Activities In Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

Each class I teach is a unique challenge. As a young professor-in-training I have developed a network of faculty in my department interested in the scholarship of teaching and learning, including having a personal mentor, Dr. Wyss-Gallifient. With this network I am able to review and edit worksheets and tests I use in the classroom. Besides this feedback and discussion I also use the SALG survey partway through the semester to evaluate the effectiveness of my teaching methods from the student’s perspective. All these tools provide ways of improving specific class material.

These relationships have grown out of, and been strengthened by, my participation in the UMD’s Center for Teaching Excellency’s (CTE) University Teach and Learn Program (UTLP). Through CTE I’ve participated in many workshops such as ‘Reassessing Your Pedagogy’ and ‘Ethical Conduct of Research’ which have shaped my general approaches to teaching. A current focus for these workshops has been student engagement with the materials during class time, but going outside of groupwork. Sessions at the Lilly East Conference on Evidence Based Teaching and Learning provided many specific activities and practices, including a session on using games to teach, while a recent workshop I attended utilized twitter for instant feedback. Both of these techniques have intrigued me as new ways to engage students, making my classroom quickly more interactive and vibrant with learning and true teaching opportunities.

In the past I was an assistant faculty for the Hands-On Research in Complex Systems School in 2009. There I helped lead an intensive, 2 week session on basic computational techniques for graphs with Michelle Girvan. I particularly enjoyed the chance to build more international contacts, and practice teaching to non-native english speakers.

Preparing for Student's Arrival in Brazil