TLISI Focuses on Innovations in the Classroom
As most of Georgetown's students leave for the summer, university faculty, staff and graduate scholars will head back to class.
Georgetown's annual Teaching, Learning and Innovation Summer Institute (TLISI) is taking place the week of May 21 to 25. TLISI is an opportunity for the university community to explore issues of teaching and learning.
The institute, which is free to the Georgetown community, is designed so participants can take part either the entire time or only for certain sessions.
"It's the chance to explore something new and to meet new colleagues that you might not interact with outside of your discipline," said Mindy McWilliams, assistant director for assessment at the Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (CNDLS), which organizes the event.
TLISI will offer two new half-day workshops this year in conjunction with the Office of International Programs. The first day of "Classrooms Without Borders" will feature faculty members sharing ongoing projects that bring coursework into the world. Participants will look at the projects and have opportunities to ask questions and learn about funding.
On the second day, the focus moves to students learning in a foreign environment. Instructors will present results from two studies: one nationwide survey that assessed student learning abroad and another that focused specifically on experiences of Georgetown graduates who studied abroad.
CNDLS administers the planning and execution of the summer institute because the week's goals fall directly in line with CNDLS' mission -- finding out the best and most innovative ways to strengthen learning.
"It's a chance to get inspired and a chance to talk about issues that cut across all areas of teaching," McWilliams said. "How do you motivate students? How to you make sure you're grading students fairly?"
TLISI's 61 sessions fall into five themes:
Evaluating student work
Expanding the learning environment
Teaching and research technologies
Teaching to the whole student
Web and multimedia production
"When we started this, the sessions were based on technology. While we still have a few strands of audio, visual and technology sessions, we're really exploring more things having to do with teaching techniques and assessments," McWilliams said.
Teaching to "the whole student" is a newer concept being explored. The philosophy helps instructors tailor classes and seminars to students' experiences. A math class, McWilliams explained, might use gambling to explain probability concepts, or nutrition and weight loss and gain for other lessons.
"Teaching to the whole student really is a theme in higher education," she said. "It's about realizing that one needs to teach to the emotional side of students to help them learn better."
TLISI sessions are led by faculty and staff members and are interactive. The sessions range from 90 minutes long to a half-day. A full schedule is available on CNDLS' Web site and registration is now open.
CNDLS' partners for the summer institute are: the Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching and Service, Dahlgren and Lauinger libraries, the Georgetown University Writing Program, the Internet Development Group of University Information Services and the Office of the Provost.
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