Learning Communities for Graduate Students: Register today!

by | Jan 25, 2018

Registration Open: 
CTLgrads Learning Communities

CTLgrads Learning Communities are interdisciplinary three-part series on teaching and learning topics, designed and co-facilitated by CTL Senior Lead Teaching Fellows. By participating in these deeper multi-session discussions of the teaching literature with other graduate student instructors, you will develop new frameworks to innovate your teaching. This spring, Learning Communities will explore inclusive assessment practices and using social media as a pedagogical platform in higher-education classrooms.

Two of our Learning Communities kick off in the next two weeks! Register for the sessions via the links below. Snacks and refreshments will be provided. 

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Leveling the Playing Field: From Inequality to Inclusivity in Assessment

Students learn differently, but we tend to assess them all in the same way. How can we account for this difference, yet retain consistency across our assessment practices? In this Learning Community, we will situate inclusive assessment strategies in the tradition of both inclusive teaching and pedagogies of liberation, while stimulating discussion of the latest inclusive assessment practices in higher-education classrooms. To do so, this Learning Community is organized around the three key stages of the assessment process: design, grading, and feedback.

Spring 2018 Sessions

Conversations run from 2:00–3:30pm on Mondays January 29, February 12, and February 26 in Butler 212, and are led by Evan Jewell (Senior Lead Teaching Fellow, Department of Classical Studies) and Luciana de Souza Leão (Senior Lead Teaching Fellow, Department of Sociology).

Inclusion by Design: Strategies for Inclusive Assessments: In learning environments, individual variability is the norm, not the exception. In this session, we will go over strategies to design assessments that take student diversity into account, while enhancing learning opportunities for all students. Register here.

Unpacking Inequality in Grading: How can we build equity into grading? In this session, we will discuss the multiple ways in which grading can create and reproduce inequality among students, and practice easily actionable strategies to grade in more equitable ways. Register here.

Making Feedback Count: Inclusive Feedback Mechanisms: How can feedback be more inclusive? In this session, we will discuss how both graded and ungraded feedback delivered in a variety of ways can provide equitable and actionable feedback for different types of students, while not becoming a burden for graders. Register here.

Provocative Teaching and Social Media

As technology is increasingly central to student learning, as well as how faculty share their expertise with the general public, the classroom has since come to include digital spaces — chiefly, social media. Join this Learning Community to explore the benefits and risks of employing social media as a pedagogical platform, including: the instantaneous sharing of ideas; opportunities for thoughtful conversation among the instructor, students, and the world; and the enormous room for controversy. In essence, amid the ambiguous concept of “academic freedom,” what norms shape teaching with social media?

Spring 2018 Sessions

Conversations run from 2:00–3:30 pm on Mondays February 5, February 19, and March 5 in Butler 212, and are led by Victoria Wiet (Senior Lead Teaching Fellow, Department of English and Comparative Literature) and Niki Kiviat (Senior Teaching Observation Fellow, Department of Italian).

Freedom to provoke? Defining academic freedom: This first session establishes a framework for interpreting professional norms by unpacking the concept of academic freedom as a guideline for research and teaching. What exactly is academic freedom, and how has the concept developed over time, with special respect to technology? We will begin to discuss various perspectives on what academic freedom constitutes, and how graduate instructors and non-tenured faculty are affected by these debates. Register here.

Academics v. the public: Case studies in digital engagement: This second session explores the professional norms that emerge as we move from theory to examining specific case studies, both at and beyond Columbia. Together, we will come to recognize the call for a more updated policy on academic freedom by analyzing illustrative case studies of academics engaging the public through social media while navigating the confusing nexus of freedom of speech and academic freedom. Register here.

Practicing the “rules” of engagement in social media: Our third session allows participants to generate their own case studies of teaching practices: how social media could enter their classrooms, and what professional values those practices foster. As participants experiment with social media practices applicable to their respective research and teaching, they will recognize first-hand the nebulous boundary between the traditional classroom and digital spaces. Despite our expertise, are we truly free to tweet? Register here.