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Maricopa (AZ) Center for Learning and Innovation

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Maricopa (AZ) Center for Learning and Innovation

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The Maricopa Center for Learning and Innovation (MCLI) enhances the student experience by exploring new horizons of education and implementing high-impact and high-quality strategies through cross-functional collaboration and professional development programs with faculty and staff of Maricopa Community Colleges.

Teaching and Learning

MCLI promotes the usage of evidence-based best practices for teaching and learning. We do this by:

highlighting how these practices are used throughout Maricopa Community Colleges,

providing opportunities for faculty growth, and

working with the Colleges' Centers for Teaching and Learning.

Innovation

MCLI promotes creativity and innovation by serving as an incubator for supporting innovation. We do this through our programs to spark new ideas and events to help inspire others and disseminate the work of the faculty staff, and students throughout the District and beyond.

Programs and Events

MCLI hosts and supports numerous programs and events to support faculty ensure that our students are successful in meeting their goals. We do this through our signature events, District events, and by supporting programs at the Colleges.

Contact Us

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Maricopa Center for Learning and Innovation

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The Maricopa Center for Learning and Innovation (MCLI) enhances the student experience by exploring new horizons of education and implementing high-impact and high-quality strategies through cross-functional collaboration and professional development programs with faculty and staff of Maricopa Community Colleges. MCLI promotes the usage of evidence-based best practices for teaching and learning.

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Defines three broad domains of practice in CTLs that include:
1) Organizational Structure
2) Resource Allocation and Infrastructure
3) Programs and Services.
Includes sub-domains to guide center development, practice, and assessment.

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Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning

The Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning (CETL) is dedicated to assisting faculty and staff in improving the quality of teaching and learning services. CETL Faculty Advocates inspire, guide and mentor faculty in areas of pedagogy and classroom management.

CETL Programs

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center for excellence in teaching and learning

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Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning

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The Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning (CETL) is dedicated to assisting faculty and staff in improving the quality of teaching and learning services. CETL Faculty Advocates inspire, guide and mentor faculty in areas of pedagogy and classroom management.

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Create opportunities for faculty to collaborate and share effective teaching methodologies.
IP Goal 5 Performance Indicator Faculty participation in professional learning opportunities meets and exceeds FLEX requirements and is reflected in program review. Baseline is participation in 2019–2020 activities.

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Janue Johnson

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about

Learning Opportunities for Transformation (LOFT) is the campus hub for professional development activities. Although the entire campus is used for a variety of professional development activities, the LOFT provides a space specifically designated for employee training and development on a daily basis. It includes small and large group training spaces, soft-seating, collaborative work stations, computer stations and quite rooms.

The furniture in the LOFT is designed to be flexible and transformative to meet the different needs of the campus.

Space Reservations

The LOFT offers multiple, flexible spaces for your use. Most of the LOFT is available on a walk-in basis. The following spaces are available for reservation:

Training / Meeting Room (LOFT-432)
- 18 person capacity
- Projection system
- 6 Laptops, 6 Tablets, 6 iPads
- Easily reconfigured

Presentation Room (LRC-435)
- 50 person capacity
- Multiple layout configurations
- Projection system

Special Events
- Use the entire LOFT for a special event
- 100 person capacity (mixed seating)

Contact Todd Williamson for reservations

Everyone Is Welcome

All employees are welcomed to use the LOFT. Need an inspirational space to:

Hold a meeting?

Engage in cross-discipline conversations?

Host your committee work?

Dive into a special project?

Learn & practice new technology skills?

Refresh your curriculum?

Use a workspace different from your own?

Read a book?

Grade papers?

What else?

Technology & facilities

Four portable media monitors are available in the LOFT that interact and display from any laptop/tablet/ipad

Movable white boards

Collaboration stations for 2 or 20 people

Small private and workgroup rooms

10 computer stations (8 PC and 2 MAC)

Color Scanner

Scantron Machine

iClickers, including the instructor's kit are available for daily check out

Tablets and iPads to use in the LOFT

Find The loft on social media:

Check out the Training and Events page for activities happening in the LOFT and the Professional Development Calendar on the left to see activities campus-wide.

Hours of Operation:

We are open during Library Hours.

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about Learning Opportunities for Transformation (LOFT) is the campus hub for professional development activities. Although the entire campus is used for a variety of professional development activities, the LOFT provides a space specifically designated for employee training and development on a daily basis.

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Faculty Development as an Authentic Professional Practice - Higher Education Today

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By Catherine Haras The need for continual learning is a given in most professions. Architects, doctors, engineers, and teachers are expected to keep up with current practice, for their careers as well as for their clients, patients, and students. By contrast, professional development (PD) within higher education is confounding.

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In 2016, DCAL set out to establish a stronger link between faculty needs and center programming, and thus take a more strategic approach to program planning. At that time, DCAL had never asked faculty directly about their needs and interests in its 13 year history. To do so in a structured way, we developed a data collection instrument and arranged to visit departments during their regular department meetings.

The center director and an accompanying staff person from DCAL visited 30 academic departments in winter and spring 2017 to administer the survey and facilitate conversations about the needs and interests of departments and individual faculty members. A total of 178 people completed the survey.

Departments Visited

African and African American Studies program
Anthropology
Art History
Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Literature
Biology
Chemistry
Classics
Computer Science
Economics
Education
Environmental Studies
French & Italian
Geography
German
Government
Jewish Studies
Latin American, Latino and Caribbean Studies
Linguistics
Mathematics
Music
Quantitative Social Science
Psychological and Brain Sciences
Physics & Astronomy
Religion
Russian
Studio Art
Theater
Thayer
Sociology
Spanish & Portuguese

Framework and Methods

Existing research and best practices for needs assessments informed the design of our instrument (Banta & Palomba, 2015; Guba & Lincoln, 1982; Hines, 2011; Shadle et al., 2015). The instrument asks respondents to indicate their interest in learning about a variety of topics and their preferred learning method(s) for each. The list of topics reflects a comprehensive suite of skills and capacities that our center, along with campus partners, deemed relevant to good teaching. The instrument concludes with open-ended questions asking respondents to identify the largest barriers they face to focusing on teaching, and what might lower those barriers.

Download the instrument (PDF)

Topics

Course Design

Designing a course from scratch

Writing learning outcomes

Identifying & acquiring course materials

Teaching specific skills in your course (e.g. writing, critical thinking, research, multimedia)

Using blended (combination of online and face-to-face) or flipped (content delivery outside of class) elements in your course

Assessment Strategies

Creating an assessment plan for a course

Creating assignments that promote and evaluate learning

Designing and evaluating meaningful reflection exercises

Developing effective grading strategies

Teaching Strategies

Designing learning experiences & activities

Effective lecturing

Incorporating technology into your teaching

Facilitating Discussion

Active learning strategies

Community-based learning

Facilitating student collaboration & teams

Disrupting bias in the classroom

Designing for accessibility

Accommodating student disability

Experiential or service learning

Miscellaneous

Observing others or being observed while teaching

Effectively using Canvas to support your courses

Mentoring postdocs, TA's, or graduate students

Blending research and teaching

Unique aspects of teaching at Dartmouth (e.g. quarter system, X hours, FSP)

Open-Ended Questions

Please indicate any additional topics you are interested in learning about.

What are the largest barriers you face to focusing on your teaching or improving your teaching effectiveness?

What would lower those barriers for you?

Survey Results

Initial results (n=178) indicate that, among the teaching topics included on the survey, faculty are most interested in learning from DCAL about:

Designing a course from scratch

Designing learning experiences and activities

Creating an assessment plan for a course

Creating assignments that promote and evaluate learning

Incorporating technology into your teaching

Effectively using Canvas to support your course

The most preferred modes of learning were "workshop/conversation open to all" and "workshop/conversation with my department," though individual consultations and written resources also generated notable interest.

Conversation Results

The conversations with departments were highly valuable and variable. Topics that arose, among many others, included:

Sources of funding for teaching support

Active learning

Grade inflation

Academic program/curricular review

Teaching close reading skills

Technology in the classroom

Classroom renovations

Learning Fellows

Experiential learning

Role of Learning Designers

This variety of topics does not lend itself to generalizable take-aways or succinct reporting. However, it does reflect the wide range of subject areas that DCAL's works touches. It also reflects that Dartmouth faculty care deeply about teaching. It is our hope that DCAL can continue these conversations with departments and individuals to be a source of information and support in all areas related to teaching at Dartmouth.

Interpretation of Results

Survey results revealed a spectrum of needs and interests among departments and individual faculty related to their teaching, including what kinds of supports they need, and what kinds of existing supports they may be unaware of.

Looking at the results departmentally, there were some clear patterns of interest in modes of learning and topics of interest. Further, many individuals in several departments articulated (either in conversation or via survey responses) that they want to discuss teaching and learning with their department specifically. We are interested in understanding the depth of this interest and what these offerings might be.

Some topics were strongly correlated with particular modes of learning. For example, 62 respondents indicated interest in one-on-one consulting on the topic "designing a course from scratch," 64 for "effectively using Canvas," and 55 for "incorporating technology into your teaching."

DCAL's Plans

Workshops open to all, individual consultations, and books have long been available from DCAL, but conversations tailored to departments and online and physical resources have been lacking. Two possible strategies:

Increase visibility of existing services and resources

Increase availability of additional services and resources

There are many possible ways to identify the best path forward. Some of the questions we want to address include:

Is there a better way to communicate resources, services, and programming to reach faculty?

How might we continually check alignment between resources, services, and programming with faculty needs and interests?

To what extent is departmental programming of interest? To what extent do faculty want programming tailored for their disciplinary lens? To what extent do faculty want to attend general programming with their departmental colleagues only?

How do we continue these conversation moving forward?

DCAL's primary goal is to improve teaching and learning at Dartmouth by helping faculty improve their pedagogical effectiveness and efficiency.DCAL is committed to providing resources, removing barriers, promoting evidence-based practices, and building partnerships to cultivate a culture that values and rewards teaching for all members of Dartmouth's scholar-educator community. Current resources that DCAL offers include workshops and programs on a variety of topics each term, one-on-one consultations, a lending library of books on teaching and learning topics, and an online collection of informational guides. These resources are available to all members of Dartmouth's teaching community, including administrators, faculty of all ranks, staff, graduate students, postdocs, TAs, and undergraduate students.

We intend to facilitate more opportunities for departments and individuals to provide us with information about their needs and interests so that we can continue to tailor our offerings to meet them most effectively. Initially, DCAL will focus on addressing the most pressing identified areas of need and inviting departments and programs to use the resulting resources. In addition to these structured invitations, DCAL welcomes input, feedback, and inquiries at any time related to its services, programming, and resources.

References

Banta, T. W. & Palomba, C. A. (2015). Assessment Essentials (second edition). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Guba, E. G., & Lincoln, Y. S. (1982). The place of values in needs assessment. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 4(3), pp. 311-320.

Hines, S. R. (2011). How mature teaching and learning centers evaluate their services. To Improve the Academy: Resources for Faculty, Instructional, and Organizational Development, 30. Pp. 278-288.

Shadle, S., Ortquist-Ahrens, L., Serro, L., Sagmiller, K., Ouellett, M., & Beach, A. (2015). Catalyzing institutional change: A model for effective practice. Presentation Delivered at the 2015 Annual POD Conference in Louisville, KY.

In addition, past work from Texas A&M and relevant discussions from the ASSESS Listserv archives informed the design and implementation of the survey.

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Dartmouth Center for the Advancement of Learning

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In 2016, DCAL set out to establish a stronger link between faculty needs and center programming, and thus take a more strategic approach to program planning. At that time, DCAL had never asked faculty directly about their needs and interests in its 13 year history.

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Table 1. Common Sources of Data

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Extensive list of PD topics

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The Cooperative for Teaching and Learning is a faculty-led group committed to providing access to high-quality and relevant professional development for CNM faculty. To ensure our efforts meet your professional development needs, we are seeking your input. Thank you for your time and valuable input on this survey. --The CTL Faculty Professional Development Team

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Faculty Professional Development Needs Survey

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The Cooperative for Teaching and Learning is a faculty-led group committed to providing access to high-quality and relevant professional development for CNM faculty. To ensure our efforts meet your professional development needs, we are seeking your input. Thank you for your time and valuable input on this survey.

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Sample written survey and telephone interview materials and results.

