Teaching Kickoff Schedule at a Glance (PDF)

Time: Tuesday, August 13, 12:30 - 1:45
Location: Clough Commons 423
Facilitator: Dr. Joyce Weinsheimer, Learning Excellence - CETL

Bringing out the best in students is not always easy. We want motivated students who actively engage in our courses, yet sometimes students just don't seem very "thirsty." It's easy to react with rules and requirements that move students toward the watering trough.  Such tactics, however, don’t encourage student responsibility or encourage choices that deepen learning and understanding.

In this session, we will explore how to create a climate for learning that will help you achieve your course goals and enjoy the process as well. Bring your challenges--and find out about specific instructional policies and practices that will improve your students' learning.  Lunch will be served before the workshop, at 12:00 p.m. Register.

Beyond Talking: Oral Presentations that Promote Learning

Time: Tuesday, August 13, 2:00 - 3:15
Location: Clough Commons 423
Facilitator: Dr. David Lawrence, Learning Excellence - CETL

We are often surprised and/or disappointed with the quality of student presentations delivered in class in response to an assignment. Yet, oral presentations offer students opportunities to demonstrate content mastery, analytic skills, critical thinking, argumentation skills, problem solving, communication skills, and so forth.

This workshop will examine why we may not be getting what we want and consider how to create and design oral presentation assignments in conjunction with our courses’ learning objectives. Additionally, we will work on developing (1) student guidelines / expectations for presentations and (2) methods for assessing oral presentations.  Register.

Balancing Teaching, Research, and Life: From Zero-Sum to Smart Living

Time: Wednesday, August 14, 12:30 - 1:45
Location: Clough Commons 423
Featured Speaker: Dr. John Cressler, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

The pressures we face as faculty members can lead us to spend all of our waking hours working, yet may leave us dissatisfied with our accomplishments and/or quality of life.  However, time spent on one pursuit need not be detrimental to our other priorities.  

Join your colleagues and figure out your options to achieve better balance in teaching, research, and life.  John Cressler - Schlumberger Chair Professor in Electronics, and winner of numerous teaching and research awards - will highlight his lessons learned.  Bring your ideas and get ready to reflect on additional possibilities!  Lunch will be served before the workshop, at 12:00 p.m.  Register.

From Tyranny to Transparency: The Thoughtful Syllabus

Time: Wednesday, August 14, 2:00 - 3:15
Location: Clough Commons 423
Facilitator: Dr. Esther Jordan, Learning Excellence - CETL

Learning and the level of student satisfaction with a course begin with the syllabus.  While we as faculty take great care to include the institutionally-required elements of a syllabus, find the best books and resources for our students, and describe the plan for the semester in the course schedule, our syllabus can set us off on the wrong foot before the closing bell on day one. 
This workshop will guide us toward the creation of a syllabus that better communicates our true intentions for the course and begins a norming process for student expectations and behavior from the start.  Consider bringing a sample syllabus to work with during the session.  Register.

Teaching that Sticks: Creating Memorable Lectures

Time: Thursday, August 15, 12:30 - 1:45
Location: Clough Commons 423
Invited Speakers: Dr. Christina Petersen and Jane O’Brien, University of Minnesota Center for Teaching and Learning

In their recent book, Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, Chip and Dan Heath explore what separates memorable ideas from quickly forgotten concepts.  They have identified six common principles and situated them in an easy-to-implement framework that will make your presentations easier to understand and more memorable. We will provide you with examples of how to apply this framework to your own teaching.  Lunch will be served before the workshop, at 12:00 p.m.  Register.

Taking the Pulse: Are Your Students With You?

Time: Thursday, August 15. 2:00 - 3:15
Location: Clough Commons, 423
Invited Speaker: Dr. Christina Petersen, University of Minnesota Center for Teaching and Learning

To be effective teachers, we need to know—well before the mid-term or end-of term exam— what knowledge our students bring to the class and whether they are learning what we set out to teach them.  Students need ways to assess whether they are prepared to learn in a course and if they are keeping up with our expectations.  This session will introduce practical tools you can use from the beginning of the term to explore how things are going as you strive to engage students in meaningful learning, on a day to day basis.  Register.

T-Square Training

Time: Thursday, August 15, 3:30 - 4:30
Location: Homer Rice Center, Library
Facilitator: Dr. Chaohua Ou, Learning Excellence - CETL

This is a hands-on introductory session for faculty who want to use T-Square in their classes in the fall semester. You will learn the basics necessary for getting off to a good start. Computers are available for you to use in the training room, but you may bring your wireless laptop, if you prefer. If you have your teaching materials in electronic format, you may also bring them to upload to your T-Square sites during the workshop.  Register.

Register for 2013 Fall Teaching Kickoff

Teaching Kickoff Schedule at a Glance (PDF)

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