Spring Newsletter April 18, 2007 Volume 1, Number 2 In This Issue * New Positions at the CTL-Apply by May 4th o Faculty-in-Residence o Adjunct Mentor * Learning Innovation Grants Due May 11th * Update on Collaborative Partnerships * Hands on Learning Success * Books Available Global Initiative Lecturer Dr. Patricio Navia visits April 26th & 27th. You are invited to attend these events� * Evening Lecture �The State of Democracy in Latin America� April 26th 7 p.m. Orange Hall Theater. * Luncheon and Discussion of Latin American history & politics April 27th 12 p.m. LRC 214 (space is limited; call Jennifer x4178 or Paul x4828 to reserve your seat). Readings on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Follow this Link to MountainRise an online journal dedicated to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning http://mountainrise.wcu.edu/resources.html Check Out LRC 214 The CTL room is looking better all the time�stop by and check it out. You may use the CTL for a meeting�just call Terry Lippi (Assistant to the CTL at x4396) to reserve your event. What do your students think? Be brave and ask them! Getting feedback from students can be scary, especially if you have never done it. But it can also be a tremendously rewarding and informative experience. If you do not already have a �Student Course Evaluation� for your classes--try one! Here are two questions I recommend: 1. What did your instructor do that helped you learn in this class? 2. How could this course be changed to improve the quality of your learning experience? Pen & paper works, but you can also easily set up a survey in BlackBoard if your students are currently enrolled or try one of the online survey products. You can set up a quick, anonymous survey for your students for free using Survey Monkey (http://surveymonkey.com) To see how easy to use this survey is try it now! http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=639823674805 Resources at the CTL There are several new resources at the CTL available for your use. Here are a few: Books- Scientific Teaching by Jo Handelsman, Sarah Miller and Christine Pfund. 2007. McKeachie�s Teaching Tips by Wilber J. McKeachie. 2004. The Art of Changing the Brian by James E. Zull. 2002. DVDs- The Use of Case Studies and Group Discussion in Science Education. Team Learning: Cooperative Learning in the Science Classroom. We Want Your Feedback What is your professional development dream? Maybe we can make it come true. If you have any ideas for what the CTL can do for you-let me know. Call me at x4178 or x4055 or email me at jmerriam@sunyorange.edu New Positions at the CTL We are looking for two individuals to join our team for fall 2007. A Faculty-in-Residence will develop a unique, year-long, professional development experience to complement existing CTL programming. We are also seeking an Adjunct Mentor to initiate a college-wide program for adjuncts. For more details see the full announcements on the CTL website (www.sunyorange.edu/ctl/index.shtml) Applications are due May 4th, 2007. Learning Innovation Grants We are now accepting applications for Learning Innovation Grants to be implemented in the next academic year. Please download the application from the CTL website. Applications are due May 11th, 2007. Decisions will be made by May 16th. Are you interested in reviewing applications? Come to the next CTL Advisory Group meeting April 19th, at 4:00 p.m. in LRC 214 or contact Jennifer at x4178 or x4055. Update on Collaborative Faculty Partnerships On March 9th, four pairs of SUNY Orange faculty members & high school teachers met to begin their collaborations to promote student learning. Over a delicious dinner the groups bonded and the partners began planning. Initial results are to be presented May 4th. Jean Halpern (SUNY Orange Nursing Faculty) and Georgia Rampe (Monroe-Woodbury High School Biology Teacher) brainstorm before dinner. Engineering students, under the guidance of John Wolbeck, impressed onlookers with the strength of their stick bridges. Sand is added to the bucket underneath the platform until the bridges collapse. Hands On Learning Exhibit Success Students showed off a variety of projects earlier this semester at the Hands On Learning exhibit in Orange Hall. Through well-crafted exhibits, students conveyed important ideas & concepts by actively engaging the observer. Over 90 students displayed their work at the month-long exhibit. Engineering and Theater students also presented their exhibits to kids after a Saturday afternoon puppet show. �The displays are very effective, I hope you will do this again!� wrote one visitor. The next Hands On Learning exhibit is planned for fall 2008. A student from Max Schaefer�s Theater Workshop class explains the principles of stage lighting to instructor Anouk Verheyden. Funds for the Portable Lighting Laboratory were obtained through a Learning Innovation Grant. Books Available Copies of �The Impossible Will Take a Little While� edited by Paul Loeb are available for a class to use. This book is an anthology of essays inspiring citizen activism and has been used in other colleges in a variety of disciplines. If you would like to use these books in one of your courses, please contact the CTL at x4055 or x4396. You may drop the CTL by to review the book M-W 12 - 5 p.m.