Teaching Professor: April and May now available

Having let April slip by without posting on the latest issue of The Teaching Professor, I’m now playing catch up. So here’s an overview of both the April and May editions. Information on accessing the newsletter from off-campus can be found on the CTL website.

Echoing our recent discussions of “engaged reading” at Academic Development Day, three faculty at University of Central Arkansas share their ideas for “Revving Up the Reluctant Reader” in the May edition. Some strategies they employ are:

• Response cards,
• Reciprocal questioning with prompt cards,
• Jigsaw cooperative learning, and
• Ticket out of class.

CFP: NEFDC Fall Conference on Academic Excellence

The New England Faculty Development Consortium is still accepting proposals for its Fall 2008 conference, “Accessing Academic Excellence: What Colleges Can Do to Promote Student Success”:

The NEFDC seeks proposals that address innovative approaches in the retention and academic support of students. Proposals can focus on any part of the academic process, from early college programs and developmental coursework, through first-year experiences and up to and including internships and career placement that provide insights on how specific populations can access and achieve their academic goals. The NEFDC is especially interested in how classroom pedagogy and extra-curricular programs can be linked to cross-departmental efforts for student success.

Proposals are due May 15th.

Read more about the conference at the NEFDC website.

CHE: Planning for a Guest Speaker

James Lang, regular contributor to the Chronicle’s “On Course” column, writes this month about strategies for incorporating guest speakers more effectively into courses. He begins with the story of his own fairly disastrous attempt to host a guest speaker in a writing class and concludes with the lessons he’s learned since:

In any case, it seems clear to me now that while a good class with a guest speaker requires plenty of advance preparation, the real clincher is for the teacher to create a tight fit between the course objectives and the speaker’s purpose in being there. The speaker has to play an essential role in fulfilling the learning objectives of the course; if that doesn’t happen, the students will have little incentive to take advantage of what guest speakers can bring to a classroom, and the guest speakers won’t understand what they can contribute.

Read the full article here.

Teaching Roundtable: Teaching Portfolios and the Tenure File

Teaching Portfolios and the Tenure File

Thursday, April 24th
10:00 - 11:00
Duffy 114 Conference Room

Wondering what you can be doing now to make compiling your tenure file easier down the line? Curious what tenure committees are paying attention to? Then please join Craig Almeida (Biology) and Stacy Grooters (Center for Teaching and Learning) for a roundtable conversation about the path to tenure.

Craig will share what he’s learned both from his own experiences pursuing tenure and his experience on the Rank & Tenure Committee. And Stacy will talk about different strategies for representing your teaching to others, including suggestions for putting together a teaching portfolio. The discussion will mainly be geared towards those currently on the tenure track, but everyone is welcome to attend: tenured folks who’d like to share their own stories and strategies, as well as anyone who’d like to learn more about how the tenure process works at Stonehill.

Teaching Roundtable: “Establishing Course Expectations”

Setting the Stage: Establishing Course Expectations

Tuesday, April 8, 12:00 - 1:00 pm
NEW TIME: Tuesday, April 15, 12:30 - 1:30 pm
Duffy 114 Conference Room
Lunch will be provided

Looking over their student evaluations last summer, Keri Iyall Smith (Sociology) and Erica Tucker (Anthropology) were both shocked to read some of the comments about their teaching. Did the students really expect the professor to be able to control all of these elements of the classroom?

A friend of Erica’s suggested that it might be useful to discuss student expectations at the start of the semester to be able to address these issues before the term begins. This would also allow them to explore the responsibilities of the different members of the classroom. Keri remembered hearing a different but related lesson in the yoga studio — that expectations should be cast aside to be able to fully participate, deepening the learning and experience.

This fall they each set out to explore this process of recognizing expectations and responsibilities, and also exploring their role in the classroom. The experiment was a little scary at first, but it is yielding exciting results.

Please join us to discuss student and faculty expectations and how confronting them can contribute to learning.

Part of the Spring 2008 Teaching Roundtable Series.

Service-Learning Conference at Bridgewater April 18th

Bridgewater State College is hosting a Service-Learning Conference April 18th from 8:30 - 4:00.

This is a great opportunity for faculty familiar with community-based learning and those who are interested in learning more about it.  Since Stonehill is a MACC institution, all Stonehill faculty and staff can attend free.

An excerpt from the conference announcement:

Service-Learning is a teaching methodology that utilizes community service as a means of helping students gain a deeper understanding of course objectives, acquire new knowledge and engage in civic activity.

This workshop will inform on a variety of Service-Learning topics such as:

• Getting Started with Service-Learning
• Incorporating Service-Learning in Your FYS + SYS Courses
• Incorporating Service-Learning in Your P & T Dossier
• How to Improve on Your current Service-Learning Courses
• Students-in-Action Panel sharing experiences, courses, ideas
• Complementary breakfast, lunch, a wine/soda and cheese reception
• And Much More!!!

Available space is limited so please contact by either phone or email by April 14.

Contact Information: nmoses@bridgew.edu or (508 531-2046).

For additional information visit: http://www.bridgew.edu/ServiceLearning/.

“Integration, Learning, Community” conference at Fairfield U. this June

This June 4 - 6, 2008, Fairfield University is hosting its eighth annual “Pedagogy, Technology, & Course Redesign” teaching conference, titled “Integration, Learning, Community.” The folks at Fairfield bring a lot of energy to this conference every summer, and it has a good reputation.

Conference registration is $300 and includes lodging, meals, receptions and conference materials ($250 if two or more Stonehill faculty register together).

They are currently accepting presentation proposals (due April 30).  Read more about the conference and the call for proposals in this brochure:

http://www.fairfield.edu/documents/academic/cae_sumconf2008.pdf

CFP: “Culture Matters” conference

The Collaboration for the Advancement of College Teaching and Learning is still accepting proposals for its fall 2008 conference, “Culture Matters: Designing Learning Environments to Foster Cultural Awareness and Intercultural Competence,” being held November 21-22 in Bloomington, MN.

They’re seeking “motivating, dialogue-provoking proposals that not only address the theme of the conference but disseminate and model effective practice, engage participants, and promote inquiry and problem-solving.”  Proposals are due April 18, 2008.

Read the full CFP here (pdf).

Social Justice Pedagogies Reading Group: 4/14 at 10:30

The Social Justice Pedagogies Reading Group will meet next on Monday, April 14th from 10:30 - 11:30 in the Duffy 114 Reading Room.

We will be discussing David Schulz’s “Stimulating Social Justice Theory for Service Learning Practice.” Anyone is welcome to attend!

Contact the CTL if you’d like copies of the readings.

Academic Development Day: April 16th

RSVP now for your participation in Academic Development Day, being held the morning of Wednesday, April 16th in Martin Auditorium.

Structured conference-style with an initial keynote panel followed by concurrent breakout sessions, the loose theme for the day is “Engaging Students In and Out of the Classroom.”

See the entire ADD Program here.