Students Play Games to Learn

Student motivation and engagement has become an ever increasing theme in the national teaching and learning forum. Typically present in the discussion is a comparison between the time it takes to conduct active and engaging activities in the classroom and the need to "cover" content by experts (the instructors).
In a recent Chronicle article, Dan Berrett highlights a "reacting" method in which students role-play and debate important historical events. The goal of the role-play is to spark student curiosity in the subject and produce deeper learning of the subject. Read more about this interesting approach to student learning.
http://chronicle.com/article/Mob-Rule-Political-Intrigue/132767/

Accreditation Woes in West Virginia

What happens when a college loses its accreditation? Likely, the details vary from one institution to the next, but the main result is a lack of federal government funds and financial upheaval.
In a recent report in the Chronicle, Jack Stripling details some reasons why Mountain State University in West Virginia is in jeopardy of losing its accreditation status. Among the reasons given by the accrediting body was the institution's lack of "adequate learning support and faculty oversight to assure an effective teaching and learning environment." The commission cites inconsistency in academic rigor among courses within the same program and faculty teaching loads of 15 credit-hours per semester. Other concerns include insufficient faculty governance and oversight of teaching and learning activities. The university's extremely well-paid university president has been fired. 
Read more by linking to the article.
http://chronicle.com/article/Mountain-State-U-to-Lose/132805/

Undergraduate Research Conference

Undergraduate research is an important ingredient to the UNF faculty profile. Undergraduate students often have little opportunity to present their work and build on their skills by receiving feedback from others in the field. The Florida Statewide Symposium on Undergraduate Research provides such an opportunity. If you have undergraduate students involved in research, I would encourage you to consider having your students present at the conference. Such experiences can support transformational learning for students.
The deadline for submissions is September 21, 2012.

5^th ANNUAL FLORIDA STATEWIDE SYMPOSIUM:

ENGAGEMENT IN UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH

October 19-20, 2012, Orlando, Florida

http://researchsymposium.ucf.edu

Where: University of Central Florida

Who: Faculty, Administrators, and Professional Staff

Why: To improve the undergraduate research climate at all universities and colleges in Florida

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Mary Crowe, President-Elect for the Council on Undergraduate Research, An Overview of Assessment Practices of Undergraduate Research

Presentation Submission and Registration Deadline: September 21, 2012  

Cost: $50

Funding: Contact the UNF Office of Undergraduate Research at lhawkins@unf.edu

Questions: Contact the UCF Office of Undergraduate Research at our@ucf.edu or 407-823-3125.

General Education Leadership Conference

The American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) has hosted conferences promoting a deeper understanding of general education and its role in higher education for many years. The upcoming 2013 conference in Boston, MA, will focus on frameworks for general education that result in student learning. Many UNF faculty have been involved in various aspects of the UNF General Education Program and Venture Studies Initiatives. 
The Call for Proposals deadline is June 27, 2012




General Education and Assessment:
A Sea Change in Student Learning

Date of Conference: February 28-March 2, 2013
Location of Conference: Boston, Massachusetts
Proposals Due June 27, 2012


The demands of the 21st century present urgent challenges, as we think through designs for and outcomes of general education. Students must be better prepared for life and work in a technologically advanced, globally interdependent, and politically fractured society. Employers are questioning college graduates’ capacities in the very knowledge and skills at the heart of general education. Daily news reveals a public uneducated about the issues central to their well-being and unable to engage in civil discourse and political will to improve the common good. The context for general education has changed enough to require us to think in new ways about all our assumptions.

Many are responding to these challenges with more integrative, developmentally nuanced general education programs that move from a checklist approach toward a more intentional and coherent scaffolding of student learning goals and outcomes.

We invite you to participate by proposing sessions that will discuss and demonstrate frameworks and strategies that address the Principles of Excellence, a set of standards and guidelines for liberal education reform developed as part of AAC&U's LEAP initiative, and put cumulative learning at the center of new designs for general education and assessment.


Visit the Call for Proposals to find out how to submit a proposal to share your work at this conference.
For more information, please call 202.387.3760, or write to Siah Annand at network@aacu.org. 

Student Success and Quality in Student Learning

The American Association of Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) will host a conference on high-impact teaching practices and student success. The deadline for proposals is July 18, 2012.


Student Success and The Quality Agenda
Conference Date: April 4-6, 2013
Conference Location: Miami, Florida
Proposals Due July 18, 2012
Student Success and The Quality Agenda will examine the most important but least discussed component of the completion agenda—quality in student learning. This conference will encourage participants to discuss the new contexts for student learning given the diversity of today’s students, including their differing backgrounds, learning styles, and pathways to and through college. Participants will investigate the latest research on high-impact practices and teaching, student service, and assessment strategies that strengthen the quality of student learning and close student achievement gaps. Conference sessions will provide an opportunity to examine different approaches to faculty and student services leadership development and to campus and cross-institutional collaborations linked to a quality agenda.
Please join colleagues from across the country to share and examine promising practices in linking completion with quality and assuring optimal learning environments for the success of all students.     
Visit the Call for Proposals to find out how to submit a proposal to share your work at this conference.
For more information, please call 202.387.3760, or write to Siah Annand at network@aacu.org. 

China's First and Only Female Emperor

On Thursday, June 7th Professor Wang Shuanghuai of Shaanxi Normal University, now a Visiting Professor at CSU-Los Angeles,  will be visiting UNF and presenting a lecture at 3 PM titled:

“How Wu Zetian Became China’s First and Only Female Emperor”

The lecture will be held in Building 9, Room 2401 at 3PM.
Light refreshments will be provided.

"A New Era of Engagement" Conference

Faculty conducting the scholarship of teaching and learning on the topic of civic engagement, community-based learning, and service-learning might be interested in the upcoming Kentucky Engagement Conference.

The deadline to submit proposals is May 31, 2012.

We are looking for presenters from across the country to participate through regular and poster sessions.We will be accepting proposals until May 31st. 

This year's conference will take place at Western Kentucky University on November 8-9th. The theme of this year's conference is a New Era of Engagement. The tracks include: civic health, sustainability, partnerships, technology 3.0, student-centered engagement, and academic activism.

Download the Call for Proposals

Deadline: May 31, 2012

For more information about the 2012 conference, please visit www.wku.edu/kec. Please direct any questions regarding proposals to Terry Shoemaker at terry.shoemaker@wku.edu. 

Terry Shoemaker
Program Coordinator
WKU Institute for Citizenship & Social Responsibility