Teaching Academy
Promoting, Recognizing and Supporting Excellence in Teaching and Learning

March 2025 Newsletter

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Teaching Academy: Promoting, Recognizing and Supporting Excellence in Teaching & Learning

Welcome to our March newsletter! With spring break on the horizon, 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, build community and plan out your professional learning with a broad spread of events and resources from the Teaching Academy and our partners. Register in April to share a resource in August at the Best Practices Showcase. Fill your calendar with great events from our partners, including the Language Institute, the Discussion Project, the Center for Teaching, Learning and Mentoring, the Teaching and Learning Symposium, and Medical Education Day. Reinforce well-being and strengthen the connection to the natural world in your teaching with Nature Connection Across the Curriculum. Share resources with your students from BadgersVote. And…don’t forget to vote for the April 1 election—it’s no joke!

Questions or comments about the newsletter? Contact Dan Pell & Sarah Pultorak, Editors editor-uwta-newsletter@g-groups.wisc.edu 

 

Upcoming Events | What’s happening in the Academy?

Welcome our New Members!

These individuals have been recognized for outstanding commitment to teaching and learning. Welcome to the Teaching Academy!

Fellows: Lucas Zoet, Geoscience, Paul Barford, Computer Sciences, Andy Kuemmel, Computer Sciences, Katie Kirchgasler, Curriculum & Instruction.

Questions about membership? Contact the Membership Committee uwta-membership@g-groups.wisc.edu 

 

Teaching Academy Best Practices Showcase 2025

Do you have a unique assignment idea, active learning example, interesting teaching method, or any other learning-by-doing activity that works well with your students? Could it be applied to other courses/subjects or spark new ideas for your colleagues? Come together to share our best teaching and learning ideas applied in the classroom. We would love to highlight your work!

Questions about the Best Practices Showcase? Contact Jamie Henke jamie.henke@wisc.edu 

Member+ Events | Help us plan

Interested in helping to plan a Members+ event later this Spring semester? Have a topic (or topics) in mind that you’d like to see as a Members+ event?

Contact Claire Barrett Claire.Barrett@wisc.edu to get involved!

Teaching and Learning Meetups

We’ll grab a table or two for informal conversations. Look for the “T&L Meetup” table tents. Come connect with other educators who are passionate about teaching and learning. Bring a question or comment you’d like to talk about, or just jump into conversation at hand. Food, coffee, and other beverages nearby. Join us!

Questions about the T&L Meetups? Contact John Martin john.martin@wisc.edu

Winter Retreat Video Recap | Cultivating Students’ Professional Skills and Identities

Missed the Retreat? Want to go back over the content?

Retreat Resources:

Questions about the Retreat? Want to join the Planning Committee? Contact Angela Kita & Dan Pell (Chairs) retreats-uwta@g-groups.wisc.edu 

 

BadgersVote | Help engage students in the democratic process

Spring Election: April 1.  Early Voting: March 18–30.

The BadgersVote Coalition is a non-partisan, educational initiative of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, whose mission is to equip students with the knowledge and resources necessary to be active participants in democracy.  Check out and share these resources!

Questions about BadgersVote?  Contact Lauren Karlov lkarlov@wisc.edu, Division of Teaching and Learning or Caitlin A Henning cahenning@wisc.edu, Office of Strategic Communications.

 

Member FYI | News, Events, Training, and Learning Opportunities

Nature Connection Across the Curriculum

Do you teach course content related to the natural world, human behavior and culture, or health and wellness? Do you recognize a need for humans to connect with themselves, each other, and the land in order to ensure the longevity of our planet? If you’re curious about ways to foster students’ connection to nature in and beyond the classroom, check out this free eBook from Dr. Steffanie Scott at University of Waterloo, Nature Connection Across the Curriculum: Resources for Post-secondary Educators.

What to learn more? Watch this 2 minute video

The Discussion Project | Sign up for in-person Summer 2025 & virtual early Fall 2025

Registration has opened for The Discussion Project in person courses in August 2025. The Discussion Project is a professional learning course to support instructors in designing, implementing, and facilitating high-quality classroom discussion. The course is designed to support instructors teaching classes of up to 40 students although many instructors who teach large classes have taken the course and found it effective for considering how to run interactive lectures and how best to prepare their TAs to run effective discussion sections. | REGISTER

In Person Cohort Dates

  • 2025.08A: August 11, 12, 13 (Education Building on Bascom Hill, Room 159)
  • 2025.05B: August 11, 12, 13 (Educational Sciences, 1025 W Johnson St)
  • 2025.08C: August 18, 19, 20 (Education Building on Bascom Hill, Room 159)

Registration is also open for The Discussion Project Virtual, which starts in early September 2025.  A free online course, The Discussion Project Virtual supports UW-Madison instructors and leaders in designing and implementing high quality discussion. The focus of the course is online synchronous video conference discussion, and the skills are also relevant and transferable to in-person teaching and facilitating discussions in meetings. | REGISTER

Virtual Cohort Dates

  • Wednesdays, 1–3pm CST: 9/10, 9/17, 9/24, 10/1, 10/8, 10/15, 10/22
  • Each virtual session is preceded by 1 hour of asynchronous work in Canvas.

