Spark Talk: Crafting Equitable Assessments with Student Diversity in Mind

February 13, 2025 - 10:00-10:30 AM

Location: This is an online event. Register to receive the Zoom link and calendar invitation.

Intended Audience: Academic Support Staff, Faculty, Graduate Student Instructors, Instructors

Focusing on a case study, we will discuss how assignments can be crafted with an eye for students’ diverse skills and needs. Our case study will exemplify scaffolding assessments with practice, feedback, and revision to allow students ample opportunities to show what they know. 

What are Spark Talks? Spark Talks are short 20-minute sessions that aim to spark interest in new or different approaches to teaching and learning, as well as foster connections and conversations around instruction at UC Berkeley. Spark Talks are interactive presentations that digest recent research articles into practical terms for instructors. Instructors are also invited to stay after the session to connect with colleagues and CTL staff.

Spark Talks are an opportunity to welcome IN our instructor colleagues and start cross-campus dialogue on teaching. As part of the Spark Talk series, this session aims to:

  • INtroduce one specific evidence-based teaching practice from the recent literature on teaching and learning

  • INform instructors about the considerations for applying this particular practice (what, why, and how)

  • INvestigate a few examples of how this technique could be implemented in a course

  • INspire instructors to explore using this new technique in their course

Instructors are encouraged to follow up with CTL in a 1-on-1 consultation to continue to explore what this particular teaching practice might look like in their own course contexts.

This session will run for 20 minutes, with an additional 10 minutes reserved for questions and networking. 

➡️Register for this event here!⬅️

Registrants will be sent a Zoom link and bCal invite as the workshop date draws near.

***Registration for this session will close one hour before the session***

This event is part of the "Accessibility and Inclusion in Teaching" learning path. Be sure to check out this learning path and explore its other components!

Facilitator:

Picture of the facilitator, Rachel Weiher Rachel Weiher (she/her) is the Equitable Assessment Consultant in the Center for Teaching and Learning. She completed her Ph.D. in Romance Languages & Literatures here at UC Berkeley and taught language and linguistics courses in the Department of French. Now, as part of the CTL’s Inclusive Teaching Team, Rachel’s work focuses primarily on equity-minded teaching practices (particularly assessment), student-centered pedagogies, social justice, and pedagogies of care.