The Importance of Empathy in Teaching |
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In last week’s newsletter, we reminded you about policies regarding classroom behavior, academic freedom, and student and faculty rights, as well as resources for handling difficult conversations. As we all navigate dramatic changes happening at the federal level that affect both our personal and professional lives, we need to remember that students are also feeling the turbulence. In fact, they may feel it even more deeply given the increased likelihood that students may face uncertainty around immigration issues, funding, support systems, and other critical issues that affect their day to day lives. And they may not fully understand the impact of these changes, leading to fear, confusion, and anxiety that can bleed over into their learning and your classroom environment.
Faculty may also feel helpless about the changes that are happening, but you can make a difference to your students by practicing empathy. When applied to teaching, empathy can help build relationships with students, enhance communication, promote a positive learning environment, support student well-being, and yes, even enhance learning outcomes (for more information, see Zhou, 2022). Meyers et al. (2019) reported that there are two critical characteristics of successful instructors who are also high in empathy: 1. They set personal boundaries to avoid becoming overwhelmed by compassion fatigue; and 2. They prioritize student learning.
Here are some ways we recommend practicing empathy in your instructional practice to support student learning:
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Reach out to students who are struggling. A small act on your part may represent a lifeline to a struggling student. In our January 16 newsletter, we showed you how to use Canvas gradebook functions to reach out to students who have missed deadlines.
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Identify and remove obstacles to learning and success. This DOES NOT mean lowering your standards, but it can mean something as simple as adding organizational modules to your Canvas page, rubrics to your assignments, or more flexible assignment deadlines and policies. Need ideas? Schedule a meeting with MBECTE consultants.
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Consider your own emotional reaction and try to reconnect. Jordan and Schwartz (2018) recognized the difficulty of practicing empathy when students are challenging. They recommended that instructors take these steps to try to understand, regroup, and reconnect: notice your own emotional reactions, pause and reflect on where those reactions are coming from, and then consciously try to reconnect to meet and move forward with your students.
- Encourage student connection and reflection. You can use check-ins in the classroom, employ group or peer learning activities, and provide reminders about student resources on campus.
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UEN and UALC Support for Open Educational Resources (OER) |
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COMMUNITY ENGAGED LEARNING UPCOMING EVENTS |
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Community Based Participatory Research Workshop Series
The Spring 2025 CEL Workshop Series will be on Community Based Participatory Research and will be led by Dr. Ana Antunes, who has recently published the book All In: Community Engaged Scholarship for Social Change
Workshop 2: Youth Participatory Action Research
Interested in conducting Youth Participatory Action Research? Dr. Ana Antunes will guide workshop participants through the basics utilizing examples from her own work with youth in Salt Lake City.
Friday, February 21; 11:45-12:45; virtual
Zoom Registration
Workshop 3: Youth Voices: Research by Youth for Youth
Hear from local youth conducting research about the research process, what they learned, and their hopes for the future of community based research.
Friday, March 28; 11:30-1:00pm; GC 4490
Register for lunch
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GRADUATE TEACHING CERTIFICATE |
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OFFICE OF UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH |
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The Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) is excited to announce the Education Series for Spring 2025. The OUR Education Series includes topics of interest for undergraduate student researchers and their faculty mentors. These events are open to all and are designed specifically with undergraduate students in mind. Faculty are welcome to incorporate these events into their classes and/or encourage their students to participate.
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Digital Learning Technology |
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UPCOMING DATES AND DEADLINES |
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295 S 1500 E | Salt Lake City , UT 84112 US
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This email was sent to kara.l.moore@utah.edu.
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