2024-2025 Articles
Streamlining Communication with Students: Third Meeting of the Instructional Innovation Fellowship (IIF)
Faculty often find challenges balancing their own workload with the desire to support student success. At a recent meeting of the Instructional Innovation Fellowship (IIF), two fellows offered fresh perspectives and actionable strategies to tackle this challenge.
Staying Relevant with Today’s Learners: Second Meeting of the Instructional Innovation Fellowship (IIF)
Welcome to the second meeting of the 2024-2025 Instructional Innovation Fellowship! This month, three fellows presented their innovative teaching strategies for making classrooms relevant to today’s learners, where students are increasingly influenced by technology and diverse learning needs.
Meet the 2024-2025 Instructional Innovation Fellows: Marking the First Step!
The Instructional Innovation Fellowship (IIF) held its first session of the academic year. Dr. Anna Fox Reilly presented on accommodating diverse student needs in a single class, while Dr. Aline Gubrium spoke on the challenge of making health promotion more humanizing.
2023-2024 Articles
Reflecting on an Inspiring Journey: Inaugural Instructional Innovation Fellowship Second Year Concludes
Throughout the 2023-2024 academic year, the IDEAS team had the privilege of facilitating knowledge exchange meetings for an exceptional group of innovative instructors at UMass Amherst. 12 fellows shared innovative teaching practices and technology applications used in their classrooms.
Empathy, Creativity, and Well-Being in Classrooms: Recommendations from the IIF Fellows
At this year’s concluding session of the Instructional Innovation Fellowship (IIF), three fellows shared their insights and strategies for fostering a classroom environment rooted in empathy, creativity, and socio-emotional well-being for both teachers and students.
Teach Tech Talks Session 5: Dr. Torrey Trust
ChatGPT, renowned for its rapid processing capabilities, has made AI more accessible and visible to the general public. It is one of the fastest AI tools employed across various professions. Yet, it's just one among thousands of AI tools available today, each with unique applications and implications. As students increasingly use AI...
Teach-Tech-Talks Session 4: Dr. Melina Masterson
As education evolves, so do the tools we use to facilitate learning. One area where significant innovation is seen is the development of open educational resources (OER). Dr Melina Masterson, Italian Studies Undergraduate Program Director, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, presented her successful strategies in developing OER at the IDEAS Teach-Tech-Talks (TTT) series on April 25, 2024.
Teach-Tech-Talks Session 3: Dr. Jennie Donohue
Technology is a cornerstone of modern education, yet knowing when to embrace it and when to step back is key. Dr. Jennie Donohue, Senior Lecturer II and Director of the Public Relations Concentration in the Journalism Department, in the College of Social & Behavioral Science (SBS) – and an experienced mindfulness instructor – presented her strategies for making thoughtful tech choices in the classroom at the IDEAS Teach-Tech-Talks (TTT) series on April 10, 2024.
Being Creative Educators: Empowering Student Choice and Leveraging Video Lectures
The Instructional Innovation Fellowship (IIF) held its 7th session on April 5th, 2024. Two fellows, Prof. Lisa Lehmberg and Prof. Bjorn Nordtveit, shared their creative teaching methods in this meeting. Prof. Lehmberg presented her use of digital tools like choice boards, hyperdocs, and student-made adventure mini-projects to give students more control over their learning. Prof. Nordtveit shared his expertise in creating high-quality instructional videos for his courses
Activating Student Participation: Classroom Insights from the IIF Fellows
A defining feature of 21st-century teaching is a student-centered approach where students take ownership of their learning. Students seek to be actively involved in their own learning process and to participate in significant, meaningful ways both in and outside of the classroom. This month’s Instructional Innovation Fellows showcased...
Practicing Flexibility, Creativity, and Student-centered Learning in the Classrooms
The Instructional Innovation Fellowship kicked off its spring sessions with our fifth meeting on Friday, February 9. This session was all about bringing creativity and flexibility into the classroom.
From Artificial Intelligence to Virtual Presence: How Faculty Members Navigate Teaching in the Digital Age
The Instructional Innovation Fellowship kicked off its spring sessions with our fifth meeting on Friday, February 9. This session was all about bringing creativity and flexibility into the classroom.
