Keynote Speaker: Douglas Eder

Dr. Douglas Eder is the Associate Provost for Institutional Effectiveness at the University of North Florida, a position he accepted after retiring from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) following 31 years of service. While at SIUE, Dr. Eder led the construction of the institution's program in academic assessment, which was cited as early as November, 1998 by the AASCU as a "best practice" site for academic quality assurance. Twice he received SIUE's Teaching Excellence Award as well as a Research Scholar Award.

Dr. Eder has presented assessment presentations at dozens of national and regional conferences, assisted with assessment and improvement of learning at more than 90 institutions of higher learning from the Caribbean, across North America, to the Western Pacific, and published refereed articles on the subject of authentic assessment. In 2000-01, he served as the Emerson Visiting Distinguished Scholar at Hamilton College in New York. He also wrote and co-delivered both the Assurance of Learning Assessment and the Applied Assessment seminars for the Association for Advancement of Colleges and Schools of Business International (AACSB).

Dr. Eder's teaching joys include anatomy and physiology, introductory biology for non-majors, web-assisted courses, learning communities, neuroscience, bioethics, and summer marine biology field experiences. His non-academic pleasures include sailing, scuba diving, amateur radio, music, flying, and spending time with his nearly 12-year-old granddaughter.

Keynote Presentation (9 - 10 a.m.):

What Ice Hockey and Figure Skating Taught Me about Teaching, Learning, and Assessing

Some powerful insights into how people learn arise in unexpected places. A bit of practice in watching and listening magnifies both the number of opportunities to acquire insights and the gains available from them. At a time when governmental entities are questioning the effectiveness of US higher education, this interactive forum combines some lessons learned from ice sports with principles from the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) to invite a reconsideration of circumstances thought to produce deep learning in our students.

Facilitated Workshop (2:30 - 3:30 p.m.):

Two Loops Worth Closing

It is said that "practice makes perfect." This old saying implies improvement, but improvement does not occur via repetition alone. In a purely repetitive environment another saying operates: "If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got." The crucial missing element necessary for improvement is feedback. In effective teaching and learning, at least two feedback loops are important: One for the student and one for the pedagogue. Assessment has tried to provide this kind of feedback but, alas, has commonly failed to do so. This session of shared participation will try to envision some assessment scaffolding around which educational institutions could build substantial improvements in student learning and professors' teaching.