The newsletter for Spring 2011 has posted, available here. Feel free to browse back issues of the newsletter, available via the menu on the right.
HistSOTL members present at ISSOTL 2010 Liverpool
Members of HISTSOTL ran a workshop at the recent International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference at Liverpool, UK. The theme was “Embracing Failure and Learning From Mistakes”. The panel first discussed the literature (or absence) around failure in teaching and learning before sharing some of their own learning moments around failure. The workshop then moved into small groups for further discussion.
Also at Liverpool, HISTSOTL member Alan Booth and Jeanne Booth continued their work for the History Passion Project. This included some interviews and a filmed panel discussion. For more details visit http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/heahistory/research/gwi/history_passion/
History for our children?
Hello all, I am wondering if anyone would like to share ideas on how to make the study of history fun for young people.
I had a real dearth of schooling as a kid (long story!) and when I finally got into school, aged 15, history was one of the things I knew almost nothing about! I remember enjoying reading “A child’s history of England” by Charles Dickens and I really enjoyed it because it was written as a story.
Another idea I had is that talking to children and teens about important events that happen today, in the context of how this might be perceived by future generations, might sort of bring the idea of “history” to life.
Would love to hear any thoughts on the subject!
Cassie
John Tagg to speak at Indiana University
John Tagg, co-author with Robert Barr of “From Teaching to Learning: A New Paradigm for Higher Education,” will be speaking at Indiana University on Friday 15 October 2010. Tagg’s talk is entitled “Dispelling the Fog of Learning through the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.” The event will be held at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center from 11:00am to 12:30pm.
Save the Date!
The 13th Annual Teaching and Learning in History Conference, hosted by the Higher Education Academy History Subject Centre, is set for 4-5 April, 2011. The event will be held at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. Watch our “conferences” webpage for a future link to the event.
Robert J. Thompson to present paper at Indiana University September 17th
Dr. Robert J. Thompson, of Duke University’s department of Psychology and Neuroscience, is starting Indiana University’s SOTL events for the 2010 – 2011 year. The title of Dr. Thompson’s talk is Reframing Assessment: Teaching as an Iterative Process of Inquiry. Below is the description of the talk, set to be delivered Friday September 17th at noon in the Indiana Memorial Union’s Dogwood Room. Interested parties should register here.
“The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning has increased our understanding of the learning process and developed promising pedagogical approaches and classroom practices. Because of those efforts, it is now possible for research universities to embrace a culture of experimentation and evidence when it comes to improving undergraduate education. As members of the teaching and learning community, we must continue to build upon teaching as a process of inquiry, reframe assessment for improvement rather than accountability; and continuously engage in systematic, iterative processes to improve the quality of teaching and learning. That is, we need to commit ourselves to the self-evaluative and self-correcting processes common to all scholarship; a process that has also become a cornerstone of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
Insights and evidence of promising approaches to teaching as inquiry are presented from the Teagle and Spencer Foundations project, “Systematic Improvement of Undergraduate Education at Research Universities.” Led by Robert J. Thompson, participating faculty members at 13 major research universities, including Indiana University, are focusing on teaching and learning initiatives that develop the core intellectual skills of a liberal education: writing and critical thinking. Thompson will discuss the work being produced over a three-year period and how all 13 universities are developing initiatives that specify student learning outcomes, evaluate those outcomes and then use the results to revise and improve educational practices.”
Financial Rewards for Successful Teaching?
Checkout a post on edwired, T. Mills Kelly’s blog about all things education, history, and digital. Kelly notes that while end-of-semester course surveys have gotten better, they still do not focus enough on assessing what student’s learned. Further, Texas A&M University is considering offering “successful” instructors monetary incentives to improve teaching performance. Click here to read all about it.
New HistorySOTL Blog Up and Running
HistorySOTL has received a much-needed facelift! The new site has a more intuitive interface, quicker login, and easier access to archives with a search function. Further, new content has been added and security has been enhanced, including email security for users. Login to comment on the new view!