Reinert Center Events

Spring Faculty Book Discussion

How Learning Works: 8 Research-based Principles for Smart Teaching 

Wednesday, March 19, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m., location TBD

In their updated second edition, Lovett, Bridges, DiPietro, Ambrose and Norman (2023) use various teaching and learning scenarios and rich examples to help think through and inform our teaching. The book applies eight research-based teaching principals in the context of traditional in-person, online, and hybrid teaching modalities, and participants will discuss how they may benefit our teaching and student learning. 
The first 10 registrants can receive a complimentary copy of the book. 
Registration is required

Fire Drill Workshop Series:

What’s Your Teaching Plan in Case of an Academic Disruption?

Multiple dates, 2:00 - 3:30 p.m., Zoom

The March 2020 pivot to online instruction might be a distant memory, but disruptions are increasingly becoming part of academic life. These disruptions might be brief, or they might last for days, weeks, or even months. How prepared are you if you needed to quickly pivot your in-person course to an online format? What would you need to do and how would you do it? Building on the lessons learned from 2020 and the new expectations and regulations for distance teaching, this 3-part workshop series* revisits some of key points, requirements, and actions necessary to maintain a continuous, quality learning experience for students. 

During the series, participants will:

• February 14: Identify types of disruptions, evaluate the emergency readiness of their courses, and prepare a continuity checklist.
• February 21: Develop plans for different disruption scenarios and consider accessibility during disruptions.
• February 28: Revisit effective practices for using the distance education technologies necessary to maintain instructional continuity during a disruption. 

Registration is required

Graduate Student Book Discussion:
10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People

April 10, 12 – 1 pm, Wuller 202

The Reinert Center invites all graduate students to participate in a book discussion on David Yeager's latest book, "10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People." Yeager draws on behavioral science and neuroscience to help explain why traditional approaches to motivation and mentorship often fall short and presents evidence-based strategies that may help better inform how to engage with our students, and maybe even how we can articulate our own mentoring needs. This discussion will be particularly valuable for those teaching or planning to teach at the university level. The first 10 participants may receive a complimentary copy of the book and, for those enrolled in the Principles Certificate, this book may be used in the reflection on teaching development included in their teaching portfolio.
Registration is required

Distance Learning Workshop Series: Technology for Teaching

Multiple dates, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m., Zoom

The Reinert Center’s Distance Learning Workshop Series is dedicated to exploring innovative, research-based strategies for distance learning. Each semester, the workshop series explores a theme related to distance learning, with guest speakers addressing a topic and participants having space to reflect on a pedagogical strategy, approach, or technique in their distance teaching context. 

Our Spring 2025 theme, Technology for Teaching, focuses on four University-supported instructional tools. Each 60-minute virtual (via Zoom) workshop is dedicated to one teaching tool focusing on how it can be harnessed intentionally to enhance student learning. Sessions include an overview of the tool, discussions on its pedagogical uses, and opportunities for participants to explore how it can fit into their own distance teaching practices.

• February 21: Panopto
  This workshop focuses on the pedagogical uses of Panopto, focusing on how instructional video content created in the tool can be used to enhance student learning.  Participants will have space to (re)consider how Panopto might be used as part of their digital teaching toolbox.
• March 21: Advanced Canvas tools (Peer review/groups)
  Getting students to communicate with each other and work together is not only essential in distance education, but also a requirement of “Routine and Substantive Interaction (RSI)". Canvas provides several built-in tools that aid in the promotion of student-student interaction. This workshop will consider Advanced Canvas Tools such as Groups, Collaborations, and Peer Review, and discuss their uses in distance teaching and learning.
• April 25: Ally
  This workshop explores Ally as an instructional tool to make course learning materials more accessible. Participants will have space to (re)consider how Ally might be incorporated into the design of a distance course.

Registration is requested

Annual Academic Portfolio Retreat

Friday, February 21, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Each year, the Office of the Provost and the Reinert Center co-sponsor an Academic Portfolio Retreat for faculty who are preparing for promotion and/or tenure. This full-day, in-person retreat will feature short presentations on key aspects of academic dossiers, generative writing activities to help participants shape their dossier content, and peer feedback opportunities to build community and see how others frame their professional experiences.

Full-time SLU faculty members who are tenure-track, non-tenure track, or already tenured are welcome to participate. Faculty who are preparing for third-year review, tenure review, and promotion review may find the retreat helpful in developing or refining their dossiers. Newer faculty may find the retreat helpful in establishing a foundation for later review processes.

For additional details on the Academic Portfolio Retreat, please visit the webpage.
Registration is required

Online Courses: Spring 2025

The Reinert Center supports instructors for the full continuum of teaching online including: preparing to teach online for the first time, online course design, assessment of online courses, as well as strategies and techniques for effective online teaching. Below is our current list of full, online course offerings. These courses can be used for credit in our Online University Teaching Skills Certificate or they may be taken by individuals not enrolled in the certificate. To see additional descriptions and details for all our online courses, please visit our Online Courses page. Registration is Required

Spring Praxis Workshops

At its most basic meaning, praxis is the combination of theory and practice. As we delve into educational literature, we find a deeper meaning that combines reflection and action. And, as we then connect with Ignatian pedagogy, praxis is the intersection of experience, reflection, and action in teaching and learning contexts. Designed specifically with the objectives of the certificate program in mind, the Reinert Center's Praxis Workshops are interactive sessions during which an expert facilitator designs a learning experience around a particular pedagogical topic that creates the opportunity for participants to explore a new idea, or an established idea in a new way, and reflect on its implications for concrete interactions, approaches, and/or projects for their own specific teaching and learning situations (courses, labs, clinics, etc.) at the university level. While the Praxis workshops are targeted to participants in the Foundations and Priciples Certificates, they are open to all faculty and graduate students. 

• February 20, 9:00 - 10:30 a.m.: Student Well-Being in Large Classes (Wuller 222)
  Facilitated by Asmira Alagic, Chemistry
• March 19, 1:30 - 3:00 p.m.: Intercultural Competencies (Wuller 222)
  Facilitated by Karla Scott, Communication
• April 2, 1:30 - 3:00 p.m.: Teaching 1000 Level Courses (Wuller 222)
  Facilitated by Nathaniel Rivers, English
• April 10, 1:30 - 3:00 p.m.: Universal Design Strategies (Zoom)
  Facilitated by Eric Royer, Reinert Center

Registration is requested