Central Plains

Butler University Campus

Butler University Campus

Butler University is the host institution for the SENCER Center for Innovation Midwest (Central Plains Region). Our leadership team includes Dr. Margaret Brabant, Dr. Donald Braid, and Dr. Joseph Kirsch. Dr. Kirsch currently serves as director.

As a SENCER Center for Innovation, Butler University brings the SENCER Ideals to our faculty, staff, and students, and to other interested institutions in the central plains region. The SCI assists Butler in achieving its educational mission with regard to civic education and engagement, general education (core), and STEM majors courses. The SCI also provides Butler and regional institutions with leadership for the following activities: developing or enhancing civic education and civic engagement at the local level, in the Midwest, and nationally; faculty development, course development, curricular development, and faculty/undergraduate research support; unique, out-of-classroom learning opportunities; and strategies to connect K-16 science education with civic education.

We explore SENCER Ideals with colleagues at regional conferences, explore innovations in education and the development of new programs through civic partnerships, continue to expand Butler’s leadership role in civic engagement in the community, and develop new teaching methodsall in the context of educational citizenship in the community.

Regional Symposia

SENCERizing the Mathematics Curriculum: Developing Models for Teaching and Learning using Civic Issues
April 1, 2016
Butler University
Special Presentations by Stephen Carroll
February 12, 2016
Butler University

Sessions will be led by Dr. Stephen Carroll of Santa Clara University. Dr. Carroll has a career long involvement in faculty development and has served as the director of writing programs at both Berkeley and Santa Clara University. Dr. Carroll’s recent publications focus on how to use assessment practices to drive innovation in teaching and learning, especially in undergraduate learning communities. His current research focuses on using the latest findings in neurobiology, cognitive science, and learning theory to improve teaching and learning. He is especially focused on helping students become more self-directed learners by teaching them meta-learning skills.

SENCER – SALG (Student Assessment of their Learning Gains)
10:00 – 11:00 am, Jordan Hall – Room 083

This session will introduce the SALG and explore how you might configure this flexible instrument to assess learning in your courses.
Morning refreshments will be provided.

Taking Notes and Note Taking: Making Learning a More Durable Experience

12:00 — 12:45 pm, Gallahue Hall – Room 108

Intended for students, faculty and staff, this session uses insights from recent research on how we learn to explore effective note-taking strategies. A box lunch will be provided.

Cognitive Science and Learning Theory to Improve Teaching and Learning
2:00 — 3:00 pm, Gallahue Hall – Room 108

This session explores the what we have learned from years of research in neurobiology, cognitive science, and learning theory and what this implies for our understanding of teaching and learning.

Registration is free, but RSVP to [email protected] is required. Please indicate which session(s) you plan to attend.

Guest parking is available in the garage located between 46th and 49th streets on Sunset Avenue.

About the Host Institution: Butler University

Butler University is a nationally recognized comprehensive university that blends the liberal arts with high quality professional programs. The 290-acre campus is located in the heart of Indianapolis. Butler offers more than 55 undergraduate degrees, one first professional and 18 master’s degrees through six colleges: Business, Communication, Education, Fine Arts, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Pharmacy and Health Sciences. The colleges provide the infrastructure for a key part of Butler’s mission-to provide the highest quality of liberal and professional education and to integrate the liberal arts with professional education.”

Ovid Butler founded the University in 1855. Currently, 4,034 Butler undergraduates study with 336 full-time faculty members (fall 2010). Butler students represent 45 U.S. states and 52 countries. The faculty is dedicated to fulfilling Butler’s core commitment of “providing the highest quality of teaching and to achieving the highest ideals of student learning.”

Butler students also benefit from outstanding opportunities for experiential education in the nation’s 13th largest city. Ninety-five percent of Butler graduates have participated in some form of internship, student teaching, clinical rotation, research, or service learning. The Butler Way guides students not just to make a living but also to make a life of purpose, in which individual flourishing is intertwined with the welfare of others.

Central Plains Co-Directors

Dr. Joseph Kirsch, SCI-Central Plains Co-Director

Dr. Joseph Kirsch
Professor of Chemistry, Butler University

Dr. Donald Braid
Butler University

Leadership Council

Dr. Margaret Brabant
Butler University