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Advice & News | by Emily Allen Williams

Matej Kastelic/Shutterstock

Faculty at accredited colleges and universities are required to engage in professional development on an annual basis, yet institutional quarterly and annual reports often reveal that the majority of what is referenced as faculty professional development is usually recorded as conference attendance. Conference attendance clearly is an important means of sharing research, building collaborations, and getting to know discipline administrators and scholars. Conferences afford faculty the opportunity -- over time -- to present themselves as experts in the discipline. Also an amazing opportunity to interface with publishers and vendors of educational materials, some academic conferences also hold career/job fairs, which attract early and mid-level faculty. In an era defined by institutional budget cuts, the rising costs of conference attendance highlight the need for innovative approaches to cost-effective and results-driven faculty professional development for teaching faculty to maintain excellence in the classroom and across institutional platforms of service.

For faculty primarily focused on teaching, as well as their support leaders (provosts, academic deans, and department chairs), there are key questions to consider in accelerating faculty professional development beyond conference attendance:

What is the product of the one or two annual conferences most faculty attend?

If a paper was presented, what was its yield?

Did more research ensue from the feedback on the paper presentation?

Was the paper published and/or did it lead to a book contract?

Were research collaborations formed (whether attendance was as presenter or observer)?

Did the conference experience increase faculty pedagogical abilities?

Will participation in the conference advance [or likely advance] teaching and learning within a one to three-year window?

What, if any, immediate impact will faculty attendance at the conference(s) have on students?

While attendance at conferences remains important to teaching faculty, the identification of meaningful areas of training that will make faculty valuable to the academy outside of their discipline is an innovative and necessary way to expand the ways by which faculty develop professionally in the twenty-first century. While conference attendance in the disciplines will undoubtedly remain key to advancing research and scholarly collaborations, the twenty-first century higher education terrain is largely branded as one focusing on teaching and learning as well as assessment at institutional, program, and course levels.

So, the question is how will institutions of higher education 'grow' faculty to meet the challenges of working across teaching, research, and service responsibilities? Most faculty are absolutely savvy in knowing which discipline-specific conferences and professional association meetings that they not only want to attend but must attend in advancing both their visibility and acumen as scholars in the discipline. What is not as transparent to faculty are those activities -- beyond discipline-specific conference attendance -- that will shape their competencies in the areas of teaching and learning and assessment towards building student competencies, institutional capacities, and faculty [job] sustainability.

As more emphasis is placed on teaching effectiveness and assessment of the same, it is essential that faculty be presented with, as well as create, means for engaging in career-enhancing development on a semester-to semester rotation. These 'means' should be those that incorporate not only theory but also the necessary research and peer collaborations that lead to timely implementation of teaching and learning strategies. Activities that can be assessed and documented towards enhancing faculty teaching effectiveness [whether occurring as face-to-face, online, hybrid/blended, or independently-conceived] constitute diverse means of engaging in meaningful professional development activities.

Creating the specificities within each of the activities can be motivated from perspectives as broad as those institutionally-developed as well as perspectives more focused such as those programmatically/departmentally-developed. The creation of the specifics engages both administrators and faculty in the intellectually complex work that is essential in the skills that will bolster teaching faculty engagement in continuous knowledge of teaching, learning, and assessment toward accelerated student success.

While hardly exhaustive, the following activities can be successful -- beyond conference attendance -- in the professional development of teaching faculty:

Participating as a mentor or mentee in an institutionally-developed program

Serving as a chair or committee member on an accreditation review team

Serving as a reviewer on a national, regional, or local grants review panel

Engaging in teaching and learning webinars that enable semester-long feedback and participation in discussion circles

Engaging in campus-based instructional technology workshops in advancing delivery of course content

Leading or participating on a grant writing team across discipline areas for national, regional, or local funding

Organizing and/or participating in Brown Bag Lunch Series to share pedagogical strategies across disciplines

Collaborating with faculty at other institutions on teaching and learning projects

While attendance at conferences will remain key in the disciplines for years to come, it is only one means of faculty professional development. While 'thinking outside the box' is undoubtedly one of the most well-worn expressions in both the academy and business world, the meaning behind the expression remains timely and of over-arching importance as academicians seek to innovate upon ways of teaching and learning in an increasingly evolving society. Continuing to think in ways that are creative, innovative, and long-term are essential to robust and meaningful professional development platforms for teaching faculty.

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Advice & News | by Emily Allen Williams Matej Kastelic/Shutterstock Faculty at accredited colleges and universities are required to engage in professional development on an annual basis, yet institutional quarterly and annual reports often reveal that the majority of what is referenced as faculty professional development is usually recorded as conference attendance.

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In Creating the Future of Faculty Development (2006), Sorcinelli et al posit that faculty development has "entered a new age-the Age of the Network. Faculty, developers, and institutions alike are facing heightened expectations, and meeting these expectations will require a collaborative effort among all stakeholders in higher education" (pp. 4-5). New faculty developers need to recognize the importance of this observation as they go about building a center of teaching and learning (CTL). One area in which the Age of the Network comes up is with advisory boards.

Why Have An Advisory Board?

Does your CTL have an advisory board? If it does, you might start to think about why the board exists; if it doesn't have one, you might consider adding one. If nothing else, advisory boards create a sense of ownership, of shared governance, and of a cross-stitching of campus constituents. Traditionally, advisory boards serve two purposes. They function as a two-way highway for CTLs-sometimes the information comes in and sometimes it goes out. Effective CTLs make use of both functions.

Advisory Boards Provide Input

When we began, we thought an advisory board was a necessity. While we knew we had to follow rule number one and do what our boss told us, we knew that we also had to address the needs of our constituents-faculty, departments, deans, and we would include our provost. In one sense it didn't matter what national trends told us what CTLs were doing, what we had to do was to respond to the immediate and specific needs of our folks. If the University developed a Quality Enhancement Program centering on creative thinking, it was up to us to offer programming-workshops, professional learning communities, and informational sessions-in support. If the faculty senate were taking up a new policy, we could do research for them on the area using our graduate assistant. If the Chairs Association asked us to tackle an area (e.g., the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning), we did.

One different avenue of aid we established early was the book. If the University had a problem area, we wrote a book on it. Back a few years ago, for example, the University was trying to define the relationship between a professor's traditional duties of scholarship and instruction. We ended up doing two collections through New Forums on the topic, It Works For Me as a Scholar Teacher and It Works For Me Becoming a Publishing Scholar/Researcher. Of course, technology has advanced since then; were we aiming at the same goal now, we might create an e-book, open our own You Tube channel, or develop an electronic repository for the materials.

Advisory Boards Provide Output

Advisory Boards also serve to disseminate information. In the beginning when we needed publicity, we had our board members deliver the information to their constituents. Again, over the years technology has changed many things. We now have our own website to advertise professional development opportunities, and we can even target various groups on campus (e.g., new faculty). We can use the University's daily information e-system, and Rusty's Social Media Committee has become quite proficient at tweeting key events before, during, and after. As we now speak regularly with the provost and president, we can usually persuade their offices to disperse any information.

The Future-To Board Or Not To Board?

At this point a good question might be: has technological progress replaced the need for advisory boards? Even if we believed the answer was yes, we would till argue for employing advisory boards because of the notion of shared governance, and that impression is one worth creating at first. Also, you have the option to convene Advisory Boards when you need to solve problems, for issues that warrant face-to-face communication. Down the road you may find less need to convene the advisory board as often, but keeping the board works for another important reason-expertise. Not everyone on your board has the same basic interests and backgrounds. For example, at a meeting this morning of a sub-advisory board, we discovered that one of the members was quite proficient at assessment and was very willing to help us draw up an instrument to evaluate our professional learning communities. Another member suddenly displayed a background in pedagogical software. We'll bet at future meetings we continue to discover our members have other amazing knowledge and talent.

One final point. Having done the research on brainstorming, and having the experience of facilitating many campus committees, organizations, and work groups, we're great believers in small groups-say, no larger than seven-accomplishing more. With seven members you have time for everyone's input, and you will have all the input you need.

Author

Ph.D Hal Blythe writes literary criticism to mystery stories. In addition to the eleven books he's published with New Forums, Hal has collaborated on four books on a variety of subjects, over 1000 pieces of fiction/nonfiction, and a host of television scripts and interactive mysteries performed by their repertory company. He is currently co-director of the Teaching and Learning Center for Eastern Kentucky University. Meet Hal Blythe.

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Why Centers of Teaching and Learning Have Advisory Boards

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In Creating the Future of Faculty Development (2006), Sorcinelli et al posit that faculty development has "entered a new age-the Age of the Network. Faculty, developers, and institutions alike are facing heightened expectations, and meeting these expectations will require a collaborative effort among all stakeholders in higher education" (pp. 4-5).

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According to a 2005 survey by Sorcinelli et al as reported in Creating the Future of Faculty Development (2006), respondents identified eight key issues for CTLs:

Teaching for student-centered learning

New faculty development

Integrating technology into traditional teaching and learning settings

Active, inquiry-based, or problem-based learning

Assessment of student learning outcomes

Multiculturalism and diversity related to teaching

Scholarship of Teaching

Writing Across the Curriculum (p. 72).

In A Guide to Faculty Development (2010), Virginia Lee compiles a list of ten programs/services that can most impact an institution:

Workshops

Individual consultations

Classroom observations

Orientations

Grants

Faculty fellows

Teaching circles

Faculty learning communities

Management of grant-funded projects

Engagement in national projects (pp. 26-28).

So the question becomes, what programs and services should your CTL provide for your campus?
Related Reading: Questions On Center of Teaching and Learning Innovation
Review and Advice

In previous posts we have stressed two major factors in determining what to offer:

What does your boss want?

What does your advisory board want?

And now we'd like to suggest a third component. What would you like to do? More specifically, given your institution's funding of you, the space offered, the support given, and even your allotted time, what are you capable of doing? Our friend and one-time director of a CTL at the University of Oklahoma, Dee Fink, did a presentation here last year and recommended that every CTL be funded at ½ to 1% of faculty salaries and benefits of the group it is being asked to serve. In reality, we doubt many CTLs receive this much University "grace," so as director, your job comes down to balancing the support realities, your boss's desire, and your board's advice. Our advice is two-part.

One, favor your boss' wishes.

Two, most schools have adopted as their unofficial motto today "Do more with less." We advise the minimalist approach. It is better, especially when starting out, to do a few programs well than to do a lot of programs in mediocre fashion. As you become successful, you can then argue for more support to increase your programming. Similarly, if you think you are trying to do too much, consider cutting back.
Related Reading: Why Centers of Teaching and Learning Have Advisory Boards
Actual Programming

The program that we believe offers the potential for success and saturation is orientation. In previous posts we have talked about how we offer orientation programs to four groups:

New tenure-track Faculty (approximately 50/year)

Part-time Faculty (approximately 75/year)

University Orientation Faculty (approximately 60/year)

Graduate Teaching Assistants (approximately 40/year).

Over the past ten years we have discovered that our usual workshops/roundtables draw over an academic year about 10% of the faculty. We're not positive of the national average, but we know from sitting on the state's faculty development workgroup that our figure is consistent with other institutions of higher learning in the commonwealth. Our university has approximately 600 full-time instructors, so while we may reach only 50 each year through orientation, we reach 50 new individuals each year. In addition, we have the participation of the other teaching groups. If you wish to effect a culture shift on your campus as we did with our EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING IS JOB ONE initiative, orientation is a good priority.

A second offering that satisfies bosses, boards, and faculty is informational roundtables. When we started, our boss thought it important that we offer a fall series of roundtables for new faculty, highlighting basic informational services-i.e., campus services of which faculty need to be aware. Thus, once a week every fall we have presentations on the University's academic integrity program, Co-op, opportunities in teaching abroad, mentoring student scholars, counselling center, the 911 program, accommodating students with disabilities, and even grants. All of these programs present key information faculty must know-e.g., pregnancy is now part of Title IX, attendance must be taken, crimes must be reported. What the faculty don't know can hurt them and, more importantly, their employer. What we are doing is converting all these presentations to podcasts, but that's the subject of another post.

A third offering is workshops, some which we do every fall and others that we rotate through or add in. For instance, this fall we are providing workshops in a new journal of undergraduate research, emerging technologies, teaching effective design and creativity, the IDEA form (offered every fall because the University has chosen to use this assessment instrument), making polished videos, teaching with social media, best practices in classroom observation, and working smarter through the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL).

A fourth key service deal with consultation and classroom observation, but that, too, is a post for next time.

