SoTL and GenEd Addressed at Lunch Discussion

SoTLJigsawOn April 21st, for its final lunch discussion of the 2014-2015 academic year, the Belmont Teaching Center hosted several faculty members from a variety of disciplines, each of them addressing Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) they have developed in direct connection to their general-education teaching.  Charmion Gustke (English) discussed her work connected to First Year Writing and First Year Seminar.  Robin Lovgren (Mathematics) and Kara Smith (CBA) talked about a Learning Community Course that links statistics and economics.  Jimmy Davis (Communication Studies) considered varied outlets for SoTL in connection with administrative work and First Year Seminar.  Alison Moore (Chemistry) and Rachel Rigsby (Chemistry) discussed Learning Communities connected to various chemistry courses.  Finally, Sally Holt (Religion) talked about her scholarly work connected to Junior Cornerstone classes.

 

Lunch Discussion Addresses Writing In The Classroom

WhyWriteOne reason many teachers encourage students to write is because the activity promotes deeper, more rigorous learning.  With writing assignments, students often must grapple with their own ideas, connect them to the ideas of others, and forge associative links across different pools of knowledge. As such, well-designed writing assignments can promote student engagement and student growth.  On April 8, in a lunch discussion organized by the Belmont Teaching Center, a multi-disciplinary panel consisting of Dr. Jennifer Thomas (Biology), Dr. Eric Hobson (Pharmacy), Dr. Beverly Schneller (Associate Provost/Honors), and Dr. Bonnie Smith Whitehouse (English) shared ideas about using writing in the classroom to support student learning.  Connected to this theme is the March 2015 edition of The Art of Teaching newsletter.  

Teacher Center Hosts Webinar on Mindfulness

MindfulnessA variety of Belmont faculty members have successfully integrated mindfulness activities—practices of paying attention and being in the moment— into their curricula in classes ranging from First-Year Seminar to graduate courses. On April 7, for faculty interested in this teaching strategy, the Belmont Teaching Center hosted a webinar entitled “Everybody Present: Mindfulness in the Classroom.” The webinar featured Dr. Kristin L. Roush, an award-winning psychology faculty member at Central New Mexico Community College. Dr. Roush examined how mindfulness strategies in the classroom can restore focus and attention, and she demonstrated numerous strategies for promoting mindfulness that are easy to adopt and effective. In line with this topic, the following article provides a good introduction and includes indirect connections to cognitive overload as presented by Stephen Chew in the Teaching Center’s August 2013 workshop:  http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-and-learning/moving-multitasking-mindfulness/

Newsletter Examines Writing and Learning

Please check out the latest edition of the Teaching Center newsletter, The Art of Teaching, at http://www.belmont.edu/tcenter/pdf/ArtofTeachingMarch2015.pdf.  In conjunction with next week’s Teaching Center lunch discussion, this issue addresses ideas about using writing to engage deeper student learning.  It features pieces by Darlene Panvini, Jonathan Thorndike, Bonnie Smith Whitehouse, Julie Hunt, and Donovan McAbee.

Art of Teaching

Faculty Interest Groups Present

FIGsOn Thursday, April 27, the Belmont Teaching Center hosted a lunch discussion featuring three faculty interest groups, each of which has developed community, collaboration, and scholarly activity among faculty.  Mitch McCoy and Abbie DeBlasis spoke about a faculty interest group that grew out of experiences during their New Faculty Orientation. Sally Barton Arwood, Kate McGowan, and Ryan Fox discussed ways in which their faculty group uses a process called “Critical Friends” to improve pedagogy.  Finally, Hope Campbell, Cheryl Slay Carr, and Edgar Diaz-Cruz reported on a recently formed faculty interest group that meets, discusses, and studies concerns of minority faculty.

