course agenda:
Day 1
- Morning session: Getting to Know Your Students
Who are our students and what are they like?
The more you know about your students—their background and expectations, how they learn, their knowledge (and misconceptions) regarding the discipline, intellectual competencies and skills, interests, attitudes, and preoccupations, the better you can design learning experiences that will promote effective learning.
- Noon: Lunch discussion on academic leadership
- Afternoon session: Conceptualizing Learning Outcomes: Designing Instruction
What should be the result of instruction?
The first step in systematizing one’s approach to course planning is to see the process from the perspective of the learner instead of the teacher, which requires specification of learning outcomes and an understanding of different learning taxonomies. The course syllabus should express the learning outcomes clearly and serve as a “lab manual” for the course.
Day Two
- Morning session: Teaching Critical Thinking
What is “critical thinking” and how can we teach students to think critically about our disciplines?
Developing critical thinking is the most important goal of the undergraduate curriculum. Students will never achieve a deep understanding of any discipline if they cannot think critically about it, and critical thinking is also an important “life skill” that they will need throughout their careers.
- Noon: Lunch discussion on academic leadership
- Afternoon session: Tools for Teaching
How can we make appropriate choices among the variety of teaching tools available?
Although there are many methods, approaches, and tools for teaching, most teachers use only a limited number, often basing their choices on the kinds of methods their own teachers employed. It is important to make this selection on the basis of a rational pedagogical plan.
Day Three
- Morning session: Evaluating Learning Outcomes
How will you know if students have achieved the learning outcomes you set for them?
Conventional testing methods are useful for assessing all levels of learning outcomes, provided that they are designed for validity and reliability. Other methods of learning assessment (e.g., projects and research papers) must also meet these standards. Course grades, which represent performance over the entire semester, should reflect the achievement of meaningful learning.
- Noon: Lunch discussion on academic leadership
- Afternoon session: Ethical Issues in Teaching
What are some of the ethical problems that arise in the teaching profession and what ethical principles exist to help resolve them?
Cheating, plagiarism, and various breeches of academic integrity are distasteful to all teachers, and helping students develop a strong ethical sense is an important element of college instruction. However, ethical problems are by no means restricted to students, and we must examine how to develop and maintain our own ethical perspectives.
Day Four
- Morning session: Classroom Management
How should you handle the typical problems that arise as a result of student attitudes or behaviors in your courses?
Although these incidents are mercifully rare, when they occur they can be very difficult to deal with unless you have a firm grasp on some basic principles of course management.
- Noon: Lunch discussion on academic leadership
- Afternoon session: Evaluating and Improving Teaching.
How can we use evaluation to improve our teaching and satisfy the institution’s need for accountability?
To be reliable and fair, teaching evaluation methods should follow principles of good practice that are based on empirical research. Student evaluations, peer observations, and teaching portfolios all play important parts in a comprehensive system of teaching assessment.
Day Five
- Morning session: Writing for Publication
In a world of “publish or perish,” how can you avoid the latter outcome? What are the keys to developing a successful publishing record?
Knowing the market for yourscholarly product is only the first step in getting published. One must understand the process of academic writing and develop strategies to overcome the problems that inevitably arise.
- Noon: Lunch discussion on academic leadership
- Afternoon session: Grantsmanship
What is this business of writing grants all about and is it worth the effort?
It has been said that "if you want to live with grants, you have to live with rejection." While there is some truth in this statement, the notion of competing for competitive awards has become a fundamental reality for most faculty members. How did the federal government become involved as a patron for research? What is the difference between a contract, grant and cooperative agreement? How can I maximize the chance of being successful when applying for external funding?
Day Six
- Morning session: Balancing Teaching With Other Academic Responsibilities
How can we invest the time needed to teach well while continuing to make progress on our own academic work and other responsibilities?
To succeed in academia, instructors must find ways to balance the demands of teaching with their own research, writing, and the rest of life. This session will explore strategies for managing time, setting priorities, writing efficiently and managing stress.
- Noon: Lunch discussion on academic leadership
- Afternoon session: The Tenure-Track Puzzle
What will it take to achieve tenure? How can we use our current graduate school experiences to prepare for the future demands of a faculty position?
Publish or perish; get grants or get out; become a star before you burn out: this session will address myths and realities of the path to tenure. Although criteria for tenure differ across academic disciplines and institutions—and are often hidden from view—we will explore ways to discover a department’s expectations and thereby plan career timetables, develop mentoring networks, and navigate departmental politics.
Please contact Ed
Neal for further information.
|
