Stearns Center Events Calendar - Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning

Welcome to our events calendar page! Please bookmark this page to learn more about upcoming events and changes to events listed below. Also, don’t forget to sign up for our monthly newsletter to keep up with all SC events and support resources!

Digital Learning (DL) – Webinars blend information with a Q&A period. They are recorded for future viewing. Recording links will be published on our Trainings page.
Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) – Faculty Learning Communities and Webinars focus on writing and faculty development.
Continuing Professional Development (CPD) – CPD Workshops and Webinars help faculty to document their teaching over time. For more information on CPD credentials, click this link.

Spring/Summer 2024

May

Are you teaching an exploratory course in Mason Core? Would you like to participate in professional development that allows you to document your growth as an instructor? Whether you are new to college teaching or an experienced instructor, we invite you to take advantage of Part 1 of this accelerated opportunity to earn a Level 1 Teaching Essentials Credential as part of the Stearns Center’s Continuing Professional Development program. Part 1 features two workshops: Fundamentals of Effective Teaching and Relate to the Real World: How to Make Your Assignments Relevant. If you complete Part 1 and Part 2 of Accelerated CPD Level 1, you will earn the CPD Level 1 Teaching Essentials Credential in two days. Register here.

Are you new to teaching the Writing-intensive course or looking for new ways to strengthen the writing assignments in your writing-enriched course? The WAC Primer is a 4-session series designed to help faculty learn foundational approaches for teaching with writing and align learning tasks with their course’s communications focused learning outcomes, such as the new Writing-intensive course outcomes. The Primer is an excellent opportunity to reflect on your writing course design, meet and exchange ideas with colleagues across campus, and prepare materials for an upcoming semester or the WI Enhancements process.

The Primer begins with an introduction to teaching with writing across disciplines and writing course design. The following sessions focus on the WI learning outcomes, supporting intentional writing-learning, and preparing course materials. By the end of the Primer, participants will have a scaffolded sequence of writing tasks to support the learning outcomes chosen for their course and a draft of WI course materials. Register here.

Are you teaching an exploratory course in Mason Core? Would you like to participate in professional development that allows you to document your growth as an instructor? Whether you are new to college teaching or an experienced instructor, we invite you to take advantage of Part 2 of this accelerated opportunity to earn a Level 1 Teaching Essentials Credential as part of the Stearns Center’s Continuing Professional Development program. Part 1 features two workshops: Make Room for the Good Stuff: How to Avoid the Tyranny of Content and Teaching and Reduce Your Workload: How to Grade Efficiently. If you complete Part 1 and Part 2 of Accelerated CPD Level 1, you will earn the CPD Level 1 Teaching Essentials Credential in two days. Register here.

Friday, May 17 | 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. | Zoom | Successfully (Re-)Designing and Proposing a Mason Core Course | Facilitators: Rachel Yoho, Shelley Reid, and Laura Poms

*Formerly known as Course Proposal Workshop

Mason Core Committee is seeking course proposals for courses in the revised Global Contexts category and the new Just Societies flag. Courses planning to run in the inaugural Fall 2024 semester will need approval by Fall 2023, so it’s not too early to start! Faculty interested in proposing a course for QEP-Community Engaged Learning status are also welcome!

Join us for a review of the new learning outcomes, a guide to the proposal process, and the opportunity to compose a first draft of your proposal and get some early feedback. Come on your own or bring colleagues who will help design or teach the course. And watch for announcements about upcoming course design and student engagement workshops, especially to support JS courses. Register here.

See more about Mason Core courses or contact Mason Core for more information (masoncor@gmu.edu).

By now you’ve probably heard of ChatGPT or one of the other various new large language models (LLMs) that have taken the world by storm. But do you know how to deal with the ever-evolving artificial intelligence technology as it relates to your teaching? In this mini course you will be exposed to the basics of redesigning your course as it relates to learning outcomes and instructional activities. We will also explore how to get feedback from students regarding the changes that you make. (This is the same program as the program offered January 24-February 21.) Please register by May 14th here.

Tuesday, May 21 and Wednesday, May 22, 2024 | ~9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. | Hybrid | Mason Core Inclusive Excellence Two-Day Academy| Facilitators: Laura Poms, Shelley Reid, and Rachel Yoho

*Formerly known as Mason Core Just Societies/Global Contexts Two-Day Academy, Inclusive Excellence in Teaching Academy, and Mason Core ARIT Academy

In May, the Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning in collaboration with The Mason Core will be hosting a special two-day Mason Core Inclusive Excellence Academy designed specifically to support faculty who are revising courses to meet new Mason Core outcomes–with particular focus on supporting faculty who are developing a course for the Just Societies flag. Helping students in Core courses explore questions of belonging and opportunity, identify structural needs and seek more just outcomes in each field and discipline, and converse with peers about difficult topics all pose challenges in both the design and implementation of a curriculum. This Academy will also support the Global Contexts Mason Core designation.

The workshop will have options to participate on-campus (strongly recommended) or live-remote via Zoom; like our Proposal Workshop, each day’s activities will include a blend of information, guided individual work time, and collaboration and feedback from peers. A stipend may be available for faculty (any status) who complete the two-day workshop. Coffee, snacks, and lunch will be provided for all on-campus participants. Seats are limited, so please register early to reserve your space! Register here.

*Formerly known as Anti-Racism and Inclusive Teaching: An Introduction to Developing More Inclusive Educational Spaces

Are you ready to integrate inclusive teaching throughout your instructional spaces? Would you like to explore techniques and build tangible plans for your classes? This is where that journey begins. In this workshop, we will explore some of the definitions and terms often found in conversations about creating more inclusive classrooms. We will work together to advance our individual abilities in broadly inclusive teaching and learning to support all students. At the end of the workshop, we will have developed familiarity with concepts and terminology, explored deliberately inclusive classroom activities, and set one or two manageable goals for our classes. Register here.

