LESSONS LEARNED: TIPS FROM CONDUCTING AN NSF FACULTY ENHANCEMENT WORKSHOP t R. Aiken, G. Ingargiola and J. Wilson, Temple University D. Kumar, Bryn Mawr College R. Thomas, Marist College ABSTRACT The authors have conducted for each of the past three Summers a workshop for faculty who have taught or are scheduled to teach an upper level undergraduate course in Artificial Intelligence. This paper de- scribes problems the organizers have encountered and ways in which they have attempted to address them. The hope is that others designing and implementing similar workshops can benefit from these "lessons learned". INTRODUCTION Computer Science (CS) is such a rapidly changing discipline, that CS course materials and organization need to be frequently upgraded. Faculty enhancement workshops provide a way for instructors to acquire needed knowledge, skills, and ideas for presenting material more effectively in class. Workshops can introduce instructors to advances in theory and technology as well as to new methods and tools for pre- senting this material to students. In addition to these benefits, workshops allow participants to form support networks for the on-going exchange of information and ideas. The authors have conducted three workshops to help instructors of undergraduate courses in Artificial Intelligence (AI) manage the diversity of topics and rapid advances in the field and in its support technologies. The workshops were held in the summer of 1994, 1995 and 1996. Each workshop ran from Monday through Saturday with a schedule of lectures, open and closed laboratories, discussions, and so- cial events. Workshop participants received printed handouts of information, and most of this information was organized on a World Wide Web (WWW) site for easy access 1. Agendas for at least two of the days were scheduled at nearby institutions in order to have access to different laboratory configurations and equipment. Participants were housed in a downtown hotel and transported to campus sites. Several workshop participants became involved in later workshops either as instructors or lecturers. For example, two of the instructors in the 1995 Workshop had been participants in the 1994 Workshop. In addition, two other participants of the earlier workshop gave lectures in their areas of expertise. The objectives of the three workshops were: (1) To provide participants with a repertory of instructional resources, (2) To provide an opportunity for attendees to discuss their experiences when teaching this course, espe- cially specific problems and~or innovative projects, assignments, etc. * These workshops were supported by funding from NSF Grants DUE 9353928 and DUE 9455079 1. http ://www.cis.temple.edu/ugai/ugai96.html SIGCSE • BULLETIN Vol. 28 No. 4 Dec. 1996 3