2007 STEMES Program Overview

Objectives

The purpose of the program is to provide academic-track Ph.D. students, post-doctorates and non-tenured faculty an opportunity to achieve the following objectives:
 
  • practice techniques for engaging students in active learning;
  • apply their research skills to improving their own teaching;
  • develop a lasting learning community with other new STEM faculty across the CIRTL network;
  • teach through diversity in terms of learning styles, culture, age, gender, academic background and interests; and
  • develop confidence in creating effective learning environments for students and faculty.
Eligibility
You are eligible if you are (1) an untenured professor; (2) a post-doctoral associate; or (3) a doctoral candidate in science, technology, engineering or mathematics who meets the following criteria: (a) you are in your last two years of study with expected graduation date no later than August 2008 and (b) you have a strong interest in pursuing an academic teaching career. Teaching experience is preferred but not necessary. 
 
The selection process will include criteria to assure a diverse population in terms of geography, discipline, gender, ethnic background, and institution.
 
Format
The program will consist of interactive presentations by nationally and locally recognized faculty, staff, and administrators. Workshops and discussions will help you bridge the gap between theory and practice to help you improve teaching and learning, as well as develop other professional skills.
 
Benefits and Program Activities
You will benefit from (1) workshops designed to help you apply effective teaching and learning strategies, (2) team activities developed to help you experience collaboration in a cross-disciplinary and diverse environment, and (3) networking designed to help you interact naturally with other participants even after the summer program ends.
 
1. Workshops for "hands-on" application of teaching and learning strategies
 
The workshops are designed to provide content knowledge about teaching and learning plus opportunities for you to apply this knowledge to your own teaching. In addition, you will have an opportunity to reflect on your own learning and how that affects your teaching. By the end of the program, you will have prepared or revised a syllabus for one of your own courses and at least one of the following: lecture, learning activity, reflective exercise, and assessment tool. In addition, you will discover broader professional development aspects including the following topics:
 
  • learning communities
  • learning-through-diversity
  • qualities of effective classroom presentations
  • assessment strategies to promote student learning
  • problem-based learning
  • innovative approaches to teaching
  • distance learning technologies
  • issues concerning climbing the academic ladder
  • teaching-as-research 
2. Participant teams facilitated by local and outside teaching/learning experts. 
 
Outside experts will provide expertise for specific issues by leading the workshops and discussions. Local experts will participate in team activities. You will work in small, cross-disciplinary teams to develop effective presentation skills and create teaching materials. Every effort will be made to design diverse teams including participants from a variety of engineering disciplines and to help you recognize the importance of developing and modeling collaborative skills.
 
3. Networking to Build Collaborative Faculty Teams for Enhanced Learning
 
Opportunities for further interaction and learning even after the summer program ends will include continuing dialog with experts through electronic mail. You may wish to adapt an innovative model of staff development within your own institution.
 
4. Resources developed by the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL)
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