Faculty Forums 2012

Determining Sample Size When Planning a Quantitative Study

“How many subjects do I need for my study”? This is one of the most important (and frequently asked) questions a quantitative researcher needs to answer before conducting a study.  A study with too few subjects (or participants) may fail to produce useful findings, whereas a study with too many subjects can waste time and resources.
           
If you conduct quantitative research or plan to do so in the future and want to learn more about how to make informed sample size decisions, please plan to attend this “lunch and learn” session.

Participants attending this session will learn:

The role of effect size, alpha level, and statistical power in identifying the appropriate sample size
Why the choice of statistical procedures can affect sample size requirements
How to estimate target sample size for hypothetical scenarios through a practice exercise

Presented by Dr. Susan Hutchinson, CETL Teaching & Learning Fellow , Department of Applied Statistics and Research Methods

Reservation preferred,  please contact berniece.mitchell@unco.edu

Use and Interpretation of Effect Size in Quantitative Research

Journals in numerous fields including psychology, education, public health, and business currently require that effect size estimates be included along with p-values when reporting statistical results.  Yet, the concept of effect size remains a mystery to many researchers.

If you are among those who have lost countless hours of sleep pondering the notion of effect size, or if you simply wish to gain a better understanding of what effect sizes are and how they can aid in interpreting your statistical findings, please attend this “lunch and learn” session.

During the session participants will learn:

The meaning of effect size and why effect size is useful
Different types of effect size estimates and when to use them
How to interpret effect size in conjunction with p-values, or,
What effect size tells you that p-values don’t

Presented by Dr. Susan Hutchinson, CETL Teaching & Learning Fellow , Department of Applied Statistics and Research Methods

Reservation preferred,  please contact berniece.mitchell@unco.edu

Write Away: Polish and Submit your Manuscript

Have a manuscript nearly ready to go? Struggling to "revise and resubmit" a paper? Need a little extra push to get those papers of yours out there? Hoping for social support from colleagues? Then there's an option!

CETL, in conjunction with UNC's Office of Research, is proud to announce a series of luncheon workshops specially designed to bring your academic, creative, and professional writing to fruition.

The workshops will be co-facilitated by Laura Pritchett and Joyce Weil. Dr. Pritchett is a distinguished authour and faculty of English at UNC. Dr. Joyce Weil is an esteemed Assistant Professor of Gerontology and has her first book contract with a university press. Participants at these workshops will explore best practices and engage in peer review with the goal of completing a manuscript for submission.

Faculty are asked to commit to 1.) attend three sessions during the spring semester 2013, 2.) to have identified a manuscript in progress (1500 - 6000 words depending on final product) to work on, and 3.) be prepared to read and provide feedback on one or two products of similar length from colleagues.

These workshops are limited to UNC faculty and staff. If interested please attend our informational luncheon meeting on November 28th, 11:00am.

Presented by Dr. Laura Pritchett and Dr. Joyce Weil

Reservation preferred,  please contact berniece.mitchell@unco.edu

All the Classroom's a Stage: Techniques for Perfecting Your Performance

Interested in perfecting your classroom performance? By using a technique called interactive theatre, workshop participants will engage in a staged instruction session riddled with problems. Attendees will have unique opportunities to stop the action, rewind the scene, and actively alter the plot while putting their own teaching techniques to the test.  The staged classroom experience will facilitate dialogue about missteps in the classroom and generate reflection upon one’s own teaching. We all want to receive standing ovations for our performances; this workshop will help you get there!

Participants will be presented with common pedagogical diffculties in order to assess possible resolutions. Participants will test various teaching techniques in order to facilitate an improved instruction session and will experience an innovative method of initiating evaluative dialogue in order to stimulate pedagogical improvement.

Presented by Andrea Falcone, CETL Teaching & Learning Fellow for University Libraries

Reservation preferred,  please contact berniece.mitchell@unco.edu

I'll Show you Mine if You Show Me Yours! A Collegial Look at Final Exams

Many of us strive to write final exams that provide our students with meaningful learning opportunities and ourselves with information we need to assess student learning and assign final grades. But some of us have more experience than others! And we probably use a variety of strategies for writing questions and deciding what our exam format should be. Our students often have no idea how much time and energy faculty put into these decisions, but we all do. So let's get together for lunch and see if we can provide some mutual support.

Please bring your curiosity and a copy of an exam you're really satisfied with or an exam you'd like to improve. There's no agenda here: just a hope that we can learn something together!

Presented by Dr. Nancy Matchett, CETL Teaching & Learning Fellow and Dr Chris Talbot

Reservation preferred,  please contact berniece.mitchell@unco.edu

The Flipped Classroom - Using Teacher Created Online Video to Increase Student Engagement

Jerry is a pioneer in the  ipped learning method and the creator and
facilitator for the Flipped Class Network - a 9000 member online professional learning network for teachers using screencasting and the  ipped teaching model. He is currently using the  ipped learning model on 5 sections of College Algebra at UNC.

