Description:

Faculty UTR: Enhancing Learning Through Play and Entertainment

How we use “play” and “entertainment” to enhance learning and motivate our students? In this University Teaching Roundtable, two McCormick Award-winning faculty members will share their strategies for enhancing their students’ learning by building a sense of “fun” into the class experience. In his short presentation, "Internet: An entertainment medium and a virtual laboratory: Can we use the power of the internet to entertain as well as educate the modern generation?” Neelesh Patankar, from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, will give examples of how he uses YouTube videos as well as movie clippings to introduce new concepts in an entertaining manner. The videos are used to launch a thorough quantitative analysis of physical phenomena depicted in them. The internet also serves as an invaluable repository of videos of numerous experiments - a cheap resource in lieu of laboratory experiments on campus. Jeanne Herrick, from the Writing Program, will share her thoughts on “The Pedagogical Value of Play,” offering examples from her own teaching and modeling how she uses play in different contexts to enhance her students’ learning. Together they will facilitate a conversation about how instructors might use play and entertainment in their own courses to motivate and inspire their students.

Light refreshments will be provided. Please feel free to bring your lunch.

Please note: Current location is not wheelchair accessible. If you need wheelchair access please let us know and we will do our best to find an accessible location.