Workshop Series
Tools and Strategies for Working with and Supporting TAs
Date: Tuesday, 1/20, 10 am, on Zoom
Facilitators: Katie Ingraham Dixie and Colleen Kuusinen, CTL
Looking for more proactive and efficient ways to organize, manage, and support the Teaching Assistants (TAs) for your courses? Join us for a workshop to discuss some of the tools and strategies you can use as a faculty member to improve communication, build relationships, and address challenges with your TAs.
Centering Human Learning in the Age of AI
Date: Wednesday, 1/21, 10 am, on Zoom
Facilitators: Beth Lisi and Kirsten Helmer, CTL
GenAI challenges us to think deeply and articulate what we value most in teaching and learning. In this workshop, we will revisit what, why, and how we teach using Analog Inspiration Cards as a catalyst for discussion about how to center those values and explore what makes teaching and learning meaningful in the age of GenAI. This workshop is part of Spring into Teaching, see the full schedule here.
Start Your Semester Strong: 4 Strategies for Connection & Engagement
Date: Friday, 1/23, 10 am, on Zoom
Facilitators: Brian Baldi and Sara Cavallo, CTL
The way we begin our classes matters. In the first few class sessions, we set a tone, establish a welcoming learning environment, get to know each other, spark engagement, and convey our learning expectations. In this session, we will explore and share course design strategies that lay the foundation for effective and meaningful learning.
Consultation Clinic
Dates: Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, 1/20-23, at 1 pm and 2 pm, on Zoom
Looking for ways to tweak or revise course assignments, aspects of your syllabus or teaching strategies for your Spring classes? Meet with a CTL consultant to find ideas and strategies.
Quick Start Guide
We've identified areas where making small changes now can lead to a big impact. There are three suggestions for each of the areas. These tasks range in time commitment; tackle something small or dive into a more major redesign and pick and choose which tasks make sense for you and your students.
Before you start. Your perspectives on AI will inform how you approach your assessments, activities and syllabus, so before you start, check our AI flowchart to reflect on your position.
Assessments and Feedback
It’s tempting to start designing a course with the topics to cover each week. However, an evidence-based framework to align your course components is: Start with what you want students to learn by the end of the course; design assignments to move towards those goals; and determine how to give feedback to improve their learning along the way. Alignment and feedback are two of the most powerful predictors of student learning (Hattie, 2008; Hattie & Timperley, 2007).
Learning Activities and Engagement
It's helpful, after designing your assessments and assignments, to think about the many ways you will support students in meeting your course learning outcomes. The tasks for this topic focus on how to set students up for success through how you manage course communications, provide an overview and orientation to your course routines, and engage students in the assessment process.
Focus on the Syllabus
Yes it’s required and has required elements, but it’s also often the first point of communication between you and your students. Rather than think of it as a contract (which demands compliance), think of it as a communication tool (which fosters instructor-student relationships).