Studio Departmental Workshops

As an instructor, you generally have a clear idea of what you want to teach in your class and how you plan to accomplish it. But are you confident that your students understand your expectations for what you want them to learn or be able to do? Crafting clear learning objectives for your course is helpful in setting course expectations for your students and in developing effective means for assessing your students’ learning. During this online workshop, we will explore different frameworks, or educational taxonomies, that can be used to inform learning objectives. We will then draft, or revise, course learning objectives to be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound.

After participating in this online workshop you will be able to:

• Describe the importance of learning objectives for both instructors and students.
• Draft or revise course learning objectives using the SMART framework.
• Identify how you might assess students’ mastery of or progress towards achievement of your learning objective.

Instructors want their students to understand the expectations for learning in their course. But it can be challenging to ensure this is happening without careful course planning. In this interactive online workshop, we will discuss backward design (Wiggins and McTighe, 2005) for learning, an approach to instructional planning that starts with identifying desired results– what students are expected to learn or be able to do–and then proceeds “backward” to determine acceptable evidence of learning (assessments) and to develop instruction and learning activities that promote the desired results.

After participating in this online workshop you will be able to:

• Differentiate between content-centered and learner-centered courses.
• Explain the benefits of incorporating backward design into course design.
• Describe the three steps of the backward design framework.
• Identify tools and methods needed to effectively apply backward design to your courses.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a research-based framework that guides the development of flexible learning environments to accommodate individual learning differences. The lived experiences of our students are highly diverse, and, for many, English is not their first language. In addition, more and more students with both visible and non-visible disabilities are pursuing postsecondary education. When implemented effectively, UDL can help us develop and deliver courses that best reach and teach all students. In this interactive workshop, we will explore the guiding principles of UDL and brainstorm ways to apply UDL best practices to our instructional materials, course activities, and assessments.

After participating in this online workshop, you will be able to:

• Describe the principles of the UDL framework.
• Implement new UDL techniques in your teaching.
• Identify and evaluate UDL usage in your current classroom.

Interested in creating materials for your courses that promote inclusivity? Do you want to know more about steps you can take to ensure your courses are on the right track to meet accessibility guidelines? In this interactive online workshop, participants will explore best practices for creating accessible documents. Participants will engage with documents in Microsoft Word and Google Docs. This workshop will focus on simple steps that instructors can take to incrementally improve the accessibility of their course materials. With some careful planning, you can optimize your course materials to be more inclusive.

After participating in this workshop, you will be able to:

• Discuss the benefits of incorporating inclusive documents that meet accessibility guidelines within their courses.
• Identify at least one way to improve the accessibility of the documents they use in their courses.
• Create documents that promote inclusivity using common technology tools, including Microsoft Word and Google Docs.

Interested in creating materials for your courses that promote inclusivity? Do you want to know more about steps you can take to ensure your courses are on the right track to meet accessibility guidelines? In this interactive online workshop, participants will explore best practices for creating accessible slide decks. Participants will engage with slide decks both in Microsoft PowerPoint and Google Slides. This workshop will focus on simple steps that instructors can take to incrementally improve the accessibility of their course materials. With some careful planning, you can optimize your course materials to be more inclusive.

After participating in this workshop, you will be able to:

• Discuss the benefits of incorporating inclusive slide decks that meet accessibility guidelines within their courses.
• Identify at least one way to improve the accessibility of the slide decks they use in their courses.
• Create slide decks that promote inclusivity using common technology tools, including Microsoft PowerPoint and Google Slides.

Interested in creating materials for your courses that promote inclusivity? Do you want to know more about steps you can take to ensure your courses are on the right track to meet accessibility guidelines? In this interactive online workshop, participants will explore best practices for creating accessible PDFs and improving the accessibility of existing PDFs. Participants will engage with PDF documents both in Adobe Acrobat Pro and Microsoft Word. This workshop will focus on simple steps that instructors can take to incrementally improve the accessibility of their course materials. With some careful planning, you can optimize your course materials to be more inclusive.

After participating in this workshop, you will be able to:

• Discuss the benefits of incorporating inclusive PDFs that meet accessibility guidelines within their courses.
• Identify at least one way to improve the accessibility of the PDFs they use in their courses.
• Create PDFs that promote inclusivity using common technology tools, including Adobe Acrobat Pro and Microsoft Word.

In this interactive online workshop, we will discuss what makes an assessment “authentic” and how to design authentic assessments, where students apply knowledge to real-world scenarios or products, to support student success. We will discuss the design considerations and tools for authentic assessments. Participants will have the opportunity to develop an authentic assessment for their course and discuss their design with colleagues.

After participating in this workshop, you will be able to:

• Examine the benefits, challenges, and design considerations of authentic assessments.
• Identify tools to use for authentic assessments.
• Identify the varying facilitation, ownership, and independence levels that can occur during authentic assessments.
• Develop an authentic assessment.

In this interactive workshop, we will delve into equitable grading strategies and how we can assess and grade students to support their learning process. Through discussions and group activities, you will have the opportunity to reflect on your goals for grading and feedback, brainstorm and identify strategies to enhance the equity and effectiveness of your assessments, and share and receive feedback from your peers on your course assessments. Bring an assignment from a course you are teaching to work on! You will have dedicated space and time to apply low-effort, high-impact strategies that you will learn during the session to your assignment and receive feedback from your peers and facilitators.

