| Center for Teaching Newsletter: October 2024 | Supporting excellence in teaching and learning at Iowa
Welcome to the October edition of the Center for Teaching newsletter! This issue highlights upcoming events and application-based programs and support for instructors designing assignments.
Don't miss your chance to register for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Institute on Oct. 18. This event will explore the impact and potential of SoTL to improve teaching and learning. Join us from 1 - 4:30 p.m. in the Iowa Memorial Union International Ballroom as we hear from keynote speaker Professor Peter Felten (Elon University), co-author of the forthcoming book The SoTL Guide. The event will also feature a panel discussion with special guest SoTL expert Professor Johan Geertsema (National University of Singapore) and University of Iowa faculty member Darren Hoffman (Anatomy and Cell Biology). Additional members of the Iowa campus community will share their scholarship in a poster session.
The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) is a systemic inquiry into teaching and learning in which instructors leverage their research expertise to enhance students' learning experiences and refine their own teaching strategies. The Center for Teaching, in partnership with campus stakeholders, offers a variety of support options for instructors interested in conducting SoTL studies as well as opportunities for the campus community to learn more about SoTL.
For more information about the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning or the SoTL Institute, read our Q&A with SoTL expert and associate director of the Center for Teaching Sara Nasrollahian.
| | | RSVP for the 2025 Rocklin Speaker Event | The Center for Teaching is delighted to invite the University of Iowa campus community to join us for the Rocklin Teaching and Learning Speaker Series on Thursday, Jan. 16 from 10 a.m. to noon via Zoom. The series, which is in its second year, is named in honor of the Center for Teaching’s founding director, Dr. Tom Rocklin, who served the university in various capacities for more than 30 years before retiring in 2017.
The 2025 Rocklin Speaker is Dr. Bryan Dewsbury, Associate Professor of Biology and Associate Director of the STEM Transformation Institute at Florida International University. Dr. Dewsbury will explore a more comprehensive view of what is possible from a high-quality education experience, including how we can engage students in ways that prepare them to be respectful, engaged, and open-minded members of an evolving democracy.
| | | Scholarly Teaching Program Applications due Nov. 1 | The Scholarly Teaching Program is a learning community designed to support teaching-based faculty to attend a teaching conference. Participants will develop as scholarly teachers by engaging in peer discussion and exploring literature on evidence-based teaching practices within and beyond their disciplines. The program will also offer faculty members opportunities to reflect on and enhance their teaching practices and materials while building a network of colleagues on campus and beyond.
Participants will receive financial support to travel to the Teaching Professor Conference taking place June 6-8, 2025 in Washington, D.C. This conference will focus on practical tools, innovative strategies, inspiration, and support to help attendees tackle the unique challenges faced by educators today.
The program is open to all full-time instructors at Iowa for whom teaching is their primary responsibility. We particularly encourage instructional-track faculty and clinical-track faculty to apply. The deadline to apply is Friday, Nov. 1, 2024.
| | | Applications for SoTL Scholars Program due Nov. 8 | Instructors interested in participating in the SoTL Scholars Program are encouraged to apply for the program as soon as possible. This new initiative will consist of two small cohorts of faculty from various disciplines who will receive ongoing support from the Center for Teaching to design, implement, and disseminate their SoTL studies. Participants will also share their SoTL study with campus at the SoTL Institute, engage with national and international SoTL experts, and participate in the SoTL faculty community. Learn more about the program and complete your application on our website.
| | | Support for Instructors Designing Assignments | Instructors often encounter challenges with students misunderstanding assignments or not meeting expectations, which can lead to frustration during the grading process. One strategy to alleviate these issues is to use strategies and tools to foster the transparency of your assignment design. The Center for Teaching offers consultations on designing transparent assignments, including feedback and support for developing new assignments or revising existing ones. We also have the option for feedback from trained University of Iowa undergraduate students.
| | | Celebrating 15 years of TILE classrooms at Iowa | Katherine Beydler (Associate Director, Center for Teaching) and Office of Teaching, Learning, and Technology colleagues Robert Butler and Drew Riggs recently showcased the impact of the University of Iowa's TILE classrooms over the past 15 years at the Educational Technology Collaborative Conference. They discussed how the program has evolved over the past decade, shared strategies for integrating pedagogical and technological training in consultive settings, and highlighted best practices for providing support for instructors using active learning classrooms.
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