Spring break is a great time to reinvigorate your teaching as you head into the last half of the semester. It’s also a great time to plan ahead for the summer and fall. This year, the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology (CTLT) has a lot to offer March 10-14 during Spring Institute.
Registration and stipends
Seating is limited during Spring Institute, so registration is required. In fact, some workshops are already filled. “Even if a Spring Institute workshop is full, we encourage colleagues to sign up for the wait list,” said Julie-Ann McFann, CTLT’s program team leader. “We know that people change plans, and we often see seats open up. And if they don’t, we’ll know you’re interested in a particular topic, so we can notify you about future, similar events.”
CTLT provides $100-per-day stipends for eligible faculty (tenured, tenure-track, and full-time nontenure-track), up to a total of $300 for the week. The stipend for the grant writing workshop, which is being administered by Research and Sponsored Programs, does not count toward that $300 total. We also serve lunch to all participants so you can socialize with colleagues from across campus.
Registration is easy. Simply browse the Spring Institute Web page, scroll down to the schedule, and click on the event you’re interested in. This will take you directly to the MyIllinoisState registration portal. You’ll also find links in the workshop descriptions below.
Teaching and student learning
We have three workshops that focus on mentoring, grading, and assessment for learning.
“Got Paper? How to Grade Student Writing and Still Have a Life” is back by popular demand. In this workshop, CTLT Director Claire Lamonica guides participants through the process of eliminating time-wasting grading practices. She also will showcase strategies that help minimize time spent grading. Participants are encouraged to bring papers they need to grade with them to the workshop.
Being a mentor to students and new faculty colleagues is a fulfilling aspect of academic work—especially when the mentor learns and grows as much from the process as the mentee does. But faculty are often left to fumble their way through the process and aren’t sure if they are doing a good job of mentoring. CTLT faculty development coordinator Dana Karraker’s workshop, “The Nuts and Bolts of Mentoring,” focuses on the many hats mentors need to wear and the skills they need to develop and to sustain successful mentoring relationships.
Finally, assessment is often viewed as tests given at midterms and finals to measure what students have learned about the course material. However, assessment can also be a powerful learning tool! Participants in McFann’s “Assessment for Learning” workshop will explore the benefits of and strategies for using assessment to its full potential as a learning tool.
Teaching with technology
This spring, CTLT is also offering a series of workshops that tie together technology and teaching.
CTLT multimedia developer Greg Maier and CTLT coordinator for communication and faculty development Jim Gee will explore ways of using media in the classroom to engage students in meaningful discussion. Participants in “Media-Rich Classroom Discussions” will learn how to assess their own technology usage habits, their students’ habits, and find ways to enhance their existing course content through multimedia. You’ll get an introduction to easy-to-use media creation tools and learn how to find copyright-friendly materials online.
Two workshops will focus on online teaching. In “Online Teaching: Quick Start,” coordinator Linda Summers will offer a one-day boot camp for new or returning online teachers. The goal is to provide a crash course for those who already have an online class scheduled on the books and need help getting it off the ground. She will also offer “Online Teaching: Time Management Strategies,” a workshop for anyone who wants to explore strategies and tools to reduce the amount of time spent communicating with students of online classes without diminishing the quality of student interactions.
And finally, CTLT team leader and coordinator for instructional technology and media Mayuko Nakamura and CTLT instructional developer Charles Bristow will be leading a series of daylong ReggieNet workshops. In addition to the full “Introduction to ReggieNet” course, they help faculty how to use ReggieNet’s powerful assessment and communication tools.
If you need any special accommodation to fully participate in Spring Institute or any other CTLT event, please contact our front desk at (309) 438-2542.
