Leveraging Learning Spaces Seminar
In this new seminar from CTL, participants will engage in activities designed to both reflect on and experience the physical context of learning, including individual exercises, group discussions, and focused observations. Through these activities, participants will articulate dimensions of a pedagogical practice that is both emplaced (i.e., one that recognizes, leverages, and intervenes in the physical setting of learning) and embodied (i.e., one that is responsive and sensitive to the physical and sensorial contexts of cognition).
This program fulfills the Advanced Track seminar requirement of CTL’s Teaching Development Program (TDP) for graduate students.
Apply now!
CTL will accept applications for this seminar through Monday, March 21. If you have any questions about the seminar or the application process, contact us at CTLgrads@columbia.edu.
Who
Columbia University graduate students interested in intentional use of space in teaching and learning, and ready to engage in activities designed to both reflect on and experience the physical context of learning, such as individual exercises, group discussions, and focused observations.
When
This seminar is running in Spring 2022 in person on four successive Tuesdays: April 5, 12, 19, and 26, 12:10 – 2:00 pm, 212 Butler Library. A call for applications will go out in early March, and applications will be due on March 21, 2022.
Program Description
Though the realm of the senses, movement, and the physical spaces in which we teach and learn may feel beyond the purview of our own instructional design and control, in fact, learning spaces and the bodies that inhabit them exert powerful influences on learning. This in mind, instructors can make intentional interventions to their pedagogical practices, classrooms, and syllabi to foster student learning and engagement.
What might it look like to intentionally engage this physical context of learning (Huse, 2005) in our instructional design? In this new seminar from CTL, participants will engage in activities designed to both reflect on and experience the physical context of learning, including individual exercises, group discussions, and focused observations. Through these activities, participants will articulate dimensions of a pedagogical practice that is both emplaced (i.e., one that recognizes, leverages, and intervenes in the physical setting of learning) and embodied (i.e., one that is responsive and sensitive to the physical and sensorial contexts of cognition).
This seminar is designed and facilitated by Caitlin DeClercq, Assistant Director of Graduate Student Programs and Services at the CTL.
Participants who attend all workshops and complete all assignments will receive a letter from the CTL certifying completion. Completion of this seminar also fulfills the Intensive Seminar requirement of the Advanced Track of the Teaching Development Program.
Seminar Objectives
- Explore how the body affects learning by discussing concepts such as embodied cognition, sensory learning, and the relationship between physical health, context, and learning outcomes
- Observe and critically reflect on the ways in which the design and use of learning spaces can support–or hinder–pedagogical goals and interventions and identify strategies to engage or interrupt what Monahan (2005) terms the “built pedagogy” of a learning environment
- Consider possibilities and resources for learning beyond the classroom; and articulate a range of strategies to employ and advocate change-oriented practices in your future teaching assignments
Contact
Email CTLgrads@columbia.edu with any questions about this seminar.
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The Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning provides an array of support for graduate students in both their current and future teaching responsibilities.