All posts by JoAnn Brewer

Academic Roundtable: Stress and the Student Experience

For Faculty, For Staff

Please join us on Tuesday, May 10, 2016 in the Center for Teaching, Learning & Research at 12:15 pm.

 There has been much discussion on Middlebury’s campus about student stress, but little data to inform these conversations. Students in Svea Closser’s ethnographic research methods classes conducted and analyzed interviews with their peers about their experiences with stress. Their findings complicate simple narratives about workload, and suggest that syllabus tweaks are unlikely to make substantial impacts. In this roundtable, students will present the results of their research on the drivers of student stress, and leave the floor open for faculty to discuss potential ways forward.

As with all Academic Roundtables, lunch will be provided.  RSVP to Doreen Bernier via email at dbernier@middlebury.edu by noon on Friday, May 6, 2016.

The Academic Roundtable is co-sponsored by

the Center for Teaching, Learning, & Research and the Library

Academic Roundtable: Print or Digital? College Students, Reading, and Academic Libraries

For Faculty, For Staff

Please join us on Tuesday, April 19, 2016, in Library 105B at 12:15 PM with guest speaker Naomi Baron, American University (via Skype).

People have been reading on computer screens for several decades now, predating the popularization of personal computers and widespread use of the internet. But it was the rise of eReaders and tablets that caused digital reading to explode. In 2007, Amazon introduced its first Kindle. Three years later, Apple debuted the iPad. Meanwhile, as mobile phone technology improved and smartphones proliferated, the phone became another vital reading platform.

In this roundtable, Naomi Baron, a linguist from American University and an expert on language and technology, will talk with us about how technology is reshaping our understanding of what it means to read. While reading onscreen has many virtues, including convenience, potential cost-savings, and the opportunity to bring free access to books and other written materials to people around the world, she argues that the virtues of eReading are matched with drawbacks. Users are easily distracted by other temptations on their devices, multitasking is rampant, and screens coax us to skim rather than read in-depth.

Drawing upon her research, Baron will bring the conversation about “the fate of reading in a digital world” to the realm of college students, teaching, and academic libraries. We look forward to a frank discussion that weighs economic (and space) realities with issues of intellectual development and depth.

For those interested in reading ahead of the meeting, you can read her July 2014 article from The Chronicle of Higher Education “How E-Reading Threatens Learning in the Humanities” at http://chronicle.com/article/How-E-Reading-Threatens/147661/

We also plan to form a reading group to discuss her recent book “Words Onscreen: The Fate of Reading in a Digital World” after her talk. If you would like to join this group, please sign up at http://bit.ly/wordsonscreenbookgroup .

As with all Academic Roundtables, lunch will be provided.  RSVP to Doreen Bernier via email at dbernier@middlebury.edu by noon on Friday, April 15, 2016.

The Academic Roundtable is co-sponsored by

the Center for Teaching, Learning, & Research and the Library

Collaboration in the classroom: improving the “group project” experience

For Faculty, For Staff

Please join us on  Wednesday, April 20, in the CTLR Suite at 12:15 p.m. for a workshop on “Collaboration in the classroom: improving the ‘group project’ experience.”

Facilitators: Jessica Holmes and Mary Hurlie

Group projects, when designed well, can build problem-solving, teamwork and communication skills, yet many students (and some faculty) groan at their mere mention. During this workshop, we will explore strategies to maximize the benefits of collaborative learning activities.

Lunch will be served. Please RSVP at ctlr@middlebury.edu by Monday, April 18.

Academic Roundtable – Academic Advising

For Faculty, For Staff

Please join us on Tuesday, March 8, 2016,  in Center for Teaching, Learning & Research at 12:15 p.m. for an Academic Roundtable on Academic Advising.

A few years ago, Richard Light, a leading scholar on American higher education, stated that “good advising may be the single most underestimated characteristic of a successful college experience.”  And yet, there is evidence that academic advising at Middlebury and many other liberal arts colleges is not as robust as it could be.   At the outset of this Academic Roundtable, members of the Academic Administration will briefly share evidence that points to challenges for Middlebury’s advising system and will present some initial ideas for how we might improve the experience of advising for both students and faculty.  The heart of the roundtable will be a discussion of what steps we can take to ensure that good advising remains a central feature of the Middlebury experience.

As with all Academic Roundtables, lunch will be provided.  RSVP to Doreen Bernier via email at dbernier@middlebury.edu by noon on Friday, March 4, 2016.

 

The Academic Roundtable series is co-sponsored by the Center for Teaching, Learning & Research and the Library

Academic Roundtable — Rest, Contemplative Computing, and Creativity: A Conversation with Dr. Alex Soojung-Kim Pang

For Faculty, For Staff, middpoints

Please join us on Tuesday, February 23, 2016,  in the Davis Family Library 105B at 12:15 p.m.

The stressors of academic life take their toll on our well-being, but could those stressors, and a lack of rest and contemplative practice, also be affecting our creativity and productivity?

In this Academic Roundtable, Dr. Amy Collier, Associate Provost for Digital Learning, will host an informal conversation with guest speaker Dr. Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, author of “The Distraction Addiction” and a forthcoming book called “Rest: Why Working Less Gets More Done.” They will discuss the importance of rest and contemplative practice in our daily lives, whether we are checking email, writing a research paper, teaching a class, or at home with our families and friends. Through an interactive conversation, Dr. Pang will provide tips for prioritizing and reaping the benefits of more rest, and strategies for managing technology’s interruptions using mindfulness techniques.

Join us for this important session and bring your own questions for Dr. Pang.  Lunch will be provided. RSVP to Doreen Bernier via email at dbernier@middlebury.edu by noon on Friday, February 19, 2016.