Author

Dr. Russell Carpenter is director of the Noel Studio for Academic Creativity and Program Director of the Minor in Applied Creative Thinking at Eastern Kentucky University. He is also Assistant Professor of English. Dr. Carpenter has published on the topic of creative thinking, among other areas, including two texts by New Forums Press. In addition, he has taught courses in creative thinking in EKU's Minor in Applied Creative Thinking, which was featured in the New York Times in February 2014. Meet Russell.

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What Services Should a Center of Teaching and Learning Offer?

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According to a 2005 survey by Sorcinelli et al as reported in Creating the Future of Faculty Development (2006), respondents identified eight key issues for CTLs: Teaching for student-centered learning New faculty development Integrating technology into traditional teaching and learning settings Active, inquiry-based, or problem-based learning Assessment of student learning outcomes Multiculturalism and diversity related to teaching Scholarship of Teaching Writing Across the Curriculum (p.

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Years ago Paul Simon told us that "I'd rather be a hammer than a nail." In essence, every Center of Teaching and Learning (CTL) has to decide what it wants to be. Is it a traditional nail being hammered into shape, or is it a proactive force doing the shaping?

In a previous post, we emphasized that "The Faculty Developer's Most Important Question" is "to whom do you report" and the key to a CTL's activities is "what matters most is what matters most to your boss."

How do you want to innovate your Center of Teaching and Learning?

But the second most important question is: into what do you want to innovate your CTL? Yes, you have a mission, but that mission is general. Administrators, technologies, and even theories of faculty development will change over the years, but what you want to be able to do is to change at least with the tide or even better, ahead of it. In our way of thinking a CTL exists to provide pedagogical development to the faculty and has nearly nothing to do with disciplines such as chemistry staying current in their field. Sure, had we funding enough, we might want to co-sponsor a noted speaker in psychology or provide a venue for a campus-wide event, but a CTL's focus MUST be on pedagogy.

Appropriately, our CTL's mission is intentionally pedagogical in theory and practice: "Helping teachers help students learn deeply." And while we do exactly what our boss-actually we serve a provost and a dean-wants, we have adopted the hammer approach and try to nudge them in the direction our experience and research tell us to go.
Related Reading: Innovating Faculty Development Lessons From Pedagogy Day
How do you know which direction to take your your Center of Teaching and Learning?

The question becomes how do you as director of your CTL know what direction to nudge them? Be deliberate- make a list of all the things that you think you could accomplish as a CTL. If you're not sure of the possibilities, check out other CTLs or even the POD (Professional and Organizational Network in Higher Education) website. Then, given both your expertise and your unit's budget, prioritize the list. Start small. It's better to do a few things well and establish a good reputation than to create a mediocre unit that in its attempt to be all things does less and ruins your credibility.

How do you manage upcoming trials and errors.

Be ready for missteps. One of our original programs, for example, offered to send faculty to the famed Lilly Conference on College Teaching and Learning. What we encountered was a logistical nightmare in trying to get faculty to commit, to carpool, and arranging for their minute preferences (e.g., dietary). After a few years, we realized that so our effort was eating up almost 50% of our budget and we had no way of knowing the program's effect on teaching and student learning. As a result, we modified the program into seven "Lillyships," wherein we supported only those faculty who appeared on the Lilly program.

Another problem developed when we assumed control of New Faculty Orientation. As the University draws primarily from a 22-county region (we are a regional university), traditionally new faculty were sent on a bus tour of the region. While the trip may have been good P.R. for the University, it wasn't helping our new faculty pedagogically, and it was costing us almost $3000. In fact, we inherited a New Faculty Orientation that had little to do with pedagogy (as we discussed in a previous post).
Related Reading: 3 Principles for Innovating The Faculty Development Experience
Conclusion

Back to our list. What did we convince our bosses we could do well? What would give them the biggest bang for the buck? Number one on our list was New Faculty Orientation. If the University were hiring between 50 and 60 new faculty per year-and academic churn is much greater now than when we arrived on campus-that meant every five years more than one-third of the faculty turned over. To effect a cultural change, it is much easier to start on the ground floor than with those who have settled in. In addition to new faculty, we also orient over 50 part-time faculty per year, almost 45 graduate teaching assistants, and the 60-plus cadre of instructors who teach the University's first-year orientation class.

Two hundred instructors mentored in best pedagogical practices would be enough if that were all we did.

Next time we'll discuss how we hammered how various other programs that reflected our primary pedagogical purpose.

Author

Dr. Russell Carpenter is director of the Noel Studio for Academic Creativity and Program Director of the Minor in Applied Creative Thinking at Eastern Kentucky University. He is also Assistant Professor of English. Dr. Carpenter has published on the topic of creative thinking, among other areas, including two texts by New Forums Press. In addition, he has taught courses in creative thinking in EKU's Minor in Applied Creative Thinking, which was featured in the New York Times in February 2014. Meet Russell.

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Questions On Center of Teaching and Learning Innovation

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Years ago Paul Simon told us that "I'd rather be a hammer than a nail." In essence, every Center of Teaching and Learning (CTL) has to decide what it wants to be. Is it a traditional nail being hammered into shape, or is it a proactive force doing the shaping?

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A Proposal to Establish a CTL at MSVU - 2005

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A Proposal to Establish a CTL at MSVU - 2005

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The new Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) is operational and entering a period of transformation and growth, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Planning and Assessment Katherine Eggert announced today.

The center will provide increased visibility for all pedagogical efforts and events occurring across campus and will offer new programs and opportunities of its own.

"There are many outstanding offerings on campus already that support the development of faculty and graduate students as teachers and educators," Eggert said. "The CTL will serve as a networked hub for all of those efforts, mapping them together as an integrated, comprehensive network of resources for all CU Boulder instructors. It will also be a center for new and innovative offerings that have not previously been available to all who teach."

One of the first key actions in achieving that integration is combining the Faculty Teaching Excellence Program and the Graduate Teacher Program into a unified set of efforts under CTL.

"Combining the programming, pedagogical and institutional expertise of these two outstanding programs under one roof positions the CTL to get to work quickly in assisting our faculty and graduate students at all levels in their teaching and educational practice," said Kirk Ambrose, director of CTL.

Ambrose said that for the current academic year, the center will continue offering all services previously offered by the two programs while continuing to solicit input, including through an advisory board of faculty, staff and graduate students, on the center's future trajectory.

"The advisory board convenes this week," Ambrose said.

"They will be spending a lot of time thinking about how the center can more effectively serve the campus community, as well as looking for ways to engage faculty, graduate students and staff."

Ambrose added that anyone with ideas or input is strongly encouraged to reach out to him.

Instructional support offerings

Ambrose said that while the faculty advisory board will spend the current academic year exploring how to deliver instructional support resources in the future, the CTL will build on work with campus stakeholders to focus on key programmatic offerings:

Professional development for faculty and graduate students: Building on the efforts of FTEP and GTP, the CTL will create a comprehensive supportive network of activities that develop, promote and extend educational excellence in our faculty and graduate students.

Inclusive pedagogy: The university is committed to inclusion and increasing support of a diverse student body, starting in the classroom. Inclusive pedagogy is integral to this mission, and the CTL will provide critical training and support for all CU Boulder faculty and graduate students in this arena.

Building assessment capacity for faculty and departments: Teaching excellence requires an ability to assess what works in teaching. CTL will help faculty and departments develop research-based assessment practices that lead to improved teaching and learning.

Developing and supporting CU Boulder's teaching community of practice: The university has an extensive suite of programs and efforts that support teaching excellence. The CTL will serve as a hub for this community, promoting best practices, communicating opportunities and encouraging collaboration.

Supporting faculty who teach in the online environment: Working with the emerging online and distance education program, CTL will serve as the center for educators' professional development in the pedagogy and technology required for online and distance education.

A culmination of campus initiatives

Provost Russell Moore says that he is gratified to see progress on this initiative that was called for by multiple academic communities on campus.

"CU Boulder has recognized for a long time that we would benefit from an integrated approach to improving our teaching practice and supporting our community of educators," Moore said.

"A number of campus initiatives involving faculty, staff and students have called for this center in some way or other, including the Academic Futures 2018 Report, the Foundations of Excellence initiative, the IDEA Plan and the 2018 Academic Review and Planning Advisory Committee (ARPAC) report on campus teaching and learning programs."

Exploring and growing in 2019-20

Ambrose says that while the faculty advisory council still has a lot of work to do to map out how all of these instructional support resources will be delivered, he expects to fill a number of new roles to support the center in the coming year, including an inclusive pedagogy lead, an assessment professional, professional development experts and an event coordinator/marketing professional. Ambrose further anticipates that in the fall of 2020, the center's current office in the CASE Building will likewise include spaces for campus educators to collaborate.

"We have arrived at a historic moment with the opening of CTL," Ambrose said.

"CU Boulder has long desired this move, and it will better serve all of our educators in advancing a common student-centered approach to learning. We are looking forward to immediately launching the partnerships and strengthening the relationships that will make CTL successful and vital to the campus."

For more information, visit the Center for Teaching and Learning website. If you have questions or ideas for this new program, contact Kirk Ambrose.

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Announcing the Center for Teaching and Learning

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The new Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) is operational and entering a period of transformation and growth, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Planning and Assessment Katherine Eggert announced today. The center will provide increased visibility for all pedagogical efforts and events occurring across campus and will offer new programs and opportunities of its own.

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EAB Webinar: Aligning CTL Activities & Student Success

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EAB Webinar: Aligning CTL Activities & Student Success

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About the Webconference

As institutions increasingly recognize the critical role of pedagogy and student success there is a growing need to align faculty professional development with student success goals. In this webconference, we will discuss our recent research on the role, staffing, and programming of centers of teaching and learning especially related to inclusive pedagogy, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and new faculty pedagogical training.

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The High-Performing Center of Teaching and Learning | EAB

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As institutions increasingly recognize the critical role of pedagogy and student success there is a growing need to align faculty professional development with student success goals. In this webconference, we will discuss our recent research on the role, staffing, and programming of centers of teaching and learning especially related to inclusive pedagogy, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and new faculty pedagogical training.

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Travis Dove for The Chronicle

Hello, and welcome to Teaching, a free weekly newsletter from The Chronicle of Higher Education. Today, Beckie talks about how one university's teaching center tries to build a sense of community and support the teaching of its adjunct instructors. Dan passes along some examples of alternative assignments you shared with us. Beth lets us know about a guide for using adaptive learning, and we close out with some recent books.
Including Adjunct Instructors
Part-time instructors make up a significant share of the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. That's not uncommon, but it can bring challenges - in many cases, adjunct professors feel disconnected from their institution, even if they've taught there for years. Research suggests that this disconnection can have consequences for students, too.

The university's Center for Teaching and Learning has a long history of supporting adjunct instructors, said Heather McCullough, its associate director. Still, when the center surveyed the university's adjuncts a few years ago, it uncovered unmet needs. Among its findings: Adjunct professors were interested in getting more instructional support. They also "felt a lack of community," McCullough said.

The center took a number of steps to address these needs, including starting up a faculty learning-community program for adjuncts. Participants meet for two hours once a month over the course of a semester.

Joining the learning community is optional, requires an application, and comes with a small stipend. Demand for the program was so high, McCullough reports, that the center quickly expanded it from one cohort per semester to two, with each bringing together 15 to 20 professors.

One of the learning community's primary aims is to connect professors to one another. "It gives them somebody to talk to about their teaching," McCullough said. There have been cases in which two instructors who were teaching in the same department met face-to-face for the first time in their learning community.

The first half of each meeting is devoted to networking and discussion, McCullough said.

During the second half, participants choose one of two workshops, on either instructional technology or pedagogy. Topics for those workshops are chosen by the learning-community members at the start of the semester.

Popular topics have included how to engage students - especially in large courses; active-learning techniques; running a difficult classroom discussion; and using the university's learning-management system, McCullough said. Those selections are probably not too different from what any group of professors would come up with, suggesting once again that the key difference between part-time instructors and their colleagues is their weaker institutional connection.

At the end of the semester, instructors take part in a showcase, where they share something they're trying out in the classroom with their peers. Adjuncts who participated in previous cohorts of the program are also invited to attend.

The center has evidence that its efforts - including the learning communities - are making a difference in fostering a sense of connection. When it conducted its initial survey of adjuncts, in 2014, 32 percent of respondents indicated that they felt a sense of isolation. When it administered a follow-up survey, in 2017, the share of respondents who reported feeling that way dropped to 7 percent.

