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Photograph of the statue of William Oxley Thompson, former president of The Ohio State University, and views beyond the statue to the Oval, which is edged by Welcome Week banners that herald the start of a new academic year. The Academy of Teaching:
Previous Events

The following are descriptions of past events organized by members of the Academy of Teaching at The Ohio State University. Each was offered in collaboration with Ohio State's University Center for the Advancement of Teaching (UCAT). You can scroll down to read descriptions of some of our past events, or click on the category names to move directly to descriptions of specific events.

Event categories include

For more information about other UCAT events, click here>>.

Conversations About Teaching

"A Dream Deserved: A Reception with President Gordon Gee"
Thursday, November 29, 2007 from 3:00–4:30 p.m.
The Younkin Success Center Library

Mini–Conferences on Teaching

Beginning in May 2007, The Ohio State Academy of Teaching has offered a one–day seminar showcasing excellence in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), through the best practices of its members. Each year the free seminar has been open to all faculty, graduate students, and staff who wanted to improve their instructional skills and learn more about the vital link between teaching excellence and scholarship.

Click on the move directly to information about a particular year's conference, click on the

Mini–Conference on Scholarship, Teaching, and Best Practices:
Friday, May 4, 2007
The following sessions were offered at the first annual Mini–Conference:

  • Welcome Address––Archie Griffin, President and CEO of The Ohio State University Alumni Association
  • "Making Sense of Darwin for Nonmajors: Strategies for Increasing Understanding and Acceptance of Evolution," Susan Fisher (Department of Entomology; guest presentation)
  • "Why Not Make Them Do the Work: Active Techniques in the Classroom," Dave Tomasko (Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Director of the Center of Affordable Nanotechnology of Polymeric Biomedical Devices)
  • "Promoting Teaching Excellence at the Grassroots Level," Brian Joseph (Department of Linguistics)––Keynote Address
  • "Teaching in the 21st Century," Victoria Getis (then Interim Director, and now Director, of Ohio State's Digital Union)
  • "Building an Infrastructure for Education Research," Dennis Pearl (Department of Statistics, and Director of INQUERI; guest presentation)
  • "Which Way is Up? The Virtues of Vertical and Horizontal Teaching," Mohamed Yousif (Department of Mathematics, Ohio State's Lima Campus)
  • "Developing and Documenting Your Teaching Effectiveness," seminar conducted by winners(s) of Ohio State's Graduate Associate Teaching Award
  • "Beyond Window Dressing––Making Powerpoint Slides and Pictures Effective Teachers of Concepts," Joseph F. Donnermeyer (Rural Sociology Program)
  • "Getting Graduate Students Minds Out of the Classroom and into the Research World," Dave Tomasko (Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Director of the Center of Affordable Nanotechnology of Polymeric Biomedical Devices)
  • "Involving Students in Transformative Research: A Multi–Media, Community–Based, and Group–Oriented Approach," Judy Wu (Department of History)

Mini–Conference on Scholarship, Teaching, and Best Practices:
Friday, April 25, 2008
The following sessions were offered at the second annual Mini–Conference:

  • Welcome Address––Joseph Donnermeyer, Executive Committee Chair, The Ohio State University Academy of Teaching
  • "A Teaching Mosaic: Piecing Together a Community of Learning," Kathryn Plank (Associate Director of UCAT), with UCAT's Teresa Johnson and Heather Mitchell
  • "Your Average Standard Deviation: Creating a Liberal Arts Environment in a Large University Statistics Class," Jackie Miller (Department of Statistics)
  • "What Makes a Good TA," Brian Joseph (Department of Linguistics), with Hope C. Dawson and Masha Alley
  • "Digital Storytelling as a Teaching Tool," The Ohio State University's Digital Storytelling Team
  • "The Never–Ending Rehearsal of Teaching," Richard Blatti (School of Music)
  • "TELR’s 3rd Annual 'Five Minutes of Fame,'" staff from Ohio State's Technology Enhanced Learning and Research (TELR)
  • "Many Are Called, but Few Show Up: Building Scholarly Communities in a Busy University," Joseph Donnermeyer (Department of Human and Community Resource Development)
  • "All of Mathematics is Trivial Once You Know How to Do It," Ron Solomon (Department of Mathematics)
  • "Teaching Metacognition," Marsha Lovett (Associate Director for Faculty Development, Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence and Associate Research Professor, Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University)
  • "Engaging the Mob: Keeping Attention in a Large Classroom," Laura Deeter (Department of Horticulture)
  • "Assessment: A Strategy to Improve Learning," Alexis Collier (Associate Provost, Ohio State's Office of Academic Affairs)
  • "Digital Tools for Outreach and Engagement," Liv Gjestvang (Coordinator of Events and Education, Ohio State's Digital Union) and Robert P. Griffiths (eLearning Consultant, Ohio State's TELR)

Mini–Conference on Scholarship, Teaching, and Best Practices:
Friday, April 24, 2009
The following sessions were offered at the third annual Mini–Conference:

  • "In Making Teaching Great, the Basics Still Work," Richard Freuler, College of Engineering
  • "Digital Storytelling as a Teaching Tool," Karen Diaz (University Libraries), Anne Fields (University Libraries), and Heather Mitchell (UCAT), with Joel Bloch, Cynthia Dillard, and Brian Edmiston (College of Education and Human Ecology), and Joy Reilly (Department of Theatre)
  • "Lunch and Five Minutes of Fame by TELR"
  • "Calendar Conversion:  What It Means for Teaching and Learning at Ohio State," Teresa Johnson and Kathryn Plank, UCAT
  • "Teaching On–Line," Valerie Rake, TELR

Round Table Conversations About Teaching

All university faculty, administrators, and TAs are invited to participate in quarterly conversations about teaching, hosted by the Academy of Teaching. Academy members are interested in sharing their thoughts and insights into various teaching issues at Ohio State through both facilitating these informal conversations and formal teaching enhancement opportunities with the university community. It is hoped that these events will help foster greater conversation about important teaching issues among Ohio State faculty.

Previous Round Table events' topics include:

"Why I Choose to Teach Introductory Classes"
February 11, 2003 – Facilitated by John Wenzel, Entomology

"Teachers are Leaders Leading Change"
May 15, 2003 – Facilitated by Oliver McGee, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geodetic Science

"Our Changing Student Body"
February 4, 2004 – Facilitated by Ian Sheldon and Carl Zulauf,
Agricultural, Environmental, and Developmental Economics

"Honoring Teaching at a Research University"
This presentation considered how Research I institutions can demonstrate to faculty that teaching is something held in high esteem.

"The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning"
This presentation centered around the exploration of issues and methods of the scholarship of teaching and learning. Methods, the dissemination of individual projects, and implementation of design were discussed.

"Teaching and Learning at Ohio State––Student Perspectives"
This presentation was open to all university faculty, administrators, and GTAs, as part of a quarterly series of conversations about teaching that were hosted by members of the Academy of Teaching.