New Lecturer Orientation
In this session, CETLI staff will outline Penn policies and resources as well as discuss Penn semesters and culture as a way to prepare new lecturers for their first semester at Penn.
134 (CETLI/OLI Seminar room)
Deadlines and Life Happens: Keeping Students on Track but Providing Flexibility Around Deadlines
How can you set firm deadlines but still work with students who need some flexibility? In this conversation Sarah Kagan of Nursing and Marc Meredith of Political Science will talk about how they try to balance the challenges students sometimes encounter with the need for some firm deadlines to keep students on track.
108
Being Accessible to Students while Preserving your Time
Finding time to support and mentor students can be challenging. Drs. Lee Bassett and Jennifer Lukes will start the conversation by sharing ideas for promoting positive relationships with students while maintaining boundaries to preserve our time. We will consider ways to use office hours efficiently as well as ideas for leveraging technology to simplify scheduling […]
134 (CETLI/OLI Seminar Room)
Mentoring Doctoral Students
Mentors of doctoral students must both give students enough structure to complete their dissertations and learn particular skills, and support them as they find their own scholarly voices and interests. In this session Chenoa Flippen of Sociology and Daniel Levinthal of Management will begin the conversation by thinking about how to strike a balance between […]
134 (CETLI/OLI Seminar Room)
Teaching Ethics in Professional Schools
In this session, instructors who teach ethics in professional schools across Penn will begin a conversation about the crucial role ethics can play in professional education, and challenges of and strategies for teaching them.
134 (CETLI/OLI Seminar room)
Encouraging – and Clarifying – Class Participation
Class participation is often a nebulous concept for students. While faculty often encourage and grade participation, students can be unsure what is expected of them. Sarah Gronningsater and Wendy Roth will begin this conversation with concrete ideas for helping students participate in ways that will help them learn and setting expectations so that students know […]
134
Giving Students Feedback in Clinical Settings
In this discussion of clinical teaching, Nadia Bennett of the Perelman School of Medicine and Olivia Sheridan of the School of Dental Medicine will start a conversation on how to make feedback meaningful for clinical students, how to give feedback in front of patients, and other times and means of providing students with feedback to […]
Room 108
Awake & Engaged: Making Lectures More Interactive
Lectures can be a useful method for communicating complex information but are most effective when students are engaged with and focused on the material. Drs. Igor Bargatin and Amish Patel will start this informal conversation by sharing their strategies for making lectures more interactive. We’ll consider ways to increase student attention and interaction to promote […]
134
Discussing Controversial Issues in Class
Controversial issues are often central to what we want to teach. But many of us find such dialogues risky, as discussion can become so heated students don’t learn or, alternatively, students won’t talk at all out of fear of saying something wrong or insensitive. Murali Balaji of Annenberg and Amy Hillier of Social Policy and […]
134
Including Climate Change in Your Class – Regardless of Discipline
This session will bring together faculty to share ideas about ways to include discussions of the climate emergency in their classes, whether the topic of the course addresses climate or not. Barri Gold of English and Farah Hussain of the Perelman School of Medicine will initiate the conversation by talking about how they incorporated climate […]
134
Getting Students to Practice Thinking in Class
It sounds obvious, that we want students to develop their thinking during class time, but in practice many of our students do not understand what kinds of thinking we are asking of them. In this session, Katrin Hinrichs of Veterinary Medicine and James Petersson of Chemistry will talk about how they’ve been able to use […]
Thinking Proactively About Accommodations & Accessibility
What can you do to prepare for disability accommodations before you even get them? This session will explore ways you can focus on what’s most important about your course and plan for flexibility in your course design so that students with accommodations (and others) feel supported as they learn.
Supporting Students with Disabilities by Making Course Materials Accessible
Creating accessible course materials – from documents, to instructional videos, to Canvas sites – can ensure that students are able to fully engage with your course. In this session, you will learn how to efficiently create and remediate frequently-used course materials to be usable by all students, particularly those who receive disability-related accommodations.
Creating a Class Atmosphere that Encourages Discussion Across Difference
Conversations about and across differences are crucial to learning in many classes, yet many instructors feel anxious about engaging topics that seem too controversial. In this session, you’ll share ideas about strategies to create a trusting classroom where students can speak with and listen to each other in productive ways.
