CAFE for the Week of Sept. 24-28

Best Practices:
 "Increasing Student Engagement in the Classroom," Sept. 26
Wednesday, Sept. 26, 10-11:30 a.m.
Rasmuson Hall, Room 303

As professors, one of the more challenging tasks many of us face is keeping our students involved and engaged in learning to create and maintain class momentum. This interactive session will offer classroom techniques to encourage students to ask questions and to reframe those questions to ensure all voices are heard. This session will introduce the five best practices from the Lilly West Teaching and Learning Conference to help you motivate your students to participate more fully in the classroom.

Register here.

Best Practices: "Dealing with Disruptive Students in the Classroom," Sept. 28
Friday, Sept. 28, 8:30-10 a.m.
UAA/APU Consortium Library, Room 302A

Michael Turner, professor of counseling, offers techniques, strategies and systemic options for handling disruptive or disturbed students, as well as information on how to respond to allegations of harassment and/or discrimination in the classroom.

Register here.

Best Practices: "Empowering Public Address: Helping Students Give Better Presentations," Sept. 28
Friday, September 28, 9:30-11 a.m.
UAA/APU Consortium Library, Room 307

Do your courses include assignments that require public speaking? Do your students need to graduate with strong advocacy skills? Are professionals in your field called upon to make effective presentations? If you've answered yes to any of these questions, please join faculty from Communication and Discourse Studies for a session designed to improve the development and delivery of student presentations.

Communication faculty will share basic competencies, evaluation methods and assessment rubrics from the National Communication Association. They will also discuss strategies for helping students manage the development and delivery of speeches, as well as communication apprehension that is so frequently a part of the public speaking experience.

If you are interested but not able to attend this session, faculty in Communication and Discourse Studies may be available for consultations with other departments or with individual faculty members. We're happy to help faculty think about and revise assignments involving public presentations, and may be able to teach a mini-unit or provide instructional materials on public speaking tailored to your course or assignment. Please contact Shawnalee Whitney, associate professor of communication, at (907) 786-4393 or sawhitney@uaa.alaska.edu.

Register here.

Difficult Dialogues:
 "Politics and Expertise in the Classroom," Sept. 28
Friday, September 28, 12-2 p.m.
UAA/APU Consortium Library, Room 302A

Do professors have the right to make their political positions clear in classes that are not addressing political issues? On the other hand, what about students who question the expert authority of their professors and texts? This session will focus on being "political in the classroom" as well as the challenge of confronting the naive assumption about the equality of ideas.


Register here.

For more information, visit the CAFE website or call (907) 786-4644.