Center for Faculty Development
Meeting Schedule
New faculty luncheons are held approximately once a month and involve a series of readings on special topics during the fall semester, and a book discussion group during spring semester.
Fall 2008
These lunches will be informal occasions for discussion about teaching—a time to gather ideas, explore issues and challenges, seek resources. Additionally, before each lunch participants will receive one or two short readings about teaching and learning in the higher education setting.
Tuesday, September 23, Noon to 1 PM, Rogge Dining Room MHC
Topic: “St. Thomas Student Reports on Teaching: One Non-Midwesterner's
Experience” Guest facilitator: Roxanne Prichard, Department of Psychology, 3rd year “new faculty” Readings will focus on getting feedback from your students before those end-of-the-semester Student Reports on Teaching, including a web posting on Classroom Assessment from the Center for Teaching and Learning at Stanford University and a web posting on the Small Group Instructional Diagnosis (a mid-term student interview process) from the Learning Enhancement Service at CSB/SJU.
Tuesday, October 21, Noon to 1 PM , Rogge Dining Room, MHC
Readings: Student Goal Orientation, Motivation, and Learning by Marilla Svinicki, an IDEA paper published on-line by the IDEA Center; excerpts from the chapter Overcoming Resistance to Learning in the book The Skillful Teacher by Stephen Brookfield, UST Distinguished Professor. These readings address challenges presented by the ways in which students approach the learning situation and how instructors might be responsive to those challenges.
Tuesday, November 18, Noon to 1 PM, Rogge Dining Room, MHC
Readings: Helping Students Help Each Other: Making Peer Feedback More Valuable by L.B. Nilson, from Teaching Excellence: Toward the Best in the Academy, 2002-2003 ; Leveling the Field: Using Rubrics to Achieve Greater Equity in Teaching and Grading by D.D. Stevens and A. Levi, from Teaching Excellence: Toward the Best in the Academy, 2005-2006. These readings focus on thorny topics related to grading/feedback. They explore ways to improve the quality of peer feedback and the use of rubrics as learning as well as grading tools.
Watch for e-mail announcements of these events, including information on registering to attend.
Questions? Please contact Nancy Z. Hartung, Faculty Development Liaison for New Faculty and Dept. of Biology; e-mail: nzhartung@stthomas.edu; phone: (651)962-5226.
Spring 2009
Spring Semester Lunch/Book Discussion Group: Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice by
Maryellen Weimer
New faculty will meet, over lunch, for discussions centered on readings from the book Learner-Centered Teaching by Maryellen Weimer, editor-in-chief of The Teaching Professor newsletter and associate professor of teaching and learning at Berks-Lehigh Valley College of the Pennsylvania State University. Each member of the group will receive a copy of the book.
From a review: “Of the dozens of books about teaching and learning that I have read over the past decade, none has reverberated in my thoughts like Learner-Centered Teaching. This book confronted me with the great distance between my personal definition and practice of “learner-centered teaching” and the potential of a deeper, more authentic learner-centered approach. It confronted me with the lapses between my “talk” and my “walk” when it comes to attitudes toward students, course design, expectations, power, and many other aspects of teaching. It helped me think more creatively about helping students with diverse learning styles and needs to thrive in my classes.” Robin Wright, University of Minnesota, CBE -Life Sciences Education, Winter 2006.
The book discussion group will meet three times during spring semester, dates to be announced.
Watch for an e-mail announcement of this book discussion group, including information on registering to participate. Questions? Please contact Nancy Z. Hartung, Faculty Development Liaison for New Faculty and Dept. of Biology; e-mail: nzhartung@stthomas.edu; phone: (651) 962-5226.
