FINAL QEP EVENT!!

Fall 2023

The University of Mississippi’s 5th Annual Faculty Approaches to Critical Thinking (FACT) Institute
August 9th, 9:00 am – 2:00 pm, Johnson Commons East Ballroom

The FACT Institute is an important part of the University of Mississippi’s ThinkForward Quality Enhancement Plan. This workshop is the fourth in an annual series of summer workshops dedicated to exploring the role of critical thinking in higher education, our university, and our classrooms. The FACT Institute plays a critical role in strengthening our approaches to teaching for critical thinking.

This year’s FACT Institute will feature a keynote and from Mike Caulfield from the University of Washington, as well as a panel of UM faculty who will discuss the redesign projects they completed using funding from QEP grants.

During the event opportunities for upcoming grants for enhancing critical thinking pedagogy will be introduced. In particular, attendees of the FACT Institute will be eligible to submit a proposal for a FACT grant, which provides $4,000 for individuals (more for departmental teams) to redesign a lower-division course or courses they will be teaching in Spring 2024. Redesigns should include, but are not limited to, course outcomes, assignments, and teaching methods, with an eye toward revising these elements to enhance critical thinking. Participants must attend the FACT Institute in order to be eligible for this opportunity.

During the 2022-23 academic year, 25 colleagues from 10 different departments/schools across the university received FACT grants, either as individuals or part of departmental teams, to redesign courses to enhance critical thinking.

Schedule for the FACT Institute

9:15-10:00 Breakfast and Registration

10:00-10:30 Updates on the progress of the QEP

10:30-11:45 Panel of faculty discussing their course redesigns that were funded by the QEP

11:45-12:00 Break

12:00-1:15 Lunch and Keynote Address from Mike Caulfield, “Beyond Belief: ”Using Student Fact-Checking to Reintroduce Argument Analysis into the Classroom”

1:00-1:15 Break

1:15-2:00 Applying for QEP Funding

Please contact Josh Eyler at jreyler@olemiss.edu if you have any questions about the event.

Fall 2022

The University of Mississippi’s 4th Annual Faculty Approaches to Critical Thinking (FACT) Institute
August 10th, 9:00 am – 3:00 pm, Main Event Room, Jackson Avenue Center

The FACT Institute is an important part of the University of Mississippi’s ThinkForward Quality Enhancement Plan. This workshop is the fourth in an annual series of summer workshops dedicated to exploring the role of critical thinking in higher education, our university, and our classrooms. The FACT Institute plays a critical role in strengthening our approaches to teaching for critical thinking.

The theme for the 2022 FACT Institute is “Using Inclusive Teaching Practices to Improve Critical Thinking in the Classroom.” Centering our work on this topic allows us to explore productive intersections between our university’s investment in enhancing students’ critical thinking skills and our ongoing efforts to develop more inclusive pedagogies and learning environments.

This year’s FACT Institute will feature a keynote and workshop from Dr. Chavella Pittman, Professor of Sociology at Dominican University and a highly regarded expert on inclusive teaching practices, as well as a panel of UM faculty who will discuss the redesign projects they completed using funding from QEP grants.

During the event opportunities for upcoming grants for enhancing critical thinking pedagogy will be introduced. In particular, attendees of the FACT Institute will be eligible to submit a proposal for a FACT grant, which provides $4,000 for individuals (more for departmental teams) to redesign a lower-division course or courses they will be teaching in Spring 2022. Redesigns should include, but are not limited to, course outcomes, assignments, and teaching methods, with an eye toward revising these elements to enhance critical thinking. Participants must attend the FACT Institute in order to be eligible for this opportunity.

During the 2021-22 academic year, 15 colleagues from 8 different departments across the university received FACT grants, either as individuals or part of departmental teams, to redesign courses to enhance critical thinking.

RSVP for the 2022 FACT Institute here:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSebqsVC0c35oFtq3xDq_3RApm73dtaXuOPbcS7UAHZer-f36Q/viewform

Schedule for the FACT Institute

8:30-9:30 Breakfast and Registration

9:30-10:00 Updates on the progress of the QEP

10:00-11:30 Panel of faculty discussing their course redesigns that were funded by the QEP

11:30-11:45 Break

11:45-1:00 Lunch and Keynote Address from Dr. Chavella Pittman, “Modeling Critical Thinking for Students via Inclusive Teaching”

1:00-1:15 Break

1:15-2:30 Workshop by Dr. Chavella Pittman on Enhancing Critical Thinking Through Inclusive Teaching Practices

2:30-3:00 Applying for QEP Funding

Please contact Josh Eyler at jreyler@olemiss.edu if you have any questions about the event.

