UGA instructors will have a bevy of opportunities to enhance their understanding of teaching college courses this fall with two speaking series, more than a dozen pedagogy workshops, eLC-New workshops and a movie night-all revolving around teaching college students.
The ambitious schedule, which covers topics ranging from technology as a teaching tool to engaging a diversity of college students, is provided through the university’s Center for Teaching and Learning.
CTL, under the leadership of Eddie Watson, is seeking to provide more opportunities for UGA faculty to learn about effective teaching practices and how to use ever-changing technological tools.
For the fall semester, CTL is aiming for quantity and quality.
“Every week there is something going on,” Watson said. “It’s a big campus, and by providing a diversity of content, we hope to address a diversity of instructional concerns.”
Continuing the series that began in the spring, CTL will offer the National Speaker Series, headlined by José Bowen, dean of the Meadows School of the Arts and professor of music at Southern Methodist University.
Bowen, the author of Teaching Naked: How Moving Technology Out of Your College Classroom Will Improve Student Learning, has called for stripping technology from the classroom setting and relying more heavily on class discussion.
Rather than opposing technology entirely, Bowen argues that technology-podcasts, videos, etc.-is most useful for assignments outside of class. He proposes that students should first engage with a course’s material, reserving class time to discuss the material.
“His message appeals to both faculty and administrators,” Watson said.
Bowen will speak at 1 p.m. Sept. 11 in Masters Hall of the Georgia Center. He is also offering a “flipping the class” workshop later in the day.
Beginning this fall, the UGA Award-Winning Faculty Series will feature faculty who recently have won teaching awards.
“We do a really good job of highlighting (these teachers) through the faculty awards process, but we don’t often hear much detail regarding what they actually do,” Watson said.
Through this series, Russell Award winners and Meigs Professors will share how they engage students in the classroom.
The fall series will feature Gary Green, the 2012 Russell Award-winning associate professor from the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, at 2 p.m. Sept. 23 in Masters Hall of the Georgia Center; Ron Pegg, the 2013 Russell Award-winning associate professor of food science and technology, at 1 p.m. Oct. 15 in Room 242 of the food science building; and Peggy Brickman, the 2013 Meigs Professor of Biological Sciences, Nov. 7 at 10 a.m. in the Thomas Reading Room of the Miller Learning Center.
The center also will host its first CTL Movie Night at 7 p.m. Oct. 10 at Ciné. CTL will screen the 2011 documentary First Generation, about four low-income students preparing to attend college. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion led by a group of first-generation UGA students. Admission to the movie is free with a valid UGA ID.
In addition to these events, CTL will offer 15 pedagogy workshops throughout the fall. The workshops will be led by CTL staff, UGA faculty and guests speakers from the national series. Those workshops begin Aug. 30, when Watson will lead the workshop “How to Teach Today’s Students.” The course begins at 9 a.m. in the North Instructional Plaza classroom.
Another workshop of note is “The Twitter Revolution: Engaging Students in 100+ Classes.” That workshop, which will be held at 2:30 p.m. Sept. 12 in the North Instructional Plaza classroom, will be taught by Thomas Chase Hagood, CTL’s new coordinator for faculty development and recognition.
Each event is free; however, registration is requested. For a list of courses, their descriptions and registration information, visit ctl.uga.edu/fall2013.
