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A Symposium
Friday, February 22, 2013
Hughes-Trigg Lower Level
11:30 - 5:00
Public concerns about the costs of higher education are mounting and generating calls for greater transparency and evidence of value. Claims that college students are not learning bolster that critique. Cheaper online alternatives provide powerful competition. Governments at all levels provide less support for students and universities. Students and parents may think of university education only in terms of its immediate provision of job skills. And those marketable accomplishments are being de-linked from the university degree, as certificates and badges vie to replace the broader (and more expensive) credential provided by a bachelor’s degree.
This half-day symposium will consider the extent to which high-quality teaching, especially in-person teaching at a place like SMU, answers those critiques. What should we be teaching our students? How should we teach them? And how do we demonstrate the results of what we do?
This event is now over. Get a glimpse of the proceedings from the symposium's Twitter backchannel on Storify.
Links to presenters' speeches and PowerPoint slides are located below along with the descriptions of their panels.
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11:00 - 11:30 Registration
11:30 Luncheon - Hughes-Trigg Ballroom
11:45 Welcome & Opening Remarks - Beth Thornburg, Director, Center for Teaching Excellence
11:50 – 12:30 Luncheon Speakers
Albert Niemi - Dean, Cox School of Business
Valuing Higher Education
Higher education today is attacked in the media as a bad investment, with tuition cast as an expense that is not justified by its return. Yet a quality education provides information, skills, and experiences that are critical to workplace success. We in higher education must recognize the impact of globalization, increasing costs, and a consumer mindset in crafting and communicating the value we provide to our undergraduates.
Dean Niemi's PowerPoint Presentation
William Tsutsui - Dean, Dedman College of Humanities & Sciences
Preserving the American Character Through Liberal Education
The liberal arts and sciences are in the midst of another existential crisis, as media pundits and public intellectuals contest the value of a broad liberal education and question the effectiveness of American higher education. But if we are too quick in writing off the liberal arts, we risk losing more than just German departments and humanities PhD programs. Abandoning the liberal arts now may accelerate disturbing changes in the American character and ensure a diminished future for the United States.
12:30 – 12:45 Q & A with Deans Niemi and Tsutsui
12:45 – 1:00 Break
Discussion Sessions
1:00 - 2:05 Responding to How People Learn
Linda Eads - Associate Provost, SMU
Decades of research in the cognitive and developmental sciences has provided the foundation for an emerging science of learning. Those insights, in turn, inform the ways in which we can design and deliver our teaching so as to challenge and engage our students. This panel will discuss the research findings and offer specific techniques to cultivate learning at the university level. Panelists include Professors Stephanie Al Otaiba, Miguel Quinones, Maria Dixon, and Patty Wisian-Neilson
Panel's PowerPoint Presentation
2:05 – 2:20 Break
2:20 - 3:25 Using Technology to Enhance Learning
Marc Christensen - Dean ad interim, Lyle School of Engineering
New technologies are not just glitzy toys; they are tools that help our students access information and connect with us and each other. Both outside and inside the classroom, thoughtful use of technology expands our options. Panelists include Professors Paul Krueger, Lynne Stokes, Scott Norris, and Jake Batsell
Dean Christensen's Remarks
Lynne Stokes PowerPoint -- Flipping the classroom
Scott Norris's PowerPoint -- Flipping the classroom
Jake Batsell's PowerPoint Presentation on teaching data visualization, plus links about the technologies he used
3:25 – 3:40 Break
3:40 - 4:45 Demonstrating Our Value
José Bowen - Dean, Meadows School of the Arts
We hear a lot about what “they” (external constituencies like lawmakers, regulators, taxpayers, prospective students and their parents) want to know about us. But what do we want to know about ourselves? When it comes to teaching, what should the university measure? Panelists include Professors Michael McLendon and Paige Ware and Assistant Provost Tony Tillman
Paige Ware's PowerPoint Presentation
Simmons Teaching Evaluation Pilot Program
4:45 – 4:50 Closing Remarks
Beth Thornburg
Professor of Law
Director, Center for Teaching Excellence
Higher Ed in the Crosshairs
by: ThornburgXtranormal