Conference on Teaching for Transformation Held on Campus
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UMass
Boston Holds its Own in The College Student Report
Conference
on Teaching for Transformation Held on Campus
Early
Warning System Works at Student Retention
by Kim Burke
For
over ten years, the Center for the Improvement of Teaching (CIT) has
held their annual conference on “Teaching for Transformation.”
This year's day-long conference, held on January 26 in the Snowden Auditorium,
has expanded the reach of CIT. Conference presenters, for the first
time, will include faculty from outside the university.
When the call went out to urban universities to participate in this year's conference, CIT's goal was to “provide opportunities for faculty across the region to share questions, strategies, and research that focus on inclusive teaching, learning, and curriculum change.” The collective idea from CIT's Advisory Board to extend this invitation brought enthusiastic responses. From this, institutions like Massasoit Community College in Brockton and Fitchburg State College decided to bring their faculty into the discussion of teacher development.
Vivian Zamel, CIT's fall 2000 director, sees this conference as an extension of the center's concerted effort to focus on faculty development and the needs of a public university. Zamel said, “The conference gives faculty the opportunity to see the work in the classroom as work that needs to be shared.” By participating in the conference, faculty are able to research not just their academic work, but the work they do as teachers.
“Presentations this year offered 15 different opportunities for faculty to rethink teaching challenges,” said Zamel. Professors from UMass Boston will lead a session on “Assessing and Surveying Students' Attitudes, Expectations, and Classroom Experiences,” which will be divided into two discussions, one on “Student Perceptions of the Educational Process” and another on “Looking at Attitude Change in a Diversity Course.” The presenters will analyze results of student surveys of expectations and experiences, as well as discuss the outcome and methods of looking at attitude change.
This is just a drop in the bucket for the work presented at the conference, as well as work done by CIT. With publications and seminars on the way, there looks to be more chances to reexamine the teaching experience.