Seminars and Roundtables for Faculty

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.

To register for ANY programs below, click here.

For Engineering programs at CRLT North click here.

CRLT is prepared to provide necessary physical accommodations for seminar participants with advance notice. Please call CRLT at 764-0505.

Academic Career Issues

Multiculturalism

Best Practices

Technology in Teaching & Learning

Academic Career Issues

Strategies for New Faculty Success

Thursday, March 20, 12:00-1:30 p.m. (Lunch provided)
CRLT Seminar Room, 1013 Palmer Commons

This seminar is based on the work of Robert Boice, who identified several effective characteristics of “faculty quick starters.” He developed a program to help new faculty members productively balance conflicting demands on their time. Participants in this seminar will plan ways to adopt Boice’s principles and identify other strategies to help them succeed in their own careers.

Professing to Learn: Scholarly Learning in the Early Post-Tenure Career

Friday, April 4, 12:00-1:30 p.m. (Lunch provided)
CRLT Seminar Room, 1013 Palmer Commons

Co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education and CRLT

Having followed 40 professors up to five years post-tenure at four major research universities, Neumann will discuss what she has discovered about professors’ pursuits of scholarly learning. Topics will include the following: (1) what it means for post-tenure professors to learn their subjects of study and teaching; (2) where and when these professors pursue scholarly learning, other than in their research; (3) what else they learn, besides scholarly content, that is of value to their work and careers, and how their diverse learning experiences interact; (4) strategies they use to persist in scholarly learning, often with little institutional support; and (5) institutional and social conditions that facilitate and impede newly tenured professors’ scholarly learning.

Anna Neumann, Professor of Higher Education, Teachers College, Columbia University

Multiculturalism

Gender and Authority in the College Classroom

Although this seminar is open to men and women, it is designed primarily for women interested in exploring issues related to establishing and maintaining authority in the classroom. Questions to be addressed include: What is authority in the classroom and why is it important in teaching? To what extent does gender play a role in classroom authority and challenges to authority? What do women report about their experiences with challenges to authority that seem unique? How can challenges to authority be prevented or managed? The ability to teach with authority in the classroom is something you can develop, and the effort is worthwhile because you will have a more satisfying teaching experience and your students will learn more.

Anne Harrington, Director, Business Instructional Development Program; Lecturer, Ross School of Business

Teaching for Inclusion

Tuesday, February 5, 3:00-5:00 p.m.
PLEASE NOTE LOCATION CHANGE:
Great Lakes Central, Palmer Commons, 4th Floor

This seminar will explore ways in which discussion, language use, classroom organization, assignments, and presentations of materials can create an open atmosphere of participation and engagement for all students. We will also examine ways of encouraging and accommodating various views and interpretations while still achieving course objectives and moving students to new insights and understandings.

Transforming Departmental Climate in Science and Engineering

Tuesday, February 19, 11:30-1:00 p.m.
Johnson Rooms, Lurie Engineering Center, North Campus

Co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education and the Women in Science and Engineering Program

Particularly in science and engineering, female faculty, students, and members of under-represented groups frequently report interactions that contribute to more negative views of departmental climate than those held by their majority and male counterparts. This presentation uses findings from a faculty questionnaire distributed by the ADVANCE team at Virginia Tech and the theoretical lens of self- authorship to explore the role of negative feedback in perceptions of collegiality, mentoring, and departmental climate in the sciences and engineering.

Best Practices

Speaking Skills in Classroom Settings

Mondays, February 4 &11, 2:30-5:30 p.m. (Light supper provided)
CRLT Seminar Room, 1013 Palmer Commons

In this two-part program, we will discuss how to structure and deliver material in ways that improve student learning. Participants, who are expected to attend both sessions, will have the opportunity to practice speaking before a small group and will receive feedback.

Now that I Have It, What Grade Should I Give It: Evaluating Student Writing

Wednesday, February 13, 3:00-5:00 p.m.
PLEASE NOTE LOCATION CHANGE:
Windows Room, Palmer Commons, 3rd Floor

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.

Deborah Meizlish, Coordinator of Social Science Initiatives, CRLT;
Paul Barron, Lecturer, Sweetland Writing Center, LS&A

Technology in Teaching & Learning

Teaching with Clickers: Effective Uses and Practices

Thursday, January 31, 12:00-1:30 p.m. (Lunch provided)
CRLT Seminar Room, 1013 Palmer Commons

Clickers are becoming more common on campus as a strategy for engaging students, especially in large lectures. Participants in this seminar will learn about best practices for using clickers effectively in their classes. The seminar will consist of three parts: (1) a brief review of students’ attitudes toward the use and impact of clickers; (2) presentations by U-M faculty who have used clickers effectively to engage students in large lectures, and (3) discussion of questions to ask when planning to use clickers, such as when and how often to use them, what types of questions are most effective, and support available at U-M for faculty using clickers.

James Penner-Hahn, Associate Dean, LS&A; Professor, Chemistry and Biophysics;
Jo Kurdziel, Lecturer and Assistant Research Scientist, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology;
Erping Zhu, Coordinator of Instructional Technology, CRLT

Second Life: Opening a New World for Teaching

The virtual digital world, Second Life, has been an international sensation, as people create alternative identities and interact in new kinds of spaces. What can Second Life contribute to university teaching and learning? Participants will see demonstrations of Second Life, including examples of how UM faculty are using it in courses from Italian language and culture to medicine. Participants will also discuss possibilities for using the unique environment of Second Life, e.g., how to experiment with open environments (interacting with others), ways to utilize “closed” environments (classrooms that exist in virtual space), and strategies for stimulating student collaboration.

Giorgio Massei, Lecturer, Romance Languages and Literatures, LS&A;
Philomena Mecchan, Instructional Learning Lead, Language Resource Center;
Crisca Bierwert, Associate Director, CRLT

CRLT • University of Michigan • 1071 Palmer Commons • 100 Washtenaw Ave. • Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2218
Phone: (734) 764-0505 • Fax: (734) 647-3600 • Email: crlt@umich.edu
- Directions to CRLT -

To register for ANY programs below, click here.

For Engineering programs at CRLT North click here.

Academic Career Issues

Multiculturalism

Best Practices

Technology in Teaching & Learning

Academic Career Issues

Strategies for New Faculty Success

Professing to Learn: Scholarly Learning in the Early Post-Tenure Career

Multiculturalism

Gender and Authority in the College Classroom

Teaching for Inclusion

Transforming Departmental Climate in Science and Engineering

Best Practices

Speaking Skills in Classroom Settings

Now that I Have It, What Grade Should I Give It: Evaluating Student Writing

Technology in Teaching & Learning

Teaching with Clickers: Effective Uses and Practices

Second Life: Opening a New World for Teaching

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