CETL goes to POD 2024
Reports from the 49th annual POD Network conference in Chicago
Last week, Josh, Liz, and Emily attended the 49th annual POD Network conference in Chicago to share insights from our work this year and learn from educational developers around the country and the world. Here are some highlights from our time there:
Pedagogical Improv
On Monday, Emily and Josh presented in a session called “Pedagogical Improv: A Game (and Workshop) to Expand Teaching Imaginations.” This was a workshop-in-a-box session, meaning that we facilitated a teaching workshop that might serve as inspiration for our colleagues at other teaching centers. More than 70 people attended!
The workshop we showcased was one we did at UM last spring: “Yes, And: Igniting Your Pedagogical Imagination.” Faithful readers and frequent-fliers at CETL workshops may remember this fun game-show-style event!
It’s built on a concept we call “pedagogical improv”: the ability to take a new teaching technique and play around with it, to get creative even when you don’t have a script for how, exactly, to implement the technique. During the workshop, CETL staff take turns “improv-ing” with a teaching technique selected at random. In other words, they have five minutes to decide how they would apply a specific teaching strategy in their own unique course contexts—even when that strategy initially seems unfamiliar or unworkable.
At POD, Josh reprised his role as improv contestant alongside former CETL visiting associate director Derek Bruff. They were joined by special guest Bethany Morrison, an assistant director at the University of Michigan’s Center for Research on Learning and Teaching. The UM community may recognize Bethany from a recent interview on Derek’s podcast and as the creator of many resources CETL has shared on teaching around the election.
Josh, Derek, and Bethany were asked to devise, on the fly, a plan for employing a “simulation or roleplay” in their courses, and the audience voted on whose application of this technique was the most creative. While each contestant had some intriguing ideas, Bethany’s plan to teach the mechanisms of the legislative process by having students use those mechanisms in a simulated debate between roommates ultimately won the day.
We hope the POD members who made up the audience for our session can use some version of the workshop at their own institutions—and we hope they have as much fun as we did!
The Present Professor
Emily and Josh weren’t the only ones to present at POD: Liz Norell’s name was on six different conference events! The longest of these was Liz’s all-day pre-conference workshop related to the topic of her new book, The Present Professor: Authenticity and Transformational Teaching.
Liz and a group of dedicated educational developers spent the day completing a series of reflective activities designed to explore their experiences in the academy, develop a clearer sense of their teaching personas, and better align their work with their self-understanding. Many of the participants snatched up one of the ten early copies of Liz’s book, one of whom texted her Sunday to say, “I finished your book this morning. I just wanted to tell you how inspiring you are. I’m going to need a sequel.”
If you’re interested in hearing more about Liz’s work on this project, join us at CETL for her book launch on Friday, December 6 from 1:00-2:30 pm at the Butler Auditorium, Triplett Alumni Center.
Work on To Improve the Academy
As a co-editor of POD’s flagship journal, To Improve the Academy, Liz was involved with two sessions considering the work of the journal. One session invited participants to contribute to a conversation about the peer-review process and how to make that process more relationship-oriented. The editorial team was gratified by the enthusiasm for new models of peer review and the thoughtful brainstorming the session facilitated.
Another session celebrated TIA’s collaborations with Centering Centers: a POD Network Podcast, exploring podcasting as a form of public scholarship and relational professional development. As a bonus, Liz got to meet her co-editor, Megan Robertson of Simon Fraser University, for the first time in person after working together for 18 months!
Inclusive Teaching—and Educational Development
Inclusion was another major theme of our conference experience. Many of us attended (and in Liz’s case, facilitated) sessions on neurodivergence in higher education. These workshops challenged participants to examine their assumptions about neurodivergence and shared strategies for supporting neurodivergent students in our classrooms.
But we also thought a lot about inclusion in our own profession. Emily and Josh attended a session featuring a research study designed to uncover and better understand the values of educational development. The presentation looked primarily at the mission statements of more than 100 CTLs and a visual journey mapping exercise completed by 10 educational developers. Emily and Liz also participated in a session in which participants discussed ways to make the POD conference itself more accessible and inclusive.
Other Highlights
Josh attended a session called “When is it okay for educators to use AI?” in which participants considered the ethics around AI use for instructors. He appreciated the wide variety of perspectives expressed during the session and the way that the workshop honestly engaged with, rather than shying away from, the ethical problems of generative artificial intelligence.
Emily got some great ideas for enhancing CETL’s graduate programs from attending a showcase and networking lunch for the Graduate Student, Professional Student, and Postdoctoral Scholar Development (GPPD) special interest group.
Liz and others serving on a POD Network ad hoc committee for revising the organization’s Ethical Guidelines thought deeply about the core values of educational development and the ways in which the association can support our work in the years ahead.
Since we’re a team of writers always working on a new project, we enjoyed Jim Lang’s anchor session on how we might apply our teaching skills when writing for a wider audience.
We loved reconnecting with friends and colleagues! Until next year!
