University Times

More than 300 faculty members have registered for Pitt's first annual Teaching Excellence Conference slated for March 31 and April 1. All sessions will be held in the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center conference center on the 11th floor of Scaife Hall.

Laurie Richlin, director of the Office of Faculty Development, said her goal is to register 10 percent of the full-time and part-time faculty, which would be about 420 individuals.

"That would be mind blowing for the first time," she added. "But we've got everybody registering." The theme of the conference is "What Works in University Teaching" and the topics to be addressed include coping with large classes, working with high-risk populations, maintaining standards, motivating reluctant learners, motivating faculty and student assessment.

According to Richlin, about 100 people will be presenting papers or taking part in workshops and panel discussions during the conference. She said the majority of the expertise is from Pitt, which she finds very pleasing because it means presenters will share problems and solutions specific to the University.

Among the outside presenters is Karl Smith, from the University of Minnesota's College of Engineering. Smith will present two special workshops on "Active Learning: Cooperation in the College Classroom." During his workshops, Smith will examine positive interdependence, face-to-face interaction, individual accountability, personal responsibility and collaborative skills as the basic elements of cooperative learning.

Another outside presenter will be Milton Cox, from Miami University's Office for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching. Cox was the 1994 winner of TIAA-CREF's Theodore M. Hesburgh Award for Faculty Development to Enhance Undergraduate Teaching.

A special workshop on "Diversity Strategies for the University Community" will be conducted by Pitt's Associate Vice Chancellor for Human Resources Darlene Lewis and William Lindenfelder, training and development, Magee-Womens Hospital. Although March 6 was the registration deadline for the conference, Richlin said faculty members can register on site. She cautions, however, that there are space limitations and those who fail to pre-register may not be able to attend some sessions. Also, pre-registration is required for the special workshops.

To pre-register, faculty should return the registration form that was sent to them or call the Office of Faculty Development for a form.

The conference schedule is as follows: March 31 Registration begins at 9 a.m. Individual sessions

* "Getting the Message Across to Students: Multimedia Syllabi," Marek Druzdel, information science, 10-10:30 a.m., Room 1102-A.

* "Computer-Assisted Instruction Versus Instructor-Based Lecture in a Quality Assessment Course," Karen Simon, of Medical Records Solution, and Valerie J.M. Watzlaf, health information management, 10-10:30 a.m., 1102-B.

* "A Pedagogic Model for Dealing with Student Diversity in Technology Based Courses," Sherry Koshman, library science, 10-10:30 a.m., 1103-A.

* "Using Games to Create Active Learning," Catherine Palmer, communication sciences and disorders, 10:45-11:15 a.m., 1102-A.

* "Ethics in Classroom Teaching," Charlotte McDaniel, nursing, 10:45-11:15 a.m., 1102-B.

* "Evaluating the Use of Computer Simulations in the Teaching of Introductory Micro-economics," Arnold Katz, economics, 11:30 a.m.-noon, 1102-A.

* "Correcting Grammatical Errors Beyond the Composition Course," Michael West, English, 11:30 a.m.-noon, 1102-B.

* "Learning Contracts in a Community Health Nursing Course," Rosanne Mandel Levine, nursing, 11:30 a.m.-noon, 1104.

* "Writing Beyond Assessment: Using the Short In-class Writing Assignment as a Way to Teach the Linguistic and Cognitive Demands of Academic Writing," Gary Calpas, English, 1-1:30 p.m., 1102.

* "Statistical Literary Courses: Creating a Modern Environment for Learning," Michael Brimacombe, mathematics and statistics, 1-1:30 p.m., 1103-A.

* "Show Them What They Already Know," Rita Patel, medicine, 1:45-2:15 p.m., 1105-A.

* "Spreadsheets for Business and Economic Applications," S.N. Gajanan, economics, Bradford campus, 1:45-2:15 p.m., 1103-A.

* "Graduate Teaching in Telecommunications," Sujata Ban-ergee, information science, 1:45-2:15 p.m., 1105-B.

* "Surrogate Teaching With Undergraduates," Robert Marti-nazzi, mechanical engineering technology, Johnstown campus, 2:30-3 p.m., 1102.

* "The Use of Video Copystands in Presenting Biological Images," Anthony Bledsoe, biological sciences, 2:30-3 p.m., 1103-A.

* "Lecturing with a Laptop: Computer Graphics in the Classroom," Richard Moreland, psychology, 3:15-3:45 p.m., 1102.

* "Integrated Case Studies and the Medical Decision-Making: A Novel Approach to Bridging the Basic Science-Clinical Gap in Medical School," Nina Felice Schor, medicine, 3:15-3:45 p.m., 1103-A.

Panels

* "Outcome of Problem-Based Learning for Gastroenterology to Second Year Medical School Students," Suzanne Rose and Steve Kanter, medicine, 10-10:45 a.m., 1103-B.

* "A Training Process to Prepare Faculty to Use Interactive Video," Joanne Claus, Diane Davis, Rosemarie Lyons and Carol Washburn, external studies, 11 a.m.-noon, 1103-B.

* "Strategies for Teaching Large Classes: The Challenge in Organic Chemistry," Andrew Hamilton, George Bandik, Joseph Grabowski and Peter Wipf, chemistry, 2:30-3:15 p.m., 1105-B.

* "The Learning Portfolio in Professions Education: Initiating the Process in Two Professional Schools," Maria Pian-taneda and Gary Stoehr, pharmacy, and Noreen Garman, education, 2:30-3:15 p.m., 1105-C.

