Part-Time Faculty

Undergraduate research is a high-impact educational practice that leads to deep, meaningful learning for students (Kuh, 2008). This workshop will be focused on how faculty can engage students by mentoring them to be undergraduate researchers, how to work with teams of researchers, and how to embed meaningful undergraduate research experiences into your courses.

Engaging students through active learning has been shown to improve learning outcomes across many contexts. Perhaps the largest set of active learning approaches uses collaborative learning techniques. Collaborative Learning Techniques is a handbook grounded in the scholarship of teaching and learning that introduces teachers to 30 different collaborative learning techniques. Each technique includes organized information on what to do, how to do it, and why it is important to student learning. Underpinning all of these techniques, the authors also offer practical advice on how to form groups, assign roles, facilitative team success, and grade student participation.

KSU's It’s About Engagement initiative fosters learning through participation in high impact experiences in undergraduate research, internships/co-ops, and service learning. It’s About Engagement is integral to KSU's mission and vision to "offer high-quality and productive undergraduate ... and co-curricular programs" that "empower the members and graduates of the university community to have the vision, ability, and courage to transform the future." In this workshop, we will explore how It’s About Engagement relates to our own contexts by investigating these questions:

1. What are the goals and objectives of KSU's It’s About Engagement initiative?
2. How do faculty and students participate in It’s About Engagement?
3. What are the characteristics of an It’s About Engagement course?