First/Second Fridays

First/Second Fridays are monthly lunchtime conversations focused on different aspects of teaching, open to all faculty members.  Sessions are held in the CTL commons area on the first or second Friday of each month, from 12:45-1:45 p.m. (or if presented on Thursdays, from 12:30-1:30 p.m.).  As funds allow, lunch is provided. 

Spring, 2012, First Friday presentations will include:

Friday, February 3rd (12:45-1:45 p.m.): Evelyn Chiang, Psychology; Heidi Kelley, Sociology & Anthropology; & Lori Horvitz, Literature & Language, Teaching Sensitive Topics in Diversity-Intensive Classes

Experienced DI instructors will each share an exercise or strategy that has worked well for them in teaching DI classes. This presentation is especially aimed at DI instructors, present and future, and anyone else who includes issues of diversity in their curriculum.

Thursday (First-Friday-on-Thursday), March 1st (12:30-1:30 p.m.): Laura Bond (Drama), Top Tips for Effective Presentations

Having developed a special topics course for students last spring on the art of multimodal presentations, Laura will help us help our students to deliver successful classroom presentations. She’ll share handouts, assessment tools, and additional resources useful in guiding students to oral competency.

Thursday (First-Friday-on-Thursday), April 5th (12:30-1:30 p.m.): John Myers (TLTR), Reed Roig (Accounting), and Greg Boudreaux (Math), Technology and Teaching: Mahara, Tablet PCs, and Notebook Programs

Wondering what Mahara is, or how you could possibly make use of a tablet in – or out- of the classroom? Come learn about intriguing new instructional technologies from resident experts who will share ideas about helpful uses of these tools. Whether you opt to adopt or not, it’s always helpful to know what’s new and different!

...And, a bonus presentation!

Friday, March 23rd (1:00-2:30 p.m.): Carolyn Ogburn (North Carolina TEACCH Autism Program), Working with College Students with Autism 

Do you know someone with autism? As the prevalence of autism rises (current U.S. estimates are 1 in 110), more students with autism are attending college. What should faculty and staff expect in working with college students with autism? How can we better understand the unique mindset of these students, their strengths, and their needs?

Carolyn Ogburn, a local TEACCH therapist who works with individuals with autism and their families, will conduct the workshop. Her presentation will include an interactive "strategy session" to address and support the challenges of working with students with autism.

Evelyn Chiang (Psychology) received a grant from the CTL to bring this event to campus, and the Care and Crisis Team has generously offered to provide desserts for all attendees.

Fall, 2011, First/Second Friday presenters and topics included:

September 9: Deaver Traywick (Writing Center), Peer Review of Student Writing: A Method to the Madness

Peer review of student writing is generally lauded in theory, but the practice of reviewing is often derided as unproductive or marginally effective at best.  Deaver described how to train students to be critical, constructive reviewers and demonstrated several formats for reviewing.  See a pdf version of Deaver's presentation here.  Deaver has also made his supplemental materials available:

• Examples of more and less useful student comments in peer reviewing
• Sample peer reviewing guidelines used by Deaver in Language 120
• Sample peer reviewing guidelines used by Ana Teixiera in an ILS 379 class
• Sample peer reviewer response sheets and questions from St. Martin's Manual and the TA Handbook
• Model peer review memo, with comments, from Deaver's Language 120 class
• Model peer-reviewed paper from Deaver's Language 120 class

October 14: Michelle Bettencourt (Foreign Languages), Melodie Galloway (Music), & Melissa Smith (Psychology), Top Tips from Teaching Conferences

The University Teaching Council (UTC) provided funding to faculty members last year to attend pedagogy conferences. Three grantees discussed how they benefitted from their experiences, personally and practically. UTC Chair Jen Ward answered questions about this year’s teaching conference travel grants, which were due on November 30 (2011).  Spring funding proposals are due on February 1, 2012; see a copy of the request for proposals here.

November 11: Jeff Wilcox (Environmental Studies) and Jason Schmeltzer (Chemistry), Using Personal Response Systems (Clickers) for Student Engagement and Assessment 

Campus interest in personal response systems (clickers) is growing, as research suggests that both student enjoyment and performance increase in clicker classrooms. Jeff and Jason discussed the ways they use clickers in their classrooms, sharing tips for successful application of this engaging tool.