i2a Calendar of Events

Please view our Calendar of Events for more information and to register for these events visit the Delphi Center's Lunch and Learn webpage.

i2a Faculty Learning Community on Critical Thinking

The Ideas to Action (i2a) Faculty Learning Community (FLC) on Critical Thinking is a semester-long opportunity for a group of 10-12 faculty members to engage in cross-disciplinary ongoing dialogue, structured activities, and reflection related to implementation of individual or programmatic i2a goals and outcomes.  Participants will be part of a community of instructors who will be provided with sustained and scholarly support in deepening their understanding and use of the Paul-Elder critical thinking model, instructional design, and assessment principles, both generally and in discipline-specific contexts. 

Participants explore and implement “best practices” in integrating i2a and the Paul-Elder critical thinking model into their course design or in the redesign of a specific assignment. Exemplars can be viewed here.

Nominations are accepted each semester beginning with the Spring 2008 Pilot Program. View more information, including nomination materials, at louisville.edu/ideastoaction/flc

View a list of current and past participants.

i2a Supporting Undergraduate iNnovation Grants

i2a SUN Grants is a small-scale, internal funding program is designed to give faculty or teams of faculty grants of up to $5,000 to develop, implement and assess projects that will directly and significantly support the sustained incorporation of selected i2a outcomes into undergraduate programs and courses. i2a SUN grant application guidelines and instructions are at louisville.edu/ideastoaction/grants

i2a Collaborative Learning Community

The University of Louisville is engaged in a unique collaboration across Student Affairs and Undergraduate Affairs departments through our work with the i2a initiative. The Collaborative Learning Community (CLC) helps facilitate use of the critical thinking model in the work of Student Affairs and Undergraduate Affairs to help U of L staff more intentionally describe, foster and assess the thinking skills they desire to see students master.

Participants will be given ongoing support and coaching in order to adapt or create one or more component(s) of their work that integrates specific elements of the Paul-Elder model; use a new or existing critical thinking rubric or other assessment tool to measure students’ abilities; and engage with peers and i2a leadership staff to provide feedback on the use of the model. Participants will be asked to help facilitate additional training on the model for student affairs and/or undergraduate affairs colleagues.

i2a and Faculty Development

The successful launch of i2a requires the planning and implementing of ongoing professional development opportunities for faculty and academic/student affairs staff. Faculty development programming will be provided by the Delphi Center for Teaching and Learning, which provides support for teaching and learning at U of L. The Delphi Center will be available to assist in the development of culminating experiences and will serve as a support mechanism for faculty who wish to integrate critical thinking concepts into their courses.

New and existing faculty development programs and sessions provide support for i2a, including:

• Part-time Faculty Institute
• Lunch and Learn Programs
• Teaching with Technology
• Faculty Teaching Circles - contact David Owen for more information
• Paul Weber Awards
• Celebration of Teaching and Learning

In Fall 2007, Dr. Marianne Hutti, associate director of the Delphi Center, conducted a Faculty Needs Assessment (PDF) related to critical thinking. This needs assessment, plus input from the deans and department chairs, will guide the development of future faculty development programming related to critical thinking sessions associated with i2a. The data is now available and can be viewed here as well as the Summary Report of the Critical Thinking Needs Assessment (Word).

In addition to Delphi Center-based events, faculty development sessions will be brought directly to campus departments and schools as needed.

To view and print PDF files, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed. This software is free and can be downloaded on Adobe website (external link).