Colleagues,

Welcome Back to the Spring Semester!

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED

There has been a veritable avalanche of publications received since mid December. They should be in the wall pockets by Jan. 17.

THE TEACHING PROFESSOR (vol. 20:9) for November 2006 includes articles on what college professors can learn from K-12 educators, reminders for improving class discussion, the next generation of course portfolios, an alternate assessment exercise for an introductory chemistry course, and a different format for office hours. Several of these articles are very good and worth reading over a cup of something warm.

THE TEACHING PROFESSOR (vol. 20:10) for December 2006 includes 10 brief articles in its slim 8 pages. They include a cover piece on the use of not knowing for students and faculty, avoiding berating students for what they don't know, seeing librarians as partners, the factors that influence student attitudes toward a course, teaching as an "amateur", the thorny problem of trusting students, understanding the role of intuition in teaching, discipline pitfalls in the classroom, cracking tough texts with metaphor, and "Should students have a role in setting course goals?" This is a very good number of TTP and definitely worth a look.

THE TEACHING PROFESSOR (vol. 21:1) for January includes articles on the teaching-learning trinity, what to do in the last class, selection criteria for teaching awards, a different perspective on student engagement, a student perspective on class participation and the question of malpractice insurance for university faculty.

THE PROFESSOR IN THE CLASSROOM (13:9) is in the wall pockets. Its title is "Tapping the Power of Hope" and includes three tips on mastering meetings. The main essay of this edition defines hope, demonstrates its value in higher education and identifies ways it can be used to improve student performance. Hope is presented as a source of strength for students and for faculty. The mastering meetings tip that most impressed me was the use of three simple words to defuse contentious situations--"Could it be . . .?"

THE PROFESSOR IN THE CLASSROOM (13:10) is in the wall pockets. Its title is "Eight Professor Traits that Produce Results" and contains tips on motivating students. These include: demonstrate your passion, be a learner, communicate your self-confidence, and maintain a sense of purpose and mission. On the topic of motivating students the tri-fold includes resolving to use your skills to get students to ask questions. The objective is to get the student to ask for the advice we have to give.

NATIONAL TEACHING AND LEARNING FORUM (vol. 16:1) December 2006. This number includes articles on "removing technology from the classroom (the real value of face-to-face time), a conference report on a recent professional development conference, a challenge to faculty to make the tools of instructional technology their own, using the internet to bring the world to students, and an essay by Linc. Fisch on the value of humor in the classroom.

Several of these publications are available in the 3 wall pocket locations on campus as well as in the College of Business (per Allison Ambrose) or at the ACCEL Center (per Neala McCarthy). Enjoy them with something warm and seasonal--of the liquid variety.

NEW PROGRAM FROM THE CENTER

In recent discussions, the advisory committee of the Center has suggested that the CTE underwrite the cost of having speakers come to campus to work with individual departments or clusters of departments who are interested in reviewing and (perhaps) modifying their teaching strategies. The first of these "teaching in the disciplines" seminars was held on January 11 when the three departments of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Nursing welcomed Kelly Sass of the University of Iowa for a seminar on teaching using the case method, especially in health-related fields. The program was a great success with faculty from the nursing, OT and PT as well as several faculty from other areas.

The next CTE-sponsored presenter on teaching in the disciplines will be Bill Warren, Ambrose alumnus and professor of history who will be speaking on strategies for teaching history at the university level. More information on this event as we get closer to the date.

The advisory board wants every department to be aware of this new programming thrust being undertaken by the Center. THINK about how your department or program might best make use of this opportunity to invite a presenter to campus to work with your faculty on alternatives to your current teaching styles and approaches.

Talk to any member of the advisory committee about your questions, ideas and suggestions for this program. The Center is planning to commit between $500 and $1,000 to each presentation or consultancy.

TEACHING CIRCLES

Christine Urish is in process of establishing a meeting time for the Strongest Link Teaching Circle. She is looking at either Mondays or Wednesdays at noon for their monthly meeting. If you are thinking of joining this circle you can let Christine know your preference at UrishChristineK@sau.edu.

News from the teaching circle organized by Carol lyon and Jessica Gosnell will appear in a future News from the Center.

 CENTER'S BOOK AND PERIODICAL COLLECTION

The center's book and periodical collection has been moved to the first floor of O'Keefe Library and is in process of being catalogued as part of the by the general collection. As soon as the cataloguing is complete they will be available by searching the library catalogue. This will make the Center's collection (the books especially) easier to find and use than ever before. Mary Heinzman, the library director, has informed me that the shelves from the Ambrose Room are now in the first floor reading area near the newspapers. The materials are available any time that the library is open and comfortable chairs are nearby.

Our goal in thise project is to make the materials collected by the Center most easily available to faculty--both in terms of where they are stored and in terms of how information about them is available electronically.

ELECTRONIC SOURCE ON TEACHING AND LEARNING

The following is from Christine Urish:

The first issue of International Journal for the Scholarship of

Teaching & Learning (IJ-SoTL) is now available online at

http://www.georgiasouthern.edu/ijsotl/current.htm.

There is an IJ-SoTL listserv for asynchronous conversations about SoTL

with currently about 275 international subscribers. You can join by

going to http://www.georgiasouthern.edu/ijsotl/dl.htm.

Your are also invited to a new conference, The SoTL Commons: A

Conference for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

(http://www.georgiasouthern.edu/ijsotl/conference/) on November 1 - 2,

2007, on the campus of Georgia Southern University in Statesboro,

Georgia, USA. Early registration at a reduced fee is underway and the

submission of proposals period begins January 15, 2007.

Alan Altany, Ph.D.

Director, Center for Excellence in Teaching

Editor, International Journal for SoTL

Georgia Southern University

Statesboro, Georgia, USA 30460-8143

Email: aaltany@georgiasouthern.edu

CTE PERIODICAL SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE

The Center subscribes to College Teaching and CHANGE: The Magazine of Higher Learning.  Back issues of both of these publications are in the shelves in the reading area on the first floor (northwest corner) of the library. Enjoy a beautiful view of campus and gorgeous sunsets as you peruse the back issues of the Center's

Three other publications subscribed to by the Center are available in several places on campus.  The Teaching Professor, The Professor in the Classroom and the National Teaching and Learning Forum are available as they arrive in three wall pocket locations: in the old snack bar area in Ambrose Hall, in the Cosgrove Hall private dining room near the drink dispenser, and in the coffee shop on Harrison St.-- as well as in ACCEL and through Allison Ambrose in the College of Business.

Back issues of these publications are CURRENTLY kept in the shelves in the Library on the first floor, northwest corner (along with the Center's book collection). All of the Center's subscription materials are available during all the hours O'Keefe Library is open. Soon the entire Center's book collection will be integrated into the general library collection.