CTL Happenings - Message #436

Most new faculty enter the professoriate with training and support for their research, but few enter with equivalent preparation and support for their teaching. The Early Career Teaching Academy (ECTA) provides a program for faculty members to engage in conversations to develop effective teaching strategies that are situated in their own emerging teaching philosophies. The Academy invites applications from full-time faculty members in their first, second, or third year of teaching at IUPUI, IUPU Columbus, and Indiana University Fort Wayne.

The academy commences with two intensive sessions: one half-day on February 15 (morning), and one full-day session on February 22. Over the course of the next year, attendees are also required to attend four Faculty Learning Community meetings, held typically on Thursday or Friday mornings.

Click here for more information and to apply.  

Discover new ways to enhance student learning and reduce achievement gaps. William M. Plater Institute on the Future of Learning and LEAP INdiana Conference will feature speakers Laura de Abruna, Ph.D., New York College of Pennsylvania and Casey Green, Ph.D. The Campus Computing Project.  Faculty will also experience: 

• Fast-paced dynamic presentations
• Digital courseware & adaptive learning technology demonstrations
• Digital sandbox exploration with Q & A

Join colleagues from across Indiana at the 2019 on February 8, 2019, 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. For more information and registration, visit platerinstitute.iupui.edu.

IUPUI’s student body has become increasingly diverse. However, students of color continue to face barriers in the classroom related to their sense of belonging, representation, and retention. The Teaching Towards Racial Equity Workshop Series, which is part of The White Racial Literacy Project, is designed for instructors who are currently teaching and are aspiring to promote racial equity in their courses. Whether you have encountered challenges related to racial equity in the classroom or you are new to this topic, we invite you to engage with colleagues. Participants will reflect on how their identities, lived experiences, and worldview impact their teaching and students’ learning. Participants will also have opportunities to refine their courses and implement strategies to achieve racial equity in the classroom.

Instructors who are interested in this workshop series need to submit an online application by January 27. Click here for more information and to apply.

The IUPUI Center for Teaching and Learning seeks proposals from faculty teaching at higher education institutions across Indiana for the 2019 E.C. Moore Symposium on Excellence in Teaching. We would especially welcome proposals that address topics such as: efforts to improve student learning and engagement, inclusive excellence, integrative learning, novel general education courses or curricula, creative use of instructional technology, and initiatives that promote excellence in teaching. Proposals should clearly demonstrate relevance to a broad range of disciplines. The 2019 E.C. Moore Symposium will be held on Friday, March 8th at the IUPUI Campus Center.

Proposals will be accepted through 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, January 20, 2019 at 11:59 p.m. Click here for more information and to submit a proposal.

The Curriculum Enhancement Grant (CEG)  provides faculty with technical and instructional support, time, and funds to implement projects designed to improve student learning and success at IUPUI, IUPU Columbus, and IUFW. In addition, the grants seek to enhance the conversation about scholarly teaching on campus and increase the practice of the scholarship of teaching and learning. The grant supports a wide range of faculty projects designed to improve student learning and success. See the 2019 Curriculum Enhancement Grant Request for Proposals for more information. The deadline for proposal submissions is Friday, January 25, 2019, 11:59 p.m.

Need to post an announcement to multiple courses at once? The Multi-course Announcements tool simplifies the process. Find it in the Canvas Announcements tool, or add it to the navigation menu in any Canvas course site. Learn more..

Good assessment practices include checking students’ learning on a regular basis during the learning experience. They provide faculty with feedback on what, how much, and how well their students are learning. Instructors can use this feedback to modify their teaching to improve student learning. It helps students reflect on their learning and identify gaps in their knowledge. In this webinar, participants will learn the difference between formative and summative assessment as well as how to implement formative assessment techniques in different teaching contexts and disciplines. Questions and discussion will be encouraged.

This event aligns with the Assessment Methods and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (A) competency for the IUSM Academy of Teaching Scholars program.

As IUPUI begins the process of reviewing general education courses, course coordinators or faculty responsible for preparing course portfolios for review may have questions about the information and materials that need to go into the portfolios. This workshop will provide an overview of the course review process, a review of course portfolio requirements, the process for assembling and submitting the portfolio, and the rubric that will be used to review the course portfolios. Examples from existing course portfolios will be incorporated into the workshop. Questions and discussion will be encouraged.

This workshop is being offered in two formats: in person and online.  When you register, you will be prompted to choose how you would like to attend.

