Learn more about creating and using assessments in Canvas. Digital Learning and Design technologists and designers will review how to approach using and then configure the Canvas Quiz tool for online quizzes and exams. Topics include using advanced settings to provide timed exam windows, randomized questions, and question banks. Please register for this event.
Members of the Brown community are invited to honor the recipients of the University awards for Teaching on Monday, May 1st at the University Awards Ceremony. Please join us in celebrating the accomplishments of faculty and graduate students at this university-wide ceremony. The Reception and Gallery Show (photos of Brown classrooms) will begin at 4:30pm, The Ceremony, with opening remarks by Interim Provost Lawrence Larson will begin at 5:00pm. This event will be live-streamed. No pre-registration required.
In this presentation, we will discuss how to ensure the digital elements of your course are accessible and inclusive. We’ll review strategies for creating an inclusive learning environment, provide an overview of Brown’s accessibility tools, and show you how to get support from Sheridan's Digital Learning & Design team throughout the semester. This session is designed for faculty, postdocs, and graduate students. It will include plenty of time for Q&A.
Are you looking for a personalized way to welcome students into your virtual classroom so that they feel connected to you and to each other? Do you want to level up the quality and professionalism of your self-produced video content? Join media specialists from Digital Learning & Design to discover best practices for producing effective media in your hybrid or online course. We will start with an overview of video presentation tips, including simple tricks to get the best visual and audio recording with your existing technology. Then we’ll share best practices for ensuring media is accessible to a multitude of learners.
Learning Outcomes:
Learn about how course introductions and/or micro-lectures can enhance the learning experience for students;
Gather tips for how to improve your self-recorded videos for use in online or hybrid courses;
Become familiar with ways to ensure your media is evergreen (reusable over time) and accessible to more learners.
We will spend any remaining session time on Q&A.
Before the session, we recommend reviewing our guides for creating course videos and think about any related questions about self-recording and/or educational media at Brown.
Do you have questions about using Canvas for teaching and facilitating your course, whether it’s online, hybrid or in person? This workshop primarily addresses what instructors do during the course, as opposed to what must be done before the course, which is design. Facilitation focuses on how you, the instructor, can facilitate conditions for student learning through actions like setting clear expectations, maintaining instructor presence, and supporting and motivating learning. Join a Learning Designer and Learning Technologist from the Sheridan Center’s Digital Learning and Design team for a discussion of these topics. The session leaders will provide an overview of topics related to facilitating learning in courses utilizing Canvas and provide opportunities for instructors to share their strategies and tips with each other.
Before the session, we recommend reviewing the Facilitation Guide about how to use Canvas for teaching.
By the end of June, the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to rule on two cases that are expected to impact race-conscious decisions in student body admissions. In addition to significant implications for future university admissions processes, this decision is likely to be consequential for our learning environments. This roundtable will open discussion around a number of levels, from policy to classroom practice. Panelists include Eileen Goldgeier (Vice President and General Counsel), Logan Powell (Associate Provost for Enrollment and Dean of Undergraduate Admissions), Andre Willis (Associate Professor of Religious Studies) and Emily Qazilbash (Professor of Practice in Education and Provost’s Faculty Teaching Fellow). All panelists will offer brief framing remarks, and then Mary Wright (Sheridan Center and Sociology) will open up the discussion for Q&A and sharing of other instructional practices.
Please register for this event. Lunch will be available immediately after the meeting for continued informal discussion in 720 or take-away.
Do you like painting? Do you want to think about problem solving through a unique (and fun) art form? Sign up for Paint a Problem! Led by the Sheridan Center’s Problem Solving Fellows, this workshop will provide you with an opportunity to express a problem through painting or collage. This activity will help you uncover the way that you understand problems. Paint, brushes, collage supplies, decorations, and snacks will be provided. Please register for this event.
Have you been asked to write a letter of recommendation for a medical school applicant? Are you wondering what constitutes a strong letter of recommendation? Join staff from the Health Careers Advising team and the Sheridan Center/Writing Center to learn about best practices for writing these letters. Topics covered will include letter content, format, and structure. Samples of strong letters will be provided and discussed. Lunch will be provided for those who register as in-person participants. Please register by April 3rd.
This workshop is co-sponsored by Health Careers Advising, Sheridan Center, and STEM Ed Friday.
