CTL

CTLgrads Learning Community (for graduate students): Access and Activism: Teaching Research Skills in the Undergraduate Classroom, Session 1
Understanding and practicing academic research is central to the work of any graduate student. Yet it is rarely explicitly an element of our pedagogy. Why is that? What’s lost when we overlook the radical potential of research in our teaching practice? What implicit assumptions shape our teaching of research skills, and how can a more capacious idea of research challenge these assumptions in support of students developing their own research practices for understanding themselves and the world?

This Learning Community explores the pedagogical benefits to be gained from explicit reflection on how we teach research methods–broadly defined–in undergraduate courses. These two sessions will focus on two important elements of teaching research in the classroom that apply across disciplines and fields. In the first session, we will talk about access: how might our current (perhaps implicit) research pedagogies limit student access, or close off student experiences and knowledge? How can we teach research through a non-punitive methodology that builds on students’ existing abilities and empowers them to join an academic conversation? Our second session will focus on the larger stakes of teaching research skills. Why is it important for students to learn research skills? What relevance does it have for students’ lives? How can instructors resist the de-politicizing way in which research is typically taught to and understood by undergraduates? We’ll consider these questions, and more, in a Learning Community focused on both reflective discussion and practical teaching strategies. This Learning Community is designed and faciliated by Kevin Windhauser and Yarran Hominh, Senior Lead Teaching Fellows at the Center for Teaching and Learning.

This is a two-part Learning Community; Session 2 will convene Tuesday, March 16, 2021, 2:40-3:55pm. Attendance at both sessions is strongly encouraged. As a complement to these sessions, participants will be asked to complete self-guided, asynchronous materials online prior to each session. Additional information will be shared with registrants at least 2 weeks in advance of Session 1.

This session counts as a pedagogy workshop for the Teaching Development Program (TDP).

Columbia University makes every effort to accommodate individuals with disabilities. Contact CTLgrads@columbia.edu for accommodations. During this online event, CTL staff may take screenshots. For concerns, contact CTLgrads@columbia.edu.

Event Contact Information:
CTL Graduate Student Programs and Services
CTLgrads@columbia.edu

Would you like to explore “dead ideas”—ideas that are not true but that are often widely believed and embedded in the pedagogical choices we make—in teaching and learning with Science and Engineering faculty colleagues?

In the CTL’s Dead Ideas in Teaching and Learning podcast episode Assessment For and As Learning (Jan 21, 2021), CUIMC faculty Jonathan Amiel and Aubrie Swan Sein discuss the dead ideas they encountered—especially around assessment—as they radically rethought and changed the curriculum and assessment strategies for first and second year medical students.

After listening to this 36-minute episode, come join fellow Science and Engineering faculty colleagues to explore these dead ideas further and discuss how we can exorcise them from our teaching.

Guests featured in this podcast episode:

Jonathan (Yoni) Amiel is the Interim Co-Vice Dean for Education and Senior Associate Dean for Curricular Affairs at Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
Aubrie Swan Sein is the Director of the Center for Education Research and Evaluation and Associate Professor of Educational Assessment at Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Columbia University makes every effort to accommodate individuals with disabilities. Contact ColumbiaCTL@columbia.edu or 212.854.1692 for accommodations.

Please note that CTL staff may take screenshots to photograph this online event. For concerns, contact ColumbiaCTL@columbia.edu.

Register here.

How has the experience of running classes online clarified what is important about traditional ways of measuring our students’ knowledge and capacities? What adjustments have we needed to make when designing and giving tests for students in order to navigate the emotional and logistical challenges of this difficult and unsettled time? Join us for a frank discussion of topics such as proctoring, maintaining or relaxing standards, accommodations, and trust.

Teachers’ Lounges are a series of informal discussions for graduate students about teaching practices and the culture of learning at Columbia. Since many classes have shifted online this semester, Teachers’ Lounges are linking theories and models of online instruction to insights derived from working in digital learning spaces with Columbia students.

This session is facilitated by Mark Phillipson and Chris Chen from the Center for Teaching and Learning.

Columbia University makes every effort to accommodate individuals with disabilities. Contact CTLgrads@columbia.edu for accommodations. This event may be photographed. For concerns, contact CTLgrads@columbia.edu

Register here.