Two key points were discussed by presenter William McDermott, metro Detroit executive director: 1) the need to maximize student learning, and 2) assisting students in improving their skills and capabilities, and enhancing their performance in the workplace.

"To accomplish this we, as a university community, must examine ways in which we can improve our collective performance by focusing on the relationship between our course outcomes – content and delivery – and the requisite skill sets needed by the employers of CMU students," said McDermott.

Three key teaching questions were discussed during breakout sessions:

• What are you trying to accomplish in the classroom?
• How do you maximize student learning?
• How do you orient students?

Group leaders, selected from attending faculty, summarized and reported findings from the breakout sessions. These findings included current program strengths and weaknesses, barriers to maximizing learning and best practices.

More workshops are scheduled for later this year.