News
Upcoming Events in the Decolonizing Area Studies Language Teaching Project
Last summer, LCL’s Professors Anke Finger, Professor and Manuela Wagner along with Graduate Student Isabell Sluka won a grant in an initiative sponsored by CLAS in order to develop anti-racist courses, to enable insights into racism on college campuses, and to facilitate direct interaction with anti-racist activists. The focus of the grant, called Decolonizing Area […]
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Upcoming Symposium: The Translation of Letters and Ideas in Cuba’s Republic
This symposium brings together important scholars in the area of Cuban studies to analyze the Cuban period between 1902 and 1959. The presentations will investigate translations and the exercise of translation in relation to the formation of various humanistic or scientific disciplines on the island, such as anthropology, medicine, political science, literature, and psychoanalysis. The […]
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Corona Virus Leads to Transatlantic Course Initiative
When the pandemic struck, few of Ana Maria Diaz-Marcos’ 50 students in her Span 3232: Literature of Crisis in Modern Spain course imagined that the spread of a worldwide virus would lead to a meeting with a living Spanish playwright over Zoom. Yet when the crisis hit, Professor Diaz-Marcos, an expert in contemporary Spanish theater, […]
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Spotlight: Stefan Bronner
Dr. Stefan Bronner, Assistant Professor in Residence of German Studies, obtained his PhD in Germanistik at the Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg and has published on a wide range of topics including German literature and culture, postmodernism, continental philosophy, spirituality, and the contemporary world. Bronner’s work is deeply rooted to his passion for literary scholarship. Bronner has become […]
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9/27
Keeping It Simple: Organizing Course Materials In HuskyCT
Keeping It Simple: Organizing Course Materials In HuskyCT
Monday, September 27th, 2021
01:00 PM - 02:30 PM
Other Online
This session will cover options for presenting and arranging materials in your HuskyCT course in ways that minimize confusion for students. We will discuss various organizational strategies, such as ways to develop a straightforward main course menu, building in content areas, the difference between sorting materials into folders and learning modules, as well as controlling the visibility of content to students. We will also cover options for adding multimedia elements to your course, such as audio and video, among the variety of other options available in the system.
Monday, September 27, 1:00-2:30
Register - https://fins.uconn.edu/secure_inst/workshops/workshop_view.php?ser=2189Contact Information: edtech@uconn.edu
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9/27
Helping Students To Be Better Prepared To Succeed
Helping Students To Be Better Prepared To Succeed
Monday, September 27th, 2021
06:45 PM - 07:45 PM
Other Online
Participants will leave with specific strategies for identifying students who may have gaps in their knowledge in key areas, specifically areas in which they are less than fully prepared to be successful, as well as strategies for bringing the students up to speed.
We will discuss topics such as:
• Turn it around: Consider how an unprepared or underprepared student feels
• Assessing how prepared students are (quick, ungraded pretest, short writing assignment, small group then whole group discussion…)
• Determining what needs to be done to bring them “up to speed”
• Your responsibility, theirs, some of each?
• The role of feedback. Types of feedback. The importance of feedback- read and comment upon rough drafts, have checkpoints for projects and actually check them
• Freshmen in particular
• On campus sources- the Writing Center, tutoring services, Q center, http://achieve.uconn.edu, the library…
• Working in small groups, peer editing, peer feedback in general…
• Study groups for test prep; groups that meet regularly throughout the semester
• Consider giving work done early in the semester less value in grading: 1st test- 20%, 2nd test 30%, Final 40%, quizzes, HW, class participation 10%- something like that.
Register - https://fins.uconn.edu/secure_inst/workshops/workshop_view.php?ser=2161Contact Information: stacey.valliere@uconn.edu
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9/28
Specification grading: an alternate means of assessing learning based on mastery and process
Specification grading: an alternate means of assessing learning based on mastery and process
Tuesday, September 28th, 2021
12:00 PM - 01:30 PM
Other Online
Specification grading: an alternate means of assessing learning based on mastery and process
Online
Presenters: Lauren Schlesselman, CETL-EdTech and Jamie Kleinman, Psychological Sciences
As professors explore this new world of distance learning and look for ways to assess learning for the fall semester, they are searching for better ways to assess student work. This session will provide you with an alternative known as specification grading. Jamie Kleinman has been using specifications grading in her psychology courses for the past three years and will describe her experiences with this grading system, which helped her make a seamless transition to distance learning this spring semester. Specifications grading is a system designed to promote student motivation and mastery. All work is graded as pass or fail based on rubrics or ’specifications’ that are provided to students. Built into this system is a way for students to check their own work to determine if it meets the basic standard to pass and a feedback process for students to correct work that has not yet met the standard. Instead of focusing on getting grades, students focus on developing skills and engaging with the subject material in a way that promotes mastery through multiple levels of critique. While this system takes time to set up, once it has been established, grading is simplified for the instructor as they can use a checklist to make sure that student work meets the criteria to pass. Students are still assigned traditional grades by linking assignments together in bundles that correspond to grade levels. Jamie will bring course syllabi to explain how she uses this system and why it is an excellent way of approaching student work, today more than ever.
