Spring 2016 Workshops

Creative Assignment Design
February 17, 1-3pm, Room 7209
This workshop explores how to design problem-based learning (PBL) assignments that tie the practice of skills or course objectives with a direct engagement with a student’s environment. We will discuss strategies for incorporating, across the disciplines, the vast range of resources NYC offers, including archives, museums, site exploration, and field visits, etc., into assignment design.

Teaching With Open Access Materials
March 2, 1-3pm, C196.03
The rapid increase of textbook prices is a particular problem at a university like CUNY whose students typically come from lower income backgrounds already hard pressed to afford college. In this workshop we will explore tools and resources needed to begin weaning ourselves away from using pricey, proprietary educational material and begin designing courses for that are both more accessible to lower income students and reinforce the belief that knowledge should be free and open.

Working with ELL/ESL Students
March 16, 1-3pm, C205
CUNY classrooms frequently feature students with a variety of language backgrounds. This workshop explores the ways in which that diversity can be an asset to a classroom and will offer tools for highlighting these varied perspectives and experiences. We will also discuss specific strategies to encourage ELL students to participate in course discussions as well as tips for assessing ELL student work.

Teaching With Web-Based Technology
April 6, 1-3pm, 9206
In this workshop we will discuss the advantages of using web based platforms for teaching and how using technology can help strengthen in-class discussion and engagement. Whether you’re looking for a better way to disseminate course material or are curious about how to start interacting more effectively with your students online, this workshop is targeted towards all levels of college teachers who want to learn more about how to introduce technology into their pedagogy.

Social Reading
April 13, 1-3pm, 9206
This workshop, organized in collaboration with the Graduate Center’s Digital Initiatives, will explore a range of text and image annotation tools, and explore how they can be integrated into a range of disciplines to help students engage more deeply and collaboratively with texts.

Social Writing
April 20, 1-3pm, 9207
Increasingly, our writing happens in social spaces rather than in isolated ones. This workshop, organized in collaboration with the Graduate Center’s Digital Initiatives, will explore how to to integrate social writing tools (such as the CUNY Academic Commons’s Social Paper, the WordPress plugin CommentPress, Google Docs, and others) and methodologies into a range of disciplines and course levels.

Approaches to Course Design
May 12, 1-3pm, 9205
This workshop will explore the range of ways that one can go about building out a plan for a course. Participants will explore forking existing syllabi, building around learning goals, and conceptualizing new courses that take curricula in exciting directions.

Past workshops have included: