Faculty book clubs are one way to engage in discussion and promote action with colleagues around topics that impact our classrooms. One of the many benefits of book clubs is that the format and process can be altered to fit the needs of the intended audience. This paper describes one faculty group’s use of three different models of a book club process, which all capitalize on the utility of book clubs to both identify and implement practical strategies for student engagement. The book club resulted from an interdisciplinary college-wide initiative focused on increasing student engagement within a College of Education and Human Services in a large midwestern public university in the United States. The purpose of this paper is to provide a model for book clubs to be used as a professional development opportunity for faculty. Concrete ideas for implementing similar efforts in the university or college setting are shared.
Educators continually strive for better ways to engage students in course content and reflect on learning. Process maps originate from the business field while concept maps are used across disciplines. We adapted the process map to demonstrate its use as an effective assessment tool. This article describes the process of implementing Group Process Maps among university students to create a visual image demonstrating student learning. Group Process Maps can be used as an effective assessment tool to emphasize what students learned and which class materials helped them to best accomplish course goals.
The Interdisciplinary Network for Understanding Student Engagement (INFUSE) began as a request to put together a team of faculty from each department within the College to focus on teaching and learning. Faculty members initially met and brainstormed ideas to pursue. A report of the United States National Survey of Student Engagement data spurred the team in a direction to explore student engagement and create a model for recognition of effective practices that are already occurring within the college and examine ways to increase student engagement throughout the college. A highlight of efforts to highlight effective strategies that can be utilized by faculty across the lifespan of a student were generated, with follow-up activities to engage faculty in prolonged study of student engagement techniques were implemented.
This chapter presents and discusses the experience of two university professors' participation in two different study abroad programs. Within the first two years of employment at the university, one professor went to Oaxaca and the other went to Ireland with groups of pre-student teachers. The chapter discusses previous literature and the impact of study abroad programs on teacher education, program basics from the authors' university, the authors' personal experiences travelling with students for the first time, commonalities and differences among the two programs, benefits from their experiences, and ideas for further development of effective study abroad programs for education students.
This chapter presents and discusses the experience of two university professors’ participation in two different study abroad programs. Within the first two years of employment at the university, one professor went to Oaxaca and the other went to Ireland with groups of pre-student teachers. The chapter discusses previous literature and the impact of study abroad programs on teacher education, program basics from the authors’ university, the authors’ personal experiences travelling with students for the first time, commonalities and differences among the two programs, benefits from their experiences, and ideas for further development of effective study abroad programs for education students.
This chapter presents and discusses the experience of two university professors' participation in two different study abroad programs. Within the first two years of employment at the university, one professor went to Oaxaca and the other went to Ireland with groups of pre-student teachers. The chapter discusses previous literature and the impact of study abroad programs on teacher education, program basics from the authors' university, the authors' personal experiences travelling with students for the first time, commonalities and differences among the two programs, benefits from their experiences, and ideas for further development of effective study abroad programs for education students.
