A Virtual Gathering to Celebrate Teaching and Learning on Thursday, October 1, 2020.
About
Interested in adding a spark to your courses? Curious about the innovative work your colleagues are doing? Teaching Day, now in its tenth year, offers a place to learn about innovative teaching practices and to be re-energized by your faculty colleagues.
This year, Teaching Day will be virtual and will reflect on the current moment and how it can help you prepare for the future. You will hear from colleagues across the university in brief “lightning talks” and from experts in a roundtable. The day will close with an interactive demonstration of active learning exercises to try in synchronous video sessions. Vote on your favorite!
Schedule at a Glance
- 10a-12p: Faculty Lighting Talks, round 1
- 12-1:30p: Expert roundtable: The Present and Future of Virtual Teaching
- 2-3p: Faculty Lightning Talks, round 2
- 3-4:30p: Active Learning Showcase: Ideas To Use Now
- 5-5:30p: Supporting Students with Virtual Academic Resources
Lightning Talks, Round 1
10a-12p
Teaching Clinical Anatomy in a Hybrid Medical School Curriculum
Time: 10-10:20a
Marc Spencer, Assistant Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine and Health Sciences
In light of the global coronavirus pandemic, we have had to make drastic changes in the way we teach human gross anatomy to medical students. The shift in pedagogical techniques has illuminated the necessity to focus on the anatomical basis of clinical presentations. Through the use of pre-recorded videos, worksheets, outlines, and formative assessments, it is possible to deliver a thorough anatomical learning experience to students regardless whether they opt for a fully virtual or hybrid-track curriculum.
Using Music to Create Community
Time: 10:20-10:40a
Declan Cullen, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Columbian College of Arts and Sciences
I will discuss how I use music in my World Regional Geography classes to build community and generate discussion.
Using Slack and Microsoft Teams to Engage Students
Time: 10:40-11a
Kevin Knudsen, Director, Academic Commons; Megan Potterbusch, Data Services Librarian; Laura Wrubel, Software Development Librarian; Libraries and Academic Innovation
The instructional continuity period has caused us all to rethink how we go about communicating and creating learning communities in a virtual environment. There are a number of communication platforms available, but evaluating and choosing the right one to suit the needs of you and your students can be daunting. This lightning talk will cover two tools being used at GW to augment teaching, communication, and community development: Slack and Microsoft Teams. The presenters will address why they selected these tools, how they use them, and some considerations for making the right selection for you.
Mobilizing a Community in Crisis: Faculty as Learning Moderators
Time: 11-11:20a
Ayman El-Tarabishy, Teaching Professor and Deputy Chair, Department of Management, School of Business and Management
Upon the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, professors in the GW School of Business MBA program teamed together to turn a crisis into a teaching moment, capturing a real-time case study. We took advantage of the virtual nature of the course by introducing new technologies, such as web conferences, and by enhancing the course structure so that students were charged with creating and host an online conference. The students were able to reach out to a national and global audience, making the class a platform for students to learn together. The students truly took the lead in imagining and producing the digital conference, from inviting speakers to moderating the day and summarizing the event in a publication.
Designing a Class Around Professional Skills Instead of Content Knowledge
Time: 11:20-11:40a
Saniya LeBlanc, Associate Professor, School of Engineering and Applied Science; Russell Korte, Associate Professor, Human and Organizational Learning, Graduate School of Education and Human Development
Using interviews of industry professionals, we determine the skills and knowledge students will need in their careers. We will describe how class activities and assessments are designed to prioritize these competencies, and content knowledge is the platform rather than the end learning goal.
Balancing Act: Liberal Learning in a World of Numbers-Crunching
Time: 11:40a-12p
Anna Helm, Associate Teaching Professor, International Business, and Director, Center for International Business Education and Research (GW-CIBER), School of Business
How can faculty bring balance to materials and approaches used in the classroom? This presentation showcases the implementation of an online international business simulation as a way to prepare students for the real world. The focus is on the journey of making this web-based, quantitatively oriented, artificial business reality more accessible to students by infusing liberal learning into the experience.
Roundtable: The Present and Future of Virtual Teaching
12-1:30p
Now that the semester is in full-swing, how can you keep your students engaged? Our panelists will share strategies for sustaining momentum during the virtual learning period, then take a step back to situate these challenging times more broadly. How will our current circumstances shape the future of higher education?
Get to know our panelists:
- Michael Corry, Professor, Educational Technology, Graduate School of Education & Human Development
- Paige McDonald, Assistant Professor and Vice Chair of Clinical Research and Leadership, School of Medicine and Health Sciences
- Natalie Milman, Professor, Educational Technology, Graduate School of Education & Human Development
- Moderator: Gaetano Lotrecchiano, Associate Dean, Collaborative and Innovative Pedagogy, Libraries and Academic Innovation; Associate Professor of Clinical Research and Leadership, School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Our roundtable discussion will build on these webinars by our GSEHD panelists about designing effective online courses that facilitate student success:
Lightning Talks, Round 2
2-3p
Extracurricular Engagement Online: Building Bridges Between Student Communities and Learning Experiences
Time: 2-2:20p
Arturo Sotomayor, Associate Professor of International Affairs and Director of the Security Policy Studies Program, Elliott School of International Affairs
How can faculty and staff facilitate connections between multiple students who are sharing similar learning experiences across a distance? My presentation will focus on remote community-building activities and events I have organized as Faculty in Residence and Program Director of an MA Program at ESIA. In particular, I will emphasize collaborative work that involves multiple programs and audiences, such as speakers' series, panels, and learning/socializing experiences.
Hands-on Formative Experiences with Padlet
Time: 2:20-2:40p
Diane Harris-Cline, Associate Professor of History and Classics, Columbian College of Arts and Sciences
An open-ended creative alternative to multiple-choice quizzes or three-page papers, Padlet functions like a Pinterest board that students can easily curate with select articles, e-books, videos, and their own video or audio recordings. Students can pool short written responses or discussions on one group Padlet for spontaneous reflections. Students like the colorful interactivity and ownership of their Padlets; using them has prompted students to read more Blackboard materials and integrate the ancient world with the modern one.
Neuroanatomy in Two Dimensions
Time: 2:40-3p
Kathryn Michele DeVeau, Assistant Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Neuroanatomy is already a difficult science for students to understand since it pushes students' spatial abilities with unfamiliar, complex objects. With the loss of in-person labs, we have had to find ways to continue to engage students and help them build three dimensional neuroanatomical maps. With whiteboard reviews, short didactic videos, clinically oriented reviews, and supplemental visual atlas references, we have been able to tailor the learning experience to the online environment. Most of all, making the videos personable by adding in pets and funny jokes keeps the students more engaged even in difficult topics such as neuroanatomy.
Active Learning Showcase: Ideas You Can Use
3-4:30p
From B-I-N-G-O to breakout room charades, active learning activities can energize students, build community, and help students understand and internalize material in new ways. In this session, you will practice 4 different activities, vote on your favorite, and learn about ways to engage students in the virtual environment.
Facilitators: Faculty Development team: Daphna Atias, Educational Developer; and Dr. Patricia Dinneen, Director
Supporting Students with Virtual Academic Resources
5-5:30p
Facilitator: Kevin Knudsen, Director, Academic Commons
This session will involve participants in a discussion on challenges their students are experiencing in the virtual learning environment. They will learn about what resources are available to support them and how they are being offered virtually. Participants will review and discuss strategies for how to successfully refer students to academic resources.