After participating in this workshop, you will be able to:

• Reflect on your goals for assessments and grading
• Examine equitable strategies and approaches to:
  • Minimize grading bias
  • Improve student motivation and learning
  • Increase grading accuracy
• Identify areas to apply equitable grading strategies

What are some ways to collect evidence of student learning to inform teaching and instruction? How can you measure student performance to ensure learning objectives are achieved? What are some strategies to develop assessments as learning opportunities? In this interactive online workshop, we will discuss assessment planning through the lens of collecting data, making decisions, and developing learning opportunities. We will also discuss how to ensure alignment of assessments to learning goals and objectives. You will leave the workshop with strategies for designing effective and equitable formative and summative assessments.

After participating in this online workshop, you will be able to:

• Examine the purposes of assessments, including how assessments provide opportunities for interaction, practice, and feedback.
• Differentiate between formative and summative assessments.
• Describe how to create assessments using backward design.
•  Identify strategies and tools for designing formative and summative assessments.

What are some ways you can communicate assessment expectations more effectively? How can you provide qualitative feedback to students? How do you ensure the validity and reliability of your assessments and grading practices?

In this interactive online workshop, we will discuss how you can communicate expectations and provide qualitative feedback to students by implementing rubrics and checklists. We will also discuss how the rubrics and checklists development process can improve the validity and reliability of your assessments and grading practices. You will leave this workshop with strategies to develop and implement rubrics and checklists to improve student outcomes

After participating in this online workshop, you will be able to:

• Discuss the elements in a rubric.
• Differentiate between the types of rubrics.
• Identify the grading criteria in an assessment.
• Describe grading criteria at different performance levels.
• Explain the steps in designing a rubric.
• Discuss how grading criteria and rubrics improve the reliability and validity of assessments

Interested in developing rubrics or checklists for a course? Want feedback and support in drafting rubrics and/or checklists?

In this interactive in-person workshop, we will discuss the types of rubrics or checklists to communicate expectations to students. Each participant will work on identifying and describing grading criteria for an assignment or course. Participants will also spend time providing feedback on rubrics developed in small groups. You will leave this workshop with developed rubrics and/or checklists to improve equitable grading and student outcomes.

After participating in this workshop, you will be able to:

• Discuss the elements in a rubric.
• Differentiate between the types of rubrics.
• Identify the grading criteria in an assessment.
• Describe grading criteria at different performance levels.
• Utilize the steps in designing a rubric.
• Draft rubrics for a course.

Since its inception, generative AI has been poised to leave a lasting mark on teaching and learning in higher education. No matter your level of experience or current perspective regarding this technology, its recent surge in popularity offers an opportunity to re-evaluate current educational approaches and explore innovative ways to leverage these tools. This two-session online workshop aims to support UIC faculty and staff in utilizing generative AI tools to update educational practices. Participants will leverage design thinking strategies, shared expertise, and technological creativity to develop AI-focused learning activities, instructional strategies, or assessments that foster student engagement and learning.

Participants will attend two 90-minute remote sessions. During the first session, they will engage in design thinking exercises and idea generation. Between sessions, they will draft ideas for learning activities, instructional strategies, or assessments that incorporate generative AI. Finally, in the second session, participants will present their ideas, provide constructive feedback to one another, and discuss implementation plans.

Participants with any level of AI-experience are welcome. All that is required is an interest in exploring how generative AI can impact teaching and learning in higher education.

In this online workshop, you will:

• Reflect on ways generative AI impacts your course, your students, and your discipline.
• Use design thinking strategies to develop actionable AI-focused learning activities, instructional strategies, or assessments that support engagement and learning.

Asynchronous discussions can effectively foster student collaboration and engagement, but sometimes these conversations fall flat, with students merely agreeing with one another or making superficial conversation. In this workshop, we will discuss how to craft a successful discussion question prompt that encourages critical thinking, meaningful conversation, and a community of inquiry in your course. We will review research and strategies for structuring successful online discussion that supports robust student engagement and active learning. Participants will have the opportunity to revise their discussion questions with their peers and will walk away with a plan to augment or improve their existing online discussion practices on Blackboard.

After participating in this online workshop, you will be able to:

• Identify the features of discussion board prompts that support critical thinking, student engagement, and meaningful conversation
• Design or revise a discussion board prompt that supports critical thinking, student engagement, a community of inquiry, and ongoing discussion for your course

Peer instruction is a form of collaborative learning where students engage with core course concepts and then explain those concepts to one another. In order to be effective, peer instruction must be thoughtfully planned and executed by the instructor. In this interactive workshop, we’ll explore research-based tips and ideas for achieving the full benefit of peer instruction. Effective use of student response systems will be discussed as a means to achieve student engagement and deep learning.

After participating in this online workshop, you will be able to:

• Identify how to integrate Peer Instruction into your teaching approach.
• Describe the elements of effective conceptual peer instruction questions.
• Discuss the types of in-class or pre-class activities that can be used with peer instruction.