Creative Demonstrations to Enhance Content

When Professor Clarion Mendes (Speech and Hearing Science) began teaching students about dysphagia, or difficulty swallowing, she approached the topic in a very clinical way. But she noticed that outlining the symptoms, sharing patients’ experiences, and discussing food modifications wasn’t resonating with students or eliciting an emotional response that would impact the way they approached clinical cases.  

Watch this video to see the simple, creative, albeit a bit messy teaching technique Professor Mendes now uses to tap into her students’ empathy and illustrate the importance of “that clinical piece with the emotional piece to make sure we do better for the people we serve.” Hint: It involves Cheetos, milk, and a vegetable chopper.

CITL is Having a Block Party and You're Invited

Stop by the Armory to meet our staff and learn about our services and resources.  CITL is here to help you innovate in the classroom to create transformative learning experiences. Join us on August 30th and 31st for tours, demonstrations, and refreshments. 

Check the CITL Calendar for times and location.

Art of Teaching Seminar Series Resumes September 1

The Art of Teaching Lunchtime Seminar Series is back with a new slate of inspiring faculty from across the disciplines sharing their ideas and experiences on teaching and learning. On Thursday September 1, Judith Pintar (School of Information Science) will present Course Design for Well-Being: A Students’ Bill of Rights. Pintar worked with undergraduate students to identify course design elements that they experience as inclusive (or excluding), fair (or unfair), effective (or frustrating), as well as those which produce feelings of confidence (or anxiety), agency (or powerlessness), engagement (or boredom), and resilience (or failure). The resulting Students’ Bill of Rights is a meta-rubric intended to increase awareness of the connection between course design and student well-being, and to begin to outline a UX framework for designing fair and inclusive courses. Register here for this online presentation from 12-1pm on Zoom.

Hold the Date - The Fall 2022 Faculty Series on Teaching & Learning Begins September 14

Come join a dynamic learning community by participating in this specially designed seminar series for all faculty (across all disciplines and rank). This five-part weekly series will begin Wednesday, Sept. 14^th from 11:30 – 1:00. We are excited to be in-person. This series is open to first-time and previous attendees. We will start with “Understanding and Incorporating Student Feedback from your ICES and Informal Early Feedback (IEF).”  Additional topics are two sessions on engaging students emotionally and cognitively: “Effective Questioning Skills” and “Active Teaching = Active Learning,” on teaching students how to be better learners, and more.

Registration for all sessions is now open on the CITL calendar.

Designing Cooperative Learning Experiences
Wednesday, September 7
11:30 A.M. - 1:00 P.M., Armory Room 182, registration required
Presenter: David Favre, CITL Teaching & Learning Consultant

See the CITL Event Calendar for all upcoming workshops. Looking for other training options? You might want to check out the Canvas Workshop Calendar, and additional training opportunities provided through Training Services (formally FAST3).

Advice for the First Day of Class: Today We Will
(from Faculty Focus)

The first day of class is critical. What happens on the first day, even in the first moments, sets the tone for the entire course. The impression you make will last the entire semester, and today’s students are not shy about sharing their opinions. Most students will make up their minds about the course and the instructor during that first class period. That is why you must use the first day, the first moments of class, to inspire confidence in your abilities and create a classroom atmosphere where the rules are clear; expectations are high; and yet students feel welcome, comfortable, and engaged. 

Rethinking Deadline and Late Penalty Policies . . .  Again
(from Faculty Focus)

Recurring discussions regarding the syllabus pertain to handling excuses, extension requests, and late work, because teachers regularly deal with those issues. Suggested remedies range from giving one-time grace to assuming deception as the norm. If you have been a teacher for any length of time, you already have some sort of policy and have maybe modified it more than once. With this article, I am providing a peek at how and why I morphed from a rigid to a more flexible deadline/late penalty policy and what I observed as a result.