PBL New At-a-Glance

Wednesday, January 6
Thursday, January 7
Friday, January 8

Maintaining Institutional Momentum for Teaching Transformation

Date: January 6
Time: 8:30 – 9:30 a.m.
Location: Rodney Room, Perkins Student Center

Description: Physics Professor and Dean George Watson has been a leader of efforts to transform undergraduate instruction at UD since the early 1990s. He will speak about the challenges of maintaining momentum within classes and schools that hope to replace passive listening with active learning on the part of students.

 

George Watson

George Watson

George Watson, Dean, College of Arts & Sciences

Watson is the founding director of the Institute for Transforming Undergraduate Education, created at UD in 1997 with an NSF Institution-Wide Reform grant to promote transformation of undergraduate education through faculty development and course design. In 2001, Watson and the ITUE team launched the PBL Clearinghouse. In 2004, he co-founded the Pan-American Network for Problem-Based Learning. His work on engagement of students in their learning and transformation of undergraduate curricula has taken him to 20 countries for work with institutions of higher education and more than 30 institutions across the United States.

Watson’s two most recent course developments were a science and technology literacy course for non-science majors and an introductory electrical engineering course for sophomore mechanical engineering majors.  His commitment to undergraduate education has been recognized with several teaching awards, including Outstanding Teacher in the College of Arts and Sciences in 2000 and Delaware Professor of the Year in 1998. Since 2010, Watson has served as Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Delaware.

Experience It Yourself: The Student Experience in a PBL Classroom

Date: January 6
Time: 9:45 a.m. to 12:00 noon
Location: Rodney Room, Perkins Student Center

Description: Participate in a team-based problem-solving session, exemplifying best practices. Music professor Phil Duker will lead all participants in a problem suited to a general audience in a typical college-level music course. The best way to understand PBL is to experience it yourself!

 

Phil Duker

Phil Duker

Phil Duker, Associate Professor, Music

Philip Duker, Associate Professor, Music Theory joined the faculty at the University of Delaware in 2009. He is a former fellow at the University of Michigan’s Institute for the Humanities, an experience that broadened his interdisciplinary research interests. Many of his research interests lie at the intersection between music and the humanities, including instrumental theatre and the visual/bodily aspects of performance, rhythm and temporality, philosophy and aesthetics, critical theory and the relationship between performance and analysis.

Tools and Strategies for Diverse and Inclusive Classrooms

Date: January 6
Time: 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.
Location: Room 410, Harker ISE Lab

Description: How can we create inclusive classrooms, where all our students are active learners? Are there certain pedagogies that some students respond to better than others? What sorts of social environments and collaborative activities will engage diverse students? How can we make classroom diversity a strength of our educational settings? This faculty panel will lead discussion, question and answer, and activities to encourage participants to plan for their own diverse classrooms.

 

Jill Flynn

Jill Flynn

Jill Flynn, English

A former high school English teacher, Jill Ewing Flynn is currently Associate Professor of English and the Student Teaching Coordinator for the English Education program at UD. Her research and teaching interests include teacher preparation and critical multicultural education, including how issues of race and culture can be productively taken up in middle school, high school, and university classrooms.

 

Stephanie Hansen

Stephanie Hansen

Stefanie Hansen, Theatre

Stefanie Hansen has been a faculty member at UD since 2004. Currently an Associate Professor in the Theatre department, she also serves as the Properties Director for the Resident Ensemble Players (UD’s professional theatre company) and routinely designs scenery for the REP. In service to the university, Stefanie is Co-Chair of the LGBTQ Caucus, member of the University Promotion and Tenure Committee and routinely assists university departments and organizations by providing props for various events.  She has worked extensively as a scenic designer and assistant scenic designer at numerous regional and summer stock theatres as well as on several national tours, Broadway, and Off-Broadway.


Lindsay Hoffman

Lindsay Hoffman

Lindsay Hoffman, Communication

Lindsay H. Hoffman, Ph.D. (The Ohio State University, 2007) is Associate Professor of Communication with a joint appointment in Political Science & International Relations. She also serves as Associate Director of the University of Delaware’s Center for Political Communication, and is the Director of that Center’s annual National Agenda speaker series. In Fall of 2015, National Agenda took on the theme of “Race in America: Conversations about Identity and Equality.” The combined speaker and film series featured eight conversations and four films about a variety of topics surrounding race in America and at UD. Included were two prominent Black Lives Matter activists (Netta Elzie and DeRay Mckesson), a CBS correspondent who covered the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965 (Bill Plante); an Iranian-American comedian whose just-published memoir is titled “I’m Not a Terrorist, But I’ve Played One on TV” (Maz Jobrani); and many others. To view all the conversations, go to www.del.edu/nationalagenda.

