The 2024 Great Ideas Summit is in the books! This year, the event was co-sponsored by The Center for Teaching and Learning, University Foundations, and the eCampus Center. Over 100 participating Boise State educators explored approaches to Humanize Education. After a warm welcome by Provost John Buckwalter, CTL Director Daniel Sanford, and University Foundations Director Candyce Reynolds, the day started off with an insightful and interactive keynote talk, facilitated by Cecilia Orphan, Associate Professor of Higher Education at the University of Denver and Director of Partnerships for the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges (ARRC). Among other things, the audience learned about what humanizing education is and what it is not, and were introduced to the idea of the pandemic being a portal to advance a new human-centered vision for education. Following the keynote, the audience learned from their teaching colleagues, via three lightning talk sessions, what they are doing to humanize education in their classes.
Lunch was accompanied by presentations by Heidi Estrem, State Board of Education, on Durable Skills, and University Foundations Teaching Award Presentations. The afternoon kicked off with an interactive keynote workshop facilitated by Cecilia Orphan where participants were invited to reflect on the things that were done to support their learning and growth as educators during the early days of the pandemic, and analyze how they adapted their pedagogical practices in support of students.
The following Boise State faculty and CTL Student Partners round table sessions offered additional time for sharing experiences and conversations. To end the day participants, speakers, and facilitators gathered in a closing reception.
Thank you to all presenters and participants who made this day truly a celebration of teaching and learning at Boise State! You can review the session materials and recordings on the Great Ideas Summit website.