Dr Felder delivers Effective Teaching Workshop 29.05.10

Dr Richard Felder, Hoechst Celanese Professor Emeritus at North Carolina State University visited UCD last week, to lead workshops in ‘Effective Teaching’ and ‘Research in Teaching & Learning’. Hosted by UCD Teaching & Learning and by the College of Engineering, Mathematical & Physical Sciences and supported by SIF2, the Workshops were held under the auspices of the Dublin Region Higher Education Alliance (DRHEA).

To generations of Chemical Engineering students world-wide, Dr Felder is known as the co-author of the standard textbook on Chemical Engineering Principles; he has also authored/co-authored more than 60 Chemical Engineering research publications. But across all disciplines he is recognised as an inspirational and innovative University teacher and trainer of teachers, and author of more than 200 associated publications.

The 1.5 day ‘Effective Teaching’ Workshop was attended by 80 academics from 8 Irish higher education institutions (UCD, DCU, ITT, ITB, IADT, NUIM, CIT & UCC). The audience included both experienced practitioners and individuals just embarking on an academic career. Primarily aimed at the engineering and physical sciences, this highly interactive Workshop served as a very practical example of the effectiveness of ‘active learning’. And it was so engaging that it ‘made a non-Engineer interested in Engineering!’ But Dr Felder’s evidence-based approaches to teaching were relevant to all disciplines: ‘the content was very suitable for a wide audience; it was enhanced by the charisma and extraordinary ability of the presenter’. Uniquely for a Teaching Workshop, Dr Felder also addressed the challenges faced by young academics trying to effectively juggle the competing demands of research and teaching. Participants left the workshop armed with a comprehensive, well-resourced manual, a list of ideas to implement in their own lecture theatres and ‘a sense that real improvement is possible!’ Feedback revealed that 95% of participants evaluated the Workshop as ‘Excellent’; several respondents echoed the sentiment that ‘this Workshop should be mandatory for all academic staff, particularly in their early years!’

A follow-up event is planned for late 2010.

Further information on Dr Felder’s work is available at:
 http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/