2023-24 TLC Events

Spring Semester 2024

CAT Madness

March-April, 2024

You may be familiar with March Madness, when NCAA Division I men’s and women’s college basketball teams from around the country compete in a single-elimination tournament, to much fanfare. 

In a teaching-and-learning take on this competition, the Geneseo TLC is hosting the first-ever CAT Madness Tournament. 

CAT Madness has now concluded. "Student-Generated Test Questions" was the clear campus favorite: "learners generate test questions and model answers for critical areas of learning."

An MVP Round will run from Tues. April 9th, through Tues. April 14th.


Classroom Assessment Techniques (aka, CATs) are bite-sized activities perfect for creating engagement and expanding critical thinking. While they were originally developed by Patricia Cross and Thomas Angelo as classroom activities, they are equally applicable to all kinds of professional settings, such as meetings and team projects. 

The Timeline

  • Wed. 3/20 - Sun. 3/24: First round competitions, via surveys sent out to campus faculty & staff
  • Mon. 3/25 - Wed. 3/27: Second round competitions
  • Thur. 3/28 - Fri. 3/29: Third round competition (the Final Four)
  • Mon. 4/1 - Tue. 4/2: Final round competition (the Big Championship Game)
  • Thur. 4/4: Top CAT revealed & bracket winners announced

Thanks for playing, and may the best CAT win! 
 

Build Your CAT Bracket

Bracket submission is now closed. Brackets were due Friday, March 22nd. Participants who have the most accuracy in their submitted brackets with the final results from campus polling will be eligible for nerdy cat- and TLC-themed prizes.  

Event Programming

Planning for Spring Semester TLC programming is underway. Look for events to focus on

  • Effective pedagogical approaches & classroom management in our "new normal"
  • Generative AI 
  • Student success
  • Inclusive teaching practices & establishing a community of belonging

If you require accommodations for equal access to any of the events below, please contact the Office of Accessibility Services via email at access@geneseo.edu, or call 585-245-5112 at least one week prior to this event.

 

Have a topic you'd really like to work more with that isn't listed here, or a speaker you'd like to hear from? Let the TLC know: tlc@geneseo.edu. We value your input! 

Completed Programs & Materials

Spring 2024

Wed. 4/3, 2:30pm. TLC Discussion: Amping Up Office Hours (via Teams)

Join the TLC and your campus colleagues for this virtual conversation to explore the phenomenon of office hours. Whether you see your time slots packed to the gills each week, or you feel lucky if one student drops by, please come to share your experiences. 

Office hours are an important instructional offering, a key component of faculty workload, and a gateway towards improved student success and belonging. Yet they often are under-utilized by our students. How do we emphasize their value without burning ourselves out in the process? 

We want to hear from you: what are your successful office hour strategies? Where are your frustration points? 

For staff members: do you incorporate any type of office hours in your professional practice? What do those look like, and what benefits do you see from them? 

This session will share practical tips for increasing attendance and reducing office hour workload. Our goal is making this time more meaningful for faculty, staff, and students alike. 

Conversation will include

  • naming: how do you refer to your office hours on your schedule and in class conversation? 
  • scheduling: how do you decide when to hold office hours? 
  • location: where do you hold office hours? 
  • format: are your office hours in person, online, or a mixture? 
  • structure: do you have a particular format, set of expectations, or advance work you ask of participants for office hours time? 
  • pacing: do you have different guidance for office hours at different points in the semester? 

A resource document for Amping Up Office Hours is available here. 

Wed. 3/27, 2:30pm. TLC Discussion: Checking In with Faculty & Staff (via Teams)

This session is meant to create time and space to talk about faculty and staff mental health and well-being. Join Alexis Clifton, interim director of the TLC, and Laura Swanson, Staff Counselor and Wellbeing Coordinator for Student Health and Counseling, for this opportunity to share and connect. 

  • How would you characterize your workplace-related mental health? 

  • How are you being directly impacted right now by the campus environment? 

  • What will proposed changes mean for you in the coming months? 

  • How can we support one another during this (seemingly never-ending) era of change? 

In addition to time for open conversation, this session will offer wellbeing-promoting practices to help faculty and staff apply techniques that support wellbeing and learning.

December 2023 - February 2024: National Institute of Student Success Report Discussion Groups

Throughout 2023, a working group from Geneseo joined forces with the National Institute for Student Success (NISS) to better understand factors related to student success and retention at our school. This partnership culminated in a report that was delivered to Geneseo in October 2023.

The report makes 4 specific recommendations, based on key challenges identified. In brief, these include:

  • Standardize advising system, protocols, training, and practices for professional and faculty advisors
  • Systematically leverage academic outcome data as part of an institutional strategy to identify and remedy courses with high DEFW rates, assess course sequencing and program design, and improve strategic course scheduling
  • Develop and standardize intentional pathways to help students transition successfully in academic programs
  • Coordinate student communications to prioritize and direct information to all students in a timely, proactive, and personalized manner 

To help raise awareness of the report and to determine what next steps we might take, the NISS working group and the TLC hosted several small-group discussions.

