Fall 2009 Events
All Duquesne faculty, staff and teaching assistants are welcome to attend!
Effective Faculty Peer Review of Teaching
Guest Presenter: Dr. Nancy Simpson, Texas A&M University
Rockwell Hall 505/506
Two sessions for faculty, chairs and deans evaluating these groups and for the faculty being evaluated:
- tenure-track and tenured faculty, Thursday, Oct. 8, 10 – noon
- non-tenure-track faculty, Friday, Oct. 9, 10 - noon
Topics:
- The purposes for faculty peer review of teaching, both formative (for improvement) and summative (for decision making).
- Aspects of teaching and learning that faculty peers are best suited to examine.
- An overview of what good college teaching looks like – in its various forms. What is it reasonable to expect across teaching and learning contexts at the university.
- Sound procedures for observing classes and for evaluating course materials.
- Tips for debriefing with the reviewee and for documenting the peer review.
Dr. Simpson will provide an overview of best practices and then guide participants through case studies and hands-on review of sample material. She will provide a practical list of resources.
Recommended reading to complement this session: Peer Review of Teaching: A Sourcebook (by Nancy Van Note Chism, 2nd edition) available in both the library and campus bookstore.
Details and RSVP at www.duq.edu/cte.
Co-sponsored by the Faculty Senate
Developing Thematic Courses for the University Core
Presenter: Kathleen Glenister Roberts (Core Curriculum & Communication and Rhetorical Studies)
Wednesday, September 9, 3:00 – 4:00
505/506 Rockwell Hall
In addition to discipline-specific requirements, the new Duquesne Core Curriculum features four theme areas: social justice, faith and reason, creative arts, and global diversity. Faculty from across the University are invited to submit course proposals for these areas. Many creative possibilities exist: demonstrating that one of these themes already pervades an existing course, adapting an existing course by integrating one of the themes, or proposing a new course. This session has two primary purposes: (1) to help faculty understand the process for having courses approved in the four thematic areas of the Core Curriculum, and (2) to provide models of courses that have already been approved from three different programs. Core Curriculum information is available at http://www.sites.duq.edu/core-curriculum/index.cfm.
Co-sponsored by the Core Curriculum Program Committee
Exploring Metacognition to Improve Teaching and Learning
Presenter: Steve Hansen (Center for Teaching Excellence)
Thursday, September17, 1:45 – 3:00
505/506 Rockwell Hall
How did you learn what you know? This workshop will use a fun metacognitive exercise to help you discover how you learn so that you can better help students to learn in your courses. We will discover the relationship between active learning, motivation, feedback and continuous learning. Participants will leave with handouts, a bibliography, and plenty of ideas to use in the classroom.
Promoting Student Learning through Effective Course and Syllabus Design
Presenter: Laurel Willingham-McLain (Center for Teaching Excellence)
Wednesday, September 30, 12:00 – 1:30
108 Canevin Hall
We often think of the syllabus in terms of laying out course requirements, readings, assignments, and policies. These are important aspects, and with careful thought, the syllabus can also serve to motivate students and promote learning. The syllabus, in fact, communicates the decisions faculty make about their courses, starting with clear learning goals, connecting these to teaching and learning tasks, and using them to guide assessment. In this workshop we will discuss ways to write your learning goals and to align these directly with instruction and with the kinds of evidence you gather in determining students grades. We will briefly address ways to make your course and syllabus fit program goals, such as those in your major or the new Core Curriculum. Participants will receive a worksheet and sample pack of Duquesne syllabi. Participants are invited to interact about one their own syllabi throughout the session.
[Adapted from Fall 2008]
Co-sponsored by the Academic Learning Outcomes Assessment Committee
Winning Ideas and Tips on Preparing Creative Teaching Award Submissions
Moderator: Laurel Willingham-McLain (Center for Teaching Excellence)
Panelists: Lisa Jo Vernon-Dotson (Education), Lynn M. Simko (Nursing)
Thursday, October 1, 12:15 - 1:30
707 Rockwell Hall
We offer this session so that participants can learn more about award-winning teaching by dialoging with the 2009 faculty winners. They employed various learning and assessment strategies. Duquesne's Creative Teaching Award states as its primary criterion the contribution of the innovation to student learning. It is often difficult for faculty to know how to provide evidence of this learning. Dr. Willingham-McLain, the award review committee chair, will give an overview of how to demonstrate that an innovation contributed significantly to students' learning. She will provide examples from recent winning submissions and discuss features of a compelling award dossier. Abstracts of award-winning submissions: http://www.sites.duq.edu/cte/awards/creative-teaching.cfm
Helping Students to Develop Cultural Competence in a Service-Learning Context
Panelists: Greg Harold (English), Jaime Muñoz (Occupational Therapy), Kathy Mayle (Nursing) and Kathleen Glenister Roberts (Communication & Rhetorical Studies)
Tuesday, October 6, 12:15 – 1:30
613 Union
Cultural competence refers to the ability to interact effectively with people from different cultures. While service-learning courses often introduce students to people with different life experiences than their own, faculty can play a significant role in how well students navigate these relationships. The panelists will share how they have helped students prepare to interact effectively with people from diverse cultures and how they have helped students to make sense of their experiences within the context of the class.
