50 Years of Scientific Revolutions

Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions was published 50 years ago. Since then, our understanding scientific progress has not been the same. In a recent Chronicle article titled "Shift Happens," David Weinberger discusses the legacy of Kuhn's ideas. Read more here.
http://chronicle.com/article/Shift-Happens/131580/

I would be interested in hearing your comments on how Kuhn's ideas have shaped your thinking about scientific progress and your own practice of science.

10 Strategies in Preparing your Promotion and Tenure Dossier

In a recent Faculty Focus article, authors provide 10 suggestions for navigating promotion and tenure successfully. Some of the strategies include seeking a variety of mentors and pursuing transparency in your dossier.
Read more here.
http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/faculty-evaluation/top-10-strategies-for-preparing-the-annual-tenure-and-promotion-dossier/

Free Range Learners

In a recent Chronicle article, Marc Perry highlights recent work coming out of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign that tracks how students study and seek for information online. Results from a variety of methods indicate that students seek out information from peers and online resources (that the students perceive as credible) to supplement the information their instructors provide to them.
Read more here about students' "free range" approach to studying.
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/free-range-learners-study-opens-window-into-how-students-hunt-for-educational-content-online/36137

Tell Students to Stop Studying?

Students can focus on wrong ideas, wrong study habits, and wrong motives. Instructors can provide clarity for students, help them focus on what they should be studying and why. In a recent Chronicle article, UNF's own David Jaffee warns faculty to avoid the wrong motivation trap often befuddling students, studying (only) for the exam.
Read more here.
http://chronicle.com/article/Stop-Telling-Students-to-Study/131622/

Reduced Hours for OFE

The Office of Faculty Enhancement will have reduced hours between the dates of April 30th and May 11th, 2012. During these two weeks, the office will be open according to the following schedule:

Monday 9:00-1:00
Tuesday 9:00-4:00
Wednesday 9:00-4:00

Thursday 9:00-4:00

Friday 9:00-1:00

For immediate assistance during these times contact Ms. Heather Pease at h.pease.96955@unf.edu or by calling (904) 620-1447.

Lilly Conference on Teaching and Learning

Many faculty take a scholarly approach to their teaching. They have questions about what helps their students learn most, develop hypotheses about student learning, implement strategies that they believe are effective, and test their ideas using student work. An important aspect of scholarship is that it is shared as part of a larger community of scholars who have an opportunity to support, critique, and review.

Faculty who take a scholarly approach to their teaching may be interested in the call for proposals for the Annual Lilly Conference on College and University Teaching.

The 13th Annual Lilly Conference on College and University Teaching - TC will be held in
Traverse City, Michigan at the Park Place Hotel, September 20 – 23.
Proposal submission will close June 3, 2012.

http://lillyconferences.com/tc/proposals.shtml

The overall conference theme is Evidence Based Teaching and Learning, and includes four subthemes: Engaged Learning; Promoting Social Responsibility; E-Learning; and Creating Communities of Learners.

An integral part of the Lilly Conferences on Teaching and Learning is the number of high-quality presentations by faculty from throughout the United States and abroad. Come share what has been successful in your classes and what you have discovered about facilitating student learning.

For more information about the Lilly - TC Conference:

http://lillyconferences.com/tc/default.shtml

Todd Zakrajsek, Conference Director

Lilly Conference on College and University Teaching - TC

 lillyconferencetc@gmail.com

 919-636-8170

 Deb Van Etten, Conference Coordinator

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Symposium

Faculty interested in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning would be interested in this symposium. The symposium is nearby Jacksonville, and the convenience of travel make this symposium particularly attractive.

The 3rd annual SoTL Symposium of the South will be on October 12, 2012 at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, GA.  The Symposium is to be a hands on, interactive day for those who are new, or relatively new, to the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL).

See http://ceps.georgiasouthern.edu/conted/sotlsymposium.html.

The presenters at the Symposium will be
 

        Dr. Trent Maurer (Georgia Southern University)

        Dr. Tris Utschig (Georgia Tech)
        Dr. Melody Bowdon (University of Central Florida)

        Dr. Tom Pusateri (Kennesaw State University)