Talking about Teaching
Overview
Talking about Teaching is a Community of Practice (CoP). A Community of Practice (CoP) is a group of people, sharing a common interest, who come together to share experiences and ideas in an effort to develop personally and professionally. A CoP is designed to be shaped by the members’ needs and goals.
In Spring 2024 we are launching our first instructional CoP – Talking about Teaching. Join your colleagues to discuss classroom challenges, share effective teaching practices, and innovate and create new ideas to support learning at WSB. We will start off with popular teaching topics, but hope in the future these topics are shaped by your classroom needs.
Below you will find more information about this semester’s topics and the special guest instructors who have volunteered to lead the conversation.
How it will work
Most importantly, as the name implies, a Community of Practice is created by and for its members. As such, we need YOU to make this CoP a success.
As we start this new program we are providing some structure by pre-selecting this semester’s topics (see calendar below). However, each session will remain open and flexible to the interests of those in attendance. Keeping that in mind, this is how a typical Talking about Teaching session will go:
- Join us in-person or on Zoom (when available) and a TL&A team member will kick off the session by introducing the topic and special guest instructor(s).
- Special guest instructor(s) will share their experiences related to that day’s topic. This presentation can be as long or short as they wish; it can be a pure presentation, a panel, or an interactive discussion, we want to leave the presentation style up to you!
- After the special guest instructor(s) presents their perspective, we encourage open discussion, Q&A, demonstrations, etc. Again, as a CoP, these sessions are intended to be driven by you, the community of practitioners rather than being overly structured like a formal workshop or training would be.
Spring 2024 | Calendar
| Date & Location | Topic & Special Guest(s) |
|---|---|
| February 8 (Recap and Slides) | Generative AI with Cody Baldwin (Business Analytics) |
| February 27 (Recap and handout) | Discussions | Panel moderator: Joann Peck Panelists: Stav Atir, Bob Batt, and Emily Griffith |
| March 7 (Recap and handout) | Engagement Tips with Ann O’Brien (Accounting & Information Systems) |
March 18 (Recap and handout) | Feedback Strategies | Panel moderator: Joann Peck Panelists: Bob Batt (OIM), Martin Ganco (MHR), and Margie Rosenberg (R&I) |
| April 16 (Recap) | Group Projects | Panel moderator: Wendy Fritz Panelists: Moses Altsech (Marketing), James Windsor (MHR), and Karin Spader (TL&A) |
Is there a topic you’d like to hear more about? Submit your topic to Karin anytime!
Additional Resources
Learn more about CoPs by exploring these resources below:
- Read the original description of CoPs | Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511803932 (hard copies available at MERIT & Memorial Libraries, call no. HD58.82 W45)
- Learn more about why CoPs are important from UC-Berkeley
- Learn about the core principles of a CoP from the Center for the Professional Education of Teachers at Columbia University
- Want to dig deeper? Download this guide for cultivating CoPs from Educause.