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CELT Teaching Tip • October 27, 2022

Pause to Reflect on Your Time Together

As you plan the final weeks of the fall semester, we hope that you and your students can pause to reflect on your time together in the course. Here are three ways to gather their reflections:

Fulfilling course objectives activity

Show the course objectives listed in your syllabus. Then, ask students (individually or in groups) to rate how well they fulfilled each objective and why. This exercise can help students review the objectives (and inform the objectives for the next time you teach the course).

Success strategies for future students' activity

Ask your students to write a short letter (or record a brief video) with 3-5 strategies for success for a student taking this course next semester. A great first-day activity would be to show your new class a selection of anonymous answers from the previous semester so they can hear feedback from their peers.

Final exam or project

Consider including a reflection question in your final assessment, such as one of these:

What will you remember most about this course ten years from now?
What would you do if you could do this course over again differently?
What [subject-matter] ideas are you curious to know more about because of this class?

As you begin collecting these student reflections, you will be able to find small ways to improve the class and your teaching experience year after year.

With a joy for teaching,

Sara Marcketti, Assistant Provost and Executive Director

Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

CELT Program Spotlight

In the next few weeks, we are hosting two special events, the Active Learning Institute, and several other programs to help enhance your teaching effectiveness. We hope to see you at one or more of these professional development opportunities.

Supporting Student Health and Wellbeing at ISU,

Nov. 2 (2:10-3 p.m., online)

How can we build the capacity to enhance the wellbeing of our students? Engage in a discussion about the highlights from ISU’s National College Health Assessment data, the current data from our campus needs assessment process, and spring 2022 focus group findings.

Presenters:

Brian Vanderheyden (Director, Student Wellness),
Erin Baldwin (Associate Vice President, Student Affairs),
Kristen Clark (University Public Health Coordinator, Student Wellness) and
Laura Triplett (Student Wellness).

Use this Nov. 2 Zoom form to register.

Person reading a laptop screen with a book open

The Power of Learning Science with Digital Course Materials, Nov. 3 (2:10-3 p.m., online)

Join Rachel Van Campenhout for a deep dive into VitalSource’s award-winning research on the effectiveness of the “Doer Effect,” a Learn-by-Doing approach based on learning science that improves the overall study experience by helping students discover what they know and where to focus next. This research resulted in the effective use of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

See a demonstration of the AI with the VitalSource BookShelf + CoachMe tool, analytics for faculty, and information on how to implement it into your course.

Hosted by the Iowa State University Book Store. Register to attend with this Nov. 3 Zoom form.

Register for the 2022 CELT Active Learning Institute by Nov. 9

The Active Learning Institute (ALI), guides instructors to practice techniques, and design strategies focused on active learning to implement in their courses.

Participants will attend all four Tuesdays (9–10 a.m., 2030 Morrill Hall): Nov. 15, 29, Dec. 6 & 13, and engage in the online asynchronous course from Nov. 15-Dec. 13.
ALI includes two-course observations with feedback, and all participants will receive an Active Learning Certification from CELT.
In addition, instructors who participate and provide feedback are eligible to receive $500 in professional development funds!

To participate, please complete the 2022 CELT Active Learning Institute Registration form (Qualtrics) by Nov. 9 at 6 p.m. ALI is coordinated by Megan Myers (CELT Faculty Fellow and Associate Professor, World Languages and Cultures).

CELT Event Calendar & Highlights

Review our upcoming program highlights, view our events by topic via the downloadable CELT 2022 Late Fall programming (docx), and register to attend on the each CELT Events Calendar entry.

The Application of Mindfulness, Nov. 4 (12-1 p.m., Christian Petersen Museum)

Miller Faculty Fellowship Program: Proposal tips for success, Nov. 7 (12:10-1 p.m., 2030 Morrill)

Navigating Difficult Discussions in the Classroom, Nov. 10 (3:10-4 p.m., via Zoom)

ISU Online Learning Community (November), Nov. 11 (11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., via Webex)

Turning your Scholarly Teaching into Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), Dec. 2 (1-2:30 p.m., via Zoom)

Seeking support with instructional design?

Seeking help with instructional design, technology, New Quizzes, Canvas, and more?

Open Labs are Monday-Friday from 1-2 p.m., 3015 Morrill Hall, or meet us online via this Webex meeting room link.

If you prefer to meet outside these hours or have a support question, please email celt-help@iastate.edu to create a ServiceNow ticket, and notify our team. Note: To provide efficient support, please include your course title, ask your question(s) or describe the issue(s) with steps to replicate it when you email us.

Stay connected, visit our CELT website or these social networks:

Prefer a Print Version? To view the Teaching Tip as a printable document, download the CELT Teaching Tip for Oct. 27, 2022 (PDF).