Thursday, 19 February 2026, 5:00 PM
Room A, Building F (Department of Physics), Piazzale Europa Campus

The seminar, organized within the framework of the PLS (Piano Lauree Scientifiche) - Physics activities for the innovation of university teaching, will be held in English.

Results from research indicate that many students emerge from traditional courses without having developed a functional understanding of important basic concepts.  These findings have motivated significant changes how we teach the sciences, mathematics, and engineering at the university level.  We now recognize that students enter our classrooms with a wealth of ideas derived from their previous experiences and that those ideas have profound consequences for their subsequent learning.  We also recognize that active engagement during class time is essential for restructuring their previous ideas and bringing them into alignment with expert views.  Designing and evaluating new teaching strategies based on these principles is a complex process that requires the involvement of faculty in the disciplines, who combine deep subject-matter knowledge with appreciation for the educational culture of those disciplines. Examples will be used to illustrate the process of designing and evaluating instructional approaches and materials.  The context will be physics, but analogies can be made to other disciplines.

Instructor
Paula Heron, University of Washington

Registration: open entry

25–26 March and 15 April 2026, 9 AM –1PM and 2PM –6PM
Room 9, Cattinara Teaching Centre

The masterclass is structured over three full days (8 hours each) and aims to provide participants with the foundational knowledge and practical tools needed to design, implement, and facilitate Team-Based Learning (TBL) sessions within their own courses. Participants will develop authentic teaching materials (cases, tests, and application exercises) and will have the opportunity to experience firsthand the role of facilitator.

The first day will focus on “designing backwards” (Backward Planning). It will include a brief review of the core principles of TBL, a guided in-depth exploration of backward design, the mapping of a course, and the presentation and discussion of participants’ draft designs.

The second day will concentrate on constructing problem situations for Team Application exercises. Participants will analyse examples of cases used in the health professions, explore the characteristics of an effective “good problem” for team application, engage in a case-writing workshop, and conclude with peer review and collective revision of the cases developed.

The third and final day will take place after participants have had the opportunity to apply some of the concepts in their own teaching contexts. It will be divided into two parts: the first will focus on developing multiple-choice questions for the Readiness Assurance Process (RAP), and the second will be dedicated to a simulated in-class TBL session.

Instructor
Nicola Pagnucci, University of Pisa

Registration: send your request to tlc@units.it by 20 March 2026.