Into Practice, a biweekly communication distributed from the Office of the Vice Provost for Advances in Learning to active instructors during the academic year was inspired by a successful 2012 HILT grant project. The e-letter highlights the pedagogical practices of individual faculty members from across Schools and delivers timely, evidence-based teaching advice, contributing to and strengthening a University-wide community of practice around teaching.

Below is a catalog of all the Into Practice issues sorted by the publication date. To subscribe to Into Practice, please sign-up via our Mailing List page.

• Bridging practice and theory in the professional classroom

  Dr. Richard Schwartzstein, Ellen and Melvin Gordon Professor of Medicine and Medical Education, is revolutionizing textbook-dependent classrooms by incorporating real-life applications. In this case, first-year Harvard Medical School students apply their reading through case simulations. A robot functions as the patient, and a small group of students take on various roles to work together and treat the patient. Students are supported by a facilitator, who offers guiding questions but no direct answers, as well as the rest of the class, who serve as consultants or in other supporting roles in the case, like the patient’s family. “Instead of a paper case, now it feels much more real. And suddenly, they’re immersed in taking care of a patient,” Dr. Schwartzstein reflects. After a simulation ends, the whole class debriefs the case, including what students struggled with and how they felt during the exercise.

• Microsoft Teams for Collaborative Case Writing

  Microsoft Teams for Collaborative Case Writing, A Case Studies Affinity Group Event

• Case Studies Affinity Group: Challenges and Trends in Case Writing and Development

  Please save the date for our fall Affinity Group meeting, Challenges and Trends in Case Writing and Development, hosted by Harvard Business Publishing (HBP) on Thursday, October 26, 2017, from 3:00-4:30 pm.

• Case Studies Affinity Group Lunch & Chat

  For our next Affinity Group meeting, we decided to change it up a bit!  The survey we conducted last fall indicated that many of our members wanted a chance to meet and talk in smaller, more informal groups about top-of-mind issues.

• Case Studies Affinity Group: How to engage and support faculty new to case method teaching

  The Harvard Affinity Group for Case Studies invites you to its fall/winter session next Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at 12:30pm on engaging faculty in case teaching with Willis Emmons and Matt Miller. This should be an exciting and interactive discussion, and lunch will be provided.

• Applying Pedagogical Insights to Large Online Courses

  When William Fisher, WilmerHale Professor of Intellectual Property Law, was approached to create an online course version of his Harvard Law School Copyright course, he agreed with the stipulation that CopyrightX be paired with the residential version, that enrollment be limited to 500, and that students meet in discussion sections of 25. Both online and residential students watch the same 90-minute lecture video prior to class time. When the class meets, Fisher facilitates case study discussions with residential students and 15-20 teaching fellows do so for sections of online students. Sometimes, residential and online students meet virtually to hear from a guest speaker.

• Understanding pathophysiology with real-life vignettes

  Barbara Cockrill, Harold Amos Academy Associate Professor of Medicine, uses case-based collaborative learning (CBCL) in her Homeostasis I course to help medical students explore real-life clinical scenarios they may face as practitioners. Case discussions start in cohorts of four students, formed at the beginning of the course, and focus on a series of questions. Discussion continues with the full class of 40 students, facilitated by Cockrill and other medical school faculty.

• In the Classroom

  Resources on in-class teaching from the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, including 1) Building Rapport, 2) Classroom Contracts, 3) Active Learning, 4) Instructional Strategies, and 5) Technology and Student Distraction.

• Christensen Center: Teaching by the Case Method

  This section of the Christensen Center website explores the Case Method in Practice along the following dimensions: i) Preparing to Teach; ii) Leading in the Classroom; iii) Providing Assessment; and iv) Feedback Sample Class. Each subsection provides perspectives and guidance through a written overview, supplemented by video commentary from experienced case method instructors. Where relevant, links are included to downloadable documents produced by the Christensen Center or Harvard Business School Publishing. References for further reading are provided as well.

• Simple examples lead to deep engagement

  Three years ago, Scot T. Martin decided to “start from scratch” with his approach to teaching thermodynamics. He found that by focusing on every day, concrete examples (e.g., running, the function of the heart) he could help students rediscover and truly understand the fundamental laws.