UAH Hosts Ninth Annual UA Scholars Institute, May 17-18

The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) will host The University of Alabama (UA) System Scholars Institute on Tuesday, May 17, and Wednesday May 18. Now in its ninth year, the Scholars Institute is hosted each year on a rotating basis by one of the UA System campuses.

This year's chairperson is Dr. Sherri Restauri, Director of Online Learning and State Authorization at UAH. Highlights of the event include the keynote address presented by Dr. Stephen Chew, Special Session by Dr. Luis Pérez, and UA System QEP Panel Discussion.

Scholars Institutes are open to faculty, staff, and administration attendees from all three UA System campuses. The Scholars Institute supports collaboration among faculty and administration system-wide, and encourages a shared community of knowledge for implementing best practices in the use of technology in the teaching, learning, and research environments.

The Institute is seen as an important professional development initiative for faculty in their use of technology in teaching and learning, particularly in support of the adaptation and use of new approaches to teaching with technology. Further, the Institute focuses heavily on the sharing of best practices across our system-wide community. Presentations emphasize quality, evidence of impact, tools, and pedagogical and practical approaches, with time for colleagues within- and between campuses to engage in collaboration and knowledge sharing. The Institute also provides hands-on opportunities for practice and implementation of classroom and online tools.

2016 UA Scholars Institute events include:

• Tuesday, May 17, 8:50 a.m., to 9:50 a.m. - Keynote Address | Dr. Stephen L. Chew - Topic: Improving Student Performance by Addressing Student and Teacher Misconceptions about Learning.

Chew's presentation examines common misconceptions among both students and teachers that undermine student learning. He will discuss and demonstrate some key cognitive principles that must be addressed for any pedagogy to be effective. Additionally, Chew will describe a series of videos he developed to help students learn to study effectively based on cognitive research. Chew has been a professor and chair of psychology at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama since 1993. Chew was selected as a Carnegie Scholar in 1998 as part of the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (CASTL). His research interests include the use of examples in teaching, the impact of cognitive load on learning, and the tenacious misconceptions that students bring with them into the classroom. He is the creator of a groundbreaking series of YouTube videos for students on how to study effectively in college. Chew was awarded the Buchanan Award for Classroom Teaching Excellence from Samford in 1999. In 2005, he received the Robert S. Daniel Teaching Excellence Award from the Society for the Teaching of Psychology as the outstanding teacher of psychology at four-year colleges and universities. He was named the 2011 Outstanding Master's Universities and Colleges U.S. Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

• Tuesday, May 17, 11 a.m., to noon - Special Session | Dr. Luis Pérez - Topic: nABLEing All Learners with Mobile Devices.

It is Pérez's belief that "inclusion inspires innovation" is reflected in the many groundbreaking accessibility features Apple has introduced over the years. iOS devices such as the iPad include a number of built-in features that support diverse learners in reaching their full potential. Join us for this session to learn how accessibility is tightly integrated into the Apple ecosystem. Pérez is an inclusive learning consultant based in St. Petersburg, Florida. He has more than a decade of experience working with educators to help them integrate technology in ways that empower all learners. Luis holds a doctorate in special education and a master's degree in instructional technology from The University of South Florida, and he is the author of Mobile Learning for All: Supporting Accessibility with the iPad, from Corwin Press. Luis has been honored as an Apple Distinguished Educator (ADE) in 2009, and as a Book Creator Ambassador and a TouchCast Ambassador (2016). He currently serves as the Professional Learning Chair of the Inclusive Learning Network of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). His work has appeared in publications such Teaching Exceptional Children, Closing the Gap Solutions, THE Journal, and The Loop Magazine.

• Wednesday, May 18, Special Session | UA System QEP Panel Discussion: Panel Members: Dr. Scott Phillips (UAB QEP Information), Dr. Dan Rochowiak (UAH QEP Information), and Dr. Heather Pleasants (UA QEP Information) and Moderator: Dr. Sherri Restauri (UAH).

QEP Directors and/or their designees from each of the three UA System campuses will address a list of questions regarding individual campus' QEP initiatives going on for each campus currently, as well as plans for the future.

For specific information, about the Scholars Institute please contact:sherri.restauri@uah.edu or uah.edu/online-learning.

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