Teaching + Learning Lab

ESL TA Panel
2020-10-30 11:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Virtual
If you are TAing or will TA in the future as a non-native English speaker, we are hosting a panel discussion for English as a Second Language (ESL) TAs, in which experienced ESL TAs will share their stories and answer your questions on teaching. Panelists will share how they overcame challenges the same challenges you may facing now to become effective educators.

In the meantime, please submit your teaching-related questions on Sli.do here, and the panelists will discuss them at the event.

Also, 3 attendees (chose at random) will receive a copy of the highly recommended book: Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning.

Panelists: Cecelia Testart (EECS), Chuliang Song (CEE), Mohamad Nahleh (Architecture), Qian Song (DMSE), Seo Woo Choi (ChemE)

New Insights & Directions for MIT First-Year Advising
2020-10-27 13:00 - 14:00
Over the past 20 years, multiple stakeholders have identified and recommended improvements for first-year advising at MIT. More recently, students who participated in the Designing the First Year Experience undergraduate class in the spring of 2018 identified advising as a key priority.

In response, the Teaching + Learning Lab (TLL), the Office of the Vice Chancellor (OVC), and the Office of the First Year (OFY) collaborated to review past advising reports and studies and to implement a model focused on an advising network. This model was piloted last fall with a subset of the class of 2023.
This presentation will describe the reasons for the pilot and the accompanying study of the first-year advising experience from the perspectives of the faculty, OFY staff, and first-year students, and the findings and recommendations for future implementation.
Presenters: Melissa Barnett, Lauren Pouchak, Elizabeth Young

Teaching in a Tense Political Climate
2020-10-26 11:00 - 12:00
How are you planning to communicate with your students before, during, and after the election?

Students’ ability to learn effectively is greatly affected by their social lives and emotional state, both inside and outside the classroom. As we approach another tense and fraught election in the United States, many students—regardless of their political leanings—feel anxious about the election and can feel frustrated and distracted when faculty act as though nothing momentous is going on.

This workshop will provide tools and perspectives for faculty and instructors who feel that they need to say something about the election or current political landscape, but are concerned with exposing their political opinion or excluding students whose political leanings may differ from their own.

Charles Stewart, Kenan Sahin Distinguished Professor of Political Science, will explore ways instructors can discuss the election and related topics with students. You will then hear from Ray Feller & Jimmy Doan (DSL) on the impact of the election on students’ well-being and stress. This will be followed by a discussion with your colleagues from across the Institute on ways to support conversation and dialogue about the election and discuss specific, actionable strategies for initiating and fostering productive discussion.

Learning Outcomes

Communicate awareness of and concern about the impact of the current political climate to support effective learning, regardless of discipline.
Justify why a conversation about tense political times is relevant in their course.
Balance sharing their own experience and political commitments with a desire to include students with different political opinions
Direct students to support resources when a tense political climate impacts their learning.

Presenters: Charles Stewart, Ray Feller, Jimmy Doan, Janet Rankin, Ben Hansberry

Data Dialogues
2020-10-21 13:00 - 13:30
This informal discussion and networking series is for MIT staff who are interested in keeping the conversation going in between Data Talks workshops, with the intention of building our community.

Join us for this 30-minute informal breakout session, centering on the advantages and challenges of working with data (from home) since the onset of Covid-19. The format will be two 15-minute breakout sessions.

Register

Craft Your Teaching Philosophy Statement (Part 2): Peer Review
2020-10-14 15:00 - 16:30
In this structured peer review exercise, you will give and receive feedback from your peers on your teaching philosophy statement drafts. After completing Part 2 and incorporating feedback, participants are eligible to schedule a consultation with a TLL staff member for additional feedback on their teaching philosophy statement.
Facilitator: Ben Hansberry

Learning Outcomes

Recognize characteristics of TPS that resonate with you as a reader and those that resonate with peers
Reflect on and revise your TPS in consideration of peer feedback

Register

Craft Your Teaching Philosophy Statement (Part 1)
2020-10-07 15:00 - 16:30
The teaching philosophy statement is a required part of most academic job applications and is often required in the faculty tenure and promotion process.
By articulating your motivation for and perspective on teaching, you can surface the underlying assumptions you have about teaching and learning—a critical step in developing your teaching skills. This workshop seeks to demystify this process by providing strategies and structured activities that you can use to craft your teaching philosophy statement.
This workshop is open to MIT students and postdocs only. In part 2 of this workshop, you will have an opportunity to review your TPS with your peers.
Facilitator: Ben Hansberry

Learning Outcomes

Describe what a teaching philosophy statement is

Identify aspects of your teaching or personal experience and beliefs that could be a part of a teaching philosophy statement

Identify features of teaching philosophy statements that resonate with you

Register

Taking MIT's Pulse
2020-09-17 13:00 - 13:45
This event has passed. See our recap blog post here.

In this virtual workshop, Jason McKnight (Assistant Director of MindHandHeart) and Kate Doria (Assistant Director of Institutional Research) introduced MIT’s Pulse Survey Project and describe 3 approaches for exploring the data. Participants were given the general background about the project before diving deeper into some of the findings and outcomes.

This event marked the beginning of the AY20-21 Data Talks workshop series, organized by TLL’s Melissa Barnett and Ryan MacDowell in collaboration with offices across MIT.

Learning Outcomes

articulate the purpose of the pulse surveyinterpret histograms and bullet chartsarticulate a challenge and opportunity in longitudinal surveys