Co-sponsored by the Office of Service-Learning
Grading Writing to Encourage Revision
Presenter: Jim Purdy (Writing Center & English)
Monday, October 12, Noon – 1:30
505/506 Rockwell
This workshop will provide strategies for grading writing to encourage students to revise. The session will address tips for using comments to teach students rather than to justify a grade. Faculty and teaching assistants will learn about giving comments a future orientation, using minimal marking, and asking students to respond to comments. Taken together, these approaches offer ways to help students take responsibility for their learning.
Co-sponsored by the Writing Center
Teaching with Style: Understanding your Students
Facilitator: Steve Hansen (CTE)
Tuesday, October 13, 10:45 – Noon
108 Canevin Hall
Studies of how people learn and process information reveal that we have different learning styles. Professors who recognize the various learning styles can assist student learning by adapting their presentations to reach multiple styles of learning. In this interactive workshop, we will explore several tools for evaluating your learning style and will discover ways to teach to reach students whose styles may differ from your own.
[Repeated from Fall 2007]
Make Learning “Click” in Large Classes
Moderator: Steve Hansen (CTE)
Panelists: TBA
Postponed until Spring 2010
A growing trend in large class instruction is the use of “clickers” or Personal Response Systems (PRS) to involve students in learning. In this workshop, several Duquesne faculty members will illustrate how they use “clickers” to teach and informally assess student learning along the way. If you have not experienced using PRS, come and try it with your colleagues. You will leave the workshop with ideas of how to make learning “click” in a large class.
Publish or Perish: Choosing and Approaching Academic Publishers
Presenter: Susan Wadsworth-Booth (Duquesne University Press)
Friday, November 13, 12:00 – 1:30
713 Rockwell Hall
This workshop is intended for graduate students and junior faculty who want to learn about getting their work published in today's academic environment. We will discuss how to research and choose appropriate publishers, how to prepare initial proposals for a publisher's review, how doctoral dissertations may (or may not) be revised for book publication, how the review process works, and how new technologies and models (such as electronic journals and open-access publications) fit into the process. This workshop will focus on the humanities and social sciences, though all are welcome.
[Repeated from Fall 2007]
Designing Guided Reflection Assignments through Articulated Learning
Presenters: Lina Dostilio (Office of Service Learning) and Steve Hansen (Center for Teaching Excellence)
Wednesday, November 18, 3:00 – 4:30
608 Union
Faculty frequently bemoan the quality of student reflections on service-learning experiences. There is an art to crafting a reflection assignment that helps students to make key connections to course materials, social issues and personal development. In this workshop, we will explore how to design reflective assignments that help students articulate what they are learning on multiple levels. Participants will leave the workshop with examples of reflective assignments, an understanding of articulated learning, and the ability to help students comprehensively reflect on their service-learning experience.
Co-sponsored by the Office of Service-Learning
Teaching Students to Evaluate Information with the Relevance Credibility Model
Presenter: Greg Barnhisel (English) and Ava Cipri (English)
Thursday, November 19, 1:45 - 3:00
Berger Gallery, 207 College Hall
The Relevance/Credibility Model is a tool for assessing the appropriateness of an information source for a particular assignment. The model provides students with specific criteria and questions to ask when looking for information. It also offers a simple equation, Relevant + Credibility = Good Source, which helps students identify unsuitable information (e.g., too scholarly or untrustworthy). All Duquesne courses that satisfy the Core information literacy requirement use this model. In this session, faculty and teaching assistants will become acquainted with the model, practice using it in hands-on exercises, and learn from instructors who have used it and be able to ask them questions.
Co-sponsored by Gumberg Library