Are you an adjunct professor? What has helped you form deeper connections to your campus? And what difference has this made for the students you teach? Share your story with me at beckie.supiano@chronicle.com and I may feature it in a future newsletter.

**Exclusive Chronicle Report: The New Generation of Students
Generation Z is tech-savvy, career-driven and money-conscious; institutions must adapt. Purchase the report to learn how to recruit, teach, and serve Gen Z.
Alternative Assignments
After we told you last week about Stan Eisen, who gives his students the option of producing a children's book instead of a taking a final exam, many of you wrote in with examples of your own alternative assignments. Here are a few of them.

K. Sue Young, a professor in the department of communication at Mansfield University of Pennsylvania, has had students in her meeting-management and nonverbal-communication courses create a game or video to teach one another parliamentary procedure. A group once came up with a version of Monopoly.

The assignment prompts her students to think about how to explain or use the material in a hands-on way, she wrote, which is why she thinks "their learning goes far beyond what they get with testing." But she warns that supervising these projects takes a lot more time than a traditional exam would.

Another example comes from John Kilbourne, a professor of movement science at Grand Valley State University. Over the first weekend of "Foundations of the Human Movement Sciences," students create what he calls a "Mandala of Glory." It's a work of art that represents a personal moment of triumph or challenge, or their dreams or sense of mission, typically related to some physical endeavor. Examples have included wood-burned baseball bats, ballet pointe shoes hanging in a mobile, and sculpted figures.

Students also write an explanation of what Kilbourne calls "the inner story" of the work, which he keeps confidential. "The assignment provides a nearness, a central relationship between me and each student," he wrote. "I have learned over time that this nearness is critical to meaningful teaching and learning."

We'll try to pass along more examples in the coming weeks. If you want to share your alternative assignments but haven't yet done so, I'm all ears. You can email me at dan.berrett@chronicle.com.
Lessons on Using Adaptive Learning
Curious about adaptive learning? That's when instructors use special courseware to adjust content and assessment to students' abilities, and it's of interest at a time when colleges are trying to figure out how to personalize learning at scale. The Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities released a guide this week for colleges interested in adaptive learning, based on the experiences of eight APLU member institutions that have been experimenting with this software, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. If you want to learn more about how some professors are incorporating adaptive technologies into their work, check out the story Beth wrote this summer on how artificial intelligence is changing teaching.
New Books
Our colleague Ruth Hammond has compiled her latest list of new books on higher education, which you can see here. Ruth thought that these three titles, in particular, might be of interest to newsletter readers:

33 Simple Strategies for Faculty: A Week-by-Week Resource for Teaching First-Year and First-Generation Students, by Lisa M. Nunn, uses student interviews to illuminate "what they find baffling and frustrating about their classes," Ruth writes, "and what they like about them."

International Perspectives on Teaching With Disability: Overcoming Obstacles and Enriching Lives, edited by Michael S. Jeffress, draws on the classroom experiences of professors with disabilities from around the world.

Teaching Teachers: Changing Paths and Enduring Debates, by James W. Fraser and Lauren Lefty, considers alternative means of preparing K-12 educators, beyond college-based programs.

Thanks for reading Teaching. If you have suggestions or ideas, please feel free to email us at dan.berrett@chronicle.com, beth.mcmurtrie@chronicle.com, or beckie.supiano@chronicle.com. If you have been forwarded this newsletter and would like to sign up to receive your own copy, you can do so here.

- Beckie, Dan, and Beth

Love the Teaching newsletter? Recommend it to a friend.

Want to learn more about The Chronicle's coverage of teaching and learning? Read this. Have questions about the newsletter? Read this FAQ. Past editions are available here.

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How One Teaching Center Supports Adjunct Instructors

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Hello, and welcome to Teaching, a free weekly newsletter from The Chronicle of Higher Education. Today, Beckie talks about how one university's teaching center tries to build a sense of community and support the teaching of its adjunct instructors. Dan passes along some examples of alternative assignments you shared with us.

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The Center for Teaching and Learning enhances the University's mission of teaching and learning excellence, provides enterprise level instructional technologies, and champions the advancement of scholarly teaching. Major priorities include:

Providing professional development opportunities to ensure constructive and active learning environments.

Leveraging the experience and wisdom of faculty leaders to promote teaching excellence.

Encouraging innovative research and scholarly publication on teaching and learning.

Identifying, developing, and sustaining enterprise level instructional technology systems.

Collaborating with campus constituents to assess programs, tools, and services that support their teaching and learning needs.

Contributing to the development of policies, initiatives, and campus-wide culture that supports excellence in teaching.

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About the Center for Teaching & Learning

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The Center for Teaching and Learning enhances the University's mission of teaching and learning excellence, provides enterprise level instructional technologies, and champions the advancement of scholarly teaching. Major priorities include: Providing professional development opportunities to ensure constructive and active learning environments. Leveraging the experience and wisdom of faculty leaders to promote teaching excellence.

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Survey and recommendations for Faculty Development Program

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Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning

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CETL is pleased to add a new virtual way to share your teaching experiences with your colleagues. Each week we will be offering one or two 1-hour Visit our Virtual Coffee, Conversations and Connections. We hope you can turn your challenges into learning opportunities. Workshops page to register for a virtual session.

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The MISSION of CETL is to support, promote and enhance student, faculty and university success in our diverse academic community. CETL enhances student success and learning by supporting the overall success of the faculty and the university community through pedagogical, professional and leadership development opportunities.

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CETL Strategic Plan 2016-2020
Cultivating a Culture of Success for All Students, Faculty, University Community through Pedagogical, Professional and Leadership Development Opportunities
It is with great pride and gratitude that the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) at Oakland University presents our Strategic Plan 2016-2021. Our strategic plan is our way of actualizing the Oakland University Strategic Plan, and in particular Goal #1: Foster student success through a robust teaching and learning environment and comprehensive student services. This strategic plan represents the growth and evolution of CETL since the center's inception five years ago from focusing solely on faculty development to one that embraces a culture of success for students, faculty, and the institution at large.

Read our guiding statements below, and review the entire CETL Strategic Plan for 2016-2021.

Our CETL Diversity Plan (2019) identifies diversity goals mapped out in the CETL Strategic Plan and articulates additional goals to promote inclusive and culturally competent classrooms and faculty spaces.

The mission of CETL is to support, promote and enhance student, faculty and university success in our diverse academic community. CETL enhances student success and learning by supporting the overall success of the faculty and the university community through pedagogical, professional and leadership development opportunities.

1. CETL enhances student success by providing pedagogical development on exemplary learning and teaching grounded in evidence-based practices. CETL works in partnership with the University community to promote Oakland University's Strategic Goal #1: "to foster student success through a robust teaching and learning environment with comprehensive student support services." In addition to retention and program completion as measures of student success, CETL aims to promote a university culture that values and promotes deep learning, which moves beyond content knowledge to include critical decision-making, effective communication, personal and professional dispositions, and conflict management skills. Deep learning fosters resilient, life-long learners who are productive and engaged global citizens.

2. CETL provides support for faculty success through professional development. CETL views faculty success as one necessary component for student success. In addition to providing opportunities to develop their pedagogical practices and create student-centered learning environments, we support the total professional wellness of OU faculty and graduate students. We provide faculty members support throughout their academic career, including their transition into the university and academic lives, their mid-career engagement, and their roles as leaders in the university, profession, and community.

3. CETL provides support to enrich the success of the University as an institution through leadership development. CETL promotes the University's success by collaborating with other units and programs to execute its strategic plan. CETL aspires to facilitate an integrated umbrella of services to enhance organizational and academic leadership across the institution.

Cultivate CETL success: In order for CETL to support student, faculty and institutional success, we need to ensure the overall success of CETL's ongoing programs and future goals. In addition to ongoing Center operations, marketing, communication, needs assessments, and evaluation and impact of our programs, additional resources (staff positions and funding) and the Provost's support will be required to meet aspirational goals.

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Cultivating a Culture of Success for All Students, Faculty, University Community through Pedagogical, Professional and Leadership Development Opportunities It is with great pride and gratitude that the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) at Oakland University presents our Strategic Plan 2016-2021.

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Oakland University             2018-19 CETL Annual Report

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Oakland University             2018-19 CETL Annual Report

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Has link to CETL Strategic Plan

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The College will have a comprehensive, integrated professional learning program.
Action Step 1.1
Review current College plans and activities, including program review and student learning outcomes assessment, and statewide initiatives, including Guided Pathways, AB 705, and Vision for Success, to identify professional learning needs through a lens of equity-mindedness, in collaboration with the work team for Equity Objectives 1.2 and 2.3.
Action Step 1.2
Offer ongoing opportunities for faculty to incorporate best practices to improve teaching and learning and classroom management.
Action Step 1.3
Review and expand mentoring program to support full-time and part-time faculty
Progress Indicator IP5.1
The College has a comprehensive professional learning program that integrates FLEX and COMmunity Hour with identifiable themes that emerge from Action Step 1.1.

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The College will have a clear vision and plan for a teaching and learning center.
Action Step 1.1
Determine values and priorities for the teaching and learning center development, based on the program priorities identified in Instructional Programs Objective 5.1.
Action Step 1.2
Identify and visit notable teaching and learning centers at a variety of two- and four-year institutions. Action Step 1.3
Submit a formal plan for a teaching and learning center including rationale, programming, and required resources including staffing, physical space, and funding.
Progress Indicator IP5.2 The College has a plan and vision for a teaching and learning center.

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UC Berkeley | Division of Undergraduate Education

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5 Groups of Video Modules

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Decades of scholarship have identified practices that help students engage, persist in their studies, and learn more.

ACUE's Effective Practice Framework is a leading statement of the instructional skills that every college educator should possess. It was independently validated and is endorsed by the American Council on Education.

Every faculty member credentialed by ACUE has learned about and implemented practices across all of the framework's core competencies.

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With great teaching, students succeed. Decades of scholarship have identified practices that help students engage, persist in their studies, and learn more. ACUE's Effective Practice Framework is a leading statement of the instructional skills that every college educator should possess. It was independently validated and is endorsed by the American Council on Education.

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Online Teaching Tools

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Online Teaching Toolkit | Resources for Online Instruction

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Resources for instructors needing to make a quick transition to utilizing an online environment. Improved the online experience for teachers and students.

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https://www.amazon.com/How-Learning-Works-Research-Based-Principles/dp/0470484101

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"a resource that delivers the research base, tools, and courage to tackle one of the most challenging and emotionally charged conversations in today’s schools: our inconsistent grading practices and the ways they can inadvertently perpetuate the achievement and opportunity gaps among our students."
https://us.corwin.com/en-us/nam/grading-for-equity-webinar

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"Pauses constitute a simple technique for enlivening and enhancing the effectiveness of lectures, or indeed of any form of instruction, whether a presentation or in an experiential setting."

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Professors know a lot, but they are rarely taught how to teach. The author of the Chronicle of Higher Education’s popular “Pedagogy Unbound” column explains everything you need to know to be a successful college instructor.

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CSU Quality Learning and Teaching Evaluation Instrument

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CSU Quality Learning and Teaching Evaluation Instrument

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Section 1: Course Overview and Introduction

1.1 *Instructor uses course environment to provide clear and detailed instructions for students to begin accessing all course components, such as syllabus, course calendar, assignments, and support files
1.2 *Detailed instructor information is available to students and includes multiple formats for being contacted by students, availability information, brief biographical information, and a picture of the instructor.
1.3 *Course description includes the purpose and format of the course, as well as prerequisite knowledge and competencies, if applicable.
1.4 Course etiquette expectations for various forms of course communication and dialog (e.g., chat, "hangout," email, online discussion) are presented and clear to the student.
1.5 *Academic integrity or "code of ethics" is defined. Related institutional policies for students to adhere are clearly stated and/or links to those policies (e.g., online catalog; institution web page) is provided.
1.6 A list of technical competencies necessary for course completion is provided, identifying and delineating the role/extent the online environment plays in the total course.
1.7 Instructor provides samples of prior student work and an opportunity for students to ask related questions.
1.8 Instructor asks students to share their own learning goals for the course.

* = "Core 24" or essential QLT objectives. This subset was originally identified by CSU San Marcos.

Section 2: Assessment of Student Learning

Student Evaluation and Assessment refers to the process used to gather evidence of the achievement of the Student Learning Objectives/Outcomes (SLOs). If needed, we strongly recommend that instructors contact their Office of Academic Assessment or Center for Teaching and Learning for assistance with establishing an effective course assessment plan.

