Tag: workshops

Just Breathe

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Hello!

My name is Zach Justus, I previously served as the Interim Director of Faculty Development and am excited to be back in the role. This is a time of tremendous change on our campus and in higher education broadly, but I am going to keep these tips focused on actionable concrete ideas designed to help you in the day-to-day work of teaching and learning. 

Today’s tip is–just breathe. One of the great privileges of this position is working with new faculty. When I was meeting with new lecturers I focused on just making it through the first week. It is good advice for all of us. Give yourselves permission to focus on that goal as well. You don’t need to be a master of Canvas when you get started. You don’t need to be the most knowledgeable person in the room about generative AI. You just need to make it through the first week. 

If you are looking for some help with Canvas I strongly recommend the 90 minute self-paced training available through TLP. Start here for training and other guides.

If you are looking for help getting started with AI in your classroom please refer to our joint announcement last week. TLP is also hosting a series of workshops including several on syllabus statements. You can change your syllabus policy in the first week if you announce it to the class. 

Lastly, be on the lookout for our fall programming announcement next week.

Zach Justus
Interim Director of Faculty Development
Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences

Spring into Canvas (…for Fall!)

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Dear faculty, 

I want to use this Tuesday Tip to remind you about the Spring into Canvas for Fall day, which will be held on Thursday April 20th both in person and via Zoom. 

You can access the program here for more details about the sessions. 

The Technology and Learning Program is planning a whole day to help faculty learn about Canvas and start getting familiar with the new learning management system. 

Spring into Canvas for Fall 
April 20, 9am – 4pm 
Colusa Hall 116, 114, 111 

Have a lot on your plate? TLP is  breaking Canvas down into bite-sized tasks. Come for 10 minutes, a single session, or the entire day. Or just come have pastries and coffee and/or lunch. This day is all about you.  

TLP Instructional Technology Consultants are hosting structured sessions and available to help you personally in a dedicated workroom. Join in-person or on Zoom. Our Canvas workroom will provide “10-Minute Tasks” that will help you get started.

  • If joining us in-person, bring your laptop, your coffee mug, and TLP will help you get started with your transition to Canvas.  
  • If joining on Zoom, you’ll arrive in the TLP Lab when you click on Zoom link and will then be directed to a Zoom breakout-room. 
  • Can’t come at all? You haven’t missed the boat. We are here all summer and will continue to offer sessions and consulting to assist you before the fall semester starts when over 600 faculty will be using Canvas for the first time. 

I also want to remind you that Faculty Development released a Zine last week focusing entirely on Canvas. In the Zine, you can read longer pieces about the transition to Canvas but you can also access practical tips about specific tools in Canvas. 

TLP will offer more opportunities for training and support, both in person and via Zoom, later in April and in May, as well as during the summer. 

I hope you will take this and future opportunities to learn more about Canvas and I particularly want to encourage faculty teaching in summer to attend the Spring into Canvas for Fall Day and other workshops this Spring to make sure you have the proper support for your summer courses! 

Quality Learning and Teaching Program

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The Office of Faculty Development is partnering with the Technology & Learning Program to offer a series of workshops designed around the Quality Learning and Teaching instrument. Please read below for details. 

The Quality Learning and Teaching (QLT) program was developed to assist faculty and instructional designers to more effectively create and deliver online, blended, and flipped courses, and has been utilized at CSU, Chico since 2014. I have led the QLT Program since 2016 and I have found that key benefits include: 

  1. Engaging students in their learning experience more directly 
  2. Increasing student feedback throughout the course (not only at the end) for immediate and continuous improvement. 

If you are interested in learning more about the nature of quality online instruction at CSU, Chico and about the benefits of faculty training, you can read this recent article written by Ben Seipel and myself: Preparing and Training Higher Education Faculty to Ensure Quality Online Learning and Teaching. 

QLT WORKSHOPS 

The five workshops below are designed to meet core standards in the QLT instruments and are associated with deliverables that will allow you to fully redesign a course (or design a new course). While we encourage faculty to take them in this sequence, it is not necessary to attend them in this order.   

Workshop 1: Introduction to QLT, Course and Learner Support (Chiara Ferrari) – Wednesday, October 7, 2 – 3:30 p.m.

Workshop 2: Assessment of Learning Outcomes (Ben Seipel) – Wednesday, October 14, 2 – 3:30 p.m.

Workshop 3: Organization of Course Materials and Resources (Chiara Ferrari) – Wednesday, October 28, 3:30 – 5 p.m.

Workshop 4: Student Engagement (Christine Sharrio) – Thursday, November 12, 3:30 – 5 p.m.

Workshop 5: Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (Claudine Franquet) – Wednesday, December 2, 9 – 10:30 a.m.

**For those faculty who cannot commit to attending the whole QLT series, the workshops are open on an individual basis, but we ask that you REGISTER HERE if you plan to attend, so we can plan properly based on the number of attendees.** 

COMPENSATION 

FDEV is offering compensation to 30 faculty who can commit to attending all workshops, completing all deliverables associated with them, and completing a final course review. Compensation will consist of a $500 taxable payment. Please refer to the call for applications for more details and complete this brief application form. These workshops will be offered again in the spring (twice), so if you are interested in applying, spring workshop dates will be shared later in the Fall semester. Please REGISTER HERE for the workshops you plan to attend. 

