3rd Annual Bay-to-Bay Learning Symposium 

Keynote Speaker: Dr. John J. Medina, a developmental molecular biologist. Dr. Medina has a lifelong fascination with how the mind reacts to and organizes information. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller " Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School " -- a provocative book that takes on the way our schools and work environments are designed.

He holds joint faculty appointments at the University of Washington, in the department of bioengineering, and at Seattle Pacific University, where he is the director of the Brain Center for Applied Learning Research. His teaching recognitions include the University of Washington's College of Engineering Outstanding Faculty of the Year; the Merrell Dow/Continuing Medical Education National Teacher of the Year; and, twice, the Bioengineering Student Association Teacher of the Year. Professor Medina has been a consultant to the Education Commission of the States and a regular speaker on the relationship between the cognitive neurosciences and education. With a lifelong fascination with how the mind reacts to and organizes information, Professor Medina is a leading advocate for brain research and its potential application to real-world problems.

The ability to think critically has never been more important. In an age of fake news and alternative facts, the ability to analyze information to make informed decisions is imperative. Dr. Medina's talk will focus on the neuroscience behind critical thinking and provide insights into the way our brain works and processes information.

Critical Thinking Workshop - Afternoon Session: Linda Nilson, Ph.D.

Critical thinking (CT) is a deeply misunderstood cognitive skill set, and faculty sometimes think they are teaching it when they are not. The CT literature does little to clarify what CT involves because it is abstract, fragmented into several independent perspectives, and thin on research about the effectiveness of concrete teaching methods. This workshop leads you out of the CT thicket. It distills reliable, practical, and easy-to-follow course design, assessment, and pedagogical principles from a synthesis of the various perspectives. Working from examples relevant to your type of discipline, you will learn how to formulate CT-related student learning outcomes and consider how to sequence your outcomes into a “map” of your students’ learning process. You will also learn how to extend these outcomes into assessments, including objective test items and student-constructed assignments, and design learning activities that will help your students achieve your CT outcomes.

A half-day workshop will be presented by Dr. Linda Nilson who has written extensively about teaching and learning, assessment, faculty evaluation, and faculty development in higher education. Linda is founding Director of the Office of Teaching Effectiveness and Innovation (OTEI) at Clemson University in South Carolina and author of Teaching at Its Best: A Research-Based Resource for College Instructors, now in its third edition (Jossey Bass, 2010) and The Graphic Syllabus and the Outcomes Map: Communicating Your Course (Jossey Bass, 2007). She has also published many articles and book chapters on university teaching and academic careers and conducts faculty workshops at institutions and conferences across the U.S. and internationally. In addition, she has been a regular presenter at the Lilly South Conference on College Teaching for many years. Before coming to Clemson, Dr. Nilson directed the teaching centers at Vanderbilt University and the University of California, Riverside and was a faculty member in the sociology department at UCLA. She received her M.S. and Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, as a National Science Foundation Fellow and her B.A. in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley, where she was elected in Phi Beta Kappa. Book signing following event during the reception.

Symposium Facilitator - Dr. Phillip Wagner

Dr. Phillip Wagner is the Core Curriculum Coordinator, Chief Morale Officer, and an Instructor in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee. As a teacher, researcher, and administrator, Phillip is passionately committed to creating safe, inclusive, and creative learning spaces for all.