Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT) -- University of Michigan
Seminars
and Roundtables for Graduate Student Instructors
(Winter 2007)
CRLT’s seminars provide a forum for faculty to explore topics in teaching with colleagues from across campus. Each term, CRLT offers seminars on a variety of topics. All seminars are interactive, solidly grounded in the research on teaching and learning, and designed to offer practical suggestions that faculty can incorporate into their classrooms.
CRLT is prepared to provide necessary physical accommodations for seminar participants with advance notice. Please call CRLT at 764-0505.
Wednesday, February 14, 3:00-5:00 p.m.
CRLT Seminar Room, 1013 Palmer Commons
Helen Fox’s book, When Race Breaks Out (2001, 2004, 2006), based on interviews with faculty and students at U-M, gives ideas, advice, and resources for teaching about race or race-related issues in classrooms across the disciplines. This seminar hopes to promote conversation among faculty and graduate students whose courses, intentionally or not, open up racial issues. Topics may include ways to understand classroom dynamics, how (or whether) to create “safe spaces” for multicultural exchange, what to do when students “don’t get it,” and the challenges of discussing emotionally charged issues such as the effects of Proposal 2, the Florida and Ohio ballot irregularities, Muslim stereotyping in the wake of 9-11, and the racial and religious politics of the Middle East conflict.
Helen Fox, Lecturer, Residential College and Sweetland Writing Center
Monday, April 2, 11:30-1:30 p.m.
CRLT Seminar Room, 1013 Palmer
Commons
Co-sponsored by the Asian/Pacific Islander American Studies Program and the Ginsberg Center for Community Service and Learning
This seminar is for anyone interested in learning new ways of teaching about race, ethnicity, or Asian Pacific American communities. We will share interactive activities, innovative assignments, and successful strategies for educators. Facilitators include editors and contributors to the new book Teaching About Asian Pacific Americans: Effective Activities, Strategies, and Assignments for Classrooms and Communities. Each chapter in the book is a lesson plan that can be adapted for other ethnic groups as well. A light lunch will be served.
Edith Wen-Chu Chen, Glenn Omatsu, and Christina Ayala-Alcantar, California
State University, Northridge;
Tony Osumi, Central High School/All Peoples Branch,
Los Angeles;
Joseph A. Galura and Emily P. Lawsin, University of Michigan
Friday, January 12, 3:30–5:00
CRLT Seminar Room, 1013 Palmer Commons
Co–sponsored by Rackham School of Graduate Studies and CRLT
Interested in teaching at a liberal arts college? This event features information on Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowships at Oberlin and Kalamazoo Colleges for University of Michigan Ph.D.s. It also offers information from faculty and administrators from liberal arts settings on job search strategies and faculty worklife.
For more information about this fellowship, visit
http://www.rackham.umich.edu/Postdoctoral/ok_umexchange.html
Managing and Troubleshooting Group Work to Maximize Learning
Wednesday, January 24, 3:00-5:00 p.m.
CRLT Seminar Room, 1013 Palmer Commons
Chad Hershock, Coordinator of STEM GSI Initiatives, CRLT
Jeffrey Steiger, Director, CRLT Theatre Program
Designing Effective Group Activities and Assignments
Tuesday, February 20, 3:00-5:00 p.m.
CRLT Seminar Room, 1013 Palmer Commons
Chad Hershock, Coordinator of STEM GSI Initiatives, CRLT
Group work can create an active learning environment, allow students to better understand and retain course material, and help them develop social interaction and teamwork skills. However, using groups in the classroom often presents challenges for instructors. How can an instructor ensure that all students are engaged and successful in groups? What are the characteristics of activities that harness the learning power of groups? The following two seminars will address these issues and model active learning techniques easily applied to group work settings.
Friday, February 9*, 12:00-1:30 p.m.
CRLT Seminar Room, 1013 Palmer Commons
*NOTE New Date
(Formerly February 16)
The technology for recording, posting, and podcasting lectures is becoming
more accessible every semester. Use of lecture capture and dissemination
raises some intriguing questions: How does the role of the faculty member
change when lectures are readily accessible to students online? How does
posting lectures affect student attendance? Does use of these technologies
improve learning or simply pander to student expectations? In this seminar,
faculty presenters will discuss their experiences, and participants will have
a chance to explore and discuss the implications for their own teaching.
A light lunch will be served.
Mika Lavaque-Manty, Assistant Professor, Political Science
Perry Samson, Associate Chair and Professor, Atmospheric, Oceanic and
Space Sciences
Thursday, January 25, 4:00-6:00 p.m.
CRLT Seminar Room, 1013 Palmer Commons
How can I heighten student participation in my section? What are different ways I can plan a discussion and ask questions of students? How can I enhance students’ critical thinking skills? This seminar will provide participants with strategies for addressing these questions in social science and humanities classrooms. Seminar participants will learn and practice techniques for facilitating discussions, managing controversies, asking effective questions, and enhancing and evaluating student participation. This seminar will complement the Leading Discussions session offered at GSI Teaching Orientation.
Asli Igsiz, Graduate Teaching Consultant, CRLT
Lauren Kachorek, Postdoctoral Teaching Associate, CRLT
Thursday, February 1, 3:00-5:00 p.m.
CRLT Seminar Room, 1013 Palmer Commons
This seminar will provide an overview of essential assessment concepts, including the advantages and disadvantages of commonly used test formats and general guidelines and strategies for grading. Participants will be invited to provide examples of test items from their own courses for critique, and time will be provided for discussion of participants› concerns about improving their tests.
Mary Piontek, Evaluation Researcher and Assistant Research Scientist, CRLT
Wednesday, February 7, 3:00-5:00 p.m.
CRLT Seminar Room, 1013 Palmer Commons
Faced with a pile of papers to grade? Unsure how to assess your students’ written work? Do you spend a lot of time trying to explain to your students how you graded their papers and exams? This seminar will focus on the conceptual and practical aspects of evaluating student writing. After tackling the big questions (What is the purpose of grading? What are the links between learning and assessment?), we will discuss how to make the actual process more efficient and effective.
Paul Barron, Lecturer, Sweetland Writing Center
Deborah Meizlish, Coordinator of Social Science Faculty Development, CRLT