Events & Newsletters

Webinars, Workshops, Courses, and Clinics

Thursday, March 30

Time: 1:00 pm
Anti-racist pedagogy acknowledges that structural racism is reproduced in our courses. In this 90-minute session, participants will be introduced to anti-racist pedagogy in the context of the UMN as a PWI. We will distinguish anti-racist pedagogy from inclusive teaching and explore anti-racist pedagogy in course goals, course policies, and course assessments. Anyone interested in anti-racist pedagogy is welcome; those with a background in inclusive teaching will benefit most from this workshop.
Time: 12:00 pm
Beyond Conventional Grading: Alternate Possibilities (and Challenges) to Assessing Student Writing
Friday, April 7, 2022
12:00 pm–1:30 pm
101 Walter Library (East Bank)

Tuesday, April 11

Time: 9:00 am
Join us for Canvas Coffee Time to share with colleagues what you have discovered or to ask questions you want addressed.

No registration required. We will meet each month in our Zoom Online Meeting Room.

Thursday, April 20

Time: 11:30 am

April Pedagogical Innovations Journal Club

We know that teaching requires that faculty and instructors engage in emotional labor in supporting students, and these needs for support were exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors considered whether faculty racial and gender identities were related to the emotional labor students expected from them. They surveyed faculty at three colleges in upstate New York and identified two main findings. First, white cisgender men reported expending significantly less emotional labor than BIPOC cisgender men, BIPOC cisgender women, and white cisgender women and gender nonconforming faculty. Second, these differences can be largely attributed to more student requests submitted to marginalized faculty. In our discussion, we will examine the implications of these findings for equitably supporting our teaching communities.

Friday, April 28

Time: 10:00 am
Building flexibility into our courses is an important aspect of inclusive teaching. And identifying how to integrate flexibility into our courses can be challenging, given our disciplinary contexts and workloads. We want to center our students' learning, and the most manageable and effective approach to flexibility is not always clear. In this 90-minute interactive session, participants will be introduced to frameworks related to flexibility in their approach to teaching. We will discuss ideas, examples, and tools related to planning course flexibility for accessibility. The first hour of our session will be recorded, and the final 30 minutes of our session will not be recorded to offer time for open discussion.

Monday, May 8

Time: 9:00 am
This series meets from 9am until noon on May 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12. 

This 5-day synchronous, Zoom-based seminar series is designed to support instructors in (re)designing a comprehensive assessment plan that supports learning for all students in courses they teach. The Monday and Friday 1-1 individual conversations are set up to focus on each participant's specific courses and contexts. The Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday interactive sessions will focus on an aspect of assessment design and planning, then move 45 - 60 minutes of work time, and close with a short wrapping up segment. Options for the working sessions include working alone, consulting with other participants, and/or with session facilitators.

Early on, participants will identify and reflect individual assessment beliefs; gain grounding in a 4A's framework for course design - with components including course learning aims, activities, assessments, and atmosphere; learn ways of building accessible assignments; explore ways Canvas supports assessment; and learn more about barriers to student success such as underdeveloped participation and feedback skills, exam anxiety and cognitive overload. Throughout the week, we will review key resources, discuss examples of effective practices for designing, responding to, and evaluating inclusive, accessible assessments, and address practices that foster academic integrity. During work sessions, participants will reflect on a day's discussion and resources to create an assessment plan that incorporates both informal assessments as opportunities to practice learning, and more formal assessments for demonstrating learning that aligns with course learning aims.

Tuesday, May 9

Time: 9:00 am
Join us for Canvas Coffee Time to share with colleagues what you have discovered or to ask questions you want addressed.

No registration required. We will meet each month in our Zoom Online Meeting Room.
Time: 9:00 am
This series meets from 9am until noon on May 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12. 

This 5-day synchronous, Zoom-based seminar series is designed to support instructors in (re)designing a comprehensive assessment plan that supports learning for all students in courses they teach. The Monday and Friday 1-1 individual conversations are set up to focus on each participant's specific courses and contexts. The Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday interactive sessions will focus on an aspect of assessment design and planning, then move 45 - 60 minutes of work time, and close with a short wrapping up segment. Options for the working sessions include working alone, consulting with other participants, and/or with session facilitators.

Early on, participants will identify and reflect individual assessment beliefs; gain grounding in a 4A's framework for course design - with components including course learning aims, activities, assessments, and atmosphere; learn ways of building accessible assignments; explore ways Canvas supports assessment; and learn more about barriers to student success such as underdeveloped participation and feedback skills, exam anxiety and cognitive overload. Throughout the week, we will review key resources, discuss examples of effective practices for designing, responding to, and evaluating inclusive, accessible assessments, and address practices that foster academic integrity. During work sessions, participants will reflect on a day's discussion and resources to create an assessment plan that incorporates both informal assessments as opportunities to practice learning, and more formal assessments for demonstrating learning that aligns with course learning aims.

