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The Innovative Teaching Showcase is a website publication created
each academic year by the Center for Instructional
Innovation (CII) to spotlight WWU instructors' best practices in
pedagogy, instructional technologies, and expanded learning environments.
The advantages of being "showcased" are numerous. The CII
often presents innovations from the Showcase website at campus-based
functions as well as national conferences.
Each instructor's Showcase is completely different. Some instructors
are showcased because of the way they teach an entire course, a single
lesson, or the way they approach all their classes. The innovation does
not necessarily have to involve the use of instructional technology.
At the heart of each Showcase is the innovative method instructors use
to facilitate their students' learning in unique and creative ways.
For example:
- The use of "discovery learning" and the inquiry process
in a Geology class to actively engage students in the course material.
See Thor
Hansen's showcase from 2001.
- Tara Perry encouraged her students to use their communication
skills in the real world through community service projects which
they presented to the class at the end of the quarter. She described
her focus on the community as a more exciting way to extend learning
beyond the classroom. See Tara
Perry's showcase from 2003.
- Mike Mana worked
with two undergraduate students to fine tune the assessment
tools that he uses in his courses.
Starting with developing learning objectives and learning outcomes,
then designing assessment tools that could be
used to improve the course, they dramatically changed the way he
teaches. See Mike
Mana's showcase from
2004.
The CII works with several nominated instructors annually to develop and
publish their innovation on the Showcase website. Each separate section
is composed of three parts: A multimedia showcase (using video, audio
and graphics) which gives examples of the course; a portfolio (usually
written by the instructor) that describes the innovative process in
detail; and an institutional goals section,
that links WWU's student learning outcomes in specific areas to those
contained in the course. Previous showcases are available on the main
Showcase home page.
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