Fall 2018 Teaching & Learning Conference Recap

The annual Colleges of the Fenway Conference was held at Simmons University on November 1-2, 2018.   Over the course of the two days, 128 people attended some aspect of the conference. In addition to three “Ted-Talk” style COF Community Chats, participants were able to engage with over 20 poster presenters at an evening session on November 1.  The Community Chat topics included “Teaching the Unknown: The Case of Graphic Medicine,” “Teaching Through Dialogue: Issues of Ethnicity, Race, and Nationalism Through Examination of the Holocaust,” and “Handshouse Studio: Learning is the Last Great Adventure.”  When asked about their experience at the poster presentations, one participant said: “I really appreciated getting a chance to present my work!”

On November 2, there were opportunities for participants to attend a networking breakfast and/or lunch. Participants chose  among 3-5, 30 or 60-minute unique teaching demonstration workshops per hour. Some of the teaching demonstration topics included, “Using a Course Syllabus to Build a Classroom Learning Community,” Writing in your STEM Course,” and “First-Day Questions for Learner-Centered Classrooms.” Regarding the teaching demonstrations, one participant expressed: “The best part of the conference was interaction and sharing within the sessions themselves. The fact that COF faculty presented the materials led to inspirational discussions.”

In addition to the teaching demonstration workshops on November 2, there was a collaboration award celebration and a faculty panel on “Learning from Experience: Models of Faculty Success.” When asked about their experience at the conference overall, one participant said: “All parts of the conference I attended were excellent. I loved the variety and options offered this year!”  We are already looking forward to next year’s conference! Stay tuned for more details.