Collaborative Classroom (113)
Engaging Emotions and Identity in Professional Ethics Cases
In this conversation, Christopher Pupik Dean of Education, and Lauren Starr of Biobehvioral Health will discuss how they structure their ethics classes to help students consider the roles that the students' identities and emotions play in making ethical judgments. Participants will discuss what roles identity and emotions can play in their ethics classes and ways […]
CETLI Seminar Room, 134
Identity in the Classroom: Stereotypes, Prototypes & Identity
In this interactive workshop, we will explore the multi-layered concept of identity in teaching, learning, and professional development. We will examine both ascribed identities (those assigned to us by others) and avowed identities (those we define for ourselves), and how these shape our experiences as educators and as students. We will discuss impostor syndrome, its […]
134 CETLI Seminar Room
Facilitating Discussions in Polarized Times
Holding discussions in class can often feel risky or even impossible. In this session, Roxanne Euben of Political Science and Sophia Rosenfeld of History will talk about strategies they use to turn these seemingly risky discussions into meaningful experiences for students’ learning.
134 CETLI Seminar Room
Mentoring Graduate Students in the Lab
Mentoring graduate students in the lab involves providing enough guidance to get students started on the right track while knowing when to encourage students to work more independently. To start this conversation Arjun Yodh of Physics and Corlett Wood of Biology will discuss how they think about giving students agency while at the same time […]
CETLI Seminar Room 134
Can Teaching Critical Thinking Lead to More Constructive Classroom Conversation?
In the current contentious moment, conversation across differences may sometimes seem nearly impossible. Focusing our students on basic elements of critical thinking, though, can be one key to fostering more open, less conflictual polarized attitudes. This discussion will explore the ways in which explicitly centering critical thinking in our teaching can facilitate students exploring divergent […]
CETLI Seminar Room 134
Teaching in the Aftermath of THIS Election
This extraordinarily contentious election has left many of our students – and many of us – struggling. In this discussion we will consider what this election may mean for us in our teaching. This could mean talking about specific topics such as: how we talk with upset students in the wake of the event; how […]
CETLI Seminar Room, 134
Navigating the Post-Election Period With Your Students
Graduate student TAs and instructors are invited to join this informal conversation to exchange ideas and experiences with peers as we face the prospect of a potentially protracted period of political uncertainty and tension in the aftermath of the election. Irrespective of our disciplines and course content, current events in and beyond the U.S. may […]
CETLI Seminar Room 134
Teaching in the Aftermath of THIS Election
This extraordinarily contentious election has left many of our students – and many of us – struggling. In this discussion we will consider what this election may mean for us in our teaching. This could mean talking about specific topics such as: how we talk with upset students in the wake of the event; how […]
CETLI Seminar Room, 134
Creating a Sense of Belonging in Clinical Teaching
Clinical education is often intense and can be alienating for students. In this conversation, two clinical educators, Debbie Becker of Nursing and Everlyn Galban of Vet, will talk about how they welcome students into their clinical education experiences and support students’ sense of belonging.
CETLI Seminar Room, 134
Effective Lecturing
This workshop will assist graduate students across disciplines with strategies for delivering an effective lecture. Topics will include conventional versus interactive lectures, the use of inclusive teaching practices, and strategies for improving public speaking skills. Workshop attendees will leave with ideas for ways to enhance student learning when delivering lecture-based content.
CETLI Seminar Room, 134
Incorporating Punctuated Active Learning into Your Classroom
How can we concretely incorporate active learning into our teaching? The goal of this workshop is for participants to leave with both general strategies for using active learning to enhance student outcomes and a specific menu of active learning activities to select from. When considering these activities, participants will reflect on how an activity may […]
134 CETLI Seminar Room
Talking With Your Students About the Election
In this open conversation, we will talk about how to prepare yourself and your class for the stress-filled time before the election, the day after the election, and whatever happens after. Participants will consider what they intend to say and why and will discuss ways to help your students maintain community despite political and ideological […]
134 CETLI Seminar Room
Making Use of Oral Exams
Oral exams allow students to show what they know and what they can do in ways that can feel more authentic. Robin Pemantle of Math and Karen Tani of History and Law will kick off this conversation with a discussion of why they’ve chosen to give oral exams and how they administer them.Â
CETLI Seminar Room, 134
Making Your Teaching Accessible and Inclusive
How can we center inclusivity and accessibility in our roles as graduate TAs at Penn? In this workshop for new TAs, participants will explore the social landscape of Penn undergraduate classrooms and draw on their experiences as learners to consider how to decrease barriers to participation for students of diverse backgrounds. In particular, participants will […]
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Teaching with Special Collections
Special collections often contribute to our research as scholars. How do we use them as teachers, and make them an active part of our undergraduate classrooms? This graduate student workshop will give participants a crash course in how to teach with special collections, using the Kislak Center’s special collections as its focal point. Potential topics […]
CETLI Seminar Room, 134
Communicating Expectations: Teaching Students How to Succeed in Your Class
This workshop is designed to help graduate student instructors discuss and practice how to effectively communicate expectations so that students can succeed in their classes. To create a transparent classroom in which students understand the course expectations and the purpose of them, participants will discuss when and where to communicate expectations and conduct practice exercises […]
134 CETLI Seminar Room
Crafting Lectures on Complicated Material
The most interesting material in a subject can also be the most difficult to convey. Brendan O’Leary and Evelyn Thomson kick off this conversation by considering how to create an engaging lecture on topics that are challenging to understand.Â
CETLI Seminar Room, 134
Helping Students Manage in a Stressful Environment
This workshop will discuss different kinds of stress students might face and what TAs can do to help. Participants will gain hands-on practice responding to different situations, and leave the workshop with useful strategies to help students struggling with academic-based stress and anxiety, as well as a list of on-campus resources that are available for […]
CETLI Seminar Room, 134
Encouraging and Assessing Student Participation
When the classroom is effectively engaged, student participation can be used as a tool to gauge the class's overall progress in the subject. In this workshop, participants will explore strategies for lowering the stakes for classroom participation and varying the ways students can participate in class so that all students get an opportunity to share […]
CETLI Seminar Room 134
Designing and Supervising Team Projects
Sid Deliwala (ESE) and Cindy Sung (MEAM) will share their approaches to designing and supervising course-based team projects. We will explore ideas for scaffolding project tasks, navigating group dynamics, and giving timely feedback to set students up for success.
134 CETLI Seminar Room
Introducing Undergraduates to Research
Undergraduate students gain immense benefits from conducting research and from having faculty as mentors. In this conversation, Melissa Wilde of Sociology and Karen Goldberg of Chemistry will start discussion explaining how they get undergraduates interested in research and how they engage and mentor them through a project.Â
CETLI Seminar Room, 134
Preparing Students for Exams in STEM Fields
Preparing students for exams in STEM fields involves more than just reviewing content; it requires fostering critical thinking, problem-solving, and effective study habits. This workshop is designed to empower TAs in engineering fields with the tools and techniques to support students effectively. Participants will learn to design and implement engaging review sessions, utilize practice exams […]
CETLI Seminar Room 134
Building Community in the Classroom
Why should we want to develop community in our classrooms, and how do we go about establishing it in courses both large and small? This workshop for new teachers and TAs will discuss the importance of community for undergraduate teaching, with special focus on building community between peers. Participants will draw on their own experiences […]
CETLI Seminar Room, 134
Making Group Work Work
In this workshop, participants will explore how students’ learning can be deepened by carefully structuring opportunities to work with their peers. They will discuss what instructors can do to make group work more effective, and learn about intervention strategies to make groups function more equitably. The goal of this workshop is for participants to leave […]
CETLI Seminar Room, 134
Teaching Non-Majors in the Humanities
Humanities courses can pose various challenges to students majoring in other fields. In this workshop, participants will discuss how TAs can foster an inclusive learning environment for students of different strengths, interests, and background knowledge. In particular, this workshop will focus on how TAs can help non-major students with their recitation performance, papers, and exams. […]
CETLI Seminar Room, 134
Time Management for TAs
Working as a TA can be overwhelming, especially when we need to fit preparing and delivering classes, grading, and holding office hours into our already tight schedules of coursework and research projects. In this workshop, participants will discuss practical tools and techniques to manage time efficiently and effectively in their dual role as a teaching […]
CETLI Seminar Room, 134
Working With Struggling Students
As graduate instructors, we are often called to support, guide, and advocate for struggling students. It can sometimes be difficult to determine whether a student needs encouragement and advice on coursework or should be referred to other resources on campus. In this session, participants will discuss scenarios, tools, resources, and strategies for navigating these situations […]
134 CETLI Seminar Room
Creating Community in Class
Creating a sense of community helps students learn and take risks. It also opens class to more vigorous discussion. Sara Jacoby of Family and Community Health and Rachida Ng of Architecture will start this conversation by discussing how they create and maintain a classroom community that is trusting and lively.Â
134 CETLI Seminar Room
Assigning Writing in the Age of AI
Advancements in generative AI have led to concerns about the effectiveness of written assignments. This discussion will encourage faculty to share the assignments and modifications they have used to encourage students to do the types of thinking that written assignments demand.Â
Lippincott Library Seminar Room, 242
Preparing Students for Essay Exams
Essay exams can be a source of stress for students, who might often turn to TAs for answers. In this workshop, participants will gain practical skills and strategies to prepare students for written examinations, learn ways to make the most out of review sessions and pre-exam office hours, and explore case studies and scenarios to […]