Certificate Deadline is April 15

If you are pursuing one of the CITL's teaching certificates, the deadline for finishing the requirements this year is Monday, April 15. If you don't submit your application by April 15, all of your progress still counts and you have until next April to finish the remainder of the requirements. You may submit your application in person to CITL in room 156 of the Armory building between 8:30am and 5pm Monday-Friday, or you may send your application through campus mail to CITL, 156 Armory Building, MC-528.

Deadline for Ordering Instructor and Course Evaluation (ICES) Forms is April 17

Please note that the deadline to order ICES forms for the Spring 2019 semester is Wednesday, April 17^th. Completed Faculty Request Forms must be received by our office by this date. After the deadline, instructors will need to bring completed Faculty Request Form(s) to our office to obtain pre-printed Complete Forms. Please note that Form One is no longer available as a pre-printed form. If Form One is needed, please order it before the above-mentioned deadline. For questions, please call 244-3846 or email ices@illinois.edu.

Create Your Own Online Course Workshop Begins April 17

CITL will be hosting the “Create Your Own Online Course” workshop on April 17, 18, & 19 from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. each day. This is open to faculty, staff, eLearning Professionals, and TAs who want to learn best practices for creating an online course. The workshop is free of charge. You can attend in-person, or there will be an option to join remotely via a Zoom web-conferencing session. This is a particularly good opportunity for anyone interested in earning the Certificate in Technology-Enhanced Teaching. Please RSVP for the workshop by April 15.

Chair-a-Thon - April 26

Whether you’re running in the Illinois Marathon, or planning to sit on the couch, we’ve got something fun for you to do during lunchtime onFriday April 26. Help choose the best chairs for newTransitionaliFLEX interactive classrooms at a Chair-a-ThonFriday, April 26 from 11am until 1pm at the DCL Atrium. Eight styles of mobile tablet armchairs will be available. So test them out, eat a sandwich, and vote for your favorites! RSVP for the Chair-a-Thon by clicking here (so we can get the right number of sandwiches).

Language Courses Open to All (Summer 2019)

The Intensive Foreign Language Instruction Program offers low-cost classes in French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Russian, and English as a Second Language. Open to everyone; not for credit, just for fun! Classes will meet May 13-31 (no class on Memorial Day). Look here for more information and to sign up.

Want to see what workshops and events are coming later in the semester? Look at our full calendar for more information.

Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) as Useful Feedback Tools

Classroom Assessment Techniquesare 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. CATs can be used to improve the teaching and learning that occurs in a class. Results from CATs can guide teachers in fine-tuning their teaching strategies to better meet student needs. Here are 2 sources that provide examples of CATs techniques that one can easily implement in their teaching.

"Everybody With Me?" and Other Not-so-useful Questions

“Any questions?” “Is everybody with me?” “Does this make sense?” I have asked my students these vague types of questions many times and the most common response was…silence. But how should I interpret the silence? Perhaps the students understand everything completely and therefore have no questions. Maybe they have questions but are afraid to ask them out of fear of looking stupid. Or it could mean that they are so lost they don’t even know what to ask! Only our boldest students would say; “Um, you lost me 10 minutes ago, can you repeat the whole thing again?” Another problem with vague prompts is that people, especially students, often suffer from “overconfidence bias.” The best alternative to the vague “any questions?” prompt is to use a brief Classroom Assessment Technique or CAT (Angelo and Cross, 1993). CATs do not need to be elaborate or require extensive preparation or class time.

Click here to see past Teaching Tips