Center for Teaching and Learning bring back the Coffee Chat, Thursday September 16, 2021 at 4:00 PM
Student Mental Health continues to be a significant concern to front-line instructors. The new My SSP (student support program) app is just one of many excellent resources to help instructors help students stay well and address mental health concerns. In this coffee chat, we’ll review these resources, then apply them to a variety of common student mental health situations. Those planning to attend (remotely or in person) are asked to register and to watch the above-linked video prior to the event. . (Video duration: ~20 minutes)
This event can be attended via zoom or in person. Please register here and indicate how you will be attending.
CTL Instructional Award: Innovative or Out of Class Teaching: Smitha Rao, Thursday September 23, 2021 at 3:45 PM
The CTL recognizes, from those nominated via the Deans’ Teaching Showcase, instructors who make contributions in large class teaching, out of class or innovative teaching, and curriculum development or assessment. This year, Smitha Rao, Assistant Professor in Biomedical Engineering, has been selected to receive the CTL instructional Award for Innovative or Out of Class Teaching. The abstract for her presentation, entitled “Reaching out to Student Researchers: An ‘old’ mentor’s journey” is below. Following her presentation, Smitha will be recognized formally. We hope you can join us for this event! To register, click here.
ABSTRACT: As a newly minted faculty, the harshest reality I had to face was that the students saw me as a “mentor.” (I soon learned this was code for “old”!) I found that I had to remind myself (repeatedly) that my undergraduate students had only recently completed high school. Not only was I not a peer, but the age gap seemed to grow (sigh!) and become a huge problem. How would I reach across this chasm? In this presentation, I’ll explore the solutions I have found. To seek common ground, I work to challenge student curiosity, engage them through opportunities in the lab and encourage them to take ownership of their work. I will share things I have tried and ideas I have learned as I work with graduate and undergraduate researchers. I hope the presentation stimulates dialog so we can all continue to learn and grow and rely on these combined experiences as we engage with more students.