Teach-Tech-Talks Session 2: Dr. Susan Boyer
On Thursday, December 7, the IDEAS team held the second session of the Teach-Tech-Talks (TTT) series. The guest speaker was Dr. Susan Boyer, an experienced instructor from the Isenberg School of Management. Having played a significant role in the initial pilot of Canvas, Dr. Boyer has extensive experience with grading both in-person and online students.
Transformative Teaching: How Can Diversity and Technology Transform Traditional Teaching?
For the IDEAS Instructional Innovation Fellows, every day offers opportunities for more effective and engaging teaching methods. While these innovators vary greatly in their approaches and techniques, they share a common goal: to create a more inclusive educational experience that caters to the diverse needs of today's learners.
Teach-Tech-Talks Session 1: Dr. Brokk Toggerson
On Tuesday, October 24, 2023, the IDEAS team launched our new program Teach Tech Talks (TTT). TTT brings together educators with varying degrees of experience to learn about leveraging technology in their teaching.
The first session featured Dr. Brokk Toggerson from the Physics Department, who presented his unique ideas on using 3D printing artifacts for accessible learning in his classrooms.
Teaching with Heart: Innovative Practices for Empathetic and Engaging Learning
In an educational landscape increasingly defined by rapidly evolving technology and shifting societal dynamics, the essence of teaching should remain rooted in the human connection. This is the message from the IIF fellows during the second meeting of the 2023 Instructional Innovation Fellowship on Friday, October 13, 2023, at Bartlett Hall.
Meet the 2023-2024 IDEAS Instructional Innovation Fellows
The Instructional Design, Engagement and Support (IDEAS) team is thrilled to introduce the new group of 12 fellows for the 2023-2024 Instructional Innovation Fellowship (IIF). These fellows are all about innovation in teaching with technology, and we’re excited to kick off this journey with them.
2022-2023 Articles
Reflecting on an Inspiring Journey: Inaugural Instructional Innovation Fellowship First Year Concludes
Starting the Fall of 2022, the IDEAS team had the privilege of facilitating knowledge exchange meetings for an exceptional group of innovative teachers at UMass. We wrapped up the first year of the...
From Analog to Digital: The Many Ways to Engage Students in Classrooms
In our seventh meeting of the Instructional Innovation Fellowship (IIF) on a bright and sunny Wednesday morning on April 26, three fellows presented their innovative tech tools and teaching ideas.
From TikTok to Classroom Standards: Making Classrooms More Connected and Engaged
In the sixth meeting of the Instructional Innovation Fellows (IIF) this March, Li Hou and Kelsey Whipple presented on the topics of using Tik Tok in Chinese language learning to make language learning more relevant and connected to students and the importance of collaboratively creating classroom standards to promote safe and inclusive learning communities respectively.
Empowering Students through Knowledge Co-Creation: Innovative Approaches to 21st-Century Learning
On a bright and crisp morning on March 8th, 2023, the 5th meeting of the Instructional Innovative Fellows convened at Bartlett Hall. Three innovative fellows shared their unique approaches to teaching, centered around promoting learners’ agency and co-creating educational resources for 21st-century learning.
ChatGPT and Emerging Technologies- How IDEAS Innovation Fellows are Embracing Change in Their Teaching
This Spring, the Instructional Innovation Fellowship (IIF) meetings resumed with exciting discussions on how to embrace technology, including A.I. tools and social media, to give students agency in their learning, and promote critical thinking skills and professional readiness. In our fourth meeting...
Creative Assessments and Student Collaboration
Interested in learning about student engagement and collaborative tools or ways to make your classroom projects meaningful and impactful? Some UMass Amherst instructors shared what they do during the third meeting of the Instructional Innovation Fellowship.
Creative Teaching Methods from the IIF
Interested in learning about student engagement and collaborative tools or ways to make your classroom projects meaningful and impactful? Some UMass Amherst instructors shared what they do during the third meeting of the Instructional Innovation Fellowship.