2.1 *All student learning outcomes are specific, well-defined, and measurable.
2.2 *Grading policy is provided in a manner that clearly defines expectations for the course and respective assignments
2.3 *The learning activities (including graded assignments as well as ungraded activities) promote the achievement of the student learning outcomes.
2.4 *The assessment instruments (e.g., rubrics) are detailed and appropriate to the student work and respective outcomes being assessed. This includes assessing modes of online participation and contributions.
2.5 *Throughout the semester, instructor provides multiple opportunities to give feedback on student learning, as well as helping students "self-check" their learning.
2.6 Throughout the semester, instructor provides multiple opportunities to solicit feedback from their students about their learning and on the course for the improvement of the course.

* = "Core 24" or essential QLT objectives. This subset was originally identified by CSU San Marcos.

Section 3: Instructional Materials and Resources

Addresses the variety of materials and material formats the instructor has chosen to present course content and enable students to meet relevant learning outcomes and, when possible, the affordability of chosen course materials.

3.1 *Instructor provides students with adequate notice and time to acquire course materials.
3.2 Syllabus lists whether textbooks and materials are required or recommended.
3.3 Instructor articulates the purpose of all materials as to how they are related to the course and module learning objectives.
3.4 When possible, instructor promotes or provides options in terms of how students acquire course materials, including Open Educational Resources.
3.5 *There is a variety of instructional material types and perspectives, while not overly relying on one content type such as text.
3.6 Modeling academic integrity, instructor appropriately cites all resources and materials used throughout the course.

* = "Core 24" or essential QLT objectives. This subset was originally identified by CSU San Marcos.

Section 4: Student Interaction and Community

Addresses (1) the opportunities students have to interact with the content, their peers, and their instructor, and (2) how well the course design encourages students to become active learners and contribute to the online course community.

4.1 *At the beginning of the course, instructor provides an opportunity for students to introduce themselves to develop the sense of community.
4.2 Instructor provides information about being a successful learner/student.
4.3 *Navigation throughout the online components of the course is logical, consistent, and efficient.
4.4 *Learning activities facilitate and support active learning that encourages frequent and ongoing peer-to-peer engagement.
4.5 The modes and outcomes for student interaction are clearly communicated.
4.6 Instructor clearly explains his or her role regarding participation in the course. Instructor participates in, facilitates, and manages student participation, yet lets students take reasonable ownership.
4.7 *Course learning activities help students understand the fundamental concepts and build skills useful outside of course.

* = "Core 24" or essential QLT objectives. This subset was originally identified by CSU San Marcos.

Section 5: Facilitation and Instruction (Course Delivery)

Addresses how well the instructor facilitates the course, communicates with students, engages students to be active learners, and reinforces the development of a sense of community among course participants.

5.1 The instructor was helpful in identifying areas of agreement and disagreement on course topics.
5.2 Instructor helps students understand importance of course topics and content in support of course activities and any related practical experiences.
5.3 The instructor presents the course material and concepts in an effective and engaging manner.
5.4 Instructor encourages students to explore new concepts through the course experience.
5.5 The instructor helped to focus discussion on relevant issues.
5.6 *Instructor provides feedback in a timely manner.
5.7 Instructor provides communications about important goals and course topics as opportunities arise.
5.8 *Instructor provides reminders of due dates and duration of respective modules, as well as other instructions to keep students on task.

* = "Core 24" or essential QLT objectives. This subset was originally identified by CSU San Marcos.

Section 6: Technology for Teaching and Learning

Addresses how well the instructor utilizes technology to effectively deliver course content, engage students in learning activities (individual, student-to-student, and instructor-to-student), and allow students to express themselves or demonstrate learning.

6.1 The tools and media support the course learning objectives/outcomes.
6.2 *Instructor takes advantage of the current tools provided by the Learning Management System (or similar) to enhance learning.
6.3 Technological tools and resources used in the course enable student engagement and active learning.
6.4 *Instructor provides clear information regarding access to the technology and related resources required in the course.
6.5 Acceptable technological formats for assignment completion and submissions have been articulated.

* = "Core 24" or essential QLT objectives. This subset was originally identified by CSU San Marcos.

Section 7: Learner Support and Resources

Addresses the program, academic, and/or technical resources available to learners. Though instructors may not play the direct support role, they should be aware of potential issues and promote what is available to support students.

7.1 Instructor states her or his role in the support process.
7.2 *The course syllabus (or related) lists and/or links to a clear explanation of the technical support provided by the campus and suggestions as to when and how students should access it.
7.3 *Course syllabus (or related) provides an introduction to campus academic (non-technical) support services and resources available to support students in achieving their educational goals. E.g., Disability Support Services, Writing Center, Tutoring Center.
7.4 Course syllabus (or related) provides information regarding how the institution's student support (non-academic, non-technical) services and resources (E.g., advising, mentoring) can help students succeed and how they can these services.

* = "Core 24" or essential QLT objectives. This subset was originally identified by CSU San Marcos.

Section 8: Accessibility and Universal Design

Addresses the course's adherence to accessibility and universal design principles that are critical to some learners but that benefit all learners. Note: We strongly recommend that instructors contact their campus disability service center for assistance and information related to this section.

8.1 *Syllabus (or similar) links to the campus accessible policy, whether it is required or recommended by the institution.
8.2 Instructor supports a range of learning styles and abilities for all students, rather than making reactive accommodations for those with registered disabilities.
8.3 *A clear explanation of the disability support services (DSS) is provided and clear links to DSS resources are provided.
8.4 Students can clearly ascertain the role of the instructor in providing support for those officially registered with the campus disability services office.
8.5 *Course documents and text materials created by the instructor or from external sources are in formats that are accessible to students with disabilities.
8.6 The instructor and course use officially supported campus technologies, which are already fully accessible and assistive technology ready. Any third-party tools used are accessible and assistive technology ready when feasible.

* = "Core 24" or essential QLT objectives. This subset was originally identified by CSU San Marcos.

Section 9: Course Summary and Wrap-up

Addresses the opportunities students are given to summarize the semester, establish the connection between this course and other courses, and prepare to start the next phase of their program/progress.

9.1 Instructor provides students opportunities to ask questions as a form of closure and to foster insight into accomplishments.
9.2 Instructor provides students with feedback about their overall learning and progress and their experiences of the term.
9.3 Instructor provides opportunities for students to reflect on their learning and connect their individual learning goals with the expectations (stated learning objectives and outcomes) of the instructor.

Section 10: Mobile Platform Readiness (optional)

Optional section for applicable courses - addresses the accessibility of course content on mobile devices (phones & tablets). Note: Not all course components must be tailored toward mobile devices (e.g., online exams).

10.1 Course content was easy to read on multiple platforms such as PCs, tablets, and smartphones.
10.2 Audio and video content displayed easily on multiple platforms such as PCs, tablets, and smartphones.
10.3 The number of steps users had to take in order to reach primary content was minimized.
10.4 The visibility of content not directly applicable to student learning outcomes was minimized.

If you would like offline copies of the CSU QLT Instrument to use for local review or training purposes, please complete this brief request form. You will receive a printable version of the CSU QLT Self/Peer-Review instrument, as well as a 2-pager instrument-at-a-glance, showing all 57 objectives and the subset of "Core 24″ objectives. These resources carry the Creative Commons, Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA). This license allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon CSU QLT non-commercially, as long as they credit the California State University, Quality Assurance program ( qa.csuprojects.org) and license their creations under the identical terms.

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1.1 *Instructor uses course environment to provide clear and detailed instructions for students to begin accessing all course components, such as syllabus, course calendar, assignments, and support files 1.2 *Detailed instructor information is available to students and includes multiple formats for being contacted by students, availability information, brief biographical information, and a picture of the instructor.

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The MERLOT Pedagogy Portal is designed to help you learn about the variety of instructional strategies and issues that could help you become a better teacher.
Includes extensive range of topics

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The MERLOT Pedagogy Portal is designed to help you learn about the variety of instructional strategies and issues that could help you become a better teacher. The resources you'll find in the Pedagogy Portal should apply to teaching a variety of disciplines. This collection of resources should help you answer questions that teachers ask:

How do I teach large lecture classes effectively?

How do I engage my students in problem-based learning?

Do I have to teach adult learners differently than recent high school graduates?

The resources highlighted in this portal were developed by the MERLOT Faculty Development community after several years of exploring other categorization schemes. They correspond to the steps in the teaching process; each major area has specific topics for you to explore. You can also browse the full collection of over 2,500 related materials in the " Faculty Development" Collection.

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The MERLOT Pedagogy Portal is designed to help you learn about the variety of instructional strategies and issues that could help you become a better teacher. The resources you'll find in the Pedagogy Portal should apply to teaching a variety of disciplines.

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Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning

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Donald A. Saucier, PhD, Noah D. Renken, and Ashley A. Schiffer

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Jackie Hoermann-Elliott, PhD, Tanisha Johnson, MUPP, and Jorge Figueroa, PhD

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We publish three articles each week written by instructors, teachers, instructional designers, and others to provide insight into what's working (and what's not) in the classroom and online.

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Weekly Podcast with Bonni Stachowiak

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I used to "teach" in my room at home. The stuffed animals and dolls were my students. My bedroom door had a sign on it that read #208. My "name" was "Miss Monroe," a tribute to the 1970s Charlie's Angels...
I have always wanted to teach.
Fast forward to today. I teach as a university professor at Vanguard University: a small, private, liberal arts university in Orange County, California. I'm also dean of teaching and learning, allowing me to collaborate with other faculty in improving all of our teaching and support efforts that allow students to thrive in their learning. My passion is in continually becoming more effective facilitating learning for my students. I'm also fortunate to get to coach faculty in my dean role and connect with faculty from all over the world through the Teaching in Higher Ed community.

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Teaching in Higher Ed with Bonni Stachowiak

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Teaching in Higher Ed is a faculty development space where we explore the art and science of being more effective at facilitating learning.

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Sign up to receive the Teaching newsletter, a weekly roundup about teaching and learning from The Chronicle.

It's put together by Dan Berrett, who oversees stories about teaching and other topics; Beckie Supiano, who covers teaching, learning, and the human interactions that shape them; and Beth McMurtrie, who writes about technology's influence on teaching and the future of learning.

We hope that the newsletter points you to some useful resources and sparks insights.

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Sign up to receive the Teaching newsletter, a weekly roundup about teaching and learning from The Chronicle. It's put together by Dan Berrett, who oversees stories about teaching and other topics; Beckie Supiano, who covers teaching, learning, and the human interactions that shape them; and Beth McMurtrie, who writes about technology's influence on teaching and the future of learning.

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Twice weekly eNewsLetter from Stanford Professor

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Greetings:

Welcome to Tomorrows-Professor eNewlsetter with postings twice weekly, usually on Monday and Thursday mornings, Pacific Standard Time. The eNewsletter seeks to foster a diverse, world-wide teaching and learning ecology among its over 65,000 subscribers at over 1,000 institutions and organizations in over 100 countries around the world. To date there have been over 1600 postings under the following categories:

Tomorrow's Academy

Tomorrow's Graduate Students and Postdocs

Tomorrow's Academic Careers

Tomorrow's Teaching and Learning

Tomorrow's Research

Articles

See also past postings from Richard Reis' academic career column, Catalyst, that appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education on-line Career Network.

Contact

Richard M. Reis, Ph.D.
Stanford University
Tel: (408) 420-9349
reis@stanford.edu

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Welcome to Tomorrows-Professor eNewlsetter with postings twice weekly, usually on Monday and Thursday mornings, Pacific Standard Time. The eNewsletter seeks to foster a diverse, world-wide teaching and learning ecology among its over 65,000 subscribers at over 1,000 institutions and organizations in over 100 countries around the world.

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The teaching and learning practices listed and described below are designated as "high-impact practices," based on evidence of significant educational benefits for students who participate in them.

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Faculty Development Center - Faculty Development Center | CSUF

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The Faculty Development Center is committed to helping you thrive and grow as a faculty member at CSUF!

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FDC Mission, Structure, Director, Board

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Detailed needs assessment with extensive list of faculty needs

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A Brief History

Yale University established the Center for Teaching and Learning in 2014 to support students and faculty across the campus. In alignment with President Peter Salovey's goal of creating a "more unified Yale," the new center consolidated the various teaching, tutoring, writing and technology-enabled learning programs distributed across the University.