Workshops

* "Going to the Heart: Diversity and the Need for Teacher's Self-reflection," Carla Gary, dean's office, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and Jane Margolis, women's studies, 10-11:15 a.m., 1104.

* "Teaching Survival Skills and Ethics to Emerging Researchers," Beth Fischer and Michael Zigmond, neuroscience, 1-2:15 p.m., 1105-C.

* "Computer Utilities for Group Learning," Dirk Mahling, information science, 1-2:15 p.m., 1105-A.

Teaching Cases

* "Jim Armstrong, M.D.," Joseph Conigliaro, medicine, 11 a.m.-noon, 1102-B.

* "Warren Fogel," Robert Mead, economics, 1-2 p.m., 1103-B.

* "Jerome Nelson," Louise Kaczmarek, instruction and learning, education, 2:15-3:15 p.m., 1105-B.

Special Event Workshop "Diversity Strategies for the University Community," Darlene Lewis, Office of Human Resources, and William Lindenfelder, training and development, Magee Womens Hospital. Pre-registration is required, 1-3:45 p.m., 1104.

Plenary "Emerging Trends in University Teaching for the 21st Century," Milton Cox, Miami University, 4-5 p.m., 1105.

April 1 Registration begins at 7:30 a.m.

Individual sessions

* "Interdisciplinary Education: What Is Its Status in the University?" Mark Strauss, psychology, 9:15-9:45 a.m., 1101.

* "Asking Questions That Lead to Good Discussion," Vincent Fazio, history of art and architecture; Linda Purinton, sociology, and Kellee Van Aken, theatre arts, 10-10:30 a.m., 1101.

* "Teaching Techniques for Large Classes," Francis Colavita, psychology, 10:45-11:15 a.m., 1101.

* "A Software Engineering Model for Computer Science Majors," Bernard Poole and Patricia Hagerich, computer science, Johnstown campus, 10:45-11:15 a.m., 1102.

* "Requiring Mastery: Issues for Discussion," Henry Cohen, Leslie Cheng and Sharon Hlusko, mathematics and statistics, 11:30 a.m.-noon, 1101.

* "Learning Enhancement: Utilizing Effective Teacher Communication Style to Encourage Student Motivation," Julia Overton-Healy, communications arts, Bradford campus, 11:30 a.m.-noon, 1102.

* "Courseware for Undergraduate Physical Chemistry," David Beratan, chemistry, 1-1:30 p.m., 1101-A.

* "Just the Right Level of Technology in Precalculus Mathematics and Beginning Calculus at a Small Campus," Randal Miller, mathematics and computer science, Titusville campus, 1-1:30 p.m., 1101-B.

* "What Works Between Faculty and Teaching Assistants," Bill Yurcik, telecommunications, 1:45-2:15 p.m., 1101-B.

* "Having the Right Tool: Casual Graphs in Teaching Research Design," Marek Druzdzel, information science, 1:45-2:15 p.m., 1101-B.

* "Implementing a Set of Standards to Guide CS Majors in the Production of Program Code," Bernard Poole and Timothy Meyer, computer science, Johnstown campus, 2:30-3 p.m., 1101-A.

* "Learner-Centered Group Practice as a Teaching Model," Rose Constantino and Ann Mitchell, nursing, 2:30-3 p.m., 1101-B.

Panels

* "Corporate Counsel Clinic," Dawne Hickson and David Herring, law, 9:15-10:15 a.m., 1104.

* "Pedagogy and Difference," Bianca Falbo, Phillip Flynn, Gwen Gorselsky, Shalini Puri and Kurt Simonds, English, 1-1:45 p.m., 1102.

* "Maximizing Student Participation in Russian Language Learning," David Birnbaum, Alla Nedashkivska-Adams and Susanna Porte, Slavic languages and literatures, 2:30-3:15 p.m., 1102.

Workshops

* "Why Not Plan to Fill the House?" Patricia Bianco, communication arts, Bradford campus, 9:15-10:30 a.m., 1102.

* "Discovery-Based Chemistry in a Cooperative Learning Environment," Elisabeth Bell-Loncella, chemistry, Johnstown campus, 10:45 a.m.-noon, 1104.

* "Using Real World Data and the Graphing Calculator to Introduce Quantitative Reasoning Skills," Beverly Michael, mathematics and statistics, 1-2:15 p.m., 1104.

Teaching Cases

* "Chris Evans," Elizabeth Monti, nursing, 9-10 a.m., 1103.

* "Jill Colby," Larry Whatule, communication, Greensburg campus, 10-11 a.m., 1103.

* "MJB," Michael Bannon, communication, 11 a.m.-noon, 1103.

* "Harley-Davidson: A Case Study in Import Protection," Sandra Williamson, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, 1-2 p.m., 1103.

* "Louis and Me: The Ineffectiveness of Unfocused Office Hours," Michael Mana, neuroscience, 2-3 p.m., 1103.

Engaging Students

* "Developing Critical Thinking Skills in Accounting Students," Lizbeth Matz, business management, Bradford campus, 2:30-3:15 p.m., 1104.

* "An Alternative Method for Class Reports," William Brice, geology and planetary science, Johnstown campus, 2:30-3:15 p.m., 1104.

Special Events Workshops

* "Active Learning: Cooperation in the College Classroom," Karl Smith, College of Engineering, University of Minnesota. This workshop is for faculty in the sciences, mathematics, engineering and health disciplines. Pre-registration is required, 8-11:30 a.m., 1105.

* "Active Learning: Cooperation in the College Classroom," Karl Smith, College of Engineering, University of Minnesota. This workshop is for faculty in the humanities, social science, education, law and business. Pre-registration is required, 1-4:30 p.m., 1105.

–Mike Sajna