Teaching and Learning Conversations (TLCs) are faculty-led conversations about specific teaching strategies. They are designed to:
Each TLC session will include a brief presentation by a faculty member on a specific teaching strategy that has been successfully implemented at Eastern, followed by time for faculty to reflect and engage in small group discussions about how the strategy might be adapted and utilized in their own discipline.
Please come prepared to think about your own teaching (bring something to write with) and share your thoughts with your peers!
AI-Based Assignments and Activities: Wednesday, January 24, 12 - 1 pm
Sarah Baires (Sociology, Anthropology, Criminology, and Social Work), Wayne Buck (Business Administration), and T. Caitlin Vasquez-O’Brien (Psychological Science)
ChatGPT and other generative AI tools provide exciting opportunities to engage students in new ways—while helping students learn to ethically navigate technology that they will likely encounter in their future careers. In this session, three faculty will each share an AI-based assignment or class activity they designed and describe the student outcomes.
Strategies for Discussing Controversial Topics: Thursday, February 8, 12:30 – 1:30 pm
Jennifer Leszczyński (Psychological Science)
Two of the major skills students need to learn as part of our new liberal arts curriculum are critical thinking and communication. In this session, Jennifer Leszczyński will discuss the strategies she uses when teaching two courses (Psychology of Gender and Controversies in Child Psychology) to help students develop skills to critically examine information, communicate to others their beliefs about controversial topics, and listen and respond to other points of view.
Collaborative Grading: Wednesday, February 14, 12 – 1 pm
Barbara Liu (English)
Collaborative grading as discussed in this workshop is an approach where the instructor and the student come to a joint determination of the student's grade. Barbara Liu will share why she has adopted this approach, how she incorporates it into her classes, and the benefits she sees it having for both students and instructor.
Project-Based Learning (PBL): Wednesday, March 20, 12 – 1 pm
Anthony Girasoli (Psychological Science)
With Project-Based Learning (PBL), students work in small groups to address a real-world, open-ended question and apply skills learned in class to develop and complete a project. PBL is student-centered, with the instructor guiding students through a constructive learning process while promoting in-class community. In this session, Anthony Girasoli will describe how he has incorporated PBL in his classes to enhance student learning.
Engaging Students in a Real-World Problem for a Class Project: Thursday, April 4, 12:30 – 1:30 pm
Bryan Oakley (Environmental Earth Science)
Assigning students to work on real-world problems often results in higher levels of engagement, because students find the work to be personally meaningful and/or applicable to their lives or future careers. In this session, Bryan Oakley will describe an iterative project from his Coastal Geologic Hazards class where students work with stakeholders from a local community and identify solutions for a pressing problem related to climate change. The project provides students with meaningful pre-professional experiences while helping community partners think about local challenges through new lenses.
Personal Archives for Learning (ePortfolios): Insights for Curriculum Development and Assessment: Wednesday, April 17, 12 - 1 pm
David Stoloff (Education)
Personal archives for learning (PALs) enhance student-managed learning and self-assessment and illustrate the value-added nature of the Eastern experience. In this session, examples of PALs will display ways the ELAC learning outcomes may be documented for individual and curriculum assessment.
TLCs will be held in the President's Dining Room, which is the first room on the left when you enter Hurley Hall.
If possible, please try to arrive 5 minutes before the start time to allow time to get lunch.
Your lunch will be covered by the CTLA. (Write your name on the sign-in sheet at the cash register to have your lunch charged to the CTLA.)
Tables will be set up in rounds to facilitate small group discussion.
Deadline for Fall 2024 proposals to be announced later this spring
Do you have an interesting teaching strategy that you’d like to share? Something you’ve tried in the classroom that has increased student engagement, improved learning, or fostered inclusion? Consider discussing your strategy over lunch at a Teaching and Learning Conversation (TLC)!
Each TLC session will provide faculty with the opportunity to hear a brief presentation on a specific teaching strategy that has been successfully implemented by one of their peers at Eastern. Participants will then have time to reflect and engage in small group discussions about how the strategy might be adapted and utilized in their own discipline.
The CTLA can provide support to each presenter to identify additional resources on the strategy for participants, which will be made available online after the session. The CTLA can also assist with the creation of discussion questions if needed.
Interested in leading a session? Please fill out the proposal form by January 16th at 5 pm. To complete the form, you will need to know:
Please note: We may not be able to accommodate all faculty interested in leading a Spring 2024 TLC. If more proposals are submitted than can be accommodated, decisions will be made based on ensuring a range of different kinds of topics by faculty from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds, as well as institutional needs. A maximum of six TLCs will be scheduled this spring.
TLCs will be held in the President's Dining Room at Hurley, with lunch provided by the CTLA. Tables will be set up in rounds to facilitate small group discussion. TLCs will generally be held on either Wednesdays from 12 to 1 or Thursdays from 12:30 to 1:30. (An alternative schedule/location may be considered for faculty who cannot present at these times.) Sessions will be scheduled on weeks when there are no Faculty Scholars Forums planned.
Questions? Contact Julia DeLapp at delappj@easternct.edu or 860/465-0687.
