Pre-Conference Workshops

Pre-registration and fee required. Jump-start your 2007 Teaching Professor Conference experience by choosing one of our extra-long, in-depth pre-conference workshops. It’s the perfect way to start the conference with an extra dose of creativity and excitement!

Facilitating Student Learning: A Primer for New Faculty Members
Friday, May 18, 2007 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

This full-day pre-conference session is a primer in teaching and learning for graduate students and new teachers. In the morning, participants will fill out a Teaching Goals Inventory. This will be followed by a short presentation on learner-centered teaching; an exploration of constructing useful syllabi; and small-group breakout sessions on lectures, group work, discussion in the classroom, writing to learn, and technology. The afternoon session will begin with a detailed discussion about grading. Considerable time will also be spent dealing with 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. All participants will receive an anthology of articles titled The Best of the Teaching Professor (several of these articles will be used during the session) as well as a certificate of completion. This session is recommended for anyone who teaches 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 teaches the session using many of the activities he recommends for implementation in the classroom.
Pre-conference session will include lunch, all program handouts and reference materials, The Best of the Teaching Professor Book, and a Certificate of Completion.
Invited Presenter: Ike Shibley, associate professor, Penn State-Berks
Cost: $235
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More Writing, Deeper Learning: A Workshop on the Principled Use of Writing in All Courses
Friday May 18, 2007 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

For decades, research has shown that students learn to write well through continuous practice in different contexts and that writing plays a powerful role in helping students learn the subject matter of their courses. Yet across much of higher education, students still do not write consistently and widely enough to become effective communicators. By assigning little writing, teachers are also missing an opportunity to strengthen students' learning and engage them in the material. How can faculty in all disciplines integrate writing into their courses—even large, lecture sections—and not feel that it intrudes on their "coverage," asks them to do something they weren't trained to do, or overburdens them with extra work? In this interactive workshop, participants will (1) explore ways to design effective, learning-based writing assignments and weave them into their courses to enhance student engagement; (2) develop assessment tools for various types of writing assignments; and (3) explore ways to support the development of students' writing abilities regardless of the discipline.
Invited Presenter: Chris M. Anson, professor and director, Campus Writing & Speaking Program, North Carolina State University
Cost: $135
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