GLOBAL POSITIONING:
Essential Learning, Student Success, and the Currency of U.S. Degrees

AAC&U Annual Meeting
January 26-29, 2011
San Francisco

Project Kaleidoscope (PKAL) — Advancing what works in STEM education

The following Annual Meeting sessions are sponsored by Project Kaleidoscope.

PKAL is also co-sponsoring the Pre-Meeting Symposium on “Integrating the Sciences, Arts, and Humanities: Global Challenges and the Intentional Curriculum,” which will be held all-day on Wednesday, January 26. (Separate registration and fee required.) The notebook for the symposium can be found here.

More information about PKAL activities is available here.

Friday, January 28, 8:45-10:15 am

The Critical Role of Leadership in Advancing Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Learning in STEM and Beyond
Project Kaleidoscope’s Facilitating Interdisciplinary Learning project, funded by the W.M. Keck Foundation, has involved 250 faculty and academic leaders from 30 diverse campus teams who have explored what works to better prepare students for the kinds of interdisciplinary and integrative thinking required for success in this global century. The project’s final recommendations will be presented here, followed by discussion of leadership strategies for articulating a shared interdisciplinary vision and goals, supporting interdisciplinary faculty members, creating enabling campus cultures, overcoming institutional barriers, and measuring and celebrating success.
Moderator: Susan Elrod, Executive Director, Project Kaleidoscope
Panelists:  Verna M. Case, Associate Dean for Teaching, Learning, and Research and Professor of Biology, Davidson College; Terry L. Gustafson, Special Assistant to the Executive Dean for Semester Conversion and Professor of Chemistry, The Ohio State University; Bernadette C. Kelley, Associate Professor of Secondary Education, Florida A&M University; M. Lee Pelton, President, Willamette University

Friday, January 28, 10:30-11:45 am

Implementing Interdisciplinary STEM Programs:
Connecting Interdisciplinary Learning to Classroom Experiences through Meaningful Assessment
Campus leaders from Project Kaleidoscope’s Facilitating Interdisciplinary Learning project will facilitate an interactive session in which participants will apply key project recommendations and strategies to their own campuses. Through small group discussions and case study analysis, session participants will gain a better understanding of what it takes to successfully develop interdisciplinary learning goals that are aligned with the campus vision and mission, connect these goals to appropriate assessment strategies, support the work of interdisciplinary faculty teams, and overcome institutional barriers for achieving sustainable interdisciplinary programs.
Facilitators:  Michael Kerchner, Associate Professor of Psychology, Washington College; Whitney M. Schlegel, Associate Professor of Biology, Indiana University; Kyle Seifert, Associate Professor of Biology and Co-Director of JMU Medicinal Research Collaborative, James Madison University; Mark Stewart, Professor of Psychology and Department Chair, Willamette University

The notebook for both Friday morning sessions can be found here.

Friday, January 28, 5:30-7:00 pm

Reception sponsored by Project Kaleidoscope and PKAL Learning Spaces Collaboratory
Please RSVP by Friday, January 14th to pkal@aacu.org.

SESSIONS FROM THE PKAL COMMUNITY

Globally-Focused Learning in the Interdisciplinary Classroom: A Research-Based Framework for Learning Goals and Pedagogies in Science-Rich Courses
Five colleges—Carleton, Grinnell, Hope, St. Olaf, and Whitman—are engaged in a research project to understand and assess student learning in interdisciplinary science courses aimed at educating students for public and private global citizenship. We are using a mixed methodology. Our first major finding is a framework for organizing, thinking about, and assessing science-rich interdisciplinary learning. The audience will be actively engaged through recreating some of the process by which the framework was developed.
Jim Swartz, Dack Professor of Chemistry, and David Lopatto, Samuel R. & Marie-Louise Rosenthal Professor of Natural Sciences, Psychology – both of Grinnell College; Tricia Ferrett, Professor of Chemistry, Carleton College; Jim Russo, Associate Professor, Biochemistry, Biophysics, & Molecular Biology (BBMB) Program, Whitman College; Joanne Stewart, Professor of Chemistry, Hope College

Leveraging NSF Resources to Globalize the Undergraduate STEM Learning Environment
This session is designed for dialogue between academic leaders and representatives of NSF’s Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE).  Academic participants will gain a deeper understanding of the opportunities within NSF to pilot, explore, and establish meaningful opportunities through which their students and faculty can engage in meaningful research and education collaborations with colleagues in countries around the world.  NSF representatives will gain a deeper understanding of what it takes to shape meaningful global exchanges of undergraduate STEM faculty and students, based on the experiences of the broad range of institutional types within the AAC&U community.
Jeanne Narum, Director Emerita, Project Kaleidoscope, and PKAL-AAC&U Senior Fellow; Robert Webber, Senior Science Policy Analyst, and D. Mook, Program Manager – both of the Office of International Science and Engineering  (OD/OISE), National Science Foundation

Engaging Students in International Undergraduate Research
Colleges and universities are eager to increase both research opportunities and international experiences for students.  International undergraduate research allows the integration of these two goals. Panelists will discuss project planning, research preparation, cultural orientation, pitfalls and obstacles to success, faculty supervision on campus and abroad, and post-research activities. Participants will take home practical ideas for delivering undergraduate research opportunities in an international setting.
Marcus Webster, Professor of Biology, College of Saint Benedict; Daniel Wubah, Vice President and Dean for Undergraduate Education, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; Carol Bender, Program Director, Undergraduate Research in Biology Program and BRAVO! and Professor in Practice, University of Arizona