Tuesday, August 11
New Faculty Teaching Institute
8:00 am – 5:00 pm
Hodges Library
Event Description:
This day-long event offers opportunities to explore effective teaching practices, connect with campus partners who support teaching and learning, and build community with fellow new Vols as you begin your academic journey at UT.
Thursday, August 13
Syllabus Cafe
1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
SU 360
Event Description:
Join us at the Syllabus Café, a drop-in event (No RSVP required) where faculty and grad teaching students can gather to design their syllabi for the upcoming semester.
Thursday, August 13
Part-Time Faculty Orientation (PTFO)
5:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Zoom
Event Description:
This annual event is for all part-time faculty hired to teach at the University of Tennessee. Whether you’re beginning your teaching career or are an experienced instructor, this orientation offers part-time faculty new to UT an introduction to the resources, campus partners, and departments that provide support for teaching and learning, and helps you build community with others to elevate and enhance your teaching practice.
Register for PTFO
Wednesday, September 2
Happy Hour with the Student Disability Services Testing Center
3:00 pm – 4:15 pm
SU 362C
Event Description:
Have you ever wondered how SDS Testing gets your exam to your student, or how that exam is kept secure? Have you had any questions about navigating the faculty portal, and are you aware of all the information available there?
Join Teaching and Learning Innovation and Student Disability Services for Happy Hour with SDS Testing to gain a better understanding of how SDS Testing works with you and your students to proctor an exam. Appetizers and mocktails will be provided, so please RSVP by August 25 if you plan to attend.
Register for Happy Hour with SDS
Thursday, September 10
UT FUEL
3:00 pm- 4:30 pm
Zoom
Event Description:
TLI’s “Facilitating Undergraduate Evidence-Based Learning” is a six-session, non-credit professional development course for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who want to gain a deeper understanding of their teaching practices. During the course, students will learn about evidence-based teaching practices, write their teaching philosophy, and design a lesson unit for a course they wish to teach. Those who complete the course will receive the nationally recognized CIRTL Network Associate-level certificate.
Learn more about UT FUEL
Tuesday, September 15
So You’re Not a Fan of Grading…: Exploring and adapting alternative grading strategies
12:00 pm- 1:30 pm
Zoom
Event Description:
Advancing technologies and changes in the student population have made assigning grades to student work more difficult, even before generative artificial intelligence arrived on the scene! In this panel session, experienced UT faculty will show how they adopted alternative grading strategies, and then discuss their successes and challenges with a panel of respondents. Join us to learn more about how to adopt and adapt new techniques in your field!
Register for So You’re Not a Fan of Grading
Thursday, September 17
UT FUEL
3:00 pm- 4:30 pm
Zoom
Event Description:
TLI’s “Facilitating Undergraduate Evidence-Based Learning” is a six-session, non-credit professional development course for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who want to gain a deeper understanding of their teaching practices. During the course, students will learn about evidence-based teaching practices, write their teaching philosophy, and design a lesson unit for a course they wish to teach. Those who complete the course will receive the nationally recognized CIRTL Network Associate-level certificate.
Learn more about UT FUEL
Tuesday, September 22
Survey Says! Design a Mid-Semester Tool to Discover What’s Working Well in Your Course
1:00 pm- 2:30 pm
SU 362A
Event Description:
What’s working well in your course, and how do you know? In this hands-on workshop, you’ll create a customized mid-semester feedback survey in Canvas using a bank of ready-to-use Likert-scale questions aligned with the University’s Principles of Excellence in Teaching, plus your own open-ended questions. We’ll discuss practical approaches to interpreting student feedback and identifying opportunities for growth. Leave with a ready-to-use Canvas survey along with strategies for building on what’s working well and making low-lift, high-impact adjustments before the end of the course.
Thursday, September 24
Lifelong Learning Book Club: Session I
12:00 pm- 1:00 pm
Zoom
Event Description:
The Lifelong Learning Book Club is a collaboration among Teaching and Learning Innovation, UT Libraries, and the Department of Psychology that aims to foster a community of support for faculty, staff, and students by reading a common book each semester. Meeting three times during the fall, participants will discuss their insights and takeaways from Parker Palmer’s The Courage to Teach. All are welcome.
Learn more about the Lifelong Learning Book Club
Thursday, September 24
UT FUEL
3:00 pm- 4:30 pm
Zoom
Event Description:
TLI’s “Facilitating Undergraduate Evidence-Based Learning” is a six-session, non-credit professional development course for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows seeking a deeper understanding of their teaching practices. During the course, students will learn about evidence-based teaching practices, write their teaching philosophy, and design a lesson unit for a course they wish to teach. Those who complete the course will receive the nationally recognized CIRTL Network Associate-level certificate.
Learn more about UT FUEL
Wednesday, September 30
Teaching Summit
8:00 am- 3:00 pm
Student Union
Event Description:
Teaching and Learning Innovation is proud to host its fourth annual Teaching Summit. It is designed to provide an opportunity for faculty and staff to come together to ideate on emerging topics related to UTK’s teaching culture.
Thursday, October 1
UT FUEL
3:00 pm- 4:30 pm
Zoom
Event Description:
TLI’s “Facilitating Undergraduate Evidence-Based Learning” is a six-session, non-credit professional development course for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows seeking a deeper understanding of their teaching practices. During the course, students will learn about evidence-based teaching practices, write their teaching philosophy, and design a lesson unit for a course they wish to teach. Those who complete the course will receive the nationally recognized CIRTL Network Associate-level certificate.
