Technology Tools for… Asynchronous Interaction
In the online environment, what students do outside of traditional class time is a central part of learning, engagement, and community-building of a course. In this session, participants will discuss ways to create interactive asynchronous components as crucial elements of the course. We will explore tools such as Discussion boards, Perusall, Google Docs, Piazza.Counts toward […]
Technology Tools for… Recording Lectures
This technology spotlight will explore tools that allow instructors and students to record material and upload it into Canvas, including Panopto, Zoom and BlueJeans. We will discuss how these tools can integrate whiteboards and Powerpoint, as well as quizzes in Panopto that can help instructors create more engaging lectures and help students retain content.Counts toward […]
Communicating Your Expectations and Keeping Students on Track
In online classes, clearly expressed expectations are crucial both to guide and motivate students. This discussion will consider how to help students to navigate the Canvas site and how to prepare students for the work the course demands. The session will consider ways to build expectations into the course site and to communicate with students […]
Technology Tools for… Running Synchronous Class Time
In this technology spotlight, we will demonstrate how you can use the conferencing tools Zoom and BlueJeans to run live class sessions, including breakout rooms for small group work, and live whiteboard and annotation tools.Registration required.This session is now full. Counts toward the CETLI teaching certificate for graduate students.If you need accommodations to participate in this […]
Creating Community in Your Online Courses
In this workshop participants will explore various ways to build a sense of community in class, from the beginning of the semester and throughout. While live sessions will be part of this discussion, we will also consider how asynchronous elements -- such as, discussion boards, peer review, feedback and student-created presentations of content -- can […]
Technology Tools for… Running Synchronous Class Time
In this technology spotlight, we will demonstrate how you can use the conferencing tools Zoom and BlueJeans to run live class sessions, including breakout rooms for small group work, and live whiteboard and annotation tools. Registration required.
Technology Tools: Introduction to Canvas
This workshop will introduce basic Canvas functions that will allow you to post documents, files, images and videos; organize information for students; and allow students to submit work online. Counts toward the CETLI teaching certificate for graduate students.Registration required.This session is now full. If you need accommodations to participate in this workshop, please contact CETLI-info@upenn.edu.
Making the most of live sessions
Live Zoom sessions can be particularly useful for instructors and students. These sessions can create community among students, let students work in breakout rooms, allow for live Q&A, let students discuss material with each other, or allow students and instructors to think through problems and questions together. But these live sessions can feel awkward or […]
Reflecting on Remote Teaching
In this conversation, faculty will come together to consider lessons learned from this semester, what practices worked well and what areas were particularly challenging. This is an opportunity to debrief about your experiences with the transition to remote teaching, and learn from colleagues, with an eye toward how this experience may inform our teaching going […]
Helping students practice the skills and types of thinking you expect
This session will focus on ways to give students regular, rigorous practice with skills and the types of higher-order thinking that you expect them to develop in your course. Participants will consider ways to use quizzes and discussion boards alongside assignments and live sessions to engage students effectively and how instructors can write questions that […]
Reflecting on Remote Teaching
In this conversation, faculty will come together to consider lessons learned from this semester, what practices worked well and what areas were particularly challenging. This is an opportunity to debrief about your experiences with the transition to remote teaching, and learn from colleagues, with an eye toward how this experience may inform our teaching going […]
Communicating your expectations and keeping students on track
In this session, participants will consider how to set expectations before students start work and how to use those expectations to guide and motivate students. The session will begin by helping participants plan how to talk with students about the amount of work the course demands and how to navigate the Canvas site. Then the […]
Connecting to your students and creating a community in an online class
Participants in this workshop will think about the various ways to connect students to the course and create a sense of community in the class. While live sessions will be part of this discussion, participants will be encouraged to consider how asynchronous elements -- including discussion boards, peer review and student-created presentation of content -- […]
Teaching Architecture from the Margins
All graduate students are welcome. This event grows out of concerns in the Architecture department and so may be most useful to students in related fields.Counts toward the CETLI Teaching Certificate.
