Todd Zakrajsek

Center for Faculty Excellence
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP

Creating Learning Experiences with Students in Mind

Often, classes are taught without ever really thinking about the student and the learning process. Essentially, there is specific content and a fixed amount of time to get through the content. This preconference workshop will focus on research in the areas of cognitive psychology, social psychology, and neuroscience with a
specific focus on how these findings can be used to better create effective learning environments for students. Based on well-established theories of learning and motivation, this interactive session will demonstrate both why and how one can transform students from passive listeners into active learners. Participants will have an opportunity to try out and experience firsthand several of these
techniques. Warning: This program will practice what it teaches–active
involvement is expected.

Biography

Todd Zakrajsek serves as the Executive Director of the Center for Faculty Excellence at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Previously, Dr. Zakrajsek was the founding director of The Faculty Center for Innovative Teaching (FaCIT) at Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant. FaCIT constitutes a centralized faculty development office, providing resources in the areas of teaching, learning, and technology. Dr. Zakrajsek also previously served as the Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Southern Oregon University, where he also taught in the psychology department as a tenured associate professor. Dr. Zakrajsek has written two introductory psychology instructor's manuals for McGraw-Hill and a student study guide for Addison-Wesley. He received his Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Ohio University. Dr. Zakrajsek has provided workshop sessions and keynote conference presentations in 26 states and 3 countries in the past several years. He is the recipient of a 2004 national innovation in faculty development award for the development of his concept of “The 5-minute Workshop.”