1. THE SCIENCE OF TEACHING & LEARNER- CENTERED SYLLABI Teaching Academy Boot Camp Summer 2013

2.  The more explicit and transparent information we can provide our students about the course goals, their responsibilities, and the criteria we will use to assess their performance, the more likely it is that they will be successful as students and we will be successful as instructors. The syllabus serves as a central means to communicate such information. This session is designed to assist you in developing learner-centered syllabi.

4.  Jessica Lavariega Monforti (lavariegaj@utpa.edu)lavariegaj@utpa.edu  PhD in Political Science from The Ohio State University in 2001  Employed at UTPA since 2004 (on & off due to Ford post-doc fellowship)  Associate Professor, Assistant Dean of CSBS & Senior Faculty Research Associate, Center for Survey Research  14 years of university teaching experience, UT Regents Outstanding Teaching Award, over 20 publications

5.  Show of hands  Describe Yourself!

6.  Changing nature of teaching in the 21 st century  Science of learning & the art of teaching  Engaging students

7.  What should the nature of teaching be today?  Teaching involves the transmission of knowledge from teacher to student. Students are expected to simply assimilate information and synthesize the new knowledge on their own. (Cue debate )

8. VS.

9.  Teaching emphasizes inquiry, critical thinking, and the development of higher-order thinking and communication skills.  Students must recognize the limitations of their current knowledge and skills, and have opportunities to test and apply new skills and perspectives.

11.  Didactic: emphasizing the transfer of information  Philetic: teacher serves as role model/mentor  Evocative: assist students in discovering the personal meaning of topic/text  Heuristic: engage students in a process of inquiry and discovery to help them develop the habits of a particular discipline

12.  Use a combination of all 4 pedagogies  Learner-centered teaching

13.  10 Simple Rules:  Connect  Engage  Focus  Vary  Include  Involve  Share  Align  Assess  Reflect

17.  Yes, we’ve arrived at a basic understanding of transformational teaching  A final word