The Poorvu Center supports effective course design and promotes evidence-based teaching methods for university instructors, including faculty and teaching fellows. The Poorvu Center supports student learning and provides opportunities for students and postdoctoral scholars throughout the University to develop as teachers, mentors and leaders. Scott Strobel, Henry Ford II Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, was appointed by President Salovey and Provost Ben Polak to serve as Deputy Provost for Teaching and Learning. Jennifer Frederick serves as Executive Director of the Poorvu Center and Lucas Swineford serves as Executive Director of Digital Education for the Poorvu Center.

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A Brief History Yale University established the Center for Teaching and Learning in 2014 to support students and faculty across the campus. In alignment with President Peter Salovey's goal of creating a "more unified Yale," the new center consolidated the various teaching, tutoring, writing and technology-enabled learning programs distributed across the University.

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Vision

The Center for Teaching Excellence inspires excellence and innovation in teaching.

Mission

We create and provide programming, resources and opportunities that foster innovative and effective pedagogical practices among all who teach at USC.

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Enhance the pedagogical knowledge and effectiveness of all who teach at USC in the classroom, online, and beyond.

Support the design and development of high-quality distributed learning courses and fosters best practices in online teaching.

Increase faculty knowledge, skills and dispositions related to developing and assessing students' integrative learning abilities.

Plan and implement professional development programs for graduate teaching assistants.

Fosters partnerships and leverages support for programs that enhance conditions for teaching and learning at the university.

Engage in ongoing communication, planning and evaluation processes that result in the continuous improvement of CTE programs and services.

Accomplishments

During fiscal year 2016-2017:

CTE events provided 8,759 countable in-person hours of professional development for faculty and graduate students

CTE sponsored or co-sponsored 98 seminars and workshops, the university's New Faculty Orientation, and the annual Oktoberbest: A Symposium on Teaching conference.

We offered a New Faculty Academy certificate program, and facilitated 18 additional faculty learning groups, consisting of 5 grant cohorts, 8 communities of practice and 5 short courses.

The CTE facilitated programs for graduate students, including 6 TA Orientation workshops, the Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) certificate program, and the university course, GRAD 701-Teaching Assistant Development.

CTE directors and senior staff also conducted 98 hours of individual faculty consultations.

All of these offerings were successful and well-received, and attendee evaluation ratings were consistently positive.

Among our FY17 offerings were several new programs focused on innovative teaching approaches:

Our Flipped and Active Learning Initiative supported two flipped classroom grantee cohorts to complete the redesign of 7 courses, as well as a new team-based Course Transformation grant program that will transform a large Carolina Core Physics course that serves 300+ students per semester.

We launched a successful new Workshop for One program designed to provide individual mentoring to faculty seeking to apply evidence-based active learning strategies to their courses and conducted dozens of general flipped/active learning presentations.

We continued to co-sponsor FLIP (Focus on Learning, Innovation and Pedagogy), a faculty reading group and listserv (with 100 subscribers), who among other activities, conducted an active learning workshop for 63 science educators from the local community.

After piloting a limited series of offerings last year, we fully launched our Diversity and Inclusive Teaching Initiative. We collaborated with several campus offices to offer a series of 14 workshops, including 3 interactive theatre sessions led by CTE Faculty Fellows and a troupe of student actors from the Theatre Education program.

To raise the visibility of innovative, high-quality teaching at the university, we successfully completed the first cycle of our new university-wide award to recognize innovative teaching, the Garnet Apple. We collaborated with the Office of Communications to produce a booklet in conjunction with the announcement of the inaugural Garnet Apple awardees in August 2016. Entitled VIP: Vision, Innovation, Practice, this publication featured profiles of the winners of all the university's most prestigious teaching awards and was distributed to USC faculty, administrators, and the Board of Trustees, as well as local and statewide elected officials and prospective university donors. We also oversaw the selection of the second awardee cohort, which will be announced in early Fall 2017.

Our instructional design team:

Helped faculty develop 516 distributed learning courses to date, including courses for the Academic Partnerships online graduate programs, Palmetto College, the Provost's Distributed Learning Grantees, and the Provost's Distributed Learning Quality Review.

CTE instructional designers also conducted 374 hours of individual course-design consultations, presented 42 technology-training workshops, presented at 13 conferences and professional meetings, and published 3 refereed journal articles.

We led and continued to enhance the university's TA training program, including 6 full-day GTA Orientation workshops attended by 466 students and a teaching-assistant preparation course (GRAD 701) enrolling 365 students.

For advanced graduate students and post-docs, CTE offered 17 teaching and professional development workshops designed especially for TAs and a Preparing Future Faculty certificate program with 167 participants (up 7.8% over FY16).

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Enhance the pedagogical knowledge and effectiveness of all who teach at USC in the classroom, online, and beyond. Support the design and development of high-quality distributed learning courses and fosters best practices in online teaching. Increase faculty knowledge, skills and dispositions related to developing and assessing students' integrative learning abilities.

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The Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching promotes university teaching that leads to meaningful student learning. Our offerings are available to any members of the Vanderbilt community interested in developing their teaching practices.

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The Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching promotes university teaching that leads to meaningful student learning. Our offerings are available to any members of the Vanderbilt community interested in developing their teaching practices.

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Mission, Vision, Values, Goals and Objectives

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Mission

The Center for Teaching and Learning enhances the University's mission of teaching and learning excellence, provides enterprise level instructional technologies, and champions the advancement of scholarly teaching. Major priorities include:

Providing professional development opportunities to ensure constructive and active learning environments.

Leveraging the experience and wisdom of faculty leaders to promote teaching excellence.

Encouraging innovative research and scholarly publication on teaching and learning.

Identifying, developing, and sustaining enterprise level instructional technology systems.

Collaborating with campus constituents to assess programs, tools, and services that support their teaching and learning needs.

Contributing to the development of policies, initiatives, and Campus-wide culture that supports excellence in teaching.

Vision

The Center for Teaching and Learning:

Is an integral part of the success of UNC Charlotte.

Is a leader in the innovative use of scholarly research in teaching and learning.

Defines best practices in professional development that ensure quality course design through the effective integration of technology and innovative teaching strategies.

Is an unwavering advocate of a diverse, open learning environment which fosters active collaboration among all members of the Academy.

Values

What we value as an organization:

Mutual Respect

Academic Integrity

Diversity

Inclusion and Accessibility

Open Communications

Collaboration and Teamwork

Continuous Learning

Innovation

Academic Excellence

Customer Service

Goals and Objectives

Transform student learning experiences by providing professional development opportunities for faculty and graduate teaching assistants. Examples would include:

Regularly scheduled and customized interactive workshops

Online, self-paced instructional materials

Individual, group consultations

Summer Institute (May)

New Faculty / Summer Intensive Week (August)

Teaching Week (Fall)

Just-in-time, five-minute workshops

Fundamentals of College Teaching for TAs

Learning communities (clickers, online pedagogy, redesign of large courses)

Classroom/peer observations

Faculty roundtable series

SOTL grants

Teaching large classes

Online pedagogy

Promote best practices of teaching excellence in both traditional and online pedagogy of teaching and learning.

Research, evaluate, and communicate best practices in teaching and learning

Provide and maintain scholarly resources in support of best practices

Share information from professional journals, online resources with faculty and instructional staff on innovation in teaching and learning

Maintain and update the collection of texts in our "Professional Development Library"

Collaborate with faculty, staff, and peers to identify emerging technologies and evaluate their instructional applications, costs, and benefits.

Develop and expand the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL) grants program.

Administer SOTL Grants process with faculty SOTL Committee

Create venues for sharing teaching research, such as Teaching Week

Provide Web and print resources in support of SOTL

Collaborate with faculty in SOTL activities, such as negotiating IRB process and budgets, writing grant proposals, and presenting at conferences

Offer travel grants and other awards, as funding allows

Explore sponsorship of an award to recognize excellence in teaching research

Identify, develop, and sustain enterprise level instructional technology systems.

Implement transparent, faculty-driven, Moodle enhancement process

Ensure stable and reliable user experience for all platforms (Moodle, Wimba)

Secure adequate resources for technical sustainability

Build and maintain alliances with vendors and ITS to ensure optimum system reliability and performance

Provide regular technology training and support for faculty, TAs, and selected groups

Align systems with University policies for Moodle access

Explore options for transitioning current Opscan center to online course evaluation system

Collaborate with campus constituents to support the university's strategic teaching and learning initiatives.

Identify programs, tools, and services that support constituents' teaching and learning needs.

Partner with colleges and departments to develop specialized programs and resources

Maintain a faculty advisory group to support the work of the Center and collaborate with distributed IT staff within colleges and other units

Create and maintain interest groups for teaching and learning initiatives such as professional learning communities

Collect and analyze data for planning future programs and evaluating existing programs

Streamline methods for clients to reach help/support resources

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The Center for Teaching and Learning enhances the University's mission of teaching and learning excellence, provides enterprise level instructional technologies, and champions the advancement of scholarly teaching. Major priorities include: Providing professional development opportunities to ensure constructive and active learning environments. Leveraging the experience and wisdom of faculty leaders to promote teaching excellence.

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College of Marin will be a premier educational and cultural center that provides programs of the highest caliber to meet the needs of an increasingly interconnected global society. Our vision will be guided by our values.

Mission
College of Marin’s commitment to educational excellence is rooted in providing equitable opportunities and fostering success for all members of our diverse community by offering:
• preparation for transfer to four-year colleges and universities
• associate degrees and certificates • career technical education • basic skills improvement
• English as a second language
• lifelong learning
• community and cultural enrichment
College of Marin responds to community needs by offering student-centered programs and services in a supportive, innovative learning environment that promotes social and environmental responsibility.

Values
Student and Community Centered Education We promote student success by providing programs and services that are learner centered and reflect the changing needs of our students and surrounding community.
Academic Excellence and Innovation We are dedicated to academic excellence and encourage innovation. We foster intellectual inquiry by encouraging critical thinking, information literacy, and technical competence. We continually evaluate the effectiveness of our programs. Collaboration and Open Communication We cultivate a culture of mutual respect, open communication, collaborative working relationships and participation in decision making among students, faculty, staff, and the communities we serve. Diversity We cherish a learning environment that celebrates diverse backgrounds and recognizes the knowledge and experiences among its students, faculty, and staff. We provide open access and strive to remove barriers to student success.
Sustainability We will apply environmentally sustainable and green principles in our college community to ensure the future of our planet.
Accountability We will be accountable for our decisions and actions on behalf of the students, college and community. Our decisions will be academically, fiscally, and environmentally responsible.

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Teresa Ward

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The goal of this website is to provide faculty and staff, new as well as seasoned employees, with an inviting electronic means to access information about Butte College Professional Development opportunities. We hope that you will find this site clear and easy to navigate. Let us know how we can improve it. Your feedback is very important to us.

Center for Excellence - LB 210

Reserving the Center for Excellence

Chancellor's Office Vision Resource Center - Thousands of Free Professional Development Opportunities

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Professional Development - Butte College

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The goal of this website is to provide faculty and staff, new as well as seasoned employees, with an inviting electronic means to access information about Butte College Professional Development opportunities. We hope that you will find this site clear and easy to navigate. Let us know how we can improve it.

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Leslie Carr, Julie Johnson, and Robert Wonser

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CETL Home About CETL Current Courses Committee Meetings Resources Contact Us Mission Statement

About Us

The College of the Canyons Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) is an organization for the promotion and implementation of a wide range of professional development opportunities for teachers.CETL is responsible for recruiting and training experienced teachers who have the ability to share their skills with others. Through these facilitators and trainers, the program offers a collection of courses, including a 54-hour Skilled Teacher Certificate, that promote the improvement of teaching. CETL follows a Mission Statement focused on the promotion of a culture of teaching excellence and is led by a Steering Committee comprised of faculty from diverse fields. All are welcome at the monthly meetings.

For more information please email Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning < CETL@canyons.edu>
CLICK HERE TO GET TIPS FOR ONLINE INSTRUCTION.

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Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning

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CETL Home About CETL Current Courses Committee Meetings Resources Contact Us Mission Statement The College of the Canyons Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) is an organization for the promotion and implementation of a wide range of professional development opportunities for teachers.CETL is responsible for recruiting and training experienced teachers who have the ability to share their skills with others.

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David Betancourt

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Center for Teaching Excellence
Remote Teaching Resources
The Center for Teaching Excellence, Faculty Senate, and Media Services have been collaborating with our Cerritos College colleagues to create new resources, trainings, and supports. To find resources we have gathered to support instructors in making a quick transition to a remote environment, please visit the "Remote Teaching Resources" tab.