Pinter Co-Hosts, Presents at Faculty Forums

Mike2Mike Pinter, Director of the Belmont Teaching Center, in partnership with the Provost’s Office, co-facilitated three Belmont Faculty Forums on January 30, February 13, and March 6, and presented at the March 6 forum.  These forums presented faculty with student perceptions of the overall learning environments Belmont University offers, communicated information from student focus groups related to academic gain and academic challenge, and offered ideas about critical thinking and academic rigor in the classroom.

Taylor Branch Presents at Teaching Center Event

MLK LunchOn Friday, January 30, in the Massey Boardroom, the Teaching Center partnered with Belmont University’s Martin Luther King Committee to sponsor a lunch discussion entitled “For Students of Freedom: Taylor Branch on Teaching, Storytelling, and the Civil Rights Movement.”  The guest presenter, Taylor Branch, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and author of, among other works, one of the great epic histories of the postwar United States–his trilogy of America in the King Years. Branch also conducted an extensive oral history project with President Bill Clinton while he was in office. For the lunch discussion, Mr. Branch joined Belmont’s faculty to talk about storytelling and history as teaching method and practice.

Center Co-Hosts Discussion On Students with Disabilities

IMG_0526On January 14, at the Curb Event Center, the Belmont Teaching Center, along with the Office of Student Affairs, hosted a faculty lunch discussion entitled, ” Addressing the Learning Needs of Students with Disabilities.”  The event addressed questions such as:  How can we best serve the learning needs of our students with disabilities?  Are there specific approaches, classroom formats, or other elements that enhance Belmont’s learning environment for students with physical, visual, and learning differences?  Q&A with a panel of four Belmont students helped faculty understand these questions and the many related issues from a student perspective.

Belmont Faculty Present at Lilly Conference on College Teaching

Fifteen faculty members from across Belmont University, associated with the Teaching Center and the Office of General Education, recently contributed six presentations at the 34rd Annual International Lilly Conference on College Teaching.  The theme for the 2014 conference, held November 19-22 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, was “Evidence-Based Teaching and Learning.” At the Lilly Conference, faculty scholars of teaching and learning from across the United States and from select international institutions share innovative pedagogies and have vibrant discussions about teaching and learning. The six presentations from Belmont faculty all stem from ongoing Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) projects and collaborations.  These presentations included:

America 2050: Examining the Challenges of Representation in a Diverse, Multilingual/Multicultural Society
Frank Gorgie, Political Science, Belmont University

Helping College Students Succeed by Encouraging a “Growth Mindset”
Peter Giordano, Psychological Science, Belmont University
Mike Pinter, Mathematics, Belmont University

Zombies in the Classroom? Popular Culture as a Student Engagement Strategy
Jason Lovvorn, English, Belmont University
Sue Trout, English, Belmont University

Trans-Disciplinary Teaching Exchange: Forging Faculty Connections to Broaden Student Perspectives
John Watson, Art Department, Belmont University
Abbie DeBlasis, College of Law, Belmont University
Edgar Diaz-Cruz, Department of Pharmaceutical, Social and Administrative Science, Belmont University
Jessica Mueller, Theater and Dance Department, Belmont University
Maria Neophytou, Mathematics and Computer Science Department, Belmont University
Mitchell McCoy, Foreign Languages Department, Belmont University

From Serendipitous Connections to Curriculum Overhaul: Three Professors Discover Interdisciplinary Potential in a Study Abroad Program to Geneva
Andrea Stover, English, Belmont University
Ruby Dunlap, Nursing, Belmont University
John Paine, English, Belmont University

A Student Code of Conduct: Development, Implementation, and Evolution
Jennifer Thomas, Biology, Belmont University
Peter Giordano, Psychological Science, Belmont University

Welcome!

Welcome to the Belmont University Teaching Center weblog, a new public face for the many activities, programs, and resources offered by the Teaching Center.  We hope you will stop by often and look for announcements regarding upcoming events, notes about past events, reflections and articles by Belmont faculty, and a range of other materials connected to the Teaching Center’s presence at Belmont University.