Senior Associate Director, Searle Center for Advancing Learning and Teaching
Instructor, Higher Education Administration and Policy
s-calkins@northwestern.eduBiography
Susanna Calkins is currently an associate director at the Searle Center for Advancing Learning and Teaching at Northwestern, leading many of the faculty development initiatives at the Center and collaborating with divisions across the university. She holds a doctorate and master's degree in history from Purdue University and a master's in education from Northwestern University. Before joining the Searle Center in 2003, she was an assistant professor of history at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. Her recent projects and publications have focused on mentoring, conceptions of teaching and student learning. Her teaching interests include early modern history, world history, learning and teaching in higher education, and the history and philosophy of higher education.Awards/Honors
- 2009 - Finalist, POD Innovation Award
- 2006 - College Board Advanced Placement Best Practices Course
- 1999 - Purdue Research Foundation Dissertation Grant,
- 1999 - Purdue University Graduate Student Award for Outstanding Teaching
- 1998 - Woodman Graduate Research Award, Department of History, Purdue University
- 1998 - Purdue Research Foundation Summer Grant, Department of History, Purdue University
Research/Scholarship
Education
| Year | Degree | Institution |
| 2005 | MS, Education and Social Policy Higher Education Administration & Policy |
Northwestern University |
| 2001 | PhD, History | Purdue University |
| 1995 | MA, History | Purdue University |
| 1993 | BA, History & Political Science | La Salle University |
Master's Project
| Year | Title | |
| 2005 | Roles, Responsibilities, and Expectations: The Evolving Faculty-Teaching Assistant Relationship |
Selected Publications
Calkins, S., Johnson, N. & Light, G. (Working Paper/In Press/Under Review). Changing conceptions of teaching in medical faculty. Medical Teacher.Cook, R. & Calkins, S. (Working Paper/In Press/Under Review). More than recall and opinion: Using clickers to promote complex thinking. Journal of Excellence in College Teaching.
Calkins, S. & Seidler, A. (2011). Faculty Perceptions of Relevance in Teaching and Learning. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, Volume 23 (2): 215-225.
Calkins, S., & Micari, M. (2010). Less-Than-Perfect Judges: Forty Years of Discourse on the Value of Students Rating Teachers in Higher Education. Thought and Action, Volume 26: 7-22.
Ben-David Kolikant, Y., Drane, D., & Calkins, S. (2010). Clickers as Catalysts for Transformation of Both Students and Teachers. College Teaching, Volume 58 (4): 127.
Calkins, S. & Drane, D. (2010). Engaging faculty in conversations about teaching through a research proposal workshop. To Improve the Academy, Volume 28: 265-277.
Light, G., Cox, R., & Calkins, S. (2009). Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: The Reflective Professional, Second Edition. Sage.
Calkins, S. & Kelley, M.R. (2009). Who writes the past? Student perceptions of Wikipedia knowledge and credibility in a world history classroom. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching: 123-143.
Light, G., Calkins, S., Luna, M., & Drane, D. (2009). Assessing the impact of faculty development programs on faculty approaches to teaching. The International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: 168-181.
Calkins, S. & Light, G. (2008). University Teaching in Thomas L. Good (Ed.), 21st Century Education: A Reference Handbook, Volume 11 (pp. 445-454). Sage.
Aravamudan, N., Calkins, S., Schuller, M., & Rubel, D. (2008). Integrating Teaching and Technology: Facilitating Student-Centered Teaching for Graduate Students at a Research University. Studies in Graduate and Professional Student Development: 59-75.
Light, G., & Calkins, S. (2008). The Experience of Faculty Development: Patterns of variation in conceptions of teaching. The International Journal for Academic Development: 27-40.
Calkins, S. & Light, G. (2008). Promoting student-centered teaching through a project- based faculty development program. To Improve the Academy,: 217-229.
Calkins, S., & Kelley, M. R. (2007). Evaluating Internet and Scholarly Sources across the Disciplines: Two Case Studies. College Teaching: 151-157.
Micari, M., Light, G., Calkins, S. & Streitweiser, B. (2007). Assessment Beyond Performance: Phenomenography in Integrated Mixed-Methods Evaluation. Journal of American Evaluation: 458-476.
Selected Presentations
Calkins, S. (August, 2012). "The Importance of Critical Thinking;" Enhancing Learning through Critical Thinking;" "Building and Assessing Critical Thinking Capacity in Our Students". Invited keynote address and workshops. Fall Convocation: University of Texas. Brownsville, TX.Calkins, S., Drane, D. & Light, G. (May, 2012). Enhancing Critical Thinking Workshop. City Colleges of Chicago. Malcolm X College. Chicago, IL.
Calkins, S. (May, 2012). Enhancing Critical Thinking in Law Students. Keynote Address for Canadian Association of Law Teachers Annual Conference. Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Davis, N. & Calkins, S. (October, 2011). "Breaking the Frame:" A Critical Inquiry into Teaching Literature and Film. Paper presented at International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL) Annual Meeting. Milwaukee, WI.
Calkins, S. (October, 2011). Getting Beyond the Obvious: Faculty perceptions of relevance. Workshop presented at the Professional Organization Development Network (POD). Atlanta, GA.
Arafat, S. & Calkins, S. (June, 2011). Promoting Critical Thinking in Students. Workshop presented to faculty of An-Najah University. Nablus, Palestine.
Calkins, S. (May, 2011). Facilitating Learning in Blended and Online Learning Environments. Seabury-Western Theological Seminary. Evanston, IL.
Calkins, S. & Light, G. (March, 2011). Promoting Inquiry-Learning and Real-World Thinking. Global Solutions Lecture Series. Minnesota State University. Mankato, MN.
Baker, H. & Calkins, S. (2011). Enhancing teaching with technology. Workshop presented to faculty of An-Najah University. Palestine.
Calkins, S. (September, 2010). Inquiry Learning. Invited workshop at the Optometric Glaucoma Society Educators Program. Fort Worth, TX.
Calkins, S. (2010). The Role of Centers for Teaching and Learning in Improvement of Undergraduate Engineering Education. Invited to participate in NSF sponsored symposium.
Calkins, S. & Light, G. (2010). Understanding Faculty Motivation to Change. Paper presented at American Educational Research Association (AERA), Annual Meeting. Denver, CO.
Calkins, S. & Drane, D. (2010). Helping faculty motivate and engage students through a faculty development workshop. Workshop presented at the Professional Organization Development Network (POD). St. Louis, MO.
Calkins, S. & Seidler, A. (October, 2009). SoTL as an Authentic Practice�: A Critical Examination of Faculty Learning Projects. Paper presented at International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL) Annual Meeting. Bloomington, IN.
Calkins, S., Micari, M. & Bautista, S. (October, 2009). Workshop presented. International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL) Annual Meeting,. Bloomington, IN.
Calkins, S. & Drane, D. (October, 2009). Promoting Critical Reflections of Teaching and Learning in a Substantial Faculty Development Program. Workshop presented at the Professional Organization Development Network (POD), Annual Meeting. Houston, TX.
Drane, D. & Calkins, S. (October, 2009). Should Research and Evaluation be Part of Teaching Center Missions?. Roundtable presented at the Professional Organization Development Network (POD), Annual Meeting. Houston, TX.
Calkins, S. (August, 2009). Engaging Optometry students: Making large classes seem small. Workshop presented to the Illinois College of Optometry. Chicago, IL.