Primarily Education-Focused Sessions and Resources
20 Minute Monday Morning Mentor (Week of November 9th)
Date: Available November 9th – November 15th
Session Title: How Can I Connect Students’ Interests to Course Content?
Presenter: Alice Cassidy, Ph.D. (First Year Seminar Coordinator – University of British Columbia)
Overview:
When students see a clear link between their concerns and your course content, teaching and learning improve. The trick is establishing those connections. In How Can I Connect Students’ Interests to Course Content?, presenter Alice Cassidy, Ph.D. shows you how to get students to make a personal investment in their learning – no matter how large or small your class may be.
Using examples from the literature and her own teaching, Cassidy shares three guidelines to help you reach students more effectively:
- Find ways to learn about students
- Connect assignments to students’ interests
- Use the value of feedback.
Learning Outcomes
In this session you will learn:
- How in-class activities can help students discover the connection between their concerns and course content.
- How adapting your assignments can help students see the links between their world and your course.
- How to help students succeed through goal-setting activities and making time for student reflection.
- How to find new ways to strengthen student motivation by exploring cited resources.
You’ll see how in-class activities like poster sessions, student presentations, and flexible assignments can enhance student engagement. Tips on structuring feedback to help students connect with course content can be as simple as they are helpful, such as “the 1-minute paper,” brief statements on “the muddiest point,” and discussions prompted by the phrase, “I’m just wondering.” This comprehensive approach can be adapted to support teaching and learning in all disciplines.
Like all Magna 20 Minute Mentors, this session provides specific details and support to help you make a tangible difference in your teaching as soon as the session ends. Cassidy even encourages participants to contact her if questions develop after the session.
The session link and login information to the November 9th 20 Minute Monday Morning Mentor is available in the announcements section of the Professional Development course within Blackboard. Enrollment instructions for the Professional Development course are located at http://tinyurl.com/profdevenroll.
National Distance Learning Week Session – Virtual Presence: Inspire and Engage in the Virtual Classroom and Beyond
Date: November 11, 2015
Time: 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM (A light lunch will be provided beginning at 11:30 AM)
Location: GEB A104
UTHSC will celebrate National Distance Learning Week (NDLW)by hosting a campus viewing of a live webinar provided by the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA) on November 11th. Please see the session overview information and registration link below. To learn more about NDLW and all of the free sessions that will be offered November 9th – 13th, please go to: https://www.usdla.org/events/ndlw/.
Overview of November 11th Session:
In the virtual medium, great content can easily be sabotaged by a presenter’s low energy, irritating vocal qualities or general inability to engage and excite their audience. Whether presenting online to hundreds via webinar, facilitating a small virtual classroom workshop, or phone conferencing with team members and direct reports, the most effective training leaders and facilitators harness their virtual presence to authentically connect with the hearts and minds of others for maximum impact.
To register to attend this session go to: http://tinyurl.com/uthsc-ndlw2015
Who Am I When I Teach? Understanding Teaching Persona
Date: Session was held November 3, 2015
Archive Now Available for 30 Days After the Live Presentation Date – Links to the recording and handouts are available in the Announcements section of the Professional Development course within Blackboard. Enrollment instructions for the Professional Development course are located at http://tinyurl.com/profdevenroll.
Overview:
The learning environment we seek to spark begins with who we are when we teach. Our teaching persona can ignite or impede our engagement at the same time it can ignite or impede students’ engagement as they pursue new ideas.
The teaching persona we bring to our work can set a tone for a productive dynamic, lead us to communicate with clarity, and invite a joy for learning. Too often educators are told, “be natural, be yourself,” without being given any real guidance as to how to develop an authentic teaching identity that can serve to embolden our teaching and spark student commitment to learning.
Through case studies, questions for self-reflection, options for follow-up activities, and resources for continuing understanding and application, this online seminar will provide you with the tools to gain insights into your teaching persona’s role as a catalyst in the development of an engaging teaching and learning environment.
During this seminar, you will:
- Discover key features of your own teaching identity
- Develop an awareness of the choices and influences those features generate in the learning environment
- Expand your repertoire of teaching capabilities through critical reflection on the relationships among teaching identity, learning environment, expectations, and engagement
- Activate catalysts for the continuing growth of your teaching identity to bring ongoing meaning and accomplishment to your work
The presenter, Linda Shadiow, Ph.D., brings 27 years of teaching at Northern Arizona University, including nearly a decade directing their faculty professional development program. Tap in to the understanding she brings to explore the choices inherent in honing and communicating a teaching persona that can become a conduit for purposeful and energized teaching and learning.
Plagiarism: What You Need to Know (A discussion with the Office of General Counsel)
Date: Session was held November 5, 2015
Archive Now Available – Links to the recording and handouts are available in the Announcements section of the Professional Development course within Blackboard. Enrollment instructions for the Professional Development course are located at http://tinyurl.com/profdevenroll.
Overview:
Plagiarism is the appropriation of another person’s ideas, processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit. While we often search for ways to identify and respond to student plagiarism in the classroom setting, are you aware of how important attention to plagiarism is in your professional life and your academic, scholarly, and research activities?
View this session delivered in-person by Lela Young, Attorney & Associate General Counsel, UT Office of General Counsel, to understand more about plagiarism.
Did you know….
You can apply credit received for professional development outside the university to your faculty training records? Simply complete the HR Request for Additional Training Credit form found at http://www.uthsc.edu/hrtraining/pdfs/additional_training_credit_form.pdf and forward it, along with a copy of the program’s agenda, to the HR Training Department at 910 Madison, Suite 727.
Why do this? The University of TN believes that professional development and training of its employees are central to the university’s mission, vision, and values. Having credit received elsewhere to your UTHSC training records is very useful to your department and college – for things such as annual reviews and program accreditations.
UTHSC's Teaching & Learning Center 