Spring 2022

QEP Speaker Series on Critical Thinking in the Disciplines

Arts

Jessica Zeller, Ph.D., MFA

Associate Professor of Dance

School for Classical and Contemporary Dance

Texas Christian University

Title: “Facilitating Critical Thinking in Arts Disciplines: Pedagogies and Policy Designs”

Date and Time: Friday, February 18th, from 12:00-1:00

RSVP Link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc6lOcukHfXxwZG4WIXwISMqSyvhGY_jPtJO4-Sfzig3-tIiQ/viewform

Bio: Dr. Zeller is an Associate Professor of Dance in the School for Classical & Contemporary Dance at Texas Christian University. An avid ungrader and aspiring pedagogic renegade, she aims to design and teach courses that center humanity, equity, and vitality in the ballet studio and the traditional classroom. Zeller’s current research brings Ballet Pedagogy into dialogue with Critical and Feminist pedagogies; her most recent work appears in the Journal of Dance Education, as well as in the anthologies Hybrid Teaching: Pedagogy, People, Politics (Hybrid Pedagogy, 2021) and (Re:)Claiming Ballet (Intellect, 2021). Her 2016 book, Shapes of American Ballet: Teachers and Training before Balanchine (Oxford University Press) unearths the teachings of several lesser-known European and Russian ballet pedagogues and situates their work in the context of American Capitalism during the early twentieth century. Zeller facilitates faculty and student workshops on Progressive pedagogies, she is on the faculty of Digital Pedagogy Lab, and she was a2019 Scholar-in-Residence at Temple University. She is currently serving as President-Elect of CORPS de Ballet International. Find her at http://www.jessicazeller.net or on Twitter @jessicazeller.

Humanities

Catherine J. Denial, Ph.D.

Bright Distinguished Professor of American History

Chair, History Department

Director, The Bright Institute at Knox College

Knox College

Title: “Hands-on Humanities: Critical Thinking and Doing”

Date and Time: Tuesday, February 15th, from 12:00-1:00

RSVP Link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScQsx6deX6gDbZzPAXa9O-Z1QFcBb4E36KCMnVSgfGU3bAjSQ/viewform

Bio: Dr. Denial is the Bright Distinguished Professor of American History, Chair of the History department, and Director of the Bright Institute at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. A 2018-2021 Distinguished Lecturer for the Organization of American Historians, Cate is the winner of the American Historical Association’s 2018 Eugene Asher Distinguished Teaching award, and a former member of the Digital Public Library of America‘s Educational Advisory Board. Cate currently sits on the boards of the Western Historical Quarterly and Commonplace: A Journal of Early American Life. Cate is at work on a new book, A Pedagogy of Kindness, under contract with West Virginia University Press. Her historical research has examined the early nineteenth-century experience of pregnancy, childbirth and child-rearing in Upper Midwestern Ojibwe and missionary cultures, research that grew from Cate’s previous book, Making Marriage: Husbands, Wives, and the American State in Dakota and Ojibwe Country (2013). In summer 2018, Cate was an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, PA.

Social Sciences

Esther Jordan, Ph.D.
Director, Faculty Success
Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL)
Professor of Political Science
Kennesaw State University

Title: “Developing Critical Thinkers in the Social Sciences: Tips, Tools, and Strategies”

Date and Time: Wednesday, February 16th, from 12:00-1:00

RSVP Link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc5sa56ndp7Vft8glmRqtMVppkaUYBF0e9M_3ZeRn2UpVIzzQ/viewform

Bio: Dr. Jordan is a Professor of Political Science with the KSU School of Government and International affairs. She serves on the SGI curriculum and diversity and inclusion committees and leads its faculty writing accountability groups. Her research and writing focus on social capital, civil society, informal networks, educational development, and coaching. Dr. Jordan leads the KSU Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning’s Faculty Success team, which is charged with supporting faculty and leaders in their professional development. She directs the annual Orientation and Retreats for Chairs and Deans and the Full-Time Faculty Early Career Institute. She also co-directs the Provost’s Faculty Leadership Fellows program and CETL’s Coaching Program.

STEM (with a mathematics emphasis)

Oscar Fernandez, Ph.D.