Thursday, May 23 | 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | Zoom | Preparing Your Course and Yourself for Difficult Classroom Discussions and Situations| Facilitator: Rachel Yoho

Do you have strategies to prepare yourself and your students to handle difficult conversations? This could be when you are having difficult conversations about topics like race, sexuality, religion, politics, or similar. These situations also could result from a discussion comment that makes a student or group uncomfortable or might even be about grades. In this workshop, we will discuss how to design (or redesign) your course and prepare yourself to facilitate important or “hot topic” conversations in the classroom. Background information on how to design the course and prepare for facilitating important conversations in the classroom will be provided. This workshop is applicable to instructors across all disciplines for facilitating important conversations, whether or not their designed course topics include socially pressing issues. This workshop is part of a two-part series for Mason faculty to engage in anti-racist and inclusive education across all disciplines. Register here.

*Formerly known as Syllabi That Support Learners and Instructors: Designing and Redesigning Syllabi for Inclusive Classrooms

Are you ready to align your courses with university commitments to inclusive teaching? Or are you developing a new course or submitting an existing one for the new university-wide tags (like Mason Core)? In this workshop, we will work to advance our understanding of inclusive course design and how to improve syllabi to be more inclusive for everyone in the space (including instructors!). During the session, we will have specific discussion time to focus on connecting these ideas with your course and your discipline. At the end of the workshop, participants will leave with a greater understanding of the potential considerations for designing and redesigning inclusive course syllabi and aligning with broader institutional initiatives and expectations. Register here.

Friday, May 24 | 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | Zoom | How to Handle Difficult Classroom Discussions and Situations in the Moment | Facilitator: Rachel Yoho

*Formerly known as Important Conversations in the Classroom: Handling Situations in the Moment

Are you prepared to handle difficult discussions and charged situations in the classroom in the moment? Do you usually think of things later that you wish you would have said or done? In this workshop, we will prepare and practice how to handle important and potentially tense classroom conversations in the moment. Our focus will be on how to support everyone in the classroom – including yourself – during tense times. We will discuss and practice several teaching approaches. This workshop is applicable to instructors across all disciplines for facilitating important conversations, whether or not their designed course topics include socially pressing issues (like race, gender, religion, politics). Please note, this is the second in a two-part workshop series on important conversations. However, participants are welcome and encouraged to attend this session even if they were not able to attend part one. Register here.

Wednesday, May 29 | 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. | Zoom | Supporting Student Learning through Self-Awareness and Reflection to Navigate a Complex, Global Society | Facilitator: Rachel Yoho

*Formerly known as Exploring Positionality and Intersectionality in the Mason Core Context

Are you interested in incorporating techniques to help students develop their own self-awareness and navigate a complex, global society in your field, discipline, and course? Or are you (re-)developing a course for one of the new Mason Core designations of Just Societies or Global Contexts? This workshop is designed to support your teaching around helping students develop their self-awareness, particularly related to your discipline. This workshop includes the concepts of positionality and intersectionality broadly, but particularly for the new Core areas. At the end of the workshop, we will have explored the concepts and applied them to potential activities and assignments in our courses. Register here.

Wednesday, May 29 | 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. | via Zoom | Surviving to Thriving: Incorporating Trauma-Informed Instructional Practices | Facilitator: Rachel Yoho

Whether individual or collective, trauma can have a significant impact on lives and how students (and instructors) show up and are able to engage in the classroom. In this workshop, we will explore the concept of trauma and how it applies to the classroom, recognize a few common trauma responses, investigate several educational best practices, expand our thinking with resilient pedagogy, and begin to apply these concepts to our own teaching. Together we will move beyond minimum legal requirements or accommodations to design and implement evidence-based instructional strategies in university education. Register here.

Thursday, May 30 | 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. | Zoom | Helping Students Learn in Difficult Classroom Conversations and Situations | Facilitator: Rachel Yoho

Are you ready to take your next steps in engaging successfully in difficult classroom conversations and situations? In this leveled-up workshop, we will explore the elements of free speech in an educational context, investigate types of disruptions and situationally appropriate teaching responses, and analyze scenarios with colleagues. This workshop is applicable to instructors across all disciplines for facilitating important conversations, whether or not their designed course topics include socially pressing issues (like race, gender, religion, politics). Please note, this is the third in a four-part workshop series on important conversations. Participants are encouraged – but not required – to engage with parts 1 and 2 before joining this session. Register here.

Friday, May 31 | 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. | Zoom | Teaching Through Difficult Conversations Using the Perspectives Framework | Facilitator: Rachel Yoho

Do you wish there were tools ready to implement in the classroom to help students discuss difficult topics? In this workshop, we will explore the elements of teaching through conflict, controversy, and around difficult topics. We will provide an overview of the instructional tool, Perspectives, from CDI, and how you might apply this in your classes. This workshop is applicable to instructors across all disciplines for facilitating important conversations, whether or not their designed course topics include socially pressing issues (like race, gender, religion, politics). Please note, this is the fourth in a four-part workshop series on important conversations. However, participants are welcome and encouraged to attend this session even if they were not able to attend the other three yet. Register here.

June

Would you like to incorporate active learning strategies into any classroom? Join us for this intense, short-term faculty development opportunity that includes a face-to-face session, several asynchronous online modules and a Zoom workshopping session. By the end of the bootcamp, you will have an activity plan for a week of instruction ready to implement in your course and earn the CPD Level 2 Teaching Competencies Credential. Click the register link to see the bootcamp schedule.

July

TBA

August

TBA