CENTER FOR TEACHING EXCELLENCE

Volume 19, Number 1 - September & October 2009

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Fall Teaching and Learning Schedule

Teaching Tips
12:00 - 1:30 p.m. Thursday, September 10, Maryland Room, Marie Mount Hall

This workshop invites all new and seasoned teachers to exchange teaching tips, discuss best teaching practices and pose questions to CTE staff and faculty members about teaching and learning. We anticipate the workshop to be a lively and productive conversation! Light lunch will be served.

08-09 Lilly Fellows Project Presentation: Creating Rigor with Controversy
3:00 - 6:00 p.m. Thursday, September 10, Maryland Room, Marie Mount Hall

The 2008-2009 CTE-Lilly Fellows invite you to a presentation of their project to enhance academic rigor in their courses by introducing controversial and complex problems. The fellows will share their findings and lead workshops for participants.

Faculty-Community Partnership for Civic Engagement: Lunch & Learn
12:00 - 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, September 23, Stamp Student Union

Please join us for the third in our ongoing series of roundtable presentations on integrating civic engagement in the curriculum. During this discussion, community partners will share insights on civic engagement and the undergraduate academic experience.

Teaching Philosophies (graduate students only)
12:00 - 3:00 p.m. Thursday, October 8, Maryland Room, Biosciences Research Building

Your application package for academic jobs is likely to include a teaching philosophy, where you describe what teaching means to you and who you are as a teacher. In this workshop we will discuss key components of a persuasive teaching philosophy, look at samples, and start a first draft. Seats are limited and available on a first-come-first-serve basis. RSVP to reserve a seat (cte@umd.edu).

Teaching as Performance: Leslie Felbain, Department of Theatre
12:00 - 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, October 21, Maryland Room, Marie Mount Hall

As is clear to all who have begun the first day of any course, effective teaching requires some awareness of our physical presence in and movement around the classroom. This workshop will address the issue of teaching as a particular sort of performance and will introduce strategies for effective work on the classroom's stage.

Study Abroad Pedagogy
12:00 - 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, November 4, Maryland Room, Marie Mount Hall

Maryland offers a range of courses that are partially or entirely taught abroad. This workshop introduces a selection of these study abroad courses with an emphasis on their pedagogical value. Come and learn more about the study abroad learning experience, how to get started with your own tentative study abroad course and what to keep in mind, while creating the course and planning the trip.

"Overcoming Apathy and Creating Excitement in the Classroom"
Todd Zakrajsek, ACC Teaching Scholar, University of North Carolina
12:00 - 1:30 p.m. Thursday, November 12, Maryland Room, Marie Mount Hall

Overcoming Apathy and Creating Excitement in the Classroom
What can instructors do to facilitate learning when they encounter students who seem uninterested and even apathetic toward course content and assignments? Part of the responsibility for learning belongs to students, but as faculty, we can find new ways to motivate, inspire, and maybe even cajole students to learn. This workshop will demonstrate and explain how instructors can make classroom learning, perhaps one of the most artificial learning settings, a more meaningful experience for students.

Teaching Writing Through the Disciplines
12:00 - 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, December 2, Maryland Room, Marie Mount Hall

The final workshop of the fall semester will offer participants valuable approaches to teaching and responding to writing among and across the disciplines. We will consider the disciplines' expectations of effective written communication and strategies for guiding student improvement.

Teaching and Learning News
Spencer Benson, Director
Dave Eubanks, Assistant Director
Anna Bedford, Editor