Instruction

Linus is an instructor in environmental science who teaches a general elective course on sustainability. As a standard practice, Linus implements a simple bi-weekly formative assessment in which he passes out note-cards to his class and asks them to respond to two prompts on either side of the card: (1) “What’s working for me.”; and, (2) “What’s not working for me.” Linus finds that his notecard feedback helps elicit valuable insights on his teaching strategies, as well as uncover underlying confusion or tensions in the class.

Phoebe is a kinesiology professor responsible for a class with several units on dietetics. She has taught the course for more than 10 years. Phoebe is currently supervising Aya, a doctoral student in kinesiology, and has invited Aya to review her syllabus and course curriculum. Phoebe is aware that Aya has taught similar courses during her master’s program and welcomes her feedback on the content and assigned readings.

Edward is an associate professor in Chemistry, and an active member of Faculty Senate. At a recent Faculty Senate assembly, student leaders who organize the campus food pantry presented a report on how students are navigating the skyrocketing costs of college attendance. The student leaders shared troubling statistics of growing rates of student food insecurity, hunger and houselessness and how all of these conditions are exacerbated by inflating tuition rates, student fees and textbook costs.

Marjorie is a senior instructor in Musicology. After attending a national disciplinary conference and attending a number of sessions on issues of diversity and representation in musicology, Marjorie is overwhelmed and inspired by the ideas shared by colleagues. She reflects on her newly forming knowledge about the underrepresentation of women and people of color in the scholarship of musicology and the erasure of their contributions in the canon of music theory and contemporary musicology.

Charlene is an assistant professor in Geography about to start her second year as teaching faculty. During her first year, Charlene was inspired by the work of the colleagues she encountered through professional development opportunities at the Center for Teaching and Learning. In particular, she was impressed and inspired by colleagues who declared their social justice teaching philosophy through syllabi.

A team of communications studies faculty has been inspired by conversations in the past year initiated by both campus trainers and through professional development sessions facilitated by their dean and department chair. Team members want to learn more, but feel that they have exhausted the campus resources available to them.

Santiago is an associate professor of ethnic studies teaching a first-year seminar that integrates popular literature from writers of the Antebellum South as a method for comparing, analyzing and problematizing historical and contemporary anti-black narratives.

Maria is a first-year instructor in the history department. She has been assigned to a large-scale lecture taking place in a campus auditorium. This is Maria’s first experience teaching in a large lecture hall. A majority of her teaching experiences required her to lecture for 30-40 students, while her current course seats 250.

Stina is an associate professor in mathematics who primarily teaches first-year college algebra. Stina attends a workshop hosted by the Center for Teaching and Learning on promising practices in student evaluation. Stina finds the workshop interesting and challenging. While she is inspired by the novel formative and summative assessment strategies proposed by her colleagues, she is ambivalent about changing her curriculum and pedagogical approach, which she has slowly and thoughtfully crafted for more than 10 years.

Jamie is a composition and poetry instructor. She recently attended a conference within her discipline at which she met and learned from colleagues who invite their students to submit assignments in multiple languages. The spirit of enabling diverse languages in written submissions is the understanding that writing in one’s first language allows for unique learning opportunities and enables culturally significant expressions not possible through English.