LTC Salon | Seminar

by Jaime O-Connor · October 12, 2023

Julie Russo is the 2023-2024 Learning and Teaching Commons Faculty Scholar. Her salon series provides an informal space for faculty discussion of teaching practices and challenges. See her complete bio on our website.

Dear colleagues,

You’re invited to an informal chat tomorrow (Friday the 13th!) on a topic near and dear to my heart: Seminar! Drop by the Learning and Teaching Commons (Sem II E3120) and enjoy tea, snacks, and conversation. Salon doors are open 12:30-2:30 – come whenever you can and leave whenever you need.

At the last Salon, we set up Zoom access using an Owl and it worked pretty well, so here’s a remote link if you want to participate but aren’t able to come in person: https://evergreen.zoom.us/j/6517459991

As you may have heard, my year-long project as LTC Faculty Fellow is to create a “cookbook” that supports generative and inclusive seminar teaching at Evergreen. My intention is to solicit your seminar-related materials and to talk one-on-one with faculty, staff, and students about seminar experiences and strategies. As I’m readying to launch this primary research process more formally, I’m wondering: What’s one great strategy you use as a seminar facilitator? What’s one aspect of seminar that’s a struggle? I’m eager to learn from your successes and challenges.

The resource guide attached as a companion to this Salon is not my own: it was developed by Julia Metzger and Steff Beck for the repeating summer institute Designing Learning Experiences that Matter. There are numerous excellent suggestions for seminar components and activities within, including links! This module also offers the following “dimensions” of an effective seminar:

Seminar talk is distributed equitably among the learning community.
All participants understand how to participate effectively.
Seminar is appropriately scaffolded to support the developmental needs of the learning community.
(e.g., first week, mid-quarter, end of quarter; specific features of the LC dynamics, etc.)
Participants are well prepared for the discussion.
The effort required to prepare is well-aligned with the learning outcomes for the seminar.
The preparation, discussion, and reflection protocols are well suited for the mode of learning.
(e.g., online, face-to-face, asynchronous discussion)
The seminar leads to a robust shared understanding of the topics, issues, and dynamics among the learning community.