October 2006 News

Posted October 14, 2006 UD faculty presentation proposals are now being sought for the upcoming Lilly-East Conference on College and University Teaching, set to take place April 12-14 in Clayton Hall.

Proposals may focus on research, pedagogical practice and issues of value to both junior and senior faculty across disciplines. Proposals can be for presentations of 45-minute concurrent sessions or for presentations of 75-minute concurrent sessions. Proposals for “exemplary practice” posters also are being sought.

Read more in the UDaily article, "Call for proposals for teaching conference."

October 13, 2006

From UDaily:

A symposium on “Advances and Opportunities for Improving Student Learning” will be held Friday, Oct. 13, in 125 Lerner Hall by the Lerner College of Business and Economics and its management information systems program, the Institute for Transforming Undergraduate Education and the PRESENT teaching, learning and technology center.

The symposium, which is free for UD faculty members, will start at 10:30 a.m. with registration and coffee, and sessions will run until 4:30 p.m. Lunch will be served.

The keynote presenter will be Larry Spence, the director of undergraduate learning initiatives at Penn State University, and his talk is entitled, “It's the Learning.” Spence is the recipient of several teaching awards at Penn State and the author of numerous articles and chapters on issues in education and in political theory, including the provocative essay “The Case Against Teaching.” He speaks to academic and general audiences on reinventing education.

The symposium will consist of sessions exploring ideas for engaging students in the learning process. Sessions will include a discussion of the importance of integrating writing into assignments and the use of problem-based learning. Other sessions will explore new technologies (podcasting, wikis, blogs) and their role in the college classroom. The program will conclude with a panel discussion featuring Lerner faculty, who will discuss their approaches for enhancing student learning.

Online registration is available.

Posted October 10, 2006

The Center for Teaching Effectiveness (CTE), General Education Initiative (GEI) and Information Technologies (IT) announce the grant program for undergraduate instructional and course design. Two grant preparation sessions are scheduled for Monday, Oct. 16, and Thursday, Oct. 19.

Grants range from $2,000-$20,000, and recipients will be announced in February.

Projects designed to advance four General Education Goals--capstone courses, quantitative reasoning, student multimedia design center, and academic and student affairs--are the focus of the instructional grants. Faculty with project ideas pertaining to one of the remaining General Education Goals also are invited to submit a pre-proposal. Faculty are encouraged to incorporate technology, multimedia or a different learning method into a project idea.

The application process begins with a preproposal. The pre-proposal template can be found online. If the pre-proposal is selected, a full proposal will be required. All requests are evaluated by a committee appointed by the provost.

The grant timeline is as follows:

• Grant consultation sessions: Oct. 16 and Oct. 19;
• Preproposal due: Oct. 29;
• Preproposals returned: Nov. 17;
• Final proposal due: Jan. 21; and
• Grant recipients announced: Feb. 16.

Applicants can find examples of projects funded in the past and read profiles of faculty who received funding.

CTE, GEI and IT are offering grant consultation sessions to assist with instructional project development, refining project ideas, explaining the process, and clarifying the criteria used to select proposals. Faculty are invited to open hours for drop in consultation. No registration is required.

The sessions are scheduled for 1-5 p.m., Monday, Oct. 16, in 011 Smith Hall, and 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 19, in 011 Smith Hall.

Posted October 6, 2006 View videos and get more information on UD's Cybersecurity Awareness calendar.

Students can consider submitting a video to EDUCAUSE's Computer Security Awareness Video Contest 2007. Last year, a group of six UD freshmen won two honorable mention awards for work submitted in the contest held by EDUCAUSE. Read more about last year's contest in UDaily, "Student videos honored by EDUCAUSE."

Posted October 6, 2006 The UDaily article, "Symposium surveys use of new education tech" provided further coverage of the September 29 symposium, "Emerging Technologies for Student Engagement."

“I used clickers during the past three semesters in three different classes. I asked concept questions that were not for a test. I wanted to produce a nonthreatening environment where the students could talk to each other,” Wingrave said. “I believe it makes big lectures smaller and more accessible to students, and that it encourages critical thinking.”

—James Wingrave, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry

October 5, 2006 Join colleagues and User Services staff for an informal luncheon with Bob Slamon, regional sales manager for UD's clicker vendor, GTCO CalComp. Bob will explain overall trends in personal response systems. He will describe software upgrades and hardware changes that we can expect from GTCO CalComp in the coming year. This will also be an opportunity to share your experience using clickers, including what is working well and what changes you might like to see.

» Register online for this session, October 5, 12 noon to 1:30 p.m.

October 4, 2006 During this monthly series, faculty will be introduced to new technologies, explore the details of existing tools, and share experiences using technology in teaching.

The sessions will be held the first Wednesday of each month during the midday class period, from 12:20 - 1:10 p.m., starting on October 4.

Light salads and beverages will be provided.  Registration is required. For more information, visit the Let US PRESENT web page or read the UDaily article.