Programs
The Center's programs and events aim to facilitate collaborative engagement with questions of teaching and learning. We hope that our programs offer you opportunities to reflect on your teaching and encounter new and provocative ideas about how to enhance student learning at UMass Dartmouth. We also hope that you will have the chance to share your insights with your colleagues and contribute to a growing campus-wide conversation about excellence in teaching.
- Feature Presentations and Workshops
- Guided Reading Sessions
- Faculty Forums
- First-Year Success
- Peer Coaching
- Peer Evaluator Training
- Talking About Teaching Conference
- Teaching and Learning Colloquium Series
- Teaching Partnerships
- Teaching at UMass Dartmouth Series
The Center's teaching development program is a continually evolving faculty-driven effort. We welcome your input and involvement! Contact the Center if you would like to participate in a program and please send us suggestions for how we can best meet the teaching-related needs on our campus.
Have you missed one of our programs? Presentations are podcast when speakers give their permission, and made available at the UMassCast site, managed by the CITS Instructional Development team. You can download a podcast and then listen to it at your convenience using a portable media player such as an iPod. Find our podcasts at: CTE Speaker Series on UMassCast.
Feature Presentations and Workshops
Each semester, the Center organizes a series of lectures, discussions, and gatherings of interest to educators and scholars.
See the Calendar of Events for up-to-date scheduling information.
Guided Reading Sessions
Offered in the comfort of the Center lounge over coffee, the Guided Reading Sessions are devoted to one topic and led by by a faculty guide who has experience with the topic in his or her classroom. Pre-registered participants receive a copy of both the book and the guide's handout. The ideas presented might lead to the development of proposals for Center Departmental/Interdepartmental or Teaching Institute grants.
See the Calendar of Events for up-to-date scheduling information.
Reviews for books featured in past Guided Reading Sessions are available at Archives: Guided Readings.
Faculty Forums
are workshops led by UMass Dartmouth faculty on specific teaching-related topics. Each semester, the forums--along with the Teaching and Learning Colloquium Series and the Guided Reading sessions--explore a central theme of particular relevance to our campus.See the Calendar of Events for up-to-date schedules of forums and other related activities.
Contact the Center if you would like to help facilitate a Faculty Forum.
First-Year Success
offers faculty support in developing innovative strategies that improve the learning environment for first-year students. A day-long workshop in June, co-sponsored with College Now, offers insights on how to effectively engage students during their first year in college. Over the course of the academic year, program participants develop, implement, and assess an innovative teaching strategy in a 100-level course. They share the results of their work during Spring Semester with the campus community through workshops and the publication of the Fresh Ideas booklet. Participants receive a $500 stipend.Contact the Center for more information about this year's program or how to participate.
Peer Coaching
is available to all UMass Dartmouth faculty who would like individualized, confidential and constructive feedback on their teaching. Peer Coaches--faculty trained in how to conduct peer teaching evaluations--are available upon request to observe classroom teaching, review syllabi and assignments, conduct student focus groups, review video recordings of classroom interaction, and discuss specific teaching-related issues. This service will be available by the beginning of Spring Semester; please watch for announcements. Contact the Center if you are interested in working with a peer coach.Peer Evaluator Training
is available for Departments who wish to train a faculty member in how to conduct effective, constructive, and comprehensive teaching assessments of departmental colleagues. Training sessions will cover how to integrate classroom observations, reviews of syllabi and assignments, and student feedback into an assessment that captures the complexity and variable nature of excellent teaching. Contact the Center for more information.Talking about Teaching Conference
offers UMass Dartmouth faculty an opportunity to share their insights on new teaching ideas and practices with colleagues from across campus. Topics are wide-ranging and reflect the diverse interests and experiences of the faculty. It is usually held in January on the Thursday before the start of the spring semester and is a great way to get together with colleagues before the rush of classes.
Contact the Center if you would like to:
- discuss an idea for a session
- submit a proposal for a panel, individual presentation, or interactive workshop
- suggest additional panelists
See the Calendar of Events for up-to-date scheduling information.
Teaching and Learning Colloquium Series
brings in nationally-known scholars, educators, and writers to talk about new ideas and recent scholarship on teaching and learning. This year, the invited speakers will help us explore the year's theme of Facilitating Active and Collaborative Learning. See the Calendar of Events for up-to-date scheduling information.
Presentations will be podcast when speakers give their permission, and podcast URLs will be listed on this web site or can be found at: http://umassd.edu/cits/id/podcast.
Past presenters:
David Cavallo, MIT Media Lab, on "The Future of Learning"
http://www.umassd.edu/cits/id/podcast/welcome.cfm?action=view&cast=124
Teaching Partnerships
support intensive one-on-one collaboration between pairs of faculty over the course of the academic year. This may include but is not limited to: discussing course goals and syllabus; reviewing and improving assignments; observing and reflecting on classroom dynamics; attending to particular content issues or teaching dilemmas. Participants are offered training in how to conduct classroom observations and peer teaching evaluations; have access to a camcorder for recording classroom instructions; and meet several times with other program participants to share experiences. Cross-disciplinary partnerships are strongly encouraged. Participants receive a stipend of $500 upon completion of the program.For more information or to apply to the program, contact the Center.
Teaching at UMass Dartmouth Series
offers untenured faculty interactive workshops on how to become an effective teacher at UMass Dartmouth. The sessions offers opportunities to discuss teaching experiences with colleagues as well as acquire hands-on suggestions for how to: become familiar with your students' abilities and needs; design a well-organized syllabus with clear course objectives; engage your students in productive discussions; lecture so your students will learn; give constructive feedback; grade fairly; and not become completely overwhelmed in the process. The workshops build upon each other, but are self-contained - that is, you are welcome to come to all or any of them.Please Contact the Center if you would like more information about this series.
See the Calendar of Events for up-to-date scheduling information.
This program is organized in collaboration with the New Faculty Institute.
