USU Faculty Gearing up for Third Annual Teaching for Learning Conference

Utah State University’s third annual Teaching for Learning Conference (T4L) runs Thursday and Friday, March 21-22. The conference theme, Refresh and Reinforce Learning, is inspired by keynote speaker Gail Rice’s book, “Hitting Pause: 65 Lecture Breaks to Refresh and Reinforce Learning.” A “pause” is a technique used to enliven and enhance instruction by breaking up lectures into shorter segments. 

The two-day conference is configured into a variety of sessions and formats to facilitate an interactive approach, including research discussions, round tables, interactive sessions, breakouts and more. Rice, director of faculty development and professor in the School of Allied Health Professions at Loma Linda University, will present her keynote, “Pausing Teaching for Learning,” to review the latest cognitive science findings that show how to step aside and facilitate transformational learning. 

“We’re excited to have Dr. Rice providing the keynote at the conference,” said Travis Thurston, Empowering Teaching Excellence coordinator. “Her book has caused a positive disruption in education and having her here to go over her core concepts in both formal and informal settings will prove beneficial for all in attendance.”

In addition to the official conference on Thursday and Friday, there will be a pre-conference workshop Wednesday with a morning and afternoon session led by Mitchell Colver, director of USU’s Office of Student Analytics. These workshops will expose attendees to principles that demonstrate how an autonomy-supportive approach pays dividends for students and instructors.

There are many breakout sessions offering a wide variety of topics, including using technology to refresh and reinforce learning, scaffolding writing for student success, improving student learning through frequent, formative assessments, using formative quizzes to prepare students for creative-application projects and more. 

For more information on the T4L conference, including a look at a detailed schedule, visit empowerteaching.usu.edu/conferences/T4L2019.