Mission

The Center for Teaching Excellence (CTX) provides professional learning opportunities to all faculty while also providing a comprehensive information location of faculty resources.

The Center for Teaching Excellence is located in the upper level of the Learning Resource Center (LRC) building, office LC201.

Hours of Operation: Fall & Spring

For any inquiries, please contact (562) 860-2451 ext. 2797 or ext. 2799.

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Remote Teaching Resources The Center for Teaching Excellence, Faculty Senate, and Media Services have been collaborating with our Cerritos College colleagues to create new resources, trainings, and supports. To find resources we have gathered to support instructors in making a quick transition to a remote environment, please visit the "Remote Teaching Resources" tab.

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Stephen Barnes

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The Faculty Success Center (FSC) is now offering multiple sections of our required "Teaching Online in Canvas" course and will continue through the summer! Beginning in the summer term, courses will ONLY be offered in Canvas. All instructors need to complete the online training and complete the course review process in order to receive an official course shell.

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Chaffey College - Faculty Success Center

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Chaffey College - Faculty Success Center

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Robin Witt (interim) & Vicky Valle

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Welcome to Chaffey College's Faculty Success Center! Our vision is to provide our faculty with ongoing teaching and learning opportunities. Our hope is that as a result of instructors' involvement with the FSC, they will be inspired to try new techniques, empowered to reach more students, energized in their passion for teaching, and engaged in learning and sharing with colleagues.

The principles and values that undergird the philosophy of the FSC serve as the foundation for all of our activities (see below).

Philosophy of the Faculty Success Center

We believe in students' capacity for learning and successful completion of their goals with the right mindset, tools, resources, and strategies.

We believe in instructors' capacity for excellence in teaching, innovation, creativity, and ability to engage students in learning.

We believe in the college's capacity to empower students, faculty, and staff to support teaching and learning throughout the college.

We believe in the dignity and scholarship of teaching and learning.

We believe that all learning is developmental - instructors can learn, grow, and gain deeper insight into the art of teaching.

We believe that instructors bring unique perspectives to teaching and learning and they need time and opportunity to share those perspectives with their colleagues.

We believe that having high hope and a growth mindset can significantly improve the teaching and learning environment and increase success.

On a personal note, I feel so honored and humbled to lead the efforts of the Faculty Success Center. I am inspired by Eva Rose's hard work, compassion, and dedication to the FSC for the past few years. I commit to give our faculty my best as well. Please let me know how I can serve you or meet teaching and learning needs. I hope to see you at many of our workshops, seminars, and discussion groups!

All my best,

Cindy Walker
Faculty Success Center Facilitator
cindy.walker@chaffey.edu
(909)652-6970

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Welcome to Chaffey College's Faculty Success Center! Our vision is to provide our faculty with ongoing teaching and learning opportunities. Our hope is that as a result of instructors' involvement with the FSC, they will be inspired to try new techniques, empowered to reach more students, energized in their passion for teaching, and engaged in learning and sharing with colleagues.

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promote active learning

advocate
Elevate

investigate

Innovation

Implement

Continuous learning

Revamp the PL webpage
expand

initiative to try new to bring creativity

Align training with strategic goals and identified needs
amplify
in-depth look

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Teaching tips and ideas

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Skip to main content

2023 TEACH Conference

The TEACH Conference is a free, full-day in-person event held on May 5, 2023, at Paul Brest Hall on the theme of belonging and wellness in teaching and learning. All Stanford community members are invited to attend.
Details and Registration

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Skip to main content The TEACH Conference is a free, full-day in-person event held on May 5, 2023, at Paul Brest Hall on the theme of belonging and wellness in teaching and learning. All Stanford community members are invited to attend. Details and Registration

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The RP Group: Research, Planning, Professional Development

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Let the RP Group help your California Community College strengthen student success through gathering and analyzing data and through professional development.

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Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs

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Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs

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Free Higher Education News, Jobs, Career Advice and Events for college and university faculty, adjuncts, graduate students, and administrators.

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On Course Workshop - Helping colleges improve student success and retention

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Helping colleges improve student success and retention

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Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Donald A. Saucier, PhD, Noah D. Renken, and Ashley A. Schiffer

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Jackie Hoermann-Elliott, PhD, Tanisha Johnson, MUPP, and Jorge Figueroa, PhD

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We publish three articles each week written by instructors, teachers, instructional designers, and others to provide insight into what's working (and what's not) in the classroom and online.

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Volume XLII, No. 21 | June 11, 2020 Teaching Technical Topics With a Human Perspective As an instructor in physical science and engineering classes, I frequently assess teaching tools and techniques that promote student participation and [...]

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NISOD | National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development

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Volume XLII, No. 21 | June 11, 2020 Teaching Technical Topics With a Human Perspective As an instructor in physical science and engineering classes, I frequently assess teaching tools and techniques that promote student participation and [...]

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Network with your community college colleagues through 4C/SD.

Join the 4CSD Board

Interested in becoming a 4CSD board member? You can use the nomination form to express your interest, or to nominate someone else. Nominations and board elections occur at the annual conference each spring.

Download the forms below.

2020 4CSD ANNUAL CONFERENCE

March 4 - 6, 2020

NEW Professional Development/FLEX Community

We are very excited to announce that we now have access to a NEW Professional Development/FLEX Community in which we can share announcements, solicit ideas for good trainers/presenters, share documents and materials, ask questions and get help from other professional development practitioners! This online community is a place just for us to connect, share, and learn from each other. To access the Professional Development/FLEX Community:

1. You must have a Vision Resource Center (previously Professional Learning Network) account. For those that do not, please register for an account here.

2. Once logged into the Vision Resource Center website, click on "Enter the Vision Resource Center" button; this will drop you into the portal

3. On the top navigation bar, you will see Connect. Hover over and choose 'All Communities'

4. From the list of communities, find and click on CCC|Professional Development

5. Once in the Professional Development community, click Join Community in top right-hand corner

6. Follow topics, start discussions, post suggestions and share files!

7. Moving forward, you can only enter this portal via the Vision Resource Center website, so please bookmark it!

This is an exciting time for Professional Development! It is important that we stay connected with each other, share best practices, and advocate for funding and other resources that will support the excellent work we do in our Professional Development programs. The Professional Development/FLEX Community is a tool we can use to help us accomplish that and I hope that you find it to be a valuable resource for you! If you have any questions, please send me an email or give me a call at 661.362.3100.

ABOUT 4CSD

What is 4CSD?

The California Community College Council for Staff Development is an organization that provides training resources and networking opportunities for staff development professionals of the California community colleges.

Among the many services it provides, 4CSD:

Promotes leadership in staff and program development.

Provides education for staff developers regarding the principles of staff development.

Provides training in developing, implementing, and evaluating effective staff development programs.

Provides regional and statewide workshops and conferences.

Serves as a liaison between the State Chancellor's office and the colleges regarding staff development issues and serves as an advocate for Staff Development.

Evaluating the Process

4CSD is happy to share the booklet, "Evaluating Staff Development," a document that since 1993 has guided the development and evaluation of staff.

NEW Professional Development/Flex Community

To access the Professional Development/FLEX Community: Visit the Vision Resource Center (previously Professional Learning Network) website and register for an account.

Become a Member

Now's your chance to become a 4CSD Member! Enter here to find out how.

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How to Join Members can nominate and receive achievement awards Reduced member rates for annual conference Access the Membership Application Form Online More Information Join the 4CSD Board Interested in becoming a 4CSD board member? You can use the nomination form to express your interest, or to nominate someone else.

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California Community Colleges' Success Network

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As a way to leverage community in this unprecedented pivot to virtual learning, we have launched our 3CSN Wayfinding Online Zoom Series. This series was created by practitioners for practitioners (and students, too) and continues to grow from the needs that are identified in community with colleagues across the state. Learn more about the series here: http://3csn.org/about-the-wayfinding-online-navigating-the-virtual-landscape-series/

All sessions are one hour in length. Join as many as you would like. One participant exclaimed in a 5:00 pm thought partner session, "I started at 9 am and here I am at 5 pm. You all had me hooked!" To join, just click on the link below. We've organized it by day so that you can more effectively plan.

Please note that for learning purposes, these sessions will be recorded for future use.

Missed a session or want to watch again? Check out our video archive here: http://3csn.org/3csn-wayfinding-series-video-archive/

Looking for answers? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) generated from our sessions! http://3csn.org/3csn-wayfinding-series-frequently-asked-questions-faqs/

Stay Connected! Join our email list: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/g3mLWMU/3CSN

Email us at ask@3csn.org if you have any questions or would like to recommend a session (or volunteer to lead a session yourself).

More sessions will be added weekly- join our email list (https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/g3mLWMU/3CSN) and bookmark this page!

We will be on pause from June 8 to June 12 as we move to our new Learn and Practice and Learn and Discuss format. We look forward to seeing you online the week of June 16th!

"Learn & Practice" 90-Minute Sessions

"Learn & Discuss" 60-Minute Sessions

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California Community Colleges' Success Network

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As a way to leverage community in this unprecedented pivot to virtual learning, we have launched our 3CSN Wayfinding Online Zoom Series. This series was created by practitioners for practitioners (and students, too) and continues to grow from the needs that are identified in community with colleagues across the state.

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I used to "teach" in my room at home. The stuffed animals and dolls were my students. My bedroom door had a sign on it that read #208. My "name" was "Miss Monroe," a tribute to the 1970s Charlie's Angels...
I have always wanted to teach.
Fast forward to today. I teach as a university professor at Vanguard University: a small, private, liberal arts university in Orange County, California. I'm also dean of teaching and learning, allowing me to collaborate with other faculty in improving all of our teaching and support efforts that allow students to thrive in their learning. My passion is in continually becoming more effective facilitating learning for my students. I'm also fortunate to get to coach faculty in my dean role and connect with faculty from all over the world through the Teaching in Higher Ed community.

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Teaching in Higher Ed with Bonni Stachowiak

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Teaching in Higher Ed is a faculty development space where we explore the art and science of being more effective at facilitating learning.

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PPIC - Public Policy Institute of California

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PPIC - Public Policy Institute of California

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In a comprehensive study of the effectiveness of online teaching in California's community colleges, the Public Policy Institute of California (Links to an external site.) (Johnson & Mejia, 2014) sifted through reams of data to explore the connection between teachers and learners in online courses. They concluded that successful online teachers need a strong support network and continual professional development to stay current in technology. Support and training are two critical factors that help online faculty develop successful courses and teaching strategies.

They found the four factors that correlate most directly with student success are:

faculty professional development

course design

student orientations and clear expectations

regular effective contact

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Online course enrollment has increased dramatically at California's community colleges. Students are less likely to successfully complete an online course than a traditional course. But many use online courses to achieve their long-term goals. This research was supported with funding from the Donald Bren Foundation.

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Online Learning and Student Outcomes in Community Colleges - Public Policy Institute of California

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Online course enrollment has increased dramatically at California's community colleges. Students are less likely to successfully complete an online course than a traditional course. But many use online courses to achieve their long-term goals. This research was supported with funding from the Donald Bren Foundation.

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tools

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Office 365

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Be more intentional/proactive
Between  colleagues
Between departments
Communication
Increase Awareness
workplace
Classroom - showing diveristy
systemic
implicit bias
needs to be infused in everything
anti-racism - definition
defensiveness
technology - accessibility - documents
PRAC/IDEA
PL theme

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Made progress
changed/updated
coordination with curriculum committee
as part of Guided Pathways
have to do vs. value  added - mindset
continued work needed - attitude
accountability - focus of class

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administration  - # of women/ # of POC
providing skill advancement/support
top down

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21st Century skills are 12 abilities that today's students need to succeed in their careers during the Information Age.
The twelve 21st Century skills are:

1. Critical thinking

2. Creativity

3. Collaboration

4. Communication

5. Information literacy

6. Media literacy

7. Technology literacy

8. Flexibility

9. Leadership

10. Initiative

11. Productivity

12. Social skills

These skills are intended to help students keep up with the lightning-pace of today's modern markets. Each skill is unique in how it helps students, but they all have one quality in common.

They're essential in the age of the Internet.
On this page, we'll take a look at what's included in 21st Century skills, how they help students, and why they're so important.
You'll also be able to download a free guide on how you can teach 21st Century skills in middle or high school courses.

To start, let's dive into the three categories that 21st Century skills fall into.

