The Quarterly Forum is a campus meeting held each quarter for members of the UW teaching community. Speakers address current issues of teaching and learning in higher education.
Dr. Andrei Straumanis
Using Small Group Inquiry Activities to
Engage Students in Large Classes
Thursday, February 12, 2009, 3:30 p.m.
Walker Ames Room, Kane Hall
Faculty have found a number of ways to increase student engagement that lead to development of both content knowledge and critical process skills such as self-assessment, problem-solving, and interpersonal communication. Examples include student-centered learning, discovery learning, cooperative learning, and guided inquiry. But how are such techniques applied to a large lecture section?
CIDR’s Winter Quarterly Forum will feature Dr. Andrei Straumanis, Visiting Assistant Professor in the UW Department of Chemistry, who will describe his lecture-less approach to teaching organic chemistry to a class of nearly 300 students. In his classes, students work in self-managed teams to analyze data and draw their own conclusions, modeling the way a team might function in a research setting.
This talk will include an interactive demonstration, student achievement data from courses Professor Straumanis has taught using this method at UW, and a Question-and-Answer session with Professor Straumanis.
For a printable Quarterly Forum flyer, click here.
Related Links:
Dr. Andrei Straumanis holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Stanford University. He is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the UW Department of Chemistry and an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the College of Charleston. He is a co-founder of the POGIL project, originator of POGIL for organic chemistry, and author of the POGIL materials for organic chemistry. He is also Principle Investigator on a Department of Education-FIPSE grant to develop and study large-class POGIL, serves on the Steering Committee of the NSF-funded POGIL Project, and was one of the co-Principal Investigators of the original NSF POGIL grant. Since 1997, he has given numerous talks and workshops on active learning in organic chemistry, and the use of POGIL in large classrooms.
We hope you will be able to join us! To help us plan for refreshments and space, please let us know if you plan to come by sending a message to rsvp@cidr.washington.edu.
This event is co-sponsored by:
- The Center for Instructional Development and Research (CIDR)
- Faculty Council on Instructional Quality (FCIQ)
- The Graduate School
- The Teaching Academy
- Undergraduate Academic Affairs
The University of Washington is committed to providing access, equal opportunity and reasonable accommodation in its services, programs, activities, education and employment for individuals with disabilities.
To request disability accommodation contact the Disability Services Office at least ten days in advance at: 206.543.6450/V, 206.543.6452/TTY, 206.685.7264 (FAX), or e-mail at dso@u.washington.edu.
Past sessions have featured invited speakers from outside UW, and have also showcased the work of UW faculty and graduate students. Follow this link to view a list of previous speakers and the topics that they addressed.
CIDR plans and hosts the Quarterly Forum, in collaboration with the Graduate School. Recent meetings have also been co-sponsored by other campus groups such as the Office of Educational Assessment, the Faculty Council on Instructional Quality, the Curriculum Transformation Project, and the Office of Undergraduate Education.
