Exploratory Teaching Groups, 2021-2022
Below please find brief descriptions of ETGs from the 2021-22 academic year.
Bootcamp Working Group for the Data Science for Energy and Environmental Research Program
This group worked to redesign the DSEER program’s Environmental Data Science bootcamps, to formalize training and advice for graduate student instructors, and to share what they have developed with programs across the University and at other institutions.
Chair:
Emily Padston, Executive Director, Data Science for Energy and Environmental Research Program
Computational Social Science Exploratory Teaching Group
This ETG aimed to discuss equitable and inclusive pedagogy for courses in computational social science and develop specific plans to adjust curricula based on these conversations. The group focused on developing a curriculum accessible to students both with and without prior experience in computer science.
Chair:
Benjamin Soltoff, Assistant Senior Instructional Professor in Computational Social Sciences and Associate Director, MACSS
Critical Contingency, Critical Accountability: Unlearning in Practice
This group was originally named “Anxious Pedagogies” and aimed to address issues of anxiety in the classroom; the group soon moved to a broader consideration of the norms and expectations for teaching and learning in the Humanities Core, including issues around grading, advising, and student mental and physical health.
Chairs:
Kimberly Kenny, Senior Instructional Professor, Germanic Studies and Humanities Collegiate Division
Geoffrey Rees, Associate Instructional Professor, Humanities Collegiate Division
Data Driven Course Development
This ETG focused on the use of using data collected for domain analysis projects in foreign language teaching for designing new coursework or redesigning existing coursework. Domain analysis is a way of systematically assessing what linguistic skills are needed for success in specific real-world language contexts. The ETG brought together instructors with experience in using this kind of data for course design with instructors interested in doing so.
Chair:
Nicole G. Burgoyne, Assistant Instructional Professor, German
Developing an Undergraduate Track in Spanish, Portuguese, and English Translation and Interpreting
This ETG aimed to develop Spanish and Portuguese translation tracks for students who have completed two years of language study. Together participants researched similar programs at other institutions, contacted professors and directors at such programs, planned a conference for development of the translation track, and engaged with stakeholders at the Chicago Language Center and the University.
Chairs:
Diana Palenzuela, Assistant Instructional Professor, Spanish
Celia Bravo, Assistant Instructional Professor, Spanish
Alan Parma, Assistant Instructional Professor, Spanish & Portuguese
Facilitating Meaningful Conversations about Race in Social Work Education
This ETG focused on increasing instructor self-awareness and improving the ability of instructors to facilitate difficult conversations related to race and racism in the classroom. The group met regularly to discuss bell hooks’ Teaching to Transgress in the context of participants’ goals and experiences in the classroom.
Chairs:
S Simmons, Assistant Instructional Professor, Crown Family School of Social Work
Jancey Wickstron, Assistant Instructional Professor, Crown Family School of Social Work
GIS in the Classroom
The goal of this group was to create interactive GIS-based resources that enable students and instructors to explore the intersections of space and social processes. Participants created and disseminated tutorials and assignments both for use as-is as models for other instructors.
Chairs:
Diana Schwartz Francisco, Assistant Instructional Professor, Center of Latin American Studies
Sara Newman, Assistant Professor, Anthropology
Modern Pedagogy and Ancient Languages: An Investigation into Shared Vocabulary
This group aimed to build community, discuss and assess practices, and develop a shared pedagogical vocabulary among teachers of premodern and ancient languages. Participants created a reading group (focused on the book Multi-literacies for Collegiate Foreign Language Teaching) with regular discussion sessions and invited a guest speaker on multi-literacies pedagogy.
Chairs:
Colin Shelton, Assistant Instructional Professor, Classics, and Language Program Coordinator for Latin and Ancient Greek
Laura Skosey, Lecturer, East Asian Languages and Civilizations and Director, Literary Chinese Program
Reenvisioning BIOS20170s Sequence: UChicago Pre-Med Sequence for Non-Biology Majors
This group sought to continue to evaluate the BIOS 20170s courses by collecting student feedback, to integrate learning goals and outcomes among courses in the BIOS 20170s, to assess the effectiveness of approaches used, and to develop assessment tools to gauge student learning.
Chairs:
Chris Andrews, Senior Instructional Professor/Senior Adviser, Biological Sciences Collegiate Division
Esmael Haddadian, Instructional Professor, Biological Sciences Collegiate Division
Understanding Pedagogical Aims and Methods Across the Social Sciences and Humanities Core
This ETG aimed to provide instructors in the Social Sciences and the Humanities Core with a better understanding of the pedagogical aims and methods of the Core sequences and writing programs in each of these Collegiate Divisions.
