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Annual University Teaching and Learning Showcase

May 8, 2015, 8:30 am - 4:00 pm
Location University Hall - Conference Center, 7th floor
SponsorResearch Academy for University LearningCostFREEMore Informationhttp:/‌/‌www.montclair.edu/‌academy/‌events/‌university-showcase/‌Posted InCampus Events

Plenary Keynote Talk and Description:

Dr. Patrick Blessinger

Executive Director and Chief Research Scientist, International Higher Education Teaching and Learning Association

Creating Meaningful Learning Environments with SLCs

Student learning communities (SLCs) have the power to reshape student learning experiences. When properly integrated with course objectives and student learning activities, SLCs can provide an effective framework through which to create a community of shared and co-created learning experiences.  Because SLCs are fundamentally social in nature due to their community framework, they provide the necessary scaffolding to make learning more active, more integrated, and more experiential, as well as more interesting and engaging.  SLCs are good mechanisms to more effectively and more coherently link course content with higher order learning objectives (e.g., Bloom’s Taxonomy) through shared peer learning that spans one or more semesters. One outcome of this process is to shift learning from separate, isolated learning experiences to coherent, integrated learning experiences. Creating this type of holistic social learning environment not only requires the involvement and commitment of leadership, faculty, and staff but also careful and purposeful planning (and on-going assessment) to create appropriate policies and strategies that align with the institution’s mission, vision, and values. This talk will provide an overview of the essential elements and principles needed to create more meaningful learning environments using SLCs.

Follow-up Workshop with Patrick BlessingerDesigning Effective FLCs to Improve Student Performance

This workshop will cover the basic steps and design principles to design, develop, and implement a Faculty Learning Communities (FLC) within a university setting. This workshop will begin with a brief overview of most salient current research on FLCs and the basic principles and factors behind effective FLCs. Guided by the workshop facilitator, the participants will then have the opportunity to apply this foundational knowledge by working in small groups to step through the initial steps of planning process for designing an FLC.

Featured Guest Speaker Talk and Description:

Dr. Mel Michelle Lewis
Assistant Professor, Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Goucher College
Transformative Pedagogies: Intersectionality and Critical Feminist Instruction as Social Justice Praxis

Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies is an interdisciplinary exploration that utilizes feminist frameworks to examine the intersections of gender, sexuality, race, class, age, ability, nation, colonialism, culture, religion, and other dimensions of identity and experience. Critical feminist pedagogical projects illuminate systems of power, privilege, and oppression, and consider the material impact of those constructions on the lives of individuals and communities. This talk surveys best practices for transformative teaching and learning in the field, and elucidates the application of feminist social justice frameworks for teaching and learning using intersectional analysis as a pedagogical mechanism.

Pre-register here:
https://msusurveys.montclair.edu/index.php/148325/lang-en