Dear Colleagues,
There are still a few places available at the following workshops.
Many thanks,
June Balshaw
APOLOGIES FOR CROSS-POSTINGS
To follow are details of two one day staff development workshops the
TALESSI project team are organising at the UNIVERSITY OF GREENWICH
which may be of interest. In particular, we are targetting those
interested in Environmental Higher Education so if you could forward
this to the appropriate people within your institution I would be
most grateful.
Many thanks for your co-operation.
June Balshaw
TALESSI Staff Development Workshops
Tuesday 7 September and Thursday 16 September 1999
ABOUT THE PROJECT:
The Greenwich-based TALESSI Project (Teaching and Learning at the
Environment-Science-Society Interface) aims to enhance
interdisciplinarity, critical thinking and values awareness in
Environmental Higher Education (EHE). It mainly operates within the
Environmental Studies/Science and Geography subject areas, but has
participants from across the Sciences, Social Sciences and
Humanities.The project is supported by HEFCE's 'Fund for the
Development of Teaching and Learning' (FDTL).
As the current debate about genetic modification shows,
environmental knowledge is frequently uncertain, and contested -
either scientifically and/or in terms of values - by the various
stakeholders or ‘claims-makers’, be they politicians, business
interests or academics themselves. We argue that students should
develop a critical approach to knowledge - and, in particular, should
learn to make informed judgements about how much ‘authority’ and
‘credibility’ attaches to any particular ‘knowledge claim’. In
assisting our students to think critically about others’ knowledge
claims, however, we should simultaneously assist them in thinking
critically about their own such claims - and thereby, in making their
academic writing more credible and authoritative.
The main activities and deliverables of the project include:
· Development, with members of the EHE community, of Teaching and Learning
Resources (TLRs) which promote active learning for
interdisciplinarity, critical thinking and values awareness.
Draft TLRs are currently being piloted in 32 HE institutions.
· Conferences, workshops and visits to colleagues in their own
institutions - designed to provide support for the adoption and use
of TLRs, and to engage the EHE community in a debate about teaching
and learning.
ABOUT THE WORKSHOPS:
These workshops are particularly intended for anyone interested in
EHE, including those offering, or planning to offer, HE-level
programmes in Environmental Studies/Science, Geography or related
fields.
Participants in the workshops will:
· Explore and reflect on the educational potential of a selection of TLRs, with
particular attention to their prospective use (possibly following
adaptation) in ‘local’ circumstances.
· Receive information about, and be invited to participate in, the
TLR pilot programme.
Consider the wider implications of the TALESSI project (including the
TLRs), for example in terms of curriculum change, possible barriers
to change, and further support (from the TALESSI project or
elsewhere) which may be needed.
The workshops are free of charge and include lunch. If you would
like to attend, please contact:
Dr June Balshaw (Project Manager) Tel: 0181-331 8967
or email: [log in to unmask] stating your preferred date.
======================================================================
June Balshaw (Dr)
Project Manager
TALESSI
(Teaching and Learning at the Environment-Science-Society Interface)
School of Humanities
University of Greenwich
Wellington Street
Woolwich
London
SE18 6PF
Tel: 0181-331 8967
Fax: 0181-331 8805
URL: http://www.gre.ac.uk/~bj61/talessi
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