Would you like to increase student motivation? How about engagement? Would you like students to discover the value of your course recognize the knowledge and skills they will learn, and understand how an expert approaches your discipline? What if this could be conveyed before students even meet you? Sign up for our mini-Faculty Learning Community on the Learning-Centered Syllabus: A Course Redesign.
Learning-centered instruction “emphasizes a variety of different method types that shift the role of instructors from givers of information to facilitators of student learning or creators of an environment for learning. In learning-centered teaching, the instructor focuses on what students are learning, how they are learning, and how they can use the learning.”[1]
A small group of interdisciplinary faculty will meet six-eight times throughout the semester to redesign a specific course so that deeper student learning and engagement will result. We will discuss topics such as understanding student motivation, making assessment easier and fun, principles of active learning, feedback & grading, and topics of interest by FLC participants. Fun, experimentation, critical readings, and support will be key ingredients to this program.
The four primary objectives of this program include:
- to build faculty expertise on effective course design
- to apply course design principles in an actual syllabus
- to produce a fully revised syllabus that could score higher using the syllabus rubric tool
- to nurture and build a community of faculty dedicated to the life-long learning process of teaching
[1] Blumberg, Phyllis. 2009. Developing Learner-Centered Teaching: A Practical Guide for Faculty. John Wiley & Sons, Inc: Page 3 from Weimer, Maryellen. 2002. Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice. Jossey-Bass: Page XVi.
Current and Past Participants
Arts, Media, and Communication
- Journalism: Elizabeth Blakey, David Grewe
Business and Economics
- Business Law: Ray Calnan
- Systems and Operations Management: Kunpeng Li
- Finance, Financial Planning, and Insurance: Hsin-Hui Chiu
Education
- Elementary Education: Minsung Kwon
Engineering and Computer Science
- Computer Science: Zenaida C. Spradlin
- Manufacturing Systems Engineering and Management: Bingbing Li
- Mechanical Engineering: Shadi Mahjoob
Health and Human Development
- Child and Adolescent Development: Kandice Grote
- Family and Consumer Sciences: Rosalia Garcia-Torres, Cynthia R. Williams
- Health Sciences: Suzanne Spear
- Kinesiology: Chris Bolsmann, Ivan K. Guillory, Danielle Jarvis, Douglas McLaughlin
- Nursing: Samira Moughrabi
- Recreation and Tourism Management: HeeKyung Sung
Humanities
- Asian American Studies: Daehwan Lee
- English: Loretta Huizar, Susana Marcelo
- Gender and Women's Studies: Helina Beyene, Melanie Klein
- Jewish Studies: Michele Paskow
- Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures: Svetlana Tyutina
Information Technology
- Faculty Technology Center: Hillary Kaplowitz
Library
- Research, Instruction, and Outreach Services: Charissa Jefferson
Science and Math
- Biology: Lisa Banner, Loni Hands, Daniel Odom
Social and Behavioral Sciences
- Psychology: Stefanie Drew
- Social Work: Judith A. DeBonis
- Sociology: Karen Morgaine