Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Brought to you by the Teaching Resource Center

As you prepare for the Spring semester, make plans to attend the January Teaching Workshop. This half-day workshop is a great forum to discuss innovative ways to approach common teaching concerns and to connect with colleagues throughout the University. Join us as we reenergize for the upcoming semester.

Location: Monroe Hall

8:30-9:00 CHECK-IN AND ON-SITE REGISTRATION

9:00 WELCOME
Cristina Della Coletta, Horace W. Goldsmith/NEH Distinguished Teaching Professor of Italian, 2002-2005
Monroe 130

9:30-11:00 CONCURRENT SESSIONS

Using Peer Observation to Deepen Collegiality and Enhance Teaching
Marva Barnett, TRC Director; French
Monroe 130

As faculty, we are much more likely to share drafts of articles and grant proposals than to open our classroom doors to colleagues—even though the resulting constructive feedback is equally helpful and invigorating. This workshop will introduce the peer observation process, offering guidelines for productive observations and collegial discussions of classes. Participants will decide what types of observation forms are most appropriate for their courses and will consider the viability of using classroom observation as part of peer review of teaching. Although created for faculty, this workshop is also open to graduate students interested in developing their classroom observation skills or in building peer observation networks.

Reflective Teaching Statement: Effectively Communicating Your Work as a Teacher
Michael S. Palmer, TRC Faculty Consultant; Chemistry
Dorothe Bach, TRC Faculty Consultant; German
Monroe 116

How do you teach? Why do you teach? How do you communicate the essence of your approach to teaching? In this workshop, we will consider these questions as we discuss reflective teaching statements, go over the nuts and bolts of structuring one, and review statements from different disciplines.  You will then have the opportunity to reflect on your own teaching goals and explore strategies for effectively presenting yourself as a thoughtful practitioner to a variety of audiences.

Can We Talk? Methods and Principles for Interactive Lectures
Kirk Martini, Associate Professor, School of Architecture
Monroe 124

This workshop focuses on specific methods and guiding principles to encourage students’ interaction and develop their critical thinking skills in a lecture setting. Using these methods, teachers can create an environment where students feel safe venturing a possibly incorrect answer and students can learn to formulate and test reasonable hypotheses while interacting with their peers. Participants will see these methods in action, discuss them, and have opportunities to share their experiences. Sample problems are drawn from structural engineering and address a range of topics from quantitative questions of fundamental physics to qualitative issues of design and esthetics.

11:10-12:40 CONCURRENT SESSIONS

How to Cultivate Lively Discussion in Your Classes
Ira Bashkow, Associate Professor of Anthropology; All-University Teaching Award (2006)
Monroe 116

How can we foster learning through student discussion? Learn general principles and specific techniques for creating a productive class atmosphere in which students will want to join in, venture answers enter debates, and share their thoughts.

The Public Voice
Judith Reagan, TRC Associate Director; Drama
Monroe 130

Public speaking is an ever-present aspect of faculty and student life. In classrooms and lecture halls, as well as at professional conferences and civic meetings, academics must convey complex material. In this session, participants will engage in vocal, physical, and concentration exercises aimed at increasing our personal connection to the words we speak. We'll also brainstorm efficient methods of preparing students to make more committed and successful oral presentations in class.

Incorporating Service-Learning into Existing Courses
Breyette Lorntz, Associate Director, Center for Global Health; Assistant Professor of research and internal medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health
Monroe 124

What is service-learning?  How can you transform your course to include a service-learning component? Why might you want to? In this session, we will define service-learning, examine some of its benefits and explore examples of undergraduate and graduate service-learning courses from history, global health, English, engineering and medicine. Participants will also consider ways to incorporate service learning into their own existing (or future) courses.

12:45 LUNCHTIME DISCUSSIONS

Teaching with Technology—with an Emphasis on Teaching
John Alexander, Yitna Firdyiwek, and Anne Ingram, Instructional Technology Group
Monroe 116

The Instructional Technology Group of ITC will lead this informal discussion on how you might further integrate technology into your teaching.  There will be ample time to ask questions and to begin a consultation with these very teaching-oriented professionals.

Informal Discussions
Monroe 120

Over lunch, you can continue a conversation sparked by the morning sessions in the rooms set aside for informal discussions.