Invited Presenters

Our conference program lineup is a combination of invited and selected presenters. Each year, we invite outstanding presenters from the previous conference so that more conference attendees can learn from them. We also invite experts, including those who've written books, those who've had experiences with special programs, and those with recognized knowledge about a particular instructional area.

Reflections on a Technology-Enhanced Science Course: Dreams and Realities in the Age of Digital Learning
The tools of technology have provided new frontiers in higher education and now impacts what students learn, how they learn and where they learn. This session will dissect the structure and format of a technology-enhanced science course that employed a course management system, pen-based computer technology, and podcasting. An analysis of instructor motives for adopting these particular teaching tools will be presented with an emphasis on gaining audience input on the pedagogical advantages/disadvantages of using these tools. This discussion will be aided by the results of a student attitudinal survey that addresses the educational value of this approach.

Presenter: J. Ricky Cox, associate professor, Murray State University

What do you mean that you teach _______ and citizenship at the same time?
There has been much discussion and debate recently in higher education regarding whether and how we should help students become prepared for citizenship and living in a global society. But what does all that have to do with how we structure courses for our majors? Do citizenship and participating in a global society have any role in something like a biochemistry course? How could we ever "make room" for these broader goals and still provide our students with the disciplinary knowledge they need? Five years ago, I would have said this would be impossible to do. But over the past three years, I have significantly altered my upper-level biochemistry courses so that basic biochemical concepts are learned in the context of public health issues such as Alzheimer's disease, AIDS, diabetes, and influenza. What worked in terms of student learning? What connections did students make with other parts of their undergraduate education? Where did students struggle? We'll use my experiences as a starting point for a discussion that explores the challenges and rewards teachers may experience in bringing the dimensions of citizenship and moral/civic engagement into classes for disciplinary majors. Along the way we'll also look at how the scholarship of teaching and learning can be a valuable asset in framing these questions and capturing what students learn from such efforts so that other faculty can build on prior work.

Presenter: Matt Fisher, associate professor and chair, Saint Vincent College

Fostering Active Learning in the Large Classroom: Creative Teaching Techniques
Fostering active learning and student participation in content-heavy courses is challenging. Doing so in a large classroom setting is even more difficult and demanding. Limitations of large classes include faculty monologues, passive learning, minimal student involvement, and the inability to assess students' comprehension. Creative methods of engaging students can remedy these challenges. Effective openings, interactive assignments, and participatory reviews reinforce and stimulate active learning. Small-group activities cultivate collaboration and create a positive learning environment. The presenters will demonstrate and provide an overview of strategies to engage students in active learning that have been successful with groups as large as 300 students.

Presenters: Jennifer D. Goldman-Levine, associate professor and Kate MacDonald, assistant professor, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy

Beyond "Good Job, Jenny!": Designing Full-Circle Peer-Review Assignments Across the Disciplines
How can we help our students improve their skills as reviewers of one another's writing? And how can we as faculty become more satisfied with students' peer-review work, and thus more willing to draw on it as a key strategy for student-centered learning? In this workshop, we'll begin by considering several steps toward creating successful peer-review assignments, steps that will help teachers from a wide range of disciplines and courses:

  • recognize, design for, and reward important learning gains that occur through the whole peer review process
  • develop strategies for designing peer-review prompts and sessions-from quick partner-share activities to extended writing-group meetings-that help students learn to be perceptive, forthright respondents to their classmates; and
  • create follow-up activities that teach students strategies for using reader comments to become better revisers of their own writing.

We'll then put those ideas to use in drafting peer-review assignments. Session participants are invited to bring documents with them to share and work on: a copy or two of a writing assignment they give to students that they think might be suited for a peer-review exercise; and/or a copy or two of a peer-review assignment or prompt they have used in the past that they wish to revisit and perhaps to revise.

Presenter: E. Shelley Reid, assistant professor, English department, George Mason University

When It's About Skills, Not Integrity: Assessing and Remedying Skill Deficiencies Related to Common Academic Integrity Issues
Violations of academic integrity are often related to skill deficiencies rather than ethical/moral deficiencies. Learn how to assess what your students know about citing sources, researching ethically, and more. Then, try some of the handy fixes offered in this workshop to help your students begin to patch their knowledge gaps. You will walk away with a workbook filled with activities designed to assist your students in developing a deeper understanding of what academic integrity entails and how they can be pursued in higher education ethically!

