The Inclusive Teaching Coffee Chats program is part of a series of networking events designed to facilitate discussions on inclusive teaching and active learning strategies among faculty in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CA&ES). It encourages and supports the intentional creation of inclusive learning environments and reflective teaching practices by faculty, graduate students, and staff campus-wide. This program builds upon the efforts and research from the nationwide, NSF-funded project on Inclusive STEM Teaching and is open to all audiences with an emphasis on supporting incoming and early career faculty.
Inclusive Teaching Coffee Chats aims to provide opportunities for networking among colleagues and space to share practical tips for creating inclusive learning environments and teaching strategies. Monthly topics will also focus on providing help with course redesigns and summarizing teaching impact for merit and promotion dossiers. We hope to give faculty space to enjoy a break, have a bit of fun and learn from each other collectively.
Upcoming Chats
Spring Quarter
Theme: Inclusive Teaching: Improving Engagement and Student Learning
This spring quarter, we will focus on tips and techniques to support student engagement through in-class discussions. We’ll talk about how inclusive environments can support student learning and discuss ways to positively impact their college experience. We’ll discuss opportunities to create safe and supportive classroom environments that foster engagement between students and instructors that enhances student’s understanding of course concepts in large and small classes. We welcome all faculty, including incoming and early career, TA’s and graduate students, and support staff, and encourage all participants to share ideas and challenges experienced. Please join us!
Monday, April 8, 2024
Plant and Environmental Sciences (PES) Building, Room 2005
Time: 12:10-1:00 p.m.
Topic: Merits and Promotions—demonstrating teaching impact and student learning
Changing our approaches to teaching takes time and effort. How can we know if those approaches are having an impact on our students and their learning? Are our diverse student populations experiencing our classrooms in different ways? We’ll discuss ways to effectively demonstrate our efforts in merit and promotion actions and measure our impact on student learning. Executive Associate Dean Anita Oberbauer, Associate Deans Patsy Owens and Marcel Holyoak will join us for this first meeting during which we discuss how faculty can effectively share their teaching and mentoring efforts and achievements.
Submit Questions for the Presenters
Wednesday, May 8, 2024
Plant and Environmental Sciences (PES) Building, Room 2005
Time: 4:10-5:00 p.m.
Topic: In Class Discussions, Part 1: creating an inclusive environment
In-class discussions are a great way to focus on student learning and promote deeper engagement with course content during lectures and sections. Students will only attend in-person meetings and participate in discussions if they feel welcome and their input is valued, however. How can we create classroom environments where all of our students feel they belong and comfortable enough to share their perspectives? In this coffee chat we discuss easy, evidence-based practices that promote interactive and collective learning and discuss challenges experienced when implementing strategies aimed at empowering students to actively engage with course concepts they may find difficult or can’t directly relate to.
Monday, June 10, 2024
Plant and Environmental Sciences (PES) Building, Room 2005
Time: 12:10-1:00 p.m.
Topic: In Class Discussions, Part 2: strategies for large and small classes
In this coffee chat we continue our exploration of in-class discussions and will focus on the “nuts and bolts” of facilitating student engagement. We will discuss a variety of strategies, including think/pair/share, jigsaw discussions and mind mapping. We will also consider easily implemented technology tools that can help to facilitate discussions, especially for large classes, as well as asynchronous discussion formats. Come and share your experiences and bring your questions!