Claire McCabe, English

Claire McCabe has been teaching writing full-time in the University of Delaware’s English Department since 2004. She regularly incorporates experiential learning, service learning, and problem-based learning into her first-year composition courses as well as her advanced writing courses. Prior to teaching, she was a public information writer and editor at the University for 13 years.

Nike Olabisi

Nike Olabisi

Nike Olabisi, Biological Sciences

Nike is an Assistant Professor whose primarily teaches freshman introductory biology courses at the Interdisciplinary Science Learning Laboratory.  She obtained her doctorate degree from Rutgers Medical School in Microbiology and Molecular genetics with a focus on Cancer research.  As an NIH postdoctoral fellow in teaching and cancer research she had hands on experiences in the classroom and creates avenues to bring her knowledge of cancer research and molecular biology into her teaching.  She has also been a participant and facilitator at the National academies summer teaching institute and consistently engages active learning strategies and evidence based learning methodologies to get students interested in Science careers.

Rosalie Rolón Dow

Rosalie Rolón Dow

Rosalie Rolón Dow, Education

Rosalie Rolón Dow is an Associate Professor in the College of Education and Human Development and Associate Director of the Center for the Study of Diversity at University of Delaware. Her research focuses on the intersections of sociocultural identities and educational equity and opportunity and on the application of Latino/a critical race theory (Lat/Crit) to educational problems. In 2008, she received a Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship to support a research project at the University of Puerto Rico. Her most recent publication, Diaspora Studies in Education: Toward a Framework for Understanding the Experiences of Transnational Communities, is an edited book focused on the educational experiences of Puerto Rican students. Current research projects include a study on the educational experiences of Latino/a students in higher education, a study on promoting racial literacy among pre-service teachers and a cultural mapping initiative with the Ese’eja Indigenous Nation in Peru. She also serves as Co-Chair of the Latino/Hispanic Faculty and Staff Caucus at the University of Delaware.

Elizabeth Soslau

Elizabeth Soslau

Elizabeth Soslau, Education

Dr. Elizabeth Soslau is an assistant professor in the School of Education. Dr. Soslau’s research focuses broadly on teacher education and more specifically on experiential learning. The participants of her research are usually student teachers who are working full-time in field placements. Elizabeth’s research explores questions such as: How do student teachers’ social-emotional needs interrupt their ability to process their learning experiences? What opportunities do student teachers have to develop adaptive teaching expertise during field experiences and supervisor-led conferences? In what ways can teacher educators promote student teachers’ agency?  Her previous work in urban contexts centers on experiential learning and teaching for social justice through service learning pedagogy. Her clinical work includes coordinating the student teaching practicum and teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in social emotional growth and diversity.

Délice Williams

Délice Williams

Délice Williams, Postdoctoral Researcher

Délice Williams is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Delaware, where she teaches 1st-year writing. Her other teaching and research interests include South Asian fiction, 19th-century British literature, environmental justice, and postcolonial literature. Her current research focuses on environmental justice and representations of the body in contemporary South Asian fiction.  Before coming to UD she taught writing and literature at an independent K-12 school.

 

Lynn Worden

Lynn Worden

Lynn Worden, Human Development & Family Studies

Lynn Jensen Worden, Assistant Professor, has been a member of the faculty of the department of Human Development and Family Studies since 2003. She serves as the department’s Undergraduate Coordinator and, in her role as the Early Childhood Education (ECE) Coordinator, teaches and mentors teacher candidates in the ECE major. She is honored to be a part of the Collaborative to Diversify Teacher Education at UD. This semester, she joined two of her colleagues in piloting learning experiences about Racial Literacy specifically for teacher candidates. 

Cheryl Richardson

Cheryl Richardson

Moderator: Cheryl Richardson, Center for Teaching and Assessment of Learning

Cheryl R. Richardson, Assistant Director of the UD Center for Teaching and Assessment of Learning, works with faculty on exploring new pedagogies and improving existing teaching practices in order to enhance student learning. She brings to this session research, experience working with individual faculty on Scholarship of Teaching and Learning projects at other institutions as well as her own university teaching experiences.

