DIIA Organizes Large Classroom Initiative Colloquium
UT Austin Executive Vice President and Provost Sheldon Ekland-Olson (center, holding book)
joined the selected faculty, graduate students, and DIIA staff who participated in a
three-day large classes colloquium this summer. The gathering, dubbed by the Provost
the Colloquium on Achieving “Stunningly Excellent” Teaching in Large Classes, brought
together faculty noted for their teaching and their GSIs from the Colleges of Natural
Science and Liberal Arts.
Dr. Ekland-Olson has outlined the need for a large class initiative to highlight, encourage, facilitate and reward excellent teaching in large core undergraduate courses, and as a part of it, asked DIIA to gather information through a colloquium of professors. Dr. Judy Ashcroft, the director of DIIA, enumerated four areas for encouraging excellent teaching practices for large classes: facilities, rewards for improved teaching, technology integration into the classroom, and training.
Dr. Lynn Jones Eaton, a faculty development specialist for the Division, organized and facilitated the colloquium with Dr. Ashcroft. “We set out to gather techniques and successes from professors that have been identified as leaders in large classroom teaching. We invited professors and their graduate student instructors to brainstorm to share what works for them,” said Lynn. “We also wanted to solicit information on what UT Austin can do to help professors thrive in the large classroom environment.”