Notes from Academic Affairs: PIE

Greetings from Academic Affairs!

Idaho State University’s Program for Instructional Effectiveness (PIE) provides numerous occasions and opportunities for faculty to learn more about innovative strategies for the classroom. This semester we have hosted two Great Ideas in Teaching lectures that have provided insight from expert teachers on helpful ideas they have used in the classroom. Dr. Matt Levay (English and Philosophy) presented on “Writing in Sequence: How to Prompt Better Thinking in Any Course” and Dr. Shin Kue Ryu (Political Science) discussed “Bringing the Outside World to Less-Traveled Students.” We hosted a faculty panel (Dr. Janet Loxterman - Biology, Dr. Mark McBeth - Political Science, and Dr. Berenice Sanchez - School Psychology and Educational Leadership) on Teaching Difficult Subjects which offered faculty numerous thought-provoking strategies related to facilitating critical classroom discussion. And, we are currently running two faculty reading circles to provide opportunities for faculty to meet as a (virtual) group and discuss thoughts and ideas on two books focused on teaching in higher education: How Humans Learn: The Science and Stories Behind Effective College Teaching by Joshua Eyler and The Spark of Learning: Energizing the College Classroom with the Science of Emotion by Sarah Rose Kavanagh.

As we close out fall semester, we are looking toward the spring and are planning similar events and activities to support our ISU community of outstanding faculty. Please reach out to Dr. Margaret Johnson (margaretjohnson@isu.edu) for more information on spring events and information.

Thank you!

The Academic Affairs Team