Try Zoom for Online Learning

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Check out today’s 90-second Tuesday Video Tip on using Zoom for online learning and see supporting resources below.

Chico State Instructional Continuity Plan and Tools to Help Faculty

https://www.csuchico.edu/tlp/keepteaching.shtml

Workshops for Faculty to Get Started Using Zoom

https://www.csuchico.edu/tlp/events/index.shtml

If you can’t make it to a Zoom workshop, here is how to set up Zoom yourself.

Activate your Zoom Account (one-time task)

Add a Zoom Room to Blackboard Learn to meet with your students in a live, virtual classroom or one-on-one for student hours.

 

 

Include Project Based Learning

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If you want to deeply engage your students in course content by shifting away from teacher-centered instruction and towards student-centered projects, try Project-Based Learning (PBL). This hi-impact curricular model makes learning relevant to students by establishing connections to life outside the classroom and by tackling real life issues. In PBL, faculty serve as facilitators and even co-learners as students engage in projects such as investigating community problems, analyzing complex social issues, creating new scientific tools, designing a new app, etc. Students are “coached” through hands-on experiences in real-world interdisciplinary settings that require critical thinking, teamwork, and problem-solving. Chico State already has several courses using PBL, some of which include service learning in collaboration with the Office of Civic Engagement.

Below are a few resources if you’re interested in learning more about PBL.

Measuring Student Learning Certificate Opportunity

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Defining a learning objective is challenging. Accurately measuring a learning objective is even more challenging and requires familiarity with a number of assessment strategies. In 500 Tips on Assessment, best practices include exploring a variety of strategies such as peer and self assessment, portfolios, and practical work that are “authentic” and “redeemable” (i.e. opportunities to redeem failure when things go wrong).

If you’d like to take a closer look at your course assessment plan in a supportive environment and earn a Certificate in “Measuring Student Learning and Success”, join us in a series of three workshops on April 5, 12, and 19 in MLIB 252 from 11-12:30. Earning the certificate involves attending all three workshops that offer a comprehensive look at different stages of a course assessment plan. While you are welcome to attend as many workshops as your schedule allows, earning the Certificate requires full attendance at all three workshops.

Workshop Topics

April 5: Create and implement a course assessment plan (by Ben Seipel)

April 12: Interpret assessment data and close the loop (by Ben Seipel)

April 19: Create assessment-based evidence for your RTP dossier (by Chiara Ferrari)

If you’re interested, please complete this brief questionnaire.

Contact Chiara Ferrari for questions.

Workshops are offered by the Office of Faculty Development in collaboration with the Academic Assessment Council.

 

How to Benefit from Your FDEV Office

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Dear colleagues,

In my first e-mail to you as Faculty Development Director, I’ll share what this office provides to faculty. First off, this is your office and the programs we offer are tailored to your needs. Our mission is to deliver programming that enhances your professional lives as teachers and scholars. We team up with you to enrich the faculty experience so that you can provide world-class instruction to your students. All of the professional development programs are free and, in many cases, we pay you to participate.

What your FDEV office offers you

  1. Faculty Learning Communities (e.g. Improve your Pedagogy, Article in 12 Weeks)
  2. Academy e-Learning institutes
  3. Annual CELT conference (Oct 5-6 this year)
  4. Bb training workshops including one-on-one consultations you can schedule with TLP staff
  5. Tuesday Tip e-mails
  6. Mentoring program for new faculty
  7. Internal campus grants and access to many CSU grant opportunities

What you can offer your FDEV office

  1. Volunteer your expertise as guest presenters in workshops
  2. Send ideas to us for “Tuesday Tip” e-mails that would strengthen our campus

We’re stronger as a campus community when we leverage our expertise to help each other. I look forward to collaborating with you this year!

—————————————-

Josh Trout, Ph.D.

Faculty Development Director

MLIB 458A

(530) 898-3094

—————————————–

Teaching in Today’s California

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The theme of the CELT Conference this year is “Teaching and Learning in Today’s California.” The changing demographics of California and the evolving priorities of the State should compel us all to take a moment and consider how the University has changed and will change in the coming years. The 22nd annual CELT Conference is just such an opportunity. President Gayle Hutchinson will be sharing her thoughts in the Awards Luncheon and Keynote on Thursday. The Conference runs 10/6-10/7, is on campus, and is free.

Check out the CELT conference program here.

Register for the conference here.

