focusing on class material or current
events
Short student papers applying theory to current policy problems
Faculty comments or a peer review as basis for revision of student
papers
Research exercises comprising parts of a research paper under controlled
conditions
Short-answer problem sets
Literature reviews or article summaries
Senior research paper (thesis)
Service learning or internship journal writing

2) Kinds of resources you encounter and need for class
Easy access to current periodicals
Statistical data in a form easily manipulated by students
Ready access to information of successful approaches used by colleagues
Tools to manipulate, display, and integrate data with text in papers,
for classroom presentations, and for sharing with others in the class.
Easy access to professional journal articles and working papers
The ability to share student writing in a timely manner
Access to writing and quantitative support services for students
Access to style guides and assistance for students in citing and evaluating
resources encountered in the Internet.
Ways of giving students frequent feedback on their progress that does
not overwhelm the rest of my life
Help for thesis students in tracking down data

3) What roles and responsibilities do you currently assume regarding
the use and instruction of technology?
Create class Web pages
Create or adapt handouts for the use of statistical software (Excel
and RATS).
Create assignments for students to use statistical software.
Help students with computer related problems
Create class email lists.
Duplicate and submit material for electronic reserves.

4) What goals do you have for collaboration in this area?
Figure out the most effective way to split instruction/support for the
use of software among me, library, and IT personnel
Figure out how much of the workload I now carry that I can shift to
others with a comparative advantage in these things
Find easy ways for library and IT personnel to keep me apprised of
new resources
Removing obstacles to getting things scanned, stored, and distributed
Find ways to encourage students to take more responsibility for their
learning

5) What resources are you considering devoting to its future development?
Participating in campus debates about the allocation of resources to
academic support
Tracking down Web sites of faculty teaching in areas that overlap with
mine Attending (or convincing colleagues to attend) conference/workshops
on pedagogy in my field.

David R. Ross, Associate Professor and Chair
Department of Economics
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
dross@brynmawr.edu