A Living Laboratory: Revitalizing General Education for a 21st-Century College of Technology

GENERAL EDUCATION SEMINAR — ASSOCIATE FELLOWS PROGRAM – Spring 2014

About The Living Lab
“A Living Laboratory: Revitalizing General Education for a 21st-Century College of Technology” is a five-year initiative (2010-2015) funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Strengthening Hispanic-Serving Institutions (Title V) program. Its mission is to re-envision General Education at City Tech as a “living laboratory,” using City Tech’s signature strengths: hands-on experiential models of learning and our vibrant Brooklyn Waterfront location.

The “Living Lab” grant has four interrelated activities:

1) The General Education Seminar: brings together diverse groups of Faculty Fellows to revitalize General Education through place-based learning and high-impact educational practices;

2) The OpenLab (https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu): creates an innovative digital platform to support open teaching and learning at City Tech, and enhance the intellectual and social fabric of the college community;

3) A Culture of Assessment: integrates comprehensive outcomes assessment into the Gen Ed curriculum;

4) The Brooklyn Waterfront Research Center: builds an endowment to support student and faculty research at this newly-created City Tech institution.

Join the “Living Lab” General Education Seminar

We are currently seeking full-time and part-time faculty members to join the General Education Seminar Associate Fellows Program in Spring 2014. As an Associate Fellow you will become part of the growing interdisciplinary community at City Tech that is enthusiastically engaged in this transformational effort.

Fellows in the General Education Seminar commit to exploring innovative pedagogical approaches and incorporating what they have learned into their courses. Among the questions seminar participants consider are these:

– What changes can we make to the student experience that will not just prepare our students to succeed at City Tech, but also support creative, original, and critical thinking through the use of high-impact educational practices?

– How can we use one of City Tech’s greatest assets — its location within the “living laboratory” of the downtown Brooklyn waterfront — to create hands-on, place-based learning opportunities with our students?

– How can we use the City Tech OpenLab, an open-source digital platform, to customize learning experiences for our students that will engage them in the intellectual fabric of our College and make their achievements visible to our own community and to the wider public?

The Associate Fellows Program
Associate Fellows – who may be part-time or full-time faculty members – will participate in five workshops during the Spring 2014 semester that focus on General Education and the following: High-Impact Educational Practices, Place-Based Learning, Assessment, and working with the City Tech OpenLab, our new open digital platform for teaching and learning.

Associate Fellows will be mentored by full-time Gen Ed Seminar Fellows, who are responsible for sharing what they’ve learned, with the goal of disseminating the Seminar findings to the entire faculty community.

Eligibility
– both full-time and part-time faculty are eligible;
– available on Friday mornings in Spring 2014 semester to participate in five workshops (dates TBD);
– willing to work in a highly collaborative environment;
– willing to use the OpenLab (https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu) for seminar-related activities and teaching (training and support will be provided);
– willing to implement what you have learned in your classroom and on the OpenLab in Fall 2014.

Compensation
Work done as part of this project is vital service to the College. Active participation by full-time faculty is recognized as service to the College; part-time faculty will receive a stipend of $600 ($120 per workshop attended) and an additional $240 for completion of a final project. For this final project, each Associate Fellow will create and document an exemplary activity that incorporates Living Lab best practices into their classwork (a standard template will be provided).

Application
The application form is available here: http://tinyurl.com/genedseminarassociatefellows

Application Deadline
9am, Monday, December 9th, 2013

Further Information
Please contact Living Lab General Education Seminar Co-Directors Karen Goodlad at kgoodlad@citytech.cuny.edu or Alexander Aptekar at aaptekar@citytech.cuny.edu if you have questions or need additional information.