Top 10 reasons to register for the CELT conference

  1. Looking at teaching posters while eating a breakfast burrito, is literally my perfect morning. Join us on Friday 7:30-9:00am in Colusa for the catered poster session.
  2. Heard the buzz about e-Portfolios, but not sure what to make of them? Check out nationally recognized e-Portfolio leader Kathleen Yancey on Friday at 3pm for a presentation or join her for a workshop 12-2pm, please register for the separate workshop.
  3. Avoid a meeting you do not want to attend with the excuse “I can’t make it, I need to attend a conference.”
  4. Check out the great work of our colleagues from San Jose State who are coming to share their work on a prestigious First in the World Grant on Friday at 1pm.
  5. We are making outreach to our local community colleges a priority, help us make the conference a regional centerpiece by promoting it to your friends at other institutions.
  6. Get better at teaching.
  7. Learn from the successes and mistakes of others in course redesign. Join colleagues from Business focused on course redesign at 9am on Friday. A separate session on Friday at 10am explores the relationship between our own Academy-e Learning and the CSU funded program to support quality online instruction.
  8. Join us for student focused sessions like the Students in Crisis workshop/presentation on Thursday at 9:30am or the Writing for First-Year Students session at 11am on Friday.
  9. Support your colleagues. Most of you know someone who is presenting or invested in one or more presentations.
  10. See and be seen. The CELT conference is the networking opportunity of a lifetime, or at least the best one you will have on Thursday/Friday.

Dr. Sara Cooper has provided addition Book in Common Material. Check out this section of the CELT page for regular synopsis updates, discussion questions, and other resources.

Got feedback on this tip? Got an idea for a tip? Send it along. Check out our new and improved wordpress site here.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the Caffeinated Cats podcast! The first episode of the semester is up online. Mary, Tracy, and I explore diversity and protest on campus and off. Link to it on soundcloud, itunes, overcast, or follow the podcast on facebook.

Faculty Presents

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From “The Flipped Classroom: Not Just for STEM:” Flipping a class isn’t an all or nothing affair.  Turning just one lecture into a set of activities students do before class—typically reading and/or watching a video presentation of the day’s material—frees up class time for hands-on activities that require students to dig more deeply into the material using higher-order thinking skills—applying, analyzing, and evaluating, not just remembering.  Students might work in teams on a case study or analyze data using material or theory introduced in the pre-class activity.  In all of this work, the instructor can circulate among the students, checking for comprehension and helping deepen reflection. Keys to the success of a flipped session are that the pre-class activity have a scored component both to ensure students will do it and to set up the in-class activity; and that in-class work both use and extend the out-of-class material.  Many instructors require the students to generate a question based on what they’ve viewed, or open the class with a quiz.  It takes time and care to build an effective flipped class, so taking it one session at a time makes sense. And those of us who love our lectures needn’t give up all or even most of them to take advantage of this powerful technique.  Our TLP Instructional Technology Consultants are available to help create flipped classroom activities, and have put some resources together here. Thanks to faculty presenters Denise Minor and Sarah Anderson!

From “Approaches to Learning and Teaching (Through) Writing:” Involve students in the process of defining good writing before they begin writing. Deb McCabe (CMAS) invites the class to generate a list of traits they admire in what they read and puts them on the board—understandable, engaging, easy-to-follow, etc.  Having done this before, she knows that the traits are likely to fall into certain categories so she lists them in columns (without identifying headings). At the end of the exercise, she turns to the columns of traits and notes how clearly the students have identified key areas like structure, purpose and audience, clarity, mechanics, content richness, and voice.  Not only are students now aware of the complexity of what makes for good writing (it’s not the same in a science journal and a political blog), but because they have been engaged in setting the terms, they are also more likely to think about these traits as they begin their own writing processes. Thanks to faculty presenters Deb McCabe, Chris Fosen, and Kim Jaxon!

*  Authored by Dr. Katherine McCarthy.

 

Not so much a tip this week as a teaser

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Not so much a tip this week as a teaser. The 20th Annual CELT Conference is happening next Wednesday through Friday, and will offer you more tips than you can shake a clicker at. For instance:

  • Thinking about trying a flipped classroom unit or course?  Hear about the benefits and challenges Gayle Kipnis discovered last year in her flipped Nursing course. (Wednesday 10/1, 2-2:50, Colusa 100B)
  • Struggling with slackers and controllers in group projects? Find groups even harder to manage in online settings? Learn from some small group communication experts about how to avoid these pitfalls to achieve true cooperative learning. (Thursday October 2, 9:30-10:45, BMU 210)
  • Ever think about becoming a department chair or dean?  Wondering what it takes to achieve a campus leadership role, and what happens when you get there? Consider these two new sessions: “Sitting in the Seat of the Chair” (Friday 10/3, 8:30-9:45, Colusa 100B) and “Women’s Leadership Roundtable.” (Thursday 10/2, 1:30-3, CE 107)
  • Got a tip of your own to share? We’ve got an open mic and a friendly audience for you at our first annual Teaching Slam. Demo a favorite lecture nugget, in-class activity, testing technique, you name it! (Friday 10/3, 9-9:50, Colusa 100A)

Full descriptions of these and all the conference sessions can be found here, where you can also register for the Awards Luncheon and Keynote on Wednesday, The Learning Catalyst Fellows Breakfast on Thursday, and the Keynote Faculty Workshop on Friday. None of the other sessions requires advance registration.

It’s week 5, and your schedules have very few open spaces left, but wouldn’t it be rejuvenating to spend an hour thinking and talking about these things with your colleagues? I hope you’ll join us.

*Authored by Dr. Katherine McCarthy.