 

Solving Real Problems for Real Clients, Take 1

Date: January 6
Time: 2:15 to 4:00 p.m.
Location: Room 410, Harker ISE Lab

Description: Many faculty encourage teams of students to take on various problems of real import: designing solutions for clients. These faculty will discuss how they break down the walls of their classrooms and engage students with solving practical problems. The session will include opportunities to talk with other participants about how your classes might engage with solving real problems. (Part 1 of two related panel sessions)

 

Anna Wik

Anna Wik

Anna Wik, Landscape Design

Anna Wik is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences. Anna was most recently a landscape architect for the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. During her time there, she was responsible for the design, documentation, and construction administration of many projects in Philadelphia, working with partners including Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, the Philadelphia Water Department, and numerous community groups. Prior to working for PHS, Anna worked for a private firm whose focus was on large scale public and semi-public work, such as hospitals, streetscapes, and public gardens, including the Longwood East Conservatory Plaza renovation.  Her appointment at U of D is primarily teaching, and she looks forward to imparting her love of design and interest in sustainability to future generations of landscape designers.

Jenni Buckley

Jenni Buckley

Jenni Buckley, Mechanical Engineering

Dr. Buckley received her Bachelor’s of Engineering (2001) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Delaware, and her MS (2004) and PhD (2006) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, where she worked on computational and experimental methods in spinal biomechanics. Since 2006, her research efforts have focused on the development and mechanical evaluation of medical devices, particularly orthopaedic, neurosurgical, and pediatric devices. In 2011, Dr. Buckley joined the faculty at the University of Delaware Department of Mechanical Engineering, where she teaches a range of courses as part of the undergraduate curriculum. Dr. Buckley also serves as the Chief Scientific Officer for The Taylor Collaboration, an orthopaedic biomechanical testing laboratory, and also the Executive Director of The Perry Initiative, which sponsors outreach programs to inspire young women to pursue careers in Orthopaedic Surgery and Engineering.

Lydia Timmins

Lydia Timmins

Lydia Timmins, Communication

Professor Timmins earned a PhD in Mass Media and Communication from Temple University in 2010 and a MJ (Master’s of Journalism) from Temple in 2001. She brings more than 20 years of experience as a professional television journalist to the University. She worked in large and small-market TV stations in the Midwest and East Coast of the United States, spending 14 years at Philadelphia’s NBC10 as a producer, writer and digital editor. She has worked on-air and been a director, producer, photographer and editor. She has covered stories including the Clinton impeachment hearings, 9/11, the GOP National Convention in Philadelphia and the Amish school shootings. Her research interests focus on local television news and the impact it has on the audience, news media ethics, digital convergence and the field of telepresence.

Student-Centered Learning in the PBL Studio Using Inter- and Intra-Group Work

Date: January 6
Time: 4:00 to 5:00 p.m.
Location: 315 Harker ISE Lab (please note the special room number for this session)

Description:
You will have the opportunity to explore a typical week in the Interdisciplinary Sciences Learning Laboratory SCEN101 course! Beginning with an interactive discussion, participants will get a foundation on the scope of the interdisciplinary concept of weighted averaging; as it applies to Physics, Engineering, and Education. Next participants will break into groups to continue their exploration through problem solving and experimentation. Group members will have a chance to extend their work by connecting their lab project to real-life situations. The session will end with group members sharing what they have learned through intra- and inter- group reflections.

Adebanjo Oriade

Adebanjo Oriade

Adebanjo Oriade, Physics and Astronomy | Dupont Interdisciplinary Science Learning Laboratories

As a preceptor in the ISLL, Professor Oriade has contributed to the curricular redesign of an undergraduate physical science course for nonscience majors, SCEN 101. Under Dr. Oriade’s guidance, the high-tech learning experience of SCEN 101 students is enriched with dynamic group interactions that augment student skills in prediction, data acquisition and analysis, and scientific communication through regular electronic poster conferences. Professor Oriade utilizes his training in computational condensed matter physics to engage in the challenge of designing, implementing, and assessing learning tools for science educational purposes. These tools include project-specific rubrics that serve the needs of both students and graduate teaching assistants, design of group tasks, and development of nine new laboratory exercises grounded in the 5Es instructional model. He has also, in collaboration with others in ISLL, developed and implemented Origami Science FabLab/Makerspace (SCEN115). This unique course is designed for nonscience majors and employs Origami and paper sculpture manipulatives that enhance the active learning process of concepts rooted in science, art, and mathematics.

