Preparing for Finals


Are you preparing your final exams or projects? Visit our webpage Assessing Learning Effectively for tips and resources on assessing your students. For more support as you plan the rest of your term, schedule a 1:1 with an OTL Instructional Designer.

 

Finals and student accommodation support

 

Do you have students who need support with finals accommodations? Learn more about administering accommodations on the Student Disability Services (SDS) website.

Application Deadline Extended to February 25th for the Spring Student-Faculty Partnership Program


Are you teaching an undergraduate course this spring, and wanting to deepen your understanding of your students and their experience of your class? Do you believe students and faculty can learn much from each other regarding the experience of teaching and learning? If so, you can still apply for our Student-Faculty Partnership Program, in which students and faculty learn and work together as partners in exploring how we might create more engaging, inclusive, learning-rich environments. The application deadline has been extended to Sunday, February 25

 

Participating faculty members will be paired with a student partner for the Spring 2024 quarter. Every week (starting Week 1 and going through Week 8), students observe their faculty partner's class, and they and their faculty partners meet - either virtually or in person - to discuss their respective observations, insights, and wonderings.

 

We are currently seeking faculty participants who teach undergraduate classes in any format. To learn more about this program and to apply, please visit our Student-Faculty Partnership Program web page, or contact Virginia Pitts with questions.

Coming Soon: Get a Student's Perspective


Would you like to get a student’s perspective/input on some aspect of your teaching, but aren’t able to participate in the Spring quarter partnership program? This Spring, we hope to pilot a “spin-off” of the existing partnership program that involves a shorter-term engagement with a student consultant/reviewer. Through this program (tentatively titled “Get a Student’s Perspective”) you might invite a student to simply:

 

  • Review your syllabus and give feedback, or …
  • Share their thoughts/input on an activity you are planning, or …
  • Observe just one or two of your class sessions and take observation notes, or …
  • Run a focus group/feedback session with the students in your class to learn more about their experience, or …
  • Test out/give feedback on your adoption of a new educational technology, or …
  • Provide their input/perspective on some other aspect of a course you are teaching or planning!

 

To help us gauge interest, if you think you might be interested in participating in this pilot (which would involve a short-term/one-time consultation with a student, rather than a quarter-long engagement), please fill out this brief survey indicating your interest and we will follow up with you!

Share Your Expertise in Upcoming OTL Blog Posts


Calling all creative graders! The Office of Teaching and Learning is working on a series of blog posts about alternative ways of assessing student learning. We are interested to hear about your experiences with alternative assessment practices such as grading contracts, peer review, self-assessment, group tests, un-grading or other approaches. Share your innovative approaches and insights; let us know how they're fostering deeper learning and academic growth in your students. If you're exploring new assessment landscapes, please reach out to Dr. Stephen Riley, Director of Academic Assessment, at [email protected] to be a part of this conversation.

Upcoming Special Event and Guest Speaker


Objectives in mirror are closer than they appear: Reflections on reflections for teaching and professional development


Please join us for special guest Dr. Molly Metz from the University of Toronto.

 

When life is organized around an academic calendar, funding cycles, or graduate school recruitment, it is very easy to get stuck in a never-ending loop of doing just enough to get through this time with great intentions of making it better somehow next time. This doesn’t seem limited to an age or career stage, as it holds for students (“just get me through this midterm and I won’t cram next time!”), course instructors (“oh I need to fix that slide next time”), and professionals (“I’ll figure out what I want once I have some job security”). For many, we only sit down to articulate our progress and goals when required for some hurdle, such as graduate school applications, personal statements, teaching philosophy statements, tenure packets, etc. Instead of thinking of reflections as just one more assignment or hurdle, I propose that by including them intentionally throughout our educational and professional trajectories we will be more effective (and reflective) learners and teachers.

 

Objectives in mirror are closer than they appear: Reflections on reflections for teaching and professional development

Tuesday, March 5, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.

OTL Conference Room (AAC 345)

Warren and Judy Self University Writing Program Awards for Diversity, Access, and Inclusion in Teaching


Thanks to a generous gift from the Hatherly family, the University Writing Program is offering two Warren and Judy Self Diversity, Access, and Inclusion Teaching Awards. These awards are designed to recognize faculty (teaching and/or tenure line) who have demonstrated excellence in creating diverse, accessible, and inclusive classrooms through content, materials, writing assignments, and pedagogical practices.


One Warren and Judy Self Diversity, Access, and Inclusion Teaching Award will be awarded to a faculty member within the Writing Program, and one will be awarded to a DU faculty member outside of the Writing Program but teaching undergraduate courses. Two winning faculty from teaching and/or tenure lines will be awarded $2,500 and will be featured in the University Writing Program and Office of Teaching and Learning publications.


To be considered for an award, an applicant must be nominated by their department chair/head or program director. The nominator will collaborate with the nominee to compile and submit requested materials for consideration. The items will demonstrate how the nominee’s teaching is illustrative of diverse, accessible and inclusive content, materials, writing assignments, and pedagogical practices. Evidence of such practices should be presented from multiple perspectives--the applicant’s perspective, observations or letters by others, and information from students.


Nominees should plan to submit application materials by February 25, 2024. 


In your application packet, please include the following:

  1. A cover letter with a narrative that explains the application contents.
  2. A letter of support (from the person who has nominated you).
  3. Materials that exemplify diverse and inclusive teaching practices with annotations to explain how and why this work fits this award.
  4. Any student feedback/comments/letters that support your nomination.


Only completed packets will be considered. Awardees will be announced in late March or early April 2024.


Learn more and submit materials - Self Teaching Award Submission


If you have any questions, please direct them to Sheila Carter-Tod ([email protected]), Executive Director of the University Writing Program or Richard Colby ([email protected]), Director of First-Year Writing, University Writing Program.

Upcoming Events


The Office of Teaching and Learning is hosting several events throughout this term. Visit the OTL Events Calendar to discover other upcoming events!

 

Teaching with AI Workshop: Infusing the UDL Framework

Tuesday, February 27, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m.

OTL Conference Room (AAC 345)

 

Objectives in mirror are closer than they appear: Reflections on reflections for teaching and professional development

Tuesday, March 5, 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.

OTL Conference Room (AAC 345)

 

Heart of Higher Education Conversations

Wednesday, March 20, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m.

Hyflex - Join us online via Zoom or in the OTL Conference Room (AAC 345)

 

Designing for Significant Learning

Thursday, March 21, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

Online