The teaching tightrope: Balancing use of evidence-based practises while conserving instructor bandwidth
Session Type
Workshop
Room
Physics and Astronomy, room 150
Start Date
16-7-2025 3:00 PM
End Date
16-7-2025 4:00 PM
Keywords
course design, active learning, DBER, SoTL, well-being
Primary Threads
Teaching and Learning Science
Abstract
The landscape of science education research (Discipline-Based Educational Research [DBER], Scholarship of Teaching and Learning [SoTL]) has changed and grown dramatically in recent decades. Along with the wealth of knowledge, examples, guides and conferences are the decisions of which strategies to use, how to best employ them, and evaluate their success (formally or informally). Educators face constraints including time, resources, and effort required to implement certain teaching approaches, as well as increasing expectations of providing more student support (e.g., development of communication skills, metacognition). We can’t do all the things … so what do we do?
The decisions and decision-making process can feel overwhelming, particularly if developing a new course, facing financial/resource constraints, or just experiencing decision fatigue. How can we design/redesign our courses to be sustainable, for us and our students?
In this workshop, we’ll explore common challenges faced by science instructors designing and teaching–often large–undergraduate courses that use evidence-based methods. As practitioners, we will discuss prioritization of goals, and strategies for choosing teaching and assessment methods within and beyond common models for course design (e.g., backwards design), while also giving ourselves permission to NOT Do All The Things. The trade-offs of common active learning and assessment activities will be discussed. Participants will reflect and work together to identify priorities and strategies for their own courses. (A connected device may be helpful in capturing ideas - please consider bringing your smartphone, laptop or tablet!) Time permitting, we will discuss how choices of teaching strategies can be evaluated and updated.
Elements of Engagement
As an interactive workshop, the goal of this session is to help participants to identify and choose teaching practices, based on their own needs, course content, and goals. While some information from the literature (and teaching experiences) will be shared by the facilitators, most workshop time will be devoted to small breakout groups and whole group discussions and activities. Workshop materials (e.g., references) will be available online. Participants will high five each other (in person or via Zoom reaction) and then leave the workshop having identified and planned elements of their own sustainable course.
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The teaching tightrope: Balancing use of evidence-based practises while conserving instructor bandwidth
Physics and Astronomy, room 150
The landscape of science education research (Discipline-Based Educational Research [DBER], Scholarship of Teaching and Learning [SoTL]) has changed and grown dramatically in recent decades. Along with the wealth of knowledge, examples, guides and conferences are the decisions of which strategies to use, how to best employ them, and evaluate their success (formally or informally). Educators face constraints including time, resources, and effort required to implement certain teaching approaches, as well as increasing expectations of providing more student support (e.g., development of communication skills, metacognition). We can’t do all the things … so what do we do?
The decisions and decision-making process can feel overwhelming, particularly if developing a new course, facing financial/resource constraints, or just experiencing decision fatigue. How can we design/redesign our courses to be sustainable, for us and our students?
In this workshop, we’ll explore common challenges faced by science instructors designing and teaching–often large–undergraduate courses that use evidence-based methods. As practitioners, we will discuss prioritization of goals, and strategies for choosing teaching and assessment methods within and beyond common models for course design (e.g., backwards design), while also giving ourselves permission to NOT Do All The Things. The trade-offs of common active learning and assessment activities will be discussed. Participants will reflect and work together to identify priorities and strategies for their own courses. (A connected device may be helpful in capturing ideas - please consider bringing your smartphone, laptop or tablet!) Time permitting, we will discuss how choices of teaching strategies can be evaluated and updated.