Christina Wesolek

Christina Wesolek

Christina Wesolek, Interdisciplinary Science Learning Laboratories

Christina Wesolek is a Preceptor in the Interdisciplinary Science Learning Laboratories; concentrating on the SCEN101 course which focuses on Physical Science and Astronomy for non-science majors. Her research spans the social sciences, animal behavior, comparative hearing and communication, and conservation biology. Her current research supports community knowledge and culture, and provides an effective model that considers human, animal, and environmental sustainability. She is able to guide students to connect concepts learned in Physical Science and Astronomy to real-life situations and other disciplines by using her own work and experiences as examples.

Christina has experience as an educator, scientist, and administrator designing and implementing curricula for a variety of ages and disciplines. She uses her interdisciplinary background to collaborate with others in ISLL to promote holistic student development, and encourage individual and group participation through experiential learning. In addition to her current role as Preceptor, Christina has taught interactive courses in Anatomy and Physiology and Animal Behavior, and led environmentally-related programs and workshops. Christina’s collaborative work has impacted students, communities, and groups in the United States, China, Japan, Costa Rica, Greece, and Africa.

Poster Session and Welcoming Reception

Date: January 6
Time: 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.
Location: Atrium, Harker ISE Lab

We’re assembling an internationally diverse selection of poster presentations that will look at PBL and its variants from all angles.  Please plan to circulate among all the poster locations as you enjoy the food and beverages that accompany the welcoming reception.

View the list of poster presentations (still under development).

 

Designing Problem-Based Learning Environments According to the Principles of How People Learn

Date: January 7

Time: 8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

Location: Rodney Room, Perkins Student Center

Description:
How can we match our pedagogical approaches to the ways that our students learn best? Does learning psychology suggest certain approaches, certain ways of structuring our classrooms? And what about technology? How can technologies support active, engaged, problem-based learning?

 

Fred Hofstetter

Fred Hofstetter

Fred Hofstetter, School of Education

Dr. Fred Hofstetter serves as a professor in the School of Education at the University of Delaware. He develops eLearning software and designs and publishes curricular materials used in UD’s graduate programs and undergraduate minor in educational technology. His research interests include educational technology, instructional design, multimedia, distance learning, advanced Web design, higher education, and music education. Recently Dr. Hofstetter has focused on the iPad, for which he has developed the iSeeNcode app for the School of Education’s IES literacy grant, and he has published the iPad Primer, which is an ePub available in the Apple iBookstore. For more on Dr. Hofstetter’s work, follow this link to his vita.

Chrystalla Mouza

Chrystalla Mouza

Chrystalla Mouza, School of Education

Dr. Chrystalla Mouza is associate professor of Instructional Technology & Learning Sciences in the School of Education. She earned an Ed.D., M.Ed, and M.A. in Instructional Technology and Media from Teachers College, Columbia University and completed post-doctoral work at the Educational Testing Service (ETS). Her work focuses on teacher learning in the use of technology, applications of technology in K-12 classrooms, teaching and learning outcomes in ubiquitous and mobile computing environments. She is a principal investigator on several projects funded by the Delaware Department of Education to improve teacher quality in high-need schools, a co- PI on a National Science Foundation grant that provides teacher professional development in the area of computational thinking, and the learning scientist on two National Science Foundation funded projects that seek to improve climate science education by providing effective professional development to teachers. Her work has been published in key outlets and has been honored with 2010 Distinguished Research in Teacher Education Award from the Association of Teacher Educators.

 

Intelligent Tutoring and Team-based Problem Solving in Mathematics

Date: January 7
Time: 9:45 – 11:45 a.m.
Location: Mathematics Sciences Learning Laboratory, 053 McKinly Lab (please note the special location for this session)

Description: The University of Delaware’s new Mathematical Sciences Learning Laboratory (MSLL), which opened in Spring 2015, is designed to support students as they learn the key skills and concepts of foundational college mathematics. MSLL uses both adaptive learning technologies and team-based problem solving in innovative ways. Participants in this session will experience both computer-based learning with ALEKS and team-based problem solving. Participants will also learn about the data the MSLL team collects systematically to inform revisions to their approach. Whether or not your field is mathematics, you will learn about a successful approach to integrating technology and team-based learning aligned with current research on teaching and learning.

