This four-part series introduces and develops the fundamental skills of effective teaching for graduate teaching assistants (TAs). Topics include communicating expectations, facilitating a class, grading, and teaching critical thinking skills.
Assessment
Explores the landscape of Discipline-Based Education Research (DBER) and Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) while sharing learning research support services and resources such as survey/rubric design, video observations, consent forms, and umbrella IRB. A recording of the workshop is also available.
How can we create relevant and accessible learning experiences that support success for all students? In this workshop, we discuss some of the basic principles of, and best practices for, inclusive teaching. Methods for equitable assessment and grading are among the topics covered.
Public writing assignments can be an effective way to engage students, but they are also challenging to design, implement, and evaluate. This workshop draws on the scholarship of teaching and learning, as well as sample assignments from Notre Dame instructors, to outline the risks and rewards of incorporating public writing into college courses and introduce best practices for teaching and assessing such writing.
Course Instructor Feedback (CIF) forms are a means by which Notre Dame students share their thoughts on a class with their teacher at the end of the semester. The tools available here review and explore how you can utilize CIF questions to focus your efforts to improve teaching effectiveness and student learning.
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a pedagogical framework focused on responding to learner diversity by designing flexible pathways to engage, represent, and express knowledge. This three-part series covers the three components of UDL: The Why of Learning, The What of Learning, and The How of Learning, the last of which is particularly relevant in an assessment context.
Interested in creating a course from scratch? In this interactive workshop, participants learn and apply strategies for effective course design. Topics include understanding the value and structure of the backward design process as well as drafting learning goals, assessments, and learning experiences that align with each other. A recording of the workshop is also available.
You’ve graded the exam. Now what? Did the class perform worse than you expected? How do you know if you wrote a bad question or if your students weren’t prepared? This workshop focuses on analysis of exam questions, potential adjustment of student grades, and reflection.
This workshop introduces strategies for evaluating your grading criteria, incorporating multiple approaches to providing feedback, and encouraging students to engage with the feedback they receive. It also addresses a few technological tools and techniques that may save you time in providing meaningful feedback to students.
Multiple choice tests are to easy to administer, but good and effective questions can be a challenge to develop. Here you can access strategies, resources, and practices for designing questions that are fair, unambiguous, and appropriate, including how to draft both lower- and higher-order multiple choice questions relevant to your discipline.