Pedagogy Refresh

This online series is being edited! Feel free to peruse the information here, but look out for an announcement this winter when we’re updating and relocating this series. Note that Fall 2025 is the last semester that this series can be completed for a stipend in its current form!

Welcome to Pedagogy Refresh, an introductory level self-paced series where new and returning faculty can brush up on some of the pedagogical ideas we might encounter in the higher education classroom: Universal Design for Learning, Student Engagement, Feedback, and Community.

Each topic should take about 1-1.5 hours to complete; we’ve bookmarked areas and additional resources throughout each module, so take time to dig deep into areas that you find particularly resonant.

The series will be supported by scholarship and research on teaching and learning, and participants will walk away with concrete next steps for re-thinking their pedagogy.  Click on the names of each topic listed below to explore!

Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Universal design for learning (UDL) is a teaching and course design approach for accommodating all learners. UDL is an accessible and inclusive instructional approach for addressing learners’ needs and abilities and encourages the development of flexible learning environments.  

The three key principles of UDL asks that 1/ information should be presented in multiple ways, 2/ students should engage in their learning in a variety of ways, and 3/ students should be provided with options for demonstrating their learning. 

Student Engagement

Though there are many parts to the equation when considering student student engagement, we know that having your students engaged in the work of your class is important to their learning because it promotes critical thinking skills, increases attention and focus, and makes the topic more meaningful (which means it’s more likely to ‘stick!).

In this topic, we’re leaning into what we see as three critical components of student engagement (though there are many): active learning, fostering motivation, and community building. And so, we’ll think through aspects of a class that can build around these core tenets to get students to rely on each other, build knowledge together, and motivate to think critically about the courses’ key goals or objectives.

Feedback

A great way to encourage student growth in various ways in the classroom and beyond is to develop their skills for giving meaningful and relevant feedback both to peers and on their own work. Feedback skills can be developed in various ways, applied to formative and summative assessments, and can also enhance instances of self-assessment, peer review, and even instructor feedback through a semester together.

This topic will cover various Feedback models that we find usefully geared toward developing a classroom dialogue that encourages growth, reflection, and care.

Community

In this Community Building topic, we’ll examine why interactions between professors and classmates are so important to building community throughout the semester. 

We’ll focus on student-led interactions, discuss the role of de-centering class information, review some team-based learning concepts, and suggest lots of strategies for doing this formative classroom work both in person and online.

We’ll talk about the key concepts of community building from existing Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and then ask you to reflect on instances of these interactions from past teaching and learning experiences.

Stipending is available for this series – $200 stipend for eligible faculty who complete 3 out of the 4 modules between weeks 1-12 of a semester. Note that Fall 2025 is the last semester that this series can be completed for a stipend in its current form!

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