by Sheryl Marlar
Cher Hendricks, director for the Center of Teaching and Learning, spoke at the conference.
The University of West Georgia recently held its inaugural Innovations in Pedagogy Conference, abbreviated IiP. The mission of this conference was to facilitate engaging conversations within UWG’s faculty on the best practices in teaching by providing a forum for faculty to share those practices.
Dr. Kyle Marrero, UWG president, provided the opening remarks for the conference. “What’s exciting about the timing of this conference is how it ties into our Strategic Plan,” he says. The recently approved plan includes core values that every faculty, staff and student will seek to incorporate into their daily engagement at the university. In addition, it supports the university’s vision, mission and values.
He also pointed out that UWG faculty were coming up with more effective models and constantly improving their craft. “Your participation today shows that you are engaged,” he added. He encouraged faculty members to engage together, be happy, ask questions and challenge each other “to infinity and beyond!”
Conference goers then spent the day attending various workshops and presentations. The presentation topics included increasing student engagement, using online tools, working with disruptive students and alternatives to textbooks, just to name a few.
At the end of the day, faculty members left with new ideas for their classrooms and renewed friendships across the campus. Plans for IiP 2015 will be underway soon.
