2017 Symposium on Teaching and Learning

The first day of the Symposium will be focused on Community-engaged Teaching, Learning, and Research, exploring and exemplifying the public purpose of higher education.  Featured speakers will include Ambassador Choonghee Hah, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations speaking on Global Citizenship Education, and Jennifer Farrington Sr. Director, Social Investing & V.P., BD Foundation.  We will also have individual breakout sessions and the Community Fellows poster presentation, as well as the awarding of the Percy Hughes Award for Scholarship, Humanity, and Social Change and the Library Research Prize during a lunch catered by South Side restaurants.

 

 

The second day will highlight Innovative Approaches to Teaching and Learning, with a focus on Engaging and Guiding Students, Creative Inquiry, and Learning through Visualization & Digital Media. The event will close with a talk, co-sponsored by numerous groups on campus, by Matthew Frye Jacobson (Professor of American Studies, History & African American Studies, Yale University) entitled "The Historian's' Eye: Meditations on Photography, History and the American Present."

 

The 2017 Symposium on Teaching and Learning at Lehigh will be held on Wednesday, April 19th and Thursday, April 20th.  Please mark your calendars and attend if you are able. 

The purpose of this annual event is to highlight new, interesting, and effective approaches to teaching and learning at Lehigh. We hope to disseminate good ideas, inspire others to try new approaches, and recognize the work of those who have met with success of one kind or another in their teaching. 


All are welcome to submit a proposal to give a talk at the Symposium. This year, we especially encourage proposals that fall under the following themes: 

• Active Learning

• Community-engaged Learning and Research
• Course-related Digital Humanities Projects
• Creative Inquiry 
• Entrepreneurial Minded Learning 

• Hybrid / Blended / Flipped Courses

• Inclusive Teaching

• Innovative Uses of Classroom Spaces
• Peer Learning / Collaborative Learning
• Project- or Problem-Based Learning


Please submit your proposal by March 20th, 2017.

Sincerely, 
The 2017 Symposium on Teaching and Learning at Lehigh Planning Committee:

• Greg Reihman, Associate Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning and Director of the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning (CITL)
• Ed Whitley, Director of the Mellon Digital Humanities Initiative (MDHI)
• Sarah Stanlick, Director of the Center for Community Engagement (CCE)
• John Ochs, co-PI of the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN) Grant
• Khanjan Mehta, Vice Provost for Creative Inquiry & Director of the Mountaintop Initiative
• Ilena Key, Assistant Director of the Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning (CITL)

Feedback from participants in the 2016 Symposium

98% of Symposium attendees responded that the Symposium was successful at meeting its goals - "to highlight new, interesting, and effective approaches to teaching and learning at Lehigh; to disseminate good ideas; to inspire others to try new approaches; and to recognize the work of those who have met with success of one kind or another in their teaching" [72%: very successful; 26% somewhat successful]

When asked, specifically, what made the Symposium so successful, attendees responded:

• "The opportunity to meet so many great members of the community, and hear about successes in innovative teaching across the institution."
• "It was neat to see a forum like this. Helps to bring out the best of Lehigh."
• "Hearing from faculty directly about their experiences."
• "I was awakened to the help available from CITL and the radical changes in the libraries that are in progress. "
• "It was very useful to see instructors from a range of departments and programs share their curricula and styles of teaching with us and each other. I feel that a symposium comprised of a diverse group of presenters and attendees provides for a fuller view of classroom instruction."
• "Really liked the morning session. It's always an interesting deep dive on interesting projects and ideas. The lightning round is always interesting too. Lots of useful tools and ways of thinking about technology."
• "The variety of presentations made by engaging faculty.... and a good wide range applications of technology and innovation. Good location for the conference."
• "Loved the varied and exciting approaches to familiar problems. Using technology is not usually part of my teaching, but I will try some of the approaches"
• "The open, collaborative, environment fostered by the Symposium was second-to-none."
• "I loved hearing about the innovative projects faculty were doing and how they all recognized the support they received from staff!"
• "So many different ideas presented. Great to see diversity in teaching."
• "I enjoyed the sessions 1 and 3 the most. I heard several ideas for projects that I could imagine using in my classroom. "
• "I always enjoy getting a peek into other faculty's classrooms (so to speak). I picked up a few new tools ..., so it will definitely enrich my own teaching. The short format of the lightning round was nice, maximizing what I could see in the time I spent."
• "Very good talks, and they fit the session title about engagement, which is an important and timely theme."
• "Great ideas about teaching approaches and ways to use digital tools. I really appreciated the way presenters talked about integrated the digital tools into their overall learning designs."
• "New ideas. Great and enthusiastic speakers."
• "The quality of the teaching work being done at Lehigh is always so impressive and energizing. The organization of the symposium was quite professional. I'm consistently torn between a desire to hear more presenters and a desire for less presenters and some significant time for questions and discussion. I think we could have benefited from some meaningful time for discussion at various points."
• "Well kept time limits, focused audience"
• "Loads of presenters -- lots of diversity in reports"
• "It was great to hear what others are doing and getting inspired by their innovative work."
• "The diverse background of people."
• "Successful in hearing from so many different people around Lehigh who are trying new things in the classroom and beyond"
• "The opportunity to hear about so many innovations at Lehigh in a short time."
• "It was great to hear from people you wouldn't normally hear from within your own department"
• "Input from a variety of instructors with different teaching objectives and challenges."
• "I enjoyed hearing about the new ways instructors are engaging students in a more experiential learning environment."
• "Great attendance! I loved the upstairs room layout with both structured seatings as well as a significant amount of soft-seating."

Learn more about past Symposia

• 2016 Symposium on Teaching and Learning.
• 2015 Symposium on Teaching and Learning.
• 2014 Symposium on Teaching and Learning.