Active Teaching Lab

Active Teaching Labs provide a safe space to experience teaching tools and techniques, and hear how UW-Madison instructors use them to motivate, engage and more effectively teach the diverse range of students we encounter. Each Lab is comprised of four parts:

Listen: Hear colleagues share how they used a tool or technique in their teaching.
Experiment: Gain confidence through hands-on experience.
Discuss: Unpack good pedagogical use and develop ideas on applying it to your course.
Expand: Discover other options to accomplish similar results.

Labs are open to all and held weekly during the academic year. Refreshments will be served. See below for upcoming Labs and news posts covering past Labs or view the full calendar of Labs and Exchanges. Exchanges are different than Labs in that they highlight techniques or more advanced technologies that don’t always lend themselves to individualized hands-on investigation via a guided Activity Sheet. Active Teaching Exchanges provide more time for discussion on advanced techniques and tools without the hands-on investigation time. To stay informed about both Active Teaching Labs and Exchanges, sign up for regular announcements by sending an email to join-activeteaching@lists.wisc.edu.

The Active Teaching Lab program was developed in collaboration with the Teaching Academy and is an example of how DoIT AT works with partners to improve the student experience and learning outcomes. Find out more about our other partnerships that span the campus, state and nation.

Share Your Stories

You’ve learned from your experiences and from others’ experiences. Now it’s time to share with your colleagues! We can facilitate the experimentation, pedagogical discussions, and highlighting of tools, but we need your instructor experience and perspective. Help us strengthen the culture of campus peer learning by contributing your story at an Active Teaching Lab or Active Teaching Exchange. The first step is emailing program manager John Martin with your idea.