Series of Workshops Set for Faculty Development

PULLMAN, Wash. — How do you know what students know? Are you getting in the way of student learning? What provokes effective learning?

Faculty and teachers are invited to a series of workshops on “Creating Enriching Learning Environments,’’ starting in June to learn tools and strategies to help strengthen key teaching skills. The workshops are sponsored the Northwest Regional Professional Development Center, comprised of a consortium that includes Washington State University, the University of Idaho and Lewis and Clark State College. The workshops, to be held at the Best Western University Inn in Moscow, Idaho, are also open to interested K-12 teachers and graduate students.

Because of the research emphasis through the graduate school years, faculty members often feel that they haven’t had sufficient training in teaching when they enter the classroom, said Denny Davis, co-director of the Engineering Education Research Center at WSU.

“We want to be a catalyst to help faculty improve their own teaching and learning,’’ he said. “These workshops also provide an opportunity to build a strong community of educators who are striving for excellence in teaching.’’   

In the first workshop, to be held June 6-8, faculty will learn to create educational materials to achieve specific learning outcomes. Participants will work in two- or three-person teams, focusing on curricular tools related to courses they currently teach.

In a second workshop, scheduled for June 26-28, participants will gain understanding of philosophy and methods that allow students to take ownership of their learning. Participants will learn to enrich the learning environments through encouraging interaction, facilitating discussions, integrating assessments of student learning outcomes and performing self-assessments.

Additional workshops will be held during the fall and winter.

The workshops will be led by Daniel K. Apple, president of Pacific Crest, an educational consulting and publishing firm established in 1985.

More information is available at https://eerc.wsu.edu/enrich/index.html.