Dawn Berk

Dawn Berk

Dawn Berk, Mathematical Sciences Learning Laboratory

Dawn Berk is the founding Director of the Mathematical Sciences Learning Laboratory (MSLL) and Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Delaware. She earned an M.S. in Mathematics and a Ph.D. in Mathematics Education from the University of New Hampshire. Her research interests focus on the teaching and learning of undergraduate mathematics and on the mathematical preparation of teachers. She is currently the PI on two grants from the National Science Foundation to investigate the effects of mathematics teacher preparation on teachers’ knowledge, skills, and classroom practice. As Director of MSLL, Dawn facilitates the work of a team of faculty to improve teaching and learning in the foundational mathematics courses by employing a data-driven, continuous improvement model to determine what works, what does not, and why.

Tammy Rossi

Tammy Rossi

Tammy Rossi, Mathematical Sciences

Tammy Rossi is an instructor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences and the new Mathematical Sciences Learning Laboratory (MSLL). She spends her time finding ways to engage students and help students find success in mathematics. She developed the new curriculum and assessments for Math 010, one of the MSLL courses, and regularly serves as instructor and coordinator of that course.

 

 

Citizen Science for the Common Good

Date: January 7
Time: 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Location: Room 410, Harker ISE Lab

Description:

Citizen Science engages diverse participants on local, regional, national, and global scales in the collection, interpretation, and use of scientific data on a particular scientific problem. It is an increasingly important field involving thousands of volunteers who practice “scientific activities”, collect scientific data and disseminate scientific information without being “officially scientists”.  The workshop aims at opening a discussion among educators from different perspectives and disciplines on topics including: How can students play an important role in deciding, observing and contesting how science and technology are being developed and implemented for the good of humanity and the natural world? How do citizen collected information, science, policy, and governance come together in policy making processes? How can Citizen Science support decision making within participatory democratic contexts? How can Citizen Science contribute to sustainable human environments?

 

John Jungck

John Jungck

John Jungck, Interdisciplinary Science Learning Laboratories

John R. Jungck is the Director of the Interdisciplinary Science Learning Laboratories, Professor of Biological Sciences, and has joint appointments in the Department of Mathematical Sciences, the Bioinformatics/Computational Biology Program, and the Delaware Environmental Institute at the University of Delaware. He is the former Editor of Biology International, Bioscene: Journal of College Biology Teaching, the BioQUEST Library, and the American Biology Teacher. His major international commitments have been in Thailand, New Zealand, and Brazil. In 1986, he founded the BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium (http://bioquest.org). His honors include AAAS Fellow, AIBS Education Award, Honorary Doctorate from the University of Minnesota, ASCB Bruce Alberts Award, EDUCOM Educational software, SICB John A. Moore Lectureship, and a Fulbright Scholar in Thailand.  His educational interests focus on social justice, quantitative reasoning, collaborative learning, and student empowerment.

Jon Manon

Jon Manon

Jon Manon, Professional Development Center for Educators

Director of the Mathematics & Science Education Resource Center from 2007 until its merger into the PDCE in 2014, Dr. Manon holds the rank of assistant professor within the School of Education with a secondary appointment in the University’s Department of Mathematical Sciences. Jon has been providing professional development for K-12 teachers in mathematics for nearly two decades. He has served as Principal Investigator (PI) on numerous statewide projects and was instrumental in developing the original assessment system for school mathematics in Delaware. Jon has a special interest in using classroom video as data to help support reflection on practice and has been teaching the use of problem-based curriculum materials to promote problem solving and critical reasoning for all students as described in the Mathematical Practices of the Common Core State Standards.

 

Teaching Procedural Skills via Problems in Science Classes

Date: January 7
Time: 2:15 to 3:15 p.m.
Location: Room 410, Harker ISE Lab

Description: This session will present a case study for applying PBL principles to classroom activities that develop students’ technical skills.  By moving beyond direct instruction, this approach sets the context for the remainder of the course by having students form teams, work with real course data, process ambiguous instructions, and make judgements regarding the best course of action.

