Weekly News and Tip, May 1, 2008

News - Steve Mickelson Named CELT Director
Steven Mickelson, Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, will become the new Director of the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching and Co-Director of Learning Communities. This appointment will begin June 1. Welcome, Steve!

Tip - Hundreds of Sample Syllabi for University Courses

• As you work on your course syllabus for this summer or next fall, keep in mind the range of sample syllabi that you can consult online. For example, the Miller Center's Syllabus Webpage includes syllabi for courses in political history, international relations, and American Political Development.
  
• Some sample syllabi in philosophy.
• Interesting sample syllabi on the history of physics.
• And the granddaddy of them all, the World Lecture Hall, with copious examples from many disciplines.

Announcements - EDUCAUSE Webinar

• A one-hour EDUCAUSE Webinar, “Metacognition and Monitoring: Understanding and Improving Students' Skills for Learning,” will be presented Monday, May 5, at noon in 206 Durham (no registration required). Metacognition - thinking about one’s thinking and reflecting on one’s learning - is essential to both teaching content and helping students learn. Marsha Lovett, associate research professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon University, will discuss recent research on teaching metacognition, including a Carnegie-Mellon program which integrates metacognition in first-year science courses. For more information on "Metacognition and Monitoring: Understanding and Improving Students' Skills for Learning".

FYI - Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Update; Last Call for Learning Communities Institute

• CELT’s list of journals which publish scholarship related to teaching and learning has been updated. Many thanks to Andrea Dinkelman, assistant professor, Parks Library and Steven Freeman, assistant director, CELT, for maintaining this list.

• Don’t forget to register for the 10th Annual Learning Communities Institute, Monday, May 12, at the Scheman Building. You may attend all or part of the day. Please encourage your colleagues to join us. View the program for this year's Institute.
  Register now for Learning Communities Institute, but hurry; registration closes tomorrow (Friday, May 2) at midnight.