Wednesday, January 31st, 12:00 - 1:30 in the Founders Room

Designing Assignments with Assessment in Mind

Rob Schadt, Ed.D. Director Office of Teaching, Learning and Technology

It is not easy, but it is paramount to determine whether students have actually learned what faculty have purported to teach. Assessment, the means by which we measure student learning, is difficult because classroom assignments often fail to align with learning objectives. The key to improve assessment (at all levels) is to design effective assignments that produce student artifacts which demonstrate the right outcomes. Participants in this workshop will discuss how to create effective assignments that produce products suitable for classroom and program assessment.

Thursday, February 15th 12:00 - 1:30 in the Founders Room

Difficult Dialogues: Discussing issues of Race, Class and Health

John Orwat, PHD, AM, MEd, Professor of Health Policy and Human Behavior, Loyola Chicago

John will facilitate a session for us in this popular and long running series of talks to promote class discussion around issues of race, class and health. John's Interests include providing health and behavioral health services for people living with HIV, particularly the influence of delivery systems on access to behavioral health services. He has a particular interest in issues of race, ethnicity, gender, immigration status on service delivery systems and has historically worked with clinicians to on these issues.

Tuesday, March 6th 12:00 - 1:30 in the Founders Room

Intimate Debate: A method for case teaching in science

Rob Schadt, Ed.D. Director, Office of Teaching, Learning and Technology

Case studies can allow students to see that many scientific/technological questions may be viewed from a variety of perspectives. The intimate debate format requires students to clearly present an assigned perspective on an issue to those who are assigned an opposing viewpoint and to listen carefully to an opposing viewpoint before reaching a final decision on the issue in question. The technique will be illustrated with a debate over the use of DDT to control malaria.

Wednesday, April 4th 12:00 - 1:30 in the Founders Room

Teaching and Learning Through Inquiry:Using problem solving to promote interdisciplinary learning

Rob Schadt, Ed. D. and colleagues

Virginia Lee, editor of Teaching & Learning Through Inquiry describes inquiry-guided learning as G���£an array of classroom practices that promote student learning through guided and, increasingly, independent investigation of complex questions and problems, often for which there is no single answer. Rather than teaching the results of others' investigations, which students learn passively, instructors assist students in mastering and learning through the process of active investigation itself. This process involves the ability to formulate good questions, identify and collect appropriate evidence, present results systematically, analyze and interpret results, formulate conclusions, and evaluate the worth and importance of those conclusions". In this session we will discuss attempts we have made to develop online problems to encourage inquiry learning and foster interdisciplinary perspectives.

Monday, May 7th 12:00 - 1:30 in the Founders Room

New Media Approaches to Promote Learning: An overview

Rob Schadt, Ed.D. Director, Office of Teaching, Learning and Technology

You may have just mastered PowerPoint, but what do you know of tablet PCs, interactive white boards, audio-enhanced slides shows streaming as Flash files, and lectures distributed as pod casts? See these technologies and more as we consider the educational value of a variety of new formats and technologies.