Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning

Summer Institute on Evidence-Based Teaching

The Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning will host the 3rd annual

Summer Institute on Evidence-Based Teaching

Join a diverse group of instructors in an intensive educational development opportunity working with a variety of topics including active learning strategies, effective assessment development, inclusive teaching practices, and design principles.

Announcement: Due to COVID-19 the Summer Institute on Evidence-Based Teaching has been POSTPONED.

University of Maine

Summer Institutes empower and inspire college and university instructors to transform education through evidence-based teaching practices. With support from the National Science Foundation, National Academy of Sciences, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Helmsley Charitable Trust, the Summer Institutes have now expanded to include regional opportunities to expand their reach and accessibility. This summer, University of Maine is proud to host a Mobile Summer Institute, bringing this exciting opportunity to our campus and faculty. The Summer Institute at University of Maine will provide facilitated training, model evidence-based teaching practices, and support participants in directly applying these principles to the development of new teaching materials.

BACKGROUND

MOBILE SUMMER INSTITUTE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MAINE (MoSI-UM)

CURRICULUM & SCHEDULE

WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS?

WHAT WILL I GET AS A SUMMER INSTITUTE FELLOW?

HOW TO APPLY

FAQs

PAST PARTICIPANTS

“The Institute was an amazing experience and I would highly recommend to other colleagues. It was one of the best teaching experiences I have had in my career.”

Excerpts from the Summer Institutes Webpage

BACKGROUND

MOBILE SUMMER INSTITUTE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MAINE (MoSI-UM)

CURRICULUM & SCHEDULE

Education research, active learning, effective assessment, and inclusive teaching are all woven into the Summer Institutes program. Activities include reflective writing, planning, reading, researching, discussing teaching methods and philosophy, interactive presentations, and developing teaching materials. By the end of the week, participants will have observed, evaluated, and collected a portfolio of innovative teaching approaches, instructional materials and practical strategies for enhancing student learning that can be adapted to their own teaching environments.

The week will close with a day spent on strategic planning and exploring strategies of change required to support evidence-based teaching on our campus. This portion of the event starts Thursday afternoon, and continues through Friday midday.

“For me the sessions have been extremely valuable because we have been actually practicing instead of just hearing about the topics in theory.”

WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS?

The Mobile Summer Institute at University of Maine will consist of 4, day-long workshops, planning sessions and presentations. Interested applicants should commit to attending the entire 4-day intensive. We will be working to select participants across disciplines who have demonstrated an interest in using innovative and effective teaching practices. Staff or non-teaching faculty are welcome to attend if participation can be shown to positively affect teaching efforts on campus. Graduate students, adjunct faculty, and all full-time faculty are welcome to apply. The Summer Institute is FREE for all selected applicants.

WHAT WILL I GET AS A SUMMER INSTITUTE FELLOW?

Summer Institute Fellows will be provided:

• Advice and expertise from by experienced facilitators and presenters
• Personalized  support developing and honing teaching materials
• Resources to help you develop and evaluate teaching skills and instructional materials
• Access to teaching materials developed by previous Summer Institute participants
• Breakfast and lunch for participants along with a kick-off banquet
• Workshop materials
• A supportive and engaged community of peers interested in improving their teaching
• A small honorarium (delivered upon completion)

HOW TO APPLY

Full and part-time faculty are invited to apply. A limited number of seats will also be available for interested graduate students. Graduate students should be prepared to provide a letter of support from their research advisor upon acceptance to the Summer Institute.

“This was a very valuable professional development opportunity for me. I feel better equipped with arguments for helping drive change in undergraduate education.”

FAQs

How much does attending the Summer Institute cost?

Participation in the Summer Institute is completely free.  You will need to pay for your own room and board if you are traveling from other parts of the state. The Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning will provide meals during the day and host a kick-off banquet for participants.

I don’t teach STEM courses – will this still be useful?

Although the Summer Institutes were founded with the aim to improve undergraduate STEM education, the methods, approaches and principles discussed at the institute are applicable and relevant to all disciplines. We strongly encourage any faculty interested in learning more about these teaching approached to participate. Interesting and exciting new collaborations have emerged from interdisciplinary teams working at Summer Institutes. At other institutions, faculty from various fields such as communications, sociology, psychology and education have all been satisfied participants.

“At WSU we elected to have an open institute both years that we have offered the SI. We’ve had individuals from 6 different colleges at WSU and people from many different disciplines (some that come to mind are Economics, Chemistry, Biology, Libraries, Education, Entomology, Physics, Environmental Engineering, Communication). Having a diverse group of faculty was wonderful for the conversations during the institute, and while the assignments to working groups often were focused a bit narrowly (all physical sciences; all life sciences), we did have some diverse mixed-discipline groups who came up with amazing interdisciplinary lesson plans.”

Do I have to attend the entire time or can I come and go throughout the week?

Accepted applicants are expected to attend all sessions of the Summer Institute.

What is required of me after I participate?

There are no requirements of participants once the Summer Institute is complete.  Fellows will have opportunities to serve as facilitators in future Summer Institutes, as well as be supported in the dissemination of their work via presentations and publications.

If you have additional questions, please email: citlworkshop@maine.edu or call 207.581.2724

The University makes every effort to provide reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities upon request. Accommodation requests are addressed in the application form.  

The University of Maine, Orono is an EEO/AA employer, and does not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, transgender status, gender expression, national origin, citizenship status, age, disability, genetic information or veteran’s status in employment, education, and all other programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies: Sarah E. Harebo, Director of Equal Opportunity, 101 North Stevens Hall, University of Maine, Orono, ME  04469-5754, 207.581.1226, TTY 711 (Maine Relay System).

2019 Evidence Based Teaching Fellows:

2018 Evidence Based Teaching Fellows:

2019 Evidence Based Teaching Mentors:

Jennifer Newell-Caito

Lilliana Herakova

Sara Walton

Rachel Snell

Sarah Lindahl

Jennifer Tyne

2018 Evidence Based Teaching Mentors:

Liliana Herakova

Todd Zoroya