Excellence Center at Hebron University concludes seminar for excellence in teaching and learning

Excellence center at Hebron University hosted six speakers in a series of workshops that continued for three days. Dr. Sameer Abuznaid, the university president and Dr. Nimer Abuzahra, the vice president for public affairs and Professor Ahmad Atawneh, the director of the excellence center, gave welcoming remarks for the guest professors. The first speaker was Dr. Peter Dudley, University of Leicester, UK talked about “Learning how to learn: Successful approaches for Students learning and teacher learning”. He presented models of learning in the British Universities which show a shift from student centered approach to a teacher centered approach focusing on making teachers facilitators rather than leaders in the classrooms. The second speaker was Dr. Rabab , University of Bethlehem,  Director of Center for Teaching and Learning, who talked about  “Questioning skills/ Student Peer Critique”. The debate she created was on how to give freedom to students in asking questions about the topic of class either in groups or in communicating with the teacher. The third speaker was Dr. Pandeli Glavanis, The American University in Cairo, Associate Director of Center for Teaching and Learning. His topic was “Writing effective learning outcomes” where by the responsibility should be handled by the teacher to write effective learning outcomes for the course. The focus should be on what students at the end of the course can do and what skills they can acquire at the social level and the knowledge level. The fourth speaker was Dr.Aziza Ellozy,  The American University in Cairo, Directore and founder of the Center of Teaching and Learning. She talked about  “The art of leading Discussion”. She presented videos showing models of small group discussion and large classes discussions lead by know teachers in excellence in world universities.

The fifth speaker was Professor  Bart McGettrick, Dean- Faculty of Education, Liverpool Hope University, United Kingdom. His tolpic was “Changes in teaching and learning at University level”.  He emphasized the importance of meeting the demands of the new generations in the world of technology who look for freedom, justice and hope. The aim of the university should aim at raising the standard to excellence in knowledge and behavioral skills to make students able to function in their societies as leaders for change. The last speaker was Dr. Maher Arafat,  Al-Najah University. His topic was  “Collaborative Technologies to Create Knowledge Using user-created Contents Method in a Student centered approach”. He stressed the idea of allowing students to work together with the teachers in choosing the material for the course and he encourages collaboration between universities in offering courses lead by two or more teachers from two or three universities.

30 University teachers from all colleges and departments attended the workshops. The discussions were highly interactive debating successful models in teaching and learning in international settings. The series of workshops opened doors for collaboration between Hebron University and other universities by exchanging expertise and visits to enhance teaching and learning at the university level. The Center for Excellence will be the organizer for activities and seminars for teachers of Hebron Universities.