Teaching at ISU: March/April 99
Volume 11, Number 4
Announcements
April Faculty Forum
Monday, April 12
"Best Practice: Student-Centered Instruction?" is the topic for the April Faculty Forum. Barbara Licklider, associate professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies and director of Project LEA/RN, will lead our discussion.
Variously called active learning, student-centered learning, collaborative learning, problem-based learning, or team-based learning, the focus of current thinking about teaching is: student learning. Recent research has brought to light much new information about how the brain functions and how people learn. And the calls for accountability that arose during the late 1980s and early 1990s resulted in new approaches to outcomes assessment.
These two developments have given rise to an awareness that effective teaching is related to the amount of student learning that occurs and that different methods of engaging student participation in learning can result in different levels of understanding.
This last Faculty Forum for the semester will take place in the Campanile Room. Social time starts at 5:30, dinner is at 6:00 and the discussion starts at 6:45. Dinner costs $10, payable at the door. For dinner reservations, call Jane Henning at 294-2906 or e-mail her at njhenni@iastate.edu. If you are unable to join us for dinner, you are welcome to come for the discussion only.
CTE Workshop: Learning-Centered Syllabi
Wednesday, April 21, 3:00 to 5:00
An important part of the new focus on students and their learning is the way we structure our syllabi and what we put into them. The traditional syllabus has been faculty-oriented, containing information that is important to a teacher, such as where the class meets, the names and authors of text books, which topics will be covered on which days, and the dates for exams and projects. This information is also important to students but, in addition, they need to know how the teacher approaches the subject, what kinds of knowledge or skills are required to be a successful student in this class, in what kinds of activities will they be expected to participate, how this course relates to other courses in their major, and a lot more. This workshop will help faculty to design syllabi that clearly delineate the teacher's and the students' responsibilities and what each can expect from the other. A well-constructed syllabus sets the tone for the entire semester and usually results in fewer disagreements later on. Contact Jane Henning at 294-2906 or njhenni@iastate.edu to register for the workshop.
CTE/ITC Workshop: Introduction To WebCT
Workshop 2: Thursday, April 29, 1:10-2:30 PM
This seminar-style workshop will provide a general overview of the web course delivery package called WebCT. It is intended for instructors who are considering adding an online element to an existing course or who anticipate providing a complete online course. The workshop will demonstrate many of the tools and features of WebCT from both a student's and the course designer's perspective. Guest faculty who have used WebCT in conjunction with courses at ISU will offer valuable insights and tips for incorporating WebCT into your courses.
Registration is required. To register for this event, please contact Training & Development at 294-8914 or e-mail hrstandd@iastate.edu.
Look for Teaching At ISU this Fall
Unbelievable though it seems, this is the last newsletter for the semester. We'll be back again in the Fall with more information about teaching and learning, including a regular article about assessment by Mary Huba. Please let us know if there are topics that you would like to see addressed in the newsletter and, as always, we welcome articles from faculty and staff that relate to some aspect of teaching and learning at ISU.