Facilitators in each session 

  • shared a copy of the full report
  • gave a brief summary of the full report
  • went into greater detail about one specific recommendation
  • solicited input on the feasibility and considerations of the recommendation
  • brainstormed and gathered ideas with participants that can be shared, anonymously, with campus leadership
  • anonymously documented concerns, suggestions, and additional considerations related to the specific NISS recommendation
January 2024 (Intersession): TLC Writing Power Hours

If you’re around campus over Intersession and have writing or research work that needs some attention, join us for some communal writing time in the comfortable Harding Lounge in Welles Hall. It’s like working in Starbucks, only better: all the faces will be friendly, and the coffee will be free (courtesy of the TLC). No meeting, no agenda, just an opportunity to boost your word count through some dedicated work time. Drop in for as much time as you need, or set up camp and stay the entire two hours.

This opportunity is open to all campus faculty and staff. We’ve all got projects that need some attention, so let’s bravely face them together.

Fall 2023

Thurs. 8/17, 10am. Preparing for AI in our Fall Classes (via Teams)

Generative AI tools like ChatGPT are free, easy, extraordinarily helpful, and our students are using them. Are you prepared for the impacts this will have on your classes this fall? 

This TLC session allowed participants to share insights about generative AI in higher education, and strategies for harnessing its use in our coursework. 

Geneseo faculty and staff who participated in the “Educause Learning Lab: ChatGPT in Higher Education” cohort over the summer will help guide the conversation. We will also draw on the guidance offered by Flower Darby in The Chronicle for Higher Education, “4 Steps to Help You Plan for ChatGPT in Your Classroom.” (Geneseo account log-in required for article access.)

Fri. 9/15, 2pm. TLC Faculty Mentoring Information Session (via Teams)

Facilitated by Alexis Clifton (TLC) and Karleen West (Political Science & International Relations), this session discussed the rewards and challenges as serving as a faculty mentor to newer members of the teaching community at Geneseo. 

Fri. 10/13 & 12/1. Teaching to Transgress Audiobook Listening Group

Join us as we visit (or revisit) bell hooks’s Teaching To Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. Explore paths for supporting the college’s ECHC vision through pedagogical practice. Traverse together with Dr. Meredith Harrigan (Communication) and Alexis Clifton (TLC). This group will experience the audio version of the book, read by Robin Miles.

Resources from this conversation group can be accessed here

Thu. 10/12, 3pm. TLC Speaker: Eloy Alfaro & the Pamba Mesa Student-Led Food Security Program

Join the TLC and Eloy Alfaro, RECONPAZ Ecuador, to learn more about the Pamba Mesa Student-Led Food Security Program.

Eloy Alfaro is an anthropology professor and ally to many indigenous communities in Ecuador, walking alongside these communities while they preserve their territories, traditions and cultures.

Professor Eloy Alfaro is visiting the area as part of a partnership with York Baptist Church, who participates in SUNY Geneseo’s student-led food security. Eloy discovered that students in Ecuador also have difficulty with food security, and he began a program around food there as well. Students are fed during an event inspired by the indigenous peoples of Ecuador called the Pamba Mesa. What is a Pamba Mesa? How does it feed hundreds of students? Come and see.

Mon. 10/30, 11:30am. TLC Speaker: Stan Skrabut, "Exploring ChatGPT for Effective Teaching and Learning" (via Teams)

ChatGPT is a powerful language generation model developed by OpenAI that can answer questions, generate text, and provide information. In this workshop, participants will learn about the basics of chatGPT and how it can be used in the classroom to enhance student engagement and support teaching and learning.

 The workshop will cover the following topics:

  •  Introduction to chatGPT and its capabilities
  • Why instructors should consider using chatGPT in their teaching
  • How to set up a chatGPT account and use it in the classroom
  • Concerns and considerations when using chatGPT in the classroom
  • Examples of successful integration of chatGPT in various educational settings

By the end of the session, participants will be able to set up their own chatGPT account and ask it questions, as well as have a deeper understanding of how they can integrate chatGPT into their own teaching. This workshop is designed for faculty and staff of all levels and subjects who are interested in exploring new and innovative ways to engage and support their students and colleagues.

Free copies of 80 Ways to Use ChatGPT in the Classroom: Using AI to Enhance Teaching and Learning will be provided to all participants. 

Presenter Bio: Stan is a Director of Instructional Technology and Design at Dean College, helping faculty and students get to the next level.  He has over 30 years of experience as an instructional technologist and trainer. He has a doctorate in education through the University of Wyoming. Author of 80 Ways to Use ChatGPT in the Classroom: Using AI to Enhance Teaching and Learning.

Fri. 11/17, 1pm. (Relatively) AI-Proof Pedagogy: A Geneseo Center for Digital Learning/ Teaching and Learning Center Faculty Panel Discussion (via Teams)

Generative AI, such as chatGPT, is changing many long-held practices of assessing student learning in higher education. This panel discussion is an opportunity to hear from your Geneseo colleagues about assignments they use in class that minimize the potential impact AI might have, and that provide authentic assessment. 

Whether long-held practices or new designs for this semester, come hear a range of models for assignments that minimize the opportunity of students using AI to do the thinking for them. 

Panelists include:

  • Mohammad Sadegh Ansari, History
  • Alla Myzelev, Art History
  • Amanda Roth, Philosophy & Women's and Gender Studies
  • Lytton Smith, English 
  • Suann Yang, Biology

 

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