The IDEA Center

with L. Dee Fink

When we teach, our actions as teachers have the potential not only to fulfill our responsibility to students and society but also to give us the deep joy that comes when we do something important, well.

There is growing evidence that although college-level teaching is extremely important in today's world, we are not doing a very good job of educating our students. In the presentation I examine our traditional responses-and suggest alternative responses-to four central issues of teaching: WHAT we teach, HOW we teach, how we GEAR UP as teachers, and WHO we are as educators.

If we can re-think and revise our responses to these four issues in ways that improve student learning, we can experience the deep Joy that comes with doing something very important-WELL!

Dr. Fink currently works as a national and international consultant in higher education. He leads 30-40 workshops each year nationally and internationally for faculty and administrators about what can be done to promote better teaching and learning. He is frequently invited to be a conference speaker on the subject of "Creating Significant Learning Experiences."

with Todd Zakrajsek

What can instructors do to facilitate learning when they encounter students who seem uninterested and even apathetic toward course content and assignments?  Part of the responsibility for learning belongs to students, but as faculty, we can find new ways to motivate, inspire, and maybe even cajole students to learn. This workshop will demonstrate and explain how instructors can make classroom learning, perhaps one of the most artificial learning settings, a more meaningful experience for students.  The presenter uses theories of learning and motivation as a basis for creating strategies to increase student engagement in course content and class sessions. Participants will have an opportunity to try out and experience first-hand some of these techniques. Topics covered in this session include a discussion of active learning, motivation, collaborative learning, metacognition, learning theory, and interpersonal communication.

with Daniel W. Wheeler

Faculty needs are different at various career stages. This session will focus on early, mid-career, well established and late career stages. Not only will there be a focus on needs, there will be emphasis on strategies to facilitate meeting these needs. 6 hour workshop

with Craig E. Nelson

This session will examine key strategies for teaching evolution more effectively. These include more realistically addressing the nature and limits of science, more explicitly presenting the overall case for evolution, and asking how we can tell weak from good from outstanding science.