Inspiration and Networking:
The Lilly - New England - Conference on Teaching
by Will Holton, Sociology and Human Services
Again this November, Northeastern University hosted the annual Lilly-New England Conference on Teaching. This was my seventh Lilly conference - five New Englands, one in England, and a very special workshop in Ashland, Oregon on faculty learning communities. Each "Lilly" is fresh and very valuable for refuelinging my energies and ideas around teaching. It is wonderful to share with varied faculty who are enthusiastic about our primary task of teaching and learning, an experience we often do not have in our home departments and institutions.
As with most conferences, the main difficulty lay in having too many good concurrent sessions so one was unable to attend some sessions which would be very valuable. That limitation and my interests narrowed the selection of presentations for this report. In two days I was only disappointed once, by a boring talk on test anxiety. Most presentations and workshops were highly interactive.
The keynote talk on Friday morning was delivered by Tony Grasha of the University of Cincinnati: "How to Become an OSCAR-Winning Teacher." He stressed active learning models, even in large classrooms, because research shows that teachers are not central to learning. He recommends changing activities every 10 to 20 minutes, and building interaction and trust with students to encourage their involvement. "OSCAR" is an acronym for:
Organize and Structure
Stimulated Imagination
Concrete Examples
Applications Encouraged
Repetition and Redundancy
I was most impressed with a presentation by three faculty members from Fitchburg State College - in English, Communication, and Nursing. "What we Talk about When We Talk about Student Learning" attacked the common faculty emphasis on students' weaknesses which they called "a language of deficit." Instead, they promoted "celebration language" to appreciate student's understandings and abilities. The teaching/learning model of "appreciative inquiry" builds on the positives and encourages students through circular questioning (which is like normal conversation with each question linked to the previous question), satisfying social interactions, stressing students' successes, positive reenforcement, and valuing differences.
Our own Donna Qualters gave a valuable workshop titled "Active Learning Made Easy!" It's a sad truth that I don't usually have time to attend her workshops. She stressed that research shows more learning occurs when students are actively engaged in the process of learning, and students invest physical and mental energy. Active learning can contribute significantly to large classes. Donna described three techniques: "Think-pair-share," "Concept Tests," and "Marker Discussions."
I also enjoyed my two roles in the program of Lilly-New England, leading a walking tour of the Fenway and Mission Hill, and presenting a workshop on problems that can arise in community service learning courses.