Call for Research Presentations

As part of our attempts to make the FDC ‘for the faculty and by the faculty’ we really want to make it a place where we can all present, share, and discuss the various research we have conducted on the AUS campus or elsewhere.

Many of us have been or are currently involved in conducting research that is closely related to AUS or to similar educational settings that has implications/ applications to our current teaching and learning setting. 

Some of this research has already been published, some is under review, some has been presented at local and international conferences, and some is work in progress. This type of research, if shared, will strengthen our understanding of this unique educational context, our students, our own teaching practices, and our research.

Therefore, we would like to invite you to share your research findings with the faculty using the FDC as a venue.  This provides an opportunity for all to get feedback, learn from others’ experiences and find out how our research impacts our teaching and learning at AUS. Your research does not need to be specialized research, but it must be relevant to the mission of the FDC.   

If you are willing to share research projects with us and contribute to our knowledge, please let us know. Send an abstract to fdc@aus.edu for any research that you feel fits the criteria we are seeking. We can schedule a presentation time for you to share the results of your research and invite all AUS faculty to attend. 

We look forward to receiving your responses and to learning from your research experiences at AUS. 

The FDC at AUS offers a range of professional development seminars and workshops specially tailored to meet the unique demands of our university’s professional and cultural working atmosphere. If you would like to participate in any of these, or propose and/or organize a new one, please let us know.  Call ext. 2293 or email us at fdc@aus.edu.

Some of the topics include:

• Teaching in the Arabian Gulf: What teachers need to know?
• Faculty mentoring programs: Supporting beginning teachers
• How learning happens: Connecting personal theories to classroom practices
• Promoting educational research: Exploring the AUS educational and cultural context
• Grant writing
• Going beyond lecturing: Effective teaching practices
• Improving classroom interaction
• Motivating students
• Grouping & questioning techniques
• Lesson planning & sequencing
• Promoting critical thinking in the classroom
• Developing effective syllabi and objectives
• Developing teaching portfolios
• Conducting and sharing classroom-based research (teachers-as-researchers)
• Investigating preferred learning styles/strategies: Personalizing teaching
• Learning students’ communication styles
• Classroom management (small & large classes)
• Conducting learners’ needs assessment
• Designing and developing grading rubrics
• Selecting and adapting course materials
• Assessing student learning
• Assessing teaching effectiveness
• Assisting students with scholarly writing: Deterring plagiarism
• Reflective teaching and self-monitoring
• Peer Review of teaching
• Curriculum development and syllabus design
• Promoting writing across the curriculum

Call for Participation in Teaching/Learning Circles

The goal of the Teaching/Learning Circle is to create support for faculty by addressing issues related to classroom teaching and learning. The circle will be a collegial, informal environment for all faculty to share their thoughts and ideas on teaching and learning, discuss techniques, address problems and possible solutions, and interact with colleagues in a safe learning environment.

If you would like to suggest topics for these circles please do so by sending us an email at fdc@aus.edu.  We also would like to ask for volunteers to facilitate these particular topics in future circles. This might lead in the future to the development of interest groups or smaller circles, which may meet on a regular basis to continue discussing a particular issue. Examples of topics might include: ways of increasing student participation in the classroom, teachers’ corrective feedback, promoting critical thinking, questioning techniques, classroom management, grading, cultural diversity, classroom-based research, etc.