Join our Circle. Artificial intelligence has already begun to change the world. In the coming months and years, it will transform culture, employment opportunities, human thought, and communication. AI-generated text, in particular, poses both threats and opportunities to the landscape of higher education. We invite you to join faculty and staff throughout Clarkson University in discussing this important issue in our next series of Teaching Circles.
Hosted by Clarkson University Institute for STEM Education (STEM Ed) and the Faculty Support and Development Task Force.
When: Register for Zoom Link and Add to your calendar:
- Thursday, March 23, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
- Thursday, April 6, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
- Thursday, April 20, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
About Teaching Circles:
Teaching circles are intentional communities at Clarkson who share concerns and interests related to teaching. They are safe spaces in which colleagues (1) generate and share developments related to teaching, (2) ideate innovations or interventions designed to enhance student learning, (3) seek scholarly research and resources to inform and support implementation of trials.
Suggest a circle topic or start your own: Our aim is to grow the number of circles based on topics and interest from within the Clarkson community. You can help shape this program with your willingness to get involved. Suggest a topic, facilitate a circle or contribute suggestions. More on this in Moodle.
When applicable, teaching circles will contribute to Clarkson’s greater community of teaching and learning through presentations/publication of findings to colleagues.
Teaching Circles are coordinated by the Faculty Support and Development Task Force. Participation is open to any faculty, staff, and graduate teaching assistants.
What to expect:
- Each circle will be theme or topic focused and is guided by a facilitator or co-facilitators. Facilitators are responsible for organizing circle meetings, posting to circle’s online forum, circle goal setting & check ins, facilitate discussions, arranging for outside expertise (speakers, guest contributors, etc) and encouraging members to contribute fully. Facilitators volunteer in this leadership role for professional development and exploration of topics of interest.
- Circle Rules:
- Join as many circles as you like
- Drop out of a circle at any time
- Participate actively
- Be respectful and inclusive
- Teaching circle members will engage in active discussion and contribution is encouraged. Circles meet via Zoom for bi-weekly discussions and will have a home in a Moodle course, as a platform for hosting/sharing resources, facilitating online discussion.
Have an idea for a Teaching Circle? Great! Contact Alexander Cohen (acohen@clarkson.edu), Associate Director of Faculty Support, to pitch your idea.
Facilitators are required to:
- Hold meetings in a way that allows attendance and participation from all campuses. If Zoom is not appropriate, producing a recording is.
- Ensure that attendance is logged. This is easily automated through Zoom logs, but alternate means are acceptable if Zoom is not utilized.
- Create, in collaboration with Alexander Cohen or Laura Perry, a standing section on the Teaching Circles Moodle site to provide an archive of programming and a forum for ongoing discussion and collaboration.
Facilitators are encouraged to:
- Post to circle’s forum a greeting, and introduction
- Other suggested posts: relevant experience on the topic, resource review, questions for circle to explore, and comments of interest on the topic
- Moderate forum discussion
How to Join Teaching Circles:
Click to enroll in the Teaching Circles course in Moodle and complete the Choose a Teaching Circle activity.
For questions, contact a Faculty Support and Development Task Force:
- Alexander Cohen, acohen@aamidon
- Kathleen Kavanagh, kkavanag@clarkson.edu
- Laura Perry, lperry@clarkson.edu
- Christopher Robinson, crobinso@clarkson.edu
- Erin Blauvelt, eblauvel@clarkson.edu
- Tom Langen, tlangen@clarkson.edu
- Kathleen Issen, kissen@clarkson.edu
- Loretta Driskel, ldriskel@clarkson.edu
- Jan DeWaters, jdewater@clarkson.edu
