Teaching at UW

Join Amanda Leary, Ph.D., in a conversation about engaging students in challenging topics in your discipline. In this workshop we will walk through a framework and accompanying strategies to uncover the ways experts approach challenging topics and focus our teaching energies on creating ways to help students engage in the critical thinking of our disciplines. This workshop is based on “Overcoming Student Learning Bottlenecks” by Joan Middendorf, Ph.D., and Leah Shopkow, Ph.D.

Amid rising enrollments, learn strategies for working smarter (not harder) from Morton Ann Gernsbacher, Vilas Research Professor and Sir Frederic Bartlett Professor of Psychology. She will share three principles that help her achieve greater engagement, better learning, and lowered workloads.

Whatever the topic of your course, art can provide unexpected and memorable ways to engage students. Join Berit Ness, M.A., Chief Engagement Officer at the Chazen Museum of Art, in a discussion about interdisciplinary partnership opportunities for UW-Madison instructors. This session will include a museum tour – please let us know if you have specific mobility preferences or requirements. Space is limited.

Like good teaching, good games offer curiosity, challenge, and choice. Join John Martin, Ph.D., to explore game-like teaching strategies that support student motivations, interactions, and engagement. We’ll consider how different learners connect with different challenges — and how thoughtful design can foster playful learning and collaboration.

Learn about designing authentic assessments that align with course outcomes and promote meaningful student learning in this session with Mary Thompson, Ph.D., Senior Assessment Manager in the Division for Teaching and Learning. You will leave with practical tools, sample assessments, and actionable ideas to implement in your own courses.

Join Karen Skibba, Ph.D., for a session that will give you approaches to apply on day one of spring semester. Explore strategies to help you (and your students) effectively manage time, including: developing an effective orientation, communicating expectations, arriving to class prepared, and planning time effectively.