Faculty of any rank and staff with faculty appointments are invited to participate in a Faculty Writing Group. Writing groups can be an invaluable source of motivation and accountability, and the Faculty Writing Group is a “guilt-free” group that prioritizes spending time in community and goal-setting together.
This workshop is for Pre-College instructors. Do you have questions about using the Canvas template for your summer course? Join learning designers and technologists from the Sheridan Center's Digital Learning and Design team for an overview on how to use the Canvas template, and we will share tips for using Canvas as an organizing framework for your course. We will also devote part of the session to Q & A where you will be able to hear from and share ideas with fellow instructors.
2023 Sheridan Teaching Consultants’ Invited Speakers: Jamiella Brooks (University of Pennsylvania) and Julie McGurk (Yale University) will discuss rigor as inclusive practice in a virtual workshop. Rigor and inclusion are often seen in opposition to one another, despite the evidence that inclusion necessitates rigor to empower all of our students to grow, build on their strengths, and learn. Additionally, ill-defined or false notions of rigor lead to practices in teaching that are neither inclusive nor equitable and produce unnecessary stress. This interactive workshop will illuminate the ways that the term rigor is often misused or misunderstood, guiding participants to a more inclusive, substantive, (and dare we say, more rigorous!) enactment of rigor in our teaching.
The workshop will introduce participants to research demonstrating the importance of rigor to inclusive practice, organized around three guiding principles. We will provide some illustrative examples of these principles as well as opportunities for participants to share some of their own ideas and questions. Please register for this event.
Because of quickly changing norms and the range of teaching practices around Artificial Intelligence (such as ChatGPT) and teaching, this roundtable will open discussion around policy and practice. Panelists include Gerwald Jogl (MCB & faculty co-chair of the Standing Committee on the Academic Code), as well as Steven Lubar (American Studies, History, and Public Humanities), Monica Linden (Neuroscience), Shriram Krishnamurthi (Computer Science), and Jenna Morton-Aiken (Sheridan’s Writing Center and English). All faculty will offer brief remarks, and then Mary Wright (Sheridan Center and Sociology) will open up the discussion for Q&A and sharing of other instructional practices. This roundtable will take place on Zoom. Please register for this event.
Are you in charge of a recitation section as a UTA? Do you come up with your own lesson plans for tutoring? Are you interested in knowing how to create an effective lesson plan as a teacher? Then this workshop is for you! This workshop is for undergraduate students who teach in any capacity at Brown (e.g. UTAs, tutors, mentors, etc.) and want to learn more about how to create effective lesson plans for their role. Come prepared to design/workshop a lesson for an upcoming recitation, problem-solving session, office hours, etc. Registration is required.
This interactive workshop introduces instructors to multiple object-based “thinking routines” developed by researchers at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Participants will use this approach to engage with objects from the RISD Museum collection, and then learn best practices for integrating these routines into their teaching. The workshop is co-facilitated by Charlie Carroll (Associate Director, Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning/ Visiting Assistant Professor of History) and Alexandra Poterack (Director of Academic Programs, RISD Museum).
In this hands-on, interactive workshop, Dr. David Harrisville (Sheridan Learning Designer) and Dr. Dana Hayward (Sheridan Assessment Specialist) will review strategies for creating an inclusive and resilient learning environment, provide an overview of Sheridan’s digital teaching resources, and show you how to get support from the Center and its campus partners throughout the semester. The workshop will also include a question-and-answer activity that demonstrates silent discussion practices that you can bring into your classroom. This session is designed for faculty and postdocs who did not have the opportunity to attend the Launch New Faculty Teaching Orientation. In-person attendees are encouraged to bring a wifi-enabled device (phone or laptop) in order to participate in the silent discussion. Lunch will be provided to in-person attendees. Please register.
Are you interested in discussing ways to improve STEM education at Brown? Science Fridays is a vibrant learning community, where STEM instructors and staff members share ideas, experiences, and challenges related to STEM education. Please register.
The Sheridan Center invites faculty of any rank and staff with faculty appointments to participate in a Faculty Writing Group this fall. Writing groups can be an invaluable source of motivation and accountability, and the Faculty Writing Group is a “guilt-free” group that prioritizes spending time in community and goal-setting together. Each group meeting begins with a brief daily goal-setting exercise and concludes with a short reflective conversation.
Are you interested in discussing ways to improve STEM education at Brown? Science Fridays is a vibrant learning community, where STEM instructors and staff members share ideas, experiences, and challenges related to STEM education. Please register.