Engaging Your Students on the First Day
What we do on the first day of class matters for how the rest of the semester unfolds. It is an opportunity to introduce yourself and your course design, provide students with a glimpse of your teaching style, and communicate your expectations. This session will explore ways to make you and your students feel at […]
Polling for Active Learning and Lecturing
Live polling is a great way to make lectures more interactive. In this session, we’ll explore best practices in polling activity design and offer practical tips for running live polls and tracking student participation. We’ll consider the benefits and drawbacks of PollEverywhere in particular and answer questions about its integration capabilities with Canvas and presentation […]
Canvas Can Do That?! Canvas Features That Can Save You Time
In this quick session, we’ll explore some hidden, timesaving features in Canvas, including creating a reusable bank of comments for students, messaging students in bulk according to their submission status or grades, and having Canvas drop students’ lowest grades automatically. There will also be time to troubleshoot ways you want to make Canvas work better […]
108
Designing Group Work for the Classroom
Group work can be a great way for students to learn collaboratively but is most effective when instructors give careful consideration to its design. Drs. Paulo Arratia and Leann Dourte will start this informal conversation by sharing their experiences designing and facilitating group work in the classroom. We’ll consider practical strategies for incorporating elements of […]
CETLI Seminar Room 134
Getting Students Ready for Exams During Class
Giving students support for regular practice with the skills and concepts of a course, can help them feel more prepared for exams and midterms because students continue learning throughout the semester. To start this session, Tom Mallouk of Chemistry and Loretta Sernekos of Nursing will share concrete strategies for getting students engaged with course materials […]
The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy, 4th Floor
Celebrate the Creation of the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Innovation
The newly established CETLI brings together the Center for Teaching and Learning and the Online Learning Initiative in a unified office to promote teaching excellence and innovation. Faculty, staff and students are invited to come together for this party to celebrate the new office and Penn’s commitment to teaching and learning. Join us for hor […]
CETLI Seminar Room 134
Addressing Student Anxiety While Still Creating a Rigorous Class
Instructors have been concerned by the rise in student anxiety since the pandemic but are unsure how to address it. In this session, Dennis Flores from Nursing and Peter Struck from Classics will begin this conversation by explaining how they have worked to reduce student anxiety while maintaining high standards for student learning.Â
Leveraging Generative AI to Develop Quiz and Exam Questions
In this session we’ll explore prompts and strategies to optimize the use of generative AI tools like Bing, Chat, and Bard to expand your pool of quiz and exam questions while still providing equally difficult versions of your assessments. We’ll also explore ways to deliver different versions of your exams including using tools like Gradescope […]
CETLI Seminar Room 134
Ethics: Using Case Studies and Thought Experiments
Case studies and thought experiments are common methods for getting students in professional schools to think in more nuanced ways about ethical questions. Brian Berkey from Wharton’s Legal Studies and Business Ethics department and Dominic Sisti from PSOM’s Medical Ethics and Health Policy department will start this interactive session with examples of what and how […]
CETLI Seminar Room 134
Teaching to Students With Different Levels of Preparation
Students at Penn are bright and capable but they come to class with a wide variety of different experiences and expectations. Masao Sako of Physics and Emma Hart of History will start this conversation by describing how they design courses to make sure students who come in with different strengths can all thrive.Â
CETLI Seminar Room 134
Encouraging Open Inquiry in the Classroom
How can instructors create a classroom where students can investigate controversial topics in a way that is free and open? How do instructors make sure students can consider all sides of an argument and multiple perspectives? In this discussion, Sigal Ben-Porath from GSE and Ben Nathans from History will begin by talking about their experiences […]
108
The Art and Science of Writing Good Exams
Writing exams that are challenging but fair is arguably one of the most difficult tasks we face as instructors. Drs. Joseph Devietti and David Issadore will start this informal conversation by sharing their own experiences with exam writing. We’ll consider multiple approaches to creating exams that are rigorous, equitable, and aligned with course learning goals. […]
CETLI Seminar Room 134
Using AI to Help Your Students Learn
How can instructors use generative AI in ways that help students learn (rather than allow students to take shortcuts)? This conversation will start with Amanda Bettencourt of Nursing and Sonny Tambe of OID talking about how they have used generative AI to improve student learning and promote more interaction with course materials and skills.Â
CETLI Seminar Room 134
Helping Students Read More Effectively
Instructors often assign students reading as a way to get students ready for class. Students, however, sometimes are not sure what role the readings play in class. To begin this conversation, Michael Kane from Economics and Paul Saint-Amour from English will talk about how they motivate students to do the reading and help students understand […]
CETLI Seminar Room 134
Teaching a Combined Graduate and Undergraduate Class
Faculty teaching co-listed undergraduate and graduate classes face the challenge of designing a class for students who have different preparation, different expertise and different motivations for taking the course. This conversation will feature Mona Merling from Math and Donovan Schaefer from Religious Studies who will share how they create classes that support learning for both […]
134 (CETLI Seminar Room)
Trans-Affirming Pedagogy in Language Classrooms: Creating and Modifying Course Materials
This workshop will provide practical approaches to trans-affirming pedagogy in language classrooms. We will discuss specific strategies for creating and modifying course materials that rely on gendered terms across languages. Participants are encouraged to bring and share trans-inclusive teaching strategies and course materials that have worked well for them in previous classroom settings. Open to […]