ANNUAL REPORT - Derek Bok Center, Harvard University

[Pages:5]ANNUAL REPORT

2018?19

CONTENTS

1 Letter from the Directors 2 Our Intergenerational Community 3 Preparing Teachers to Succeed 4 Deepening Knowledge 5 Reflecting on Teaching and Learning 6 Equity and Inclusion 8 Addressing Power and Privilege in the Classroom 9 Designing and Supporting Courses 10 Investing in General Education 11 Putting Goals at the Center 12 The Learning Lab

13 At The Intersection of Art and Technology 14 Multimodal Assignments 16 Video Narratives: A Powerful Learning Tool 17 Learning Through Community 18 Partnerships Across the Disciplines 19 A Teacher of Teachers 20 International Teachers and Scholars 21 Communicating Professionally 22 Enriching K-12 Education 23 Advancing the Conversation 24 Our Team

DEAR FRIENDS,

The Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning continued to flourish during 2018?19, supporting educational excellence in Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences. This year we worked with faculty from 95% of FAS departments and with graduate students from 90% of all PhD programs across the university. Through consultations, seminars, workshops, and more, we offered instructors numerous ways to reflect on their teaching and design new approaches to enhance student learning.

A number of themes are woven throughout our work and the pages of this annual report:

Equity and Inclusion. Our overarching goal is to enable instructors to create learning environments where all students feel that they belong and can thrive. This spring, we hired an Assistant Director for Equity and Inclusion to enrich our work in this area.

Engagement and authenticity. We support instructors in creating effective learning experiences that foster student agency and engagement. For example, this year we collaborated with over 75 faculty to develop General Education courses, which aim to draw explicit connections with the world beyond the classroom.

Community. We strive to create a sense of community among instructors and learners, encouraging the sharing of perspectives and approaches. For example, we met regularly throughout the year with our graduate student fellows -- providing mentoring and professional development, and, at the same time, building community among young instructors who are passionate about teaching.

On any given day this year, the Bok Center was bursting with activity. Undergraduates visited the Learning Lab as part of class -- perhaps learning how to make a podcast, or recording an interview on camera. Graduate fellows gathered to discuss a reading about inclusive teaching, while undergraduate fellows tested newly designed activities for courses that we are supporting. Faculty met with Bok staff to discuss potential assignments for their classes and develop plans to train their Teaching Fellows.

Over the past year, we convened faculty to discuss important topics in higher education: at a national level, our Summit on Excellence in Higher Education examined how an undergraduate liberal arts education can contribute to the public good; at a more local level, we hosted an exploratory seminar to develop strategies for faculty to support low-income and first-generation students.

We are excited by the vibrant, welcoming communities at the Bok Center, and the ways they help enhance teaching and learning at Harvard. We look forward to another exciting and impactful year!

Warmly,

ROBERT LUE

Richard L. Menschel Faculty Director of the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning

TAMARA BRENNER

Executive Director

1

OUR INTERGENERATIONAL COMMUNITY

695 unique graduate students participated in Bok Center programming

NON-FAS 5%

SOCIAL SCIENCES 26%

ARTS AND HUMANITIES 30%

SCIENCE & SEAS 40%

60 GSAS graduate programs represented

332 unique faculty worked with the Bok Center

NON-FAS 13%

SOCIAL SCIENCES 27%

ARTS AND HUMANITIES 30%

SCIENCE & SEAS 31%

1/3 of our faculty clients were full professors

116 postdocs worked with the Bok Center

1449 undergraduate students visited the Bok Center as part of a course

2

PREPARING TEACHERS TO SUCCEED

Pre-term workshops introduce instructors to the resources of the Bok Center and explore highlights of foundational topics in teaching and learning.

366

participants attended the Fall Teaching Conference and Winter Teaching Week.

These pre-term conferences help new Teaching Fellows (TFs) prepare for the semester, and provide more experienced TFs with opportunities to explore topics that include giving feedback, fostering an inclusive classroom, and creating a teaching portfolio.

71

new faculty attended fall orientation workshops, where we explored a variety of ways to engage students in different classroom spaces.

22

undergraduate course assistants (CAs) attended a new four-part workshop series that we developed in collaboration with the Math, Applied Math, and Statistics Departments. This was the first time that the Bok Center has offered training specifically for CAs, who play a significant teaching role in many STEM courses.

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DEEPENING KNOWLEDGE

Building on the short sessions offered in our pre-term programs, during the term we provide sustained, collaborative settings for instructors to deepen their knowledge through practice and reflection.

24

Bok Seminars

180

Participants

2,700 In-class hours

Through our Bok Seminars, graduate students explored topics in teaching and learning in depth. Seminars included: ?? Linguistic Diversity in the Classroom ?? Communicating Science ?? Teaching and the Job Market: Getting from

"TF" to "Colleague" ?? Power and Ethics in the Classroom

50

faculty and graduate students attended our biweekly STEM journal club, which examines recent literature on science education research and encourages a community of scientists to share ideas about effective teaching.

We offered an inaugural Course Design Institute for faculty teaching in the revised General Education Program. Over four meetings, our first cohort of faculty participants discussed principles of effective course design and created syllabi and assignments for their new courses.

"I gained a repertoire of techniques to be used in my teaching, both in theory and practice ....most of all, how to become more conscious of my own teaching and how to improve it for a diverse community of learners."

BOK SEMINAR PARTICIPANT

4

REFLECTING ON TEACHING AND LEARNING

At the heart of effective teaching is reflective teaching. By helping faculty and graduate students see their teaching practice from the perspective of their students, we enable instructors to make pedagogical choices that are authentic to them and to learn and grow in their practice.

240

video consultations prompted graduate student instructors to reflect on their teaching with Bok staff and fellows.

24 graduate students earned a teaching certificate, completing at least three Bok Seminars and demonstrating a substantive engagement with and reflection on teaching.

206 faculty members consulted with Bok Center staff on topics ranging from student feedback, to assignment and syllabus design, to handling controversial topics. Every consultation is an opportunity for reflection and growth.

The Bok Educational Research and Evaluation team helped faculty and administrators use data to reflect on what is working, by:

?? developing and implementing 16 surveys ?? conducting 30 focus groups or interviews ?? consulting on 5 grants

These activities informed high-level assessment projects of importance university-wide, including a review of the FAS course evaluation tool, or Q. We collaborated with Harvard College Institutional Research to conduct a systematic review of proposed course evaluation questions; findings from this work will contribute to future Q revisions.

5

EQUITY AND INCLUSION

The Bok Center is helping to foster learning environments that support all students, through seminars, workshops, and initiatives that bring students and instructors together in discussion.

WE CONVENED CONVERSATIONS AND PROVIDED TRAININGS ABOUT INCLUSIVE TEACHING.

3 new lunchtime workshops engaged graduate students in issues of equity and inclusion, with a focus on gender identity and gender pronouns.

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faculty and staff participated in a Bok Exploratory Seminar on fostering an inclusive environment in the classroom, with a focus on low-income and first-generation students.

The two-part seminar, which was organized by Bok Center Faculty Fellow Linda Schlossberg (Lecturer on Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality), led to the creation of a list of recommendations of practices that can lead to more inclusive classrooms.

46

graduate students attended Bok Seminars on power, privilege, and identity in the classroom.

"My perception on power and group dynamics has changed. I will definitely implement those in my mentorship and teaching; also, [I learned] more practical exercises to foment a safe environment for discussion."

BOK SEMINAR PARTICIPANT

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