CETL Events
Join us for teaching workshops and other events open to all University of Mississippi-affiliated faculty, staff, and students.
Spring 2024 events
Campus writing group
Dates: Mondays, 3:30-5:00 pm
Location: Hill Hall 117 (conference room)
Description: Each 90-minute weekly writing group meeting will give participants the opportunity to set goals, feel supported, and make progress on their individual writing project. This is not a collaborative research/writing project. Peers provide accountability and support.
Podcasts & puzzles
Dates: Thursdays, 3-4:00 pm (starting Feb. 1)
Location: Hill Hall 214
Description: Curious about teaching, but loathe ice breakers and think-pair-share activities? You're not alone! Lots of us are introverts, have social anxiety, and/or have neurodivergent brains that bristle at unplanned socializing. In this weekly gathering, we’ll put on a teaching-related podcast and engage in quiet activities–that might be doing a jigsaw puzzle, a crossword puzzle, coloring/sketching, crafts (knitting, collage, you name it!), or just sitting quietly and listening. There are no requirements to engaging in small talk or socializing… although you can if you want!
Graduate Reading Group
Dates:
- Friday, February 23, 12:00-1:00 pm
- Friday, March 22, 12:00-1:00 pm
- Friday, April 12, 12:00-1:00 pm
Location: Lamar 323
Description: Each semester, the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning sponsors a Graduate Reading Group. The group meets three to four times over the course of the semester to discuss the chosen book. We’ll provide the book and the lunch; you come with thoughts and questions.
This spring, the Graduate Reading Group will tackle the classic How Learning Works: Eight Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching, by Marsha C. Lovett, Michael W. Bridges, Michele DiPietro, Susan A. Ambrose, and Marie K. Norman.
Participation is limited to the first 25 registrants. Please register only if you can commit to attending all three meeting dates above.
Facilitating Active Learning for STEM TAs
Date: Wednesday, February 14, 2-3:00 pm
Location: Brevard 305
Facilitators: Emily Pitts Donahoe and Amitesh Singh
Description: Join us for a thought-provoking session, ideal for STEM graduate students and TAs seeking a deeper understanding of effective teaching methods. Moving beyond traditional lecture formats, we introduce Active Learning, an approach shown by research to significantly improve student learning and success. Through interactive, hands-on activities, we’ll experience the essence of a student-centered classroom. It's an opportunity to embrace a different, more engaging way of teaching and learning!
Coffee and cookies available
Register here
Facilitating Effective Discussions for TAs and Graduate Instructors
Date: Friday, March 1, 2-3:00 pm
Location: Library classroom 106D
Description: Every new instructor’s worst nightmare is standing at the front of the classroom and asking a discussion question only to receive a roomful of blank stares in return. In this session, we’ll talk about how to avoid such nightmare scenarios by introducing strategies to help you and your students prepare for, conduct, and reflect on class discussion. We’ll also share ways to structure discussion effectively and consider what to do when discussions get off the rails.
Coffee & cookies served
Register here
Writing Effective Teaching Statements (partnership with Graduate School)
Date: Thursday, April 18, 12-1:00 pm
Location: Library 106D
Description: Teaching philosophy statements are perhaps the most difficult of all academic job documents to write. This session will introduce graduate students to the genre of the teaching statement and provide guidance on how to create one that’s compelling and effective. We’ll close with an activity designed to jumpstart the process of crafting your own statement and identify next steps for your teaching development.
Register with the Graduate School
Introduction to SoTL: Where teaching & research meet
Date: January 25, 2:00-3:00 pm
Location: Library classroom 106D
Presenter: Liz Norell
Description: A growing number of faculty/graduate student instructors at the University of Mississippi are engaging in what’s known as the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), sometimes called “teaching as research.” SoTL begins with the belief that our work as educators merits rigorous study and analysis, just as our disciplinary-based research questions do. In this workshop, you’ll learn more about SoTL, including exploring examples of SoTL projects and generating interesting-to-you research questions about your teaching.
Cookies and coffee available
Register here
Yes, And: Igniting Your Pedagogical Imagination
Date: January 31, 12:00-1:00 pm
Location: Butler Auditorium (Triplett Alumni Center)
Presenters: Emily Pitts Donahoe, Derek Bruff, Joshua Eyler, Liz Norell
Description: Have you ever attended a teaching workshop and thought, “That’s an interesting idea—but I don’t know how it would work in my class.” If so, this session is for you!