Chairs:
Samantha Fenno, Senior Lecturer, Humanities Collegiate Division and Chair, Human Being and Citizen
Anne Henly, Senior Instructional Professor, Psychology and Social Sciences Collegiate Division and Co-Chair, Mind
VR Technology in the Language Classroom
This group aimed to better understand the state of the art in teaching language with Virtual Reality as supporting media, to put into practice VR enhanced activities in language classes, and to gather feedback on and discuss these practices.
Chairs:
Juliano Saccomani, Assistant Instructional Professor, Romance Languages and Literatures
Claudia Quevedo-Webb, Assistant Instructional Professor, Romance Languages and Literatures
Exploratory Teaching Groups, 2020-2021
Below please find brief descriptions of ETGs from the 2020-21 academic year.
Alternative Assessment Modalities for STEM Courses
The aim of this ETG was to take a critical look at how to assess students in science courses and explore alternatives to the traditional lecture-homework-exam format of learning. The participants had lively conversations that were motivated by their reading of two recent texts: Specifications Grading, edited by Linda Nelson and Ungrading edited by Susan Bloom.
Chairs:
Kendra Burbank, Assistant Instructional Professor, Statistics
Dmitry Kondrashov, Instructional Professor, Biological Sciences Collegiate Division
Back to the Classroom: Humanities Collegiate Division
This ETG met for a series of structured discussions with the aim of generating practical recommendations for how best to return to the classroom after the pandemic. They focused their work in three different areas: inclusivity, syllabus design, and assessment. Their goal was to evaluate what structures the pandemic had laid bare and to assess what the best plan was for moving forward.
Chairs:
Kimberly Kenny, Senior Instructional Professor, Germanic Studies and Humanities Collegiate Division
Geoffrey Rees, Associate Instructional Professor, Humanities Collegiate Division
Economics Teaching Group
The goal of the Economics ETG was to discuss their current online pedagogical techniques and methods and to consider the extent to which these could continue when they return to non-remote courses. Their work consisted of a series of roundtable discussions anchored by a one instructor giving a motivating presentation on a specific topic to ground the conversation.
Chair:
Gina Pieters, Assistant Instructional Professor, Economics
Embodied Practice as Research
The goal of the ETG was to explore how bodies can be instruments of research and critical inquiry and how a focus on embodied practice challenges the tacit separation of theoretical and embodied pedagogical styles. The group consisted of peers from Theater and Performance Studies, Creative Writing, East Asian Languages and Civilizations, and English.
Chairs:
Leslie Buxbaum Danzig, Theater
Julia Rhoads, Dance
Tina Post, Performance Studies
Germanic Studies Pedagogy Site
The goal of the ETG was to develop a website dedicated to pedagogical reflections and resources for instructors and learners of Germanic languages, as a means of enriching the teaching and learning culture in Germanic Studies. Group work consisted of discussion of website platforms, collecting existing resources, and drafting website content.
Chairs:
Nicole G. Burgoyne, Assistant Instructional Professor of Germanic Studies and the Humanities Collegiate Division
Maeve Hooper, Assistant Senior Instructional Professor; Director of the German Language Program
GIS in the Classroom
This ETG is developing approaches and materials, including interfaces for incorporating Geographic Information Science (GIS) methods, in content courses that can be useful for instructors who wish to incorporate spatial thinking and concepts in their teaching and students’ learning, especially for instructors whose research and teaching focus is the Western Hemisphere. The knowledge and resources generated by the ETG will be implemented as concrete assignments for use in courses during the 2021-2022 academic year.
Chairs:
Diana Schwartz Francisco, Assistant Instructional Professor, Center for Latin American Studies and History, Social Sciences Division
Sarah Newman, Assistant Professor, Anthropology
Reenvisioning BIOS 20170s Sequence: UChicago Pre-Med Sequence for Non-Biology Majors
This ETG sought to re-evaluate the courses in the BIOS 20170s pre-med sequence, integrating learning goals, developing new assessment tools, and evaluating student learning. The ETG developed surveys to learn about student learning experiences in recent offerings of the sequence.
Chairs:
Chris Andrews, Senior Lecturer/Senior Adviser, Biological Sciences Collegiate Division
Oscar Pineda-Catalan, Senior Lecturer, Biological Sciences Collegiate Division
VR Technology in the Language Classroom
The goal of this ETG was to better understand the state of the art when it comes to teaching language with Virtual Reality as supporting media, and to eventually serve as a reference for a larger project aimed at developing Virtual Reality materials for classes in Spanish and Portuguese in the Romance Languages Department. Activities included idea-sharing discussions and invited guest speakers
Chairs:
Juliano Saccomani, Assistant Instructional Professor in Romance Language and Literatures
Claudia Quevedo-Webb, Romance Language and Literatures