I completed the DePaul University Office for Teaching, Learning and Assessment’s Teaching and Learning Certificate Program (TLCP) during the 2017-2018 academic year. The initial goals that I set for myself for participation in the program include:

  • Learning new strategies for classroom management and discussion facilitation, as well as to make lecture material more engaging and accessible for students; and
  • Using my participation in the program to network with colleagues’ from across campus interested in innovative teaching methods.

I accomplished these goals, and more, through my participation in the program through attending a variety of professional development workshops and organizing a workshop for the 2018 DePaul Teaching and Learning Conference.

The DePaul Teaching Commons workshops I attended during the spring 2018 term, in addition to the annual teaching and learning conference include:

  • Navigating Pedagogical Choices by Heightening Awareness of Linguistic Preferences: Practical Strategies for Supporting English-as-an-additional-language Students (March 27, 2018);
  • Engaging Students Around Diversity and Social Justice (April 12, 2018);
  • Engaging and Supporting International Students In and Out of the Classroom (April 20, 2018); and
  • It Takes More Than a Major: Employer Priorities for College and Student Success (May 4, 2018)

The major takeaway for me in terms of my teaching is to gain a more holistic understanding of the international student experience at DePaul University from the April workshop on supporting and engaging international students.

In addition, I gained specific ideas and strategies for how to better support all of my students, domestic and international, in their academic success. The annual teaching and learning conference was an excellent opportunity to reflect on my teaching practice and exchange ideas with colleagues from across campus in a peer-to-peer environment.