Class of 1966 Associate Professor of Mathematics
Department of Mathematics
Wellesley College

Title: “(Small) Teaching Critical Thinking: Quick and Contextualized Ways to Teach and Enhance Students’ Critical Thinking Skills in Math and Science”

Date and Time: Monday, February 14th, from 12:00-1:00

RSVP Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfcobPEkAUpkYJ8iJBaFMgxw4UZDI8yYJvbOF9sYNhuyf6ArA/viewform

Bio: Dr. Fernandez is the Class of 1966 Associate Professor of Mathematics at Wellesley College. He has served as the college’s Faculty Director of their Pforzheimer Learning and Teaching Center and Faculty Director of their Andrew W. Mellon Evidence-Based Teaching Innovations Grant. He is a 2021 Guggenheim recipient whose research interests include mathematical physics and mathematical demography. He is also the author of Everyday Calculus, The Calculus of Happiness, and Calculus Simplified, all published by Princeton University Press.

STEM (with a natural sciences emphasis)

Natasha G. Holmes, Ph.D.

Ann Bowers Assistant Professor

Department of Physics

Cornell University

Title: “What Does It Really Mean to Teach and Assess Critical Thinking in STEM?”

Date and Time: Thursday, February 17th, from 12:00-1:00

RSVP Link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScvJCSI-1trvrTcUOA4OpwRZ7R3jKdWr1ogZN4d_Ske1QQbtw/viewform

Bio: Dr. Holmes is the Ann S. Bowers assistant professor in the Department of Physics at Cornell University, with the Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics. Dr. Holmes received her BSc in physics from the University of Guelph and her MSc and PhD in physics at the University of British Columbia. She then went on to do her postdoctoral work at Stanford University working with Dr. Carl Wieman. Her research group studies many aspects of student learning, attitudes, and skill development from hands-on laboratory experiences, with a focus on critical thinking and experimentation. She also explores issues of equity and diversity in physics and methodological issues and techniques in physics education research. Among her many important publications, Dr. Holmes is the lead author on the paper “Teaching Critical Thinking” in PNAS (2015).

Fall 2021

During the event opportunities for upcoming grants for enhancing critical thinking pedagogy will be introduced. In particular, attendees of the FACT Institute will be eligible to submit a proposal for a FACT grant, which provides $4000 for individuals (more for departmental teams) to redesign a lower-division course or courses they will be teaching in Spring 2022. Redesigns should include, but are not limited to, course outcomes, assignments, and teaching methods, with an eye toward revising these elements to enhance critical thinking. Participants must attend the FACT Institute in order to be eligible for this opportunity.

During the 2020-21 academic year, 24 colleagues from 10 different departments across the university received FACT grants, either as individuals or part of departmental teams, to redesign courses to enhance critical thinking.

RSVP for the 2021 FACT Institute here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSebqsVC0c35oFtq3xDq_3RApm73dtaXuOPbcS7UAHZer-f36Q/viewform

Schedule:

10:00 Overview of the QEP

• Elements of the Program, including Grant Programs
• Assessment Components
• Where We Are Now

10:30 Keynote Address by Dr. Sarah Birrell Ivory (faculty at the University of Edinburgh and author of Becoming a Critical Thinker)

11:45 Break

12:00 Panel of Previous QEP Grant Awardees with Q&A

1:30 Discussion of Grant Programs and Brainstorming Session for Proposal Development

2:15 Wrap Up

Spring 2021

QEP Speaker Series on Critical Thinking in the Disciplines

Arts (Talk: March 10^thfrom 4:30-6:00)

Rick Davis, Ph.D.

Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts

Professor of Theatre

George Mason University

Talk title: “Everyone’s a Critic(al Thinker): Bringing Artistic Practice to the Gen Ed Classroom”

RSVP Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfdinVNE0CcTE_w30dUe7w7liM7ccSJ2vhoCZDOMBCDUnpYeQ/viewform

**Dr. Davis previously served as Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education at Mason, where he focused on improving general education at the university, and as Artistic Director for the award-winning Theatre of the First Amendment in Washington, D.C.

Humanities (Talk: March 9^thfrom 4:30-6:00)

Elizabeth Lehfeldt, Ph.D.

Dean of the Mandel Honors College

Mandel Professor of Humanities

Cleveland State University

Talk title: “If Everyone Does It, How Do We Do It Differently?: Critical Thinking in the Humanities Classroom”

RSVP Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdsk153E19jTWe7KLu9DmrB4fRPDuTF02gwBVEt_Tw33Ptx3A/viewform

**Dr. Lehfeldt is also past Vice President of the Teaching division of the American Historical Association.

Math (Talk: March 12^thfrom 11-12:30)

Oscar Fernandez, Ph.D.

