CTL Happenings - Message #407

Metacognition refers to how learners think about and monitor their own knowledge, a process which has been shown to improve students’ learning. Metacognitive skills involve assessing the demands of a task, evaluating one’s own knowledge and skills, planning an approach, monitoring one’s progress, and adjusting strategies as needed to complete the task. Participants will learn how to blend metacognitive skill instruction with content instruction by using strategies such as instructor modeling of reflection, student self-reflection, visual organizers, formative assessments, and more.

Complete listing of upcoming Teaching@IUPUI webinars here.

As IUPUI begins the process of reviewing general education courses, course coordinators or faculty responsible for preparing course portfolios for review may have questions about the information and materials that need to go into the portfolios. This workshop will provide an overview of the course review process, a review of course portfolio requirements, the process for assembling and submitting the portfolio, and the rubric that will be used to review the course portfolios. Examples from existing course portfolios will be incorporated into the workshop. Questions and discussion will be encouraged.  

Active learning strategies in the classroom have been shown to increase student motivation, improve critical and higher-order thinking skills, and increase student engagement and attention. They help create a three-way interaction among the students, the subject content, and the instructor. In this webinar, we will discuss a broad spectrum of research-based active learning strategies that can be adapted into different learning environments and disciplines.

Complete listing of upcoming Teaching@IUPUI webinars here.

Rubrics make grading consistent and speedy, and increase the transparency of assignments to students. Rubrics also make concrete a course’s and assignment’s learning objectives, which helps students become critical thinkers and to assess their own work. In this webinar, participants will learn basic principles to streamline the creation of effective rubrics and will think about ways to use rubrics as a foundational element of teaching and learning practice. Participants will evaluate and discuss the merits of sample rubrics.

Complete listing of upcoming Teaching@IUPUI webinars here.

Top Hat will be offering a workshop from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. on Active Learning; lunch will be provided. If you're unable to make it to the workshop or want to meet individually, drop in hours will be from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Faculty interested in learning more about Top Hat’s end-to-end teaching platform are invited to attend. Register with Top Hat for this event. 

Top Hat is IU's student response system and comprehensive teaching platform that instructors can use to engage students both within and outside of the classroom with interactive slides, graded questions, customized content, videos, discussions, and polls. Students use smartphones, tablets, laptops, ordinary cell phones, or physical clickers to participate in Top Hat activities.

Good assessment practices include checking students’ learning on a regular basis during the learning experience. They provide faculty with feedback on what, how much, and how well their students are learning. Instructors can use this feedback to modify their teaching to improve student learning. It helps students reflect on their learning and identify gaps in their knowledge. In this webinar, participants will learn the difference between formative and summative assessment as well as how to implement formative assessment techniques in different teaching contexts and disciplines. Questions and discussion will be encouraged.

In this webinar, the IUPUI CyberLab team will introduce CN ePortfolio, a tool invented and developed here at IU. This LinkedIn-style ePortfolio is easy to use. In addition to networking, CN ePortfolio supports badging and micro credentialing, empowers students to showcase and reflect on their experiences, and promotes competency-based learning. Take a look at an example here.

CN ePortfolio is available to all IU users through Canvas. Students have free, lifelong access. This webinar will introduce several unique features that the CN ePortfolio offers: a visual resume, badges and certificates, Showcases, skill tags, content archiving, and more. The team will present real student ePortfolios and offer ideas for implementing the ePortfolio into learning communities, first year seminars, capstones, and courses for career preparation.

This session provides TILT Pilot participants with an opportunity to receive feedback on assignments they have or will revise to implement in either summer or fall 2018. Participants should bring three copies of their assignment(s) to the session. More information about the Transparency in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (TILT Higher Ed) project is available here.

Save the Date, TA Orientation:  August 16, 2018

Will you be a new graduate teaching assistant (TA) in fall 2018 and/or spring 2019? Register for the 2018 TA Orientation to learn about the expectations and responsibilities of your new position, and develop strategies to confidently and effectively interact with faculty and undergraduate students. Click here for more information and registration details.

Sign up now for Teach, Play, Learn, Indiana University's inaugural academic conference on game-based teaching and learning!

Born from IU's interest in games as effective tools for teaching, the conference goals include:

• Highlighting changing technologies and pedagogies in educational games and playful learning
• Demonstrating benefits of using games in the classroom
• Showcasing practical solutions for creating and using games in education

The conference keynote speaker is Sarah Smith-Robbins, IU's director of emerging technologies for Kelley Executive Partners and a nationally-recognized expert in social media and its application to education.

When: Friday, June 22, 8:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m.

Where: IU South Bend, Education and Arts building

Register and view schedule here. 

Apply for a FACET/Mack Center Travel Grant for Fall 2018 travel: FACET & The Mack Center for Inquiry on Teaching and Learning offer travel grants to faculty presenting SoTL work at a conference. The deadline for Fall 2018 grant proposals is July 1, 2018.  

Mack Fellows join the community of Mack Center SoTL scholars. Fellows not only work on their own research with the mentorship of the community, but also have additional opportunities for collaborating on additional research projects. The call for proposals is  posted on the FACET website. Click here for more information on Mack Fellow Proposals. 

The 23nd Annual Facet Associate Faculty and Lecturer Conference (FALCON) will take place on November 9-10, 2018, at the Sheraton Indianapolis City Centre. The theme is Successful Strategies for Student Engagement: Sometimes it’s the little things . Gwynn Mettetal, IU South Bend, Chancellor’s Professor of Psychology and Education and founding Director of the University Center for Excellence in Teaching, will give the Robin Hass-Birky Keynote. On Friday evening, a plenary will be given by Ange Cooksey, Senior Lecturer Humanities and Coordinator of the Philosophy Program.   Click here for FALCON 2018 Registration. 

There are a variety of ways faculty, staff, and administrators can enhance their knowledge and share their expertise in global and intercultural learning this year. The Office of International Affairs has a small fund available to offset a portion of the associated costs of these professional development opportunities.

For information about the opportunities, click here: http://international.iupui.edu/global-learning/grants

For information about funding, contact Dr. Leslie A. Bozeman, Director of Curriculum Internationalization lbozeman@iupui.edu.

Weimer, M. (2018, June 6). Five keys to motivating students. Faculty Focus. Retrieved on June 8, 2018 from https://goo.gl/af85W7. 

Student motivation is a key ingredient for their success in your course! Here are eight research-based teaching recommendations that you can try to fuel your students’ motivation.