Tuesday, October 13
A Student-Centered Approach to Plagiarism in the Age of Generative AI [part I]
1:00 pm- 2:30 pm
Zoom
Event Description:
Many instructors have felt unable to address plagiarism effectively after COVID-19 and the rise of generative AI. But what if these new technologies aren’t so much disrupting traditionally effective ways of learning as highlighting problems that have always been there?
This workshop essentially argues that lowering plagiarism via generative AI is, at its core, an issue of transparency about the work of learning. Leon Furze, for instance, argues that instructors should focus on “assessment validity” as an essential step to discourage offloading tasks onto AI. However, we argue that “validity” depends on two further questions: what is the nature of “the work” we’re asking students to do? And, how might the instructor and the students perceive that work differently? If students know what actually constitutes “the work” of learning in an assessment and how it will help them learn, they should be less likely to offload critical elements of the work onto technology rather than struggle through it on their own.
Learn more about CIRTL Workshops
Wednesday, October 14
A Student-Centered Approach to Plagiarism in the Age of Generative AI [part II]
1:00 pm- 2:30 pm
Zoom
Event Description:
Many instructors have felt unable to handle the challenges of addressing plagiarism after COVID-19 and the rise of generative AI. But what if these new technologies aren’t so much disrupting traditionally effective ways of learning as highlighting problems that have always been there?
This workshop essentially argues that lowering plagiarism via generative AI is, at its core, an issue of transparency about the work of learning. Leon Furze, for instance, argues that instructors should focus on “assessment validity” as an essential step to discourage offloading tasks onto AI. However, we argue that “validity” depends on two further questions: what is the nature of “the work” we’re asking students to do? And, how might the instructor and the students perceive that work differently? If students know what actually constitutes “the work” of learning in an assessment and how it will help them learn, they should be less likely to offload critical elements of the work onto technology rather than struggle through it on their own.
Learn more about CIRTL Workshops
Thursday, October 15
UT FUEL
3:00 pm- 4:30 pm
Zoom
Event Description:
TLI’s “Facilitating Undergraduate Evidence-Based Learning” is a six-session, non-credit professional development course for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows seeking a deeper understanding of their teaching practices. During the course, students will learn about evidence-based teaching practices, write their teaching philosophy, and design a lesson unit for a course they wish to teach. Those who complete the course will receive the nationally recognized CIRTL Network Associate-level certificate.
Tuesday, October 20
Connect over Coffee: Collaborating with Student Disability Services for Classroom Communication
8:30 am – 9:45 am
SU 362C
Event Description:
Ever wondered what it’s really like to learn through an interpreter or speech-to-text provider? Join Teaching and Learning Innovation and Student Disability Services for an interactive session on creating inclusive learning environments for Deaf and Hard of Hearing students. We’ll discuss effective strategies for working with interpreters and speech-to-text providers, dispel common misconceptions about hearing loss and communication access, and share practical classroom tips that benefit all students.
Whether you’ve worked with Deaf students before or are new to communication access, you’ll leave with tools and resources to help create a positive learning experience for everyone. A light breakfast will be provided, so please RSVP by October 12 if you plan to attend.
Register for Connect Over Connect
Tuesday, October 20
Do You Even Scaffold, Bro?: Exploring and adapting formative assessment practices
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm
Zoom
Event Description:
The relationship between large projects and small formative assignments has always been complex, but today’s students face crowded calendars, complex course schedules, and a sense that they “don’t have enough time.” In this panel session, join experienced UT faculty as they show how they have adopted innovative assignments for formative purposes, with a panel of respondents. Join us to learn more about how to adopt and adapt new techniques in your field!
Register for Do You Even Scaffold
Thursday, October 22
Lifelong Learning Book Club: Session II
12:00 pm- 1:00 pm
Zoom
Event Description:
The Lifelong Learning Book Club is a collaboration among Teaching and Learning Innovation, UT Libraries, and the Department of Psychology that aims to foster a community of support for faculty, staff, and students by reading a common book each semester. Meeting three times during the fall, participants will discuss their insights and takeaways from Parker Palmer’s The Courage to Teach. All are welcome.
Learn more about the Lifelong Learning Book Club
Thursday, October 29
UT FUEL
3:00 pm- 4:30 pm
Zoom
Event Description:
TLI’s “Facilitating Undergraduate Evidence-Based Learning” is a six-session, non-credit professional development course for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows seeking a deeper understanding of their teaching practices. During the course, students will learn about evidence-based teaching practices, write their teaching philosophy, and design a lesson unit for a course they wish to teach. Those who complete the course will receive the nationally recognized CIRTL Network Associate-level certificate.
Friday, November 13
What AI Can’t Do: Human Presence and the Power of Embodied Learning with Dr. Susan Hrach
1:00 pm- 2:00 pm EST/12:00 pm – 1:00 pm CST
Zoom
Event Description:
Thursday, November 19
Lifelong Learning Book Club: Session III
12:00 pm- 1:00 pm
Zoom
Event Description:
The Lifelong Learning Book Club is a collaboration between Teaching and Learning Innovation, UT Libraries, and the Department of Psychology that aims to promote a community of support for faculty, staff, and students through reading a common book each semester. Meeting three times during the fall, participants will discuss their insights and takeaways from Parker Palmer’s The Courage to Teach. All are welcome.
Learn more about the Lifelong Learning Book Club