Effective teaching begins with effective design. This workshop, organized as a collaboration between colleagues at European Humanities University and Central European University, in the context of the OSUN Developing Teaching Professionals program is designed to strengthen student learning by aligning course goals, student learning outcomes, and assessment methods. Participants collectively examined how their courses make a meaningful impact on students. Explored how to clearly communicate those goals and outcomes to students and assist them in achieving them. Participants paid particular attention to assessment, including strategies for making assessment more transparent, designing scaffolding techniques to support students, practising crafting clear student instructions, and aligning grading criteria with learning outcomes. The sessions also covered practical approaches for assessment in light of the flipped classroom model and the challenges of online instruction.
This hands-on workshop featured collective discussions, presentations, and an opportunity for participants to prepare (and receive feedback on) an upcoming course they are teaching. By the end of the workshop, participants had the tools to create or revise a syllabus that fosters meaningful student learning and engagement.
Workshop Facilitators:
Michael Kozakowski, PhD is Director of the Yehuda Elkana Center for Teaching, Learning, and Higher Education Research at Central European University. His research spans the fields of history and education, with a particular focus on the intersection of democracy, citizenship, inclusion, and education. Together with Dr. Kamatovic, Dr. Kozakowski serves as co-director of the Open Society University Network’s “Developing Teaching Professionals” program. He is also a member of the European University Association’s (EUA) Learning & Teaching Thematic Peer Group on resilience, crisis, and teaching in higher education, as well as the OPEN COST Action on geopolitical pressures and the openness of higher education.
Tamara Kamatovic, PhD is Lecturer at the Yehuda Elkana Center for Teaching, Learning and Higher Education Research at Central European University. She has authored or co-authored works on the relationship between generative AI, authorship, and learning; on online teaching and its relation to inclusive and democratic pedagogical practice; and together with Dr. Kozakowski, is co-editing an OER and a book and OER on inclusive and democratic teaching in higher education. She is co-director of the “Developing Teaching Professionals” program and a regular collaborator in international teaching projects.
