Program Evaluation Workshop - New Date!

Evidence Based Decision Making for Program Evaluation
Connecting the Dots from Course to Program
Rescheduled from February 12

Featuring Dr. Ron Carriveau, Assessment & Measurement Specialist for the Center for Learning Enhancement, Assessment, and Redesign at University of North Texas and Dr. Richard Plott, Senior Research Analyst for the Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness at UNT

Thursday, March 11
1 - 4 p.m.
Library 101, Denton
Cost: Free

Register Here (Even if you registered for the original workshop, please re-register here. Thank you.)

Who this workshop is for: Deans, Program Chairs and Directors and anyone else who would like to learn evaluations strategies for their programs. Please feel free to forward this email.

What you will learn:

• A model for evaluating your courses, departments and programs
• A model for developing outcomes for continuous programmatic improvement and instructional effectiveness
• A method to match course goals and programs goals
• The uses and benefits of using a data management system

Value to you and your programs - improved outcomes for your courses, departments and programs

Workshop Description
In this workshop for department chairs, Drs. Ron Carriveau and Richard Plott will present an outcomes-based decision making model for addressing course, department, and program evaluation. A hierarchal model for developing outcomes will be presented, and a method for matching course goal attainment to program goals will be offered. Also covered will be an evidentiary decision making process that will include the uses and benefits of a data management system for tracking, evaluation, and addressing course, program and institutional goals. Participants will break out into groups and use forms and rubrics to develop assessment and evaluation tools for their particular departments. Participants will leave with examples, ideas and strategies for developing their individual assessment and evaluation plans.

Register soon! The registration deadline is Tuesday, March 9.

Please contact the Office of Lifelong Learning at 940.898.3409 if you have any questions. We hope you can join us!

Cheating in Online Classes

Featuring Ms. Lori McNabb from UT Telecampus

Click here to register!

Date: Friday, March 5, 2010
Time: 1-3 p.m.
Location: Live to the Desktop

This presentation will be presented via Wimba and will provide a reality check about whether online students really do cheat more (for people who have not taught online) and ideas to encourage academic integrity in online courses (for people who teach online).

Click here to take register - Registration deadline is Tuesday, March 2.

E-Learning’s not just good for the student anymore

We are seeing more and more Open Education and eLearning opportunities on the Internet these days. MIT and Stanford have been pioneers in the Open Courses available to anyone who has a computer. YouTube and iTunes have also gotten involved in the educational realm with iTunesU and YouTubeEDU that warehouse video lectures for anyone who cares to sit still long enough to watch. One can stay on the couch and receive a thorough education, everything but the diploma, free for the taking.
A good way to take advantage of this plethora of educational information is to use them as a never-ending resource of guest lecturers for your students. Imagine hearing Dr. Jane Goodall, world renowned scientist speaking to your class. A quick click on a hyperlink will transport you to Harvard@home to see her and many others. Or, stop in at MIT’s open courseware site and view one of their 1,900 course offerings.
It may be hard to narrow down the amount of information that you want to include in your course. A good way to start using these resources is to plan a project or assignment based on one of the lectures or presentations you find. The students can view the video clip and then report, debate or discuss the information or point-of-view that the presenter addressed.
I have gathered a short list of possibilities that include a variety of open eLearning resources for you to start with, and if you have a favorite drop me a line, and I will add it to my list.
MIT Open Course Ware : http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm
Harvard@Home: http://athome.harvard.edu/
University of California-Berkeley : http://webcast.berkeley.edu/
iTunesU : http://www.apple.com/education/mobile-learning/?ref=http://itunes.com
YouTubeU : http://www.youtube.com/education?b=400
Nobel Lectures for 2009: http://nobelprize.org/award_ceremonies/lectures_2009.html
Online Books: Librivox’s http://librivox.org/

Symposium - New Trends in Scholarly Communication: Maximizing Author Impact

Friday, February 26, 2010
9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Embassy Suites Hotel in downtown Fort Worth

Are you ready to extend the reach of your research? Want hear how new digital tools allow your published work to be cited by more researchers? Want to empower yourself with knowledge on how you can retain author copyrights to your work so you can place it in multiple venues? If so, then you'll want to attend the symposium New Trends in Scholarly Communication: Maximizing Author Impact.

The symposium is sponsored by the UNT Health Science Center Library and the National Network of Libraries of Medicine. It will be held at the Embassy Suites hotel in downtown Fort Worth on Friday, February 26, 2010. Breakfast, lunch, and valet parking are included with registration. Faculty, staff and students are invited! To receive a half-off discount during registration, simply enter promo code: library2010.

For more information and to register, please visit http://digitalcommons.hsc.unt.edu/maximpact/.

Organizing Blended Courses for Optimal Student Engagement Webinar

Featuring Dr. Ike Shibley, associate professor of chemistry at Penn State-Berks & presented by Faculty Focus

March 10, 2010
Noon - 1:30 p.m.
STOD 308

From Faculty Focus...

In Organizing Blended Courses for Optimal Student Engagement, Dr. Shibley will address the unique pedagogical challenges of blended learning, and the proven strategies and technologies he uses with his students.
This online seminar will cover:

• Effective blended techniques before, during and after class
• Using clickers to create a more active classroom
• Ways to reach higher levels of Bloom’s taxonomy with clicker questions
• How to write quiz questions that encourage students to rehearse material
• Best methods to increase engagement through blended course design
• How blended learning makes assessment easier

There’s never been a better time for blended learning!

About the Presenter

This online seminar features one of Magna’s most popular and engaging presenters, Dr. Ike Shibley, associate professor of chemistry at Penn State-Berks. An award-winning teacher with a pedagogical research focus on finding the most productive ways to enhance student learning, Dr. Shibley brings unique insight into classroom climate, student learning and motivation. He will answer your questions during the dedicated Q&A session.

This webinar, locally sponsored by TWU Distance Education, is offered at no cost to you and registration is not required. Please join us!