Center for Teaching & Learning

UVM is pleased to welcome Dr. Michelle K. Smith, Associate Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, (see her research website) who will present a talk about the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) in STEM disciplines.

Dr. Smith will present research on the efficacy of using student learning data to motivate faculty change and addresses questions such as:

1. How can we minimize time investment for faculty, yet engage them in the development of an active learning lesson that positively affects student understanding? and
2. How does involvement in this process influence faculty willingness to try new instructional practices?

Active learning instructional approaches have been shown to increase student learning and success. As a result, several national reports have called for a redesign in how undergraduate STEM courses are taught. One way to promote active learning is to support groups of instructors in measuring student conceptual difficulties, iteratively designing active learning activities, evaluating student learning outcomes, and publishing the classroom activities.

In her presentation, Dr. Smith will share data about student learning, classroom observations (using the Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM or COPUS), and faculty interviews. Taken together, this work describes a professional development model that connects faculty, helps them use data from their classrooms, and encourages them to try more active learning instructional techniques in class.