Welcome to our January newsletter! As you gather yourself for a new semester, we hope you find time to read and enjoy this month’s newsletter, which includes updates, and multiple ways of staying connected with the Teaching Academy.
This month, start the year revitalized at our Winter Retreat: Confronting Burnout, Rekindling Wellbeing, and Rebuilding Connection. Get ready to explore the potential risks and benefits of AI-assisted student learning in an upcoming Members+ event. Continue the discussion about linguistic justice with Dr. Anne Charity Hudley at her talk in the Language Institute. And the Teaching Academy’s Academic Staff Co-Lead, Dr. John Martin, shares thoughts on the historical activities of the Teaching Academy, with an eye to the future.
Questions or comments about the newsletter? Contact Dan Pell, editor-uwta-newsletter@g-groups.wisc.edu
Upcoming Events | What’s happening in the Academy?
Teaching Academy’s Winter Retreat | Confronting Burnout, Rekindling Wellbeing, and Rebuilding Connection (open to all!)
Fri, Feb 3, 2023, 9-1130 | Join us in the DeLuca Forum, Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, or on Zoom | REGISTER. Doors open at 8:30 for breakfast and conversation.
Dr. Raquel Tatar is the Senior Director of Research and Measures at Healthy Minds Innovations, Inc. where she leads the study of well-being. Dr. Sarah Webber is the co-chair for the SMPH well-being advisory committee and Director of Well-being in Pediatrics. Abby Letak is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology, studying culture with regard to media, mental health and wellness, and identity. Dr. Wei-Chiao Hsu works in UHS where she provides Mandarin and English counseling for students struggling with concerns related to international transitions, relationship difficulties, academic and career issues, grief and loss, and mental illness. | READ MORE |Questions? Want to help plan the retreats? Contact Angela Kita & Dan Pell retreats-uwta@g-groups.wisc.edu
Member+ Event | ChatGPT in Teaching & Learning (open to all!)
Fri, Feb 24, 2-3p (on Zoom) | Open to all! Virtual doors open at 1:45p. | REGISTER. ChatGPT is a prototype AI-powered chatbot that launched in November 2022. It generates articulate, complex responses and answers on many subjects. In this M+ event, we’ll explore these and other questions: What opportunities does ChatGPT present to instructors? How can we harness it instead of fearing it? How might it change teaching and learning in higher education? Academy members, please invite interested colleagues to join us. | READ MORE |Send questions & ideas about ChatGPT to johnmartin@wisc.edu
Teaching and Learning Meetups (open to all!)
First and Third Thursdays, 4-6pm at the Memorial Union Rathskeller or Terrace. Every first and third Thursday from 4-6pm at the Rathskeller (or Terrace in warmer times). Come bring your teaching questions, comments, and experiences to share! Meet up with other campus educators in an informal space. Make connections! | READ MORE. Questions about the T&L Meetups? Contact John Martin john.martin@wisc.edu
Member FYI | News, Events, Training, and Learning Opportunities
Delta Program
Please share with your graduate students & post-docs! Delta offerings are designed for graduate students and postdocs to build their skills and CV in effective and inclusive teaching and research mentoring. Spring workshops are available for registration, and there are a few spots left in these courses:
- Teaching in the Arts and Humanities: The College Classroom: Develop foundational knowledge of evidence-based pedagogical practices and assessment approaches in the arts, humanities, and qualitative social sciences classrooms.
- Build an Inclusive Canvas Dream Course: Teach better and more efficiently using inclusive instructional technology.
- Research Mentor Training with dedicated sections for STEM or Social Science participants: explore strategies to become a more effective, culturally responsive mentor and discuss mentoring challenges as they arise.
Join us! Sign up for our newsletter to hear about upcoming events.
Language Institute Invited Talk | An Educational Model for Black Linguistic and Cultural Reparations
Fri, Feb 3, 2023, 9-1130 | REGISTER. Featuring Professor Anne Charity Hudley, Stanford University
This current time of pandemics and protests is a visceral and constant reminder that the racial and economic legacies of slavery were not only unresolved but continue to determine the course of our daily lives. Few universities have attempted to address these past and present injustices through direct and explicit reparations.
