In the Classroom
with Sharon Silverman, Learning Studio
This group of three workshops can be taken together or separately. Each combines an overview of the ideas of prominent learning theorists with practical strategies for teaching. Light refreshments will be provided.
_Campus Resources to Improve Student Learning
with Sandra Allen and Mike Swidler, Marketing Communication
Students rave about this groundbreaking class, and every semester, they also ask if instructors are required to take the course. As the question suggests, instructors might also benefit from assessing ideologies and considering new ways to facilitate difficult conversations around culture, race, gender, class, religion, prejudice, and the many misconceptions that we often aren't aware we hold.
This four-part series includes community discussion and "homework" on a CRM for Faculty website and provides an excellent example of a rigorous curriculum that successfully integrates teaching strategies and multimedia technology.
Metacognition (knowledge of one's own thinking processes) and self-regulation (the ability to control and monitor one's learning process) are critical elements in successful learning. Join us as we introduce concrete and practical strategies to help our students gain active control over their studies.
In this workshop learn to incorporate multiple learning styles and increase student achievement. Students often have distinct learning preferences and synthesize information either through Visual, Auditory, Read/Write, or Kinetic (VARK) presentation; teaching to the student helps improve their retention and learning.
Supplemental Instruction
with Sharon Silverman and Lynn Levy, Learning Studio, and Select SI student leaders
What is a “learning community” and how does it impact teaching and learning at Columbia? This session will provide information on how learning communities are being implemented in the Television and Film & Video Departments and explore the advantages and pitfalls they’ve encountered.
How do you break that Week 1 ice? How do you get students on their feet? How do you get them engaged? This practical applications workshop will model community-building classroom activities you can translate to any discipline.
Can social media help foster communication in your class? Can the real-time web be used as a learning tool? Learn how to utilize Twitter, Facebook, and other social software to facilitate student collaboration and efficient student-teacher conversations.
In this two-part series, esteemed Columbia College faculty from multiple disciplines share how they give feedback and conduct classroom critique, and discuss the common philosophies that can translate to any discipline.
The Millennial Generation Student:
Good Ideas for Teaching (GIFT)
with Sandra Allen and Mike Swidler, Marketing Communication
Teaching the Millennial Generation student (born between 1982 and 2002) means educating students with more diverse cultural backgrounds and learning styles. Based on our research into the VARK (Visual, Auditory, Read/Write and Kinesthetic) method of teaching, we will introduce GIFT. A discussion and reflection on how current classroom activities can suit a multitude of learning styles.
Given the great variety of works that students produce and the kinds of collaboration they engage in, it's not always clear to either faculty or students where the acceptable boundaries are in matters of academic integrity. In this session, we will introduce Columbia College's new Academic Integrity policy and discuss how the policies and procedures may affect what we do in the classroom. We will review the various forms that violations of academic integrity can take and provide strategies for handling issues of academic integrity in pedagogically responsible ways. We will also discuss tools for prevention of plagiarism in the first place. From designing assignments to evaluating student work, we will introduce concrete steps that instructors can take to create a classroom environment in which plagiarism and other violations of academic integrity are less tempting and in which creativity, risk-taking, and collaboration are encouraged and rewarded.
When a group of individuals works together on a project, who owns the work? What kind of consent do teachers need when they want to use or share student work in their research or teaching? Do copyright or intellectual property rights apply to course work and teaching materials? In this follow-up workshop on Academic Integrity, we tackle issues that touch on the legal aspects of academic production and collaboration. Learn about the legal responsibilities and legal limits of what we do in the classroom.
What can student evaluations tell us about our teaching? Despite what skeptics may say about their validity, student evaluations of teaching performance can yield valuable insights into students' experience of the course that faculty can use to improve their teaching and their students' learning. But like all data, the evaluations need to be interpreted in order to be meaningful. In this workshop, we will introduce best practices in interpreting and using student evaluations as an effective teaching tool, and discuss specific strategies for encouraging students to give us the feedback we need.
As an initial contact point between instructor and student, the syllabus is an important shared document. In this session, we discuss the purpose of a syllabus both in the classroom and in larger institutional contexts (a department’s curriculum, the College’s mission, etc.). In thinking about the syllabus as a teaching and learning tool, we will pay special attention to learning objectives and how to write clear, effective objectives that reflect the goals of the course.
Have you ever had a class that didn’t gel? Students who didn’t get along with each other, didn’t talk, or didn’t participate? As teachers, we’ve all experienced at one time or another problems of classroom dynamics and student conduct that seemed impervious to our best efforts. This workshop explores the ins and outs of classroom management and the particular challenges of teaching (and learning) at a generous admissions institution. Join us to discuss those difficult moments from the classroom, share your ways of approaching the challenges, and consider new techniques for creating successful learning environments for you and your students.
