Conference » Optional Pre-Conference Sessions
Friday, May 21, 2010 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Session A: Facilitating Student Learning: A Primer for New Faculty Members
This half-day pre-conference session is a primer on teaching and learning for graduate students and new teachers that combines relevant educational theories with practical suggestions for the classroom. The session will begin with all participants filling out a “Teaching Goals Inventory” followed by a short presentation regarding the definition of learner-centered teaching. The participants will use a collection of syllabi to explore the construction of a useful syllabus. Some time will spent discussing student evaluations, a potentially treacherous subject for all teachers. The final component of the day will focus on the growth and development of teachers across a career. This session is recommended for anyone who has teaching as part of his or her job but is not certain how to best facilitate student learning. The facilitator is a full-time faculty member and part-time faculty developer who works with new faculty at Penn State University and who has written widely about various aspects of teaching. He brings a learner-centered approach and demonstrates many of the activities he recommends for implementation in the classroom.
Keywords: learner-centered teaching, teacher growth and development, student evaluations
Presenter: Ike Shibley, associate professor of chemistry and science program coordinator, Penn State Berks
Pre-registration required - Cost: $165
Friday, May 21, 2010 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Session B: Tools and Techniques to Increase Student Participation
This seminar will help you learn to use a wide variety of teaching tools and techniques to increase student participation and involvement in the classes you teach. Too often we let ourselves get stuck in a rut when it comes to the methods and techniques we use to involve students during classroom discussions and in-class activities. This half-day seminar will discuss, demonstrate - and also let you experience - many ways to help you increase student classroom involvement and participation. Some of those methods and ideas will involve QuizShow - a no-cost, copyright-free software tool. (Yes, it’s really free, and there are no strings attached!) A laptop computer is not required, but if you bring a laptop, you will be able to download the QuizShow software, sample QuizShow files, and an easy-to-follow instruction manual during the seminar. (Or you can download it later.) Seminar attendees will learn how to use numerous free Internet-based resources, QuizShow, and other classroom techniques, to increase student participation in varied classroom settings and situations. Come have fun with us!
Keywords: student engagement, student participation, education software
Presenter: Dr. Kenneth L. Alford, associate professor of church history and doctrine, Brigham Young University
Pre-registration required - Cost: $165
Friday, May 21, 2010 1:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Session C: Active Learning Strategies that Engage and Inspire Your Students
This hands-on workshop will focus on how to motivate, engage, and actively involve students through practical, meaningful, and thought-provoking classroom-tested activities. The session is designed to help educators help their students become more effective learners as well as dispel certain misconceptions held by some educators. Session activities will include the importance of speaking, listening, and writing; cooperative and collaborative learning strategies; ideas to motivate students; and interactive reflections and discussions. Each participant will receive a CD that contains all session strategies and activities.
Keywords: motivation, large group instruction, critical thinking
Presenters: Debi Mink, director of student academic services and Linda Pickett, assistant professor, elementary education, Winthrop University
Pre-registration required - Cost: $165
Friday, May 21, 2010 1:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Session D: How to Infuse Active Learning into the Classroom while Maximizing Student Learning and Satisfaction
This workshop will demonstrate how to engage students and maximize their learning with active learning techniques. Attendees will participate in a variety of easy-to-use exercises designed to demonstrate how to effectively conduct activities, manage students, and synthesize active learning with lectures. These activities are highly adaptable to all classrooms and subject matter.
During each activity and ensuing discussions:
- attendees will assume the role of a student in the classroom;
- the presenter will model the classroom management techniques and strategies that help ensure the success of these activities in any classroom; and
- attendees will learn the pedagogical foundation and the cognitive benefits supported by the activities.
Throughout this session, the presenter will discuss and demonstrate a learning model he developed during the implementation of an NSF grant that proved to be effective at increasing student learning and minimizing the time needed to conduct the activities. The participants also will design and develop a new activity targeted to their discipline and classroom.
Keywords: active learning, cooperative learning, classroom management, pedagogy
Presenter: Keith Whittington, associate professor, Rochester Institute of Technology
Pre-registration required - Cost: $165