MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala -- Air University is hosting events for military education educators to further their professional development and to highlight student academic research.
The Joint Professional Military Education Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Forum is May 11, and the Air University Research Showcase is June 7.
“As everything comes together, I’m enthusiastic about how the presentations will contribute to better insights on a multitude of topics and help bring about a sense of community that I know we’re all striving for as we still push through the pandemic,” said Dr. Mehmed Ali, director of the Muir S. Fairchild Research Information Center. “These events will offer something for everyone, whether Guardian or Airman, enlisted or officer, civilian or military, or our international officer or interagency colleagues. I am certain the intellectual content of these conferences will generate the level of dialogue that will help us think deeper at how we get after the challenges we all face.”
The JSOTL Forum is a free, one-day virtual conference that includes plenary and breakout sessions on various topics. Focus points include evidence-based instructional strategies, faculty development, assessment, learning theories and andragogy, distributed learning, educational technology and research methods.
“This forum fills a gap in the research and professional development opportunities open to PME educators,” said Dr. Megan Hennessey, director of the Air University Teaching and Learning Center. “While there are multiple scholarship of teaching and learning conferences, none specifically addresses the unique needs and student population of professional military education. We are learning more about the science of teaching and learning than ever before, especially in the wake of COVID-19. To situate this knowledge in PME-specific contexts and share ideas for collaboration and innovation with educators who are working within those contexts is immensely powerful and has far-reaching effects for national security.”
The Air University Research Showcase, in partnership with MGMWERX, will highlight student work accomplished in academic year 2021. The format will be 15 virtual panels, captured and streamed to allow for participation from AU alumni from every schoolhouse, even if they've moved to their next duty station or attended the eSchool of Graduate PME.
Directors of research and supervising faculty nominated work from various categories, including joint all domain operations, China, Russia, leadership and cyber. The virtual panels will be available for distribution by AU for use in starting discussions, professional development and professional military education curriculum.
“Air University students do fantastic work, which we want to amplify outside of campus,” said Dr. Margaret Sankey, director of research at Air War College. “Showcasing it alongside other subject matter experts who work in these fields is a way to build student and Department of the Air Force networks of expertise and contacts, while helping the students polish effective ways of getting their work out into spaces where decision makers can use it.”
The deadline to register for the JSOTL Forum is April 30, 2021, and those interested can visit https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/TLC/JSOTL-Forum/ for more information and registration details.