CTL Happenings - Message #605

Busch, C. A., Bhanderi, P. B., Cooper, K. M., & Brownell, S. E. (2024). Few LGBTQ+ Science and Engineering Instructors Come Out to Students, Despite Potential Benefits.CBE—Life Sciences Education, 23(2), ar17.

LGBTQ+ undergraduates in science and engineering have high attrition rates and perceive that having LGBTQ+ instructors would benefit them. This article reports on two national studies that uncovered how instructor disclosure impacts student perceptions of and rapport with the instructor, aspects which impact attrition.

How do you ask and answer questions about your students’ learning and what makes it better? Sign up for our three new online workshops on different aspects of SoTL - what it is and how you can engage it in it.

• February 5, 1 - 2 p.m. - High-Impact Practices and SoTL
• February 19, noon - 1:15 p.m. - Getting Started with SoTL (Part One of a Two-Part Series)
• March 5, noon - 1:30 p.m. - How to do SoTL: Formulating Research Questions and Finding Methods (Part Two of a Two-Part Series)

Ready to turn challenging classroom discussions into powerful learning experiences? Join our “Navigating Difficult Dialogues in Your Course” webinar series to explore strategies that transform difficult conversations into growth opportunities and confidently manage “hot” moments in the classroom.

Register for the webinars.

Wednesday, January 29 | 12 noon - 1 p.m. | Online - Zoom
Register » Organizer: Boyun Kim and Presenter: Boyun Kim and Teresa Sosa

Join us for an engaging one-hour webinar designed to deepen your understanding of positionality statements and their application in classrooms. Understanding your own positionality and communicating it to students helps create a safe learning environment and productive discussions. The webinar will cover the importance of positionality statements and guide participants through understanding their own positionality and its impact in the classroom. We will guide you through the initial process of creating a positionality statement, as well as how to apply it in your teaching. Practical examples will be provided to illustrate these concepts.

Tuesday, February 4 | 1 - 1:45 p.m. | Online - Zoom
 | Organizer: Jeani Young and Presenter: Jeani Young

Are you looking for an easier way to manage your student handbook, reports, or other publicly shared documentation in an accessible format? Have you ever been frustrated with your textbook or lab manual options and thought “I could do better than this!”? Would you like your students to co-author a book on your course topics or create sharable review materials? 

Pressbooks is a customizable, collaborative online publishing tool that anyone at IU can use to author and share

• Textbooks,
• Lab manuals,
• Reports, 
• Student handbooks, and 
• Student work

Pressbooks is built on WordPress, a popular blogging tool, that allows you to not only write text, but embed images, videos, complex tables, mathematical notation, documents, and glossary terms. It was developed to be accessible for readers, avoiding many of the pitfalls of PDFs and Word documents. You can also control the visibility of everything in your book and the roles of any collaborators.

Join us for a demo of Pressbook features and learn about some of the ways your colleagues are using it here at IU!

This event aligns with the following IUSM Academy of Teaching Scholars program competencies: Instructional Technology (IT)

Neurodiversity and UDL: A Friendship Worth Fostering: In this session we will discuss ways in which neurodiversity theory and activism may help to inform and shape the implementation of the UDL to support neurodivergent students, with a specific focus on how communication differences can be respected and honored using UDL. The second part of the workshop will offer participants an opportunity to consider three elements of course design that can benefit from a neurodiversity perspective: the disability accommodations statement, class participation guidelines, and framing for collaborative group activities. Drawing on her experience as a faculty developer and teacher of disability studies, as well as on her own experiences as a neurodivergent student and teacher, she helps educators develop a foundational understanding of neurodiversity as it applies to higher ed. Her programs all begin with the history and politics of neurodiversity. Participants learn the histories and definitions of key terms related to neurodiversity, how we may encounter neurodiversity in our higher education contexts, and some teaching approaches that align well with neurodiversity. Register for Dr. Silverman’s workshop, Friday, January 24, 2025, from 10 a.m. to noon (EST).

Teaching Students and Not Just 'Subjects': In this session we will focus on what teaching humans entails, including the approaches, curriculum decisions, and strategies that cultivate intrinsic motivation. These strategies, if fully engaged in, allow us to bring out the best out of our diverse classrooms. Mechanisms for non-cognitive assessment will also be discussed. Dr. Dewsbury is an Associate Professor of Biology and Associate Director of the STEM Transformation Institute at Florida International University. He is the Principal Investigator of the Science Education and Society (SEAS) research program, a team blending research on the social context of teaching and learning, faculty development of inclusive practices, and programming to cultivate equity in education. Dr. Dewsbury is a Fellow with the John N. Gardner Institute, where he assists institutions of higher education in cultivating best practices in inclusive education. Also, he is one of the co-authors of The Norton Guide to Equity-Minded Teaching.Register for Dr. Dewsbury’s workshop, Friday, February 14, 2025, from 10 a.m. to noon (EST).

Engage 2.0 is the IU’s university-standard e-reader. Join this webinar for a guided tour of the Engage interface, learn about its many features, and get resources to support your success with your IU eText. Multiple dates available!

Register for a session: 11 – 11:30 a.m., 2 – 3:30 p.m., or 7 – 7:30 p.m.

Call for proposals for the 2025 Midwest SoTL Conference are open! The conference will be held in person on April 11, 2025, in the beautiful city of South Bend, Indiana. The conference theme is Care, Kindness, and Creativity. Proposals are due by February 2, 2025. See the flyer or the conference website for details.

The application for Innovate Awards is now open through February 9, 2025. Anyone with responsibility of teaching an undergraduate or graduate class at an IU campus or FACET Fort Wayne, regardless of status or rank, is eligible to apply. Applicants are not restricted to FACET members. View the categories and apply.

Faculty can receive support of up to $5,000 for grant proposals that promise innovative, inclusive, and transformative approaches and improved practice in assessment and/or program review. Learn more and submit a proposal.