November 3, 2009 is the deadline for the Fall 2009 Faculty Seminar and New Designs in Learning Program.

Check here to see the eligibility policy for these programs.

Click for more information on:

Best Practices Institute
Faculty Seminar
New Designs in Learning

Best Practices Institute

At BPI, KU faculty and instructional staff members may attend a seminar designed by the Center for Teaching Excellence to help you see teaching and learning in new ways. This is a collegial, hands-on seminar especially useful for teachers who are not well practiced with reflecting on their teaching. In the BPI, you'll focus on one thing you want to change about one of your courses. You'll work in small groups with teachers from various disciplines, as well as with colleagues who've successfully implemented changes in their teaching.

Applications for the next BPI seminar will be available in February 2009.

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Faculty Seminar

The Faculty Seminar gives faculty and instructional staff members an opportunity to represent and reflect on your teaching accomplishments. You’ll also learn how various teaching strategies can result in better learning.

What will you do in the Faculty Seminar?
You'll meet five times during the semester with a small group of other teachers, and you'll read several cutting-edge works on the scholarship of teaching. In the sessions, you'll discuss the readings and develop a plan for a substantial change that you'll implement in one or more courses.

Based on their experiences in the Faculty Seminar, one professor redesigned a graduate research course to make it writing-intensive, and another developed a rubric for evaluating creative, complex student work.

The seminar requires independent work on teaching. It’s best suited for faculty members who have some experience reflecting on their teaching and success with improving student learning.

How will you benefit from participating in it?
In addition to what you’ll gain from the readings and discussions, you’ll also:

• Complete the first steps of creating a teaching portfolio.

• Develop a strategic plan to improve the quality of your teaching and know how to demonstrate that quality.

After developing your plan, you’ll receive a $1,000 instructional fund you can use for materials, travel, or hourly help for teaching projects, including research on teaching and learning.

Applications for the Fall 2007 Faculty Seminar are due Wednesday, March 28. Up to six participants will be chosen and notified by April 26. Final representation of your teaching should be completed by December 14.

Check here for Faculty Seminar applications.   

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New Designs in Learning

The New Designs in Learning Program supports faculty and instructional staff members who are developing innovative, collaborative, or interdisciplinary course curricula, instructional materials, teaching methods, or classroom-based projects. This is a high-end program for teachers who are ready to work independently on a facet of their teaching and who have demonstrated success with improving student learning. It requires a proposal to make broad changes in one or more courses that will significantly impact student understanding.

What will you do as a New Designs?
As a New Designs Fellow, you’ll:

• Identify a learning goal for students that you want them to achieve.

• Develop ways of enhancing your teaching so that students can reach that learning goal.

For example, one KU faculty member in Speech-Language-Hearing saw that her graduate students were not applying information from research articles they were reading for class to their clinical practice. She restructured a course to address this concern.

Enhancements could include new instructional strategies, teaching materials, or learning activities by students. Projects could include using new technologies in or outside of class, including active or group learning in large classes, rethinking ways students demonstrate their understanding, or other projects that you have an interest in pursuing.

Your semester would include working on your teaching and reflecting formally on how students’ experiences were changed as a result. New Designs Fellows will meet as a group once during the semester and once after their reflections on student learning have been completed.

As a New Designs Fellow, you’ll receive a $1,500 instructional fund you can use for materials, travel, or hourly help for a teaching project, including research on teaching and learning.

Applications for Spring 2009 are due November 3, 2008. Up to two Fellows will be chosen and notified by November 17. Final reflections on student learning will be completed by May 8, 2009.

Check here for New Designs applications.