{"id":35338,"date":"2026-09-04T12:54:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T16:54:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/?p=35338"},"modified":"2026-09-04T12:54:52","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T16:54:52","slug":"purdue-pursuits-a-pvm-angle-on-purdues-teaching-and-learning-reading-groups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/purdue-pursuits-a-pvm-angle-on-purdues-teaching-and-learning-reading-groups.php","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Purdue Pursuits\u2019: A PVM angle on Purdue\u2019s teaching and learning reading groups"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Crafting meaningful and engaging course experiences has been at the top of\u00a0Dielson Vieira\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0mind ever since he joined the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine\u2019s faculty in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Basic Medical Sciences,\u00a0Vieira is already adept at applying innovative teaching practices<\/a>\u00a0to classroom environments, but that doesn\u2019t stop him from seeking out new ideas, approaches and perspectives \u2014 insights he gains through outlets like Purdue\u2019s teaching and learning reading groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Offered by the\u00a0Teaching Academy<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Center for Instructional Excellence (CIE)<\/a>\u00a0since 2017, the reading groups bring together faculty members from West Lafayette and Indianapolis to engage in candid conversations about teaching and learning concepts, theories and methods that support academic success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each semester, a book is selected and divided into sections that are read and discussed by participants over the course of multiple one-hour meetings, with the choice to attend virtually or in person. The meetings provide a space for faculty members across academic disciplines to learn from both the reading material and each other, which was beneficial for Vieira, who joined the groups just one year into his Purdue career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou have different people from different departments coming in with different perspectives, and reading and discussing the book together can really help you better navigate your first or second year as a professor,\u201d Vieira says. \u201cOur moments together led to interesting conversations and subjects that I could really think and reflect on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While reading \u201cThe Present Professor: Authenticity and Transformational Teaching\u201d last fall, Vieira and his colleagues routinely discussed how well-being influences student success and shared ways they\u2019ve designed or altered their courses to foster learning environments that support student success. It resonated with Vieira, who\u2019s mindful of the roles persistence and resilience play in the field of veterinary medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeeing those different perspectives expanded my perspective on how students learn, and that has inspired me ever since,\u201d Vieira says. \u201cIt made me start asking, \u2018What else can I do to emphasize well-being in my courses? Do I even have space in my course?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That question eventually led Vieira to\u00a0Steps to Leaps<\/a>, a campuswide initiative that supports student growth and success through five learning pillars: well-being, leadership, impact, networks, and grit and persistence. Now, along with well-being, he\u2019s incorporating the grit and persistence pillar into his course materials, empowering his students to build metacognitive skills and take ownership of their learning process.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vieira is also expanding learning resources available to students by developing opportunities for them to practice and review course material through low-stakes quizzes and activities that support preparation for graded assessments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similar strategies for fueling student success will be discussed this fall as the group reads \u201cDesigning Impactful College Courses: Applying Self-Determination Theory to Unleash the Potential of Autonomy-Supportive Learning.\u201d Written by CIE\u2019s Emily Bonem, Daniel Guberman and Chantal Levesque-Bristol,\u00a0the book<\/a>\u00a0equips educators with the tools they need to create classroom environments that lead to more engaging and productive learning experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From fostering connections with faculty peers to receiving feedback on teaching practices, there\u2019s a lot to gain \u2014 and learn \u2014 from taking part in the groups. But above all, Vieira says, it\u2019s an excellent opportunity to grow and develop as a member of Purdue\u2019s teaching and learning community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cProfessional growth rarely happens in isolation,\u201d he says. \u201cWorking alongside colleagues with different experiences and perspectives encourages you to continually refine your teaching and collaboration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How you can participate<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faculty members interested in participating in the fall 2026 teaching and learning reading groups should complete\u00a0this online questionnaire<\/a>\u00a0as soon as possible to provide information about their availability.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sessions will be held in West Lafayette and virtually through Microsoft Teams during the second week of each month. Participants can choose their date and location according to their schedules each week. A list of this semester\u2019s meeting dates is available on the\u00a0Innovative Learning website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Questions about the reading groups or suggestions about future books and topics can be directed to Annika Kraft at\u00a0arkraft@purdue.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Crafting meaningful and engaging course experiences has been at the top of Dielson Vieira\u2019s mind ever since he joined the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine\u2019s faculty in 2024.
\nAs a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Vieira is already adept at applying innovative teaching practices to classroom environments, but that doesn\u2019t stop him from seeking out new ideas, approaches and perspectives \u2014 insights he gains through outlets like Purdue\u2019s teaching and learning reading groups.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":35341,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,41,29],"tags":[2293,8,598],"class_list":["post-35338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-faculty-staff","category-our-people","tag-basic-medical-sciences","tag-faculty","tag-our-people"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35338"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35338\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35349,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35338\/revisions\/35349"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}