In the first part of the workshop, we’ll present a teaching technique chosen at random. Our expert panelists will compete to see who can translate that teaching technique to their own discipline and course in the most creative way. In the second part of the workshop, attendees will have a chance to draw their own teaching technique from the hat and brainstorm about how they might apply it in their own context. Join us to gain new teaching techniques, learn from instructors in other disciplines, and flex your creative muscles!
Lunch provided from Taylor's Grocery
Register here
Inclusive and Equitable Teaching Practices
Co-hosted by CETL and the Office of Diversity and Community Engagement
Date: February 5, 10:00 am-12:00 pm
Location: Student Union 124
Facilitators: Emily Pitts Donahoe (CETL) and Jazmine Kelley (DCE)
Description: CETL, in collaboration with the Office of Diversity and Community Engagement, is pleased to offer this introduction to inclusive teaching, open to any teacher or aspiring teacher at UM. We’ll discuss the common barriers students face in pursuing postsecondary education; outline principles for supporting diversity, fostering inclusion, and promoting equity in the classroom; and help you begin the process of developing inclusive and equitable teaching strategies in your own context.
To register, log in to my.olemiss.edu and follow this pathway:
Employee → Tools and Resources → Training Workshops → Inclusive and Equitable Teaching Practices → Register
STEM Lunch #1: Helping students learn how to learn
Date: Thursday, February 8, 12-1:00 pm
Location: Library classroom 106D
Presenter: Sharday Ewell (biology)
Description: Sharday Ewell conducts discipline-based education research with a focus on helping students succeed biology and other STEM courses. In this session, Dr. Ewell will introduce participants to the concept of self-regulated learning, why it’s important for student success, and how instructors can help foster it.
Lunch from Grit
Register here
Teaching Today’s Students, Part 1: Pedagogy for a New Era
Date: February 14, 12:00-1:00 pm
Location: Johnson Commons East Ballroom
Presenters: Joshua Eyler and Emily Pitts Donahoe
Description: Is this generation of students different from the ones we have taught in the past? There has been a lot of recent speculation about this question. The reality, of course, is that all generations bring with them unique challenges and opportunities into our classrooms, and our students today are facing unprecedented obstacles to academic success and personal wellbeing. In this workshop, we will address some of the characteristics of today’s students, as well as pedagogical strategies that we can use to support their engagement, learning, and growth.
Lunch from Grit available
Register here
STEM Lunch #2: Reconsidering class time through flipped learning
Date: Tuesday, February 20
Time: 12-1:00 pm
Location: Student Union 326
Presenters: Dan Mattern (chemistry), Mike Gill (chemical engineering), Winn Hutchcraft, and Bibek Kattel (electrical engineering)
Description: In flipped learning, first contact with new concepts moves outside the classroom to individual study time so that the classroom is transformed into a dynamic, interactive learning environment. In this session, we’ll hear from a panel of UM instructors about how they take a flipped approach to their courses.
Lunch from Grit
Register here
Teaching Today’s Students, Part 2: The Undergraduate Perspective
Date: February 28, 12:00-1:00 pm
Location: Johnson Commons East Ballroom
Presenters: A panel of undergraduate students, facilitated by Emily Pitts Donahoe
Description: In part 2 of our series on Teaching Today’s Students, we’ll hear from a student panel of Supplemental Instruction Leaders about their experiences in UM classrooms. Drawing on their unique perspectives as students, peer mentors, and careful observers of teaching, they’ll discuss what instructors can do to promote engagement and academic success for our diverse, and rapidly growing, student body.
Lunch from Grit
Register here
STEM Lunch #3: Course design for student success
Date: Monday, March 4
Time: 12-1:00 pm
Location: Johnson Commons East Banquet room
Presenters: Ayla Gafni (mathematics) and Isis da Costa Arantes (biology)
Description: Sometimes small changes in the design of our courses can result in big improvements in student learning. In this session, we will hear from two participants in CETL’s Inclusive Teaching Learning Community about changes they made to their courses to promote student success.
Lunch from Grit
Register here
Alternatives to Traditional Essays
Date: March 4
Time: 2-3:00 pm
Location: Zoom (link provided after registration)
Presenters: Faculty panel facilitated by Derek Bruff and Emily Pitts Donahoe
Description: There is much value in the traditional essay, but it’s not always the only, or even the best way to accomplish our teaching goals. Recently, instructors have been experimenting with a wide range of alternatives to the take-home essay, a process that the advent of generative AI has only accelerated. In this panel, UM faculty from across disciplines share new assignments they’ve developed to promote engagement, foster academic integrity, and help students demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways.
