Course: CoS Pilot Higher Education Teaching and Learning

Day/Time: Tuesdays 10-12
Location:
CoS Building, Room 221

Facilitator: Jace Hargis - jhargis@mail.ucf.edu; 407.823.3544; www.jhargis.com  


Purpose
The purpose of this course is to assist faculty who wish to gain a clearer, deeper active approach to teaching and learning.  The course aligns with the University’s five central goals and subsequently the Faculty Center’s vision/mission.

 

UCF GOALS

Goal 1: Offer the best undergraduate education available in Florida.

Goal 2: Achieve international prominence in key programs of graduate study and research.

Goal 3: Provide international focus to our curricula and research programs.

Goal 4: Become more inclusive and diverse.

Goal 5: Be America's leading partnership university.

 

Faculty Center Vision - We will be the model environment where scholars innovate, invigorate, and explore the art of teaching and the science of learning.

Faculty Center Mission - We dedicate ourselves to the success of our faculty and students. We promote 1) excellence in teaching and learning, 2) successful research and creative activities, 3) professional advancement, and 4) collaborative endeavors.

 

Course Description

This course will address the knowledge, skills and dispositions expected from a professional in the higher education arena.  Topics will include presentation skills and practice; balancing the many roles of professors; course design; delivery of instruction, teaching strategies; learning differences among students; active learning strategies and collaborative learning; giving assessment and soliciting feedback; academic ethics, legal issues; and classroom management.

 

Course Outcomes (since this is a Pilot, these will be determined by the cohort and on-going reflection, modification pursued).  Instructors will

·         increase effective and enjoyable instruction through integration of additional active teaching strategies;

·         implement specific best-practice, literature-based teaching and learning skills;

·         actively explore and pursue the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) as a method for examining and improving teaching and learning; and

·         identify the needs of diverse students, diverse learning environments, and instructional technologies; subsequently applying appropriate methods to accommodate for various learning styles.

 

Learning Resources

·         Textbooks that you are using in your course

·         Your Syllabus, Assessments, Methods, Plans, Ideas, etc.

·         Engaging learning attitude and perspective.

 

Optional Learning Resources

·         Faculty Center’s Website - http://www.fctl.ucf.edu/

 

Tentative Course Schedule
(Faculty Center Electronic Workbook @ http://www.fctl.ucf.edu/Events/GTAPrograms/workbook/)

Week-Date

Concept (hyperlinked)

Tangent Media

Please Bring to Session

1-Aug 26

Course Description/Intent; and Introduction to Learning

Tech & Students

Students Today
Perspective

Great Attitude and pertinent, divergent questions

2- Sep 2

Course Design Part I: Teaching Goals; Goals Alignment; Objectives

Indoctrinate U

Higher Ed 1960

Course Design

Your current course goals.  Complete, print and bring TGI form

3- Sep 9

Course Design Part II: Assessment Strategies; Assessment Matrix; Meeting Objectives Matrix (rubistar)

10 Objections

The Exam

Do rubrics work
Bloom prompts

Your current assessment practices and strategies (please bring any rubrics that you have created)

4- Sep 16

Course Design Part III: Lesson Plan Matrix & Outcomes

Future of Ed
Google Searches
Twitter
 

Your current lesson plans and how they relate to your instruction

5- Sep 23

Teaching Models

Learning Cycle

Extreme Method
Passing Tests

 

Ideas of how you teach – past, present and how you plan to improve

6- Sep 30

Effective Lectures: Introduction; Best Practices; Speak Engagingly; Organization

Randy Pausch

Teach
Chomsky

Sample of your lecture and be ready to present a portion

7- Oct 7

Tips on Slide Presentations; Leading a Discussion/Lab; Collaborative Learning; & Problem-Based Learning

PP Tips

Adv PP
Backing Up

Examples of your PowerPoint and  other presentation material

8- Oct 14

Interactive Techniques I

Physics

Web 2.0
Academic 2.0

Ideas of how you engage your students

9- Oct 21

Interactive Techniques II. Faculty demo how they use these in their classes

Homework?

Kind of Teacher

Teaching in College

You will present how You use interactive strategies in your class

10- Oct 28

Final Course Evaluations & Midterm Evaluation

NA

Your philosophy on student evals and how you use these for improvement

11- Nov 4

Syllabus Design

'Course' design
 

Your syllabus and notes from this course to update

12- Nov 11

Veterans Day - OFF

NA

OFF

13- Nov 18

Faculty Share Products

NA

Your Products & Questions

14- Nov 25

Thanksgiving - OFF

NA

OFF

15- Dec 2

Plan for future & Post Assess

NA

Your Ideas and Visions

 

Assessment

Although there is no formal ‘grade’ in this course, there will be a system to monitor, account and encourage continuous improvement, engagement and the pursuit of individual goals.  In this venue, along our path, you will be developing a specific product, which will adhere to YOUR teaching, most likely involving one of your current courses.  The hope is that you will have the time, resources and timeliness of learning new, innovative, best practices to teach and can implement many of these in real time as you learn them and are teaching a class.  In addition, as you learn, you will collect information in a systematic way, ultimately producing a product that you can share at the end of the course and subsequently use to build future courses in a best-practices model. 

 

We hope to offer a learner-centered experience utilizing active learning methodology to assist participants in making connections between teaching and learning.  The approach is conceptually-based and subsequently process driven, engaging learners to observe, communicate, classify, infer and predict.  A learning environment will facilitate learners to build on their prior knowledge and value of education expanding into models of learning, critical analysis and methods of teaching.  Therefore, a culminating product should both encompass many of the experiences taken place in a course and most importantly make connections between the critical concepts.  In particular the concepts which are both foundational and generalizable into other areas.  The goal of learning is not only content, but ideally we should be able to use, apply, integrate and actively use concepts from one discipline to extend understanding and meaning in other areas. 

Our brains function best when they have multiple stimuli of differing degrees and types.  It is similar to if you only had one target to aim at, your chances of hitting it are less than if you had a dozen targets.

 

Facilitator Goals
At a minimum, the facilitator hopes to communicate effectively; Demonstrate enthusiasm; Relate material to current examples; clearly explain complex concepts; use course instructional materials effectively; strive to involve faculty; foster an environment conducive to critical analysis; stimulate interest in the material; and facilitate learning effectively.

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