OSU Center for Teaching and Learning

Category: Center for Teaching and Learning

  • Meet the 2024-25 Center for Teaching and Learning College Fellows

    The OSU Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) Fellows Program plays a pivotal role in fostering innovative teaching practices, supporting faculty development, and enhancing student success. In Fall 2024, five CTL Fellows were selected, representing the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences; the College of Engineering; the College of Health; and OSU-Cascades. Below, get…

  • Building transparent assignments to advance student learning success: Strategies and tips

    By Funmi Amobi, Oregon State University Center for Teaching and Learning Successful completion of course assignments is an important step toward the attainment of learning success. Yet, assignments that seem relevant, straightforward, and clear to an instructor may generate frustrating complaints from students such as: “Why are we doing this?” “This is just busy work.”…

  • Empower your teaching: Winter ’25 professional development events

    Teaching faculty, mark your calendars! Engage with colleagues in these events brought to you by the Center for Teaching and Learning. Check CTL Workshops & Events, Academic Technology Events, and Ecampus Online Teaching Workshops and Events for the latest updates and details about teaching-related professional development opportunities. Also see upcoming AI events and past recordings.…

  • Resilient teaching and first-year students

    By June Morris, OSU College of Education Leaving home and coming to college is fraught with anxiety over the many unknowns. Our first term freshmen grapple with being thrust overnight into a world where they don’t yet understand the norms that define college life. They may come to us as high school scholars, but that…

  • A case for “slow teaching”

    By Sindya Bhanoo, OSU College of Liberal Arts Intentional Tech by Derek Bruff explores different ways in which instructors can effectively and creatively use technology in their classrooms. The word technology brings apps, devices, and online collaborations to mind but in Chapter 4 of his book, Bruff highlights a piece of technology: the sticky note.…

  • Critical reflection on “Classroom Assessment and Pedagogy”

    By Tosin Alabi, OSU College of Health The article “Classroom Assessment and Pedagogy” by Black and Wiliam (2018) explores how assessment should be deeply integrated into teaching, rather than treated as a separate task. Black and Wiliam argue that both formative assessment (ongoing feedback to help students learn) and summative assessment (evaluation at the end…

  • Unearthing the unknown-unknowns: Using a backchannel for resilient teaching

    By Demian Hommel, OSU College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences We’ve all been there: facilitating a carefully planned class session, only to realize that students seem lost or hesitant to ask questions. Often, it’s the “unknown-unknowns”—the gaps in understanding that we, ourselves, aren’t aware of—that trip us up. To surface these, I’ve adopted an…

  • Resilient Teaching Faculty Learning Community: Emphasis on community

    By Krista Burke, OSU College of Business “Searching for a supportive community of faculty?” There’s a chance I stopped reading there and decided to apply. At some point I read the complete description of the Resilient Teaching Faculty Learning Community call for participation, but I can’t say it was prior to my decision to apply.…

  • Using a fishbowl to teach

    By Brooke O’Brien, Center for Teaching and Learning What is the Fishbowl Teaching Strategy? In its simplest form, as described in the Center for Teaching and Learning’s Instructional Strategy Cards, the fishbowl teaching strategy gets its name from the way it organizes students. A “closed conversation” includes a smaller “inner circle” made up of “conversationalists,”…