October

There are many common misconceptions about creativity.

It is not uncommon, for example, for people to relegate creativity to arts and crafts. That being said, there is now a growing recognition that creative problem solving is a part of many disciplines and professional practices.

Similarly, many people believed that creativity is a fixed trait, i.e. you are either born as a creative person or you are not. A recent spate of research, on the other hand, suggests that creativity, especially in the form of creative problem solving, is a skill that can be learned, especially through the implementation of thoughtful teaching strategies.

We invite you to join us for this interactive workshop, during which we will introduce instructional strategies designed to support teaching for creativity (and creative problem solving) within your discipline. 

This series of talks will highlight interesting teaching innovations at Penn State. The goals is to help further build a community of instructors who are interested in improving learning by their students. All are welcome. Lunch will be provided for those who pre-register.  

This discussion will explore the evolution of a new, flipped, integrative general education course focused on the art and science of human flourishing - the pursuit of a life of meaning and fulfillment based not just on personal happiness, but caring for others and ethics.  I will discuss the course's evolution as part of a three-university collaboration, the theory of the curriculum and the science behind it, and the evolution of our pedagogy to provide experiential, alongside conceptual, opportunities to learn.  Preliminary results from a scientific evaluation of the course as implemented at three universities will be presented. We will conclude with ample time to discuss how the core elements from this course might possibly be adapted for use in other course settings. 

In the built environment, Universal Design enables each of us to gain unimpeded access to a particular place, regardless of our need for accommodation. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) applies a similar set of brain-based, research-backed principles to reduce barriers to student learning and to address the variability of our learners, regardless of whether or not they request accommodations. Participants will engage in UDL-based activities and leave with exemplar UDL-inspired assignments developed by Penn State faculty.

This is a closed event customized for the requesting campus. If you are interested in a similar workshop for your area, contact us at site@psu.edu. 

For faculty and members of the learning design community who are interested in integrating critical pedagogical techniques and new elements of social justice, diversity, and inclusion into their classrooms by utilizing primary sources as a tool for meeting critical learning outcomes. Instructors new and practiced in critical pedagogy are welcome to attend. Participants will discover the pedagogical potential of primary resources in archives and special collections libraries and experiment with primary source analysis in order to analyze its usefulness as a critical pedagogical technique.
   
Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://psu.zoom.us/j/751855911

 Or by telephone:
    +1 646 876 9923 (US Toll)
    +1 669 900 6833 (US Toll)
   
   You may be asked to enter Meeting ID: 751 855 911

Instructional Foundations is a series of workshops for graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and instructors from all disciplines who have never taught at the university level (grading experience OK) prior to fall 2019. This discussion session provides an opportunity for Instructional Foundations participants to reflect on their experiences.

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