Instructors will learn the history, philosophy and pedagogy of the flipped classroom model. They will also see different methods of how they can incorporate the flipped model into their instruction. Participants will learn how to create sample videos and post them online.

Reservation preferred,  please contact berniece.mitchell@unco.edu

Formative Peer Observation:
Dialogue and action toward the enhancement of teaching and learning.

SoTL welcomes returning and new participants to join us for a faculty forum session that explores Peer Observation as a proven method for improving and developing teaching and learning, and for gaining new ideas and perspectives that can lead to scholarly reflection and research.   

Peer observation engages faculty in the observation of their colleagues and instructor’s performance through classroom interactions and when conducted appropriately yields mutual benefits for all involved. This session will review research on peer observation at the college level and examine protocols used at other institutions to support peer observations. We will also explore potential for piloting a similar approach amongst those interested at UNC.

This meeting, which will be co-facilitated by Teaching and Learning Fellow, Dr. Robert Reinsvold and Assoc. Director for Faculty Development, Dr. Deborah Romero.   

Reservation preferred,  please contact berniece.mitchell@unco.edu

Community-Engaged Scholoarship: From the Margins to the Mainstream

UNC has deep roots in Greeley and many faculty and their students are involved in community-based research, scholarship, and creative works. However, often this is not viewed as central to faculty roles. This session will present the national landscape of the community engagement movement; reveal how engagement is central to higher education achieving its important goals to produce knowledge that benefits society and prepares students for active citizenship; define today’s engagement as a form of scholarship and an aspect of learning and discovery; and describe how community engaged scholarship can be embedded in productive research and teaching, as well as service.

DR. LORILEE SANDMANN,
Professor Of Adult Education,
Department Of Lifelong Education, Administration & Policy,
University Of Georgia

COSPONSORS: CENTER FOR HONORS, SCHOLARS & LEADERSHIP,
CENTER FOR THE ENHANCEMENT OF TEACHING & LEARNING

Reservation preferred,  please contact berniece.mitchell@unco.edu

Cracks in the Ivory Tower: Why Engagement is the Key
to Higher Education's Future

Critics, external and internal, to higher education are calling for a shift from an historic internally‐focused, discipline‐based framework to one that is globally‐networked, externally‐engaged, and inter ‐ and even transdisciplinary as a means of remaining accessible, affordable, and relevant in solving socially significant problems. This session will feature the challenges and opportunities inherent in today’s landscape of public higher education; speak specifically to new and advance sources of knowledge and knowledge creation, present the case of the centrality of engagement to higher education accomplishing its important goals of producing knowledge that benefits society and preparing students for productive citizenship in a democratic society; and define today’s engagement as a form of interdisciplinary work and scholarship and an aspect of learning and discovery for faculty and students.

DR. LORILEE SANDMANN,
Professor Of Adult Education,
Department Of Lifelong Education, Administration & Policy,
University Of Georgia

COSPONSORS: CENTER FOR HONORS, SCHOLARS & LEADERSHIP,
CENTER FOR THE ENHANCEMENT OF TEACHING & LEARNING

Reservation preferred,  please contact berniece.mitchell@unco.edu

Framing the Way: An Educator's Guide to Philosophical Ethics, with Practical Implications for Instruction and Course Design

Have you ever struggled to articulate the ethical values or principles that inform your courses and discipline? Or been surprised when someone questioned your classroom practices for reasons that may not strike you as having to do with ethics at all? Would you like to find ways to help students think more critically and constructively when ethical issues arise during class discussion? Or to design learning activities that facilitate genuine deliberation about ethical issues rather than simple assertions of personal points of view?

This workshop will briefly introduce you to three conceptual frameworks that at least implicitly structure most people's ethical thinking. But the main aim is to demonstrate how explicit attention to these frameworks can help you more accurately identify your own and others' ethical commitments and more effectively deliberate about how to resolve potential conflicts among them.

Can't make it? Contact nancy Matchett for one-on-one consultation: nancy.matchett@unco.edu; ext: 1-1567. You can learn a little bit more about her work at: http://www.unco.edu/ethics/our_activities.html

Presented by:  Nancy Matchett, HSS CETL Teaching & Learning Fellow and Director of UNC's Institute of Professional Ethics

Sponsored by CETL. Reservation preferred,  please contact berniece.mitchell@unco.edu

Special invitation for Pre-Service Teachers and Professionals!

Participants at this session will learn about how and why one local school district is promoting research informed English language learning while also supporting first language development. Participants will learn about: 

Jeffco's 1-Way and 2-Way Program Models 

Support available for Jeffco's Dual Language Programs

Our guaranteed and viable Dual Language Curriculum

Expectations for incoming Dual Language Teachers

Presented by:  Marcella D'Orazio, Professional Development CoordinatorESL/Dual Language Programs, Jeffco. School District. 

Sponsored by Hispanic Studies, ESL Endorsement Program and CETL. Reservation preferred,  please contact berniece.mitchell@unco.edu