2012 Teaching and Learning Fair

Todd Zakrajsek is the Executive Director of the Center for Faculty Excellence at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  He was previously the Inaugural Director of the Faculty Center for Innovative Teaching at Central Michigan University and the founding Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Southern Oregon University, where he also taught in the psychology department as a tenured associate professor. Todd also directs the Lilly Conference on Teaching and Learning at Traverse City, Michigan, and the International Conference on Improving University Teaching. Dr. Zakrajsek received his Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Ohio University. He has published and presented widely on the topic of student learning, including workshops and conference keynote addresses in 37 states and 6 countries.

Dr. Zakrajsek will deliver two keynote presentations on Friday, February 10, 2012.  The first keynote about learner-centered teaching is targeted for BGSU educators; his second keynote, targeted for undergraduate students, centers on research regarding how best to acquire new information.

How Students Learn: Strategies for Engaged Learning
11:15-12:30, Lenhart Grand Ballroom
Abundant research demonstrates that learning takes place when the student's mind actively engages in the material. The major problem is determining how to increase that activity. Within the discipline of human memory, learning, and cognition exists a vast body of literature dealing specifically with this issue. Participants will leave this workshop with an understanding of the basic concepts in human learning, how to present information so that students most effectively encode it into long-term memory, and how to help students know when they know.

Enhance Your Academic Potential: How Research Can Help You To Be a Successful and Engaged Learner
2:00-3:00, Lenhart Grand Ballroom
It is important to get involved in research, both conducting research with a faculty mentor and also following the research on how best to learn. Current research regarding how people learn is often very different from common myths about how best to acquire new information.  In this session we will discuss the latest information about learning styles, look at conditions to help you to process information, practice some effective study habits, and learn techniques so you will know when you know the material. In this session we will try out the techniques presented. The overall goal is for you to figure out better and more efficient ways to learn.