Wednesday, May 10

Time: 9:00 am
This series meets from 9am until noon on May 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12. 

This 5-day synchronous, Zoom-based seminar series is designed to support instructors in (re)designing a comprehensive assessment plan that supports learning for all students in courses they teach. The Monday and Friday 1-1 individual conversations are set up to focus on each participant's specific courses and contexts. The Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday interactive sessions will focus on an aspect of assessment design and planning, then move 45 - 60 minutes of work time, and close with a short wrapping up segment. Options for the working sessions include working alone, consulting with other participants, and/or with session facilitators.

Early on, participants will identify and reflect individual assessment beliefs; gain grounding in a 4A's framework for course design - with components including course learning aims, activities, assessments, and atmosphere; learn ways of building accessible assignments; explore ways Canvas supports assessment; and learn more about barriers to student success such as underdeveloped participation and feedback skills, exam anxiety and cognitive overload. Throughout the week, we will review key resources, discuss examples of effective practices for designing, responding to, and evaluating inclusive, accessible assessments, and address practices that foster academic integrity. During work sessions, participants will reflect on a day's discussion and resources to create an assessment plan that incorporates both informal assessments as opportunities to practice learning, and more formal assessments for demonstrating learning that aligns with course learning aims.

Thursday, May 11

Time: 9:00 am

Ever feel like you've had superb training in your discipline, but little preparation for the student mental health challenges facing educators today? Or that you'd like a chance to discuss in-depth how course design and teaching practices affect student well-being and learning? This two session online program is for faculty and instructional staff within the University of Minnesota System who wish to explore the answers to these questions. This program takes place on May 11 and 12, 2023.


Module One (Thursday, May 11, 2023: 9:00 - 11:30 am)
Module Two (Friday, May 12, 2023: 9:00 - 11:00 am)

Enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis and will be capped at 60 participants. Early registration is encouraged.

Time: 9:00 am
This series meets from 9am until noon on May 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12. 

This 5-day synchronous, Zoom-based seminar series is designed to support instructors in (re)designing a comprehensive assessment plan that supports learning for all students in courses they teach. The Monday and Friday 1-1 individual conversations are set up to focus on each participant's specific courses and contexts. The Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday interactive sessions will focus on an aspect of assessment design and planning, then move 45 - 60 minutes of work time, and close with a short wrapping up segment. Options for the working sessions include working alone, consulting with other participants, and/or with session facilitators.

Early on, participants will identify and reflect individual assessment beliefs; gain grounding in a 4A's framework for course design - with components including course learning aims, activities, assessments, and atmosphere; learn ways of building accessible assignments; explore ways Canvas supports assessment; and learn more about barriers to student success such as underdeveloped participation and feedback skills, exam anxiety and cognitive overload. Throughout the week, we will review key resources, discuss examples of effective practices for designing, responding to, and evaluating inclusive, accessible assessments, and address practices that foster academic integrity. During work sessions, participants will reflect on a day's discussion and resources to create an assessment plan that incorporates both informal assessments as opportunities to practice learning, and more formal assessments for demonstrating learning that aligns with course learning aims.

Friday, May 12

Time: 9:00 am

Ever feel like you've had superb training in your discipline, but little preparation for the student mental health challenges facing educators today? Or that you'd like a chance to discuss in-depth how course design and teaching practices affect student well-being and learning? This two session online program is for faculty and instructional staff within the University of Minnesota System who wish to explore the answers to these questions. This program takes place on May 11 and 12, 2023.


Module One (Thursday, May 11, 2023: 9:00 - 11:30 am)
Module Two (Friday, May 12, 2023: 9:00 - 11:00 am)

Enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis and will be capped at 60 participants. Early registration is encouraged.

Time: 9:00 am
This series meets from 9am until noon on May 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12. 

This 5-day synchronous, Zoom-based seminar series is designed to support instructors in (re)designing a comprehensive assessment plan that supports learning for all students in courses they teach. The Monday and Friday 1-1 individual conversations are set up to focus on each participant's specific courses and contexts. The Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday interactive sessions will focus on an aspect of assessment design and planning, then move 45 - 60 minutes of work time, and close with a short wrapping up segment. Options for the working sessions include working alone, consulting with other participants, and/or with session facilitators.

Early on, participants will identify and reflect individual assessment beliefs; gain grounding in a 4A's framework for course design - with components including course learning aims, activities, assessments, and atmosphere; learn ways of building accessible assignments; explore ways Canvas supports assessment; and learn more about barriers to student success such as underdeveloped participation and feedback skills, exam anxiety and cognitive overload. Throughout the week, we will review key resources, discuss examples of effective practices for designing, responding to, and evaluating inclusive, accessible assessments, and address practices that foster academic integrity. During work sessions, participants will reflect on a day's discussion and resources to create an assessment plan that incorporates both informal assessments as opportunities to practice learning, and more formal assessments for demonstrating learning that aligns with course learning aims.