CHELT seminars: facilitation / threshold concepts

Seminar - May 10 - The European system of higher education after the Bologna reform: Dreams and realities

May 16 – 1-3 pm - Facilitating inquiry in undergraduate programs

Facilitation skills are central to fostering student inquiry. Research suggests that underpinning effective facilitation is an alignment between philosophical beliefs about learning and teaching and classroom practice. In this Academic Professional Development module, participants will use the Teaching Perspective Inventory to examine how they conceptualise teaching and learning and how their beliefs about teaching and learning translate into classroom practice. Participants will consider specific strategies in facilitation, in light of their own beliefs and intentions, and the possible effects these can have on student inquiry. (Facilitator: Glen O’Grady)

June 5 - Threshold Concepts: What are they and how might they help us in teaching and learning?

Seminar only 12-1pm               Seminar and APD Module 12-2 pm

In this seminar and Academic Professional Development module, Professor Erik Meyer will introduce and update the theory and use of Threshold Concepts (TCs)—those concepts considered central to the mastery of a subject. The notion of TCs provides a relatively new but dynamic approach to understanding education and learning which emerged from the UK national research project Enhancing Teaching-Learning Environments in Undergraduate Education.
Erik Meyer is currently Professor of Education in Teaching and Learning in the Engineering (EAIT) Faculty at the University of Queensland, and was a key member of the UK research team. With Ray Land, Erik published the seminal work on TCs. Since 2003, TCs have been embraced across many disciplines as a way to understand and unpack discipline knowledge, and develop and streamline curriculum to meet the needs of the discipline without overloading students. Erik has continued to research and publish on the topic of TCs, which have become the focus of biennial conferences attracting participants from around the world.
The APD module will include a post-seminar workshop in which participants will consider which TCs may be relevant in their discipline, and ways of both teaching these and assessing mastery.

Please go to http://chelt.anu.edu.au/seminars-workshops/chelt-seminars-2013  for more information and to register.

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Dr Elizabeth (Beth) Beckmann
Senior Lecturer - Staff Education (Teaching & Learning)
Centre for Higher Education, Learning and Teaching
The Australian National University
T: +61 2 6125 0057    E: elizabeth.beckmann@anu.edu.au
http://cedam.anu.edu.au/people/dr-beth-beckmann
CRICOS Provider No. 00120C
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