Events
The Trefny Center offers a range of programming around topics in teaching and learning.
Please see below for a list of our upcoming workshops and other gatherings!
Join us in April for our spotlight series on Rigor!

Workshop: What is Rigor? “Hard Courses Weed Out Weak Students” and Other Illusions of Rigor
Wednesday, April 12
TIME: 12:00-1:00 pm (lunch provided)
LOCATION: GREEN CENTER 200F
Audience: faculty and staff who work with students
What is rigor? What makes a course rigorous? In this workshop, we will consider what rigor means in the context of higher education and what it means here at Mines. And we will consider questions such as: if we cover more content, will students learn more? and does giving students flexibility and second chances decrease rigor? During this workshop, we will reframe some common “illusions of rigor” and identify ways to create rigorous courses and support student learning in the process. Lunch will be provided.

Journal CLUB: Reframing Rigor: A Modern Look at Challenge and Support in Higher Education
TUESDAY, April 18th
TIME: 10:00-11:00 AM (coffee/snacks provided)
LOCATION: GREEN CENTER 200F
Audience: faculty and staff who work with students
Join us as we discuss the article “Reframing Rigor: A Modern Look at Challenge and Support in Higher Education.” As we reframe our own definitions of rigor, we will consider what rigor looks like in a variety of academic environments. In particular, we will consider rigor in the classroom, in institutional-level courses, in research settings, and in other contexts at Mines.
Active Learning Communities

Alternative Grading & Equitable Asssessment
This Learning Community grew out of our programming series on Ungrading in February 2023, which brought together 33 teaching faculty, tenure-track faculty, postdocs, and staff from across campus. Join us as we read, discuss, look at examples, share our work, and consider the grading practices we use in our classes! Sign up below to receive communications about the next meeting.
Would your program or department be interested in hosting a Trefny workshop, training, or other event?