Faculty, instructors, postdoctoral fellows, and teaching staff from across Harvard will gather on Tuesday, May 19, for a daylong Teaching Retreat focused on undergraduate science education, innovative classroom approaches, and the evolving role of artificial intelligence in teaching and learning.
The retreat will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Biological Laboratories Lecture Hall 1080 at 16 Divinity Avenue in Cambridge. Designed to foster conversation and collaboration among educators with a shared interest in teaching, the event will feature short talks, lectures, discussions, and interactive sessions throughout the day.
Topics will include undergraduate science education at Harvard, strategies for encouraging curiosity and self-directed learning, approaches to grading, and how AI is reshaping education and the classroom experience.
The idea for the retreat emerged during one of the regular meetings that Polina Kehayova, MCB’s Scientific Director, holds with the MCB lecturers and curriculum and pedagogy managers, where participants discussed the value of creating a broader forum for educators across Harvard to exchange ideas and learn from one another’s experiences in the classroom.
“In our conversations, it became clear that there aren’t enough opportunities to spend time with others who are deeply engaged in thinking about pedagogy, curriculum development, and education more broadly,” Kehayova explained. “We decided to host the retreat to create a forum for people with a strong interest and involvement in education to share ideas, experiences, and approaches to undergraduate teaching and learning. We hope to make it an annual event.”
The program will open with remarks from Logan McCarty, Associate Dean for Science Undergraduate Education, who will present “What’s Wrong with Undergraduate Science at Harvard, and How Can We Fix It?”
Additional sessions will include teaching faculty short talks presented by Emma Nagy and Katie Quast, MCB Lecturers and Curriculum and Pedagogy Managers, as well as a discussion led by Karen Brennan, Timothy E. Wirth Professor of Practice in Learning Technologies (GSE), titled “On Questions, Curiosity, and Self-Directed Learning.”
In the afternoon, Sirinya Matchacheep and Ryan Draft, who serve as Director of Introductory Undergraduate Labs (CCB) and Assistant Director of Undergraduate Studies in Neurobiology (Life Sciences), respectively, will lead another round of teaching faculty short talks, followed by Sien Verschave, MCB Lecturer and Curriculum and Pedagogy Manager’s open discussion of “To Grade or Not to Grade.”
The retreat will conclude with a session by Tari Tan, Assistant Dean for Educational Innovation and Scholarship (HMS), titled “Engaging Educators with GenAI and Metacognition: Science Vignettes from the Classroom.”
Organizers hope the retreat will create opportunities for colleagues from different departments and disciplines across the University to connect around shared teaching challenges and successes, while also exploring how undergraduate education continues to evolve.
Lunch and refreshments will be provided. While RSVPs are appreciated to assist with planning, all interested participants are welcome to attend even if they are unable to RSVP in advance.
Those interested in attending can RSVP here:
