Why Attend the Institute?

The FTI is an impactful experience for faculty and meets many demonstrated needs in physics and astronomy undergraduate education and STEM faculty professional development.

What is the FTI?

The flagship part of the Physics and Astronomy Faculty Teaching Institute (FTI) is a four-day,  in-person or virtual workshop to meet the needs of today’s instructors to educate a diverse population, use effective teaching practices, and develop a robust knowledge base around teaching.

Formerly known as the New Faculty Workshop (NFW), the FTI celebrates 27 years of programming to support physics and astronomy faculty to have successful and fulfilling careers, and educate a diverse population of students.

EXAMPLE SCHEDULE

Day 1: Thursday, November 2 

Time

Session(s)

07:00 - 08:30

Badge pickup

07:30 - 08:30

Working Breakfast

08:30 - 10:00

Welcome to the FTI! (Prather, Scherr, Hilborn, Bagger)

10:00 - 10:15

Stretch break (15 min)

10:15 - 11:15

Your career: Imagining your role (Stetzer, Scherr) 5-minute break

11:20 - 12:35

Considering your identity and belonging (Scherr, Hairston)

12:35 - 01:35

Working Lunch 

01:35 - 03:05

Experiencing the active class, principles of teaching and learning (Prather, Boudreaux)

03:05 - 03:35

Snack break (30 min)

03:35 - 04:35

Foundations: Lesson design (Wallace, Prather) 5-minute break

04:40 - 05:40

End-of-day discussion and planning: Pods, Q&A, action planning

05:40 - 05:50

 Welcome from Societies & Group Photo

05:50 - 06:30

Unscheduled time

06:30 - 07:30

FTI Hosted Dinner

 

Day 2: Friday, November 3

07:30 - 08:30

Working Breakfast

08:30 - 08:45

Welcome to day 2! (Boudreaux, Prather)

08:45 - 09:00

PhysPort can help! (Scherr, Boudreaux)

09:00 - 09:30

Teaching: Information delivery and independent work (Stetzer, Prather) 5-minute break.

09:35 - 10:20

Teaching: Whole class discussions (Boudreaux, Prather) 

10:20 - 10:35

Stretch break (15 min)

10:35 - 11:35

Teaching: Think-pair-share (Stetzer, Prather)

11:35 - 11:50

Stretch break (15 min)

11:50 - 12:35

Teaching: Quantitative and collaborative problem solving (Wallace, Prather)

12:35 - 01:35

Working Lunch

01:35 - 02:05

Teaching: Simulations, demonstrations, and visualizations (Scherr, Stetzer)

02:05 - 03:05

Formative assessment (Boudreaux, Prather)

03:05 - 03:20

Snack break (15 min)

03:20 - 03:50

Improving your teaching I: Teaching reflection (Scherr, Wallace) 

5-minute break

03:55 - 04:40

Improving your teaching II: Post-workshop engagement with the FTI (Rundquist) 5-minute break

04:45 - 05:55

End-of-day discussion and planning: Pods, Q&A, action planning, and “midterm” feedback: Stop start continue 

05:55 - 06:30

Unscheduled time

06:30 - 08:00

Dinner on your own

08:00 - 09:00

FTI lounge (optional)

Location: Fireside | The Bar, located on the lobby level of the hotel

  • Come get a drink of your choice and chat with presenters and other participants

 

Day 3: Saturday, November 4 

Time

Session(s)

07:30 - 08:30

Working Breakfast

08:30 - 08:50

Welcome to day 3! (Stetzer, Scherr)

08:50 - 10:10

Teaching: Collaborative learning with worksheets (Scherr, Stetzer)

10:10 - 10:25

Stretch break (15 min)

10:25 - 11:25

Teaching: Common questions and sticky situations about group work (Prather, Stetzer) 5-minute break

11:30 - 12:30

First day & student engagement (Boudreaux, Stetzer)

12:30 - 01:30

Working Lunch

01:30 - 02:30

Teaching inclusively (Scherr, Hairston) 5-minute break

2:35 - 3:35

Summative assessment (Wallace, Prather)

03:35 - 04:05

Snack break (30 min)

04:05 - 04:35

Teaching: Labs (Scherr, Stetzer)

04:35 - 05:50

End-of-day discussion and planning: Pods, Q&A, action planning, and individual action planning session #1

05:50 - 06:30

Unscheduled time

06:30 - 08:00

Dinner on your own

08:00 - 09:00

Tenure and promotion discussion (optional)

 

Day 4: Sunday, November 5

Time

Session(s)

07:00 - 09:00

Working Breakfast

08:00 - 08:55

NSF plenary discussion with Program Officers Eleanor Sayre and Kathleen McCloud (optional)

5-minute break

09:00 - 09:15

Welcome to the final day of the FTI! (Wallace, Scherr)

09:15 - 10:15

Your career: Doing your role well (Stetzer, Scherr)

10:15 - 10:25

Break (10 min)

10:25 - 10:55

Bringing it all together: Course, unit, and lesson design (Wallace, Prather)

10:55 - 11:40

Individual action planning session #2 (Prather, Boudreaux)

11:40 - 11:50

Snack break (10 min)

11:50 - 12:35

Collective action planning session (Scherr, Boudreaux)

12:35 - 12:50

Final words (Prather)

Why attend the Institute?

Faculty who attend the FTI will:

  • Learn about student-centered teaching practices, including inclusive teaching approaches
  • Be exposed to principles of teaching and learning to guide teaching choices
  • Develop an action plan to guide their teaching improvements over time
  • Feel prepared to thrive as professionals, navigating and integrating multiple roles as faculty members
  • Connect to an inclusive community of diverse educators
  • Developer greater confidence in their teaching
  • Experiencing the joy of developing an effective teaching practice as a lifelong learner

Why should I send my instructional staff to the Institute? 

Past evaluations have demonstrated a strong impact of the FTI on teaching practices.

Read more about the FTI’s impact: