The annual Excellence in Teaching Day, which takes place on May 6, will feature speakers and breakout sessions focused on the challenge of “Making Learning Visible” in the classroom.
This year’s program is intended to help faculty consider how they design courses—assessments, class activities, exams, lectures—so that both instructors and students can identify and gauge the learning happening in their classes, say organizers. As the University Council on Learning Outcomes works with faculty to build a more robust culture of assessment, faculty have the opportunity to shape the role that assessment plays in student learning.
The morning program will be devoted to breakout sessions and posters showcasing 51˛čąÝ faculty’s innovative work in the classroom. Among the session topics are “Mapping for Learning: Insights from the Libraries GIS Faculty Cohort”; “Authentic Assignments: Helping Novices Think Like Experts”; “Disciplinary Approaches to Constructive Disagreement”; and “Developing Brains, Developing Lives: Promoting Student Well-being in the Classroom.”
University of Alabama Professor Claire Major will present the keynote, “Every Teacher a Teacher-Scholar: Learning Assessment as a Way to Build Teacher Knowledge of Effective Teaching,” at 1:30 p.m. in McGuinn 121. She will also lead a breakout workshop in the morning focused on assessment in Core Curriculum courses. A professor of higher education, Major teaches courses on college teaching and technology in higher education and has authored several teaching guides for faculty. Â
Stacy Grooters, director of faculty programs at the Center for Teaching Excellence—which organizes the event—said the choice of “Making Learning Visible” as this year’s theme reflects Boston College’s push “for more meaningful assessment of student learning,” as evidenced by the work of the University Council on Learning Outcomes. She praised Major as “a leading thinker on evidence-based instruction and classroom assessment.”Â
For more information or to register for Excellence in Teaching Day programs, visit the CTE website.
—Ed Hayward | University Communications | May 2019