Contemporary Teaching Series
The 2024 Pedagogy Series will include at least two sessions every week of Winter Term, all focused on Learning Is the Goal.
Conversations among the members of the CTLR Advisory Committee have been animated this year by the approaching 10-year anniversary of the College-Wide Learning Goals. The preamble to the College-wide Learning Goals explains that the faculty adopted in January 2014 a shared set of goals to “establish expectations for the learning experiences of all students and to help guide the development of the curriculum.” We consider these bolded phrases ripe for exploration, and we have selected each one to serve as the focus of discussion during a particular week of Winter Term.
Most sessions in this series will take place over lunch on Wednesdays and Thursdays in the CTLR Lounge.
- The week will start with a Writing in Community opportunity each Tuesday morning for 9-10:30 am.
- The first session of the week will involve a speaker or panel engaging participants in discussion and activities related to that week’s topic.
- The second session of the week will be a follow-up, in-person discussion of the workshop’s topic at a casual lunch. You are not required to attend the workshop to join the discussion.
2024 Contemporary Teaching Series
Learning Is the Goal
For a full list of events for registration see the CTLR Events calendar.
CTLR (Lib 225) or Zoom
Learning Experiences Workshop
Two of the eleven College-Wide Learning Goals identify “skill and sophistication” as the mark we want students to reach in various learning areas. How do we as educators get students to the level of “skill and sophistication”? What roles do review and revision play in that process?
On Wednesday, January 10, Arya Samuelson, writer and editor, will lead a learning session on “Generative Revision.” Arya’s approach focuses on revision as a dynamic and collaborative process, helping writers of all ages and ability levels – including some of our own faculty and students – uncover deeper narrative opportunities in their work. In this session, Arya will explain her methods for unearthing the “story beneath the story,” shifting the classroom paradigm around revision, and helping students become stronger and more curious editors. Together, we will also consider how to integrate revision more effectively into the classroom and the College curriculum.
CTLR (Lib 225)
Learning Experiences Discussion
On Thursday, January 11, we will gather over lunch to digest and debrief from the “Generative Revision” workshop held on Wednesday. Even if you cannot attend the Wednesday session, you are invited to come to Thursday’s lunch and to share with us your thoughts on these questions: What roles do review and revision play in the work of your courses? How do you chart a clear path for learners towards “skill and sophistication”? Where do you need help?
CTLR (Lib 225)
Speaker Rescheduled for Spring: Establish Expectations (For Ourselves and for Our Students) Workshop
Update: The speaker will be reschedule for spring. The in-person lunch will still occur but Zoom participation is cancelled. The workshop will be on assessment, grading, and the college-wide learning goals. Participants will share their own thoughts around the dynamic between grading and teaching. We strive to help students learn what they need to know and what they need to do with greater “skill and sophistication.” How have you found those objectives impacting your grading strategies? How have your grading strategies impacted that important instructional work over the last few years?
Original workshop description:
Do we know what to expect of students coming in the door now? How can we be better informed about where students are so that we are prepared intellectually and programmatically to meet them there? When setting student expectations within our courses, what learning objectives make most sense to prioritize in our design, and what kinds of assessment might best measure student growth over a semester?
On Wednesday, January 17, Arthur Chiaravalli, scholar, educator, and now administrator at Champlain Valley Union High School, will join us to share his insights on what is shaping the academic and emotional development of today’s high school students. As the founder of Teachers Going Gradeless, Arthur will also entertain questions about the impact of different forms of evaluation and assessment, including “-less” grading as well as no grading within a grading environment.
CTLR (Lib 225)
Establish Expectations (For Ourselves and for Our Students) Discussion
Update: Due to the change in Wednesday’s workshop, participants should read and come to discuss Jesse Stommel’s “Compassionate Grading Policies.” The following prompts will be used for the discussion:
-How have our assessment practices changed over the last 4 years, and how do they engage students in their own educational journey?
-In our course design, how can we promote intrinsically-motivated learning?
-In what ways can we include and promote trust in our pedagogy?
-How can our expectations of students align with a more compassionate teaching approach to meet students where they are?
Original Description:
On Thursday, January 18, we will gather over lunch to digest the Wednesday session. Even if you cannot attend on Wednesday, you are invited to come to lunch on Thursday and to share with us what you are seeing in our students and wondering about their needs. This lunch could also be an opportunity for folks to describe their different approaches to course design and assessment. If you have a favorite assessment strategy or are part of a community of practice that regularly examines a particular approach to assessment, feel free to come make your pitch to your teaching colleagues.
CTLR (Lib 225) and Zoom
All Students Workshop
Who are we reaching within our student body? What does it take to reach “all students”? What counts as learning both within and beyond the classroom? What facilitates and what compromises growth in those different spaces?
On Wednesday, January 24, faculty colleagues who were nominated for and/or won the first annual Inclusive Teaching Award, sponsored by AGDAI and the CTLR, will recall their own path to adopting and then honing inclusive teaching practices. They will address the challenges and the rewards of making that transition. Their stories will help others consider next steps towards a more inclusive teaching approach.
CTLR (Lib 225)
All Students Discussion
On Thursday, January 25, we will engage over lunch in a more meta discussion about what counts as learning for students today. With mental health issues impacting more students as they navigate young adulthood in a precarious world, what are we seeing in our interactions with them? Where do we feel we can help them find strength and a love for life-long learning? And where do we feel unable to make a difference?
CTLR (Lib 225) and Zoom
Development of the Curriculum Workshop
Where are we going … as educators and as an institution? In this last week of the Pedagogy Series, we will shift our focus to the institution and to the development of a curriculum that is foundational to our work and the preparation of our students.
On Tuesday, January 30, members of the Educational Affairs Committee, Faculty Council, Strategy Committee, and the Curriculum Committee will provide their perspective on how curricular issues impact their committee work. What intriguing questions do they see emerging around our curriculum and where do they see the curriculum needing to go in the future?
CTLR (Lib 225)
Development of the Curriculum Discussion
On Wednesday, January 31, we will gather for a final lunch to answer those questions for ourselves. From that discussion, where do we see room for consensus around the table? What related topics of interest are emerging among us that deserve future exploration or action in Spring 2024?
2024 Organizing Committee
Amy Gibans McGlashan, CCI Director of Academic Outreach and Special Projects
Matt Lawrence, Associate Professor of Sociology
Sarah Lohnes-Watulak, DLINQ Director of Digital Pedagogy and Media
Amy Morsman, Interim Director of the CTLR and FYS Director, Professor of History
Greg Pask, Assistant Professor of Biology
Jill Strube, CTLR Center Coordinator
Hector Vila, Associate Professor of Writing and Rhetoric
Past Contemporary Teaching Series
2023 - Learning Lessons from Ourselves and Each Other
2022 - Holistic, Embodied Approaches to Teaching and Learning
2021 - Teaching and Learning through a Pandemic
2020 - Mythbusting Pedagogy from Technology in the Classroom to Grading
Center for Teaching, Learning, and Research
Davis Family Library, Suite 225
Middlebury, VT
05753