Session Descriptions
Keynote
Towards an Inspiring Community of Learners
John Elder will focus on some of the ways in which the teacher, the interactions among students, and the subject-matter of a given class can all foster a vibrant, exciting educational experience. In both formal lectures and framing remarks within a seminar, a teacher can model how engagement with a text, topic, or idea can lead to exciting new understandings. Within such moments, expertise can be balanced and burnished by emphasis on a continuous process of discovery. Establishing a framework of written correspondence and responsive discussion in which students learn from one another and take an active interest in each others’ learning can build directly upon the teacher’s own example. When discussion transcends an instructor’s goals there can be an experience of lift-off exhilarating to everyone in a class. Essential to such moments is an expectant, respectful attitude toward the topic of a given session. I’ve come to feel over the years that a poem, for example, can be the table at which a community of learners gathers, and ultimately comes to know itself.
Here’s a link to the recording of John Elder’s talk:
Workshops
Mind Games: Teaching Hard Books and Big Events Through Role-Play – Patrick Coby
The workshop means to introduce Middlebury faculty to the role-playing pedagogy called “Reacting to the Past.” Originating at Barnard College in the late 1990s, Reacting is now in use on over 400 campuses across the country and around the world. Attendees will learn about the structure and operation of a Reacting game and have the opportunity to experience a little role-play and debate for themselves. The topic selected is democratic representation.
For information on how Prof. Coby uses this technique to teach the US Constitution, please read.
Panel Discussion 1: When Sparks Fly: Inspiring Deep Student Engagement
From an individual assignment, class activity, or extended project, to the structure and pedagogy of an entire course, Middlebury faculty share their efforts to create learning experiences that inspire discovery and creativity.
Ellery Foutch (American Studies), “Teaching with Tableaux Vivants”
Pete Johnson (Computer Science), “Creating Immersive, Collaborative Learning Experiences by Interacting with Real-World Systems”
Jim Ralph (History), “Incorporating Collaborative Simulations into Classes”
The Table at Which a Community of Learners Gathers – John Elder
Our workshop will explore and combine two modes of facilitating a class-discussion. With a poem by Emily Dickinson (“Ashes denote that fire was”) as our focus, we will begin with a close, collaborative reading, after which we’ll undertake some exploratory writing as the basis for a further, more associative investigation of this dense, mysterious text. As time allows, we’ll also consider the application of these modes of discussion to a variety of current topics.
Panel Discussion 2: When Sparks Fly: Inspiring Deep Student Engagement
From an individual assignment, class activity, or extended project, to the structure and pedagogy of an entire course, Middlebury faculty share their efforts to create learning experiences that inspire discovery and creativity.
Will Amidon (Geology), “Student-led Experiential Learning: Insights from the Middlebury Zero Energy School Team”
Daniel Houghton (Animation Studio), “The Classroom as a Collaborative Research Studio”
Michelle Leftheris (Studio Art), “Spontaneous Classrooms”