Dr. Pang will also be giving talks during his visit to our campus.

On Monday, February 22, at 4:30 p.m. in Library 105, he will talk on “Rest: Why Working Less Gets More Done.”

On Tuesday, February 23, at 7:30 p.m. in Wilson Hall, he will be speaking on “Contemplative Computing.”

The Academic Roundtable is co-sponsored by the Center for Teaching, Learning, & Research and the Library & Information Services

WINTER TERM, 2016 CONTEMPORARY TEACHING IN THE LIBERAL ARTS: INTENTIONAL PEDAGOGY, INTENTIONAL TEACHING

For Faculty, For Staff
The Center for Teaching, Learning & Research is pleased to present a selection of roundtable discussions and workshops that explore intentional teaching and learning practices. The series includes presentations and conversations to inspire, challenge, and educate Middlebury faculty, staff, and students on topics such as creating community in the classroom, intentional curricular design, inclusive pedagogies, universal design, and contemplative practice.

The Contemporary teaching series continues during Winter Term on Mondays and Thursdays, and all sessions include lunch. For more information and to sign up for individual sessions, please visit the series website.

Writing for the Public

For Faculty, For Staff

Tuesday, January 26, 4:30 CTLR Suite

Guest Lecturer: Anne Trubek

 Writing for general audiences—readers of The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Chronicle of Higher Education and other serious outlets for journalism, say—is fun, energizing and, sometimes, profitable. It allows scholars to connect their research to current events (are you a scholar of Islam? There is an audience for your expertise!), culture (how might Adele’s decision not to stream relate to similar changes in the distribution of art historically?) science (your study of the changing habitats of bats is of interest to environmentalists) and more. But academia does not always provide incentive for or assistance with writing op-eds or researched articles in the ‘popular press,’ leaving faculty and staff at a loss as to how to get their ideas more widely disseminated and read  by non-specialists.

In the talk we will discuss how the submission process works, how to develop ideas that will interest editors, common obstacles academics encounter when working with non-academic editors, and how to craft clear, engaging prose. Additional information and registration here.

Co-sponsored by Academic Administration, CTLR, and the Writing Program.

Winter Term, 2016 Contemporary Teaching in the Liberal Arts: Intentional Pedagogy, Intentional Teaching

For Faculty, For Staff

The Center for Teaching, Learning & Research is pleased to present a selection of roundtable discussions and workshops that explore intentional teaching and learning practices. The series includes presentations and conversations to inspire, challenge, and educate Middlebury faculty, staff, and students on topics such as creating community in the classroom, intentional curricular design, inclusive pedagogies, universal design, and contemplative practice.

Opening presentation and discussion: Tuesday, January 12, 11 am, CTLR Suite “Inequality in higher education: a wicked problem for liberal arts institutions” by Bryan Alexander

The Contemporary teaching series continues during Winter Term on Mondays and Thursdays, and all sessions include lunch. For more information and to sign up for individual sessions, please visit the series website.

Academic Roundtable – Faculty Online Identities

For Faculty, For Staff, middpoints

Please join us on Tuesday, December 8, 2015, in the Davis Family Library 105B at 12:15 PM.

A curriculum vitae is one of many options for sharing your scholarly and teaching work. In the age of digital connections, it is now possible to have a professional website or digital portfolio that allows you to share work with new audiences. How do our colleagues share themselves and their work online? What kinds of digital environments blur the lines between our work, the work students do in our classes and public spheres? Join us for a roundtable discussion highlighting how some faculty have chosen to share their work digitally. Our discussion will be led by Professor Mark Sample, Associate Professor of Digital Studies, and Kristen Eshleman, Director of Digital Learning Research & Design, both from Davidson College.

Mark and Kristen will share their experiences of launching Davidson Domains, a pilot program “what gives faculty, staff, and students a ‘domain of one’s own’—and online space for blogs, exhibits, research, creative work, portfolios, web development, programming, and more” (Sample, 2015). One goal of the Davidson Domains project is to help Davidson community members to “forge a digital identity through online publishing.” Mark and Kristen will share their perspectives on the pilot and how it has impacted the sharing of faculty and student work to broader audiences.

As time allows, we’ll turn to a discussion of how Middlebury faculty share their digital presences and discuss what questions and decisions drove their choices for creating a digital presence.

Learn more about the Davidson Domains project here: https://domains.davidson.edu/

Sample, M. (2015). What are the bottlenecks of Davidson Domains?

Lunch will be provided. RSVP to Doreen Bernier via email at dbernier@middlebury.edu by 5 PM on Friday, Dec. 4, 2015.

Academic Roundtable – Microaggressions, Trigger Warnings, Campus Climate, and the Classroom

Faculty, For Faculty, For Staff, staff

Please join us on Tuesday, November 10, 2015, in the Center forTeaching, Learning & Research, LIB 225 at 12:15 PM.

How do recent debates and discussions on campus and in the national press around the topics of microaggressions and trigger warnings impact what happens in our classroom? How do we identify microaggressions that may have made their way into our speech patterns? How do we decide whether or not to issue ‘trigger warnings’ in advance of dealing with potentially difficult topics in our classrooms? Join us for discussion of these important topics. Miguel Fernandez of the Spanish & Portuguese Department and Acting Chief Diversity Officer and Allison Stanger of the Political Science Department will offer some preliminary perspectives to help frame our discussion. You are encouraged to read in advance the following articles that help illuminate the contours of the national debate on these subjects.

The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt

What Is the Point of College? By Kwame Anthony Appiah

Lunch will be provided. RSVP to Doreen Bernier via email at dbernier@middlebury.edu by 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, 2015.