Engaging minds, encouraging
success
DIIA integrates the resources of three university centers to enhance teaching effectiveness, support innovative technology-enhanced learning, offer a comprehensive portfolio of instructional support services, provide and expand assessment methods, and coordinate Web-based outreach efforts.
DIIA News
IITAP Gold Awards Recognize Innovative Instructional Technology
in Engineering and Foreign Languages
At
the 11th annual IITAP Showcase on
April 23, gold awards were announced in two categories of innovative
use of instructional technology. For accomplishment in Web-based
Multimedia Learning, Orlando Kelm, Department of Spanish and Portuguese,
was recognized for his entry Tá Falado:
Brazilian Portuguese Pronunciation. For accomplishment
in an Innovative Learning Environment, William O’Brien, Department
of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, was recognized
for his entry Expanding
the Classroom: Mobile Technologies for Construction Education.
Leslie Jarmon was selected for a Special Recognition Award for
her entry Raising
the Bar: Using Second Life in an Interdisciplinary Communications
Course, recognized for promoting community engagement
in a virtual world.
Coordinating Board Funds Project to Develop Critical Thinking Modules for Signature Course Faculty
DIIA, in collaboration with the Office
of Undergraduate Studies (UGS), has won funding from the Texas
Higher Education Coordinating Board to create online professional development modules to showcase best practices
for teaching critical thinking to first-year students. The DIIA/UGS proposal is to design 14 modules to prepare Signature Course faculty to address 10 specific critical thinking skills by means of 4
proven pedagogies. The modules—featuring diverse media including text, graphics, audio, video, and animation—will be integrated into
workshops and individual consultations.
Creation of Green Team Signals Green Light for Green Thinking
After
Tomoko Traphagan started a modest plastic recycling program in
the Bridgeway building, she soon learned the truth about being
careful what you wish for. She became the logical choice to represent
DIIA at a monthly meeting of the Green ‘Horns,
a volunteer organization of UT Austin employees dedicated to helping
staff and faculty reduce their personal environmental footprints
and that of UT Austin overall. Now Traphagan, joined by Cindy Story,
is heading DIIA’s fledgling Green Team volunteer initiative,
joining 13 other Green Teams across campus helping faculty, staff,
and students work together on campus environmental issues at the
departmental or building levels.
Peers Help GSIs with ASPECTS of Teaching
The instructional development professionals behind DIIA's ASPECTS
program know the power of peer pressure. They exploit their credibility
as grad-students-who-teach to support the pedagogical, professional,
and personal development of UT Austin's most junior group of teachers.
Mark Decker, head of DIIA’s Graduate Student
Instructor (GSI) Program, and staff
members Josh Iorio and Rachel Barrera are the faces behind the semester-long
series in pedagogy. ASPECTS is one of several features of the GSI Program,
an initiative of the Office of
the Provost
to cultivate excellence in graduate student teaching in collaboration
with departments, graduate student support organizations, and the Office
of Graduate Studies.
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