Spotlight on Learning conference to be held at OHIO on Feb. 13

The Spotlight on Learning conference offers Ohio University faculty, administrators and instructional support staff an opportunity to innovate early and implement now.

The conference, an ongoing project of the faculty-led Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Committee, will be held on Friday, Feb. 13. 

The conference theme, “Navigating Change with Confidence," reflects a commitment to elevating the experiences of OHIO students and the constantly evolving landscape of higher education related to generative artificial intelligence, scholarship on student learning and shifting instructional contexts.

The keynote for this year will address teaching and assessing learning in large-enrollment courses. In light of advancing technologies that keep students distracted and challenge the ability of traditional testing to accurately measure learning, panelists will discuss in-class activities that engage and foster student understanding, strategies and technologies that support effective testing and considerations to inform what, when and how to test.

By popular demand, an interactive (and enjoyably competitive) Festival of Learning will follow the keynote during which faculty directly experience particularly impactful teaching of their colleagues.

The plenary returns a focus to evolving use cases for generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). This workshop will introduce participants to 1) a CTLA faculty fellow-built custom chatbot that identifies themes in teaching evaluations and strategies for improving instruction based on those themes; and 2) a protocol for faculty interested in using self-recorded teaching observations combined with AI to formatively examine their own pedagogical approaches and how successfully these approaches are implemented in a particular class session. This approach combines self-evaluation with AI and human consultation to identify methods for increasing teaching effectiveness.

Finally, TED-talk concurrent sessions will round out the day and provide even more practical and theoretical frameworks for addressing teaching challenges and inspiring new and creative ways to connect with learners throughout the semester.

The event will be held in Baker University Center from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Morning refreshments and lunch will be provided. The deadline for Spotlight proposals has been extended to 5 p.m., Jan. 23. 

You can register for the Spotlight on Learning Conference here.