Call for Proposals
The Call for Proposals deadline has passed, and we have received
many excellent proposals. We anticipate a conference that
brings together faculty, academic administrators, and student
affairs professionals to explore current research and scholarship
on ways to deepen student learning, effective approaches for
helping students become intentional learners, and ways educators
can collaborate to create inclusive environments that support
intentional learning.
As defined in AAC&U’s report, Greater Expectations:
A New Vision for Learning as a Nation Goes to College:
“Intentional learners are able to adapt to new environments,
integrate knowledge from different sources, and continue learning
throughout their lives. To thrive in a complex world, these
intentional learners should also become:
Empowered through the mastery of intellectual and practical
skills;
Informed by knowledge about the natural and social worlds
and about forms of inquiry basic to these studies; and
Responsible for their personal actions and for civic values.”
"Educating Intentional Learners" brings together
all aspects of the New Academy to think in new ways about
how we can lead students to higher levels of achievement that
will enable them to meet the demands of a world of increasing
complexity and challenge. We invite proposals that illustrate
the application of the scholarship of learning and teaching
to new teaching strategies; curricula and co-curricula designs;
and institutional policies and procedures. Proposed sessions
should provide opportunities for participants to discuss collaborative
approaches that advance together goals for inclusion, intentional
learning, and high achievement.
This conference will include workshops to assist participants
in moving from theory to practice, sessions that explore the
new scholarship about intentional learning, and models of
collaboration at a variety of institutions.
IIf you have submitted a proposal, the information below
may be of help to you. We look forward to your proposal and
participation.
Conference Pathways
Educating Intentional Learners is organized to address four
broad pathways. Proposals on the overall conference theme
that address issues not identified within these pathways were
also invited.
Pathway I: Research on Student Learning: What Do We
Know and What Does It Mean for Classroom and Campus Practice?
- What does current research tell us about ways to deepen
students’ learning?
- What does practical experience, as well as the available
scholarship, tell us about how collaboration among faculty,
academic administrators, and student affairs professionals
is or might be effective in advancing students’ high
achievement?
- On your campus, what strategies have worked to enable
students to be more intentional and purposeful in their
own learning?
- What classroom and campus practices help students connect
different fields of knowledge to solve complex, contemporary
problems and engage in conversations with those who have
different perspectives?
- How have diversity and inclusion contributed to student
learning and new levels of achievement on your campus?
- In what ways do your campus leaders address the relationships
between student learning and development in the curriculum
and co-curriculum?
Pathway II: Advancing Intentional Learning: Understanding
Our Distinct Roles and Shared Responsibilities
- What unique contributions do faculty, administrators,
and student affairs professionals make to the education
of intentional learners?
- How can faculty, academic administrators, and student
affairs professionals better understand and support each
other’s distinct roles and responsibilities in advancing
high achievement?
- How can we share what we each know about our students
to help create optimal learning experiences?
- As individuals on campus prepare their distinct curricular
and co-curricular agendas, how can they determine if, when,
and how to collaborate?
- Does your campus have specific roles designed to bridge
the boundaries of academic and student affairs? How do these
roles contribute to a culture that values such collaboration?
- Community colleges are often perceived to be further along
in developing collaborations for student learning. What
structures and roles have they created to improve connections
among faculty, academic, and student affairs?
Pathway III: New Approaches to Curricular and Co-curricular
Design, Pedagogy, and Institutional Support
- How are faculty advancing intentional learning within
the departments and majors; within general education; and
in connections between them?
- What are we learning about capstone work, portfolios,
and assessment as practices that help students take responsibility
for their own learning?
- Where does the process of helping learners become intentional
start? What practices have faculty, academic administrators,
and student affairs professionals developed on your campus
to advance student learning?
- How are these practices assessed?
- How has your campus integrated curricular and co-curricular
learning to help students gain, integrate, and apply knowledge
in social and professional settings?
- What policies facilitate coherence across distinct courses
or activities in curricular and co-curricular programs?
- How can academic and career advisors help students align
and achieve their educational goals?
- What strategies/practices are effective in supporting
struggling students?
- How has your campus assessed its collaborative efforts
to improve student learning and how have the findings been
used for institutional improvement?
Pathway IV: Collaborations to Create a Vibrant Intellectual
Campus Community
- What does a vibrant intellectual campus community look
like?
- Why should faculty, academic administrators, and student
affairs professionals collaborate? Under what circumstances
is collaboration most or least effective?
- How can institutional goals and rewards be aligned to
support such collaboration?
- How might curricular reform serve as a catalyst for creating
a culture of collaboration?
- How do campus cultures, pedagogies, and assessment interact
and influence each other to foster intentional learning?
- In what ways have your campus collaborations overcome
obstacles and met the challenges of focusing on student
learning?
- What role does the physical structure of your campus (residence
halls, office locations, classrooms, laboratory space, etc.)
play in creating a culture of collaboration and intentional
learning?
If you have any questions or would like to discuss your
proposal ideas, please contact Karen Kalla at kalla@aacu.org
or 202.387.3760 ext. 417.
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How to Submit a
Proposal
The online submission process ended on April 6, 2004. If you
have any questions, please contact Ms. Annand at annand@aacu.org
or 202-3887-3760 Ext. 802.
