Teaching Center Update

Teaching Surveys are open NOW and run through December 9, 2018. Response rates can be monitored through the Teaching Survey dashboard.

The Office of Measurement and Evaluation of Teaching has a number of resources you can use to increase response rates this fall:

• Read about faculty who have achieved high response rates.
• Ask students ahead of time to provide effective feedback.
• Schedule class time for students to take their surveys.
• Read other strategies for increasing response rates.

The Pittsburgh Council on Higher Education [PCHE] is pleased to announce an open call for proposals focusing on teaching and learning or educational development for the 2019 Pittsburgh Regional Faculty Symposium on Monday, March 11, 2019. Organized by PCHE and hosted by the University of Pittsburgh, the symposium is a day-long conference for faculty, teaching assistants, and faculty support specialists from colleges and universities in Pennsylvania and its adjacent states.

The Office of the Provost, in conjunction with the University Center for Teaching and Learning, awarded six faculty with the Provost’s Award for Diversity in the Curriculum last week. The award recognizes the efforts of faculty to integrate diversity and inclusion into their courses and curriculum. You can read more about each award winner and their accomplishments in articles published in University Times and @Pitt.

For Law Professor David Harris, the Teaching Center’s Media Creation Lab presented a unique opportunity for him — an on-campus location to produce professional recordings of his podcast, “Criminal (In)Justice.” Learn more about how Harris utilizes the Media Creation Lab in our latest feature story.

Dear Colleagues, On Saturday, we experienced an unspeakable tragedy in our city — as one headline read, “a massacre in the heart of Mister Rogers’ neighborhood.” We all know Mister Rogers would remind us of how many caring people there are in the world, and give us his mother’s advice to “look for the helpers.” I hope that in this time of sadness, we can all be helpers to each other. If you are impacted in any way by the tragic events at the Tree of Life Synagogue, please know that the University has resources available on the Pitt Cares: Community Resources page.

Lorin Grieve, PharmD, will facilitate a Game Design workshop co-sponsored by the School of Pharmacy and the Teaching Center on Thursday, November 8. In this workshop, Dr. Grieve will explain the process of iterative game design with a focus on application to learning environments. Combining instructional design with game design can create experiences that enhance a learner’s knowledge or skills. Sign up via the Game Design workshop registration form.