The Sixth Annual Mini-Conference was held in room 150 of the Younkin Success Center on Friday, May 11, 2012 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
The 2012 mini-conference was entitled “The Last Quarter: Preparing to Teach in Semesters.” As we experienced the final quarter at The Ohio State University before the quarter-to-semester conversion, we hosted a conversation about how the shift would impact the classroom experience.
Conference Schedule
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8:30 a.m.
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Check-In |
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9:00 a.m.
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Opening Remarks |
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9:10 a.m.
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Behind the Scenes of the Quarter-to-Semester ConversionAnn Christy, Faculty Fellow, Office of Academic Affairs |
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10:00 a.m.
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Teaching to the Rhythm of the SemesterJerry Nelms, UCAT Kathryn M. Plank, UCAT |
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11:00 a.m.
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The Sky Didn’t Fall: Otterbein University Faculty Share Their Experience Andrew P. Mills, Otterbein University Wendy Sherman Heckler, Otterbein University Moderated by Teresa Johnson, UCAT |
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12:00 p.m.
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Lunch by Milo’s Catering |
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12:30 p.m.
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Semester Tips and Tools from Academic Support Units |
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1:30 p.m.
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What Semesters Hold in Store for UsSusan Williams, Vice Provost for Academic Policy and Faculty Resources |
Session Descriptions
Behind the Scenes of the Quarter-to-Semester Conversion
9:10 a.m.
Ann Christy, Faculty Fellow, Office of Academic Affairs
Every course, every curriculum, and almost every student program at the Ohio State University was reviewed during the three-year Q2S process. Academy of Teaching member Ann Christy will reflect on some of the success stories resulting from this process, both from her experience at the institutional level and also her own personal experiences.
Teaching to the Rhythm of the Semester
10:00 a.m.
Jerry Nelms, Visiting Instructional Consultant
Kathryn Plank, Associate Director
University Center for the Advancement of Teaching
The transition from quarters to semesters offers OSU instructors and students new opportunities as well as new challenges. This workshop will allow you the opportunity to learn more about the effects that semester conversion could have on your teaching and provide you with an opportunity to work on devising responses to these opportunities and challenges within an environment of collegial support.
The Sky Didn’t Fall: Otterbein University Faculty Share Their Experience
11:00 a.m.
Andrew P. Mills, Otterbein University
Wendy Sherman Heckler, Otterbein University
Moderated by Teresa Johnson, UCAT
What better way to prepare to teach in semesters than by hearing from faculty members who have just “been there, done that”? Two faculty members from Otterbein University will reflect on their first academic year in semesters as it comes to a close. Pick the panelists’ brains about challenges you might face, ways to prepare, and adjustments you might have to make as you prepare to teach in semesters vs. quarters. The panel will be moderated by instructional consultant Teresa Johnson who has her own experience as a faculty member teaching in semesters.
Semester Tips and Tools from Academic Support Units
12:30 p.m.
You are not alone as you prepare to teach in semesters! Academic support units from across campus have tips and tools to share that may ease your transition from quarters to semesters or give you the opportunity to further revamp your revised syllabus. Join us for this “Five Minutes of Fame”-style presentation over lunch.
Units represented:
Center for the Study and Teaching of Writing
Learning Technologies
MySwitch
Office for Disability Services
Service-Learning Initiative
University Center for the Advancement of Teaching
University Libraries
Walter E. Dennis Learning Center
What Semesters Hold in Store for Us
1:30 p.m.
Susan Williams, Vice Provost for Academic Policy and Faculty Resources
Vice Provost and Academy of Teaching member Susan Williams will discuss changes in college teaching that may arise as a result of internal issues such as calendar conversion as well as external changes in higher education.
Presenter Bios
Ann Christy is an associate professor of Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering at OSU. She earned her B.S. in agricultural engineering and M.S. in biomedical engineering at OSU, and her Ph.D. in environmental engineering at Clemson University. Before joining OSU’s faculty, she worked for an engineering consulting firm. She has taught courses in bioenergy, biological engineering, waste management, HVAC, capstone, and professional development, and is a member of OSU’s Academy of Teaching. She has published research in the areas of bioenergy, environment, and engineering education. Ann served as chair of her department’s undergraduate studies committee for ten years. She was involved in OSU’s semester conversion effort at multiple levels: as departmental point person, in college-level Q2S committees for both the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences and the College of Engineering, and as Faculty Fellow in the Office of Academic Affairs.
Teresa A. Johnson, PhD is the instructional consultant for assessment and the scholarship of teaching and learning in University Center for the Advancement of Teaching. She earned a doctorate in Microbial Ecology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has taught in the sciences at Butler University and at the College of Wooster. Her pedagogical research has focused on classroom assessment techniques and impacts of prior knowledge on student learning in the sciences. Her current interests are course and curriculum design, articulation of learning outcomes, and evaluation of teaching strategies.
Andrew P. Mills is Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Otterbein University, where he has taught since 1999. In addition to serving as department chair, he has served on university-wide committees dealing with personnel, curriculum, and general education issues. He received his B.A. at The University of Michigan and his M.A. and Ph.D. at The University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill. He has published work in philosophical logic, philosophy of language, metaphysics, and the pedagogy of philosophy. He is currently at work on projects in metaphilosophy, the pedagogical benefits of giving students choice, and on the meaning and value of a liberal arts education. His essay, “What’s So Good about a College Education?” has been used at colleges and universities across the country to introduce entering students to the nature and value of a university education.
Jerry Nelms, PhD is a Visiting Instructional Consultant at UCAT. He received his PhD in English, specializing in Rhetoric and Composition, from OSU and retired after 20 years teaching graduate and undergraduate courses at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, where he also held various administrative positions, including Communication Across the Curriculum (CA C) Director, Writing Studies Director, and Acting Chair of the English Department, among others. Jerry’s scholarly work has focused on writing across the curriculum, active learning, rhetorical and composition history, theory, and teaching, and teaching style. His most recent work focuses on ways to enhance knowledge transfer and on plagiarism as educational opportunity.
Kathryn M. Plank, Ph.D. is Associate Director of the University Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Educational Policy & Leadership at The Ohio State University. She received her Ph.D. in English from The Pennsylvania State University. She teaches a graduate course on college teaching and coordinates faculty learning community programs. Her research interests include program assessment, teaching consultation, diversity, educational technology, critical thinking, and team teaching.
Wendy Sherman Heckler is Associate Professor of Science Education and Director of Graduate Programs in the Education Department at Otterbein University. Prior to coming to Otterbein in 2007, she was an Assistant and Associate Professor at Kent State University. She received her Ph.D. in Teaching and Learning from The Ohio State University in 2001. She is currently working on an ethnomethodological study of the “Modeling Instruction” program in a high school physics classroom.