TA Program workshop: “Why Active Learning Techniques are Important for Teaching Assistants”

Are you a TA or would like to be one? Have you heard of Active Learning, but are not quite sure what it is? Are you interested in incorporating Active Learning into your discussion sections, but have no idea how to do it? Most students have seen teaching as someone at the front of the classroom talking for the duration of the class, so it is difficult to think of teaching in another way. During this workshop Dr. Michael Dunaway will discuss the fundamentals of active learning modalities. He will focus on the ideas behind active learning as well as a few simple ways that active learning can be incorporated into any discussion section.

Dr. Dunaway is a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. As such, he has committed to continue working with diverse communities in his research, creating opportunities for Indigenous voices in academic spaces, and forging new pathways for Indigenous scholars to succeed in academia. He is committed to promoting diversity in his teaching.

In addition, Dr. Dunaway has worked closely with Cornell’s Center for Teaching Innovation both as their Communication Specialist and as a Lecturer for the International Teaching Assistant Program. He has been trained in active learning modalities and inclusive course design methods. His goal is to effectively teach every student in his classroom regardless of a student’s ethnicity or able-ness. He seeks to co-create knowledge with his students and he continues to expand his understanding of high-impact, evidence-based, pedagogies.

Dr. Dunaway is currently a Future Professors Postdoc in the Sociology Department at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School. He earned his bachelor’s degree in American Indian Studies with a focus on Sovereignty and Decolonization theory.  at Haskell Indian Nations University (the only fully federally funded, all Native American University in the United States). He received his Master’s in Geography from University of Kansas with a focus on Indigenous Geography and a graduate certificate in Environmental Studies. During his time at University of Kansas, he was awarded the NSF ESPCoR Fellowship, the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, and was a NSF IGERT Trainee. His doctoral work was completed at Cornell University in the field of Natural Resources. During his tenure at Cornell, he was awarded the Sloan Diversity Fellowship was recognized as a Dean’s Scholar.