Newsletter
The staff at the Center for Excellence in Teaching at Learning at the University of Mississippi are excited to launch our new blog via Substack! This blog is part of our efforts to foster dialogue among the UM teaching community (and beyond!) about teaching and learning so we can continue
In the News
Want to listen to CETL staff talk about teaching and learning topics they're passionate about? This November, our Josh Eyler and Liz Norell were guests on four different higher education podcasts! Liz Norell, associate director of instructional support, appeared on the long-running Tea for Teaching podcast, hosted
Conferences
The week before Thanksgiving, four members of the CETL team—Josh, Liz, Derek, and Emily—attended the POD Network conference in Pittsburgh, PA. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the POD Network, it’s an organization dedicated to advancing the research and practice of educational development at
Events
by Derek Bruff, visiting associate director Last Friday, CETL hosted the third event in our STEM teaching lunch series. This conversation was focused on student belonging with a presentation by Rebecca Symula, instructional associate professor of biology; Susan Pedigo, professor of chemistry and biochemistry; and Jessica Osborne, principal evaluation associate
Events
by Derek Bruff, visiting associate director Earlier this week, I had the chance to host another event in the series on generative AI organized by CETL and AIG. Wednesday's event was titled "Beyond ChatGPT: New Tools to Augment Your Research," and it featured speakers Marc Watkins,
Events
by Emily Donahoe, associate director for instructional support Last week, Josh Eyler and I facilitated a reprise of our workshop on “Getting Started with Alternative Grading Approaches,” a topic we’re both pretty passionate about. You can review our slides here. What follows are some highlights from this workshop. We’
In the News
CETL's fearless director Josh Eyler shared the news last week that his talk has been selected for the SXSW EDU Conference in Austin, Texas, in March 2024. SXSW ("South by Southwest") EDU is part of the SXSW family of conferences, and it hosts thousands of stakeholders
STEM Teaching
by Derek Bruff, visiting associate director Last spring I hosted a faculty learning community for CETL on the subject of active learning instruction in large STEM courses. We had about a dozen faculty from various departments who met every other week, mostly on Zoom, to share and discuss shared challenges
Graduate Students
by Amitesh Singh, graduate consultant Are you a graduate student at the University of Mississippi eager to enhance your teaching skills and become an outstanding educator? Look no further than the wealth of opportunities and resources provided by the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL). Whether you'
Inclusive Teaching
by Emily Donahoe, associate director of instructional support Some of the work we’re most proud of at the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning is helping instructors create courses that prioritize equity and inclusion so that every student, regardless of background or identity, is able to learn and
Services
by Liz Norell, associate director of instructional support Student feedback sessions are one of CETL’s core offerings. Engaging in this practice is a powerful way to achieve several meaningful goals, including: * Emphasizing to students that they play a key role in the learning process, * Giving faculty access to information
In the News
In a recent Inside Higher Ed blog post, John Warner writes that teaching is a wicked problem, that is, a situation where the nature of the problem and the tools for solving it are constantly changing. (This is "wicked" in the sense of tricky, not evil!) Warner argues