Upcoming Events

Collaboration by Design:  Helping Students Work Better Together

Students bring diverse experiences, expectations and comfort levels to collaborative learning.  While teamwork remains one of the most sought-after skills by employers, effective collaboration doesn’t happen automatically.  We can help our students to identify their own and others’ strengths and to work together productively.  In this workshop, we will discuss practical approaches for preparing students for productive teamwork, creating structures that support collaboration.

Thursday, October 22nd, 1:00 - 2:30 pm (Teams)

Flashes 101 Instructors Talk First Gen

In this interactive workshop, we will begin by looking at a snapshot of data related to First Generation students, particularly those who are first semester students in our Flashes 101 courses.  We will then invite Flashes 101 instructors and all other interested attendees to join in conversation related to how we can best support our first year, first gen students.  We encourage attendees to “pack a lunch” for our virtual gathering, if they wish to do so. 

Monday, November 2nd, 12:00p - 1:00p (Teams)

Reclaiming Joy:  Teaching in the Age of GenAI

Does worrying about students offloading their learning to GenAI steal your joy?  We’ll explore ways to shift students’ focus away from grades and products by creating learning experiences that emphasize process, reflection, and authentic engagement.  We will discuss the susceptibility of your assignments to GenAI use and provide suggestions for assignment design with and without incorporating GenAI into the assignment. 

Friday, November 13, 11:00 - 12:00 pm (Teams)

Separating Fact from Fiction: Supporting Information Literacy 

Abraham Lincoln once said, “Don’t believe everything you read on the internet.” (Fact check: he never said that). In an age of misinformation and AI hallucinations, how do we support our students in searching for reliable, vetted information on the internet? In this session, we will work through multiple frameworks of information literacy, with an emphasis on translating them into classroom activities and/or assignments that promote critical approaches to searching for reliable sources in the ‘jungle’ of the internet.  

IMPORTANT NOTE: This workshop aligns with the proposed Kent Core information literacy learning outcome.  

Tuesday, February 2nd, 12:00p - 1:00p (Teams)

Flexible Thinking by Design:  Supporting Students in Developing a Thinking Skills Toolbox  

Elevating learning beyond basic knowledge and comprehension requires developing higher order thinking skills, such as critical, creative, design and systems thinking.  We all want this for our students, but how do we build courses that explicitly support students in gaining these skills?  In this workshop, we will explore concrete approaches to designing courses that scaffold instruction by breaking these skills into manageable chunks and providing targeted support. Please join the CTL and faculty experts in learning more about how to teach flexible thinking skills

IMPORTANT NOTE:  This workshop aligns with the proposed Kent Core Flexible Thinking Skills learning outcome

Friday, February 19th 11:00a - 1:00p (Teams)

Writing to Learn: Embracing Low-Stakes Writing in Any Discipline  

When you think of writing in college, you might think of papers, papers, and more papers, along with the mountain of grading required. While these high-stakes writing assignments serve a real purpose in preparing our students to put together arguments and ‘polish’ their writing style, writing can serve as a low-stakes (but powerful) way to promote student learning on a daily basis. In this session, we will consider the ‘writing to learn’ paradigm as a way of bringing more writing (with manageable feedback) into our courses.

Wednesday, March 10th, 9:15a - 10:30a (Teams)

The Lion, the Scarecrow and the Tinman: Designing Courses that Develop Courage, Intellect, and Heart