February 2025
Hello everyone! We’re pleased to share with you our February newsletter from the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence (CTLE).
CTLE Program Featured on Tea for Teaching Podcast
The Students Consulting on Teaching (SCOT) program is one of the signature CTLE programs, and it was recently featured on my favorite podcast about college teaching, Tea for Teaching. Hosts John Kane and Rebecca Mushtare interviewed our SCOT coordinators Jacques Safari Mwayaona and Laurel Willingham-McLain about the transformative power of pedagogical partnerships. Listen to the episode or read the transcript: “Students as Partners”
RECOMMENDED READING AND RESOURCES
And speaking of podcasts, this month our recommendations for inclusive and equity-minded teaching begin with two great podcasts, Think UDL (Universal Design for Learning) and the Inclusive Educators Podcast.
If you teach a large lecture class, consider providing students with guided notes. It not only increases inclusivity and accessibility but also helps all students improve their note taking skills. This short article explains how: Guided Notes: Improving the Effectiveness of Your Lectures | The Ohio State University.
What can we do when national, local, and world events have an impact on our classroom environments? Our brand-new teaching resource page, “Crisis Times and Trauma-Aware Teaching,” has links to many helpful online readings and campus resources, including this article on the importance of caring for our own health and wellbeing as part of effective teaching: Self-compassionate Teaching: Putting on your Oxygen Mask First | Center for Teaching Vanderbilt University.
UPCOMING PROGRAMS
Lunch and Learn Series: How I Make My Teaching More Inclusive
Small tweaks to course design and classroom activities can have a big impact on making our classes inclusive. In February, the CTLE and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion is co-sponsoring a brand-new series of informal Lunch and Learn discussions, with guest speakers sharing how they make their course materials accessible, encourage student belonging, and maximize opportunities for student learning and success. Lunch will be provided. Space is limited to 10 participants per session, so sign up for a Lunch and Learn today! All sessions are 12:00-1:30 p.m. in 550 Bird Library (CTLE).
February 7
Rusty Bartels, Associate Teaching Professor in Writing Studies, Rhetoric, and Composition
February 11
Duane Graysay, Associate Professor of Mathematics Education
February 19
Patrick Berry, Associate Professor in Writing Studies, Rhetoric, and Composition
February 24
William Robert, Professor of Religion
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Lunch and Learn: Easy Ways to Boost Students’ Information Literacy in Any Class
We all know how important it is to help every student build the information skills necessary for doing research, recognizing disinformation, and maintaining academic integrity. Fortunately, there are many easy-to-implement classroom resources and simple syllabus tweaks that will directly and effectively increase students’ technological agility when engaging in academic work. Co-facilitated by Kelly Delevan, Information Literacy Librarian, and Jessamyn Neuhaus, Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence, this Lunch and Learn event will offer participants specific techniques, assignments, and some ready-made resources for increasing information literacy, with time provided for brainstorming and planning ways to implement these tools in your own class. Lunch provided by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness.
March 4, 2025, 12:00-1:30 p.m., 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
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Workshop: Inspiring Authentic Learning with Primary Sources in the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC)
This workshop will begin with a brief overview of the Special Collection Resource Center (SCRC) and the opportunities it offers faculty to schedule a class visit and session at the SCRC. Then we will explore how these SCRC class sessions draw on evidence-based, high-impact teaching practices for authentic learning and helping students build academic integrity skills. The remainder of the session will be participants workshopping assignments and syllabi for how to incorporate a SCRC visit into their class. Co-facilitated by Jana Rosinksi, SCRC Instruction and Education Librarian and Jessamyn Neuhaus, Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence. The workshop will take place in Special Collections, Bird Library Room 600, and space is limited to 18 participants.
March 21, 1:00-2:30 p.m., 600 Bird Library (Special Collections)
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Workshop: Inspiring Authentic Learning with Primary Sources from the Syracuse Art Museum Collections
This workshop will begin with a brief overview of the SU Museum Collections and the opportunities it offers faculty to schedule a class visit and session at the Museum. Then we will explore how these class sessions draw on evidence-based, high-impact teaching practices for authentic learning and helping students build academic integrity skills. The remainder of the session will be participants workshopping assignments and syllabi for how to incorporate a Museum Collections visit into their class. Co-facilitated by Kate Holohan, Curator of Education at the SU Art Museum and Jessamyn Neuhaus, Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence. The workshop will take place at the SU Museum, and space is limited to 20 participants.
April 4, 1:00-2:30 p.m., Syracuse University Art Museum, Shaffer Art Building
STAY IN TOUCH
Let us know how we can support and assist you, and if you know someone who might like to join our mailing list, here’s a link to the sign-up form: CTLE Mailing List Sign-Up.