FIC Mission
The Faculty Innovation Center (FIC) is dedicated to enabling exceptional engineering education at The University of Texas. The FIC provides media, instructional, and faculty development services to support faculty in enhancing their teaching, both with and without technology.
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Faculty Innovation Center
University of Texas at Austin
Cockrell School of Engineering
ETC 2.146, ETC 4.106 & ETC 5.154
Austin, TX 78712-0292
Phone: 512.471.3850
Fax: 512.232.1786
fic3@mail.utexas.edu
| Tom Milner |
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March 2003 Faculty Spotlight  While talking with Dr. Milner of the BME Department, I was reminded of Parker Palmer’s book, “The Courage to Teach.” In it, Palmer writes, “Good teaching cannot be reduced to technique; good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher.” It is apparent that Tom thinks along the lines Palmer is advocating. For Tom believes that “A professor has to have the heart for teaching and wants students to learn.”
Five years ago when Tom arrived at UT, he had very limited teaching experience. Once in the classroom, he realized that in many respects, he had as much to learn as his students. After two years, he attended a national workshop on teaching effectiveness and has since worked at instituting new methodologies into his classes. Tom has noticed that in traditional classes, non-verbal clues are often the basis for how an instructor reads student understanding. Yet these cues and intuition certainly don’t provide much data. This fall he began using a classroom communication tool called the Classroom Performance System. With the CPS, student responses are gathered electronically and then displayed on the screen. Tom is hopeful that the CPS responses will help him better pace his teaching and stimulate class discussions. When Tom teaches his undergraduate classes, such as BME 303, he relies on PowerPoint slides. In fact, he has become such an experienced PowerPoint user, that he was asked to talk about his approaches during the Faculty Orientation this semester. Tom’s basic approach is to:
This approach encourages student note taking as well as enabling Tom to prepare organized, reusable classroom materials. Tom is willing to experiment with his teaching. He is developing a new course, Mathematical Modeling for BME, that relies heavily on the How People Learn model. With this model, students are presented a challenge and they progress through a cycle of discovery and research. An instructor’s role shifts from presenter to that of facilitator and guide. Tom is meeting with the staff in the FIC to discuss approaches and which technological tools he’ll need. One thing is certain; Tom will be thoughtful as he goes about this undertaking. “You have to be reflective about teaching and be emotionally healthy so you can be self-critical in order to improve. |
| Last Updated on Thursday, April 23, 2009 |
