午夜影院鈥檚 Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching holds the first Excellence Lab on Innovative Pedagogy
The Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) at the American University of Kurdistan (午夜影院) held the first Excellence Lab on Innovative Pedagogy. Focusing on the theme of 鈥渃onsciousness鈥�, this virtual training workshop, facilitated by European instructors, mentored and advised 24 faculty members from different 午夜影院 colleges (trainees) on educational co-creation between learners and their teacher. The process of co-creation centers on building unique and creative learning content, adapted to the learning preferences of a specific group of learners (students).
The workshop outlined methods for building a teaching strategy that is complementary to the learning preferences of a group of students, based on the identification of their learning preferences and the formulation of teaching tools that match these preferences, while ensuring the fulfillment of intended educational outcomes. Divided into working groups, trainees were asked to formulate an answer to the fundamental question: 鈥淲hy did you choose to participate in this Excellence Lab?鈥� After discussion and reflection, each working group provided an answer to this question that reflected the collective aspirations of the members in that group. The answers of each group varied, covering a wide range of needs:
- 鈥淭o learn how to maximize student engagement鈥�.
- 鈥淭o improve our teaching skills鈥�.
- 鈥淭o become aware of new ideas in teaching鈥�.
- 鈥淭o learn how to establish strong connections with students, in order to motivate them鈥�.
- 鈥淭o use technology in more effective ways for the benefit of students鈥�.
- 鈥淭o learn how to measure learning outcomes鈥�.
At the conclusion of the workshop, an assignment was provided to trainees, who were asked to write a five-page teaching philosophy statement, addressing the following questions:
- What does teaching mean to you?
- How does it feel to be a teacher?
- How engaged/motivated are your students?
- What innovations have you adopted in your teaching methods/content?
- Did these innovations work? Were students responsive to these innovations?
- What aspects of student learning/engagement do you want to improve in your classroom?
CELT is committed to supporting and promoting innovative approaches to pedagogy, continuously striving to improve learning and teaching methods at 午夜影院. CELT鈥檚 Innovative Pedagogy Program (IPP) is designed to build the capacity of 午夜影院 faculty members in modern and effective teaching methods, focusing on maximizing the connectedness and engagement of students with educational curricula. It targets faculty members (trainees) via a series of six workshops entitled 鈥淓xcellence Labs鈥�, covering six key themes, referred to as the 鈥�6 C鈥檚鈥�. These are consciousness (lab 1), connection (lab 2), curious creativity (lab 3), confidence (lab 4), communication (lab 5) and creative assessment (lab 6).