Notification
You should have received an automatic message indicating receipt
of your proposal when submitted. If you do not receive this
message, please send an email to Siah Annand at annand@aacu.org.
Acceptance
You will be notified in early May of the status of your proposal.
Registration Fees
All presenters at the Conference are responsible for the appropriate
conference registration fees, travel, and hotel expenses.
Please be sure all presenters indicated in your proposal have
this information. Registration materials will be available
on-line and an e-mail notification sent to you by September
1, 2004.
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Suggestions for
Sessions
We encourage sessions that raise provocative questions,
engage participants in discussion and reflection, and foster
improvements in educational practice upon return to campus.
We are also interested in showcasing new research that helps
inform better practice, especially as it relates to educating
intentional learners.
Before preparing your session, please consider for whom the
information will be more relevant. Who is your primary audience
(faculty, administrators, student affairs personnel, etc.),
and what level of expertise are you presuming in your audience?
We will indicate such intentions as appropriate in the conference
program book to help participants select sessions.
Please think through the pedagogy of your session. How might
you organize your session to engage the participants most
effectively and convey your key insights? Will that best be
achieved through a lecture or panel format, open forum, small
group work, an experiential learning activity, or problem-solving?
Sessions may present a single case study or link the work
of several institutions to illustrate a theory, structure,
or strategy applied in a variety of settings. If the focus
is on a single case, it is important to emphasize how it offers
insights valuable in other institutional settings.
We strongly encourage you to provide handouts and Web addresses
as appropriate to support your session. Written or electronic
resources may provide the essential link that enables a conference
participant to pursue your idea or develop a program based
on your work once she/he returns to campus. Particularly requested
are practical "How To" guides and links to a Web
site that includes syllabi, curricular or co-curricular programs,
research findings, or institutional policies.
AAC&U is committed to presenting Network conferences
at which session content and facilitators reflect the pluralism
of our campus communities. Proposals that advance diversity
as a catalyst for deepening student learning and that present
diverse perspectives are especially appreciated. We also encourage
the inclusion of student perspectives.
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Session Format
(suggested length of session)
Sessions formats vary in length from 60 to 90 minutes. We
will make every effort to accommodate your preferred session
format. Many of the session rooms will be set in round tables
to facilitate interaction.
Concurrent Sessions (60 – 90 Minutes; One –
Three Presenters)
We are seeking a final conference program that employs a variety
of diverse learning methods to model pedagogies of engagement.
Please consider which form(s) of learning will best engage
your participants and facilitate their understanding of the
information you will provide. We encourage presenters to model
engaged pedagogies through a variety of ways such as:
- small group discussions/debates;
- individual and/or group exercises;
- case studies;
- problem-solving;
- student presentations (reactions);
- role-play; and/or
- practice by doing (practice teaching).
The session leader should provide written information including
charts and diagrams as applicable to the type of information
being presented.
Poster/Demonstration Sessions (One – Two Presenters)
These sessions will take place during a reception and/or continental
breakfast with plenty of time for conference participants
to casually walk among the session displays and engage you
in sharing your work. Handouts with key points of the display
information provide valuable reference materials to guide
change and innovation when participants return to their home
campuses. We are especially interested in posters that describe
campus programs in both qualitative and quantitative terms.
Poster/Demonstration sessions lend themselves well to combining
visual displays of key information with written and verbal
presentations and small group interaction to create a more
personal learning experience. These sessions might include
3'x 4' boards displaying visual charts, diagrams, pictures,
graphs, etc. that demonstrate campus programs, processes,
models, institutional structures, etc. They might also choose
to present the information through other technological means,
or other visual display that can be set-up on the 6' x 3'
foot table provided. (Please note our ability to provide technical
assistance is limited, but if you have a project for which
you need such assistance, we are happy to explore the options
with you.)
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Resources for
Attendees of Your Session
Conference participants like to have resource materials to
help them implement or share new ideas when they return to
campus. Please plan to bring 75-100 handouts for your session.
We strongly encourage presenters to provide resources in advance
of the meeting on-line; this increases active participation
in your session.
On-line Resources for your Session
If your proposal pertains to a project, program, course, or
other feature for which there is (or will be) descriptive
material on the Web, please provide the URL address with your
proposal. AAC&U's Web site will include these links when
we post the conference program on our Web site in September
2004.
Advance Readings
We encourage you to make available advance readings that participants
will find useful for your session. We ask that you post such
readings on a Web site by September, if possible, and will
ask you for these URLs at that time.
Final Reminders
- Please complete all fields, including information pertaining
to all additional speakers.
- Please include links to supplemental materials, if available.
- Please remember that by submitting a proposal, you agree
to:
- Register and pay fees, if the proposal is accepted.
- Inform your co-presenters about the proposal's status
and the need for all presenters to pay the conference registration
fees.
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Dates to Remember
Monday, 5 April 2004
Proposals due to AAC&U
Early May 2004
Proposal acceptance notification
Wednesday, 1 September 2004
Conference registration materials available on-line
Tuesday, 19 October 2004
Cut-off date for conference reduced guest room rate at the
Hyatt Regency Philadelphia at Penn's Landing.
Monday, 25 October 2004
Early registration deadline. Add $50 to your registration
fee after this date.
If you have questions
or need additional information please contact Siah Annand
at annand@aacu.org or call 202-387-3760 Ext. 802. We look
forward to an excellent conference.
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