CELT Newsletter 
September 2014
  
Letter from the
Director

  Donna Qualters

Dear Colleagues,

 

Welcome back to returning faculty and a warm welcome to all new faculty! I hope everyone had a restful summer as we head into a new academic year. At CELT we have been working hard to put together a stimulating and informative series of programming to help you get your teaching off to a great start this semester.

 

We are continuing our Learning Communities this fall focusing on Inclusive Excellence and Difficult Dialogues.  We are also adding two new topics this spring - one on teaching in "New Learning Spaces" and one on "Mindfulness in the Classroom". 

 

Our popular Course Design Institute is being offered in January, this year with a flipped learning approach. Applications will be accepted in late October.

 

New this year is our Large Lecture Collegium for faculty teaching classes of 100 or more students. Thanks to our colleagues we gathered valuable needs assessment data and are putting together a collection of faculty presentations, literature, and tools to share.  

 

Not new but resuming is the Academic Leadership Program (ALD) with new modules and new focus to better prepare current and future Tufts leaders.

 

Please check out our newsletter or website for up to date information on all our programs.  There is no one road to teaching excellence, but coming together and sharing the journey we are all enriched.  

 

- Donna Qualters

In the News

     

Check out these interesting articles! 



 
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Faculty Spotlight

 

"Confessions of a Fragile Physics Learner"

by Linda Beardsley

Department of Education, Tufts University


 

An Excerpt:

 

"...Perhaps what I learned most in my Physics course was about learning and teaching and myself as a physics learner. I learned a great deal about what it means to be lost in an academic course, to be afraid to try a problem, to be befuddled by the buttons on a scientific calculator. To be overwhelmed, confused, inarticulate. To be embarrassed when I did poorly on an exam. This is too hard. When I looked at the homework, dense word problems peppered with odd symbols, I wanted to give up...the class itself made me silent; I could never find my voice to ask a question, pose an idea, try an answer. To not have a voice in one's learning was the most frightening experience of all."  

 

To read the rest of Linda's article, please click here.


Sign up now for these 
great programs!

Faculty Learning Communities

 

Adding to the two current learning communities in progress under CELT's Davis Educational Foundation Grant, we are sponsoring two new ones: Teaching for Inclusive Excellence in the STEM disciplines, and Inclusive Excellence in Online Environments.

 

These groups of up to 12 faculty will meet over the course of a year (with a schedule they determine), beginning in the Fall of 2014. They will learn together from the literature, other universities, experts on these topics, and personal experience. The groups are self-directed and reflective, and will consider how to make changes in their own teaching. Through that process they will capture useful principles and best practices to share with other faculty. Each group will have a small budget to buy books, invite local experts, and share meals. This is a great opportunity to get to know some of your colleagues well and to share in meaningful conversation. 

 

For more information or to sign up, contact annie.soisson@tufts.edu or donna.qualters@tufts.edu

 

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Mid-Term Evaluations 

Through this program, CELT offers faculty the opportunity to get timely feedback during a course. We take a half an hour of your class time to meet with your students, and summarize and share that information back with you, allowing you to make changes to improve the learning experience immediately! To see an example of a mid-term evaluation and to sign up, click here.

Fall Mid-Term Feedback sessions will be conducted during the weeks of October 6 and October 13, 2014. These full up quickly, so sign up now on our website! 

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Medford Campus Fall Book Groups


 

Discussion as a Way of Teaching by Stephen D. Brookfield and Stephen Preskill. This practical and easy to read book offers many concrete suggestions for how to engage students in the classroom to enrich the learning experience. This edition demonstrates how to begin, maintain, and assess discussions, by encouraging democracy within the classroom. 

Friday, November 7th, 12:00-1:30pm

RSVP to CELT@tufts.edu


 

Mindstorms: Computers, Children, and Powerful Ideas by Seymour Papert. Papert demonstrates how teaching children to master computers changes the way they learn about science, mathematics, and more. Contradicting the idea that computers hinder learning, Papert argues that technologically-oriented classrooms actually yield greater communication among students and instructors.
Friday, October 31st, 12 - 1:30pm
CELT News and Notes: 

  

HOLD THE DATE: December 11th

Tufts Annual Teaching Conference: "Is this Going to be on the Test?" Transforming Teaching, Transforming Learning

 

The Teaching Conference Committee this year is thrilled to have as our speaker Michael Wesch.  Many of you may know him from his popular You Tube video "Students Today", Dr. Wesch is a engaging and fascinating speaker who will provide both vision and practical suggestions.  We hope you can join us on the Grafton Campus on December 11th.

 

Stay tuned for more information on these and other programs, including a variety of opportunities for engaging in the continuing conversation on teaching and learning.
New in the
CELT Library

 

The App Generation: How Today's Youth Navigate Identity, Intimacy, and Imagination in a Digital World

by Howard Gardner & Katie Davis

 

Teaching Naked: How Moving Technology out of Your College Classroom Will Improve Student Learning 

by José Antonio Bowen 


Check out our other new offerings here.

 
The Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT)  is a division of the Office of the Provost, and is a resource for teaching-related initiatives on all three campuses at Tufts University. Please visit our
 website or 
us to find out more about what we offer! 
For an up-to-date listing of seminars and workshops, 
as well as other resources, 

please visit our website.