Best Practices

Dr. Gerry Swan was the keynote speaker for the Fall 2016 Faculty Development Institute. Dr. Swan is an Associate Professor of Instructional Systems Design and Assistant Dean of Program Assessment at the University of Kentucky’s College of Education. He began his career teaching in a school that had implemented a one-to-one computing environment that sparked his interest in the use of technology in education. Dr. Swan holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Clemson University and a Ph.D. in Instructional Technology from the University of Virginia. Dr. Swan’s research interests include use of interactive media with instruction and computer managed instruction/research.

Extensive research demonstrates that actively engaging students in the learning process leads to a variety of educational benefits, including enhanced learning, improved student attitudes and motivation, and better retention of students in the academic program.  In this workshop, faculty will be familiarized with the research support for these pedagogical approaches and gain a working knowledge of active learning strategies.

Some courses have a profound impact on students’ learning.  These courses are well designed, address course-related challenges, and integrate course components to effective meet course goals.  Using to Dee Fink’s “Creating Significant Learning Experiences” as a scaffold and framework, faculty will work on a second semester course* to incorporate Fink’s course design model.  

In this session, faculty members continued to work on the Road to Redesign using Fink’s framework.

Between a full-fledged information literacy course and nothing at all lies the one-shot library instruction session.  Librarians (and faculty) worry that the 50-minute one-shot is not enough time to adequately prepare students for library research, but with faculty collaboration and active-learning activities, the one-shot can be cultivated into a dynamic lesson.  We’ll show you how!

Smartboards are interactive digital white boards that can be used in conjunction with any computer program.  To understand the Smartboard, it is best to actually get your hands on one to get a feel for what it can do.  In this workshop, we will offer a quick explanation of how the Smartboard works and some of the primary features of the Smart Notebook software.  Then, faculty members will spend time exploring the features of the Smartboard and applying them to learning experiences.

Active learning is a student-centered approach in which pre-planned activities are used to engage the student as an active participant in their learners.  Techniques such as think-pair-share, one-minute paper, and other such exercises have been shown to improve student learning and retention of material and can enhance the presentation format of a course.  In this workshop, we will examine a variety of active learning techniques and the planning system necessary to incorporate them. 

Many of the decisions affecting the success of a course take place well before the first day of class, Careful planning at the course design stage not only makes teaching easier and more enjoyable, it also facilitates student learning.  During the Design Workshops, faculty will incorporate active learning strategies on their Road to Redesign Project.