Spring Conference
2010
Metacognition &
Motivation in the
College Classroom
January 7 & 8, 2010
Hale Science Building
Information Desk:
235 Hale Science
Thursday, January 7, 2010
8:30 AM – 9:00 AM
Coffee and Donuts
9:00 AM – 9:15 AM
270 HALE
Welcome and Introduction
Laura L.B. Border, Director, Graduate Teacher Program,
The Graduate Teacher Program offers various activities, certificates, and professional development opportunities for graduate students in all disciplines. This conference is an opportunity for graduate students to learn about how metacognition can be used to frame teaching and learning activities.
9:15 AM – 10:30 AM
270 HALE
Keynote Speaker
Taking Charge of Your Own Graduate Experience
John Frazee, Director of Faculty Relations, Office of Faculty Affairs
Becoming a graduate student marks the transition from acquiring knowledge to creating and imparting it. This transition has important implications for virtually every relationship you have. John Frazee will explore these implications and offer tips and tools for managing them.
BREAK
10:45 AM – 12:00 PM
270, 240, 230 HALE
Discussion of Keynote
Taking Charge of Your Own Graduate Experience
Gail Kallas, Lead, French/Italian
Samantha Keehn, Lead, Music
Kristin Rock, Lead, Spanish & Portuguese
Al Runyon, Lead, Political Sciences
Betsy Swanner, Lead, Geology
Rebecca Turk, Lead, Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology
Chelsea Bridges, Lead Coordinator for Arts and Humanities, Graduate Teacher Program
Jessica Gorski, Lead Coordinator for STEM and Social Sciences, Graduate Teacher Program
Michelle Trodgon, CIRTL Link
During this session, Lead Graduate Teachers and GTP staff will lead small group discussions of the ideas presented in Professor Frazee’s plenary presentation. The small groups will reconvene in 270 Hale to close the session with comments and questions.
1:15 PM – 2:45 PM
270 HALE
Teaching Core Skills in Introductory Classes
Shelli Newhart Walker, Ph.D. Candidate, Sociology
How can teachers better engage metacognition and motivate student learning? This workshop explores the role that skill development plays in helping students learn and remember subject matter and provides tips on how to strengthen assignments and classroom practices in the introductory classroom through a focus on core skills.
230 HALE
A Metacognitive Approach to Academic Goal Setting
Laura L.B. Border, Director, Graduate Teacher Program
This workshop takes a new tack on goal setting and is designed to help you think metacognitively to plan your approach both strategically and tactically. Come prepared to work on your own goals.
BREAK
3:00 PM – 4:30 PM
270 HALE
What’s Wrong with Being Right?
Vanessa Baird, Associate Professor, Political Science
Professor Baird will discuss whether individuals have the ability to reason about justice or to come to some agreement about what is just. Should society rely on contract and give up the search for the highest political good or perfect justice? How do issues of justice apply to your “contracts” with students in the classroom?
240 HALE
Motivated Representations in the Classroom: Who Is Mentioned, and How?
Tamara Williams, PhD Candidate, Sociology
This workshop introduces participants to bell hooks’ concept of motivated representations and images in popular culture that portray groups of people in ways that create social and political impacts. It addresses how this concept is useful in contextualizing pedagogy and provides participants with strategies to analyze their curricula and texts of various sorts. We will discuss the representations inherent in our classroom materials, and what effect those may have on classroom diversity and our students’ attitudes and opinions about the world.
230 Hale
Writing a Syllabus Based on Learning Goals
PJ Bennett, Assistant Director, Graduate Teacher Program
Have you ever been frustated by students who don’t seem to learn what you think you are teaching? This workshop presents a way to design your semester so students accomplish your learning goals.
Friday, January 8, 2010
8:30 AM – 9:00 AM
Coffee and Donuts
9:00 AM – 10:30 AM
270 HALE
Keynote Speaker
Narcissistic Students: How Can We Work with Them?
Jim Westerman, Duane D. Daggett Professor of Management, Walker College of Business, Appalachian State University
Research on current student populations reveals challenges for classroom teachers. Professor Westerman encourages participants to consider results from his research team and demonstrates how to use their results to improve student participation and motivation to learn.
10:45 AM – 12:00 PM
270, 240, 230 HALE
Discussion of Keynote
Narcissistic Students: How Can We Work with Them?
Lori Britt, Lead, Communication
Lauren Calimeris, Lead, Economics
Gail Kallas, Lead, French/Italian
Samantha Keehn, Lead, Music
Betsy Swanner, Lead,Geology
Devon Thacker, Lead, Sociology
Chelsea Bridges, Lead Coordinator for Arts andHumanities, Graduate Teacher Program
Jessica Gorski, Lead Coordinator for STEM and Social Sciences, Graduate Teacher Program
Michelle Trogdon, CIRTL Link
During this session, Lead Graduate Teachers and GTP staff lead small group discussions of the ideas and solutions presented in Professor Westerman’s talk. The small groups will reconvene in 270 Hale to close the session.
1:15 PM – 2:45 PM
270 HALE
Metacognate This: Inspire Motivation with Written Self-Assessments
Rosalyn Zigmond, Instructor, Program for Writing & Rhetoric
This workshop reviews recent research in metacognition, writing to learn, and self-regulated learning germane to self-assessment. Participants will write self-assessments and discuss strategies to analyze and evaluate the language specific to written self-assessments.
230 HALE
Motivation at Work: Making the Most of Motivation in the Workplace
Linda Faucheux, Assistant Director, Counseling
Cori Shaff, Career Counselor & Outreach Specialist ,Career Services
This workshop provides an introduction to the Strengthsfinder assessment which will help participants discover their talents, motivation, and path and maximize their signature strengths and greatest potential in the workplace.
BREAK
3:00 PM – 4:30 PM
270 HALE
What Does Metacognition Mean for Teaching & Learning
Mike Klymkowsky, Professor, MCDB
Two professors who have thought a lot about how students learn discuss how they think you can help students think about learning.
230 HALE
Academic Advising Ideas for Graduate Teachers
Kristi Wasson, Academic Advisor, Communication
TAs and GPTIs have the potential to encourage students to major in their disciplines and pursue related careers. This session addresses ways to motivate students by tying course content and skills learned to careers that undergraduate students might want to consider.
Teaching assistants, graduate part–time instructors, postdocs, McNair and Pre-Prof students, faculty, and staff may attend any or all of the Spring Conference workshops. Please be sure to sign the attendance sheet at each workshop. For further information, please email or call Laura Border, (303) 492-4902.
Spring Conference Workshops and all workshops are open to all CU-Boulder graduate students, undergraduate teaching assistants, postdocs, faculty and staff.
All workshops count toward GTP certification
Download the GTP Spring Conference Schedule as a PDF here
Past Spring Conferences: 1993 -1996 / 1997 - 2000 / 2001 -2008
