Looking for a new and innovative way to improve your teaching methods in the classroom? The Open Classroom Initiative may be your answer! Whether you are struggling to keep your students engaged, or simply wanting to develop new skills, this initiative has been proven to be a successful way in increasing students grades and overall satisfaction in the classroom.
Piloting the Open Classroom Initiative
During the month of November, The Center for Academic Excellence will be piloting the open classroom initiative with six faculty members from various departments and colleges, who have volunteered to open their classrooms to their colleagues:
- Jeff Goodman, Curriculum and Instruction
- Lillian Goudas, First Year Seminar
- Sarah Greenwald, Mathematical Sciences/ Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies
- Nickolas Jordan, Human Development and Psychological Counseling
- Lindsay Masland, Psychology
- Erik Rabinowitz, Recreation Management and Physical Education
Participating in Open Classrooms is another opportunity for collaboration, learning new ways of teaching, discussing challenges and solutions and sharing experiences with each other.
Review the Open Classroom calendar at https://cae.appstate.edu/teaching-innovation/open-classrooms, and click the link for more information and details. If you see a class of interest, go to that classroom at the designated time, sit or stand in an out-of-the-way spot, and watch. Please note that some faculty members may want an email to let them know you may be attending, just to make sure it's not a test day or some other reason that particular day may be less suitable for observation.
We hope that this open classroom initiative becomes a standing program/ professional development opportunity for our campus. If you have any questions or comments on this initiative, please contact Tom Van Gilder at 6731 or vangildertm@appstate.edu.