Below are descriptions of the past Teaching Innovation Studios as well as resources related to the topics. We sometimes circulate suggested resources for participants to read before each Studio and also try to collect additional relevant resources as well as materials shared or suggested by participants in the session.
During the Fall 2018 semester we focused on learning from each other, finding inspiration from teaching practices, projects, experiences, and just all-around cool things happening in the classroom on our own campus. For this session, we invited several of our colleagues to share and discuss interesting, inspiring practices that they use in their courses:
Chitra Akkoor, Associate Professor in Communication and Philosophy: Students often have trouble connecting the dots between the college experience and careers. Dr. Akkoor shared her strategies in the Communication & Philosophy internship course to help juniors and seniors reflect on and articulate their experiences in preparation for their transition into the workplace.
Leaf Seligman, Instructor for Integrative Thinking and Writing: Inviting students to participate in teaching alongside instructors can be a powerful experience for the faculty member, the TA or learning assistant, and for the other students in the class. Leaf Seligman, long-time ITW instructor, and Meg Zuttermeister, her former student, have worked together for several semesters on designing and teaching the course Thinking and Writing: Forgiveness and Reconciliation.
In this studio we discussed course design and delivery strategies that can help us provide engaging, effective learning environments for students that don’t take up a disproportionate amount of our time to implement or manage.
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In this studio we discussed strategies to manage tasks (feedback, planning, office hours, etc.) and workflow related to teaching that allow us to focus on providing engaging learning experiences for students without taking up a disproportionate amount of our time. Strategies that participants shared during the session included using rubrics to help provide feedback more efficiently (Tammy Warner recommended the iRubric website as a resource for sample rubrics), using TextExpander or a similar tool for frequently used comments (Tammy Warner), making the decision not to grade everything that students do and using conferences or other interactions to talk with students about their ungraded work, and creating a communication plan to help students understand which communication channels to use for different needs (Chris Odato).
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Materials shared at the session:
In this studio we will be discussing strategies that we can use in class to create an experience and learning environment--both for us and for our students--that we are accustomed to, even when our enrollment increases.
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In this studio we will be discussing strategies that we can use to continue to provide rich, timely feedback to students, even when our enrollment increases.
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Ask Professor Pedagogy: Assessment Suggestions for Large Lecture Classes (Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching)
In this studio we discussed strategies for increasing student ownership of learning and assessment by moving away from the instructor being the sole source of feedback (and grades) and incorporating student self- and peer assessment. Topics included implementation strategies, including ways to incorporate self- or peer assessment into existing assignments and using rubrics to guide assessment, different approaches (peer review, reflective journals, critiques, etc.), and the value and benefits of employing self- and peer assessment.
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In this studio we discussed strategies for redesigning or replacing traditional final assessments (e.g., traditional exams, final research papers) so that they are not only summative assessments, but also continue to further the learning goals of the course. The discussion included ideas related to the following questions:
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In this studio our discussion focused on ways that we can realize the benefits of collaborative learning by structuring group assignments so that they will be successful rather than a source of frustration for instructors and students. Aspects of assignment design that discussed include selecting tasks that are amenable to group work, segmenting assignments, individual accountability for group work, and how strategies can differ for assignments of varying length and complexity.
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Given the significant interest and positive feedback generated in response to the workshop on Team-Based Learning (TBL) on March 4th (organized by the Teaching Innovation Studios team and supported by a Faculty Enrichment Grant), this studio was a TBL Debrief and Discussion. During this session we:
We also collected some introductory resources for getting started with TBL:
In this session, Irene McGarrity, Assistant Professor, Mason Library, and Jennifer Ditkoff, Associate Professor, Mason Library shared some of their research and pedagogical practices around implementing a learner-centered teaching philosophy. Topics of this session included: participatory culture in the classroom, theory and pedagogical approaches to student empowerment, student-led class content, student-created assignments, collaborative grading, contract grading, and empowering students through group assignments. Specific strategies shared during the session included: using in-class reflective writing assignments as part of students’ participation requirement (Marin Sullivan), having students in the course work together with the instructor to develop the rubric for assessing participation (Chris Odato), and students taking quizzes in groups (Sarah McGregor).
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In this session, Sarah McGregor, Assistant Professor, Physics, initiated the discussion by sharing her efforts to use concept maps to assess student learning in science courses. Discussion topics included using concept maps for assessment of student learning, to support in-class discussions, and to help students make sense of complex information.
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Active learning, in which students engage in the learning process through discussion and activities, is consistently found to yield better learning outcomes than lecture alone (e.g., Freeman et al., 2014). Many of us have made efforts to incorporate active learning into lecture-based courses to improve student engagement and learning, or are interested in identifying ways to do so. In this studio we explored strategies for adapting or modifying lecture-based classes to incorporate active learning activities. Marin Sullivan, Assistant Professor of Art History initiated the discussion by describing her approach to incorporating active learning in lectures.
Materials shared at the session:
Collaborative learning, in which groups of students learn together, has proven to have a range of beneficial outcomes to learning, professional and life skills (See for example, National Survey of Student Engagement, 2006). Further, “research shows that students who engage in collaborative learning and group study perform better academically, persist longer, feel better about the educational experience, and have enhanced self-esteem” (Landis, 2000). Many of us have attempted to implement group assignments that take advantage of the benefits of collaborative learning, with varying levels of success. Horror stories abound related to unsuccessful group work and many students express frustration with group work. In this studio we explored and discussed strategies for using group projects. Dudley Blossom, Assistant Professor of Management, initiated the discussion by describing his approach to managing team projects and his attempts to hold students accountable for their individual and group learning outcomes.
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Sarah McGregor, Assistant Professor of Physics, initiated the discussion by demonstrating several of the approaches she uses to attempt to increase participation and to engage students in her classroom. Topics that were discussed included in-class strategies beyond class-wide discussions, such as Jeopardy-like games, jigsaw activities, small-group problem-solving or data analysis, and short in-class writing assignments. We also discussed forms that participation can take outside of the classroom (e.g., online discussion boards), using student-designed assessments or having students write exam questions, and approaches and strategies for assessing and grading participation.
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Materials shared at the session:
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