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RPTA'S ROLE IN LEARN BY DOING BOOK AND CONFERENCE

By Alyssa Beatton (RPTA ’16), Co-Editor

Note: Information in this article has been excerpted from an article by RPTA Professor Brian Greenwood with his permission. To view the original article, follow the link: http://www.calpolynews.calpoly.edu/news_releases/2014/September/motto.html

RPTA professors Brian Greenwood and Keri Schwab are currently working with two other Cal Poly faculty and staff members to write a book that will highlight Cal Poly’s unique Learn by Doing philosophy.

Lead authors of “More than a Motto: The Meaning Behind Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing Signature,” Greenwood and Dawn Janke, director of Cal Poly’s Reading and Rhetoric Center, came up with the idea to investigate and promote the meaning of Learn by Doing. They brought in Professor Schwab because of her extensive writing and publishing experience. As a relatively new RPTA professor, Schwab also brings a new perspective on Learn By Doing. The fourth team member, graphic communication Professor Lorraine Donegan, brings an abundance of experience with graphic design, graphics arts and publishing.

Greenwood, Schwab, Janke and Donegan plan to promote the Learn by Doing philosophy by hosting an annual conference, developing a website, publishing a book and ebook on the topic, and creating an academic journal. The first Learn by Doing conference is scheduled for spring 2015. Because the authors plan to include topics from the conference in the Learn by Doing book and ebook, the publishing date is expected to be fall 2016.

Last year the team created an advisory board to guide and support these various projects. Plans for  2015 winter and spring quarters include conducting focus groups with students, faculty, staff, alumni and industry partners to gain an understand of their perspectives, experiences and examples of Learn by Doing.

“From the beginning of my time here at Cal Poly, the RPTA faculty and leadership [have] encouraged [me] to be innovative in developing [my] skills and knowledge relative to teaching and learning in an active and experiential way,” said Greenwood. “Learn by Doing is integrated into the core fabric of what we do in RPTA, and I am very excited about the role that Professor Schwab and I are playing in leading the development of this conference and the publication of this book.”

The RPTA Department is proud of Greenwood and Schwab in documenting just how unique and special the Cal Poly Learn by Doing motto is to faculty, students, staff and alumni.

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