Presenter: Sarah Ryan, assistant professor, Baruch College/CUNY

Promoting Student Engagement and Identity in Large Classes
Increased risks of student passivity and student anonymity are among the biggest concerns for faculty contemplating large classes. In large classes, how do we engage students with the key ideas of our field, with the processes of learning, and with each other and us? How do we help students move beyond the sea of faces to be known by other students, by us, and by themselves-as individuals and as learners? Paying special attention to the importance of student autonomy, we draw upon relevant scholarship and the experiences of session participants to identify concrete strategies for promoting student engagement and identity.
Presenter: Philip Smith, department of psychology and arts seminars programme, University of Prince Edward Island

Helping Students Address the "Big Questions"
The workshop is relevant for faculty in both public and religious institutions. Faculty teaching general-education courses want students to go beyond mere memorization and to apply course material to their own lives and values. A recent study of college student "spirituality" reveals students' strong interest in working on their own spiritual development in college. This workshop suggests how to provide times and spaces for students' exploration while maintaining academic rigor and emphasizing critical thinking. The workshop will draw upon Walvoord's recently published quantitative and qualitative study of 533 teachers of introductory religion courses.
Presenter: Barbara E. Walvoord, fellow emerita, Institute for Educational Initiatives, concurrent professor emerita of English, University of Notre Dame

Making Teaching Better: Fixing Problems and Building Strengths
There are two ways to improve teaching: stop doing what isn't working and do more of what is working. Frequently teachers only do the first-they work to fix problems. That's necessary and it will improve teaching, but it doesn't make improvement a particularly positive process. Working to improve teaching by building on strengths does. The best way to grow and develop as a teacher involves both. This session will explore the process of selecting, adapting, implementing and assessing both kinds of changes-those that fix problems and those that build on strengths.
Presenter: Maryellen Weimer, editor, The Teaching Professor, professor emerita, teaching and learning, Penn State-Berks

Reading Strategies for the College Classroom
We are all guilty of assigning course readings and then not instructing students as to why or how to enter into a conversation with the author and one another regarding that reading. This workshop will examine how to think more broadly about which readings are chosen to enhance the classroom component, create learning, sustain student-led conversation, and generate new questions. This session will highlight several strategies successfully implemented in classes of 65 students, including Fishbowl, Jigsaw I and II, journaling, critical dialogue, and art.
Presenters: Mary Kayler, assistant professor, Leo Rigsby, associate professor, Krissy Bartlett, professor, George Mason University

Simple Active Learning Activities Designed to Increase Student Learning and Satisfaction
Every teacher wants their students to learn the course material at a deeper level while enjoying the experience. This session will demonstrate how to reach these lofty goals with active learning. Successful adaptation of active learning requires more than just handing out materials and telling the students to talk. Attendees will participate in a variety of activities to demonstrate how to effectively conduct activities and manage students. The National Science Foundation funded the presenter's work based on his initial success at increasing student satisfaction and academic success. Simple, easy-to-use activities will be presented to allow the participants to immediately infuse active learning into their classroom.
Presenter: Keith Whittington, associate professor, Rochester Institute of Technology

Using Technology: Thou Shalt and Thou Shalt Not
This session takes a rather interesting approach to the use of modern classroom electronic tools, particularly presentation technologies and is designed to focus workshop participants' attention beyond mere discussions about hardware and software to purposeful integration that results in increased learning and understanding while not ignoring the need for technological literacy. There are some among us whom we suspect to be technological zealots, promoting the use of modern technologies in all aspects of their work. These individuals should be mindful of the fact that tools for administrative, data manipulation, and efficiency purposes require a healthy dose of creativity if they are to offer real benefits in teaching and learning. Therefore, it is essential that all educators carefully consider the extent to which their use of modern communication devices could be utilized to engage, challenge, enhance, and add value to the work that we do with those in our learning communities who seek to gain knowledge and understanding, insight, and wisdom.
Presenter: Dave Yearwood, associate professor and chair, University of North Dakota

Using Digital Video to Motivate and Engage Students
This session is NOT about showing films in class! It is about the use of short (one- to five-minute) video excerpts to prompt student thought and discussion and to enhance student learning, motivate students, and encourage class participation. This session will demonstrate the use of carefully selected, short, digitized video clips. The presenters will show how they use video clips to bring the real world into the classroom and how students can learn to use the same techniques to prepare for their own class presentations.
Presenters: Jayne Zanglein, visiting instructor and Barbara Jo White, assistant professor, Western Carolina University

Overcoming Apathy in the Classroom: Teaching Strategies Drawn from the Psychology of Learning
What can instructors do to facilitate learning when they encounter students who seem uninterested and even apathetic toward course content and assignments? Part of the responsibility for learning belongs to students, but as faculty, we can find new ways to motivate, inspire, and maybe even cajole students to learn. This workshop will demonstrate and explain how instructors can make classroom learning, perhaps one of the most artificial learning settings, a more meaningful experience for students. The presenter uses theories of learning and motivation as a basis for creating strategies to increase student engagement in course content and class sessions. Participants will have an opportunity to try out and experience firsthand some of these techniques. Topics covered in this session include active learning, student motivation, collaborative learning, metacognition, learning theory, and interpersonal communication.
Presenter: Todd Zakrajsek, inaugural director of the Faculty Center for Innovative Teaching at Central Michigan University

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