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.

• Putting students at the helm of their learning experience

  Jon Hanson, Alfred Smart Professor of Law, saw an opportunity to improve learning by putting students in the driver's seat.

• Getting the most out of classroom space

  Melissa Franklin, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics, rethought her teaching by rethinking her classroom. She created a flexible classroom, “the SciBox,” to encourage active learning, greater engagement, and student ownership.

• Feedback vs. evaluation: Getting past the reluctance to deliver negative feedback

  When Dr. Keith Baker, Associate Professor of Anaesthesia at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Anesthesia Residency Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, gives medical residents feedback, he emphasizes a “learning orientation” (where the goal is mastery), rather than a “performance orientation” (where the goal is validation of abilities).

• Learning from learning management systems: New ways to engage students through Canvas

  Arthur Applbaum, Adams Professor of Democratic Values, Quinton Mayne, Assistant Professor of Public Policy, and Christopher Robichaud, Lecturer in Ethics and Public Policy piloted the new University-wide learning management system, Canvas, in their spring 2015 courses at the Harvard Kennedy School.

• Elevating class conversation: Taking a case-based approach

  Nancy Kane, Professor of Management and Associate Dean of Case-based Teaching and Learning at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, trains instructors on using the teaching case to lead effective course discussions.

• Devices in the classroom? Things to consider

  Alison Simmons, Samuel H. Wolcott Professor of Philosophy, made a decision in 2012 to include a policy in all her syllabi stating that electronic devices be put away during class time.

• Communicating course culture: Building on the syllabus

  Karen Brennan, Assistant Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, designs her syllabus for T550: Designing for Learning by Creating to not only communicate the plan for the course, but to introduce students to the course culture.

• The hiccups, humility, and benefits of deciding to flip a course

  Margo Seltzer, Herchel Smith Professor of Computer Science, flipped part of her course, CS161, “Operating Systems."

• Harvard Chan School Muslim Student Association

  The Harvard Chan School Muslim Student Association’s mission is to: 1)To provide for the needs and interests of Muslim students at the Harvard Chan School 2)To create an environment where non-Muslims can learn about Islam 3)To provide a platform that promotes dialogue and understanding about the role religion plays in health.

• Harvard Behavioral Insights Student Group (BISG) Chan Chapter

  The Harvard Behavioral Insights Student Group (BISG) Chan Chapter was founded in 2014 to bring together students who are interested in applying insights from behavioral economics, psychology, and related disciplines to improve public health. Recent literature has shed light on predictable biases in how we make decisions and identified important opportunities to positively influence our health behaviors–whether getting a flu shot, enrolling in health insurance, or eating a healthier diet. We work closely with the Behavioral Insights Student Group (BISG) housed at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership as well as the faculty-level Behavioral Insights Group (BIG).

• Taiwanese Students and Scholars Association at the Harvard Chan School

  The Taiwanese Students and Scholars Association at the Harvard Chan School (TSSA @Harvard Chan aims to:

• Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Women in Leadership Student Organization

  The Harvard Chan WIL Student Organization offers a range of programming to prepare women for leadership roles in health care and aim to challenge, motivate, and inspire students as they explore their personal journeys toward authentic and effective leadership. Events supporting this mission include speaker series, skills-based workshops, community service, and networking events. Finally, we believe that it is critical to create a community of female leaders in health. As such, our flagship event- the annual student-alumnae conference- focuses on strengthening and growing this community.

• Harvard Chan Reel Epi Student Club

  The purpose of the organization is to provide a forum for exchange of epidemiologic themes and concepts as seen in film between Harvard Chan students and faculty across all departments. We choose to watch films that pertain to topics in epidemiology and public health and discuss how these topics fit in with concepts we learn in our courses and in the real world. The main objectives are:

• Harvard Chan Public Health Review: A Student Journal

  The mission of the Harvard Public Health Review (HPHR) is to improve health at the local, national, and international levels. To that end, HPHR will publish content grounded in thoughtful evaluation of evidence and research that addresses issues of health equity.

• Harvard Chan Public Health Innovation x Technology Student Forum (PHIT)

  PHIT seeks to provide an interactive space for students to gain knowledge, provoke thoughtful discussion, and advocate for innovations and technologies that positively impact global public health. We aim to enable and empower students to develop their ideas and grow their professional networks while exploring developments in the field and learning and sharing opportunities for action.

• Harvard Chan Nigerian Students Association

  The purpose of Harvard Chan Nigerian Student Association is to provide a forum through which students can dedicate themselves to cultural, political, and public health issues relevant to Nigeria and Nigerians in the diaspora.

• Harvard Chan Environmental Justice Student Organization

  The Harvard Chan Environmental Justice Student Organization aims to motivate students to reduce health inequalities and to disseminate relevant information about environmental justice in our communities, countries, and the world.

• Built Environment & Health Student Consortium at the Harvard Chan School

  The Built Environment & Health Student Consortium (BEHSC) at Harvard Chan aims to promote student-driven innovative research and problem solving in built environment, where complex issues regarding urbanization, population growth and environmental changes challenge our conventional public health approach. Our goal is to provide students with a diverse and interdisciplinary toolkit that facilitates partnerships across sectors and socially just decision making. This consortium strives to generate discussion, create evidence, share narratives and build collaborations concerned with thorough comprehension of built environment and powerful actions for human health.

• Wampanoag Outreach Group

  Wampanoag Outreach Group has worked with the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) to provide better access to oral and systemic health care for the tribe and other underserved community members on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, MA. Faculty and students from HSDM and Northeastern University’s Bouve School of Allied Health volunteer one Saturday each month to provide care at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital. MVH provides much of the dental supplies, and each session is staffed by at least one faculty dentist and up to four students. Students assist with all dental procedures, including extractions, endo, prophy, cleaning, composite/amalgam restorations, crown preparation, and dentures. Wampanoag Outreach Group also participates in the Harvard University Native American Program Pow wow, the Mashpee Pow wow, and the Aquinnah Pow wow where students provide oral education to pow wow participants.

• Asian American Dental Association (AADA)

  AADA provides services specifically targeted for the Asian-American population in Boston. Our goal is to promote oral health by participating in events such as the Chinese New Year Festival in Chinatown and the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month at the Boston Children's Museum. Volunteers will give presentations that educate people about the proper way to brush and floss, how to maintain good oral health through diet, and the importance of dental visits.