Dear graduate employees,
We’ve had a wonderful year getting to know so many of you at workshops, in consultations, at events, and through our Graduate Teaching Initiative. As the spring term winds down, we want to express our appreciation for your dedication to your students. Please don’t forget to join us at our end-of-year celebration on May 20 from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Learn more and register on the Teaching Support and Innovation website.
Sincerely,
The TEP Team
This edition of Graduate Employee Teaching News brings you updates on teaching-related services, resources, and upcoming events to support your success in the classroom.
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| Graduate Student Spotlight
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Are you tired of assigning and grading essay after essay? Keya Saxena, Ph.D. candidate (JCOM), discovered a way to keep her students creatively engaged while producing high-quality work. In her winter term Intro to Women’s Studies course, she used transparent design to offer students an option to produce a podcast. She reported that her class went “amazingly!” Congratulations to Keya and her students on their success!
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Varying Assessments
Have you ever given a poster talk, a conference paper, or created a PowerPoint? These are different ways of expressing your knowledge and expertise as a graduate student. Varying these forms of expression for undergraduate students is just as important—in fact, it is a principle of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), an inclusive pedagogical framework. What’s great about UDL is that it offers you, the instructor, as much freedom in how you present material as it does students in demonstrating their knowledge. Our UDL resource (link above) offers a quick guide, and you can check out more ideas at the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST).
What strategies have you used or heard about to promote multiple means of expression in class? Send your ideas to tep@uoregon.edu from your UO email address with the subject line “Varying Assessments.”
We congratulate Kyla Pohl, Ph.D. Candidate in Mathematics, for winning our $10 raffle for their community building idea. Kyla’s tip: After giving students clear instructions, leave the room for a minute or two! Kyla notes, "By leaving the classroom for just a few moments after the day’s task is laid out, students have the opportunity to meet their peers and get started on their group work in a way that feels natural to them, without the pressure of an authority figure looking over their shoulder.” Appreciation goes out to Amala Someshwar, Psychology doctoral student at the Center for Translational Science. Amala asks students to answer each other's questions before providing an answer. This approach allows students to practice reviewing what they have understood about the material while also fostering a sense of community, as they learn to rely on each other for support. Great work!
Got a tip to share? Email tep@uoregon.edu with your questions or suggested topics.
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Graduate Employee Teaching Support
GEs are essential to UO’s teaching culture. Find workshops, teaching development programs, tailored support, and awards all in one place on TEP’s GE Teaching Support page.
Student Engagement Techniques
As we reach the end of the year and the sun finally comes out, it can be challenging for students to maintain focus. Check out our new page with a range of activities to boost student engagement, provide feedback, and prepare for assessments—with ideas for both in-person and online courses.
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Building Rubrics for Student Success & Efficient Grading
Thursday, May 8, 11 a.m.-noon in EMU Miller Room (107)
In this workshop you will pull apart rubrics to examine good design, draft pieces of a rubric, and discuss how to turn that rubric into a meaningful grade for your students.
Teaching Your First Course as the Instructor of Record
Monday, May 28, 2-4 p.m. in Straub Hall TEP Conference Room (401)
This session is for graduate students who will be teaching or co-teaching their first course as instructor of record. Join us to learn to design lessons, assignments, and assessments that align with your course learning objectives, and add to your toolkits of strategies for building class community and facilitating interactive class sessions. We will also discuss syllabus design and the policies you’ll need to develop and follow in your course.
Graduate Teaching Initiative – End-of-Year Celebration
Tuesday, May 20, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. in Knight Library DREAM Lab
Graduate students: You are invited to join the Teaching Engagement Program’s Graduate Teaching Initiative (GTI) end-of-year event for the 2024-2025 academic year. We will celebrate graduate students who are receiving their GTI certificates of completion.
The GTI is a program designed to support graduate students in developing a practice of teaching excellence. We welcome all UO graduate students with interest, including those who are working on or who have completed their certificates. Join us for snacks and community with graduate students across campus!
AI & the Duck Experience: How UO Students Are Using (or Avoiding) AI
Friday, May 30, 10-11:30 a.m. in EMU Lease Crutcher Lewis (023)
This 90-minute panel will feature five undergraduate students from various disciplines sharing their experiences, challenges, and expectations around AI in learning. Their insights can help educators refine and adapt their teaching practices in response to the evolving landscape of AI-enhanced education.
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Kimble First-Year Teaching Award
Deadline: June 30, 2025
The Kimble First-Year Teaching Award recognizes outstanding teaching by graduate student instructors who have demonstrated a commitment to inclusive, engaged, and research-led practice. The annual prizes typically are awarded to one first-time lab or discussion section leader and to one first-time sole instructor.
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| Teaching & Learning Communities
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Science Teaching Journal Club
Thursdays from 9-10 a.m. in LISB 217 or on Zoom
Join the journal club this spring as we focus on two topics. First: AI. How do people use AI now and how might it be changing the way we think? And how can AI make STEM teaching and learning more effective? Second: Exams. How can you analyze results to see if your exam accurately measured what you intended? And how do exam retake policies affect students?
Neurodivergent Instructors and Staff Affinity Group
First Monday of the month from 10-11 a.m. on Zoom
This recurring group discussion is a space for neurodivergent instructors and staff (and those who hold identities within the umbrella of neurodivergence, like autism, ADHD, dyslexia, bipolar, etc.) to connect in ways that feel positive, and to share community, resources, strategies, questions, and scholarship around both neurodivergence and other things that matter to you.
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We welcome your input to keep this newsletter informative and meaningful, so please send your ideas, resources, and suggestions our way. You can reach us at tep@uoregon.edu.
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