Annual Meetings and Periodic Meetings

One of the most salutary effects for faculty of the CIEL campuses has been the chance to talk with colleagues within one’s own institution and across institutions in unusually open and honest ways about one’s work. Since 2002, CIEL members—faculty, administrators, and students -- have met annually in the fall on a member campus with a conference theme that reflects the signature work of the host campus. In addition, we also host periodic meetings relating to special interests of the members.

Summary--Past Meetings:
 
October 13–15, 2005.  Daemen College. Annual Meeting.  The focus of this meeting ws on teaching for social justice and responsibility.  The conference was a working session with the goal of producing and publishing a book written by faculty participants on the pedagogy, theory, and institutional structures that can support engaged, socially responsible learning.
 
July, 2005.  The Evergreen State College.  After the success of the March 2005 meeting at Alverno College on electronic portfolios, Evergreen will host a follow up event primarily for the faculty of Evergreen and Fairhaven Colleges to help expand the use of this innovative practice.
 
April 14-15, 2005.  New College of Florida.  This meeting focused primarily on  student research and possibilities for future inter-campus faculty and student exchange. This meeting was combined with the first annual Undergraduate Research Symposium.
 
March 19, 2005.  Alverno College.  This day-long meeting focused on the design and use of electronic portfolios.  Judith Patton of Portland State University described the theory and practice behind PSU’s innovations in e-portfolios to advance reflective, independent student learning, and participants had an opportunity to learn about Alverno’s digital electronic portfolio system.

October 20-22, 2004.  The Evergreen State College.  Annual Fall Meeting.  The meeting emphasized learning community design and pedagogy, and the institutional structures that best support them.

January 12-16, 2005. Members of CIEL had a special opportunity to attend a week-long Colloquium at the Circle Z Ranch in Patagonia , Arizona. The purpose of the meeting, which was sponsored by the Bellows Foundation, was to explore various possibilities for Field Education in the Southwest, including the development of a shared curriculum.

April 3-5, 2003. Alverno College. This meeting on narrative evaluation and e-portfolios featured Alverno’s Diagnostic Digital Portfolio (DDP), a first-of-its-kind, web-based system that enables students — anyplace, anytime — to follow their learning progress throughout their years of study. It helps students process the feedback they receive from faculty, external assessors and peers. It also enables them to look for patterns in their academic work so they can take more control of their own development and become more autonomous learners. The Diagnostic Digital Portfolio (DDP) is built on Alverno's student assessment-as-learning process.

October 16-18, 2003. Hampshire College. One of the main focuses of this meeting was inquiry-based learning. One definition of this method of teaching is that, "With the inquiry method of instruction, students arrive at an understanding of concepts by themselves and the responsibility for learning rests with them. The teacher acts as the catalyst, directing students' interactions, activities, and discussion rather than being the bearer of all information. Inquiry-based education requires allowing students to discover information that is new to them as well as developing a good relationship between the teacher and the student."

October 24-26, 2002. Fairhaven College of Western Washington University . This meeting focused on mutual programmatic and research interests, how to better engage students in learning, how to be more successful in evaluating what is learned, and how to build more solid programs. Particular attention was given to sustainable communities, indigenous peoples, global education and international exchanges, and health and wellness.

December 6-8, 2001. Pitzer College . The inaugural meeting of CIEL focused on how each institution transformed student learning and sharing strategies and resources.