 

Alenka Hlousek-Radojcic

Alenka Hlousek-Radojcic

Alenka Hlousek-Radojcic, Biological Sciences

Alenka Hlousek-Radojcic is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Plant Biology degree from the Michigan State University. Known to her students as Prof. Alenka, she is a recipient of an Outstanding Teaching Award from the College of Arts and Sciences and was a Fulbright Senior Lecturer at Tribhuvan University in Nepal. Alenka is leading the teaching team that consists of preceptors, faculty, teaching assistants, and laboratory support personnel for integrated Introductory Biology and General Chemistry course sequence serving about five hundred students, mostly freshmen, per semester. The team is developing and implementing interdisciplinary, inquiry based and collaborative curriculum that includes peer mentoring and team work. Her scholarly activities are focusing on studying development of student critical thinking and graduate assistant teaching skills.

Sandy McVey

Sandy McVey

Sandy McVey, Academic Technology Services

Sandy McVey, Educational Technology Consultant II, collaborates with instructors to develop customized teaching activities that leverage technology. Based at Faculty Commons, Sandy conducts individual appointments and facilitates group sessions focused on student engagement including in-class polling options. Sandy’s Microsoft Office certifications in PowerPoint, Excel, and Word are highly sought after by faculty who want to ramp up their own skills. She is invited to lead technical sessions in the classroom when students are challenged to apply more advanced features of these business standard products in preparation for the real-world opportunities. Vested with a Google IQ, she’s an ideal partner to help develop activities utlitizing the Google Apps at UD.

TBL versus PBL

Date: January 7
Time: 3:15 – 4:00 p.m.
Location: Room 410, Harker ISE Lab

Description: Team-based learning, or TBL, is a structured approach to learning that places responsibility on both individuals and teams to learn and apply course content. This session will help participants understand the methods of TBL and distinguish this popular approach from PBL.

 

Mark Serva

Mark Serva

Mark Serva, Accounting & MIS

Mark A. Serva is an associate professor of management information systems at the University of Delaware. His research focuses are trust in electronic commerce and latent growth modeling. He is the former director for the Institute for Transforming Undergraduate Education (ITUE) at the University of Delaware, a leading advocate for PBL and other student-centered pedagogies. He is the current program director for the global enterprise technology (GET) program, which places students in extended internships in area companies. The program allows students to make significant progress toward graduation, while also defraying the costs of higher education. The program has placed 100% of its students since its inception in 2010. Dr. Serva has also worked as an educational consultant for over ten years, conducting PBL workshops around the United States and the world for UD and Harvard University.

Solving the Problems of PBL (Panel)

Date: January 7
Time: 4:15 – 5:00 p.m.
Location: Rodney Room, Perkins Student Center

Description: An experienced team of ITUE/PBL leaders will lead a question/answer discussion of how to address issues related to PBL: managing groups, assessing learning, working with large classes, using distance technologies, designing problems, assigning grades, meeting content goals. If you have a question, the panelists will try to address it.

 

Panelists:

Deborah Allen, Biological Sciences

Steve Bernhardt, English

Richard Donham, Biological Sciences

Phil Duker, Music

Sue Groh, Chemistry & Biochemistry

Jeanne Narum, Learning Spaces Collaboratory | Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL)

Mark Serva, Accounting & MIS

Hal White, Chemistry & Biochemistry

Classroom Ecologies: How Learning Spaces Support Different Pedagogies

Date: January 8
Time: 8:30 – 9:30 a.m.
Location: Rodney Room, Perkins Student Center

Description: This session will explore the intersection of learning space design and active learning principles.  Bringing together experiences from the Learning Space Consortium (LSC) and the University of Delaware (UD), participants will consider design principles in light of several classroom construction case studies. Participants will discuss how to take advantage of the increasing variety of classrooms built specifically to support active, team-based and problem-based learning. In this general session, participants will take a virtual tour of those spaces, all intended to support the social and technological aspects of learning.

 

Paul Hyde

Paul Hyde

Paul Hyde, Academic Technology Services

Paul Hyde, Academic Technology Services at the University of Delaware, works at the intersection of teaching and technology. He has helped lead several initiatives involving education and technology, including the formation of UD’s first teaching and technology center, the Faculty Institute program, the Student Multimedia Design Center, and Faculty Commons. He has taught for the School of Education, the Department of Art, and Professional and Continuing Studies and received UD’s Award for Excellence in Teaching Adult Students. He presents widely on active learning and learning space design.

