"The Teaching Commons was extremely helpful for me. I learned a great deal about proper pedagogy, and it greatly benefitted my confidence to meet with the staff and discuss areas where my teaching was good or could be improved. The feedback I received was useful and specific, with examples of where and how I could improve provided. I got the idea to survey my students’ opinions on the course and my teaching in the middle of the semester from the Commons, and even went over the results of the survey with me after I got their responses back, which was helpful to sift through which comments were reasonable and which were unreasonable to do within the confines of the course. I had a great experience working with the Teaching Commons. Thank you for your help!"
VALOR SMALLWOOD
QSB PhD Student
"CETL has provided a soft place to land in my first year here at UC Merced. From the riveting conversation (and laughter!) of the faculty learning community I participated in, to one-on-one conversations I had with staff about teaching, CETL has offered me and my students so much support. Thank you!"
EMILY JOHNSTON, PhD
Assistant Teaching Professor of Global Art, Media, & Writing Studies
"CETL and Teaching Commons have been instrumental in my pedagogical development! Not only do they provide up-to-date tips & tricks based on empirical data from education science, but they also provide opportunities to connect with other educators in order to share ideas, and receive feedback on classroom dynamics. CETL and TC have become staples to my own professional development as an educator, and I look forward to continuing to work with them!"
DANIEL MELLO, PhD
Non-Senate Faculty of Psychology
"I met with CETL to develop a more engaged and interactive Basic Needs Workshop – as the basic PowerPoint presentation workshop was not hitting the mark on our engagement goals. CETL helped me develop a jigsaw workshop that had students teach each other about our resources. The students started with hesitation, but by the end of the workshop were asking deeper questions about our resources and talking and laughing together. This workshop was especially crucial post-pandemic, as students were hesitant to engage with the presenters and their peers. We saw many of these students in the coming semesters visiting our Basic Needs Center or Bobcat Pantry to access our services or just connect with the team on other campus resources. Very grateful for CETL's insight, for shaking up our presentation practices, and helping us create spaces to connect with our students. 10/10 would recommend."
DESTINEE BAKER
Basic Needs Coordinator
