Pedagogy & Practice News

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Ancestry Postcards

April 22, 2020

With instruction moving online and her students departing Harvard for destinations spread all across the globe, Coolidge Professor of History Maya Jasanoff was looking for a way to keep her students connected to Harvard and to each other by incorporating their experiences into GENED 1014: Ancestry. Recalling a successful in-class activity from earlier in the term focused on the ancestry of Harvard houses, Jasanoff decided to create a new assignment that would let students explore, analyze, and share the ways in which ancestry has marked their current locations.... Read more about Ancestry Postcards

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Supporting Graduate Student Teachers Remotely

April 21, 2020

How do I move students to breakout rooms in my Zoom classroom? What activities can I do online to foster engagement? What can we do to help students feel included, cared for, and motivated to learn during a global crisis, when we also have to manage the disruption to our own lives?

Bok Center staff identified these and many other questions as we quickly mobilized to help graduate students prepare to teach remotely. In developing the most timely and impactful programming for TFs during the transition to online instruction, we were guided by our core values...

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Someone to Teach With

April 17, 2020

On the morning of Tuesday, 10 March, Harvard’s faculty, students, and staff logged on to their email to find unprecedented news from president Larry Bacow: in just under two weeks (including Spring Break), Harvard would move instruction online, with the vast majority of its students off campus and taught remotely through Zoom, Canvas, and other digital means. The university’s sudden move to remote teaching and learning was obviously tremendously disruptive to students, who had to pack their belongings and...

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Community for International Graduate Students

April 15, 2020

The Bok Center strives to be a place where teachers and scholars at all stages of their careers can find community, and it has been important to us to maintain that during these challenging times.

We have helped international graduate students stay connected through Community Check-ins: Connect and Chat, a drop-in conversation hour for international scholars and undergraduates to share ideas for teaching, learning, and living.... Read more about Community for International Graduate Students

Pedagogy Fellow Jorden Sharick presents at the Fall Teaching Conference.

Applications Open for Pedagogy Fellows 2020-2021 Cohort!

December 2, 2019

We are now accepting applications for the 2020-2021 cohort of Pedagogy Fellows! The Pedagogy Fellows Program is a professional development opportunity for experienced and creative graduate students to collaborate with faculty, administration, and the Bok Center’s senior staff to enhance teaching in their disciplines and in the FAS more broadly. 

Positions are available for Pedagogy Fellows based either in Departments/Programs or at the Bok Center. Please visit the Pedagogy Fellows page for descriptions...

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Winners of the 2018-2019 ABLConnect Teaching Innovator Prize Announced

November 6, 2019

We are thrilled to announce the winners of the 2018-19 ABLConnect Teaching Innovator Prize!

ABLConnect is an online database of active learning exercises developed by Harvard instructors and used in Harvard classrooms. The competitive Teaching Innovator Prize recognizes instructors from across Harvard institutions for their use of active learning. This year’s winners are:... Read more about Winners of the 2018-2019 ABLConnect Teaching Innovator Prize Announced

Bok Award Winners

Teaching Fellows Who Went "Above and Beyond" Recognized with Derek C. Bok Awards

May 8, 2019

5 teaching fellows were honored at our Spring Q Reception for their incredible work teaching undergraduates.  Each Derek C. Bok Award winner was introduced by GSAS Dean Emma Dench, who read the glowing and enthusiastic nominations from professors and students in their respective departments.  Learn more about each winner here and congratulations to all!... Read more about Teaching Fellows Who Went "Above and Beyond" Recognized with Derek C. Bok Awards

Teaching Matters

Call for Participants! Why does teaching matter to you?

April 9, 2019

With the academic year coming to a close, it’s a great time to look back over the year and take stock of not only everything you’ve accomplished, but also everything you’ve learned, especially as a teacher. It’s easy to catalog all of the work done in the classroom, like the lessons planned, lectures delivered, and exams graded, and to have a sense of how your students progressed through the semester. It’s less straightforward to realize how much you have learned from teaching.... Read more about Call for Participants! Why does teaching matter to you?