Inclusive and Equitable Teaching Practices
Co-hosted by CETL and the Office of Diversity and Community Engagement
Date: March 14, 1-3:00 pm
Location: Zoom (link provided after registering)
Facilitators: Emily Pitts Donahoe (CETL) and Jazmine Kelley (DCE)
Description: CETL, in collaboration with the Office of Diversity and Community Engagement, is pleased to offer this introduction to inclusive teaching, open to any teacher or aspiring teacher at UM. We’ll discuss the common barriers students face in pursuing postsecondary education; outline principles for supporting diversity, fostering inclusion, and promoting equity in the classroom; and help you begin the process of developing inclusive and equitable teaching strategies in your own context.
To register, log in to my.olemiss.edu and follow this pathway:
Employee → Tools and Resources → Training Workshops → Inclusive and Equitable Teaching Practices → Register
Supporting Neurodivergent Students with Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia, and Dyspraxia
Date: March 20
Time: 12-1:00 pm
Location: Johnson Commons East Ballroom
Presenter: Liz Norell
Description: In this follow-up to last fall’s workshop on supporting neurodivergent students, we will turn our attention to four additional neurodivergent types: dyslexia (challenges interpreting text), dyscalculia (challenges working with numbers), dysgraphia (challenges writing text), and dyspraxia (challenges with physical coordination). We will describe each of these neurodivergent types, discuss what each might look like in the classroom, and explore potential accommodations and strategies to promote student success.
Lunch from Grit
Register here
Supporting Students’ Mental Health
Date: March 27
Time: 12-1:00 pm
Location: Johnson Commons East Ballroom
Presenter: Liz Norell
Description: Survey data from the 2021 Healthy Minds survey of UM students makes the challenges around student mental health clear. For example, the survey revealed that nearly half (46%) of responding students met the DSM definition of having moderate or severe depression. More than half of students (52%) in that survey said that mental health challenges in the preceding four weeks had hurt their academic performance on three or more days of the week. In this workshop, we will review the results of that survey to establish the scope of mental health challenges in our student population. We’ll then discuss ways instructors can weave supports for student mental health into their work–importantly, not by assuming the role of therapist or social worker.
Lunch from GritRegister here
Place as Text Experiential Workshop
Date: April 5
Time: 1-3:00 pm
Location: Library classroom 106D
Presenters: Liz Norell & panel
Description: The pedagogy of Place as Text involves engaging in structured explorations of environments and ecosystems. These exercises foster critical inquiry and integrative learning across disciplines. In this workshop, we will briefly introduce the tool of Place as Text, then small groups of attendees will engage in a Place as Text exploration for one hour. The workshop will conclude with a reflection among all participants about their small-group explorations, the pedagogical tool, and how it might work within their own instructional contexts and disciplines. Come prepared to take notes and engage in a fun, collaborative exploration of the UM campus.
Register hereFall 2023 events
We have enjoyed working with instructors, staff, and students in the Fall 2023 semester! Our archived events are listed below.
AI Series
Offered by the Academic Innovations Group & Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Generative AI on the Syllabus
Date: Friday, August 11
Time: 10:00 am to 11:00 am
Location: Zoom
Facilitators: Derek Bruff, visiting associate director, CETL, and Robert Cummings, executive director, Academic Innovations Group
What policies on using ChatGPT and other generative AI tools should you have in your fall courses? Should you attempt to ban them? Embrace them? Explore them with your students? And how will you talk with your students about AI tools through your syllabus and class conversations? In this session, sponsored by CETL and the Academic Innovations Group, we will explore these questions and suggest policy options and potential syllabus language for instructors to use.
Although this event has passed, you can read a recap of the key takeaways and explore additional resources here.
Teaching in the Age of AI: What's Working, What's Not
Date: Monday, September 18
Time: 2:00-3:00 pm
Location: Zoom
Facilitators: Derek Bruff, visiting associate director, CETL, and Robert Cummings, executive director, Academic Innovations Group
There are now many generative AI tools available to both students and instructors: ChatGPT, Bing Chat, Google Bard, Claude, Midjourney, DALL-E, and more. What is it like teaching and learning in this new age of AI? In this session, sponsored by CETL and the Academic Innovations Group, we invite the University of Mississippi teaching community to compare notes on what’s working and what’s not when it comes to incorporating or inhibiting AI tools in our fall courses.
