Hello from CETL,
We are just ending the first 1/3 of the spring semester. Lots of poor weather to deal with but always exciting teaching and learning opportunities. The four Faculty Learning Communities are moving ahead with reading and discussion of two important books--the Cross and Angelo "Classroom Assessment Techniques" and the Fink's "Creating Significant Learning Experiences." We have over 50 faculty in these four groups this semester. We also have our ongoing peer faculty consultations--there is still time for this if you contact us in the next couple of weeks. I have been doing a couple of active learning consultations for faculty looking for alternatives to presenting material in a lecture format.
Last week I spent time at Arizona State University in Tempe looking at how their Teaching Center works. We are currently working on a number of new initiatives or improvements to our own Center which will take place next year. This includes a year-long for our faculty.
On February 19th we will sponsor a "Talking About Teaching and Active Learning" day-long conference at MSU. It will feature a nationally know keynoter talking about the value of active learning in the classroom and 15 MSU professors who will present active learning strategies they use at MSU. Don't miss this important and exciting conference.
For those interested in wisdom and who it can be taught to students there is the Collaboration Conference in the Twin Cities on February 19-20th. Elsewhere on this site you will find a link to their website. Registration ends soon!
If you have any questions or concerns please contact our office. We are here to help our faculty in their teaching efforts.
