Programming

Enhancing STEM Teaching

The STEM TRAIL Center supports innovative active and student-centered teaching styles, including application of inquiry-based learning (IBL) throughout undergraduate research and career preparation.

Teaching Practices Workshop Series

Offered as a collaboration with the Center for Faculty Excellence, we aim to expose UNO and affiliated educators to new educational strategies, including within the high-impact realms of inquiry-based learning, undergraduate research, and inclusive teaching.

We usually meet on the first Friday of each month at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM.

Click the links below for more detail on each event in the 2021-2022 series.

Fall 2021 Events

Date	Time	Topic	Facilitator	Affiliation
08/27/2021	11:00 AM - 12:00 PM	Panel: Teaching Reflections from the STEM TRAIL PD Fellows and A&S Exploratory Studies Faculty	Dr. Tammie Kennedy	Director, Exploratory and Interdisciplinary Studies and Associate Professor at the University of Nebraska Omaha
10/01/2021	11:00 AM - 12:00 PM	Got Questions? Supporting students asking questions	Dr. Stephanie Salomone	University of Portland
10/01/2021	2:30 PM - 4:00 PM	The Making of a T1 Designation	Dr. Stephanie Salomone	University of Portland
11/5/2021	11:00 AM - 12:00 PM	Breaking Barriers – Science Outreach Through Service Learning over Zoom	Dr. Dana Richter-Egger	Department of Chemistry, University of Nebraska Omaha
12/3/2021	11:00 AM - 12:00 PM	Teaching Practices Workshop Panel: Reflections on Implementing Evidence-Based Practices in General Education Mathematics Courses	Dr. Nicole Infante, et al.	Associate Professor of Mathematics & Director of Quantitative Reasoning, University of Nebraska at Omaha

Spring 2022 Events

Date	Time	Topic	Facilitator	Affiliation
02/04/2022	11:00 AM - 12:00 PM	TBA	TBA
03/04/2022	11:00 AM - 12:00 PM	Identity, Authority, and Positioning in STEM Courses	Dr. Kelly Gomez-Johnson	University of Nebraska Omaha,Teacher Education, Assistant Professor
04/01/2022	11:00 AM - 12:00 PM	TBA	TBA

Past Events

Spring 2021 Events

Date	Time	Topic	Facilitator	Affiliation
02/05/2021	11:00 AM - 12:00 PM	Small Actions Can Make a Big Difference: Low cost interventions to increase your students' classroom performance	Dr. Ben Smith	Associate Professor of Economics and the Economics Department Chair at the University of Nebraska
03/05/2021	11:00 AM - 1:00 PM	Designing an Inquiry-Based Approach to Blended and Online Learning	Norm Vaughan, Ph.D.	Professor in the Department of Education at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
04/02/2021	11:00 AM - 12:00 PM	Using Inquiry and Active Learning - A Live Classroom	Chrissi von Renesse PhD	Department of Mathematics, Westfield State University and Discovering the Art of Mathematics

Fall 2020

Date	Time	Topic	Facilitator	Affiliation
10/02/2020	11:00 AM - 12:15 PM	When Me Becomes We: Practical Ways to Reach and Engage Students	Bonni Stachowiak, PhD	Host of The Teaching in Higher Ed Podcast. Dean of Teaching and Learning and Professor of Business and Management at Vanguard University of Southern California.
11/06/2020	11:00 AM - 12:00 PM	Rethinking assessments! What other options are there beyond the final exam?	Dr. Stephanie Cutler and Dr. Sarah Zappe	Assessment & Instructional Support Specialist, The Leonhard Center, Penn State University Director, Assessment & Instructional Support, The Leonhard Center, Penn State University
12/04/2020	11:00 AM - 12:00 PM	STEM Education During a Pandemic: Challenges, Opportunities, and Lessons Learned at IS&T	Dr. Peter Wolcott and faculty panel	Professor and chair of the Department of Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis (ISQA)

Date

Time

Topic

Facilitator

Affiliation

10/02/2020

11:00 AM - 12:15 PM

When Me Becomes We: Practical Ways to Reach and Engage Students

Bonni Stachowiak, PhD

Host of The Teaching in Higher Ed Podcast.

Dean of Teaching and Learning and Professor of Business and Management at Vanguard University of Southern California.

11/06/2020

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Rethinking assessments! What other options are there beyond the final exam?

Dr. Stephanie Cutler and Dr. Sarah Zappe

Assessment & Instructional Support Specialist, The Leonhard Center, Penn State University

Director, Assessment & Instructional Support, The Leonhard Center, Penn State University

12/04/2020

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

STEM Education During a Pandemic: Challenges, Opportunities, and Lessons Learned at IS&T

Dr. Peter Wolcott and faculty panel

Professor and chair of the Department of Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis (ISQA)

Summer 2020

Date	Time	Topic	Facilitator
05/13/2020	9:00 AM - 4:00 PM	Workshop on Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) in Mathematics & Statistics	Dr. Patrick X. Rault and Dr. Nina White

K-12 Teacher Training

The STEM TRAIL Center also encourages dual pathway teachers. These teachers graduate with a degree in the field in which they desire (e.g. mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, etc.) to teach and obtain an education degree.

Alternatively, they can complete a degree in their science or mathematics discipline and complete a teaching endorsement to qualify for Noyce Scholarships (in Mathematics or Science).