Collaborative Learning: Techniques for Effective Tutorials and Seminars

Collaborative Learning: Techniques for Effective Tutorials and Seminars

Date: 27 February 2012 (Monday)
Speaker: Prof. Susan Fiksdal (Evergreen College)

Studies show that students learn more effectively through active teaching and learning than through lectures. In this workshop we will focus on how to create an environment in the classroom that encourages students to take an active role in discussions. After an explanation of some strategies, participants will focus on their own classes and the goals they have for discussion.  Structuring discussions to achieve your particular goals can help students learn critical thinking skills as well as become more creative in their thinking. We will also look at some of the reasons why students may not participate in group activities and some strategies that work well to engage them. This workshop is for faculty who have never tried group work as well as for those who have. We will begin with your experience and you will engage in some types of group work during the workshop.

About the Speaker

Prof. Susan Fiksdal has studied conversation in seminars since 1990 as a sociolinguist and as a faculty member interested in improving teaching and learning. She has published a book, The Right Time and Pace: A Microanalysis of Cross-cultural Gatekeeping Interviews, and articles and book chapters on uncomfortable moments, rapport, timing in conversation, and metaphor and gender. She is a professor of Linguistics and French at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington where she also served as Academic Dean for International Studies and Evening/Weekend Studies for five years. She has taken students to France for experiential learning 8 times. As an exchange faculty she taught in Kobe, Japan for one semester. Currently she is a Fulbright Scholar at Hong Kong Baptist University helping with the transition to a four-year undergraduate degree and the GE curriculum planning.