Hello! Thank you to everyone who participated in a Center for Teaching and Learning program or event last month, especially our Student Consultants and Faculty Partners in the Students Consulting on Teaching (SCOT) program. I look forward to meeting and connecting with more of you in November and December.
UPCOMING PROGRAMS
Workshop: “Introduction to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)”
In this hands-on workshop, participants will begin by identifying an aspect of teaching and learning that surprises or perplexes them. They will then turn it into a potential research question. After looking at a broad definition and key principles of the scholarship of teaching and learning, we will walk together through the steps of what it would look like to research participants’ questions. The SoTL world is dynamic and inviting. Please join us to explore how it might be a fit for you in the context of your own teaching and academic vocation.
Zoom session offered, facilitated by Laurel Willingham-McLain
- Friday, November 1, 9:30-10:45 a.m., Zoom
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Discussion and Idea-Sharing: Teaching After the Election
If you are wondering how to prepare for class meetings in the wake of the presidential election, you are not alone! The CTLE is hosting brainstorming/idea-sharing/support sessions for any instructor unsure of how to best navigate this potentially tense and divisive classroom situation. Come strategize, share your wisdom of experience, or just get some support and encouragement. We’ll also provide some recommended short readings to take with you, and links to online teaching resources. Zoom and on-site sessions offered, facilitated by Jessamyn Neuhaus. The in-person session will include some light refreshments.
- Friday, November 1, 8:30-9:30 a.m., Zoom
- Monday, November 4, 3-4 p.m., 550 Bird Library (CTLE)
- Monday, November 4, 5-6 p.m. Zoom
READING AND RESOURCE RECOMMENDATIONS
Available now on the CTLE website! Check out our new teaching resource pages, including Classroom Civility and Navigating Difficult Conversations and Generative AI and ChatGPT.
Elon University recently published a Student Guide to AI that would be useful for college students at any institution. And speaking of ChatGPT… you may be wondering why the university isn’t providing instructors with some type of online tool like Turnitin to detect AI-created content. That’s because, as the SU ITS and OLS offices explain in their recently updated Answers page, Detecting AI-Created Content, “there are no tools that can reliably detect writing that is AI-generated.” For more on this, see also Nate Pindell’s article, The Challenge of AI Checkers, published by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Center for Transformative Teaching.
SPRING 2025 PROGRAM
Exploring the Use of AI in Teaching
If you’re interested in exploring the challenges and rewards of teaching in the age of generative AI, I’m pleased to announce a series of events coordinated by the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence (CTLE) next semester. Dr. Joon Park, Meredith Professor at the School of Information Studies, and I will be co-facilitating a monthly community group for up to twenty Syracuse University participants from any discipline, including instructors, staff, and graduate students with teaching responsibilities. No prior expertise in AI is required to join; our focus is on curiosity, discussion, and shared learning. We will explore the comprehensive strategies, Teaching with AI: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning, by José Antonio Bowen and C. Edward Watson. Dr. Park will also introduce additional resources and activities aligned with his Meredith teaching theme, AI-augmented education. Meetings will be held in person at 550 Bird Library (CTLE).
- January 30, 2-3:15 pm
- February 13, 2-3:15 pm
- March 20, 2-3:15 pm
- April 17, 2-3:15 pm
Light refreshments will be provided and everyone who signs up will receive a free copy of the book. Space is limited! So don’t wait, sign up today:
ICYMI: CLASSROOM ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY INFO FROM CDR
This semester SU students with accommodations through the Center for Disability Resources may be using note-taking technology in the classroom. If you have any concerns about how students are using these technologies in classes, you can request that students sign a recording agreement regarding the proper application of this technology for their own learning purposes. Please contact the CDR for this agreement as needed.
Reminder that the determination of the specific type of note-taking technology is made on an individualized basis through an interactive process with a CDR Access Coordinator. If you have a question about any accommodation and/or concerns about a student and wish to consult with an access coordinator, please either email CDRspecialist@syr.edu or call 315.443.4498 and ask for the access coordinator on call.
CONSULTATIONS
We are available to support and assist you with any teaching-related issues, including but not limited to syllabus review, designing assignments, soliciting and interpreting student feedback, and navigating student biases and stereotypes about professors. Contact us via the Consultation Request Form on our website.
STAY IN TOUCH
Please share this newsletter with any friends or colleagues who might be interested, 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.
Jessamyn Neuhaus
Director
janeuhau@syr.edu