South

This meeting will provide an opportunity to hear from people who have been incorporating SENCER ideals into their classroom settings, to relate evidence for the value of this to our students and our communities, to learn ways to inculcate a sense of social responsibility in our students, to establish networking ties across the commonwealth to facilitate a variety of levels of civic engagement, and to agree to future action.

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The 2014 SENCER Summer Institute was hosted by the University of North Carolina Asheville from July 31 – August 4, 2014.

The program for the Institute included all-Institute plenary sessions, workshops on effective pedagogies, examples of successful campus and community applications, and opportunities to meet formal and informal educators, administrators, students, and others from across the country interested in contributing to a civically engaged society and the improvement of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education.

In response to suggestions made on the SSI 2013 evaluations, we also introduced an orientation program to the Summer Institute, held just prior to the opening plenary address and gala welcome dinner on July 31. The program included discussions on the history of SENCER, the theory behind our work and initiatives, and how to make the best of all that the Institute offers.

The Institute program also featured many opportunities for participants to present information on their own work to improve STEM education, including concurrent sessions and two poster sessions, one focusing on community programs, and another focusing on campus programs. SENCER provided teams the opportunity for personal consultations with leaders to work intensely on the implementation of team-planned project(s).

Please see the resources at right for pictures, PDF files from invited posters and sessions, and information on Post-Institute Implementation awards. 

The SENCER Center of Innovation – South will be holding morning and afternoon sessions on Thursday, April 17 at the 2014 Research Week at Auburn University. Both sessions are designed for college and high school faculty who teach STEM and STEM-related courses.

To register for Research Week at Auburn University, visit http://ocm.auburn.edu/research_week/registration.html.

Agenda

Morning Session: Food in the Context of SENCER

8:30-9:15	UNC Asheville Food for Thought Faculty
9:20-10:05	Butler University Phil Villani, Associate Professor of Biology Tara Lineweaver, Associate Professor of Psychology
10:10-10:55	Lipscomb University Autumn Marshall, Associate Professor and Chair of the Nutrition Department
11:00-11:45	Q&A

Afternoon Session: SENCERed: The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

1:30-1:45	Introduction to SENCER: Ed Katz, Associate Provost and Dean of University Programs Keith Krumpe, Dean of Natural Sciences, both from UNC Asheville
1:50-2:35	The STEM Department Evaluation Rubric:  A Tool for Developing a Shared Vision for Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Ellen Goldey, William R. Kenan Jr. Professor and Chair of Biology at Wofford College
2:40-3:25	SENCER from an Administrator’s Perspective Theo Koupelis, Dean of Pure and Applied Sciences at Edison College
3:30-4:15	The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Matt Fisher, Associate Professor of Chemistry, St. Vincent College Senior Fellow, National Center for Science and Civic Engagement

Read a summary of the meeting. 

The SENCER Center of Innovation – South will be holding a workshop on Thursday, March 27 designed for college and high school faculty who teach STEM and STEM-related courses.

This workshop is part of the 2014 Gulf South Summit at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. The Summit’s theme is “Creating capacity collaboratively: Connecting learning and civic outcomes.” The conference will be held March 26-28, 2014.

The SENCER SCI-South workshop will begin with a panel consisting of faculty members from regional  institutions representing a variety of disciplines who will showcase their SENCER  courses. Ample opportunity will be provided for the panelists to respond to audience  questions and for conversation about SENCER opportunities across the region.

Agenda

9:15 – 9:20 Opening Remarks

9:20 – 10:30 Panel Session: A Smorgasbord of SENCER Courses

10:30 – 10:45 Morning Break

10:45 – 11:45 Q&A and Conversation

11:45 – 12:00 Closing Remarks

Moderators

Ed Katz, Associate Provost and Dean of University Programs, UNC Asheville; SENCER Center of Innovation – South Co-director.

Keith Krumpe, Dean of Natural Sciences, UNC Asheville; SENCER Center of Innovation – South Co-director.

Panelists

Ameena Batada, Assistant Professor of Health and Wellness, and Rebecca Reeve, Director of Research Programs, will present social entrepreneurship in the classroom.

Pearl Fernandes; Associate Professor of Biology at the University of South Carolina Sumter; Affiliate Faculty in Women’s Studies and Associate Faculty in the School of the Environment at the University of South Carolina Columbia; will present linked interdisciplinary English and biology courses focusing on Southeastern Wetlands.

Glenn Odenbrett, Project Director at the National Center for Science and Civic Engagement, will present GLISTEN (the Great Lakes Innovative Stewardship Through Education Network), a higher education service-learning program funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service.

Susan Reiser, New Media and Computer Science Lecturer, will present a new course, Creative Fabrication: Art Meets Technology that reaches across disciplines to fulfill general education requirements for Diversity and Art in an  introductory Computer Science course.

David Clarke, Associate Professor of Biology at UNC Asheville will present the nationally recognized Food For Thought thematic cluster of courses in Biology, Chemistry, Economics, Health and Wellness, and Sociology.

Read a summary of the meeting.

As part of Research Week 2013, a day-long session for students, faculty, and staff on the approach, strategies, and resources developed by SENCER was hosted on April 4 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. at The Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center. The session was led by Robert Holm, Assistant Director, Office of Sponsored Programs and Edward Katz, Associate Provost, University of North Carolina, Asheville. Attendees learned how with support from the National Science Foundation and in collaboration with hundreds of educators, academic leaders, students, and experts in assessment and cognitive theory, SENCER has established a community of practice for improving learning in science, mathematics, and other cross-curricular courses. Attendees were encouraged to participate in discussions facilitated by the co-founder of SENCER and faculty from the southeast who have created SENCER courses and larger-scale curricular projects that connect science and mathematics learning to real-world challenges.