Development Opportunities

The 2011 Teaching Professor Conference

Sponsored by: The Teaching Professor/Magna Publications
Date: Friday, May 20, 2011 - Sunday, May 22, 2011
Registration Deadline: April 29, 2011
Location: Sheraton Atlanta Hotel, Atlanta, GA

A few reasons that you need to come to The Teaching Professor conference!

Top six reasons why you should attend The Teaching Professor conference:

• It’s a great way to ensure that your teaching will remain fresh and invigorated.
• It’s a great way to find out new pedagogical practices that work.
• It’s a place to meet and network with colleagues also committed to teaching and learning excellence.
• It’s an opportunity to hear teaching and learning experts with national reputations.
• It’s a great place to find out about other teaching and learning resources (book, publications, programs, events).
• You can and will share what you’ve learned with others.

Top six reasons why you send faculty to The Teaching Professor conference:

• Chances are good it will make them better teachers.
• It’s a great way to go beyond lip service and demonstrate support of teaching.
• It’s an event that inspires faculty. All teachers need a lift like that every now and then, especially after they’ve taught faithfully for a number of years.
• It’s an event where teachers learn–about the pedagogical practices that work, about relevant research and about how students learn.
• Attendees share what they learned with other faculty during the conference and after the conference.
• It’s a way to reward a special effort, like curriculum development, preparation for accreditation, a new program for first year students, etc.

Don’t just take our word for it! Here are some testimonials from the 2010 Teaching Professor Conference:

"This was one of the best organized, informative conferences I have ever attended. Each session, each activity was rich in content and well worth the time."
-Julie, Director of Online Education, The Satell Center for Executive Education

"The vast majority of the sessions I attended gave me ideas for things I will actually be able to implement in the fall. The information was very practical. I also appreciated the mix of attendees. It was not geared toward universities or community colleges, but rather toward our common interest in teaching and learning."
-Amy, Associate Professor, Parkland College

"It was focused on teaching and improving teaching. There was none of the usual academic game playing (my brain is bigger than your brain). It was refreshing."
-Annonymous conference participant

• View Additional Information on the The 2011 Teaching Professor Conference Development Opportunity

Call for Proposals

If you have previously submitted a proposal for past conferences, we sincerely ask you to submit again. And if you have never submitted a proposal for a workshop or poster session, we ask that you seriously consider this opportunity to share your work at the conference.
The Teaching Professor Conference will be held this May 20-22, 2011 at the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel, in Atlanta, Ga. Featured topical areas are:
Topical Area 1: Learning

• Teacher roles when classrooms shift from teaching to learning
• Overcoming student resistance to learner-centered approaches
• Ways to make student learners more independent, self-directed, and self-regulated
• What faculty need to know about learning
• Ways to apply what we are learning from neuroscience and brain research
• Teaching non-traditional students

Topical Area 2: Activities that Engage Students

• The mechanics of successful design and implementation of active learning, problem-based learning, cooperative learning, collaborative learning, and service learning
• Appropriate assessment methods for active learning activities
• Using these methods and covering content — tensions, temptations, and triumphs

Topical Area 3: Teaching Specific Types of Courses

• Teaching large classes
• Required courses
• General education courses
• Senior capstone courses
• Developmental courses
• First year seminar courses
• Online courses
• Courses with travel components
• Undergraduate research

Topical Area 4: Instructional Vitality: Ways to Keep Teaching Fresh and Invigorated

• Effective programs for faculty renewal
• Individual activities that keep teaching fresh
• How to know if your teaching is getting tired; how to know when it’s time to change
• Sources of burnout and how to avoid them or face them
• Innovative mentoring models that involve mid-career faculty
• Ways to use the expertise and wisdom of senior faculty

Topical Area 5: Teaching and Learning with Technology

• Technology as an instructional change agent: is it making teaching better?
• New ideas and approaches that link technology to learning
• Methods that work for the technologically impaired
• Ways to assess technology-based learning
• Ways to successfully teach hybrid courses
• Using social networking to promote learning
• Creative solutions for Web surfing and texting in the classroom

Topical Area 6: Grading and Feedback

• Ways to get students less interested in grades and more focused on learning
• Tips for handling grading tasks efficiently
• Ways of delivering feedback that improve performance
• Is giving extra credit a good idea? If so, what makes it work to promote learning and build confidence?
• Grading on a curve or using an absolute standard—which system is best?
• Ways to effectively incorporate peer and self-assessment in the grading process
• How to respond when students challenge a grade
• Promoting academic integrity

Confirmation of accepted proposals will be sent by January 10, 2011.
To submit a proposal, please visit the Teaching Professor website below.

Submission Deadline Friday, October 22, 2010

• View Additional Information on the Call for Proposals for The 2011 Teaching Professor Conference

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