Werder, students present at conference while TLA lauded for excellence in collaboration

A WWU team including Carmen Werder (TLA/Libraries), Kara Yanagida (Human Services senior) and Tyler Baxter (mathematics senior) co-presented "A Chorus of Student Voices: Researching with (not preaching to) the Choir" at the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference in Milwaukee on Oct. 20.

Werder and Baxter also co-facilitated a special interest group on "Students as Co-Inquirers," which included members from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Iraq. One of the conference keynote speakers highlighted Western's Teaching-Learning Academy as one of three models of excellence in doing collaborative inquiry. WWU has been in the forefront of partnering with students in researching teaching and learning. A just-released book, "The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Reconsidered" (Hutchings, Huber & Ciccone), cites the TLA for its long-time and ongoing work in this area.

Werder was also an invited participant at a symposium at the University of Cambridge, in the UK, on July 1, titled "Student Voice: Past Efforts, Current Trends, and Future Possibilities" to represent the work of the TLA.