Although this event has passed, you can read a recap of the key takeaways and explore additional resources here.
POSTPONED: Generative AI in the Classroom: The Student Perspective
In this student panel, sponsored by AIG and CETL, we’ll invite students to share with the campus community how generative AI is impacting their learning experience. What generative AI tools have they used? How has their use of AI benefited or impeded their learning? What do they wish faculty knew about AI in the classroom?
This virtual event has been postponed. We will update this page when it has been rescheduled!
Beyond ChatGPT: New Tools to Augment Your Research
Date: Wednesday, November 8
Time: 11:00 am-12:00 pm
Location: Zoom
Facilitators: Derek Bruff, visiting associate director, CETL; Kellye Makamson, Lecturer of Writing and Rhetoric; and Marc Watkins, Academic Innovation Fellow
As generative AI tools like ChatGPT receive widespread attention, there has been little focus on how the technology can aid research and education. Join us to learn about AI-powered research tools that can augment academic work. We will discuss new research applications of tools like Anthropic's Claude 2, Google's NotebookLM, and Perplexity. Attendees will learn how these systems can help your own research and how you can use them with students to design assignments that help them explore critical thinking. We will cover recent updates and real-world use cases to explore how generative AI can be used pragmatically and ethically in research contexts.
Although this event has passed, you can read a recap of the key takeaways and explore additional resources here.
Faculty Reading Group: Cheating Lessons, by James Lang
Dates & Times: Tuesdays from 12:00-1:00 pm: September 26, October 10, October 24, and November 7
Location: Zoom
Facilitators: Josh Eyler
Faculty are invited to join us for a reading group on James Lang's Cheating Lessons.
Those who are able to commit to joining us for 3 of the 4 sessions will receive a their own copy of the book. Those who would like to join us but have some conflicts can download the PDF of the book via UM Libraries.
Learn more about the faculty reading group here
Inclusive and Equitable Teaching Practices, co-hosted by CETL and the Office of Diversity and Community Engagement
Dates & Times: Tuesday, September 5, 1:00-3:00 pm or Monday, October 16, 10:00 am-12:00 pm
Location: Student Union 124
Facilitators: Emily Pitts Donahoe (CETL) and Jazmine Kelley (DCE)
CETL, in collaboration with the Office of Diversity and Community Engagement, is pleased to offer this introduction to inclusive teaching, open to any teacher or aspiring teacher at UM. We’ll discuss the common barriers students face in pursuing postsecondary education; outline principles for supporting diversity, fostering inclusion, and promoting equity in the classroom; and help you begin the process of developing inclusive and equitable teaching strategies in your own context.
To register, log in to my.olemiss.edu and follow this pathway:
Employee → Tools and Resources → Training Workshops → Inclusive and Equitable Teaching Practices → Register
Pedagogy Podcasts & Puzzles
Dates & Times: Selected Wednesdays from 2-3:00 pm (Aug. 30; Sept. 13, 27; Oct. 11, 18; Nov. 1, 8, 29)
Location: Hill Hall 214
Facilitator: Liz Norell
Curious about teaching, but loathe ice breakers and think-pair-share activities? You're not alone! Lots of us are introverts, have social anxiety, and/or have neurodivergent brains that bristle at unplanned socializing.
- This is NOT that kind of space. This is a different kind of professional learning.
- There will be puzzles and a few art supplies. You're welcome to bring your own puzzle/art project/knitting/crochet/etc. supplies.
- We'll listen to a pedagogy podcast together.
- The space is yours to make your own.
- No harsh overhead lighting. This is a neurodivergent-friendly space.
You're welcome to stay afterwards to talk about the podcast episode ... OR NOT. It really is up to you.
What Instructors Need to Know When Working with Neurodivergent Students
Date: Wednesday, September 6
Time: 12:00-1:00 pm
Location: Johnson Commons East Ballroom
Facilitators: Liz Norell, associate director of instructional support
Neurodivergent students (and colleagues) surround us at UM, but we rarely get concrete tips on how to create classroom spaces to ensure these students can succeed. Estimates range from 11% to 30% of students who have some sort of neurodivergence–from autism and ADHD to dyslexia to dyspraxia. This workshop will equip faculty with actionable advice on how to create spaces that allow all neurodivergent students the opportunity to succeed.