Tuesday, September 28, 12:00-1:30
Register - https://fins.uconn.edu/secure_inst/workshops/workshop_view.php?ser=2144Contact Information: edtech@uconn.edu
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9/28
Managing Culture And Climate In The Classroom
Managing Culture And Climate In The Classroom
Tuesday, September 28th, 2021
06:45 PM - 07:45 PM
Other Online
Participants will walk away with:
Specific, concrete strategies for creating and maintaining a positive learning environment, beginning before the first day of class and continuing through the entire semester.
We will discuss things like:
• What to do before the first day of class
• How to begin the first class
• Things to do every day…
Register - https://fins.uconn.edu/secure_inst/workshops/workshop_view.php?ser=2162Contact Information: stacey.valliere@uconn.edu
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9/30
Finding And Teaching With Library Streaming Videos In HuskyCT
Finding And Teaching With Library Streaming Videos In HuskyCT
Thursday, September 30th, 2021
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Other Online
Teaching online? Looking for videos to assign to your classes? Attend this workshop to learn the ins and outs of UConn Library’s streaming video collection. We will provide an overview of video content, how to search for videos, and how to recommend new videos to the Library. An expert trainer with Academic Video Online will lead a deep dive into over 70,000 videos: documentaries, interviews, feature films, performances, demonstrations, and news programs across all subjects. Learn how to search the database, create clips, request audio descriptions, embed videos in HuskyCT, and more.
Register – https://fins.uconn.edu/secure_inst/workshops/workshop_view.php?ser=2191Contact Information: stacey.valliere@uconn.edu
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9/30
Teaching Is A Work Of HeART
Teaching Is A Work Of HeART
Thursday, September 30th, 2021
04:00 PM - 06:00 PM
Storrs Campus The William Benton Museum of Art
Meet and greet for TAs/GAs across disciplines at The Benton. Expand your thinking and make new connections.
Cosponsored by UConn’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning and the William Benton Museum of Art.
Registration required: https://fins.uconn.edu/secure_inst/workshops/workshop_view.php?ser=2146Contact Information: benton@uconn.edu
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10/1
VoiceThread: Asynchronous Presentation And Engagement Tool
VoiceThread: Asynchronous Presentation And Engagement Tool
Friday, October 1st, 2021
01:00 PM - 02:00 PM
Other Online
VoiceThread is a powerful HuskyCT integrated tool for transforming media into an asynchronous conversation space. Both instructors and students can create media projects in a slide-show style format, record commentary (voice, webcam or text), and share with others to comments or discussion.
Possible Uses
• Record creative & engaging multimedia presentations
• Post video content enabling learners to directly comment/ask questions
• Stimulate audio/video interaction as a Discussion Board alternative
• Create video content viewing assignments that require student commenting
• Allows learners to explain research, demonstrate understanding, & tell their stories
• Allows learners to build a digital portfolio of shareable artifacts
• Allows learners to collaborate on group projects
Friday, October 1, 1:00-2:00pm
Register - https://fins.uconn.edu/secure_inst/workshops/workshop_view.php?ser=2199Contact Information: edtech@uconn.edu
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10/4
Mixing It Up: Adding Variety To Your Instruction
Mixing It Up: Adding Variety To Your Instruction
Monday, October 4th, 2021
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Other Online
Mixing It Up: Adding Variety to your Instruction
Monday, October 4, 1:30-2:30
Online
Presenter: Wayne Trembly, CETL-Faculty Development
We will discuss:
• Breaking up the lecture- how, why, and when
• Small group discussion in distance learning
• Brief activities to reinforce key concepts
• Long term projects- how to make them work...
Register - https://fins.uconn.edu/secure_inst/workshops/workshop_view.php?ser=2164Contact Information: stacey.valliere@uconn.edu
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10/4
Using Slido For Engagement In Class
Using Slido For Engagement In Class
Monday, October 4th, 2021
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Other Online
Slido works well as an anonymous polling app. It lets you create a poll during a Webex meeting, or it can be used as a stand-alone application. You would use your Webex credentials to access it.
We will cover instructors can:
• Collect ideas, opinions, or feedback
• Run inclusive Q&A sessions: Create a safe space for everyone to ask a question and upvote the most relevant ones.
• Make more effective and inclusive decisions: Streamline the decision-making process by putting a topic up for a vote and getting a quick pulse check of the room.
• Run a fun quiz: Bring class together to enhance the learning experience during training sessions with a bit of fun competition.
Monday, October 4, 11:00-12:00
Register - https://fins.uconn.edu/secure_inst/workshops/workshop_view.php?ser=2216Contact Information: edtech@uconn.edu
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10/4
HuskyCT Basics – Intro And Overview
HuskyCT Basics – Intro And Overview
Monday, October 4th, 2021
01:00 PM - 02:30 PM
Other Online
This session will introduce you to the new look of HuskyCT, and will cover the basics of HuskyCT such as how to begin using HuskyCT, how the LMS can be used in academic and non-academic environments, basic functions and tools, and tips and tricks for beginner users.
Monday, October 4, 1:00-2:30
Register - https://fins.uconn.edu/secure_inst/workshops/workshop_view.php?ser=2187Contact Information: edtech@uconn.edu
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Spotlight: Verena Aschbacher
Verena Aschbacher, a new Ph.D. student in German Studies, grew up in South Tyrol (Südtirol in German), Italy. Verena’s small hometown lies at the border of Austria and Switzerland and people from the area speak regional dialects of German and Italian. This borderland zone combines Mediterranean and Germanic languages and cultures in the midst of dazzling […]
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