Workshop Information & Materials for Participants:

• Pre-Workshop Tasks
  
• Workshop Program
  
• Travel & Campus Info
  
• Workshop Moderators
  
• List of Participants
  

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Sabancı University has adopted the global effort to rethink the role of the faculty and the students in undergraduate education and prioritize “Scholarship of Teaching and Learning” (SoTL) that values evidence-based student learning. As a part of this effort, the Science of Nature (NS 101/102) Courses have been offered during the last 4.5 years in a theme-based modular format, emphasizing an interdisciplinary and student-centered course structure and expectations based on active learning. The courses cover basic concepts of physics, chemistry, and biology through the modules. Being a part of the first-year core curriculum at Sabancı University, the NS courses are compulsory for all incoming freshman students regardless of their prospective majors. To date, we have worked with more than 4000 students in this student-centered version of the NS courses.

Such a student-centered approach is unique especially for large freshman STEM courses in Turkish universities, and over the last 5 years we have accumulated a variety of experiences and data with our freshman students, which we believe are worth sharing. We have also developed and established a professional development program for instructors and assistants of the NS courses to inform them on the pedagogy behind the course and to help them gain the necessary skills to become effective facilitators in the student-centered learning environment.

The Workshop on Innovative Approaches in College STEM Education is aimed at sharing this a professional development opportunity for college-level-STEM educators, who are interested in SoTL and in applying innovative approaches to their courses. The program consists of two phases: First, the 4-day workshop provides background pedagogical information through activities on student-centered strategies. It is then followed by an application phase, during which participants are expected to apply some of the learned approach with their own students. We will have an online feedback meeting in early 2019 to conclude the program. We plan to compile and anonymously share the participants’ experiences and resources they find in the process on an website, which we hope will benefit the larger educator community within Turkey and beyond.

About the Workshop

The goals of this workshop are to:

• share our experiences with the student-centered pedagogy used in the NS courses,
• discuss the current advances in SoTL,
• provide the participants an opportunity to develop skills to become effective facilitators in active-learning classrooms,
• and actively engage the participants in the refinement and assessment of their own courses.

The Workshop Inclues Two Phases:

1. 4-Day Workshop  (September 4-7): Composed of a series of 1-1.5 hour group sessions and some individual work. Constant guidance and feedback will be provided. The topics includes:
• Student-centered course design
• Active learning
• Collaborative learning
• Formative/summative assessment
• Classroom assessment techniques
• Collaborative learning techniques
• Flipped classroom
• Planning for possible application in your course



See tentative workshop program. 

2. Application & Feedback Meeting  (Fall semester & Early 2019):
Trial implementation (at any scale possible) of the plan that each participant prepare at the workshop. The participants are encouraged to share a summary of the experiences of their implementations. An online feedback meeting will be organized for each (group of) participants in January or February 2019 to discuss how they implemented the innovative approaches in their classroom and the strengths and weaknesses of their implementation.

• Workshop venue: Sabancı University, Tuzla Campus (Orta Mahalle, 34956 Tuzla, İstanbul). Click here  to see the map.
• Capacity: 30 participants
• No participation fee is required
• The workshop will be conducted in English

Workshop Moderators

What are provided during the 4-day workshop?

• Daily meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner)
• Coffee breaks
• On-campus accommodation for out-of-city participants
• Travel support for limited number of participants
• In-city transportation support for local participants (within Istanbul)

Who should apply?

Someone who is:

• Teaching or providing support for a college-level STEM course
• Designing a STEM course or curriculum
• Interested in learning about what current research tells us about students’ learning
• Motivated to learn through hands-on experience how to effectively impact the academic achievement growth of students
• Looking for an opportunity to initiate long-term collaborations with other STEM educators
• Highly valuing teamwork
• With good communication skills in English

How can you apply?

Please fill out and submit the online application form from this application link.

Since the space is limited, all applications will be reviewed and the participants will be selected based on the application materials. The application must be submitted by Monday, August 27. Early submission is strongly encouraged as the selection process will start immediately.

Questions?

Please contact Yuki Kaneko (yuki@sabanciuniv.edu)  if you have any questions about the workshop.

Workshop Tentative Plan

Click here to download the poster.