King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) will hold a 12-day seminar from Aug. 29 to Sep. 9 for faculty members of the university to improve their teaching standards. “The forum is aimed to enhance the teaching methods and practices of university faculty members in order to continuously achieve the highest standards of learning in KFUPM,” said Dr. Saeed M. Al-Amoudi, Dean of Academic Development. He said part of the teaching enhancement program is the use of the latest technology in instruction, which will be taken up during the seminar. Six internationally-known academicians will be among the presenters during the seminar. They are Dr. Joel Thierstein, associate provost at Rice University and executive director of Connexions, Houston, USA; Dr. Gary Poole, director of the Center for Teaching and Academic Growth, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; Alan Jenkins, emeritus professor, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK; Dr. Gary Erwin, associate provost for public policy and professor of graduate psychology at James Madison University, USA; Dr. Larry G. David, University of Missouri, USA; and Dr. Hoi Suen, professor of educational psychology, Pennsylvania State University, USA. The presenters will provide the latest learning components for KFUPM faculty members to enable them to deliver the most effective student learning systems, according to Dr. Al-Amoudi. Among the topics to be deliberated during the seminars are the following: principles of open education, setting educational goals in a rapidly changing discipline, promotion of deeper learning, designing of curricula, strategies for developing links between teaching and research, utilization of virtual classroom and video conferencing, rapid e-learning, and the roles and responsibilities of college deans and department chairs in program assessments. Dr. Amoudi said teaching enhancement seminars are held annually by KFUPM. “In addition, the Deanship of Academic Development will convene 46 workshops outside the university campus during the 2009-2010 academic year wherein interested parties and educational institutions can attend and participate. The KFUPM Deanship of Academic Development manages four centers, namely, Teaching and Learning Center, Program Assessment Center, e-Learning Center, and Testing and Evaluation Center. “The goals of the centers are to assist the university in continuously improving its academic system by enabling faculty and teaching assistants to reach their full potential in teaching and research,” Dr. Al