Jeanne Narum

Jeanne Narum

Jeanne Narum, Learning Spaces Collaboratory | Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL)

As founding principal of the Learning Spaces Collaboratory (LSC), since 2010 Jeanne Narum’s professional focus is on promoting best practices in visioning, planning, and assessing physical spaces serving 21st century undergraduate learners and learning communities.  From 1989 – 2010, Narum was Director of Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL), an NSF-funded initiative to catalyze transformation of undergraduate STEM learning environments. From 2003 – 2009, with support from NITLE, Narum facilitated workshops focusing on planning technology-enhanced spaces, including information commons and classrooms. She has had leadership responsibility for over 100 PKAL/LSC facilities-related activities designed to advance awareness of how space matters to learning and of planning strategies to realize that spaces matter for a particular community.

 

Solving Real Problems for Real Clients, Take 2

Date: January 8
Time: 9:45 – 11:15 a.m.
Location: Room 410, Harker ISE Lab

Description: PBL traditionally works with realistic, but hypothetical, problems. Increasingly, faculty encourage teams of students to take on various problems of real import by designing solutions for clients and addressing real audiences. These faculty will discuss how they break down the walls of their classrooms and engage students with solving practical problems. The session will include opportunities to talk with other participants about how your classes might engage with real problems. (Part 2 of two related panel sessions)

Kim Bothi

Kim Bothi

Kim Bothi, Institute for Global Studies

Dr. Kim Bothi joined UD’s Institute for Global Studies (IGS) as Associate Director for Science and Engineering in fall 2014. Dr. Bothi brings a multidisciplinary background in engineering and social sciences, with research and consulting experience across a range of domestic and developing country contexts. She earned a Ph.D. in global community-based resource management from Cornell University (2012), and holds earlier degrees in environmental engineering from Cornell (MS, 2007) and McGill University (BSc.Eng., 2000). In her joint position between IGS and the College of Engineering, Dr. Bothi is responsible for expanding opportunities for students, staff and faculty to engage in cross-disciplinary, globally-minded research and academic programming. She co-advises the UD student chapter of Engineers Without Borders, which links student teams with community partners abroad to implement sustainable engineering projects. More at www.kimbothi.com.

Michele Lobo

Michele Lobo

Michele Lobo, Physical Therapy

Dr. Lobo received her Masters in Physical Therapy from the Medical College of Pennsylvania and Hahnemann University and her PhD in Biomechanics and Movement Science from the University of Delaware. She has been a visiting researcher at The Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam and the University of California in Berkeley. Dr. Lobo’s clinical focus is in the area of pediatric physical therapy and she has experience working with children and families across in-patient, out-patient, early intervention, and school-based settings. Her teaching focuses on pediatrics, learning, and the impact of physical activity from the level of physiology through mood and cognition. Her research program focuses on: 1) understanding typical developmental processes, 2) identifying how these processes differ for those at risk, and 3) designing effective early assessments, interventions, and devices to maximize participation, play, and learning. She leads an interdisciplinary research group that includes team members from a variety of fields including rehabilitation, developmental psychology, engineering, and fashion. She is also the founder of the Super Suits FUNctional Fashion & Wearable Technology Program that developed the first exoskeletal garment for rehabilitation. The Program is currently working closely with children with disabilities and their families to develop and test a range of low- to high-tech clothing aimed at increasing independence and function.

McKay Jenkins

McKay Jenkins

McKay Jenkins, English and Environmental Humanities

McKay Jenkins has been writing about people and the natural world for 30 years. He the author of ContamiNation  (Avery, 2016, previously published by Random House as What’s Gotten Into Us), which chronicles his investigation into the myriad synthetic chemicals we encounter in our daily lives, and the growing body of evidence about the harm these chemicals do to our bodies and the environment. He holds degrees from Amherst, Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism, and Princeton, where he received a PhD in English. A former staff writer for the Atlanta Constitution, he has also written for Outside, Orion, The New Republic, and many other publications. Jenkins is currently the Cornelius Tilghman Professor of English,  Journalism and Environmental Humanities at the University of Delaware, where he has won the Excellence in Teaching Award.  More line at: http://mckayjenkins.com/bio

 

 

Active Learning in the xBL Classroom: The Student Experience

Date: January 8
Time: 11:15 – 12:15 p.m.
Location: Rodney Room, Perkins Student Center

Description: A panel of students will offer their perspectives on PBL in a variety of disciplines: What do they learn? How do teams function? Who provides leadership? What can be done about loafers? How do peer tutors work most effectively? We will provide time for questions and answers from student experts.

