Carnegie Mellon University
October 18, 2016

ML Faculty Members Participate in Teaching & Learning Summit

Carnegie Mellon recently held its inaugural Teaching & Learning Summit, an event that brought together faculty, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and staff members to discuss teaching strategies and ways to apply educational research in the classroom.

Six members of the Department of Modern Languages participated in the event.

Therese Tardio, associate teaching professor of Hispanic Studies, gave a short presentation during the “quick-fire talks” session, where presenters shared information on innovative and effective course design and teaching approaches. The title of Tardio’s talk was “Community Engagement: Promising Practices in Global and Local Contexts.”

Five other faculty members participated in the Teaching & Learning Summit by creating and displaying a poster during the event’s poster session. The aim of this session was to visually highlight innovative course designs, classroom research and learning science research projects.

Gabriele Eichmanns Maier presented a poster titled “Digital Vienna 1900.” Eichmanns Maier, associate teaching professor of German, collaborated with Francesca Torello from the School of Architecture to transform a cultural studies course on the city of Vienna into a digital course where students will have a chance to create 3-D models and enhance a historical map of Vienna.

Christopher Jones, teaching professor of French & Francophone Studies and interim department head, participated in the session with a poster titled “French Online.” For years, Jones has been leading an effort to make language learning more accessible by creating online courses. Last spring, he received a Teaching Innovation Award for his work.

Gang Liu also participated in the session with a poster titled “New Visions of China through Documentary Films and Cross-Cultural Peer Learning.” Liu, associate teaching professor of Chinese Studies, is active in the department not only through his teaching and research but also through his role as faculty advisor to the Modern Languages Student Advisory Council.

Candace Skibba presented a poster titled “Blended Learning in the Foreign Language and Literature Classroom: Technology to Build the Bridge between Language and Content?” Skibba, assistant teaching professor of Hispanic Studies, plays an important role in the department’s masters in applied second language acquisition program. Among other things, she mentors MA students, observes them in the classroom when they teach, and provides feedback.

Also in attendance from Modern Languages was Sue-mei Wu, teaching professor of Chinese Studies. Wu presented a poster titled “Technology-enhanced learning for Chinese language, theater performance and culture.” Wu directs the department’s masters in applied second language acquisition program, and is the president and founder of the Chinese Language Teachers Association of Western Pennsylvania.