Faculty IMPACT experiences to be highlighted at CIE conference

The Center for Instructional Excellence (CIE) will host a conference March 21 in which faculty members will present their methods and experiences in redesigning foundational courses as part of the IMPACT initiative.

The daylong conference, called The Changing Classroom, will take place from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Stewart Center. It will focus on how Purdue's classroom teaching has changed through the IMPACT (Instruction Matters: Purdue Academic Course Transformation) initiative, and it will feature faculty members involved.

The Provost's Office began IMPACT in 2011 to engage students more fully in their learning, thereby improving retention and completion in classes that serve students across the entire West Lafayette campus. To do this, faculty members participating in three cohorts have redesigned large-capacity, foundational courses -- 63 courses so far, affecting more than 7,500 students -- through IMPACT.

Registration for The Changing Classroom conference is recommended and can be found at: http://changingclassroom.eventbrite.com.

Past and present cohort members will discuss how they redesigned their applicable courses, and how that redesign affected their teaching and their students' learning. Faculty giving presentations are:

* Mark French, associate professor of mechanical engineering technology.
* Ellen Gundlach, continuing lecturer in statistics.
* George Hollich, associate professor of psychological sciences.
* Jay McCann, professor of political science.
* Larry Nies, professor of civil engineering.
* Nancy Pelaez, associate professor of biological sciences.
* Gabriela Weaver, professor of chemistry and science education.
* Cliff Weil, professor of agronomy.

A preliminary schedule of events for the Changing Classroom conference can be found at: http://www.purdue.edu/cie/workshop/transformation-classroom.html. Information about IMPACT faculty fellows in general can be found at: www.purdue.edu/impact/faculty.html.

In addition to faculty presentations, the conference includes a luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tim Sands, executive vice president for academic affairs and provost, will give the keynote address. Registration for the luncheon is required and will be limited to 200. It can be found at: http://changingclassroomluncheon.eventbrite.com.

The conference is part of a week of teaching-focused events CIE is hosting March 18-22.

CIE also is hosting a talk on March 18 by nationally recognized scholar Michael Wesch, who is an associate professor of cultural anthropology at Kansas State University. Wesch will discuss the issues students face when learning in today's classroom. He will conduct a question-and-answer session after his talk.

Invitation-only events later that week will announce and honor the winners of the 2013 Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Awards in Memory of Charles B. Murphy. The University's highest undergraduate teaching honor, the Murphy Award is accompanied by a $10,000 cash award and induction into Purdue's Teaching Academy, which provides leadership for the improvement of undergraduate, graduate and outreach teaching.