VCU CTE - 2008 CTE Summer Institute on Teaching & Learning

The theme for this year’s CTE Summer Institute on Teaching and Learning is “Reflection, Alignment, and Engagement: 3 Keys to Better Learning” A key focus of this years institute is the teaching philosophy. How we think about teaching and learning impacts the decisions we make about our course design, classroom teaching and how we interact with our students. How do we view our role as instructors? How do we view our students as learners? What are the conditions that are conducive to learning? Sometimes our focus is so granular and we forget to revisit these very important philosophical questions, or understand and appreciate the extent to which they influence our decision making. Furthermore, absent a cogent, unifying teaching and learning philosophy, many courses appear to students as a maze instead of a roadmap—after all, it is called a course. With this in mind, the institute will begin with a session that is designed to help you reflect on, and explore, your fundamental beliefs about teaching and learning and how best to communicate these beliefs to your students through your syllabus, your course activities and assignments, and your assessments. The rest of the institute will consist of breakout sessions on various topics/issues related to course design, teaching methods and activities, and assessment techniques. Each breakout session will offer faculty tips, best practices, and an annotated bibliography consisting of the major studies from teaching and learning research that informed the development of that session. Faculty who participate in the institute will emerge with a teaching philosophy that informs their teaching and their students’ learning, ideas on how to better align their learning objectives with course activities, assignments and assessments, and how to ipromote student engagement.

Based on the feedback that we received from last years participants, we have structured more time for us to reflect on what we are learning and how we might be able to apply it to our own teaching context. It was also suggested that we schedule this time in the morning when we are relatively fresh and have had time to digest the prior day’s experience. We encourage you to use this time to either work alone or in small groups to work through how the issues and methods that we raise and discuss apply to you and your course(s). We will provide some guiding questions during this time to assist you in this process and the CTE staff will be available for consultations and feedback.

All sessions will be held in the Hibbs Hall, Room 220.

"The 2007 CTE Summer Institute was organized and very helpful. It motivated me to carefully examine my current syllabi and to begin making adjustments in the parts of the syllabi which require student engagement especially."

"It did more than meet my "needs". I am pretty much overwhelmed with how meaningful this will be for my teaching in the higher education arena. I am so thankful for this week. I love that this does not feel like the end of another staff development, but the beginning of systematic change."

"What a remarkable and committed group of colleagues! It was so rewarding to hear the perspectives of colleagues who share my vision and understanding of the challenges and joys of teaching and learning."

"The interaction among faculty participants and Center presenters/staff was first rate. It was a week-long taste of what learning can be at its best - in a community of motivated, enthusiastic, courageous, bright educators - who are open to new ideas and willing to take risks to grow and stretch and evolve. I can't say enough good things about the experience - phenomenal! Thank you for making it possible!"

"Of all the workshops that I have attended at CTE, I would say that is was one of the most valuable--resources presented, research, and specific teaching strategies. Timing was also great, since the summer will give me time to process the information, and to integrate the ideas to the syllabus. Thanks so much!"

"This institute has been a great learning experience. I was impressed and inspired by the different individuals that created the discussion (both CTE staff and participants). I was able to add tools to my half-full tool box and start to modify some of my mental models. I believe my students will benefit from my learning experience, which is the general purpose for participating in this institute. Thank you all for being exceptional role models."