UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The next meeting of the Liberal Arts Teaching Group will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 16 in Café Laura.
The Liberal Arts Teaching Group meets monthly to discuss and promote the adoption of evidence-based teaching practices by Liberal Arts faculty. All faculty teaching courses in the Penn State College of the Liberal Arts are welcome to attend.
The February meeting will focus on effective lecturing techniques, with discussion centering on two IDEA papers: Effective Learning (www.ideaedu.org/IDEA_Paper_46.pdf) and Improving Instructors’ Speaking Skills (www.ideaedu.org/Idea_Paper_24.pdf).
“Recent years have seen exciting research by STEM education researchers on how to teach their difficult subjects better,” said Bill Goffe, senior lecturer in economics and one of the group’s co-leaders. “They have found that straight lecture is not very effective, and that active learning works best when paired with a robust understanding of how humans learn. The Liberal Arts Teaching Group hopes to bring these methods to liberal arts faculty at Penn State.”
Future meetings will be held March 16 and April 20. Faculty interested in learning more about the group and/or being added to the group’s email list should contact Goffe at bill.goffe@psu.edu; Josh Wede, lecturer in psychology, at jwede@psu.edu; or Mimi Schaub, assistant professor of education, at mxs88@psu.edu.