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CIRTL Pillars In
Practice: Learning Communities
Learning communities develop when the interactions among learners are meaningful, functional and necessary for the accomplishment of the "work" within the courses or learning activities (rather than serving as "window dressing" or simply as "feel good" activities). Moreover, meaningful connections must extend throughout the entire learning community — for example, among students, post-docs, faculty, and staff — rather than simply among cohort- or role-related peers.
(from the Creating a Collaborative Learning Environment (CCLE) Guidebook (PDF)) |
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Did You Know?
CIRTL Leader Sandra Courter and colleagues recently received a NSF Engineering Directorate grant. They will study how to align engineering education with the workplace skills that practitioners need.
Mark Connolly, a CIRTL researcher, has been named a staff affiliate at WISCAPE - the Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of Postsecondary Education.
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Fall Events
CIRTL Network and National Advisory Board Meeting, October 2nd-4th - Madison, WI
Diversity Team Training for New Workshop Facilitators, Fall 2007
Featured
Opportunity:
College Classroom Online Course
Registration is open for the Fall 2007 College Classroom Online course. Participants will develop their teaching skills while connecting with colleagues from a variety of universities and disciplines. Contact Kitch Barnicle for more information.
Network Connections
FAST Program Featured in MSU Today
The Future Academic Scholars in Teaching Program, a CIRTL initiative which provides mentoring in teaching and learning for doctoral students at Michigan State University, has been featured in the Summer 2007 issue of MSU Today.
MSU Today shares news about creative research projects on campus with a large network of alumni and other friends of the university.
To read the article, visit the Summer 2007 issue of the MSU Today Magazine (PDF) and scroll down to page 14.
Ask a CIRTL Graduate Student!
Q: How does your participation in CIRTL relate to your professional goals?
Stephen Quaye, Ph.D. Student at The Pennsylvania State University: In January 2008, I will be an Assistant Professor in the College Student Personnel Program at the University of Maryland. In this position, I will play an important role in facilitating dialogues on racial issues among students. My participation in CIRTL will enable me to understand constructive pedagogical practices for teaching students about diversity and enabling them to talk about these difficult issues. CIRTL provides me with tangible resources and the confidence to engage in these dialogues.
News from the Field
America's Science Test: The Tough Road to Better Science Teaching - A recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education advocates for the improvement of science teaching in the United States. The article concludes by discussing CIRTL's role in strengthening future faculty preparation for scientific teaching - also known as Teaching-As-Research. The author describes the challenges that CIRTL faces in changing the culture of science education.
Virtual Chemistry Experiments Snag Big Internet Award - The UW-Madison website, "Chemistry Comes Alive," developed by professor John Moore and collaborators, has won the 2006 Pirelli International Award for Chemistry. The site - which features videos of exotic chemical interactions – is aimed at attracting the interest of students who might not otherwise experience the beauty and excitement of chemistry.
Calling Would-Be Science Teachers - The Business Higher Education Forum (BHEF) has added its voice to the chorus calling for an increase in the number of science and math teachers in United States classrooms by 2015. Its new report, "An American Imperative: Transforming the Recruitment, Retention and Renewal of Our Nation’s Mathematics and Science Workforce," also emphasizes the need to double the number of undergraduates majoring in STEM. The report recommends that school districts, higher education, state and local government, and businesses collaborate to achieve these goals.
For questions or to make contributions, contact Katherine
Friedrich (newsletter@cirtl.net).
Next newsletter: September, 2007
Deadline for announcements and contributions: August 24th, 2007
To view previous newsletters, visit the archive. |
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