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Campuswide Workshops for Graduate Teaching Assistants

The 21st Annual Fall Campuswide Workshop for Graduate Teaching Assistants, sponsored by the Office of Graduate Studies, is scheduled for Tuesday, August 16, 2011, in the Nebraska Union. The program will feature various teaching skills sessions, a lunch buffet—compliments of the Office of Graduate Studies—and a set of disciplinary breakout sessions.

Keynote

This year's keynote speaker is Dr. Susan Ambrose, Associate Provost for Education, Director of the Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence, and Teaching Professor in the Department of History at Carnegie Mellon.

Dr. Susan Ambrose

Susan Ambrose has studied women in engineering and science and the variables that influence women's life decisions and careers; she has explored faculty satisfaction and retention; and she has researched how students learn and how to better foster it. This August she will bring that expertise to UNL, sharing with new and experienced graduate teaching assistants research-based evidence on student learning and concrete examples of effective teaching strategies.

As Associate Provost for Education at Carnegie Mellon, Dr. Ambrose advises the Provost and the Vice Provost for Education on educational issues, conducting institutional research on learning, identifying and responding to changing needs to continually improve the quality of education at the university. As Director of the Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence, she maintains overall operation of the Eberly Center, overseeing the Intercultural Communication Center and the Office of Academic Development. Dr. Ambrose received her doctorate in American History (1986) from Carnegie Mellon and has been on the Eberly Center's staff since its inception.

Dr. Ambrose has designed and conducted seminars and workshops for faculty and administrators throughout the United States and in India, Canada, Mexico, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Chile. In 1998 and 2000 she was named a Visiting Scholar for the American Society of Engineering Education and the National Science Foundation, spending time with the engineering colleges at the University of Washington-Seattle, Rice University, and Tufts University. She was also awarded an American Council on Education fellowship for 1999-2000 and worked alongside the presidents of Connecticut College and the University of Rhode Island to learn more about leadership styles.

She has received funding over the years from the National Science Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, the Lilly Endowment, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the Eden Hall Foundation. More recently she received funding from The ALCOA Foundation to study the faculty experience at Carnegie Mellon.

She serves on the advisory boards for the Journal of Engineering Education and the Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education at the University of Washington. She also serves on the Carnegie Museum of Art Education Program Committee. She has served on accreditation teams for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

She is co-author of How Learning Works: 7 Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching (2010); The Woman's Guide to Navigating the Ph.D. in Engineering and Science (2001); Journeys of Women in Engineering and Science: No Universal Constants (1997); The New Professor's Handbook: A Guide to Teaching and Research in Engineering and Science (1994); and numerous chapters and journal articles. She also teaches courses on immigration in the Department of History.

Sessions

Whether you're a new graduate teaching assistant or an experienced, senior-level TA, you're sure to find something in our campus-wide TA workshops to get you energized about teaching. The day also offers an opportunity to get to know other TAs who'll eventually become your friends and colleagues.

Skills Sessions
Connecting Principles of Learning to Teaching
Susan Ambrose, Carnegie Mellon University
In this session, you'll learn how to apply research-based principles of learning to your teaching, with the goal of helping you better understand what you can do to foster student learning.
The First Day of Class
Martha Mamo, Agronomy and Horticulture
The first day of class is your opportunity to create a strong and positive impression on your students. It's a time for you and your students to share expectations, establish classroom norms, and create excitement for the subject and the class. In this session, you'll learn specific strategies for making the most of new beginnings.
Responding to and Grading Students' Work
Chris Marvin, Associate Professor, Special Education and Communication Disorders
This session will cover various aspects of the grading process, including managing student expectations, setting a marking scheme, the actual grading process, and dealing with appeals.
Critical Moments in the Classroom: Video Vignettes
Richard Lombardo, Director, Office of Postdoctoral Studies and TA Development
Watch video scenarios of several critical situations that may at some point reflect your own experience as a GTA. Then discuss strategies you might use to manage the situations or, better yet, prevent such situations from occurring in the first place.
Using Technology to Promote Student Learning
Neal Bryan, Associate Director, TA and Postdoc Development
This session will focus on how the use of technology (from simple to more advanced technologies) combined with effective teaching strategies can positively impact student learning.
Disciplinary Breakout Sessions

Join new and experienced TAs in your discipline and learn about effective teaching methods relevant to the teaching you'll be doing as a TA — for example, holding office hours, grading papers, running a lab, or teaching a recitation. Each session will focus on applying what you've learned about the principles of learning and effective teaching within the context of your discipline. Sessions will be facilitated by experienced faculty and award-winning teaching assistants.

Wrap Up Session: Tips from the Trenches

Moderated Q&A Panel

A panel of experienced TAs will answer questions, offer strategies and describe "best practices" based upon their teaching experiences at UNL. This session is a great opportunity to explore what makes an effective teaching assistant.

Registration

To register for any of the 2011 Fall Campuswide TA Workshops, complete the registration form and mark the workshops you plan to attend. Be sure to include your email address — we'll send you a reminder prior to the event.

Also available: printer-friendly schedule in PDF format
Registrant


Master's Student
Doctoral Student
Post-Doctoral
Faculty
Other


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Preliminary Schedule
8:00 AM — Check-in and Continental Breakfast

8:30 AM — Welcome and Overview

8:45 AM to 9:45 AM — Keynote: Dr. Susan Ambrose, Carnegie Mellon University

10:00 AM to 11:30 AM — Skills Session (select one)
Connecting Principles of Learning to Teaching
The First Day of Class
Responding to and Grading Students' Work
Critical Moments in the Classroom: Video Vignettes
Using Technology to Promote Student Learning

11:30 AM to 12:00 PM — General Session: Academic Integrity

12:00 PM to 1:00 PM — Buffet Lunch, hosted by the Office of Graduate Studies
Yes, please provide lunch for me.
No, I will not be there for lunch.

1:00 PM to 2:30 PM — Disciplinary Breakout Sessions (select one)
Life Sciences and Natural Resource Sciences
Physical Sciences
Social Sciences, Business, and Education
Humanities
Art and Music
Math and Statistics
Computer Science and Engineering

2:30 PM to 3:30 PM — Wrap-up Session: Tips from the Trenches

   


If you have questions about the above workshops, contact us at gsapd2@unl.edu.