Tag: ChicoFlex

Where Are Your Students?

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It is that time of year. Today is Halloween. Veteran’s Day and Fall Break are around the corner and students are disappearing. Some of them are sick, others are traveling for school or fun, and others may be homesick. Gazing out into a half-full classroom usually fills me with anxiety on a few levels. I’m wondering how the class is going to go, and I’m also dreading the deluge of emails about making up missed work and class time. 

One remedy to this annual tradition is to consider an alternative format for your classes. Hyflex classes, where a variety of modalities might be implemented, allow students to have more flexible learning experiences. In a recent episode of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast thought leader David Rhoads and Bonni Stachowiak made the point that flexible teaching front-loads instructional work and often saves you as the instructor time in the long run because you deal with far fewer edge-cases where students are not in class. 

You might have tried this during the pandemic and had a terrible experience, or maybe you tried it and loved it, but it seemed like the momentum on campus was back towards traditional face-to-face teaching. Regardless, we have the tools, experience, and now the research on what works and what does not. Join us for a workshop on Wednesday to explore the ChicoFlex modality and why it might be a good fit for you moving forward. 

Why you should attend this workshop and consider ChicoFlex:

  • Expand enrollment in your program by offering flexible arrangements. 
  • Utilize technology that is already available and in rooms all over campus. No need to write a grant to get what you need. 
  • Lower your workload by preemptively building flexibility for students who are sick or traveling. 
  • Research from our campus and around the country indicates flex arrangements maintain or even expand student success.

November 1, 12-1 p.m.
MLIB 045 or Zoom
Led by: Katie Mercurio, Tina Lewis, Kathy Fernandes, and Zach Justus

Professor leading a classroom of students with a chalkboard and computer resources

Figure 1: Professor leading a classroom of students with a chalkboard and computer resources

Zach Justus
Interim Director of Faculty Development
Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences
Google Voice/Text: 530-487-4150

Implement Universal Design for Learning in your Courses

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Sent on behalf of Dr. Jamie Gunderson, Assistant Professor in the School or Education and READI Equity Fellow

Hello, Fellow Faculty! 

If you are anything like me, the winding down of one semester serves as a sort of cue to begin planning for the next semester. This planning normally begins with a review of the scope and goals of the courses I am preparing to teach as well as reflection of my previous experience with teaching the courses’ content. During my reflection, I think about any lessons and/or activities that students engaged with and responded favorably too. Next, and this part is my favorite, I take a look at The UDL Guidelines to identify any areas in which my lessons and activities align to Universal Design for Learning (UDL). From there, I can pinpoint any areas that I may want to focus on or increase my implementation. Here is an example; In the fall I am teaching a ChicoFlex course that I will be facilitating via Canvas. In my previous teaching of this content, I noticed that students appreciated the opportunity to review and provide feedback on each others’ work as this practice fosters collaboration and community (UDL Checkpoint 8.3). As this course is new to the Canvas platform, I am currently working on creating a module and assignment in Canvas wherein students can submit their work for peer review and feedback. This module, launching in the coming semester, uses the Canvas platform to facilitate the peer review and because I promote the use of Kurzweil in all my courses to support reading and writing, I am now using multimedia for communication (UDL Checkpoint 5.1) and multiple tools for composition and construction (UDL Checkpoint 5.2). As my example suggests, the implementation of UDL begins with reflection and recognition – consider what it is that you do in your teaching that works and review the principles, guidelines, and checkpoints to determine where those practices align with UDL. From there, challenge yourself to select an additional principle, guideline, or checkpoint to focus on for future implementation. 

Interested in implementing UDL within your teaching? In true UDL fashion, here are three options for you to start your UDL journey:

  1. Adapt and apply the above example to your own teaching practice and review the UDL Guidelines.
  2. Check out the UDL Teaching Guide on the FDEV website for tips, ideas, and more UDL-focused resources.
  3. Recommended Option – Join us on Thursday, 5/11/23, in Colusa 100A from 12:30 – 2:00 PM, to see examples of UDL implementation and chat with faculty who are participating in the UDL Faculty Learning Community!

For more tips, resources, or to geek out on all things UDL, please contact Jamie Linn Gunderson: jlgunderson@csuchico.edu. 

Take a Break (seriously)

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Dear faculty, 

For this week’s Tuesday Tip I could not help sharing this meme. You’ve done it, it is week 16 and everyone is busy with wrapping up the semester, finishing finals, and well…. grading! 

