Nationally known teacher/scholar kicks off 2007 speaker series This spring the Office of Instructional Development launches a speaker series focusing on the work of faculty engaged in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). The series will feature a Feb. 1 kick-off presentation by Craig E. Nelson (professor emeritus of biology, Indiana University) titled “The Scholarship of Teaching & Learning (SoTL): Frameworks, Lessons and New Directions.” We will welcome Dr. Nelson with a reception in the East Asian Room, Chester Fritz Library, from 3:30 to 4 p.m. before his presentation and a discussion from 4 to 5:30 p.m. For more information on Dr. Nelson’s extensive accomplishments as a scholar, scientist and teacher (with noted expertise in fostering critical thinking and mature valuing across the curriculum, diversity and college teaching, and active learning) visit his bio at http://www.und.edu/dept/oid/BTSSeries.html The series will continue Feb. 22 with a presentation by Dexter Perkins (geology), a UND Bush teaching scholar. He will present "Thinking About Teaching and Teaching About Thinking: What Should Our Students be Learning in Our Classrooms and How Will We Know When They Have Learned It?" There will be a reception from 3:30 to 4 p.m. with the presentation from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in the East Asian Room, Chester Fritz Library. Rounding out the spring series will be a presentation by Patti Alleva (the Rodney and Betty Webb Professor of Law), another UND Bush Teaching Scholar, on March 29. She will present "Learning for Life: The Imperative of Self-Awareness in Teaching and Practicing." A reception will be held from 3:30 to 4 p.m. with the presentation from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in the East Asian Room, Chester Fritz Library. While other speaker series focus on the results of research or scholarly activity, the SoTL series will also focus on the process of inquiry. We’ll learn what questions prompted Perkins and Alleva to look into their teaching -— and their students’ learning -— more deeply, what methods of inquiry they used, what they learned from the experience, and how their teaching has changed as a result. Please mark your calendar and plan on coming for some interesting talk and lively discussion on topics of interest to faculty from all disciplines. -- Anne Kelsch, Assistant Prof., History, anne_kelsch@und.nodak.edu, 710-777-6489