Teaching students who do not show mastery of expected pre-requisite knowledge can be difficult. This can be particularly challenging when a lack of pre-requisite knowledge negatively affects a student’s motivation and engagement with new material. Many professors struggle with how to activate student’s prior knowledge given: (1) limited class time; (2) differences among the learners in the class; and (3) a lack of TA support. During this interactive workshop we will consider research on students' ability to demonstrate mastery of pre-requisite material. We will further the discussion by identifying differences in how prior knowledge is characterized from both the student and the instructor perspective. Through several activities we will engage innovative teaching strategies to attempt to activate student prior knowledge. We also will discuss methods of assessment to determine the effectiveness of these strategies.

 Presenter: Damon P. Williams, Ph.D. is a Georgia Tech alum (B.S. '02 in ISyE) and currently serves the Georgia Tech community with a joint appointment as a postdoctoral fellow in the Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning and an instructor in the Industrial and Systems Engineering department.

To register, go to: http://www.cetl.gatech.edu/civicrm/event/info?id=41&reset=1