Elon University is seeking a managing director for the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning. We are seeking a seasoned faculty developer with a compelling vision for sustaining and growing a teaching and learning center in a manner consistent with Elon’s mission and culture.
Learn more about the position and for detailed information on how to apply.
If you have questions, please contact Mary Jo Festle, chair of the search committee, at festle@elon.edu.
A group of Communications faculty have created an archive of teaching materials that integrate diversity into the Communications curriculum. Building on the School of Communications’ Diversity Plan and with support from the Diversity Infusion Project, this resource supports Communications students learning their discipline in the context of our complex global society.
Class is much more engaging and interesting for both students and instructors when students take the time to prepare outside of class. Last week, the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning held a seminar for faculty to discuss how to motivate their students to prioritize their academic work and come to class prepared. Here are some helpful techniques that were discussed:
Create expectations. Katie King, associate professor of psychology, believes that instructors can create a classroom culture that encourages students to do their work outside of class and participate actively in class. “In small discussion-based classes or in larger classes when students are working in groups to accomplish a task, it can be awkward for a student to be unprepared,” King says. “Group grades or opportunities to evaluate the degree of responsibility taken by other group members can heighten the social pressure to come prepared.”
Show that you care about their participation. While many instructors use attendance policies to motivate students to come to class, simply showing up isn’t enough. Cindy Conn, assistant professor of management, gives her students a participation score she calls CCL, or Contributing to Class Learning, to show her students that their participation is crucial to everyone in class.
Put students in your shoes. King has had her students help redesign her class so they can see what she does firsthand. “Students are more likely to prepare for class when they see how hard we work,” she says. If students understand the thought their professors put in, they’re more likely to put effort in outside of class as well.
Enthusiasm doesn’t go unnoticed. “Never underestimate the power of your own enthusiasm,” says L.D. Russell, a religious studies professor. Showing your passion for the subject you teach or going out of your way to help students will help them genuinely want to engage in your class.
To learn more about upcoming events, visit the teaching and learning website here.
Now in its eighth year, Elon’s annual Teaching and Learning Conference drew over 250 faculty, program directors, and administrators from 34 area colleges and universities on August 18, 2011.
With the theme of Thresholds to Learning, the conference provided opportunities to look at student learning and faculty roles in creating active and engaging learning environments, and technologies that support engaged teaching and learning.
In the opening plenary, Ray Land, an internationally known scholar in teaching and learning, discussed student learning and transformation. Centered around the theory of “Threshold Concepts” Land suggests that in order to transform, or make significant leaps in awareness, a learner must go through states of uncertainty, called ‘liminal’ states, and let go of previous learning in order to integrate new ways of understanding. In these liminal states, a person may experience uncomfortable feelings, a shift in identity or a sense of loss because of the letting go of previous assumptions.
Watch Ray Land’s plenary “Threshold Concepts and Troublesome Knowledge” presented at the conference
In the closing plenary, Jim Groom, in a lively display of humor and insight, posited that independent domains and open web tools provide students, faculty, and people outside the university from all walks of life and around the world opportunities to express, exhibit, and be discovered online with the encumbrance of institutional rules and regulations. He described how MWU applied simple blog technology (WordPress MU) to create a living nexus of business, information, and highly creative self-expression. The platform also enabled unprecedented participation in open courses by people from around the world.
Watch Jim Groom’s session “A Domain of One’s Own”
Please note that due to technical difficulties, only video of the PPT with audio is available.
We look forward to seeing you tomorrow at the 8th Annual Teaching and Learning Conference at Elon University. Doors open at 8:00 am and the conference ends at 4:25 pm, with lunch included. This annual event is jointly sponsored by Elon’s Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning (CATL) and Teaching and Learning Technologies (TLT).
Visit the conference website to see the final program agenda and for directions and parking.
With Thresholds to Learning as our theme, the conference embraces new ways of looking at student learning and our own roles as instructors and mentors. Ray Land, an internationally known expert and scholar, will introduce the pedagogical framework for Threshold Concepts, followed by workshops and presentations on a variety of innovative teaching methods and effective applications of technology that contribute to engaged learning environments. The conference concludes with Jim Groom’s lively presentation about using open web resources to expand learning beyond traditional campus boundaries.
Our goals are to provide you with strategies and resources that you can use immediately, to encourage new ways of thinking about teaching and learning, and to help inspire you as you begin the new academic year.
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