The 2012 Faculty Focus Seminar Series is Closed. See CETL Events to read about the Spring 2013 series and register for sessions. ∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning is proud to report the success of the first seminar in the Fall 2012 Faculty Focus seminar series:  Course Design for New and Seasoned Faculty.  This first seminar featured Barbara Crain, Associate Professor of Geography at our Loudoun campus leading a discussion that looked at the big questions of our courses and how they should drive course design.   Seminar participants began with conversation about what’s important in their own courses and what kind of learning is authentic and what process engage students.   The session wrapped up with a look at different kinds of assessments, both backward looking and forward looking.

Participants in this session are welcome to reply to this blog post with comments about what they learned and how they will use the content of the seminar in their teaching practice.  Any one else is welcome as well.

The seminar series furthers that conversation;  It will take a look at goals and assessment with the next seminar in the series, and continue it throughout the rest of the series.  On October 11 Cindy Miller, the acting Coordinator of CETL, will lead a discussion entitled Beginning at the End.   In this two hour, interactive seminar we’ll look at ways to make sure we are testing both what and how we teach.   You can still register for this session or for any of the other sessions remaining in the series.   See all information about the series on the CETL Blog.  The registration link is also on the blog, or click here.

The Fall 2012 Faculty Focus Series is complete. Please see CETL Events for information about the Spring 2013 Series.

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Want to give your courses a boost?  CETL presents:
A Faculty Focus Series on Course Design
for New and Seasoned Faculty

Register at   http://tinyurl.com/CETL-series-2012

The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning is very proud to announce its inaugural semester-long Faculty Focus Series for Fall 2012:  Course Design for New and Seasoned Faculty.

Current research on undergraduate education asks us to diminish our dependence on lecture and to make our courses learning-centered.  This is easier said than done, of course, and ultimately relies on the way we design our courses.  The Faculty Focus series takes a look at how to think about course design and how to approach it, how to be sure that we really do test what we teach and teach what we really want to test.   There are many ways to assess our students’ learning, but we’ll focus on the construction of a valid multiple choice exam.  We will also look at some ideas about how to design learning-centered activities and some strategies that allow you to move from a traditional lecture format to a student-centered environment.

You are welcome to attend one, some, or all of the sessions.  We’ll have an additional session at the end of the series so we can get together and talk about what we’ve learned and how we’ve incorporated new ideas into our courses.

A special feature of the series is a webinar sponsored by the Wiley Learning Institute.  The title is Designing Courses for Significant Learning and the presenter is L. Dee Fink, author of  Creating Significant Learning Experiences.    CETL  will sponsor your attendance at this as part of the series (or if this is all you want to attend, that’s great!).   This is on Wednesday,  October 17th from 3:00 to 4:30 PM.    See the Flyer here: WLI_FL12_Flyers_Fink_Designing_Courses_10171 (2)

All other sessions are held on Thursdays from 1 to 3 PM.  The locations vary and depend on room availability.   Stay tuned for updates.

Here’s the series:

Register at   http://tinyurl.com/CETL-series-2012

Please see the CETL Library’s GoodReads  page for titles about this topic.  Here are a few suggestions — there’s many more titles in the CETL Library.

• Learner Centered Teaching, by Maryellen Weimer:  Five Key Changes to Practice
• Creating Significant Learning Experiences  by L. Dee Fink.  An Integrated Approach to Design.
• Classroom Assessment Techniques by Angelo and Cross.  A Handbook for College Teachers
• Developing Learning Centered Teaching by Phyllis Blumberg.  A Practical Guide for Faculty

Please use the Reply box below to add any other titles that your colleagues might find useful, or any comments you may have about the series! We look forward to seeing you there!