ATLANTA WORKSHOP
JANUARY 4-6, 2009

“DESIGNING COURSES FOR SIGNIFICANT LEARNING”

This winter, Dee Fink & Associates is offering a 2 ½ day workshop on Integrated Course Design in Atlanta, Georgia on January 4-6, 2009.  Many campuses have been requesting this workshop nationally and internationally. This workshop will give college teachers from any campus the opportunity to learn about these ideas.

Purpose and Value of this Workshop
In 2003, Fink published a book, Creating Significant Learning Experiences, that laid out a novel way of designing courses so that students have powerful, significant learning experiences. People who have attended previous workshops have made comments such as the following:

"I came to the seminar hoping to get a few tips on teaching. What I got instead was something that truly transformed the way I think about teaching."

"Reading the book was valuable, but talking about the concepts made it actionable."

"I am writing to thank you profoundly for the wonderful workshop on 'Designing Courses for Significant Learning.' The balance between theory and practice was just right and I got numerous new and helpful ideas for course design."

"Thank you so much for sharing your approach to teaching for significant learning. I couldn't stop talking about it to my colleagues!"

People attending this workshop will learn how to use these ideas to design or redesign their courses so that their students have learning experiences that take into account five phases of course design: situational factors, learning goals, feedback and assessment, teaching/learning activities, and careful integration. Workshop leaders will guide participants through all the key steps of the process. Working with a specific course, participants will frame learning goals, incorporate evaluation and assessment, and formulate powerful, active teaching strategies.

Program
In addition to applying each of the key steps of Integrated Course Design to their own courses, participants will receive individualized feedback on their work throughout the workshop.

The general agenda for the workshop will be:

Sunday, January 4  (8:30 am – 5:00 pm)

• Introduction to general ideas of Integrated Course Design
• Begin working through initial steps

Monday, January 5  (8:30 am – 5:00 pm)

• Work through remaining steps
• Design a common course in small groups

Tuesday, January 6  (8:30 am – 12 noon)

• Finish and review individual course designs

Workshop Leaders
The people who will be leading the different parts of this workshop and who will be giving feedback on the participants’ course designs are all members of Dee Fink & Associates.  They are:

DEE FINK was the director of the faculty development program at the University of Oklahoma (1979 – 2005), was president of the POD Network (2004-2005), and is the author of Creating Significant Learning Experiences (Jossey-Bass, 2003).  He currently works as a national and international consultant in higher education.

VIRGINIA S. LEE has her own consulting firm, Virginia S. Lee & Associates, specializing in teaching, learning and assessment in higher education. Previously she was Associate Director, Faculty Center for Teaching & Learning, NC State University, and Director, Graduate Student Teaching Programs, Center for Teaching and Learning, UNC-Chapel Hill. She is the 2008-2009 President of the POD Network in Higher Education and editor of Teaching and Learning through Inquiry: A Guidebook for Institutions and Instructors (Stylus; 2004).

Feedback Facilitators

Stewart Ross is the founding director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Minnesota State Mankato. He has been presenting Integrated Course Design workshops across the country for over three years. He was director of Bands for 21 years prior to his appointment in 2002 with the MSU Center.

D. Lynn Sorenson has been involved in instructional and faculty development for over 20 years at both the University of Oklahoma and Brigham Young University. She is the author of numerous articles and book chapters about designing effective courses and valuing the student voice. She has consulted/counseled with hundreds of faculty members and other college teachers to enhance teaching and learning.

Leslie Ortquist-Ahrens has been active in faculty development since 1998 and is the founding director of the Center for Teaching and Learning (2002) at Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio. She has written several articles and presented widely in faculty learning communities, programs for first-year faculty, and on developing centers for teaching and learning at small colleges. Currently, she is working with administrators and faculty at Otterbein on course and curriculum design and re-envisioning.

Peg Weissinger has worked in the areas of instructional design and development for traditional and distance learning at Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis (IUPUI); Northern Virginia Community College; and currently at Georgetown University School of Medicine. She consults nationally with colleges and universities, and has given more than 50 presentations on curricular development, assessment, and faculty development.

Location and Hotel
The workshop will take place at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta on Peachtree Street.  The Hyatt Regency Atlanta, conveniently located in the heart of downtown Atlanta, is easily accessible directly from the airport via Atlanta's rapid transit system (MARTA). This beautiful downtown Atlanta hotel features newly renovated guestrooms and nearby shopping and dining in the adjoining Peachtree Center Mall.

Cost
The cost of attending this workshop is $650.00.   This includes workshop tuition, dinner on Sunday evening, morning and afternoon refreshments, handouts, and a copy of Creating Significant Learning Experiences.  Because we will give feedback on each participant’s course design, enrollment in this workshop is limited to 50 people. 

WORKSHOP REGISTRATION (For a PDF file regarding workshop registration and lodging registration, click here.)

To register for this workshop, fill out the following information:

Name:                                                                            
Institution:                                                                     
Address:                                                               
                                                                            
City:                                            State:                   Zip Code:              
Email:                                           Telephone:                           
Subject You Teach:                                                     No. Years Teaching:                

Send this information and your registration fee of $650.00, to: 

Payment options:

• CHECK or PURCHASE ORDER: make it payable to "Dee Fink & Associates" and mail to the address above.
• CREDIT CARD: Please call Dee Fink & Associates at the number listed above.

Your registratin will be complete when we have received both your application and payment .  Notification of acceptance will be mailed no later than one week after it is received.  Applications received after the workshop is “full” will be put on a waiting list.  Cancellations made prior to December 8, 2008 are subject to a 10% fee; cancellations after December 8 are subject to a 50% fee.

HOTEL RESERVATIONS
Participants are responsible for making their own lodging reservations.  This can be done either online at http://atlantaregency.hyatt.com/groupbooking/atlrafink2009
or by calling: 1-800-233-1234 or (404) 577-1234.  When calling, ask for the Hyatt Regency Atlanta Peachtree and be sure to mention the “Fink & Associates Workshop” to receive the special lodging rates for this workshop. Room rates for this workshop are:

$99 per night (plus taxes) - single, double, triple, and quadruple occupancy.

The DEADLINE to receive these rates is December 17, 2009.

Participants may extend their stay up to 2 days before the workshop at workshop rates.

Transportation:
From Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport: Go to the transportation booth at the airport and ask for a shuttle to the Hyatt Regency Atlanta Downtown - The Atlanta Link.  404-524-3400.  No reservations are necessary.  It runs 6 a.m. to midnight from the airport and it leaves the hotel every 10 and 40 minutes after each hour. $16.50 one way/$29 round trip per person.

Taxi Service: To/From airport fee: $30.00 plus $2.00 per each additional person.

M.A.R.T.A. - (Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) $1.75 per ride. Rail system runs approx every 10 minutes. Hyatt Regency Atlanta is connected to Peachtree Center Train Station via Peachtree Center Mall. 20 minutes from Airport. (Airport pickup at baggage claim, TH Terminal. To get to Hyatt, take M.A.R.T.A. to the Peachtree Center Station and exit Northeast towards Peachtree Center Mall.

Parking:
For participants driving to the workshop, The Hyatt Regency Atlanta is offering overnight parking at $18 per night and $9 per day for daytime (event) parking.