On one of the note cards at your table, please tell us... Your name Your institution and role (professor, administrator, etc.) Your discipline What are your expectations for this workshop? What are you doing in your university/organization to promote civic education?

Creating faculty networks - one innovative course at a time Gregg Kaufman and Julia Metzker

Goal To advance your efforts in developing courses and professional development programs that cultivate engaged citizenship in students and faculty. Plan Brief description of the Innovative Course-building Group Philosophy & Timeline Two “case-studies” Abbreviated think-pair-share

Engaging Courses Scientifically Literate Citizens Supporting Innovative course development STEM mini-grants Research Student Faculty Assessment Institutions Programs Core/General Ed. Students Recognition Faculty Teaching Network Connecting to K-12 Community Science Service Learning SENCER / Social Issues Interdisciplinary Innovative Course Building Group

Mathematical Modeling through Financial Calculations Educational Strategies for Non-Traditional Instructional Settings Animal, Vegetable Human: The Science and Sociology of YOUR food Critical Thinking: Climate and Chemistry Critical Thinking: Public Deliberation Civic Engagement in the Curriculum Inquiry and Reflection in Science Environmental Health …and many innovative activities and units in “traditional” courses Social Justice:Indigenous and African movements in Latin America Mathematics on the Fringe

SENCER robustly connects science and civic engagement by teaching “through” complex, contested, capacious, current, and unresolved public issues “to” basic science. SENCER helps reveal the limits of science by identifying the elements of public issues where science doesn’t help us decide what to do. SENCER shows the power of science by identifying the dimensions of a public issue that can be better understood with certain mathematical and scientific ways of knowing. SENCER, by focusing on contested issues, encourages student engagement with “multidisciplinary trouble” and with civic questions that require attention now. SENCER includes faculty (tenure AND non-tenure track) and administrators from …. Liberal arts institutions Community Colleges Research Universities High Schools

SENCER at GCSU – a timeline (not to scale) You are here Cohort became the Innovative Course Building Group (ICBG) 2 nd faculty development workshop Planning for next cohort of ICBGers GCSU’s 1 st faculty development workshop (funded by SENCER post institute award) Every year new participants join the leadership team AND become mentors to the next cohort of ICBGers The Science Education Center hosts David Burns to present SENCER ideals Julia Metzker nominated and appointed a SENCER Fellow 2008 = Attended SSI First SSI attended rd workshop & focus on dissemination

Who we are … The Innovative Course-Building Group (IC-BG) is a grass-roots social network for learning that supports teaching faculty and staff across disciplines. We use civic issues as a catalyst for designing engaging courses that will result in important student learning. Our guiding principles … Time is valuable: gatherings are deliberately designed to be productive, meaningful, and enjoyable uses of this limited resource. Good ideas recycled, refined, and adapted become great ideas. Teaching and learning rarely happen in isolation: collaboration supports innovation. Our participants… Will design a course (and activities) ready to teach!

Start of fall semester: Recruit new faculty, review applications, setup schedule. 3 meetings in the fall semester and 3 meetings in the spring. Our Innovative Course Building Group Workshop Logistics TopicHomework* 1Introduction. Identify course and complex issues addressed in course. Decide on course. Develop interdisciplinary connections. 2Course Goals.Write course goals. 3Active learning strategies & course activities. Examine 2 SENCER model courses. 4Assessment techniques/ strategies (including SALG) Map course activities and assessment to course goals. 5Critique first draft of course.Work on final course presentation. 6Socialize & present final course (poster presentations) *Homework typically posted to blog where other members can comment. ICbG blog:

Development of a typical IC-bGer (not to scale) Where are you? Tried an in-class assessment Mapped activities and assessments to course goals Facilitating workshops and mentoring Introduced a new activity (or several) Thinking about changing her course Wrote new course goals Noticed a lack of student engagement Innovative course redesign Building & sustaining a professional network

Portrait of an IC-bGer Gregg Kaufman – Government Instructor Gregg had been teaching part-time when he joined the ICbG last year. Currently, he is teaching ¾ time and coordinates the ADP program. As an instructor (non-tenure track) many development activities were unavailable to him. Through ICbG workshops, Gregg designed Public Deliberation, a core curriculum course for first-year students that addresses critical thinking. His course design began with specific course learning outcomes and ended with a course-map that links the assessment and activities to course goals. As a new member of the ICbG mentor group, Gregg will participate in future workshop development, mentoring and SOTL activities.

Portrait of an IC-bGer Julia Metzker – Chemistry Professor After her first year at Georgia College, Julia noticed students in her chemistry course were not engaged with or excited about the course content. She began converting laboratory courses from “canned-labs” to inquiry projects with social relevance and “retooled” a science course for non-science majors. After attending a SENCER summer institute, she co-wrote a small grant to create a professional development community for university teachers (IcBG). This community went on to design a series of course-design workshops. Julia has “re-designed” several courses around active learning, including a successful course that investigates the causes and consequences of our high-mileage food system. She continues to be an active member of the Innovative Course- building Group and enjoys belonging to a “social network for learning”.

Deliberation Choice Learning Citizen Group Community Comprehension Application Analysis Synthesis Knowledge Purpose Questio n at issue Information Point of View Implications & Consequences Assumptions Concepts Interpretations & Inferences PUBLIC WORK KEY Deliberation Cycle Learning Taxonomy Critical Thinking Elements

Activity: Your goals Think-Pair Share Think –Identify where you are on the timeline and write down a goal you intend to accomplish. –Quickly map the tasks and resources needed to accomplish your goal. Pair –Find someone from another school that you do not know Share –Your goal and map –Refine your partner’s plan Share with everyone

On the other side of your notecard, please tell us... Were your expectations met? Why or why not? Write one action item you intend to accomplish when you return to your own campus. Connect with us blog: icbg.wordpress.com