APSA is looking forward to the 2014 APSA Teaching and Learning Conference (TLC). Registration opened in November 2013, including a new graduate student rate. The theme of the meeting is “Teaching Inclusively: Integrating Multiple Approaches into the Curriculum.” The meeting will be held on February 7–9, 2014 in Philadelphia. This will be the 11th annual meeting of the teaching conference.
The 2014 Teaching and Learning Conference program committee has planned an interesting program that includes a keynote address, a new paper track on distance learning, and a pre-conference short course on massive open online courses, or MOOCs, led by John Ishiyama, University of North Texas. In addition, Cengage, a Benefactor sponsor, is generously sponsoring the Saturday lunch. During this time, they will be hosting a product demo of MindTap. The following themes/tracks return for the 2014 program: Curricular and Program Assessment; Civic Engagement; Teaching Research Methods; Internationalizing the Curriculum; Simulations and Role Play; Diversity, Inclusiveness, and Equality; Graduate Education: Teaching and Advising Graduate Students; Core Curriculum/General Education.
The research presented at this meeting is a resource to students, faculty, and the discipline more broadly. For example, each year the track discussions and major research findings that are presented at the APSA Teaching and Learning Conference are summarized and shared with the discipline in the July edition of PS and online, thus providing a pedagogical resource. Scholars who participate in the TLC share their experiences with departmental colleagues and students, and, in many cases, go on to publish their work on teaching and learning in political science. Victor Asal of SUNY, University at Albany, and conference chair says this about the meeting:
The APSA Teaching and Learning Conference has expanded my knowledge base about different approaches to teaching and has expanded my network of colleagues who care about teaching. It has also greatly expanded the repertoire of many educators by exposing them to the innovative approaches of many of their colleagues related to assessment, simulations, teaching methodology, political theory, and other important components of teaching. My participation in the TLC has had a huge impact on my teaching and has given me a sounding board and brainstorming group that has become integral to my efforts to be a better and more effective teacher. The TLC has also made a very important contribution to empirically based pedagogy by bringing together people who are serious about research into effective teaching and giving them an incentive to do academic research on such questions.
The 2014 program committee includes Victor Asal, SUNY, University at Albany (Chair); Mark Johnson, Minnesota State Community and Technical College; Agnieszka Paczynska, George Mason University; Boris Ricks, California State University, Northridge; Cameron Thies, Arizona State University; and Sherri Wallace, University of Louisville.
We hope to see you at the meeting in February! For more information on the upcoming 2014 Teaching and Learning Conference, please visit http://www.apsanet.org/teachingconference.
