Events: 2019-2020

Reading Group – The Spark of Learning by Sarah Rose Cavanagh to be held Monday, September 16th from 12:10-1:10pm (Introduction, Chapters 1-3) in Belk Pavilion 208 and Monday, September 30th from 12:10-1:10pm (Chapters 4-6, Conclusion) in Belk Pavilion 208. Books will be provided for those who sign up for the two-session discussion group. Lunch is provided.

This workshop will explore different forms of active learning and what they help students achieve. Tuesday, October 8th from 12:30 – 1:45pm in Belk Pavilion 201. Lunch is provided.

Dr Catherine Bovill is Senior Lecturer in Student Engagement at the Institute for Academic Development, University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Cathy is currently an Elon University Fulbright Scholar, researching, teaching and leading work on Building partnerships and student engagement through enhanced student-faculty relationships. She is also a Visiting Fellow (Knowledge Exchange) at the University of Winchester UK, a Principal Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy and an Editorial Board member for Teaching in Higher Education. She has published and presented internationally on student engagement, students as partners and student-faculty co-creation of curricula. In 2018 Cathy performed a fringe show at the Edinburgh International Festival – focused on exploring the highs and lows of teachers’ attempts to engage students. Tuesday, November 12th from 12:30-2:00pm | LaRose Student Commons 200 | Lunch is provided.

Tuesday, December 3rd | 4:10-5:20pm | Belk Pavilion 208 | Snacks are provided.

Are you excited to try something new in a current course and want to reflect on how you might document its impact on student learning? Have you noticed something intriguing, perplexing, or challenging in a course that you’ve recently taught? Our conversations will help enrich your thinking about SoTL and identify the ways in which the SoTL scholarly process aligns with research processes already familiar to us from disciplinary frameworks. It will also introduce members to resources helpful to the development and eventual publication of a SoTL project. CoPs will meet three times over the semester; schedules will be determined based on participant availability.

In this session, participants will also discuss ways we might actively create more inclusive classrooms as an act of hope for a more equitable future for our students and ourselves and as a way to promote learning and growth – our own and our students’—about human diversity and interdependence.

This workshop is part of several campus activities supported by a recent Faculty Forums grant to Elon from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
*While this event is specifically geared toward STEM faculty, all interested Elon faculty, staff, and students are welcome to attend.

This session co-sponsored by Internships, and the Kernodle Center focuses on developing effective, purposeful reflection activities and assignments, particularly those that help students connect academic and experiential learning. Graham Gibbs (1988) and others remind us that experiences in and of themselves are not sufficient to produce learning: “without reflecting on this experience, it may quickly be forgotten, or its learning potential lost” (9). In the session, we’ll consider research-based findings and models for reflective writing. Participants will discuss strategies for designing reflective assignments to reinforce specific learning goals and consider how to adapt or develop reflection assignments for their teaching and learning contexts, whether in the classroom, connecting class learning to an internship or service learning or when using reflection as a part of campus experiences such as in student life/campus employment. Monday, February 15th, 2020 12:15 – 1:25pm (lunch provided) | LaRose Student Commons Room 200

Derek Bruff is director of the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching and a principal senior lecturer in the Vanderbilt Department of Mathematics. As director, he oversees the Center’s programming and offerings for faculty and graduate students, helping them develop foundational teaching skills and explore new ideas in teaching and learning. He also consults regularly with campus leaders about pedagogical issues, seeking to foster a university culture that supports effective teaching. Bruff is the author of Intentional Tech: Principles to Guide the Use of Educational Technology in College Teaching (West Virginia University Press, 2019) and Teaching with Classroom Response Systems: Creating Active Learning Environments (Jossey-Bass, 2009). His scholarly interests include educational technology and faculty development, and he writes about these and other topics on his blog, Agile Learning. Bruff is also producer and host of the podcasts Leading Lines, VandyVox, and One-Time Pod. Friday, February 28th 12:15 – 1:25pm (lunch provided) | LaRose Student Commons upstairs room 200

In “Speed Teaching” — a creative blend of pedagogy and “speed dating” — a handful of faculty will quickly share a strategy for ensuring student preparation for class. These quick exercises and techniques from across the disciplines will offer ways to foster student engagement with readings, pre-class assignments, problem sets, and other activities that contribute to a productive in-class learning environment. Session participants will have the chance to briefly learn about and discuss three different techniques — without having to make a commitment to any one of them. Thursday, March 5th, 2020 12:15 – 1:25pm (lunch provided) | Moseley 215

In this polarized climate, it seems increasingly important to consider how we are crafting classroom spaces to foster a free exchange of ideas, critically explore multiple viewpoints, and allow students to acquire the necessary skills to engage in civil discourse. At the same time, it can be helpful to have strategies handy to help us react quickly when we hear surprising comments or asides that could severely hinder students’ learning and sense of well-being and negatively affect classroom dynamics. In this session, we’ll discuss a range of proactive and “in the moment” strategies as we consider: How can we set up and model civil discussion on topics that may be politicized, polarizing and also deeply personal? How can we respond to unexpected, even incendiary, acts and comments in ways that maintain a positive learning environment and help our students reflect on how their comments and actions influence classroom dynamics? What strategies can we use to ensure these “hot topic” moments are addressed quickly in ways that enhance rather than detract from learning? Co-sponsored by CATL, the faculty fellow for CREDE, Council on Civic Engagement and the Kernodle Center for Civic Life. Tuesday, March 24th, 2020 12:15 – 1:25pm (lunch provided) | Moseley 215

Our conversations will explore questions around how to choose practices for a specific context or goal, how we might explain them for students who may be unfamiliar with mindful/contemplative practice, how these practices might benefit students in various ways, how we might come to know that impact in our own contexts, and how our own mindfulness practices help us nurture and sustain our energy and commitment as teachers. Please join us for sessions as your schedule allows. Wednesdays from 8-9am once a month (February 19, March 11, April 8, May 6) in Belk Pavilion 208.

Have an assignment that isn’t quite working the way you intended or an idea for one that you’d like to develop? Or, even, one you know tests crucial knowledge or skills but that students dismiss as busy work? Sign up to join a working group focused on designing assignments that clearly support your course goals and foster meaningful student learning. During group meetings, you’ll apply an assignment design approach that blends “backward design” and “transparency” approaches to develop assignments that align with your course learning goals and to help students understand the value and relevance of the assignment.