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Upcoming Events
Fall 2008 (August - December)
Discover Web of Sciences Databases
Web of Science educational specialist
(Hosted by AUS Library)
Wednesday 15th October : 3.00 - 4.30 pm
FDC Multipurpose Room (LIB 011)
Join us for a focused and practical training session highlighting the library’s powerful online citation indexes. Explore high-impact journals with powerful tools such as cited reference searching and author finder using Science Citation Index, Social Sciences Citation Index, and Journal Citation Reports.
Given by a Web of Knowledge education specialist, this targeted 90 minute session will show you how to:
- Search millions of publications by subject, author, journal, affiliation, or publication year
- Save all searches and be alerted to new articles via email or RSS feeds
- Generate citation reports on thousands of publications
- Be alerted each time your articles are cited in the Web of Science
- Export and use the publications found on our databases
- Use Endnote to store up to 10,000 references and cite them in your articles
- Learn about the JCR impact factor
- Publicly show your work with the online scientific community
To search Web of Knowledge databases, visit the library’s website library.aus.edu and click the link Databases by Subject.
Criterion e-rater technology at AUS
Dr. Betty Lanteigne
(College of Arts and Sciences)
Monday 20th October: 4 - 5 pm
FDC Multipurpose Room (LIB 011)
The purpose of this research is to investigate the appropriateness of use at AUS of Criterion e-rater technology developed by Educational Testing Service. Student essays which have been evaluated by AUS faculty (for essay form and language structure, not content) are uploaded to Criterion and evaluated holistically and analytically. After establishing linear relationships through scatterplots, using T-scale scores, the e-rater scores will be correlated with faculty scores using Pearson’s correlation coefficient, followed by Cronbach’s alpha and check for overlapping covariance. This e-rater technology has potential for increased efficiency (in terms of speed and accuracy of evaluation) in grading and/or providing feedback about essay form and English usage, making it possible for faculty to focus more on evaluation of assignment content.
The Writing Fellows Program at AUS
Dr. Lynne Ronesi, Dr. Sandra Knuteson and Dr. Isaac Wait
(College of Arts and Sciences)
Tuesday 28th October: 4 - 5 pm
FDC Multipurpose Room (LIB 011)
The Writing Fellows program has its roots in a 2005-2006 Seed Grant study to determine whether discipline-specific writing support by students would be viable at AUS. Trained Writing Fellows were assigned to provide writing support to all students enrolled in a class. The professor and the Writing Fellow worked closely together to ensure that the Writing Fellow understood the professor’s goals and expectations for the course’s writing assignments. The professor required all students to submit a preliminary draft of writing assignments to the Writing Fellow two weeks before the due date. During this two-week period, the Writing Fellows responded with written comments to first drafts, and then met with each student to explain their comments. Often, the Writing Fellow’s comments suggested ways to improve the structure, cohesion, development, and language of the assignment. The Seed Grant study suggested the Writing Fellows model was a practical and convenient way of helping students better understand and adhere to assignment guidelines, organize assignments more logically, and avoid plagiarism and citation errors. The participating professors noted improvement in their students’ work and wished to work with a Writing Fellow again. The Writing Fellows were pleased at the appreciative attitudes of students. More than 90% of the surveyed students who worked with Writing Fellows regarded their support as “Very Helpful” or “Helpful,” and 83% reported that they would like to have a Writing Fellow’s assistance in future classes. Every semester since its initial success as a Seed Grant study, the Writing Fellows program has supported student writing in courses as diverse as art history, biology, civil engineering, chemical engineering, design, economics, English, management, and political science. Faculty, Writing Fellow, and student attitudes towards Writing Fellow support remain as positive as the initial study indicated. Joined by a few participating professors, Lynne Ronesi--who coordinates the Writing Fellows program--will explain how professors might utilize a Writing Fellow in their courses.
Sharjah Department of Museums: Open House
Off-campus trip for faculty, organized by FDC
Tuesday 4th November: 9.30 am- 1.30 pm
Transport departs Airport gate roundabout at 9.30 am
Return to campus for 1.30 pm
National Research Foundation: Presentation
Dr. Kenneth Wilson
(Director, National Research Foundation)
Wednesday, 26th November, 11am - 12 noon
FDC Multipurpose Room (LIB 011)
All faculty are cordially invited to attend a presentation by Dr. Kenneth Wilson, Director of the National Research Foundation, on Wednesday 26 November 2008. The presentation will be held in the Faculty Development Center (room LIB 011), between 11 am and 12 noon.
The event is being organized by the AUS Office of Research. We hope you are able to attend.
Below are a few brief details regarding the NRF. For further information, please visit the Foundation's website - www.nrf.ae
1- NRF was established by UAE Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research in March 2008 to build an internationally competitive research capacity for the economic and social development of the United Arab Emirates
2- NRF plans to launch many different types of grants next year (2009), including the following areas:
- · Research Centers of Excellence
- · Individual awards (up to 500K AED for 3 yrs)
- · Early career awards (faculty in their early career, probably up to 5 years after Ph.D.)
- · Industry linkage awards: projects in collaboration with local industry
- · Networking awards
Action-Research in Action: Student research activities in the classroom
Dr. Daniel Kirk
(College of Arts and Sciences / Faculty Development Center)
Action research is a productive and valuable learning tool, that allows students to become actively involved in small- scale research, through regular courses, with the added benefit of yielding relevant results for the students. When used effectively, action resarch promotes learning and inquiry, as well as collaboration between students and faculty. Such research can be employed in all subject areas, and offers opportunities for applied and theoretical research, on a scale that suits the aims of the class, and the learning needs and styles of the students. In this presentation Dan Kirk will explore the methodology behind action research and explain how he has used it in classes, both here at AUS and in the US.
TBA
FDC Multipurpose Room (LIB 011)
Spring 2009 (January - May)
Fostering Interdisciplinary Research by Educational Reform
Dr. Akbar Afaghi Khatibi
(College of Engineering)
Tuesday 10th February : 4.00 - 5.00 pm
FDC Multipurpose Room (LIB 011)
The current attention directed at interdisciplinary research (IR) arises from a widespread recognition that important questions for research are not based on disciplines but on issues or problems, demanding interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research solutions. Several mechanisms to foster interdisciplinary research have been created within universities around the world. Among those solutions, training and preparing current and future researchers for IR activities is playing a significant role. To this end, it is essential that new interdisciplinary and integrative models of undergraduate and graduate education be utilized in our universities. In this paper, methods to enhance interdisciplinary research by reforming educational programs at undergraduate and graduate levels are discussed. In addition to practical solutions, successful attempts in reshaping educational programs from institutions around the globe are presented.
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