Reflecting on Teaching seminars begin Sept. 30 The first Reflecting on Teaching seminar of the semester, “Reaching Beyond My Classroom: the Shift to a Learner Centered Institution?” will take place Wednesday, Sept. 30, from noon to 1 p.m. in the Red River Valley Room of the Memorial Union. Although the question, “What is college for?” seems to have an obvious answer to us as teachers, it often feels like student learning is not an institutional priority. Do you ever wish you felt a stronger sense that a university is a place where learning matters most? By typical standards successful colleges are ones that fill classes, and increase enrollments. But what if we evaluated our success as a university in terms of learning outcomes, rather than quantity of instruction? In today’s world of research driven rankings, is it even feasible to place learning at the center of the academic enterprise? John Tagg, featured keynote speaker for the Oct. 16 Reflecting on Teaching colloquium and author of an article we will be looking at in this session, argues it is not only feasible, but necessary. Tagg introduced the concept of the “learning paradigm college” in 2003. He defined such institutions as “producing learning” rather than “providing instruction,” and argued that “this shift changes everything.” Anne Kelsch (OID) and Joan Hawthorne (Assistant Provost) will start off this conversation with a look at what learning paradigm colleges look like, how well they accomplish their goals, and what challenges they face. After that, we will open the discussion to consider how changing the focus from instruction to learning might change both our classrooms and our university. We hope you’ll join the conversation as we think about our collective efforts to educate. Please register by Monday, Sept. 28 at noon to attend and reserve a lunch. Visit the Office of Instructional Development online (www.und.edu/dept/oid) to register. For information call Jana Hollands at 777-4998 or email jana_hollands@und.edu -- Anne Kelsch, Director, Office of Instructional Development, anne.kelsch@und.nodak.edu, 777-4233