As part of the model for linguistic reparations, Charity Hudley presents work from the Talking College project, a Black student and Black studies-centered way to learn more about the particular linguistic choices of Black students while empowering them to be proud of their cultural and linguistic heritage.
Dr. Anne H. Charity Hudley (she/her/hers) is Associate Dean of Educational Affairs and Professor of Education at Stanford University and Professor of African American Studies and Linguistics. Her research and publications address the relationship between language variation and educational practices and policies from preschool through graduate school. | READ MORE. Questions? Contact: Jana Martin jcmartin4@wisc.edu
Have something to share? Academy members work in diverse roles and learning environments across our university. If you have news, events, training, or opportunities you would like to share with the Academy, contact Dan Pell (editor-uwta-newsletter@g-groups.wisc.edu) Messages received by the second Monday of the month may be included in that month’s newsletter.
Join us! Honor a colleague! | The Academy is seeking nominations
Now is the perfect time to honor a colleague or nominate yourself. Our mission is to promote, recognize and support excellence in teaching and learning among faculty, staff and students across campus and beyond. The Teaching Academy welcomes nominees who work in traditional classrooms, clinical practice, field instruction, or instructional support with learners at any level. There are three types of membership: Future Faculty Partner (FFP), Fellow, and Affiliate. Read about how to become a Member. Are you an FFP who has moved on to another position in the University? Contact teachingacademy@provost.wisc.edu to change status from FFP to Fellow.
From Our Leadership | A History of Member Empowerment
Hope it’s been a great break for you! I had a chance to spend time looking through two file cabinets’ worth of old paper archives dating back to the Academy’s founding.
“On December 6, 1993 the Faculty Senate established the Teaching Academy of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Teaching Academy gathers together those scholars who have demonstrated excellence in teaching and are concerned about teaching and learning in this research university.”
Hey, it’s our 30th anniversary! We should have a reunion! Some of the things I learned looking back at our history:
- We were initially limited to 120 members (~5% of the faculty). That was dropped in the late 90s as the numbers changed and people recognized the important role of staff in supporting teaching.
- We had regular all-member meetings the first Friday of each month, 1:30-4pm (~20-50 attendees), followed by executive committee meetings from 4-5pm.
- Any member could propose a Taskforce! Interested in looking into a topic? (ChatGPT anyone?) Start a task force, gather together others interested in investigating it, and share what you found with others!
- Our Feedback on Teaching Resource has roots back to 1994 when UW-Madison was one of 12 schools invited to Georgetown to start talking about it. It turned into the “Peer Review of Teaching (PRoT)” task force, and then into FoT.
- Other major task forces included Celebrating Effective Teaching, Instructional Technology, Being New and Teacher Preparation (which led to the “Teaching Ideas Network” as a web resource of UWTA folx with areas of specialization, and eventually led to Madison Teaching and Learning Excellence), Uniqueness of Teaching on a Research Campus, Student Assessment of Learning, The Wisconsin Idea at Home, and Mentoring New Teachers. What task force would you start or want to be a part of?
- For years we were able to give out $5000 in “Teach/Learn Grants” to members!
- In 2001, we had $30,000 available (anonymous donor) to give out for travel and registration (for UWTA members).
- In 2003, we sent out paper copies of our newsletter “The Learning Link” to over 4000 faculty and Academic Staff! Not just members!
If you have old files, old memories, old ideas to revisit, or new ideas to make the UWTA more responsive and meaningful for campus, please send me! I’d love to buy you a coffee and chat! Contact John Martin johnmartin@wisc.edu, Academic Staff Co-Lead.
CTLM Updates | Engage with the Center for Teaching, Learning & Mentoring
To learn more about these programs or to register, visit the CTLM’s Professional Development Opportunities.
- Strengthen Your Syllabus. Check out these evidence-based approaches to making your syllabus more engaging and effective.
- Enhancing Online Education. Intended for instructors teaching fully or partially online, these webinars and self-serve resources will help you prepare to manage your course effectively, build a strong learning community and cultivate an inclusive environment. Register now.
