Individual Teaching Consultation Services
To schedule a consultation, please contact LeAne Rutherford at lrutherf @d.umn.edu or 726-6207; Shelley Smith at ssmith3@d.umn.edu or 726-7715, or Jason Ellis at jellis002@d.umn.edu or 726-6355.
Individuals in virtually every discipline and at every stage in their careers have found the consultation process useful and energizing. This voluntary and confidential service provides instructional design and/or analysis for promoting professional self-awareness and clarifying personal teaching goals.
For whom?
All faculty including, new, tenured, tenure track, term, and professional academic, as well as GTAs who are primary instructors for their courses are welcome to use our services
How?
Consultants will meet with you to:- Discuss your teaching philosophy and practices, teaching strategies and theories
- Observe your class and provide post-observation feedback
- Analyze student evaluations and feedback
- Identify appropriate strategies for your discipline
- Conduct midterm Focus Feedback group sessions with students in your classes
- Videotape your teaching
Some of the topics we can address include (but are not limited to):
Course Design & Planning
- setting achievable learning objectives
- constructing a syllabus
- creating an inclusive classroom
Effective Teaching Methods
- employing active learning strategies
- developing & facilitating effective collaborative groups
- building effective presentation skills
Assessment of Student Learning
- monitoring student progress
- writing effective test questions
- employing assessment strategies
- giving effective feedback to students
Assessment of Teaching
- Turning final course evals into a plan of action
- Conducting Student Focus Feedback Groups in your courses
What Are Student Focus Feedback Groups?
Mid-semester is a good time to find out what your students think about their learning in your classes. For instance, does the course organization provide for optimal student learning? Is the presentation enhancing or detracting from the content? What material is seen as relevant or irrelevant? Are the assignments achieving the desired goals?
As instructors think about examining their teaching, they frequently seek insights into a variety of pertinent questions. For instance, does the course organization provide for optimal student learning? Is the presentation enhancing or detracting from the content? What material is seen as relevant or irrelevant? Are the assignments achieving the desired goals?
A Focus Feedback Group (FFG) is a formative assessment designed to help instructors diagnose problems during the term rather than after. It empowers both students and instructors to make changes when they are most useful. The method uses class interviews with students to provide suggestions for strengthening the course, increasing communication between students and the instructor, and generally improving instruction. Besides identifying areas where change may be needed, and the SGID also identifies ways in which these changes could be carried out.
Students appreciate these 30 minute sessions because they are the direct beneficiaries of the formative feedback with which they provide us.
Classroom Management
- planning a successful first day of class
- motivating your students
- creating an inviting classroom environment
- addressing academic integrity
Integrating Technology into Your Teaching
- enhancing your teaching with technology
- teaching online: making curricular choices for online and hybrid/blended learning courses
Documenting Your Teaching
- creating a teaching portfolio
- collecting data and documenting progress
- using classroom observations / focus feedback groups
- interpreting end-of-semester student evaluations
Just-in-Time Teaching Advice
If you find yourself in need of a little last-minute advice about your teaching or just a friendly ear to bounce some ideas around before you run off to class, feel free to give us a call, contact us on Jabber, or send an email. We'll answer you as soon as we can.
LeAne Rutherford |
Shelley Smith |