Events

Contemplative Pedagogy Meeting. "Being Present for Our Students and Ourselves." (Facilitators: Lena Fletcher, Environmental Conservation, and Brian Baldi, CTL). In this gathering, we will discuss how we can be fully yet sustainably present in our teaching amid all the distractions of life and the semester. How can we make the most of the unique time we have together in the classroom? How can we establish better learning environments for our students and ourselves? We will discuss all this and more.

Jordynn Jack comments, “People seem to think that by admitting more students who have a wider range of backgrounds, we’ve somehow lost some standard that used to be there...often [rigor] is coded language for ‘some students don’t belong, and others do.’” Join us for a discussion of this podcast episode, in which Jack and her colleague Viji Sathay discuss how to shape a supportive learning environment that still is a challenging course with high standards. For more information and to register, please visit the Event Page. (Facilitators: Beth Lisi & Brian Baldi)

Explore the practical dimensions of using generative AI tools in education through hands-on activities focused on crafting effective prompts related to curated scenarios, followed by focused discussion. For more information and to register, please visit the Event Page.

Meet other UMass folks interested in and working on projects related to the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) while developing your knowledge and practice of SoTL. Drop in to any meeting; no pre-registration required.

Do you want to spark curiosity by asking students to go beyond surface-level learning? In this 15-minute micro session, you’ll learn about interrupted case studies—a teaching activity that uses real-life scenarios to prompt student discussion, exploration, and risk-taking—and how you could adapt it to your teaching context. Leave with a plan that you can implement in your next class. For more information and to register, please visit the Event Page. (Facilitator: Beth Lisi)

Susan Hrach’s work on embodied learning emphasizes that we are embodied creatures, not just brains on sticks. Join us for this discussion of this podcast episode to explore Hrach’s exploration of how the interaction between our bodies and our physical environment impacts the act of learning. For more information and to register, please visit the Event Page. (Facilitators: Beth Lisi & Brian Baldi)

How can you move students beyond the “divide and conquer” approach to group work towards true cooperative learning and its potential for transformational learning? In this 15-minute micro session, you’ll learn about a type of group work contract that supports students working together over time to collectively build a more inclusive form of group work. For more information and to register, please visit the Event Page.

Random calling is a systematic evidence-based strategy for eliciting student class participation that diversifies student voices and promotes classroom equity and belonging. For more information and to register, please visit the Event Page.

Contemplative Pedagogy Meeting. “The Moment Is Ripe for Incorporating Mindfulness into Our Teaching,” (Facilitators: Olga Gershenson, Judaic & Middle Eastern Studies and Film Studies, and Lena Fletcher, Environmental Conservation). In this gathering we will hear from Professor Olga Gershenson about her experiences with mindfulness practices in her teaching. She taught a one-credit honors course “Without Stress: From Ancient Wisdom Traditions to Neuroscience” during the Fall 2022 semester. She will share her experience and we will explore and reflect on some of the barriers and successes around engaging with mindfulness in our teaching.

Explore the ethical dimensions of using generative AI tools in higher education, focusing on themes like disclosure, equity, and limitations, while encouraging a diverse range of perspectives for a richer dialogue. For more information and to register, please visit the Event Page.

Ken Bain explains that “one of the keys to embracing productive failure is to provide students with very dramatic and enchanting learning environments, at the very beginning of their experience, so that students say to themselves, ‘This is going to be different.’” Join us for a discussion of this podcast episode that highlights Bain’s research on super courses and how they are shaped around intriguing questions. For more information and to register, please visit the Event Page. (Facilitators: Beth Lisi & Brian Baldi)