Creating a course by starting with the end
Participants in this workshop will begin by thinking about the end of their course: what do they want students to have learned and what sort of thinking will they expect? Using those ideas about learning goals, participants will begin with a sense of their final assessment and then outline how they can use the different […]
Remote Final Exams
In this session, faculty will consider ways to design remote final exams that assess students fairly and support academic integrity. Participants will discuss strategies for using Canvas to deliver and manage exams, as well as types of questions that can effectively assess students’ thinking in an open-book situation.If you need accomodations to participate in this […]
Supporting Students Through Feedback While Teaching Remotely
Feedback on quizzes, tests, papers and other forms of student work is always an important of teaching, but takes on added significance when we are teaching remotely. When our face-to-face channels of communication with students have been disrupted, and may be impossible replicate virtually, the comments we make on students' work may become our primary […]
Running Asynchronous Review Sessions: Using Discussion Boards and Other Collaborative Tools
In this conversation we will share ideas about how to reach our goals for review sessions without having everyone present at the same time. How can we get students to contribute to this process, and to engage with each other as well as the instructional team? Collectively we will identify strategies to guide our students […]
Running Synchronous Online Review Sessions
As the end of the semester approaches, many TAs may be called upon to run online review sessions via videoconferencing tools such as Zoom or BlueJeans. In this conversation we will share strategies, with a view to preparation (our own and our students’) and facilitation (including use of breakout groups), with a view to best […]
Assessing Students Without Exams
For faculty interested in using modes of assessment other than final exams in light of remote teaching, this conversation is an opportunity to discuss ideas for end-of-semester projects designed both to evaluate what students have learned and to help students synthesize their learning. The session will consider possible types of projects and ways to prepare […]
Identifying and Supporting Students Who Are Struggling
In this session, participants will discuss ways to support students who are experiencing difficulties in our classes – whether related to course materials or other challenges in their lives. This includes identifying students who are struggling, understanding Penn resources to connect them with, and thinking about ways to organize our classes to best help students […]
Mentoring Graduate Students During Social Distancing
In this discussion, faculty mentoring graduate students will consider how they support their students academically, professionally and personally in the current moment. How do we help our graduate students make progress in their work and development with limited access to resources? How do we provide productive networks and a sense of connection? How can we […]
Supporting Students Through Feedback While Teaching Remotely
Feedback on quizzes, tests, papers and other forms of student work is always an important of teaching, but takes on added significance when we are teaching remotely. When our face-to-face channels of communication with students have been disrupted, and may be impossible replicate virtually, the comments we make on students' work may become our primary […]
Revisiting Research Papers & Projects for Remote Teaching
This session will bring together graduate student instructors to consider how to support student research papers and projects with all work now being done online. Have assignments been modified so that students can still participate in rigorous research, even if they no longer have access to all sources? Participants will consider strategies to facilitate students’ […]
The Art of the Remote Recitation: Facilitating Synchronous Online Discussions
For TAs whose recitations are continuing remotely, and for graduate student instructors of small, discussion-based classes, moving conversations online in synchronous sessions presents pedagogical challenges, but may also create opportunities. In this conversation we will share experiences and strategies, with a view to preparation (our own and our students’), facilitation (including use of breakout groups), […]
Making the Most of Synchronous Sessions and Office Hours
In this session, faculty will consider ways to design remote final exams that assess students fairly and support academic integrity. Participants will discuss strategies for using Canvas to deliver and manage exams, as well as types of questions that can effectively assess students’ thinking in an open-book situation.If you need accommodations to participate in this […]
Teaching Beyond Penn
The transition from graduate student to professor comes with many challenges, from issues of authority to changing responsibilities and work patterns. On a more fundamental level, Penn students in particular often wonder how to translate their training as graduate TA's to the range of teaching opportunities they might pursue after the PhD. In this workshop, […]
Teaching Problem-Solving Remotely Via Recitations and Office Hours
Many graduate student instructors in STEM fields and the quantitative social sciences are now facing the challenge of teaching problem-solving skills from a distance, both in recitation sections and online office hours. In this session participants will share their experiences and ideas about how to work effectively with students, and how to foster productive group […]
Maintaining Connection & Cultivating Community
Teaching remotely, particularly in this time of social distancing, may leave some students feeling disconnected from their studies in general. However, maintaining connection and cultivating community can give students a sense of purpose, structure, and academic engagement in this time. TAs may play a vital role in this regard, based on their existing relationships with […]
Adapting Your Course Expectations and Structure for This Moment
In this discussion, faculty will consider how they are using their core goals to guide their adjustments to their course in the new format, being mindful of all students are dealing with right now and technical limitations. Participants will discuss ways they are focusing their courses on what is both manageable and crucial -- and […]