Here are the CTL events from Spring 2013:
Cultivating the Curious Student
We resume our year-long conversation on curious students with a guest lecturer who speaks to one of the salient questions that emerged from our fall-semester programs: how do you awaken curiosity in students who don’t initially seem very curious? What kinds of learning experiences tap into students’ (sometimes latent) motivation to learn?
The Upside of Confusion
Prof. Robert Duke, University of Texas-Austin
Thursday, March 7 — Common Hour — Mather
What does a transformative learning experience look and feel like? Although we seldom think of learning experiences as brain-reorganization activities, they most certainly are precisely that. Changes in the functional capacities of learners are visible manifestations of changes in the physical structure of the brain. This talk will look at why formal education often fails to make substantive and lasting changes in how learners think and behave. We will consider how to design learning experiences that lead to advantageous changes in cognition, affect, and behavior—all of which are components of expertise in every discipline, and all of which are key factors in student engagement.
Robert Duke is the Marlene and Morton Meyerson Centennial Professor and Head of Music and Human Learning at The University of Texas at Austin, where he is University Distinguished Teaching Professor, Elizabeth Shatto Massey Distinguished Fellow in Teacher Education, and Director of the Center for Music Learning. He is also an advisor to the Psychology of Learning Program at the Colburn Conservatory in Los Angeles.
The most recent recipient of the Senior Researcher Award from MENC: the National Association for Music Education, Dr. Duke has directed national research efforts under the sponsorship of such organizations as the National Piano Foundation and the International Suzuki Institute. His research on human learning and behavior spans multiple disciplines, including motor skill learning, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience. His most recent work explores procedural memory consolidation and the cognitive processes engaged during musical improvisation. A former studio musician and public school music teacher, he has worked closely with children at-risk, both in the public schools and through the juvenile justice system. He is the author of Scribe 4 behavior analysis software, and his most recent books are Intelligent Music Teaching: Essays on the Core Principles of Effective Instruction and The Habits of Musicianship.
* * *
CTL Fellows
The CTL Fellows program supports full-time faculty undertaking a project of innovation in their teaching. This year’s inaugural cohort of Fellows sustain a wide-ranging conversation about pedagogy, meeting once per in a colloquium to discuss their projects. They will present the results of their year-long teaching projects to the Trinity community at the end of this semester. Join us at 12:15 on Tuesday, April 23, and Thursday, April 25, to learn more about the work they have done.
Kathleen Archer (Biology), “Restructuring a Science Course Using Backward Design Principles”
Brett Barwick (Physics), “Workshop Physics at Trinity College”
Carol Clark (Economics), “Evidence, Argument, and Group Work”
Jack Dougherty (Educational Studies), “Web Writing: A Guide for Teaching and Learning”
Luis Figueroa (History), “Using Technology to Create Collaborative Learning Communities, Both Within My Classes and Between My Students and the World”
Joseph Palladino (Engineering), “MATLAB Across the Engineering Curriculum”
Irene Papoulis (Allan K. Smith Center for Writing and Rhetoric), “Rethinking Informal Writing in My Teaching”