Good Teaching Starts Here: Applied Learning at the Graduate Teaching Assistant Institute

Increasingly, graduate teaching assistants serve as the primary instructors in undergraduate courses, yet research has shown that training and development for these teaching assistants is often lacking in programs throughout the United States and Canada. Providing mentoring and skill development opportunities for graduate teaching assistants is vital, as many will become the next generation of faculty. This paper discusses the literature on effective training programs, which underscores the importance of consistent feedback from mentors, intrinsic motivation, and practical applications. Afterwards, we examine an existing training program at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Specifically, we focus on an institute for teaching assistants that helps graduate students understand applied learning as an effective pedagogical modality and helps them implement applied learning lesson plans tailored to their disciplines. Suggestions for strengthening training programs are discussed.   Il est de plus en plus courant que des assistants à l’enseignement soient chargés de donner des cours de premier cycle universitaire. Cependant, des études ont démontré le manque de formation et de progrès de ces assistants à l’enseignement, aux États-Unis comme au Canada. Il est donc indispensable d’offrir des occasions de mentorat et de perfectionnement à ces assistants, puisqu’un grand nombre d’entre eux deviendront la prochaine cohorte de professeurs. Cet article traite des recherches effectuées sur les programmes de formation efficaces, ce qui souligne l’importance des commentaires des mentors, de la motivation et de la mise en pratique. Ensuite, nous étudions l’évolution d’un programme de formation à l’Université de Wilmington de la Caroline du Nord. Notre étude se concentre sur un institut pour les assistants à l’enseignement, qui leur montre que l’apprentissage appliqué est un outil pédagogique efficace. Par la suite, cet institut les aide à mettre en œuvre un plan de leçon d’apprentissage adapté à leur discipline. L’article s’achève par des suggestions d’amélioration des programmes de formation. &nbsp

Promoting Community Engagement: A Campus-Wide Approach to Applied Learning

Applied learning pedagogy has gained momentum in recent decades. Simultaneously, a call for universities to respond to the needs of local and global communities has prompted a focus on community engagement in higher education. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of the Applied Learning and Teaching Community (ALTC), an initiative designed to further integrate applied learning—including community engagement— into the identity, practice, and teaching ethos of the university. With a focus on sustainability, the ALTC has evolved into an expansive model that involves faculty, staff, students, and other supporters across campus. A discussion of the ALTC’s relevance in the context of current trends in higher education is included

Promoting Community Engagement: A Campus-Wide Approach to Applied Learning

Applied learning pedagogy has gained momentum in recent decades. Simultaneously, a call for universities to respond to the needs of local and global communities has prompted a focus on community engagement in higher education. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of the Applied Learning and Teaching Community (ALTC), an initiative designed to further integrate applied learning—including community engagement— into the identity, practice, and teaching ethos of the university. With a focus on sustainability, the ALTC has evolved into an expansive model that involves faculty, staff, students, and other supporters across campus. A discussion of the ALTC’s relevance in the context of current trends in higher education is included

What About Schmitt? Translating Carl Schmitt’s Theory of Sovereignty as Literary Concept

Political Theology: Four Chapters on the Concept of Sovereignty. Trans. George Schwab. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 200

From Orientation to Institute: Flipping Graduate Student Orientation

Many universities have responded to private sector calls to train students equally in discipline-specific knowledge and 21st-century “soft skills” by focusing on applied learning. Yet, the role graduate students play as mentors and first points of contact—whether in the lab or the introductory classroom—often plays second fiddle to higher profile practices such as individual research projects, internships, and capstone seminars. After reviewing research correlating multiple high-impact applied learning experiences (Kuh, 2008) to significant gains in deep learning (Finley & McNair, 2013), UNCW’s Center for Teaching Excellence and the university´s applied learning Quality Enhancement Program revisited the format and objectives of its Teaching Assistant orientation. This panel will examine the evolution of this process through the following lenses: Institutional objectives and organizational theory; Best practices in mentoring, flipped classrooms and problem-based learning; Methodology; Assessment, feedback, and continuous improvement. The panel will share its findings concerning effectiveness and mid-course corrections that led to a follow-up workshop and learning community that expose graduate teaching assistants to scholarship of teaching and learning. The audience will be invited to participate via an interactive action report with the objective of building lessons learned into their own graduate student developmental initiatives

Experience or Expertise?: Evaluating and Improving Student Critical Reflection

Utilizing data on critical reflection scores, student characteristics, and instructor experience from UNCW’s Quality Enhancement Program, we investigate factors influencing the quality and benefits of student critical reflections. After examining the role of student experiences, faculty training, and other factors, initial analyses suggest that instructor familiarity with implementing critical reflection has a much stronger impact than students’ prior experiences. The interactive presentation format consists of outlining the assessment process, discussing interactively the potential variables correlated to critical reflection, presenting full results (quantitative and qualitative), and guiding participants thru actionable steps to enhance critical reflection practices and benefits at their institutions