For many of you this was the first semester back on campus after the pandemic. Others spent the semester getting used to the ChicoFlex mode of instruction, exploring the benefits of added flexibility for students. Others continued teaching online, revising your courses to better serve students in the virtual environment. Independently of HOW you have been teaching this semester, I know all faculty have shared challenges in relation to engaging students and offering a renewed sense of community. 

I want to take a moment to reiterate how Faculty Development is here to help you navigate these challenges, and we look forward to continually providing support in the semesters to come. 

Please continue sharing your needs so we can best respond to them, and make sure to find ways to relax during the next few weeks. 

The Office of Faculty development wishes you a wonderful time during the break! 

ChicoFlex Updates and Training Opportunities

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Dear faculty,

I want to take the opportunity of this Tuesday tip to remind you of a number of resources related to ChicoFlex technology and pedagogy. First of all, I want to point you to this website, which clarifies some general questions about this mode of instruction and provides updates on the technology and the trainings available.

Winter 2022 GoFlex training
Kathy Fernandes and I, together with the Technology & Learning Program (TLP), have been hard at work to plan additional training for faculty interested in teaching ChicoFlex courses and, more broadly, in hybrid pedagogy. There is currently an open call for faculty interested in participating or mentoring in our Winter 2022 GoFlex session. This 5-day session is designed to prepare faculty who have not attended GoFlex in Summer 2021.This Winter session will also have a STEM track focusing on implementing ChicoFlex in courses offered in the Science building.

DATES: January 5, 6, 7, 11, 12 (skipping January 10th, Monday), 2022. You can read more information in the Call for Applications. Applications are due by Wednesday, November 17th.

If you want to learn more about GoFlex, you can visit this website, which includes faculty showcase videos.

ChicoFlex and Hyflex Fellows
Additional efforts in relation to ChicoFlex and hyflex pedagogy include the selection of six faculty that will work with Faculty Development and the Technology and Learning Program in Spring 2022 to develop an assessment plan for the ChicoFlex model and will start piloting a full hyflex mode of instruction. The key difference between ChicoFlex and hyflex is that ChicoFlex does not include the possibility for students to attend a course fully asynchronously, while full hyflex courses in the future will. You can read more about this distinction here.

Faculty Learning Community: Innovative Hyflex and Inclusive Pedagogy
Lastly, I want to announce a new faculty learning community that will be offered in Spring 2022. Dr. Jamie Gunderson will lead 20-25 faculty in a learning community that will focus on universal design for learning and will encourage faculty to create inclusive hybrid and virtual learning spaces. The call will come out on November 15th, together with all FDEV Spring 2022 programs, so stay tuned! Share your experience on our blog if you are teaching a ChicoFlex course this semester and/or you have completed GoFlex in the Summer!

Add a comment to share your experience if you are teaching a ChicoFlex course this semester and/or you have completed GoFlex in the Summer!

The ChicoFlex Pilot

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Dear faculty,

I want to take this opportunity to share some information about the ChicoFlex pilot that started in early April and invite you to this week’s Friday Forum for a chance to hear from the faculty who are participating in the pilot. Danielle Hidalgo (Sociology), Jaime Raigoza (Computer Science), Kevin Kimbell (Finance and Marketing), Nicholas Nelson (Physics), and Scott Brady (Geography and Planning) have been teaching in classrooms equipped with hyflex technology for the last couple of weeks, and have experimented with different pedagogical practices.

Faculty Development has been working closely with Classroom Technology Services and the Technology & Learning Program to learn the ins and outs of hyflex technology, class management, and general pedagogical needs for hybrid courses that will adopt the ChicoFlex Model. The ChicoFlex Team (Brent Liotta Chiara Ferrari, Kathy Fernandes, Marjorie Shepard, and Mike Magrey) has attended these classes in a variety of capacities: acting as students in person, participating as students online, and providing some tech support.

We are incredibly grateful to the faculty who are participating in the pilot, and I think I speak for our whole team when I say that we are learning so much about the possibilities, as well as the challenges of this mode of instruction. This Friday Forum will give us an opportunity to share what we have learned so far: we encourage everyone to join us for a chance to ask questions about ChicoFlex and hear about Summer training opportunities!

ChicoFlex Pilot Friday Forum

(Friday, April 30th, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., via Zoom)

The ChicoFlex Spring Pilot Team