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Ignition & Tune-up Sessions (Spring 2018)

50 minute sessions to ignite and tune up your teaching.

What is it?

A series of 50-minute sessions to spark new or refresh old teaching ideas and practices. 

By Whom?

The sessions are hosted by CTLET and led by faculty in close collaboration with the CTLET team.

For Whom?

All faculty, part-time and full-time are welcome.

Where?

In 4EA1 (known as CETL; the most stylish room on campus)

Session Schedule and Descriptions

Designing group projects

Date and Time: Tuesday, 2/13, 11 am – 11:50 am

Presenter: Dr. Wenying Huang-Stolte, CTLET

In this session, the participants will learn best practices for designing group projects, discuss challenges and strategies for students and faculty.

Using online peer review in writing Intensive courses and using social media to engage freshmen in reading, writing, and research

Date and Time: Thursday, 3/8, 2 pm – 2:50 pm

Presenter: Prof. Jillian Abbott, Department of English

1. Using online peer review in Writing Intensive courses to improve the quality of student writing

Communication, collaboration, and creativity are widely reported to be the three skills needed for success in the 21st Century. My online peer reviews for ENG 125 and 126 provide students with the opportunity to develop these skills while mastering writing academic papers.

2. Using social media to engage freshmen in reading, writing, and research

Challenge: In teaching compulsory cornerstone courses such as ENG 126 how does one get students to read, discuss and write about texts?

Solution: Meet them where they are. The participants will learn how I use an Instagram blog as a pedagogical tool to increase students' confidence and competency in academic writing and research. 

Empowerment Through Student Grading

Date and Time: Wednesday, 3/21, 12 pm – 12:50 pm

Presenter: Dr. Margaret Vendryes, Department of Performing & Fine Arts

A way to encourage students to keep track of their performance in your course is to allow them to present you with the grade they earned at the end of the semester. I will share my experiences with the success of this method of bringing positive closure to your course.

Student engagement and active learning in online courses

Date and Time: Wednesday, 3/21, 2 pm – 2:50 pm

Presenter: Dr. Virginia Thompson, Department of Mathematics & Computer Science

The rapid growth of the internet and its capabilities have attracted higher educational institutions whereas an increasing number of colleges now offer a variety of courses partially or fully online.  The online learning environment challenges instructors to carefully redesign their course delivery strategies so that the absence of face-to-face real-time learning doesn’t hinder opportunities for students to engage in the lesson, actively learning.  The presentation will suggest approaches that can be used in online settings to promote authentic student engagement and active learning.   The presenter will share learning modules, assessments materials, technologies uses that will support asynchronous and synchronous settings.

Active learning technologies in the large classroom

Date and Time:  Thursday, 3/22, 12 pm - 12:50 pm

Presenter: Dr. Yolanda Small, Department of Chemistry

In this session, the participants will learn how active learning technologies can be used in large classrooms to engage students. The participants will have opportunities to discuss how they can apply the technologies in their instructions to make learning more active. There are also hands-on opportunities to practice using the technologies.

Blackboard exam metrics and the story it tells

Date and Time: Wednesday, 4/18, 12 pm – 12:50 pm

Presenter: Dr. Lilly Mathew, Department of Nursing

As faculty, we engage in either writing our own exam items or using question bank items provided to us. However, it is equally important to evaluate the reliability and validity of our exams. Blackboard contains features that enable us to look at our exam items performing metrics and make the sound judgment regarding our exam outcomes.

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