Preparations are under way for the third annual conference, “Success in the Classroom: Sharing Practices that Work,” planned for a full day, Thursday, Feb. 21, at the University of New Mexico Student Union Building.
“Fifty-eight faculty members presented on various aspects of teaching effectiveness in the past two conferences,” said Gary Smith, professor, Earth and Planetary Sciences, and director of the Office of Support for Effective Teaching (OSET).
“This multi-disciplinary conference focusing on university-wide teaching has experienced tremendous success in previous years,” he added.
For the 2008 conference, proposed presentations focus on physics, math, business education, computer sciences, online learning, medical education, course design and assessment practices.
“It’s an exceptionally rich feast focusing on aspects of teaching and learning from many different perspectives,” Smith said.
This year, Deana Richter, director, Teacher and Educational Development at the UNM School of Medicine, joins Smith and James Burbank, English, in organizing the conference.
Richter said, “This partnership shows the spirit of cooperation and shared interests between the north campus and main campus and between the humanities and the sciences.”
A special focus this year will be a number of presentations on use of writing assignments to enhance learning in different learning contexts. This conference thread will demonstrate how writing provides a key approach to teaching critical thinking skills across all academic disciplines.
Faculty members who have topics they wish to present during the conference are encouraged to visit the OSET web page to sign up. The process is very simple and takes only a few minutes. Prospective presenters may sign up at the following link-- OSET Success. Everyone is encouraged to save the date on their calendars and come to learn fresh ideas for enhancing student learning.
For more information, contact Gary A. Smith, director, Office of Support for Effective Teaching, 277-2348, gsmith@unm.edu; James Burbank, English, 277-7436, jimbu@unm.edu; Deana Richter, director, Teacher & Educational Development (SOM), 272-5858, DRichter@salud.unm.edu.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzlaes, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu