UALR’s Bailey Speaker Series, in conjunction with the UALR Academy for Teaching and Learning Excellence, will present a teaching symposium Friday, Oct. 29, featuring a keynote address by Dr. Maryellen Weimer, winner of Pennsylvania State University’s Milton S. Eisenhower Award for Distinguished Teaching.

Weimer, a former director of Penn State’s Instructional Development Program, is the author of numerous publications, including articles in professional journals, book chapters, and book reviews. A consultant to more than 500 colleges and universities on instructional issues, Weimer is a regular keynote speaker at national meetings and regional conferences, and she has served on numerous editorial boards of professional journals.

Her keynote address at the symposium, “Growth Promoting Principles for College Teachers” will be from 1 to 2:15 p.m. in the UALR Donald W. Reynolds Center for Business and Economic Development, Room 103. The presentation is free and open to the public.

The talk will draw from Weimer’s recently published book, “Inspired College Teaching,” and propose ways of thinking about growth and change that can increase both the motivation to teach and effectiveness in the classroom.

University Television clip from last year’s workshop.

The UALR Academy for Teaching and Learning Excellence is a program to foster excellence in teaching and learning, demonstrate the value UALR places on high-quality teaching, and to build a stronger community among teachers and learners. The academy provides numerous opportunities throughout the year for teachers, including teaching demonstrations, mentoring, workshops, and an awards program.

Since 1987, Weimer has edited the “Teaching Professor,” a monthly newsletter on college teaching with 15,000 subscribers. She has edited or authored nine books, including a 1990 book on faculty development, a 1993 book on teaching for new faculty, and a 1995 anthology edited with Robert Menges, “Teaching on Solid Ground.”

She was primary author of a Kendall-Hunt publication, “Teaching Tools,” a collection of collaborative, active and inquiry-based approaches to be used in conjunction with “Biological Perspectives,” a National Science Foundation-funded introductory biology text, created by Biological Sciences Curriculum Studies.

In 2002, Jossey-Bass published her book, “Learner Centered Teaching:  Five Key Changes to Practice,” and in 2006 her book, “Scholarly Work on Teaching and Learning.”

UALR faculty and administrators are invited to participate in other workshops Weimer will conduct during the day:

8:30 – 9:45 a.m.  “Participation: Making Classroom Interaction Effective,” Donaghey Student Center, Room D. An interactive session offering a number of strategies that can improve the effective of efforts to engage student and use those interactions to promote learning.

10 to 11 a.m. “Fostering Teaching Improvement: For Those who Need it and Those who Don’t,” a workshop for chairs and department directors, and other administrators. The session offers suggestions for how academic leaders can create a climate for teaching where improvement is not a dirty word. The discussion will include a look at policies and practices that van promote career-long instructional growth and development and suggestions for how academic leaders help prevent tired teaching and burnout. The interactive discussion will explore ways to promote teaching excellence within a department and across campus.

2:30 to 4 p.m. “Constructive Feedback: Ways to Discover How Your Teaching Impacts Efforts to Learn,” will build on ideas presented in the keynote session. The workshop will be an in-depth exploration of how faculty can take charge of the feedback process and use a variety of informative and innovative ways to solicit information from students about their learning experiences in the course. The student feedback enables faculty to implement changes that improve learning and teaching — a constructive process that helps teachers stay alive and instructionally healthy.

For the last 13 years of her career at Penn State, Weimer taught communication courses, first-year seminars, and other courses for business students. She also has been associate director of the National Center for Post Secretary Teaching, Learning and Assessment, a $5.9 million five-year program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education research and development center. Prior to that, she spent 10 years as director of Penn State’s Instructional Development Program.

For more information about Weimer’s visit to UALR, contact Carol Thompson at 501-569-3159.