Developed by Boise State University, the SparkShop initiative provides short, interactive workshops designed to help faculty members improve their pedagogical skills and enhance classroom engagement. The program is designed to allow faculty members to explore innovative teaching strategies and implement these strategies in their classes. As CILT-AI, we participated in this important training program to collaborate with faculty members and offer them support.
SparkShop consists of brief, intensive sessions lasting 15-20 minutes, where faculty members learn about topics such as active learning strategies, creating accessible documents, metacognition, rubric development, and formative assessment. Our participation in this workshop has helped us identify more effective ways to provide support to faculty members. The strategies suggested to encourage faculty participation and increase classroom engagement present an important opportunity for the wider implementation of innovative approaches in teaching across faculties.
During the training program, faculty members exchanged ideas on how new pedagogical strategies could be applied in their classrooms. As CILT-AI, we also received valuable feedback during this process, which will help us better serve the needs of our faculty members. This training has provided us with new perspectives on how we can contribute to the professional development of university faculty members and has enabled us to strengthen our support strategies. We would like to thank Prof. Dr. Teresa Focarile, the Director of Educational Development at Boise State University’s Center for Teaching and Learning, for her valuable insights and examples. We believe that such training programs, supported by emerging technologies and pedagogical strategies, will continue to contribute to the professional development of faculty members and enable the widespread adoption of more innovative and effective practices in education.
