Northern Arizona University

The NAU Teaching Seminar 2011

Launching Student Success:
Engaging Undergraduates in Disciplinary Ways of Thinking

May 18 - 20, 2011

Sponsored by the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Faculty Development Program

Application process is now closed.

Background:
The recommendations of the Task Force on the Freshman Year included (1) a recognition of the significant role that key university courses play in fostering student success in their initial years at NAU and (2) a commitment to support faculty working to enhance their teaching: “Programs are needed that better acquaint faculty with the characteristics of contemporary traditional-age college students and freshman at NAU and a range of pedagogical practices that can effectively engage freshman learners.” The NAU Teaching Seminar 2011 responds to the recommendations of this Task Force and continues the work begun during Seminar 2008. The seminar is sponsored by the Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and the Faculty Development Program.

Focus:
The 2011 NAU Teaching Seminar will give selected faculty the opportunity to participate in a focused examination of teaching and learning within the context of gateway classes during a three-day seminar with Indiana University researcher, Joan Middendorf.

During the three days, participants will examine patterns in student learning within the disciplines, will learn how to “decode” the kind of student thinking that is impeding their learning, and will learn how to address and assess the improvement of student learning . Faculty will work directly with consultants and with each other, focusing on promoting student progress and success in NAU gateway classes. Work sessions throughout the seminar will enable participants to work on their specific classes.

From Dr. Middendorf:  The objective of this May Teaching Seminar 2011 “is for you to be able to identify an important place where your students are having trouble, to know how to decode the kind of thinking that’s impeding students’ learning in this area, to figure out how to model the kind of thinking you want your students to do, to be able to tell when your students have mastered these operations by the end of the process; these steps constitute the applications of Decoding the Disciplines process (Middendorf & Pace 2004) to your work.”

”Based on where your students are having trouble in your own classes and the issues that most concern you, we will show you how to define those points and what to do about them.”

(Dr. Middendorf's biographical information available here.)

Faculty Participants:

Faculty who teach "gateway" classes, those classes characterized by

high aggregate enrollments of lower division students,

a concern about the percentage of students who do not achieve C or higher,

prerequisite status -- successful course-taking leads to admission into subsequent courses or programs.

Teaching Seminar 2011 Program Components:
The faculty selected for this program will

inaugurate the seminar activities by attending an orientation lunch either April 20 or April 21;

participate in a three-day workshop, Wednesday, May 18 through Friday, May 20.  Guest work session leader will be Joan Middendorf, Indiana University Bloomington;

undertake a classroom-based project in 2011-2012 to assess impact of a class-specific innovation on some aspect of student performance and disseminate seminar and project information to colleagues;

attend a fall semester and a spring semester work session;

have the option of presenting project results at Seminar 2012.

Teaching Seminar 2011 Program Features:
Seminar participants will

receive $1000 stipend for Seminar 2011 participation;

have the option of receiving an additional $500 stipend if classroom-based project findings are selected to be presented during Seminar 2012;

receive and work with resource books and materials,

work in an interdisciplinary setting;

gain insights into applicability of research-based teaching and assessment strategies;

engage in critical discussions about student learning.

“I wish teachers talked more about their teaching…Teaching is a profession that requires passion, strength, and ability. Conversing with other [university] teachers can help develop all three areas” (p. 109).

From “Reconfiguring the Privacy of Teaching,” in The Best of the Teaching Professor,
Madison, WI: Magna Publications, 2005.

Application process is now closed.

Contact Linda Shadiow, Director of Faculty Development at linda.shadiow@nau.edu or 523-7121 if you have questions.

 

Participants of previous seminars