Faculty

SLP-Affiliated Faculty | Faculty Guidelines | Identifying Potential Scholars and Fellows

 


SLP-Affiliated Faculty (2018-19)

Nicola Barber, Biology
Matt Barber, Biology
Edward Davis, Earth Sciences
Judith Eisen, Biology
Deborah Exton, Chemistry
Karen Guillemin, Biology
Julie Haack, Chemistry
Robin Hopkins, Human Physiology
Samantha Hopkins, Earth Sciences
Santiago Jaramillo, Biology
Elsa Johnson, Physics
Andrew Karduna, Human Physiology
Alan Kelly, Biology
Dean Livelybrooks, Physics
Stephanie Majewski, Physics
Ben McMorran, Physics
Raghuveer Parthasarathy, Physics
Tobias Policha, Biology
Michael Raymer, Physics
Bryan Rebar, STEM CORE
Billy Scannell, Physics
Debbie Schlenoff, Biology
Hollie Smith, Journalism
Kelly Sutherland, Biology
Michelle Wood, Biology
Annie Zemper, Biology

SLP Faculty Guidelines

updated Spring 2018

1. Beginning in the 2018-19 academic year, each SLP affiliated faculty member will participate in ongoing pedagogical professional development each year. Research demonstrates that ongoing professional development is key to increasing implementation of evidence-based teaching practices and reducing achievement gaps for underserved students (including first generation college students, students who are from underrepresented minority groups, and Pell eligible students) (Cavanagh et al. in review).

Faculty may choose to meet this requirement by participating in at least two of the following:
SLP events (e.g., Summer Institute on Scientific Teaching, SLP workshops with rotating topics, one term of journal club);
Education section presentations or workshops at professional science discipline meetings or conferences;
TEP events related to teaching topics for your course;
Peer observation for another faculty member including a meeting with the observed faculty member for a discussion of the class day and course.

Starting in Spring 2018, we will ask faculty to complete a reflection each year to help us document the activities in which faculty have participated. Faculty may also use this information as part of their teaching portfolios for review, promotion, or tenure.

2. SLP Faculty members will participate in Annual Peer Observations both observing another faculty member’s course and allowing other SLP faculty to attend their course. Peer mentoring is also an important component of the national conversation (Flaherty, 2018) about STEM education reform. These observations are also aligned with work of the UO Senate Task Force on Teaching Evaluation.

We will provide training for a modified version of the Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM (COPUS) (Smith et al. 2013). This observational protocol structures the observation to track behaviors of students and instructors during class. allows for conversation about the types of activities students and faculty.
SLP can help arrange for faculty pairs to visit each other’s classes and complete an observation. Following the classroom visits, faculty should meet to have a conversation about the classroom experience. The observations and subsequent discussions provide helpful feedback and are a form of professional development that allow for reflection on teaching practices.
Faculty will complete regular Teaching Practices Inventories (Weiman & Gilbert 2014) to receive feedback about the types of evidence-based practices they are implementing in their classroom.

3. SLP Faculty will participate in University, Department, and SLP pilot projects (e.g. Senate Task Force on Student Evaluations). These pilot projects often require a set of faculty to test out new ideas for teaching across campus. SLP courses are an easily identifiable set of courses and because faculty are already deeply considering teaching innovations are an ideal cohort of faculty to participate in these type of projects.

4. SLP faculty will participate in SLP research projects. Exploring the student learning experience in SLP courses will lead to a deeper understanding of science literacy and student learning. Any project undertaken by SLP will have received Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval. Faculty assistance is needed to gather data from the students enrolled in SLP courses and to learn more about the teaching practices and learning experiences across SLP courses.

5. When a match of Undergraduate SLP Scholars and Graduate SLP Fellows can be made and is appropriate for the course, faculty will provide multiple and varied ways for Scholars and Fellows to teach using active learning in the classroom. The microteaching is not an opportunity to give a traditional lecture in a classroom, instead it is an opportunity to put into practice pedagogical innovations that Scholars and Fellow learn about through SLP. SLP Faculty will provide mentoring for Scholars and Fellows throughout the term. SLP program staff will advertise and recruit for Scholars and Fellows, share applications with faculty, and process administrative details of GE appointments and Scholar CAS 409 enrollment or volunteer positions.

6. SLP will provide faculty with opportunities to apply for funding for teaching innovations. If faculty have an idea for equipment or supplies that will further teaching opportunities, SLP will provide funds for materials as requested.

7. SLP Faculty will share information with students about the Science Literacy Program. SLP has heard from students that even after completing a SLP affiliated course, many do not know that it was affiliated with a broader campus program. SLP will provide a syllabus statement and slide that you can share at the beginning of the term.

References:

Flaherty, C. (2018 May 22). Teaching Eval Shake-Up. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/05/22/most-institutions-say-they-value-teaching-how-they-assess-it-tells-different-story

Smith, M. K., Jones, F. H., Gilbert, S. L., & Wieman, C. E. (2013). The Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM (COPUS): a new instrument to characterize university STEM classroom practices. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 12(4), 618-627.

Wieman, C., & Gilbert, S. (2014). The teaching practices inventory: A new tool for characterizing college and university teaching in mathematics and science. CBE-Life Sciences Education, 13(3), 552-569.

Identifying Potential Fellows and Scholars

Faculty who are developing or teaching Science Literacy courses are welcome to recommend undergraduate science majors for SLP scholar awards. They may also identify potential graduate SLP fellows. The SLP can also help match faculty with students to mentor. Potential fellows and scholars complete separate applications and are invited to attend the Journal club, attend special events, and participate in a pedagogy course.