Faculty Development Day

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

8:30                 Coffee and light breakfast items in the Carver Atrium

9:00-10:15      Choose one of two

• Writing Clear Assignment Instructions
  Clear instructions improve the quality of work students submit and reduce students’ frustration; furthermore, clear writing instructions act as an instructional tool to help students become better writers.  However, writing clear instructions is not easy. By the end of this workshop you will have better instructions for one of the assignments you plan to give this semester. This session, facilitated by CoryAnne Harrigan and Patricia Calkins, will focus on creating good writing assignments.  Bring a writing assignment from one of your classes.
• Getting the Most from Simpson Forum
  Starting this fall, students at Simpson will not directly receive academic credit for attending Simpson Forum events.  But we still hope to attract students and faculty to participate in our move to promote Engaged Citizenship via the college’s core curriculum.  Simpson Forum Director Brian Steffen and Jennifer Nostrala will lead a discussion of the functions of the lectures/arts series and how faculty can integrate the program into their existing coursework.

10:30-11:45    Choose one of two

• Creating Rubrics in Scholar 2
  By the end of this hands-on session, participants will have created a rubric in Scholar for one of their own courses.  Rubrics offer a fast way to provide students with feedback on assignments.  When rubrics are shared with students before the assignment is due, they provide guidance to students on how to successfully complete the assignment.  Barb Ramos will guide participants through the process of turning their expectations for student performance on an assignment into a grading rubric in Scholar 2.  Please bring your laptop and all the materials you have about one of the assignments you plan to use this fall.
• Rate Your Mate^TM: Grading Group Projects
  Rate Your Mate is a peer review system for team projects.  It was originally developed as a way of reducing grade compression on group projects by integrating the quality of final product with the quality of each team member’s performance as a team member so that each individual student gets a different grade.  Sal Meyers learned about Rate Your Mate at a conference this summer; she will share what she learned during this session.

11:45-1:00      Lunch in the Carver Atrium   – please let us know if special dietary needs

Working with a Writing Fellow (12:00 – 12:45)
Writing Fellows work with the faculty who are teaching a Simpson Colloquium.  If you are teaching an SC, grab your lunch and then come join CoryAnne Harrigan, interim director of Writing Across the Curriculum, to discuss effective ways of utilizing your Writing Fellow.

1:00-2:15        Choose one of two

• Facilitating Class Discussions
  In this panel discussion, faculty will share tips for structuring a class to increase both the quality and quantity of class discussion.  Steve Rose will serve as the moderator, and the panel members include Maeve Callan and Mark Freyberg.
• Setting Up the Gradebook in Scholar 2
  By the end of this hands-on session facilitated by Justin Brown, participants will have set up the Scholar gradebook for one of their courses.  This will allow participants to organize grades online and submit their grades to the registrar.  Moreover, the gradebook is one of students’ favorite features of Scholar.  They appreciate being able to see how they are performing in a course by viewing their grades online.  Please bring your laptop and all the grading information for one of your fall courses.

2:20-4:00        Schedule a 20 Minute Appointment with a Scholar Guru

What’s also  happening Wednesday, August 22, 2:30 pm in Carver Room 233? It’s a great opportunity to get trained on how to update information on your department’s web pages!

You don’t have to sign up or pre-register. Training will begin every half hour until 4:30 so you can join at 2:30, 3, 3:30, 4 or 4:30, whatever your schedule allows. And you can stay as long as you like.

Many of you have been through the training. Encourage your colleagues to come and see how simple it is. Or, if you want to drop by and brush up on some skills, ask questions or receive assistance with any updates you want to make, the web team welcomes the opportunity to see you again.