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Monday, December 17, 2012

Lilly Conference on College & University Teaching – West Pre-Conference Workshop on Critical Thinking


UPDATE

 Lilly Conference on College & University Teaching – West

 Pre-Conference Workshop on Critical Thinking

now includes both

Craig Nelson & Tom Angelo!

 

March 14, 2013

1:00pm-4:30pm

 Improving Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum: Transformative Course Design, Teaching, Assessment and Feedback Strategies

Lilly West is delighted to announce that these two guys are working together again just for us! We have seen this combo work before and the atmosphere is always electric and transformative.

The workshop will combine Angelo’s expertise in Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) with Nelson’s teaching moves for fostering critical thinking.


They will provide spurts of learning theory (from cognitive development, for example) with example applications and with CATs. Writing and peer discussion will help make sure that each participant goes home with new ideas that can be implemented in class next week.



 Full Description

 Why do so many of our students resist higher-order critical thinking (CT)? When they do try, why do so many find CT so difficult? And why, despite our best efforts, do our curricula and teaching typically have so little impact on CT? This workshop will offer research-based answers to these question, as well as practical, transformative strategies for promoting and improving critical thinking. Cognitive development theories and research (e.g. Perry, Belenkey, et al., Biggs, and Kitchener & King) can help us understand their resistance/difficulties and distinguish the typical levels of CT students engage in, running from "naive realism" through "rampant relativism" to "constrained social constructivism." Research demonstrates that the most dramatic gains in CT -- for example, no Fs in college calculus classes-- come from combining intentional design, structuring of social dynamics ,and step-by-step teaching of analytical tools with effective assessment and feedback.  This workshop highlights Nelson's expertise in teaching "moves" to foster CT with Angelo's experience in course design, assessment and feedback. It will include and demonstrate: mini-lectures, videotaped examples, individual reflection and writing, small-group work, and structured peer discussions. Participants can expect to gain at least three new strategies they can adapt and use immediately to improve critical thinking in their courses -- as well as references and resources for follow up.



More Information:

Lilly Conference on College & University Teaching - West

 Registration: Registration Form

 Cost: $75

 Other Lilly-West Pre-Conference Workshops

 Employing What We Have Learned From the Faculty Learning Community Movement to Build and Sustain Effective FLCs Today

 Milton D. Cox

 Faculty learning communities (FLCs) were initiated in 1979 and have now been implemented at hundreds of institutions, including two-year colleges, four year liberal arts colleges, comprehensive and research universities, and medical schools. FLC programs have been initiated by individual entrepreneurs, teaching and learning centers, and system-wide consortia. We will begin our workshop with an overview of FLCs, some of the results about them reported in the Learning Communities Journal, and the experiences Milt has encountered in his work with colleagues engaged in starting and sustaining FLCs. We will discuss the descriptions of and research about successful and unsuccessful FLCs and faculty learning community programs, including assessment designed to determine the FLC-related outcomes of faculty development and student learning. Because the culture and needs of an institution influence the approaches that it takes to initiate and implement FLCs, we will customize our approach to the needs of our participants. Which of the 30 FLC components will help meet your objectives and will work for you? This workshop will be of interest and import to those engaged in any stages in the development and sustainability of faculty learning community programs.





 Linking Cooperative Group Work to the Research on Deep Learning

 Barbara Millis

 Deep learning emerges from the careful sequencing of assignments and activities “orchestrated” by a teacher committed to student learning. The research on deep learning has been ongoing, systematic, and convergent. It involves motivating students to acquire a solid knowledge base through active, interactive learning. As James Rhem has noted, “Those who take a deep approach understand more, produce better written work containing logical structures and conclusions rather than lists, remember longer, and obtain better marks and degrees than those students who take a surface approach.” This interactive workshop will help instructors understand how to sequence structured assignments and activities to foster deep learning approaches. Students complete relevant assignments outside of class—for which they are accountable—that help them learn new knowledge by connecting it to what hey already know. Because students come to class prepared, class time can be spent productively by having students in pairs or small groups compare their out-of-class products to foster critical thinking and constructive feedback. Assessment for both students and teachers arises naturally out of the structured activities.



More Information:

Lilly Conference on College & University Teaching - West

Registration: Registration Form

Cost: $75

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