Although this event has passed, you can read a recap of the key takeaways and explore additional resources here.
A Pedagogy of Kindness
Date: Wednesday, September 20
Time: 12:00-1:00 pm
Location: Johnson Commons East Ballroom
Facilitator: Cate Denial, Bright Distinguished Professor of American History, Chair of the History department, and Director of the Bright Institute at Knox College
What does it mean to practice a Pedagogy of Kindness? This session will explore three tenets of compassionate teaching: justice, believing students, and believing in students. We'll reflect together on what kindness (and its lack) has meant to us within academia, and how we can - piece by piece - assemble a kind approach to pedagogy that meets the needs of our students and ourselves in a time of great change.
Although this event has passed, you can read a recap of the key takeaways here.
Working with Neurodivergent Students and Colleagues
Date: Wednesday, October 18
Time: 10:00-11:00 am
Location: Zoom
Facilitators: Liz Norell, associate director of instructional support
Neurodivergent students (and colleagues) surround us at UM, but we rarely get concrete tips on how to create classroom spaces to ensure these students can succeed. Estimates range from 11% to 30% of students who have some sort of neurodivergence–from autism and ADHD to dyslexia to dyspraxia. This workshop will equip faculty with actionable advice on how to create spaces that allow all neurodivergent students the opportunity to succeed.
NOTE: This event is a repeat of the in-person event held September 6.
This event has passed.
Getting Started with Alternative Grading
Date: Wednesday, November 1
Time: 12:00-1:00 pm
Location: Zoom
Facilitators: Emily Pitts Donahoe and Josh Eyler
Interested in different approaches to grading? Maybe even thinking about trying an alternative grading model in your own course? Join us for a workshop in which we’ll explore your grading approaches as they relate to your teaching values and your philosophy of education. We will also introduce a variety of different grading models and some strategies for implementation.
This event has passed.
Space Matters: Active Learning Instruction in an Active Learning Classroom
Date: Wednesday, October 4
Time: 2:00-3:00 p.m.
Location: Brevard 305
Facilitators: Derek Bruff, visiting associate director of instructional support; Amitesh Singh, graduate consultants and physics doctoral student
UM’s new Duff Center for Science and Technology Innovation opens next year, and it will offer a variety of new active learning classrooms (ALCs). Research shows active learning instruction leads to more student learning and more student success. That kind of instruction can occur in any classroom, but when it comes to implementing active learning, space matters. This workshop will be held in an ALC and will explore teaching strategies that make the most of the affordances of ALCs, including the ones planned for the Duff Center.
STEM Lunch Series: Supplemental Instruction and Other Student Supports
Date: Friday, September 22
Time: 12:00-1:00 pm
Location: Johnson Commons East Ballroom
Panelists: Emily Rowland, instructional associate professor of chemistry; Jennifer Meyer, instructional assistant professor of physics and astronomy; and three undergraduate SI leaders, Abigayle Talbot, Reid Bain, and Kaleb Henry
Join us for an inside look at the Supplemental Instruction program and how it fosters student success, with perspectives from both student SI leaders and faculty whose courses leverage SI. We'll talk about SI as well as other campus and department structures for supporting student learning in STEM fields.
STEM Lunch Series: Alternative Grading Practices
Date: Tuesday, October 3
Time: 12:00-1:00 pm
Location: Coulter Hall 422
Panelists: Eden Tanner, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry; Derek Bruff, visiting associate director at CETL
In this session, we'll discuss alternatives to traditional grading practices in STEM fields, with a focus on mastery assessment. Our panelists will share their experiences with mastery assessment and invite conversation about other "altgrading" approaches.
STEM Lunch Series: Student Belonging in STEM
Date: Friday, November 10
Time: 12:00-1:00 pm
Location: Johnson Commons East Banquet Room
Panelists: Rebecca Symula, instructional associate professor of biology; Susan Pedigo, professor of chemistry and biochemistry; and Jessica Osborne, principal evaluation associate, Center for Research Evaluation
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) awards the University of Mississippi a grant to understand, promote, and evaluate inclusivity in STEM education. In this session, HHMI team members will share and discuss some of their initial research featuring student and faculty perspectives on belonging and inclusivity.