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Villanova Institute for Teaching and Learning (VITAL)

Teaching and Learning Strategies (TLS) Program at Villanova, May 17, Bartley Hall 

With Keynote Speaker Derek Bruff, PhD and Faculty Colleagues

Link to online registration by Thu., May 11 at the latest
Link to detailed program agenda
Link to agenda-at-a-glance
Program will be in-person only and is co-sponsored with UNIT-IT

The end of the academic year offers a fitting venue to reflect on our teaching practices and experiences: How did our teaching practices impact our students’ learning experiences? The TLS program, titled Student Engagement and Wellbeing, provides a stimulating campus-wide forum for us to share instructional practices that support our students’ learning, exchange ideas with colleagues, and learn from and with each other.  Faculty colleagues will offer interactive sessions and facilitate small group discussions.

intentional tech

We will review our teaching practices through the lens of intentional use of technology to enhance students' learning with Derek Bruff, PhD.  In his recent book, Intentional Tech, D. Bruff offers seven research-based principles to guide educators in choosing which instructional technologies will help them best meet their instructional goals and how they can integrate those tools in meaningful ways. Through stories of instructors who creatively and effectively use instructional technology, D. Bruff approaches technology not by asking ‘How to?’ but by posing the more fundamental question: ‘Why?’” The practice-based keynote and workshop session will be offered in-person in Bartley Hall and expertly integrates reflection, discussion and application.
Link to Intentional Tech online version, Falvey Library

Image Claire Howell Major

Derek Bruff, PhD is an educator, higher education consultant, and the author of two books, Intentional Tech: Principles to Guide the Use of Educational Technology in College Teaching (2019) and Teaching with Classroom Response Systems: Creating Active Learning Environments (2009). He writes a weekly newsletter called Intentional Teaching and produces the Intentional Teaching podcast. Dr. Bruff directed the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching (CFT) for more than a decade, where he helped faculty develop foundational teaching skills and explore new ideas in teaching. He designed a “students as producers” approach to course design to help faculty engage their students in deep learning supported by purposeful use of the learning management system and other instructional technologies.

He consults regularly with faculty and administrators across higher education on issues of teaching, learning, and faculty development. Bruff has a PhD in mathematics and has taught math courses at Vanderbilt and Harvard University. Currently, he is Visiting Associate Director, Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, University of Mississippi.

Keynote: Intentional Tech: Principles to Guide the Use of Educational Technology in College Teaching

Chalkboards and projectors are familiar tools for most college faculty, but when new technologies become available, instructors aren’t always sure how to integrate them into their teaching in meaningful ways. As faculty interested in supporting student learning survey the changing landscape of technology, determining what’s possible and what’s useful can be challenging. In this session, we’ll explore several teaching principles for matching technology to pedagogy, principles that can help us make intentional and effective use of technology in our teaching whether that's in the classroom or online.

Workshop Session: From Principles to Practice: Engaging Students in Learning in New Ways

This workshop will help participants identify and plan new ways to engage their students that implement the teaching principles shared in the keynote. Participants will discuss the opportunities and challenges posed by their individual teaching contexts, and they will imagine the possibilities of specific teaching practices and technologies in their courses. Participants will leave with a game plan for a new activity or assignment for their students that uses technology in intentional ways.

2023 Preliminary Agenda 

Time

 Session Title

 Location

 9:30 – 10:00am

 Registration, Continental Breakfast

 LoBiondo Atrium, Bartley Hall

10:00 – 10:50am

 Concurrent Sessions 1

 TBA

11:00 – 12:15pm 

 Keynote w/ Derek Bruff

 TBA

12:15 – 1:15pm

 Lunch

 Holy Grounds, Bartley Hall

1:30 – 2:20pm 

 Concurrent Sessions 2

 TBA

2:30 – 3:20pm

 Workshop Session w/ Derek Bruff

 Concurrent Roundtable Discussions

 Bartley Hall, Room 1001

 TBA

3:20 - 4:00pm

Mixer w/ Colleagues

 Curley Exchange, Bartley Hall

I found the entire day uplifting. The enthusiasm among the faculty was contagious and renewed my interest in being the best teacher possible.

Sessions raised my awareness of gender issues and micro aggressions and it made me more conscious of the need to create an inclusive learning environment.

I appreciate the opportunity to discuss what I’ve learned with enthusiastic, motivated, intellectually curious, and caring colleagues.

I learned more ways to engage students, have them “do more of the work,” and what it means to be a teacher at Villanova. I feel very motivated and encouraged in my role as a teacher.

The keynote introduced some interesting perspectives about what motivates students to do the work of learning. I plan to communicate more clearly to my students the importance of the material in my classes.

Different approaches to building community in class as well as mechanisms for online sharing of course material.

I will try to use Kahoot as a classroom polling technology. I got a lot of good ideas regarding active learning strategies for helping students to feel more comfortable and engaged.

I learned some more details about flipped classes pertaining to technical content with details on getting students to watch the videos ahead of class, grading, and best enhancing the video without repeating it.

A colleague gave me an idea for a midterm survey related to participation that I plan to use - have the students evaluate their participation, and explain reasons for their level of participation.

It's great to gather as an interdisciplinary group all focused on teaching at Villanova. The insights shared in networking and the content from the sessions were excellent.

Past TLS Programs