CTL Happenings - Message #517

Make plans to attend the annual Teach, Play, Learn Conference on game-based teaching and learning. The virtual conference takes place Friday, June 25, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., ET. There is no cost to attend, and faculty, staff, and students are invited. Learn about game design from keynote speaker, Dr. Scott Nicholson from Wilfrid Laurier University in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. Scott is the author of Unlocking the Potential of Puzzle-Based Learning.

Faculty who seek to refine and promote their teaching efforts may document their work through the development of a teaching portfolio, a site where faculty engage in reflective practice to measure the effectiveness of, and to refine, their teaching practices. This webinar introduces faculty to the teaching portfolio and to the several interrelated tasks that yield the teaching portfolio's elements: developing a teaching philosophy, identifying specific teaching practices to explore, document, and to improve, situating an identified teaching practices in an appropriate context, and collecting and evaluating evidence of teaching and learning.

Use this instructional guide to create a transparent, asynchronous online learning activity to engage your students with the content and with each other.

Do you know anyone who will be a new graduate teaching assistant (TA) in fall 2021 and/or spring 2022? Have them register for the 2021 TA Orientation, to learn about the expectations and responsibilities of their new position and develop strategies to confidently and effectively interact with faculty and undergraduate students in face-to-face and online classes. Click here for more information and registration details.

The CHAT Room: Conversations Happening Around Teaching is a virtual, informal space where faculty can gather to discuss timely topics related to teaching. There will be a different topic each month. Each one-hour CHAT Room discussion will have a faculty facilitator and a CTL host. At the beginning of the session, the host introduces the topic and the facilitator, who then talks briefly about the topic and facilitates open discussion for the remainder of the  hour. The room will open 10-15 minutes early for people to socialize. Following the facilitated discussion, a CTL host will direct the participants to resources pertaining to the topic. The June topic is "What did you learn about yourself as a teacher?

Two Small Teaching Online (or anywhere) Faculty Learning Communities (FLC)  will be held this summer.  The goals of the FLC are to strengthen community among teaching colleagues, increase confidence and skill in applying online and general teaching strategies, and provide an opportunity to document professional development in teaching. Flower Darby’s book, Small Teaching Online: Applying Learning Science in Online Classes will serve as a guide to generate reflection and discussion. Each FLC will be capped at 10 participants. All participants will receive a free copy of the book.

Collaborative learning is associated with higher academic achievement and student engagement, in both in-person and online learning environments, and has been found to have a positive impact on a wide variety of students.  In this webinar, participants will examine challenges faced by students and faculty in using collaborative techniques, learn about best practices to overcome these challenges, and discuss examples for implementing and assessing collaborative learning techniques for the online and in-person learning contexts. 

The CHAT Room: Conversations Happening Around Teaching is a virtual, informal space where faculty can gather to discuss timely topics related to teaching. There will be a different topic each month. Each one-hour CHAT Room discussion will have a faculty facilitator and a CTL host. At the beginning of the session, the host introduces the topic and the facilitator, who then talks briefly about the topic and facilitates open discussion for the remainder of the  hour. The room will open 10-15 minutes early for people to socialize. Following the facilitated discussion, a CTL host will direct the participants to resources pertaining to the topic.

Would you like to learn about how the practice of curriculum mapping can help maintain your program’s accreditation or improve student learning outcomes? Curriculum mapping helps you gain greater clarity about what students are expected to learn in your program, and in which courses. Mapping makes visible the gaps and redundancies of your program’s curriculum, and is the first step to assessing your program’s effectiveness in bringing about student learning. Join us for this introductory webinar on curriculum mapping!

The Faculty Forum offers writing groups that provide encouragement, accountability, and a sense of community for faculty and staff. This summer, there is only one writing group that meets via Zoom on Tuesdays from 12:00 - 2:00 p.m. The writing sessions ends Tuesday, August 10. There are no hybrid or at your pace groups. Click here for more information and registration or contact us at: faccross@iupui.edu. 

The SEIRI seed grants program (SSG) is a competition that facilitates and supports STEM education innovation and research. SSG is an opportunity to facilitate and support STEM education innovation and research at IUPUI. The deadline for proposals is November 1, 2021 by 11:59 p.m. Click here for more information.

Upcoming SAVI Data Literacy Skills Training: SAVI data literacy training empowers you to find, use, and understand data. Classes are as follows:

• Making Decisions with Data  |  June 24, 10 a.m. | Register
• Frame the Problem  | July 8, 10 a.m.  | Register
• Find Existing Data  |  July 8, 12:30 p.m. | Register

Oleson, K.C., (2021, May 20). Faculty members’ biases and prejudices. Tomorrow’s Professor, 1875.

This excerpt from Kathryn C. Oleson’s Promoting Inclusive Classroom Dynamics in Higher Education: A Research-Based Pedagogical Guide for Faculty examines some ways of addressing explicit and implicit biases in teaching and learning to create an egalitarian space where all students are treated in unbiased ways.