Goal and Implementation
One of the primary goals of STEMTEC is
to assist college science and mathematics faculty in improving the learning
environment in their courses. This can be achieved by examining the relevant
research on how students learn, using a variety of teaching methods and
approaches to facilitate student engagement in the classroom, and assessing
student learning in an equally diverse manner. The Faculty Fellows program will
provide an informal atmosphere to encourage exploration, discussion, and
testing of ideas that will result in the redesign of an undergraduate course by
each participant.
The major components of the program
are:
·
Biweekly
dinner seminars during Spring, 2002
·
Access to
STEMTEC resources on teaching and learning
·
Program
assessment by STEMTEC evaluator
·
Preparation
of individual plans for course redesign
·
Continuation
of dinner seminars in Fall, 2002
·
Implementation
of course plans
·
Final
portfolio
·
$2,500
stipend
General Format: These will be informal discussions
centered on topics that will enable you to go beyond lecturing in your own
teaching. We encourage you to try these out during the coming semester, and we
ask that you report briefly on your experiences during the seminars beginning
in March. By the end of the semester,
we ask that you have a plan for your re-designed course, which will then be
discussed among ourselves at our final meeting (May 7).
Sessions will be
held at Five Colleges, except where indicated.
Book: We will be giving you a book, which is on back-order with the
publisher:
Uno, Gordon, E. 1999.
Handbook on Teaching Undergraduate Science Courses: A Survival Training Manual.
Saunders College Publishing, 159 p.
Page references in
the weekly list of topics refer to this volume. We will provide advance
photocopies of the pages until the books arrive.
Schedule:
January
24: Introduction to Program
Feb.
5: Active Learning
Uno,
Chapter V
Feb.
19: Informal Cooperative Learning
Uno, Chapter VI
Mar.
5: Formal Cooperative Learning (Problem Based Learning)
Uno,
Chapter VI (continued)
Mar.
26: Assessing your students:
alternatives to traditional tests
Uno, Chapter VIII
Apr.
9: Using technology effectively
(session will be at alternate location)
Uno, Chapter IX
Apr.
23: Critical, Higher Order, & Expert
Thinking
Uno, Chapter VII
May
7: Plans for Course redesign