At all levels of learning, meaningful work is outcome of an environment that supports students as they solve new and hard problems, work together as a cohort, and connect their learning to life. This sort of environment is not only necessary for students to thrive, but also faculty.
In our series in early 2020, faculty across campus shared their approaches to creating a meaningful environment. While methods varied by discipline, the foundational pedagogy was remarkably similar and can be adapted to any class.
During March 2020 and a switch to remote instruction, fostering joy, creativity, and meaning became more challenging. As we become more accustomed to our new world of mixed modality teaching, hopefully there will be more mental space to return to a space where we are all more joyous about teaching and learning.
The ideas on this page are collected from workshops during the Spring 2020 semester:
Educational practices have often treated learning as a chore students must suffer through. However, by introducing playful activities into the lesson plan, teachers can increase student engagement and focus. Join Dr. Louis Sylvester as he discusses methods for introducing various types of games and puzzles into the learning process. Join the discussion on how we can Increase student joy and creativity in the classroom without losing any educational value.
Boardgame Geek- a web database that contains information on every tabletop game ever, including reviews, videos, player aid files, rules clarifications, and forum discussions.
Dicetower- a podcast/video review website that produces weekly, up-to-date information on new games and favorite games.