Meet the Project Team
Dr. Anita Sarma
"This was the first teaching workshop I have ever attended, so it was really useful to hear about other faculty’s perspectives on some of the similar issues on student engagement. The ARISE program provided a very friendly and dynamic environment where we discussed different pedagogical improvements and were able to learn about these techniques through participation in class. This was very useful, since as faculty we would have been too busy to read the CATs from the book and apply it on our own. The instructors were very helpful and made a great effort to connect to the different fields that we the “students” represented."
"I am an assistant professor from the Department of Physics and Astronomy, specialize in condensed matter physics. I have been teaching both lower and upper level physics courses, which have been challenging and rewarding to me.
The ARISE program has been a great help in my career development, especially in terms of teaching. For example, I have been routinely using the Just-in-Time-Teaching strategy, which provides a quick feedback loop between the students and the instructor. Other teaching strategies that I have used include peer-instruction, concept mapping, classroom demo, and in-class practice. I have also learned many classroom assessment techniques, which I will try little-by-little. I am pretty sure I will benefit significantly from these too."
"The ARISE program caused me to think broadly about bringing new approaches to all aspects of my classroom. It strengthened my confidence in some techniques which I was already trying, and it exposed me to some new techniques and philosophies I had not considered. Equally importantly, it connected me to colleagues around UNL with an interest in improving their classrooms."
"I really enjoyed my experience in ARISE, in particular meeting faculty from across campus and learning with and from them innovative practices to improve student learning and engagement."
"I used the information I learned in the ARISE program to add more active learning tools in my courses last fall and this spring. It helped to reinforce teaching ideas I had previously and helped me to figure out ways to add new classroom assessment techniques. It was helpful that the techniques were modeled directly in class to make sure we understood how best to use them."
Dr. Wood has participated in several ARISE program experiences including Peer Instruction (Spring 2014), Research Based Instructional Strategies (Fall 2014), and Planning Assessment for Learning (Spring 2015).
"These programs are envisioned to create more dynamic and interactive classrooms within Structural Engineering through the implementation of clicker style questions, informal assessments, and defined teaching focuses."
Dr. Hongfeng Yu
"Before participating this program, I have implicitly or explicitly applied some strategies in my teaching activities, but I have not explored the full scope of possible techniques. This program has reinforced and formalized a series of teaching strategies and techniques thoroughly from the foundations to the practices.
In addition, the lectures presented in this program are an excellent demonstration of these techniques. The instructors have been well prepared and applied the techniques in their own teaching activities of this program. I believe that these activities have best illustrated the concepts and knowledge covered in the lectures. Some of techniques have been immediately employed by myself in my class, and the feedback from the students were positive.
Overall, the ARISE professional development course has a great impact on my view of teaching and student learning, and provides the guidelines that are helpful in my implementation in my courses."