Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning

Tag: Design

Deadline: Apply to Join the CORE+AI Design Program

Apply here | Facilitator: Breana Bayraktar

The CORE+AI Design Program provides up to $450 in stipends to instructors redesigning assignments. Rather than focusing on AI tool adoption, the program positions faculty as scholarly designers: identify a meaningful instructional challenge, redesign assignments, and document your work in a Design Portfolio. Space is limited and participants will be accepted on a rolling basis before the October 15 application deadline, so apply early!

Participants earn stipends as they complete each tier of the program and gain access to a community of colleagues working through the same questions across disciplines. Along the way, the program generates research on how instructors reason through course design in the AI era and produces a shared repository of adaptable, evidence-informed instructional resources for faculty development across institutions.

Workshop: (Re)Designing Syllabi for Inclusive Classrooms that Support Learners & Instructors

Register here | Facilitator: Shelley Reid

Are you ready to align your current and future courses with university commitments to inclusive teaching? In this workshop, we will work to advance our understanding of inclusive course design and how to improve syllabi, assignments, and activities to be more inclusive for everyone in the space (including instructors!). During the session, we will have 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 and options for (re)designing inclusive courses from the foundations to the rafters. This workshop is part of the AIEM-Teach four-part credential series for Mason faculty to engage in broadly inclusive education across all disciplines.

*Adding to your calendar will not register you for the event; please register using the link above.

Workshop: (Re)Designing Syllabi for Inclusive Classrooms that Support Learners & Instructors

Register here | Facilitator: Rachel Yoho

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.

Please reach out to Dr. Rachel Yoho ([email protected]) with any questions.

*Adding to your calendar will not register you for the event; please register using the link above.

Workshop: Preparing Your Course and Yourself for Difficult Classroom Discussions & Situations

Register here | Facilitator: Rachel Yoho

*This event was rescheduled from its original date (Feb. 6).

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 four-part series for Mason faculty to engage in broadly inclusive education across all disciplines.

*Adding to your calendar will not register you for the event; please register using the link above.

Workshop: (Re)Designing Syllabi for Inclusive Classrooms that Support Learners & Instructors

Register here | Facilitator: Rachel Yoho

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.

*Adding to your calendar will not register you for the event; please register using the link above.

Workshop: Preparing Your Course and Yourself for Difficult Classroom Discussions and Situations

Register here | 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 four-part series for Mason faculty to engage in broadly inclusive education across all disciplines. 

*Adding to your calendar will not register you for the event; please register using the link above.

Reading as Active Learning in STEM Disciplines

Register here| Facilitator: Laina Lockett

How many times have you asked your class a question only to realize that only a few (or maybe none) of your students have done the assigned reading? Working with students who are not prepared for class is a common frustration among STEM faculty especially since there is often a large amount of material to cover in any given course. In this workshop, you will learn how to turn reading assignments into opportunities for active learning. We will discuss some of the research on how students learn from reading, how to teach your students to get more out of reading, as well as how to design more engaging reading prompts, guides and classroom activities. The small changes discussed in this workshop can have large and long-lasting impacts for your students, so be sure to join the session!

This workshop is part of the Level 1 Foundational Practices in STEM Education Cluster. Other workshops in this cluster include:

September 4 @ 10:00 am – 11:00 am:  Fundamentals of Effective Teaching

September 18 @ 10:00 am – 11:00 am: Motivating Students in STEM Courses

October 2 @ 10:00 am – 11:00 am: Reflective Assessments for STEM Faculty and Students

*Adding to your calendar will not register you for the event; please register using the link above.