Sarah Morales, Landscape Design

Priyha Mahesh, Honors integrated Biology Chemistry (HiBC) workshop co-coordinator

Tyler Heiss, Biochem

Sarah Kriebel, former SCEN101 student in ISE Lab, also serving as studio fellow

Pavani Vemuri, graduate assistant in Faculty Commons

Sarah Hartman, project manager with the Philippines team and incoming president, Engineers Without Borders – University of Delaware.

Dina Collins, Honors integrated Biology Chemistry (HiBC) workshop co-coordinator

Paul Hyde, moderator

 

Concept Mapping and the PBL Classroom

Date: January 8
Time: 1:00 – 2:15 p.m.
Location: Rodney Room, Perkins Student Center

Description: In this general session, participants will use concept mapping (or mind mapping) to create a model of their current understanding of PBL and its components. Concept mapping will be discussed as a way to reflect on learning, to assess current and prior understanding, and as a means of outcomes assessment in both group and individual contexts.

Hal White

Hal White

Hal White, Chemistry & Biochemistry

Hal White joined the University of Delaware Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in 1971. Between 1994 and 1998, he served as Principal Investigator on the first NSF/DUE grant on Problem-Based Learning (PBL) to the University of Delaware and was involved with subsequent NSF, FIPSE, and Pew Charitable Trusts grants for PBL. Currently he is an associate editor for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education where he writes commentaries on PBL. Hal has received numerous teaching awards including the 2011 Howard Barrows award for exceptional teaching from McMaster University, the 2013 CASE-Carnegie Foundation Delaware Professor of the Year, and the 2014 American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology’s Award for Exemplary Contributions to Education.

Jacqueline Fajardo

Jacqueline Fajardo

Jackie Fajardo, Chemistry & Biochemistry

My work centers on the CHEM103/104 General Chemistry series.  The traditional version of these courses comprise of science and engineering students who do not have a major emphasis in chemistry or chemical engineering, yet require a strong foundation in chemistry on which to build upon.  I strive to foster a continuous learning environment so that, through their experiences in lecture, laboratory, workshop, and unscheduled time in between, our students are immersed in the study of chemistry.  This immersion requires careful implementation and utilization of numerous instructional and technological resources available here at UDel.  To access my students’ unscheduled time, all of my course lectures, both in-class and supplemental, are posted directly to our course site.  Supplemental recorded lectures give me the freedom to spend our precious lecture time engaging in dialogue with the students, developing ideas, queries, and furthering our collective insights.  Methods of simple problem solving, such as techniques associated with dimensional analysis, are addressed through supplemental lectures that may be viewed by the students at their own convenience, and applied during lecture.

Mad Minute: Best Ideas, Best Practices, Takeaways

Date: January 8
Time: 2:15 – 3:00 p.m.
Location: Rodney Room, Perkins Student Center

Description: This fun and fast-paced session is a chance for participants to share their best takeaway idea.  You’ll also hear from the facilitators with their parting words of wisdom and their recommended resources for your continued exploration of problem-based learning.  Be prepared to offer your own mad minute to the mix!

[Optional post-conference session] Walking Tour of Campus Learning Spaces

Walking tour of campus learning spaces, will begin at the end of the Mad Minute session, starting out from the Rodney Room, Perkins Student Center.  Stops along the tour will include Harker ISE Lab classrooms and informal learning spaces, Faculty Commons (Pearson Hall), Design Studio (Spencer Lab),  218 Gore Hall classroom, 110 Memorial Hall classroom, and the Student Multimedia Design Center.

Limited to the first 30 participants who sign up at the registration table or through this web form.

[Optional post-conference session] Visit to Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus

Travel on your own to STAR Campus after the end of the Mad Minute session.  We’ll convene in the lobby of the Health Sciences Building for a tour of the facility.  That will be followed by a discussion of Chinese traditional and Western medicine with PBL2016 participants from Shanghai Chinese University of Traditional Medicine and will also include staff from the University of Delaware Confucius Institute.

Limited to the first 30 participants who sign up at the registration table or through this web form.

“The STAR campus is all about engagement—with the community, with the business world, and with our clinical partners—to train the next generation of healthcare professionals and to create the next innovations in healthcare through cutting-edge research.”

Kathleen S. Matt
Dean of Health Sciences