Laura McKenna has written a very interesting opinion piece for The Atlantic. She notes, among other things that, "After finishing their dissertations, PhDs are hired by a college, based on publication records, the reputations of their references, and the name of their graduate programs. If they happen to have picked up a little classroom experience through a temporary position, it is rarely considered by hiring committees. Unlike other educators, college professors receive no formal instruction on how to teach. Newly minted PhDs are expected to teach Introduction to Political Science or Macroeconomics to 35-200 students without training in classroom management, pedagogy, and assessment. They have had no mentorships or student teacher training. Would you go to a dentist who never learned how to drill teeth? In addition, their graduate education forced them specialize to such an extent that many find it difficult to convey the wide breadth of knowledge that is required in lower level, undergraduate classes, the very meat of a college education." Have you heard of course networking. A faculty member at Indiana University has created a social networking site that allows student to connect based on common courses. CourseNetworking, or The CN as it is described by the creator, "is a new social network dedicated to improved learning by connecting educators and students within a classroom and from around the world based on shared interests and class subjects. A free online platform open to anyone worldwide, The CN is a simple, easy-to-use system that lets students and teachers post and share classroom information and materials, collaborate on homework and socialize with their worldwide connections. The CN's mission is to change the way the world learns." The Quality Enhancement Plan, or QEP, at LU is focused on course redesign for the core curriculum. The initial thrust for implementation has taken place through the Active and Collaborative Engagement for Students (ACES) program. Three cohorts of faculty have been involved in the year-long process of creating courses based on the use of active learning. The faculty have redesigned their courses using learning outcomes that are focused on what they expect their students to be able to do once they have completed their course. The learning experiences used by the ACES Fellows are significant and innovative. Once the Center for Teaching+Learning Enhancement was established in 2010, a second resource was added to the QEP. Faculty development programming over the last two academic years has focused on providing specific active learning methods that faculty can implement in their classes immediately. In addition, through the faculty development expert speaker series, our faculty have been exposed to national leaders who are actively conducting research on the effectiveness of active learning methods adoption and much has been revealed that documents the impact of course redesign focused on these methods. Recently the CT+LE has contacted a number of past participants of the various faculty development workshops and seminars. We are interested in hearing from more of you about your experiences with active learning in your classroom. If you implemented new methods, we would like to know what you experienced in your class in terms of student learning and teaching effectiveness. If you would like to share your experience, please contact a member of the CT+LE staff at your convenience. The programming continues with the upcoming visit of Dr. Micheal Theall of Youngstown State University. You can register now to attend both of his fascinating workshops to be held on April 19 and 20. In addition, you should mark your calendar to attend a Provost Special Topics Seminar: Transformation in Perilous Times: Navigating our Way through the 21st Century to be delivered by Dr. George Mehaffy, Vice President of American Association of State Colleges and University and a LU alum. He will be visiting LU on Friday, April 20, 2012 and will give his talk at two times: 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM and 1:30 – 3:00 PM in the Landes Auditorium of Galloway Hall.