AI Pedagogy Teaching Circle
Travis Grandy
This teaching circle will meet as a reading group and delve into Teaching with AI: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning, exploring how artificial intelligence is dramatically changing teaching and learning. Over multiple sessions this fall semester, you will engage with practical strategies to foster AI literacy, reimagine creative work in the classroom, and redefine quality in student work. We will collectively consider how to adapt assignments and assessment strategies, and whether to leverage AI as a partner to cultivate essential human skills like critical thinking, problem formation, and ethical collaboration, preparing our students for a rapidly evolving world of work and intellectual inquiry.
Free Books Available
The first 20 faculty to RSVP for the AI Pedagogy Teaching Circle will receive a free copy of Teaching with AI: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning (Johns Hopkins University Press).
Best Practices for Meeting Student Accommodations Teaching Circle
Mona Kulp, Maria Bickar, Shiya Cao, Caitlin Willis
Accommodations are essential for an equitable learning environment and are not just legal requirements. They foster a sense of belonging and empower learning. However, implementing the best practices for meeting accommodations isn't always straightforward. This teaching circle will review literature for evidence-based strategies and also offer an informal space to discuss common types of accommodations encountered and current practices across disciplines at Smith as well as surface potential challenges to meeting accommodation requests. We also hope to discuss the intersection between universal design and meeting specific accommodations. RSVP for the Best Practices Teaching Circle.
Formative and Summative Assessment of Analytical Inductive and Deductive Processes
Alicia Grubb, Allie Strom
This teaching circle is organized for faculty teaching technically and procedurally challenging courses in highly analytical fields. We will discuss how to create assessments to gauge deep learning and ways of assessing synthesis and transfer. Our focus this semester will be questions that assess preparation for future learning (PFL) and participants will be asked to bring concrete assessment questions to lunches and discuss how they fit into their broader course plan. Please reach out to the organizers with any questions. RSVP for the Formative and Summative Assessment of Analytical Inductive and Deductive Processes Teaching Circle.
*meeting only 3 times on September 26th, October 24th and November 14th and participants are asked to RSVP early and attend all 3 sessions.
Human Rights Teaching Circle
Carrie Cuthbert, Loretta Ross
The Human Rights Teaching Circle is designed as an informal space for those who are engaged in human rights education inside and/or outside the classroom, interested in learning about the field of Human Rights Education, including human rights-based pedagogical practices, and/or wish to benefit from ongoing peer conversations about integrating a human rights lens into their teaching. Funding and schedules permitting, we will bring in a guest speaker. Our hope is to build on last year’s teaching circle to establish a human rights education “community of practice” at Smith. All are welcome. RSVP for the Human Rights Teaching Circle.