- Renew your teaching and course design through self-reflection. CTLM’s Course Success Self-Review can guide you through a self-directed analysis of a course and connect you with actionable advice and targeted resources in just 20 to 60 minutes. If you haven’t tried it yet, check it out!
Feedback on Teaching | Seeking peer observers
The Teaching Academy’s Feedback on Teaching (FoT) program is looking for academy members to serve as peer observers for the fall semester. FoT seeks to provide a formative or summative review of a colleague’s instructional approaches, and to actively solicit a peer exchange of ideas on how to improve student learning. Please contact Andrew McWard amcward@wisc.edu if you are interested in volunteering.
Social Media Update | Join the Conversation!
Join the Teaching in Higher Education public Facebook group. Questions about the Facebook group? Contact John Martin john.martin@wisc.edu
- ChatGPT is still trending, with assignment examples and ideas, and more resources being shared about how it may affect the nature of teaching and learning in higher education (Hint: it’s now about asking good questions rather than finding answers).
- Have you used Education Copilot for Teachers? Got any tips or insights about it?
- How are you changing your Spring semester assignments now that students can generate a *good* essay or answer (that Turnitin cannot detect) in 15 seconds?
Join the discussion on Instagram: @uwteachingacademy. Questions about the Academy’s Instagram? Contact Bri Meyer blmeyer2@wisc.edu
Learning Community Update | Clinical Teachers’ Corner
January Feature | Exploring Equity & Justices Resources and Courses
Access the learning community. Explore the Interprofessional Continuing Education Partnership’s Equity & Justice Learning Community. This learning community provides resources for clinical teaching faculty as well as various online (asynchronous) courses to help explore equity and justice in relation to health care. You can also connect with ICEP and suggest additional resources or areas you think clinician-teachers would benefit from additional training.
Explore:
Questions? Topics you would like to see? Announcements for the next issue? Contact Sara Scott (sfscott@wisc.edu)
Get involved! | Ways to contribute to the Academy’s ongoing activities
- Affiliate/Clinical Affiliate: Teaching experiential courses, from clinic to fieldwork? Become involved in growing the clinical affiliate or affiliate program. Contact teachingacademy@provost.wisc.edu
- Analytics Committee: Help ensure that we are capturing the right information to determine who the Academy’s programs are reaching, whether participants find them valuable, and most importantly, what was learned through participation. Contact teachingacademy@provost.wisc.edu
- Fall Retreat | Winter Retreat: Join the committee to plan, organize & facilitate campus-wide teaching development events. Contact dan.pell@wisc.edu
- Feedback on Teaching (FOT) Committee: FoT offers an opportunity to participate in scaling up and implementing a new peer observation program across campus. Contact teachingacademy@provost.wisc.edu
- Member+ Events: We are seeking Fellows who are interested in organizing one-per-semester roundtable discussions among members on issues surrounding teaching & learning. Contact claire.barrett@wisc.edu
- Newsletter: Join the planning committee, contribute to the forum, act as guest editor for the Academy newsletter. Contact dan.pell@wisc.edu
- Nomination Committee: We are seeking Fellows (Faculty & Academic Staff) and FFPs to help review nominations. Honor great campus educators & promote excellence by helping to review nominations to the Teaching Academy. Contact teachingacademy@provost.wisc.edu
- U-Class: Explore teaching and learning from the student perspective by attending our U-CLaSS sessions. Contact jamie.henke@wisc.edu
- Teaching Academy Facebook Group: Are you on Facebook? So is the Teaching Academy! Join other Higher Ed teaching and learning enthusiasts for thought-provoking questions, shared resources, and asynchronous community connections. Contact johnmartin@wisc.edu
—
To get more involved in the UWTA, send an email to johnmartin@wisc.edu. | Pass this email to a colleague! | If you received this from a colleague and want more, send an email to teaching-academy+subscribe@g-groups.wisc.edu. | To unsubscribe from this group, send email to teaching-academy+unsubscribe@g-groups.wisc.edu. | View this message at https://groups.google.com/a/g-groups.wisc.edu/d/msg/teaching-academy/topic-id/message-id