View the CITL Teaching & Learning Newsletter February 9 Issue.
Announcements
Spring 2017 Junior Faculty Series on Teaching & Learning
Come join a dynamic learning community by participating in this specially designed seminar series for junior faculty (though all faculty are invited to come). We’ll share strategies and best practices for improving student learning. Sample topics will be Creating Effective Team Assignments and Student Teams, A Learner-Centered Course Design to Enhance Significant Learning, and Enabling Students to Think Critically and Problem-Solve. See our flyer with all of of the Spring 2017 Workshop topics. Great conversations and handouts provided. Registration is now open.
2017 Annual Faculty Retreat - Save the Date: March 9, 2017
The theme of this year’s retreat is “The Power of Engagement: Igniting Students' Passion for Learning." We will highlight the many ways in which our faculty here on campus have engaged our students that have resulted in higher achievement, increased motivation and interest, and more meaningful learning. The year's program will have video vignettes, teaching simulations, and interactive activities by our exemplary teachers. Attendees can apply for retreats grants to implement ideas inspired from the retreat. Space is limited. Registration is now open for all faculty and academic professionals across campus.
TA Reading Groups Beginning for Spring
How do the best college teachers teach? Find out by reading Ken Bain’s What the Best College Teachers Do with fellow TAs and a CITL facilitator. Meetings will be arranged to fit your schedule. This is a great way to earn workshop hours towards our teaching certificates, especially if your schedule prevents you from attending our scheduled workshops. Sign up for to be in a TA Reading Group by following this link – you will be matched up with other TAs and a facilitator with similar availability.
Teaching Certificates
The Teaching Certificate Program offers a great way to document your commitment to being an excellent teacher. We offer five certificates to serve a wide audience, whether you are a grad student without a teaching appointment, a teaching assistant just getting started, or an experienced instructor of any rank. Please see the program's webpage for more information.
Special Event Presented by Paul Diehl. Turning Good Teaching on Its Head: A Thought Experiment
We are pleased to have Paul Diehl return to our campus for this thoughtful talk. Before going to University of Texas-Dallas to be the Associate Provost and Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, Professor Diehl was the Founding Director Emeritus of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Teaching Academy and Founding Director Emeritus of the Office of Undergraduate Research.
Abstract of his presentation: There are some traditional ways and indicators of what we think of as award winning teaching. Is there anything to be learned by taking the opposite of those? The talk focuses on two examples and argues that there can be some important lessons about what is good instruction and how we might reevaluate, at least in part, how and to whom we teach. We invite all across campus to attend this special presentation. You may register here.
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
Tue Feb 14
EPI Workshops for International Graduate Students: Spring 2017 (Session 3)
5:30 P.M. - 6:30 P.M., room 428 Armory Building
Speaker: Jeff Arrigo (Linguistics)
Thur Feb 16
Effectively Working with Students with Disabilities
1:30 P.M. - 3:00 P.M., room 428 Armory Building
Speakers: Ann Fredricksen (DRES); Tina Rolfe (DRES)
Tues Feb 21
Copyright for Professors: sharing your own work, using the work of others, and teaching
2:30 P.M. - 3:30 P.M., room 428 Armory Building
Speakers: Sara Benson, Copyright Librarian (Library)
Wed Feb 22
Jr. Faculty S'17 Seminar Series: #3: Writing a Teaching Philosophy Statement that Reflects Your Teaching
11:30 A.M. - 1:00 P.M., room 428 Armory Building
Speaker: Cheelan Bo-Linn (CITL)
Training Opportunities Across Campus
Wed Feb 15
SPSS I: Getting Started with SPSS
5:30 P.M. - 7:30 P.M., room G17 Foreign Languages Building
Speaker: CITL Data Analytics
Tue Feb 21
R II: Inferential Statistics
5:30 P.M. - 7:30 P.M., room G17 Foreign Languages Building
Speaker: CITL Data Analytics
Wed Feb 22
SAS II: Inferential Statistics with SAS
5:30 P.M. - 7:30 P.M., room G17 Foreign Languages Building
Speaker: CITL Data Analytics
Teaching Tips
Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) for Immediate Feedback on Student Learning
Want to get timely information about how well and what your students are learning? Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) are generally simple, non-graded, anonymous, in-class activities designed to give you and your students useful feedback on the teaching-learning process as it is happening. An additional benefit of using CATs is that they also serve as active learning strategies. The standard references on CATs is Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers, 2nd edition, by Thomas A. Angelo and K. Patricia Cross (Jossey-Bass, 1993). This article from Vanderbilt Center for Teaching provides several examples and how to implement CATs.
In the next few weeks, administer an Informal Early Feedback (IEF)
Student evaluations of teaching are an important part of the feedback that instructors receive. This feedback can be especially helpful when it is collected during the semester. Our students can tell us if we are clear, accessible, respectful or timely. They may also be able to tell us if the activities we give them are well aligned with the ways we evaluate their learning. Responding to students’ comments by discussing them in class, and making changes as appropriate, can lead to increased motivation, better learning, and possibly improved end-of-semester student ratings. Check this site for directions and sample IEF forms.
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