TLC Hosts Course Design Workshop

On October 17, 2018, faculty members came together for a course design workshop organized by the Teaching and Learning Center at AUP. The TLC is an invaluable tool at AUP that allows faculty to meet, discuss and learn about new teaching methods, technology and ways to engage students in their studies. In parts of this workshop, professors used active learning strategies to design a course for their students that would facilitate active learning. This was meant to get professors thinking about how they were going to teach their courses. First, they discussed with a partner their ideas for the course and received immediate feedback in a discussion-based forum. After lively discussions, professors took their ideas to paper and worked on a concrete course plan, using markers, post-its and large sheets of paper to create a distinct presentation that could later be shared with the group.

The posters were used to present and discuss the final plan with the other participants of the workshop. Each professor would provide a brief pitch for their course plan and explain the active learning strategy they implemented and how it would positively influence student learning in the classroom. Faculty walked away from the workshop with a multitude of ideas and strategies that they can implement in their existing and future courses to encourage active learning and participation by students and improve the learning environment in the classroom.

About the Teaching and Learning Center

In keeping with AUP’s mission to provide a student-centered, career-enabling, and transformative learning experience, the Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) creates opportunities for faculty members to reflect on and discuss their teaching philosophies and practices. With workshops, conversations, consultations, seminars, and events with international specialists and professors, the TLC supports faculty endeavors to experiment with imaginative ways to engage students in thoughtful learning in and beyond the classroom. The TLC provides a forum for research on learning and teaching, by supporting faculty-student research collaborations, faculty research on issues of pedagogy, and research on the specificities of teaching and studying at AUP