Week of February 1, 2016 – Professional Development Opportunities

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Primarily Education-Focused Sessions and Resources

20 Minute Monday Morning Mentor (Week of February 1, 2016)

Dates: Available February 1, 2016 – February 7, 2016
Session Title: How Do I Assign Students to Groups?
Presenter: Ike Shibley, Ph.D. (Associate Professor – Penn State Berks)

Overview:

According to numerous research studies, group work is one of the best ways to help students learn. Group work helps facilitate active involvement in learning. It’s been shown that students learn more and retain content longer through group work compared to other teaching methods. It also helps students develop collaborative working skills, which are highly valued by employers.

Despite the widespread acceptance and demonstrated success of group learning, many teachers do not know how to create small groups effectively. In this Magna 20-Minute Mentor (How Do I Assign Students to Groups?), Ike Shibley, Ph.D., discusses key factors involved in successfully facilitating group learning.

You will learn:

  • The benefits of group work for learning course material.
  • How to differentiate between formal and informal groups.
  • How to follow a decision tree to decide on group composition, number of group members and group grading policies.

Supplemental materials include:

  • Detailed feature on the five essential components of group work.
  • Link to resources for finding assessment instruments.
  • A group work decision tree.
  • Rubrics and recommended resources.

Learning outcomes

  • Clearly establish goals for group work.
  • Create appropriate groups.
  • Ensure that your grading policy is aligned with your goals for group work.
  • Involve students in grading their group mates.

The session link and login information to the February 1st 20 Minute Monday Morning Mentor is available in the announcements section of the Professional Development course within Blackboard. Enrollment instructions for the Professional Development course are located at http://tinyurl.com/profdevenroll.

Going Digital: The Basics of Teaching an Online Course

Date: February 2, 2016
Time: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Location: 920 Madison – College of Nursing Conference Room #1039

Presenters: Dr. Marcia Sharp, Ed.D. (Associate Professor – UTHSC College of Health Professions / Faculty Innovation Scholar – UTHSC Teaching and Learning Center) and Kristy Conger, MS (Instructional Designer – UTHSC Teaching and Learning Center)

Overview:

Are you looking for ideas to help design or redesign your virtual course site? Designing for the online or hybrid course environment can present some unique challenges. However, it also opens up a world of possibilities for helping to successfully achieve those critically important student learning outcomes.

Join us February 2nd to discuss some best practices and tips for setting up and organizing your virtual course site. Specific items we will focus on include:
  • Ideas for customizing course appearance
  • Establishing instructor presence
  • Organizing and presenting your course content
  • Supporting students in the online environment

To register to attend this session please go to: http://tinyurl.com/cii-goingdigital

Did you know….

You can apply credit received for professional development outside the university to your faculty training records? Simply complete the HR Request for Additional Training Credit form at http://www.uthsc.edu/hrtraining/pdfs/additional_training_credit_form.pdf and forward it, along with a copy of the program’s agenda, to the HR Training Department at 910 Madison, Suite 727.

Why do this? The University of TN believes that professional development and training of its employees are central to the university’s mission, vision, and values. Having credit received elsewhere to your UTHSC training records is very useful to your department and college – for things such as annual reviews and program accreditations.

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