Class of 1966 Associate Professor of Mathematics

Wellesley College

Talk Title: “Is the Earth Flat? Why and How to Teach Critical Thinking in Mathematics and STEM”

RSVP Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd0K0pK81_073h9B7QBR3aVTwGcQCmhZbnwXZUFgbouYS3xxw/viewform

**Dr. Fernandez is also the Faculty Director of their teaching center and the Faculty Director of their Andrew W. Mellon Grant for Evidence-Based Teaching Innovations. He has also written Everyday Calculus (Princeton UP), The Calculus of Happiness (Princeton UP), and Calculus Simplified (Princeton UP).

Social Sciences (Talk: March 5^thfrom 4:00-5:30)

Stephen Chew, Ph.D.

Professor of Psychology

Samford University

Talk Title: “What Cognitive Research Says (and Doesn’t Say) about Creating Critical Thinkers”

RSVP Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfKmrflJfeFRysLN0Yk3zaFvvm0m3kK6blrle0X353l2B8AvA/viewform

**Dr. Chew has been honored as both U.S. Professor of the Year and the Alabama Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and he has won both the Robert S. Daniel Excellence in Teaching Award from the American Psychological Association and the Charles L. Brewer Distinguished Teaching of Psychology Award from the American Psychology Foundation. Finally, he is a Fellow of the Teaching Division of the APA as well.

STEM (CTalk: March 4^thfrom 3:00-4:30)

Dr. Kimberly Tanner

Professor of Biology

San Francisco State University

Talk Title: “Assessing How Individuals Organize Disciplinary Knowledge – Card Sorting, Superheroes, and Moving Towards Measuring Expertise among Undergraduates”

RSVP Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScDmptAp9i3gzGgC512l9HwKaPj9CdE7zM0Do48OY6PbnZV7A/viewform

**Dr. Tanner is a renowned researcher of science education and is one of the most highly sought-after speakers in the country on evidence-based STEM teaching.

Fall 2020

August 12th and 13th 2020 via Zoom 

Recording from Day 1 of the event

Recording from Day 2 of the event

More information about the FACT Institute

The FACT Institute is an important part of the University of Mississippi’s ThinkForward Quality Enhancement Plan. This workshop is the second in an annual series of summer workshops dedicated to exploring the role of critical thinking in higher education, our university, and our classrooms. The FACT Institute plays a critical role in strengthening our approaches to teaching for critical thinking.

During the event opportunities for upcoming grants for enhancing critical thinking pedagogy will be introduced. In particular, attendees of the FACT Institute will be eligible to submit a proposal for a FACT grant, which provides $4000 for individuals (more for departmental teams) to redesign a lower-division course or courses they will be teaching in Spring 2021. Redesigns should include, but are not limited to, course outcomes, assignments, and teaching methods, with an eye toward revising these elements to enhance critical thinking. Participants must attend both sessions of the FACT Institute in order to be eligible for this opportunity.

During the 2019-20 academic year, 23 colleagues from 9 different departments across the university received FACT grants, either as individuals or part of departmental teams, to redesign courses to enhance critical thinking.  

Schedule:

Wednesday, August 12th

11:00 Overview of the QEP 

• Elements of the Program, including Grant Programs
• Assessment Components
• Where We Are Now

11:30 Amanda Baker (Iowa State University) and Kari Taylor (Springfield College), keynote address on “productive discomfort” and the development of critical thinking skills

12:45 Assessing Critical Thinking in Our Courses

1:30 Wrap-up

Thursday, August 13th

11:00 Panel of Previous FACT Grant Awardees with Q&A

12:00 Panel of Previous CTR Grant Awardees with Q&A

12:45 Brainstorming Session for Proposal Development

1:30 Wrap-up

 Please contact Josh Eyler at jreyler@olemiss.edu if you have any questions about the event.

Spring 2020

Fall 2019

Faculty Approaches to Critical Thinking (FACT) Institute
with Peter Facione and Carol Gittens

Thursday 15 August, Jackson Avenue Center, 8:00am – 4:00pm

Workshop Luncheon – Enhancing Our Students’ Critical Thinking Skills:

What the Research Shows and How to Apply It to Our Classrooms with Josh Eyler

Thursday 5 September, Student Union Ballroom, 11:45 – 1:00

RSVP Here

Slides from the event (including a list of references)

Luncheon – QEP Funding Opportunities for Faculty,

Graduate Students, and Staff with Josh Eyler

Wednesday 11 September, Inn at Ole Miss Ballroom, 11:45 – 1:00

RSVP Here

Workshop Luncheon – Designing Courses for Critical Thinking,

Part I: Learning Goals and Course Structure with Josh Eyler

Tuesday 8 October, Inn at Ole Miss Ballroom, 11:45 – 1:00

RSVP Here