Members of the Center for Teaching Faculty Learning Community on Big Ideas invite you to learn more about the “Big Ideas” program and to propose additional Big Ideas courses.

The Faculty Learning Community on Big Ideas will review all proposals submitted by faculty teams and will give feedback about each proposal.

• Interested faculty teams should send their Big Ideas course proposal to cornelia-lang@uiowa.edu by 5 p.m. on Friday, April 15, 2016.

An informational session will be held on Friday, March 25 at 11:00 a.m.-12 p.m. in 2520B UCC. Please join us.

To learn more about this faculty learning community and about Big Ideas courses, please visit this page:

http://teach.its.uiowa.edu/resources/communities-professional-development/faculty-learning-communities/big-ideas-flc

You may also contact us directly: Cornelia Lang (Physics & Astronomy) and Andrew Forbes (Biology) cornelia-lang@uiowa.edu (319) 335‐1945 and andrew-forbes@uiowa.edu (319) 335-3006.

As a result of this call for proposals, several proposals may be selected to use in external funding proposals and to request support for course development.

Include the following in the proposal:

• Title of your team’s proposed Big Ideas course (all titles should begin with Big Ideas:).
• A summary of the “big ideas” the team’s course would address.
• A list of faculty and departments that would contribute to the course. (If you need help finding other faculty members who might be interested, please let us know and we can put you in touch with others who might be interested.)
• A description of how the course would fit in with other courses now offered in the various contributing departments (i.e., would they complement, replace, etc.?).

Summarize the following in the proposal:

• Curriculum overview: In 3-4 paragraphs, describe the Big Ideas curriculum the faculty team is proposing to teach. It is helpful to break the semester into 3-4 “Big Ideas” or themes and to describe how the different faculty will contribute to each theme over the course of the semester.
• General Education Requirement: Big Ideas courses also have General Education (GE) status; this requires a separate proposal and approval from the General Education Curriculum Committee and CLAS. Describe which GE area your team’s course might fulfill and how it would satisfy the related GE content and learning outcomes. If approved for a Big Ideas course, our team can help with this GE proposal.
• To learn more about proposing GE status for a course, visit this page: http://clas.uiowa.edu/faculty/clas-general-education-program-areas-and-requirements
• Timeframe: Describe the team’s anticipated timeline for developing the course during June-August (2016), keeping in mind that the annual GE course proposal deadline is September 15.
• Most Big Idea courses should be ready to offer in Spring 2017 or Fall 2017. If this timeline will be too short for your team, describe a timeline for a course that could be taught in Spring 2018.

BIG IDEAS COURSES INFO SESSION: MARCH 25 at 11:00 A.M.-12 P.M. IN 2520B UCC

QUESTIONS? FEEL FREE TO CONTACT US

Cornelia Lang (Physics & Astronomy) and Andrew Forbes (Biology) cornelia-lang@uiowa.edu (319) 335‐1945 and andrew-forbes@uiowa.edu