View the CITL Teaching & Learning Newsletter April 3 Issue.
Announcements
Special Seminar - Helping Students Achieve: Promising Strategies from Cognitive Science
AE3 presents Professor John Dunlosky, Kent State University, on Thursday April 6, 4-5 P.M., 1000 Micro and Nano Technology Lab. Find out which learning strategies students think are best, which ones actually work and methods to assess related instructional innovations.
Free Webinar: Beyond the "A" Word: Assessment that Empowers Faculty to Take Risks with Pedagogical Innovation
The office of the Provost and CITL are sponsoring a webinar highlighting On Solid Ground. This webinar outlines the first two years of data collection for AAC&U’s VALUE (Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education) initiative, a nationwide project that examines direct evidence of student learning. The VALUE initiative presents a unique approach for colleges and universities that – while methodologically, philosophically, and pedagogically complex – situates defining and measuring the quality of student learning within the learner-faculty relationship, at the course level, without sacrificing questions of rigor. Monday, April 17th from 1:00 – 2:00 pm in room 428, Armory Building.
Spring ICES Ordering Deadline
The deadline for ordering ICES is Wednesday, April 19th. After this date, we will have generic/complete forms available at the counter as they last. We are open 8:30 A.M. to noon, 1 P.M. to 5 P.M. M-F. We are located in room 247 of the Armory Building. Contact us at 244-3839 or ices@illinois.edu with any questions.
Certificate Deadline is April 17
If you hope to earn one of our teaching certificates this year, please have all requirements completed and your application submitted by the end of the day on Monday, April 17. You may drop off your completed application to the CITL office in room 249 of the Armory, or send it through campus mail (MC-528). Certificates will be awarded on May 2; more details to come.
CITL Events & Workshops
Want to see what workshops and events are coming later in the system? Look at our full calendar for more information.
Workshops
Mon Apr 3
Create Your Own Online Course Workshop (Day 1): Designing Your Online Course
12:30 P.M. - 3:30 P.M., room 428 Armory Building
Speaker: CITL
Scaling the Dreaded Mountain of Essays: Evaluating Student Writing
4:00 P.M. - 5:00 P.M., room 428 Armory Building
Speaker: Donovan Bisbee (CITL)
Tue Apr 4
Create Your Own Online Course Workshop (Day 2): Media and Your Online Course
12:30 P.M. - 3:30 P.M., room 428 Armory Building
Speaker: CITL
Wed Apr 5
Teaching with Technology Seminar Series: Digication
12:00 P.M. - 1:00 P.M., room 428 Armory Building
Speaker: Kate LaBore and Cheelan Bo-Linn (CITL)
Thu Apr 6
Create Your Own Online Course Workshop (Day 3): Building and Facilitating Your Online Course
12:30 P.M. - 3:30 P.M., room 428 Armory Building
Speaker: CITL
How the Best UIUC Teachers Handle Difficult Situations
4:00 P.M. - 5:30 P.M., room 1066 Lincoln Hall
Speaker: Suzanne Linder; David Morris; David Tokarz; Wendy Truran
Helping Students Achieve: Promising Strategies from Cognitive Science
4:00 P.M. - 5:30 P.M., room 1000 Micro and Nano Technology Lab
Speaker: Professor John Dunlosky, Kent State University
Sponsored: AE3
Wed Apr 12
Jr. Faculty S'17 Seminar Series: #7: Enabling Students to Think Critically and Problem-Solve
11:30 A.M. - 1:00 P.M., room 428 Armory Building
Speaker: Cheelan Bo-Linn (CITL)
Thu Apr 13
The Power of Presentations: Enhancing your Slides for Teaching and Engagement
11:30 A.M. - 1:00 P.M., room 428 Armory Building
Speaker: CITL
Training Opportunities Across Campus
Mon Apr 3
Illustrator CC Level 2
1:00 P.M. - 4:00 P.M., room 27, Illini Hall
Sponsor: Fast3/Webstore Training Services
Wed Apr 5
Photoshop CC: Level 2
9:00 A.M. - 12:00 P.M., room 27, Illini Hall
Sponsor: Fast3/Webstore Training Services
Fri Apr 7
Lightroom: Getting Started
1:00 P.M. - 3:00 P.M., room 27, Illini Hall
Sponsor: Fast3/Webstore Training Services
Mon Apr 10
Illustrator CC Getting Started
10:00 A.M. - 12:00 P.M., room 27, Illini Hall
Sponsor: Judy Geistlinger (Fast3/Webstore Training Services)
Dreamweaver CC Level 1 (Course is on Monday and Wednesday)
1:00 P.M. - 4:00 P.M., room 27, Illini Hall
Sponsor: Fast3/Webstore Training Services
Tue Apr 11
Photoshop CC: Getting Started
10:00 A.M. - 12:00 P.M., room 27, Illini Hall
Sponsor: Fast3/Webstore Training Services
Illustrator CC Getting Started
3:00 P.M. - 5:00 P.M., room 27, Illini Hall
Sponsor: Fast3/Webstore Training Services
Thur Apr 13
Photoshop CC: Level 1 (Course is on Wednesday and Thursday)
9:00 A.M. - 12:00 P.M., room 27, Illini Hall
Sponsor: Fast3/Webstore Training Services
Fri Apr 14
Photoshop CC: Image prep lab
9:00 A.M. - 11:00 P.M., room 27, Illini Hall
Sponsor: Fast3/Webstore Training Services
Teaching Tips
Test Anxiety: Causes and Remedies
There hasn’t been a lot written recently about test anxiety, but that doesn’t mean it’s no longer an issue for a significant number of students. Those of us who don’t suffer from test anxiety—and I’m betting that’s most faculty—can find it hard to be sympathetic. Life is full of tests, and students need to get over it. Besides, if students have studied and prepared, there’s no reason for them to feel excessively anxious about a test. Perhaps we should start by reestablishing that test anxiety is a legitimate problem. A significant amount of research says that it can affect students in kindergarten right on up through college and graduate school. Teachers can’t cure test anxiety. But they can offer remedies that students should be encouraged to try. Information about good study strategies should be included in every course.
Testing what you’re Teaching without Teaching to the Test
Have your students ever told you that your tests are too hard? Tricky? Unfair? Many of us have heard these or similar comments. The conundrum is that, in some circumstances, those students may be right. Assessing student learning is a big responsibility. Assessments (e.g., tests, quizzes, projects, and presentations) that are haphazardly constructed, even if unintentionally, can result in scores and grades that misrepresent the true extent of students’ knowledge and leave students confused about what they should have been learning. Fortunately, in three easy steps, test blueprinting can better ensure that we are testing what we’re teaching.
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