For the second year, WIC’s spring event series will be held via Zoom. While the remote modality precludes WIC’s regular provision of pizza, it has also allowed for greater scheduling flexibility, and this year’s events will be offered in a variety of time slots. In light of this change, it may be more appropriate to refer to this year’s “Spring Lunch Series” as a “Spring Snack Series,” albeit one which is strictly BYOSnack. You can register for each of the events listed below using this link.
This year’s line-up includes the following:
The art of asking questions: How to prime stronger student engagement
Friday, April 9th (OSU Week 2), 10:00 am PDT.
Description: When you publish your discussion post, you’re hopeful. Hopeful that students will match the effort you put into crafting a great question: thoughtful, well-articulated, compassionate responses that demonstrate growth and understanding. And yet. A scattering of twenty word responses, some “please get me through this” posts, and a few eager students diving into the deep end—but where are the discussions that build to an energizing and meaningful conversation? Ask better questions and you’ll get better answers. Join us for a workshop where we’ll show you how to write questions that maximize student engagement and that create meaningful experiences for your students.
Led by: Jessica Al-Faqih, Erin Vieira, and Alexander Mahmou-Werndli, WIC Interns and GTA
3 quick hacks to build cognizance, agency, and logical flow in a STEM WIC class
Tuesday, April 20th (Week 4), 12-12:50 p.m. PDT.
Description: In the midst of the pandemic and a shift to remote learning, many are at our wits’ end converting classes, keeping our students motivated, and keeping ourselves motivated. Just thinking about how to better a WIC course or try something new may be daunting. However, biologist Lauren Dalton has some tried and true activities/strategies that may help both you and your students; she will share 3 quick hacks that are fun (or mostly fun) and also help build students cognizance around their communication abilities, agency in what they write about, and logical flow in their written pieces. We hope to see you there.
Led by: Lauren Dalton, Instructor, Biochemistry and Biophysics
Whose language? Inclusive teaching of academic communication across disciplines
Wednesday, May 5th (Week 6), 3:00 p.m. PDT.
Description: This 50 minute workshop describes the need for linguistically inclusive practices in all academic disciplines. It offers specific tips on how we can value and support students’ use of different languages and varieties/dialects of English, lower barriers to access, and increase learning opportunities for students from all linguistic backgrounds.
Led by: Adam Schwartz (OSU), Sergio Loza (UO), and Devin Grammon (UO)
How to design accessible and engaging course material
Wednesday, May 19th (Week 8), 4:00 p.m. PDT.
Description: Do you struggle to make syllabi, assignments, and other course materials look inviting? Do you worry that they are hard to read, hinder understanding, or that they’re inaccessible to students with visual impairments or reading difficulties? Learn easy-to-apply design principles at the “How to design accessible and engaging course material” workshop at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 19th. (You’ll also learn what not to do!) In this 50 minute interactive workshop, design faculty members Christine Gallagher, Deann Garcia, and Andrea Marks will offer a range of practical tips and lead you through how to apply them to your own course materials.
Led by: Christine Gallagher, Deann Garcia, and Andrea Marks, design faculty
Using learning outcomes to create clear assignments
Wednesday, June 9th (Week 11). 2:00 p.m. PDT.
Description: Designing courses and assignments can be confusing or overwhelming, especially in courses with both disciplinary and WIC learning outcomes, but it doesn’t have to be. This interactive workshop walks through a series of steps to (1) understand what each learning outcome means, (2) identify how the WIC outcomes can support the disciplinary outcomes, and (3) integrate the two sets of outcomes in clearly defined exercises and assignments that will help students learn course content and disciplinary writing.
Led by: Sarah Tinker Perrault, WIC Director