Have you ever had the experience of reading your end-of-semester student evaluations and found yourself surprised by the comments? Perhaps a student made a suggestion that you agree would be an improvement to the course.Or maybe a student was critical of something and you wish you could have explained the pedagogical reasoning behind your course design. Although end-of-semester feedback can be helpful for making adjustments for future semesters, it is too late to make changes that will impact the students who actually provided the feedback. This webinar will focus on obtaining mid-semester feedback from students.

This webinar is part of the Center for Teaching and Learning’s online mini-workshop series focused on foundational teaching skills, Teaching@IUPUI. Designed for new faculty, adjunct faculty, graduate students, and those looking for a refresher on good teaching practices, the webinars are short, with a brief presentation interspersed with opportunities for interaction and questions. Grounded in current research, the workshops address various teaching topics and provide participants with strategies and resources to make instruction more effective, efficient, and enjoyable. Sessions are scheduled with the time of semester in mind, to keep topics relevant for faculty needs at that time.

This event aligns with the following IUSM Academy of Teaching Scholars program competencies: Assessment Methods and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (A).

Each semester, the Forum offers writing groups that provide encouragement, accountability, and a sense of community for faculty and staff. This spring, there are two ways to participate: 

Online Accountability Groups - Participants are placed in five person groups and given access to a shared, online spreadsheet. Each day, they will record their time spent writing into the spreadsheet and "check in" on each others' progress. This feedback loop will help participants develop a writing habit and will remind them that they are not alone.

In-Person Writing Circles -  Participants are organized into groups that meet in person for two hours each week. In the first 30 minutes of their meeting, group members will discuss a writing-related topic. In the remaining 90 minutes, they will sit quietly and write. This option is a great way to schedule writing time into a busy schedule. 

To sign up, visit this website and click the “Sign Up Now” button (theforum.iupui.edu/WritingGroups). Sign up will close on January 18th; the session will start on January 21st. Membership is open to IUPUI, IUPUC and IU Fort Wayne faculty and staff of all ranks, appointments, and disciplines. 

Please contact theforum@iupui.edu with questions.

The Polis Center at IUPUI is offering a series of free workshops to build data literacy skills and use the SAVI community information system as a resource. See the workshops offered below: 

• Framing the Problem |  January 17, 8:30-10:30 a.m. - Register
• Find Existing Data |  January 17, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. - Register

Melinda Stanely from IU Kokomo will share her engagement techniques used in her online courses to increase interaction between her students.  She will also share how VoiceThread is used to create effective online lecture presentations open to student feedback, and discuss the importance of course announcements, and what makes this communication tool effective for students.

To register for more information, click here.

This three-session series is designed to train participants to communicate complex scientific topics more effectively to non-experts like patients, learners, lawmakers, and funders.

Session 1: Feb. 12, 4:00 -6:00 p.m., Connecting With Your Audience 
Session 2:  Feb. 19, 4:00- 6:00 p.m., Distilling Your Message 
Session 3: Feb. 26, 4:00 - 6:00 p.m., Media Training for Scientists and Physicians

All participants are asked to commit to the entire three workshop series, as each session builds upon the previous. For class descriptions and to register click here.  Please note: If you register for this event, you will be registered for all three sessions. 

Call for Presentations, workshops and posters deadline is Friday, February 15, 2019 for the 8th Annual PEER-LED TEAM LEARNING INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY.  Among the threads to be explored are:  (1)Sustainability of PLTL campus programs; (2)Critical thinking, meta-cognition, and PLTL; (3)Discourse analysis including cyberPLTL; (4)PLTL and the sense of belonging; (5)Workplace skills development and PLTL; (6)Implementations in non-STEM disciplines.  For more information, contact Dr. Ne'Shaun Jones

Save The Dates:  Thursday - Saturday, June 6 - 8, 2019 for the 8th Annual Conference of the Peer-Led Team Learning International Society.  This event is hosted by IUPUI STEM Education Innovation and Research Institute (SEIRI).  For more information:  info@pltlis.org

The Office of International Affairs has a small fund available to offset a portion of the associated costs of these professional development opportunities.

For information about the opportunities, click here: http://international.iupui.edu/global-learning/grants

For information about funding, contact Dr. Leslie A. Bozeman, Director of Curriculum Internationalization lbozeman@iupui.edu

Meyers, S. A. (2009). Do your students care whether you care about them? College Teaching, 57(4), 205-210.

Research and theory suggest that caring is an important dimension of effective college teaching. This article offers practical suggestions for developing rapport with students and considers criticisms and concerns about professors expressing care.