Workshops
Crown Workshops
AY 25-26
Block 1: Inclusive Participation
In a recent informal study, students reported that how their professors structure class participation greatly effects their enjoyment of the class and their ability to operationalize their learning. This session will address specific strategies for creating environments that support students’ risk-taking and for cultivating robust, meaningful, and inclusive student participation.
Block 3: Collaborative and Interdisciplinary Teaching
At their best, team-taught classes can offer students valuable opportunities to apply diverse methodologies, epistemologies, and perspectives to a topic. While interdisciplinary teaching can be rewarding for students, it is often challenging for professors. This session will cover best practices for collaborative teaching and provide an opportunity for participants to share ideas for collaborative classes with other faculty.
Block 5: Alternative Assessment Strategies
Alternative grading processes such as ungrading or contract grading are becoming increasingly common, as they offer students increased agency over the evaluation of their learning. However, the learning curve to apply these techniques effectively can be steep. This session addresses the pros, cons, and practicalities of selected assessment practices.
Block 5: Writing Letters of Recommendation
This session focuses on writing effective letters of recommendation for students pursuing graduate and professional opportunities, including but certainly not limited to the health professions. We will discuss strategies which strengthen our recommendations, lessen the workload of letter writing (without the use of AI), and craft helpful boundaries around agreeing to letters of recommendation - like when to say no! The goal is to support faculty in ensuring our students receive the best possible advocacy in their application process.
Block 6: Exploring Advising Case Studies
In this workshop, we'll use a series of advising scenarios to prompt a broader discussion of the opportunities and challenges for faculty advising at CC to consider how we can effectively advise students in a wide range of contexts and situations.
Block 7: Mentoring Strategies
A significant amount of students’ learning happens outside of the classroom, often in extracurricular settings such as coaching, advising, work-study positions or faculty/student research projects. This session will explore structured and informal ways of leveraging these relationships to help students process information, work through problems, and effectively plan next steps.
AY 24-25
Block 1: Generative Artificial Intelligence
As part of CC's participation in the 2024-25 AAC&U Institute on AI, Pedagogy, and the Curriculum, we invite you to a lunch discussion on the evolving landscape of teaching and generative AI at our college. Faculty and staff from the institute team will share insights on current pedagogical strategies and considerations for implementation of AI in the specific context of our CC classrooms. This will also be an open forum to hear your experiences, insights, and concerns as we navigate these technologies together on our campus
Block 2: Faculty Advising at CC
Supportive advising enables students to chart a thoughtful path through CC and beyond, taking advantage of the college’s rich curriculum and co-curricular activities, as well as opportunities such as study away, internships, and undergraduate research. Whether you’re new to advising or a seasoned advisor, please join us for a lunchtime workshop on advising at CC. We’ll briefly discuss advising nuts and bolts, then invite colleagues from across campus to share approaches and ideas for effective (and efficient!) advising, leaving plenty of time for questions and broader discussion.
Block 5: Possibility Books
Come experience Possibility Books (PB) and have time to adapt the prompts to align with any course. PB materials are provided for each class using this method. Possibility Books are a brief daily exercise (~10 minutes at the start of class) in which students are asked to respond to various prompts through mark-making and dialogue.
Block 5: Writing Letters of Recommendation
Hosted by the current Health Professions Advising Committee, this session focuses on writing letters of recommendation. It is recommended for both newer letter writers as well as seasoned recommenders from all divisions, writing to support students pursuing a wide range of opportunities.
Block 6: Crown Conversations Project
What makes a conversation work? What sets an effective conversation apart from one that leaves its participants confused, frustrated, or disillusioned? Do important conversations have to be difficult? And how can we experience even difficult conversations as valuable? Join us to reflect on some of the themes that have emerged from this project so far. We’ll exchange strategies for generative conversation, think together about the challenges we’re currently facing, and test-drive a few case studies.
Block 7: From Nuts & Bolts to Meaningful Advising Conversations
Block 7: Experiential Learning & World Readiness
Conversations on AI
AY 24-25
Block 3:
- Excel at CC: "AI in the Workplace"
- "Three Applications of Machine Learning to Structural Biology" Faculty Lunch Talk
Block 4:
- "GenAI Pop-Up Conversations"
AY 23-24
Block 3:
- "Work of the College" Panel Discussion on Artificial Intelligence
- "AI and the CC Honor Code"
Block 4:
- "An Intro to Generative AI"
- "The Ethics of chatGPT"