Please join us on the following Fridays for discussions focused on teaching and learning at Smith. Unless otherwise indicated, we will meet in Neilson Browsing Room from noon to 1 p.m., with lunch provided.
2012 Schedule
January 27, 2012
Interpreting the New Course Evaluations - Nancy Whittier
This Teaching Arts Lunch will focus on how to interpret the new course evaluations, particularly the qualitative portion. Bring your questions, bring your evaluations if you like, and we'll talk about how to make sense of the comments, look at examples, and consider how to summarize them.
February 3, 2012
Student Perspective on Classroom Discussion - Barbara Brehm-Curtis, Floyd Cheung and Jessica Bacal
When the Center for Work & Life advertised a workshop designed to help students feel more comfortable speaking in class, fifty students registered. During this presentation, we will share what we learned from reviewing current research on this topic and talking to students who attended the workshop. We will then facilitate a conversation about strategies that you have used to encourage students' speaking and engagement in class.
February 24, 2012
Transitioning to a Workshop Format in Introductory Physics - Joyce Palmer-Fortune and Gary Felder
Over the next two years Smith Physics will be doing away with separate labs and lectures in Introductory Physics, moving to an integrated model where students go back and forth between doing experiments, discussing the results, and solving problems. We will discuss our plans for making this transition and the open questions we are still working on in that process.
March 9, 2012
Mind in the Making - Ellen Galinsky, President and Co-Founder, Families and Work Institute
For almost a decade, Ellen Galinksy worked with top researchers from across the country, filming their experiments and studying their results about how we learn best. In her acclaimed book, Mind in the Making (Harper Collins 2010), she identifies seven life skills that are essential to success in school, in the workforce and in life. They are: focus and self control, perspective taking, communicating, making connections, critical thinking, taking on challenges, and self-directed engaged learning. In this presentation, Ellen will discuss her research and how it may be applied to work with college students.
March 30, 2012
Smith College Alumnae Outcomes - Cate Rowen and Minh Ly
What happens to our students after they graduate? What jobs do they hold? Do they complete advanced degrees? How do they compare to alumnae from peer institutions? What do they think about their Smith experience? Minh Ly and Cate Rowen from Institutional Research will present findings from Smith's alumnae survey, followed by a discussion about what we measure and what really matters in life after Smith.
April 6, 2012
Contemplative Pedagogy in Higher Education - Bernadine Mellis and Jennifer Cannon
For thousands of years, people have practiced mindfulness meditation to reduce suffering and cultivate peace. Contemporary Western research reveals that mindfulness also enhances learning and attention. Many educational institutions, including UCLA, Stanford, UCSF, and PENN have embraced mindfulness as an educational intervention by introducing it into their curricula and conducting research in the field. Bernadine Mellis, Five College Visiting Artist in Film & Video Production and Jennifer Cannon, PhD Candidate at UMASS, will introduce some of the basic ideas behind contemplative pedagogy. They will also lead participants in brief contemplative practices designed for the classroom.
April 20, 2012 - Please note: this event will take place in the Smith Conference Center's Oak Room
Mentoring Underrepresented Students - Gita Bosch, Academic & Educational Consultant
A key to student success is mentoring. This is especially true for underrepresented minority (URM) students who may not have the social structure that provides role models and intellectual and emotional supports that students need to succeed. Mentoring can provide this infrastructure and fill in gaps in knowledge and access to available resources which many URM students need. Peer mentoring is critical for student success, but it has to be supported with faculty mentoring for optimal effectiveness. Many non-minority faculty are wary about taking on the role of mentor for URM students. This is usually not because they do not want to but rather it is usually because they are concerned that they do not know how. The discussion will focus on how faculty mentors can overcome the barriers and gain awareness, insight and strategies on mentoring URM students to increase the chances for their future success professionally and personally.
