CTLE Professional Development Workshop:

Promoting Active Learning in Undergraduate Teaching 

A large number of undergraduate students fail gateway courses, particularly in math and science, resulting in being unable to graduate in intended majors. Although student factors account, unengaging instruction is found to be a more important contributor.  Scientific teaching, anchored in active learning, premises that teaching is a form of inquiry guided by theories and evidence. Active learning is grounded in current theories of learning and years of research on effective teaching and learning in university classrooms. Active learning involves students in doing things and thinking about what they are doing. This workshop will introduce various strategies to implement active learning. Participants will become familiar with research underlying active learning, know how to implement active learning in their classrooms, and develop a framework for teaching as an inquiry.   

Bio of Speaker:

Prof. Xiufeng Liu is a Chair Professor of STEM Education in the Faculty of Education, University of Macau. Liu obtained his Master’s degree from East China Normal University in 1986 and PhD from University of British Columbia in 1993. Prior to joining the University of Macau, he taught high school chemistry in China, was a research associate at the China National Institute for Educational Research (currently Chinese Academy of Education), a tenured faculty member at St. Francis Xavier University and University of Prince Edward Island, both in Canada, and most recently a SUNY Distinguished Professor of Science Education in the Graduate School of Education, University at Buffalo, State University of New York.