Using Collaborative Annotation Tools to Increase Student Engagement
Thursday, February 18, 2:00 - 3:30 pm
Student engagement with pre-class texts is essential in active-learning environments, and collaborative annotation has the potential to increase and strengthen this engagement. This workshop will explore, through a variety of examples and demonstrations, how digital annotation platforms like Hypothesis, VoiceThread, and Google Drive can bring a collaborative component to many of your course activities. Topics will include overviews of core features of several relevant platforms, a range of activity ideas, and applications in flipped, problem-based, and discussion-based lessons.
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Faculty Reading Group: Teaching for Critical Thinking
Tuesday, March 2, 4:30 - 6:00 pm
Tuesday, March 16, 4:30 - 6:00 pm
Tuesday, March 30, 4:30 - 6:00 pm
Tuesday, April 13, 4:30 - 6:00 pm
Process skills like critical thinking are often cited as important outcomes of active learning environments like the ones, rich in dialogue and discussion, our QEP aims to create. Indeed, a quick search of the official QEP document turns up nine instances of the phrase, "critical thinking." But what exactly is critical thinking? How can we be more intentional about helping students to develop these skills in our classrooms? And, perhaps most importantly, in what ways does learning through dialogue and discussion relate to critical thinking? This reading group will explore these and other related questions as we read and discuss selected passages from Teaching for Critical Thinking: Tools and Techniques to Help Students Question Their Assumptions by Stephen Brookfield. Note that all participants will receive a copy of this book.
Evaluating Discussion, Group Work, and Participation
Wednesday, April 28, 10:00 - 11:30 am
Active student participation is the driving force in any student-centered class, and our goals and corresponding assessments should reflect this importance. To that end, participants in this workshop will explore, through the lens of backward design, a range of issues related to grading schemes, content vs. process objectives, and summative vs. formative assessment tools. With an eye toward expanding participants’ repertoire of assessment strategies and materials, these discussions will be rooted in concrete examples and will draw heavily on the experience and concerns of participants.
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Series Finale: QEP Lessons Learned, Part II
Friday, May 7, 10:00 - 11:00 am
Early in 2020, which seems like an eternity ago now, we met for lunch and informal discussion about some of the successes and challenges QEP faculty had experienced up to that point. To cap off this series (and the very challenging 2020-2021 academic year), we would like to build off those initial conversations by meeting once again to share and discuss our experiences in recent semesters. This is a great opportunity to get feedback and advice on any issues you may have encountered in your QEP course or to share any strategies, tools, or ideas which have worked particularly well for you and your students. Unfortunately, lunch will be logistically impossible this time around, but we encourage you to bring your favorite hot beverage!
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