Photos by Kevin Walsh

The first CELT Faculty Fellows seminar finished this past spring semester. A group of 12 Faculty Fellows met each week throughout the spring semester to explore topics related to teaching and assessment. There is a growing body of knowledge about learning and thinking processes, including the role of active learning, the integration of teaching and research, long-term retention, communication, problem finding and problem solving, creativity, practical learning, leadership, and diverse learning and thinking styles, with which many of us are unfamiliar. As our student and faculty bodies are drawn from increasingly diverse backgrounds, we need to pay more attention to how we as teachers and mentors can enable all our students to maximize their potential.

For the next academic year (2007/2008), the CELT is offering the opportunity for a new cohort of fellows to participate in this program in the spring of 2008. Successful applicants will receive small-group tutelage in how to improve their teaching and an opportunity to discuss teaching challenges and successes with fellow faculty members, who represent different academic disciplines but share a passion for teaching. The seminar will meet for 3 hours per week and require outside preparation, roughly the same amount of time that would be spent on teaching a single course. Participants will also be asked to provide feedback on the seminar, and to participate in follow-up or dissemination meetings within their school the year following their participation in the seminar. The seminar is not a remedial course. Rather, it is for faculty who are already successful in their teaching, but who wish to reach the next level in terms of teaching effectiveness. It is also an opportunity for stimulating exchanges with colleagues from other departments and schools.

Accepted faculty fellows can benefit either from a course reduction, or from funds of $7,000 to be used for research or teaching purposes (hiring a graduate or teaching assistant, attending professional conferences, purchasing educational materials, etc.)

The seminar will meet on Thursdays from 8:30 to 11:30 AM on the Medford campus, starting January 17th, 2008 and continuing through May.

We see this as a unique opportunity for Tufts faculty to increase their knowledge about student learning and to enhance their teaching skills, and we strongly encourage faculty from all schools to submit an application. This year we have fellows from Arts & Sciences, Engineering, Fletcher, Medicine, Nutrition, and Veterinary Medicine, and we strive for an equally diverse group next year.