Rice hosts second ever Symposium on Teaching and Learning

By Amber Tong     1/21/15 5:42pm

Rice University’s second ever Symposium on Teaching and Learning focused on providing practical tips on how to connect with students. The symposium, which took place on Jan. 16, featured a roundtable discussion, a keynote address and multiple Rice faculty teaching demonstrations.

“We wanted attendees to leave with lots of practical tips for enhancing their teaching practices, particularly with respect to engaging students in the learning process,” Center for Teaching Excellence Director and event organizer Joshua Eyler said.

According to Eyler, this year’s symposium had a different focus from the first.

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“Last year's [symposium] was conceived of as an internal launch for the CTE, and we wanted to focus on the fantastic things happening in Rice classrooms,” Eyler, also an adjunct associate professor in humanities, said.

A roundtable discussion featuring both faculty and students explored teaching problems at Rice and the best ways to engage students in learning. Nick Thorpe, a panelist and Lovett College senior, said he appreciated the different perspectives each panelists provided.

“This is my first time on a panel of this sort, and I enjoyed hearing the responses to other questions as well as noticing the overlap among the responses,” Thorpe said. “I also appreciated the opportunity to hear multiple perspectives – especially those of faculty and graduate students.”

Adrienne Simoes Correa, instructor of ecology and evolutionary biology in the Department of Biosciences, reflecting on a panelist’s comment about the ease of identifying teachers dedicated to teaching, said students’ commitment to learning is equally vital and should be emphasized.

“Today's world is very career driven,” Correa said. “In addition to seeking our careers here at Rice, professors and students can strive each day to inspire each other. Students who are inspired to learn motivate professors to continuously improve their courses; professors who are inspired to teach will excite and engage their students.”

After lunch, Ed Prather, University of Arizona associate professor of astronomy and recipient of the 2011 David Halliday and Robert Resnick Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Physics Teaching, delivered the keynote address.

Attendee Kimberly Reichel, a fifth-year doctoral candidate in applied physics, said Prather’s presentation identified how exactly Rice could improve.

“[The data Prather presented], and what it said about effective teaching and learning, was eye-opening,” Reichel said. “As a primarily research university, [Rice] needs to be more showcasing of the research on teaching and learning, so that we can apply this research to the courses we are instructing.”

The symposium concluded with teaching demonstrations from three Rice teachers, who showcased various technologies and techniques that they have been using in their classes.

Eyler said he was pleased with how the symposium turned out.

“We had more people attend this year's event than last year’s — which is saying something since we had 170 people attend last year, and the panels and keynote exceeded even our very high expectations,” Eyler said.

Attendee Giray Ozseker, a McMurtry College sophomore, said the symposium taught him multiple approaches for effective teaching and classroom techniques for his future career.

“The symposium addressed the issues faced by Rice today very accurately,” Ozseker said. “The solutions to these problems were well thought out and I am excited to see them happen inside and outside classroom.”

The CTE anticipates to host more events in the spring, according to Eyler.

“We are looking forward to our Spring Reading Group — a brand new program where interested instructors will come together to read How Learning Works by Susan Ambrose, et al.,” Eyler said. “We are also looking forward to hosting the second annual Teaching Awards Ceremony in April and hope that many Rice students will attend.”

More information on these events can be found on http://cte.rice.edu/.

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