Questions about the Discussion Project? Contact discussion-project@education.wisc.edu 

Language Institute | Workshops & Brown Bags for Language Educators

Presentation of Seeds of Peace: Cross Cultural Communication in the Middle East

  • Adi Raz, University of Michigan
  • Friday April 4, 2025, 3:00-4:00pm, on Zoom (co-sponsored with the USC Center for Languages and Cultures) | LEARN MORE & REGISTER

Second Language Acquisition Graduate Student Symposium: Belonging in SLA: Locating the Researcher and the Researched in a Transdisciplinary Field

  • Friday, April 18, 12:00 – 8:00 pm
  • Saturday, April 19, 2025, 8:30 am – 4:00 pm
  • Memorial Union and on Zoom | LEARN MORE & REGISTER

Questions about the Language Institute? 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 & Sarah Pultorak  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 new members

Now is the perfect time to honor a colleague or nominate yourself! For over 30 years, the Academy’s mission has been 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.

There are three types of membership: Future Faculty Partner (FFP), Fellow, and Affiliate. Learn how to become a Member. 

Questions about membership?  Are you an FFP who has moved on to another position in the University?  Contact uwta-membership@g-groups.wisc.edu

 

CTLM Updates | Engage with the Center for Teaching, Learning & Mentoring

Spring Election Voting Info for Students

2025 Teaching & Learning Symposium

  • View the lineup and register for the biggest annual teaching event on campus! Keynote speaker Christina Katopodis, co-author of “The New College Classroom,” will present the latest science of learning and share teaching strategies that anyone can adapt easily and effectively in every field. | LEARN MORE & REGISTER
    • May 15th at Union South

Join “Enhancing Online Education” Final Spring Sessions: Cultivating Inclusivity

  • Join us to explore practical strategies for creating an equitable and inclusive online learning environment. Inclusive teaching practices are essential for creating an environment where all students feel welcomed, valued, and empowered to succeed. | LEARN MORE & REGISTER
    • Webinar: March 28, 9-10:30 a.m.
    • Micro-course: April 1-11

If you’re looking for a different kind of engagement or instructional support, please contact CTLM with your request – we look forward to working with you!To learn more about these programs or to register, visit the CTLM’s Professional Development Opportunities.

 

Learning Community Update | Clinical Teachers’ Corner

Clinical Teacher Learning Community: Network, Explore, Build. "Furthering Clinical Education"

Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education (SACME)

SACME is a leading academic society that advances the field of continuing education and professional development in the health professions. Explore the SACME website, where you can find resources, such as Continuing Education Educator’s Toolkit, information about CPD Scholarship Program, and opportunities to participate in journal club discussions and professional development webinars.

Participate In Workshops

The Center for Teaching, Learning and Mentoring and the College Engineering offer a series of 3 workshops related to education scholarship. Any instructor may sign up for any or all of them. | LEARN MORE & REGISTER

Medical Education Day 2025

This event features learning and networking opportunities for faculty and staff educators who teach health professional students, residents, or clinicians at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison, and across the state of Wisconsin. It will occur on May 29, 2025, at Health Sciences Learning Center. | LEARN MORE

Articles for Discussion

Participate in discussion of articles featured in the Clinical Teacher Learning Community. Topics include adult learning theories, medical education and artificial intelligence, building growth mindset, and measuring learner engagement. This online community also offers connections, news, and resources for clinical teachers. | LEARN MORE

Courses

  • Education Essentials is a collection of modules aimed at developing key skills for all interprofessional health science teachers, in various teaching settings.  How modules are utilized is flexible–one or more modules to all of them–to meet the various needs of our teachers based on their activities, schedules, and priorities. | LEARN MORE & REGISTER
  • Updated Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) Core Competencies is an introductory course and toolkit for clinical teachers to review the interprofessional core competencies and activities that can improve experiential teaching of interprofessional practice.| LEARN MORE & REGISTER

Registration is free and these courses can be completed at your own pace.

Explore

Questions? Topics you would like to see? Announcements for the next issue?  Contact Marianna Shershneva marianna.shershneva@wisc.edu

Get involved! | Ways to contribute to the Academy’s ongoing activities

Get Involved! in bold letters beside images of a pile of I Am UW stickers.