The Three 21st Century Skill Categories

Each 21st Century skill is broken into one of three categories:

1. Learning skills

2. Literacy skills

3. Life skills

Learning skills (the four C's) teaches students about the mental processes required to adapt and improve upon a modern work environment.

Literacy skills (IMT) focuses on how students can discern facts, publishing outlets, and the technology behind them. There's a strong focus on determining trustworthy sources and factual information to separate it from the misinformation that floods the Internet.

Life skills (FLIPS) take a look at intangible elements of a student's everyday life. These intangibles focus on both personal and professional qualities.

Altogether, these categories cover all 12 21st Century skills that contribute to a student's future career.

This is not an exhaustive checklist of career readiness skills - but they're the career readiness skills that overlap with 21st Century skills!

Let's take a closer look at each category.

Category 1. Learning Skills (The Four C's)

The four C'sare by far the most popular 21st Century skills. These skills are also called learning skills.

More educators know about these skills because they're universal needs for any career. They also vary in terms of importance, depending on an individual's career aspirations.
The 4 C's of 21st Century Skills are:

Critical thinking: Findingsolutions to problems

Creativity: Thinking outside the box

Collaboration: Working with others

Communication: Talking to others

Arguably, critical thinking is the most important quality for someone to have in health sciences.
In business settings, critical thinking is essential to improvement. It's the mechanism that weeds out problems and replaces them with fruitful endeavors.

It's what helps students figure stuff out for themselves when they don't have a teacher at their disposal.
Related Resources:
Bonus Resource: Free Critical Thinking Lesson Download
Creativity is equally important as a means of adaptation. This skill empowers students to see concepts in a different light, which leads to innovation.
In any field, innovation is key to the adaptability and overall success of a company.

Learning creativity as a skill requires someone to understand that "the way things have always been done" may have been best 10 years ago - but someday, that has to change.
Collaboration means getting students to work together, achieve compromises, and get the best possible results from solving a problem.
Collaboration may be the most difficult concept in the four C's. But once it's mastered, it can bring companies back from the brink of bankruptcy.

The key element of collaboration is willingness. All participants have to be willing to sacrifice parts of their own ideas and adopt others to get results for the company.

That means understanding the idea of a "greater good," which in this case tends to be company-wide success.
Related Resources: Finally, communication is the glue that brings all of these educational qualities together.
Communication is a requirement for any company to maintain profitability. It's crucial for students to learn how to effectively convey ideas among different personality types.

That has the potential to eliminate confusion in a workplace, which makes your students valuable parts of their teams, departments, and companies.

Effective communication is also one of the most underrated soft skills in the United States. For many, it's viewed as a "given," and some companies may even take good communication for granted.

But when employees communicate poorly, whole projects fall apart. No one can clearly see the objectives they want to achieve. No one can take responsibility because nobody's claimed it.

Without understanding proper communication, students in the 21st Century will lack a pivotal skill to progress their careers.
Related Resources:
But the four C's are only the beginning. 21st Century skills also require students to understand the information that's around them.

Category 2. Literacy Skills (IMT)
Literacy skills are the next category of 21st Century skills.
They're sometimes called IMT skills, and they're each concerned with a different element in digital comprehension.
The three 21st Century literacy skills are:

Information literacy: Understanding facts, figures, statistics, and data

Media literacy: Understanding the methods and outlets in which information is published

Technology literacy: Understanding the machines that make the Information Age possible

Information literacy is the foundational skill. It helps students understand facts, especially data points, that they'll encounter online.
More importantly, it teaches them how to separate fact from fiction.

In an age of chronic misinformation, finding truth online has become a job all on its own. It's crucial that students can identify honesty on their own.
Related Resources: Media literacy is the practice of identifying publishing methods, outlets, and sources while distinguishing between the ones that are credible and the ones that aren't.
Otherwise, they can fall prey to myths, misconceptions, and outright lies.

Just like the previous skill, media literacy is helpful for finding truth in a world that's saturated with information.

This is how students find trustworthy sources of information in their lives. Without it, anything that lookscredible becomes credible.

But with it, they can learn which media outlets or formats to ignore. They also learn which ones to embrace, which is equally important.

Last, technology literacy goes another step further to teach students about the machines involved in the Information Age.

As computers, cloud programming, and mobile devices become more important to the world, the world needs more people to understand those concepts.

Technology literacy gives students the basic information they need to understand what gadgets perform what tasks and why.

This understanding removes the intimidating feeling that technology tends to have. After all, if you don't understand how technology works, it might as well be magic.

But technology literacy unmasks the high-powered tools that run today's world.

As a result, students can adapt to the world more effectively. They can play an important role in its evolution.

They might even guide its future.

But to truly round out a student's 21st Century skills, they need to learn from a third category.

Category 3. Life Skills (FLIPS)
The five 21st Century life skills are:
Life skills is the final category. Also called FLIPS, these skills all pertain to someone's personal life, but they also bleed into professional settings.
Flexibility is the expression of someone's ability to adapt to changing circumstances.

Flexibility: Deviating from plans as needed

Leadership: Motivating a team to accomplish a goal

Initiative: Starting projects, strategies, and plans on one's own

Productivity: Maintaining efficiency in an age of distractions

Social skills: Meeting and networking with others for mutual benefit

This is one of the most challenging qualities to learn for students because it's based on two uncomfortable ideas:

1. Your way isn't always the best way

2. You have to know and admit when you're wrong

That's a struggle for a lot of students, especially in an age when you can know any bit of information at the drop of a hat.

Flexibility requires them to show humility and accept that they'll always have a lot to learn - even when they're experienced.
Leadership is someone's penchant for setting goals, walking a team through the steps required, and achieving those goals collaboratively.
Still, flexibility is crucial to a student's long-term success in a career. Knowing when to change, how to change, and how to react to change is a skill that'll pay dividends for someone's entire life.

It also plays a big role in the next skill in this category.

Whether someone's a seasoned entrepreneur or a fresh hire just starting their careers, leadership applies to career.

Entry-level workers need leadership skills for several reasons. The most important is that it helps them understand the decisions that managers and business leaders make.
Related Resources: True success also requires initiative, requiring students to be self-starters.
Then, those entry-level employees canapply their leadership skills when they're promoted to middle management (or the equivalent). This is where 21st Century skill learners can apply the previous skills they've learned.

It's also where they get the real-world experience they need to lead entire companies.

As they lead individual departments, they can learn the ins and outs of their specific careers. That gives ambitious students the expertise they need to grow professionally and lead whole corporations.

Initiative only comes naturally to a handful of people. As a result, students need to learn it to fully succeed.

This is one of the hardest skills to learn and practice. Initiative often means working on projects outside of regular working hours.

The rewards for students with extreme initiative vary from person to person. Sometimes they're good grades. Other times they're new business ventures.
Along with initiative, 21st Century skills require students to learn about productivity. That's a student's ability to complete work in an appropriate amount of time.
Sometimes, it's spending an extra 30 minutes at their jobs wrapping something up before the weekend.

Regardless, initiative is an attribute that earns rewards. It's especially indicative of someone's character in terms of work ethic and professional progress.

That goes double when initiative is practiced with qualities like flexibility and leadership.

In business terms, it's called "efficiency."

The common goal of any professional - from entry-level employee to CEO - is to get more done in less time.

By understanding productivity strategies at every level, students discover the ways in which they work best while gaining an appreciation for how others work as well.

That equips them with the practical means to carry out the ideas they determine through flexibility, leadership, and initiative.

Still, there's one last skill that ties all other 21st Century skills together.

Social skills are crucial to the ongoing success of a professional. Business is frequently done through the connections one person makes with others around them.

This concept of networking is more active in some industries than others, but proper social skills are excellent tools for forging long-lasting relationships.

While these may have been implied in past generations, the rise of social media and instant communications have changed the nature of human interaction.

As a result, today's students possess a wide range of social skills. Some are more socially adept than others. Some are far behind their peers. And some lucky few may be far ahead, as socializing comes naturally to them.

But most students need a crash course in social skills at least. Etiquette, manners, politeness, and small talk still play major roles in today's world.

That means some students need to learn them in an educational setting instead of a social setting.

For them, it's another skill to add to their lives.

Now that we've established what 21st Century skills are, let's answer the next big question.

Do employers actually want people with 21st Century skills?

What's the Demand for 21st Century Skills?

While 21st Century skills have always been important, they've become essential in a worldwide market that moves faster by the day.

These skills all double back to one key focus.

Someone's ability to enact and / or adapt to change.

This is because any industry is capable of changing at a moment's notice. Industries are now regularly disrupted with new ideas and methodologies.

Those industries that haven't been disrupted aren't immune though. They just haven't been disruptedyet.

With that in mind, the world has entered an era where nothing is guaranteed.

As a result, students need to learn to guide the change that'll inundate their lives. At the very least, they need to learn how to react to it.

Otherwise, they'll be left behind.

This is especially true as customer demand accelerates in all industries along with expectations for newer features, higher-level capabilities, and lower prices.

In today's marketplace, falling behind means becoming obsolete.

That's a familiar concept to all of today's students as tomorrow's advancements make today's miracles quaint or unimpressive.

Today, the only consistency from year to year is change.

That's why many teachers like you are incorporating the 21st Century Skills Assessment into their career readiness courses.

With 21st Century skills, your students will have the adaptive qualities they need to keep up with a business environment that's constantly evolving.

How Do You Teach 21st Century Skills?
While these skills can be taught at any grade level, we find it's most important to teach 21st Century skills in middle or early high school.
Now you know what 21st Century skills are and why employers want new hires to have them.

So how do you teach them in your daily classes?

Before getting into the details, it's important to identify who should teach 21st Century skills.

This is the time when your students need to hone their career readiness skills before they enter the workforce!

So how can middle and high school teachers teach 21st Century skills effectively?

Click below to download the Ultimate Guide to Teaching 21st Century Skills in Secondary Schools and find out!

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Learn about 21st Century skills, why they're important, and how to teach them. Skills include: Critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, information literacy, media literacy, technology literacy, flexibility, leadership, initiative, productivity, and social skills.

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CCCCO - Vision for Success
SWOT an

1.      Focus relentlessly on students’ end goals.

2.      Always design and decide with the student in mind.

3.      Pair high expectations with high support.

4.      Foster the use of data, inquiry, and evidence.

5.      Take ownership of goals and performance.

6.      Enable action and thoughtful innovation.

7.      Lead the work of partnering across systems.

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Network with your community college colleagues through 4C/SD.

Join the 4CSD Board

Interested in becoming a 4CSD board member? You can use the nomination form to express your interest, or to nominate someone else. Nominations and board elections occur at the annual conference each spring.

Download the forms below.

2020 4CSD ANNUAL CONFERENCE

March 4 - 6, 2020

NEW Professional Development/FLEX Community

We are very excited to announce that we now have access to a NEW Professional Development/FLEX Community in which we can share announcements, solicit ideas for good trainers/presenters, share documents and materials, ask questions and get help from other professional development practitioners! This online community is a place just for us to connect, share, and learn from each other. To access the Professional Development/FLEX Community:

1. You must have a Vision Resource Center (previously Professional Learning Network) account. For those that do not, please register for an account here.

2. Once logged into the Vision Resource Center website, click on "Enter the Vision Resource Center" button; this will drop you into the portal

3. On the top navigation bar, you will see Connect. Hover over and choose 'All Communities'

4. From the list of communities, find and click on CCC|Professional Development

5. Once in the Professional Development community, click Join Community in top right-hand corner

6. Follow topics, start discussions, post suggestions and share files!

7. Moving forward, you can only enter this portal via the Vision Resource Center website, so please bookmark it!

This is an exciting time for Professional Development! It is important that we stay connected with each other, share best practices, and advocate for funding and other resources that will support the excellent work we do in our Professional Development programs. The Professional Development/FLEX Community is a tool we can use to help us accomplish that and I hope that you find it to be a valuable resource for you! If you have any questions, please send me an email or give me a call at 661.362.3100.

ABOUT 4CSD

What is 4CSD?

The California Community College Council for Staff Development is an organization that provides training resources and networking opportunities for staff development professionals of the California community colleges.

Among the many services it provides, 4CSD:

Promotes leadership in staff and program development.

Provides education for staff developers regarding the principles of staff development.

Provides training in developing, implementing, and evaluating effective staff development programs.

Provides regional and statewide workshops and conferences.

Serves as a liaison between the State Chancellor's office and the colleges regarding staff development issues and serves as an advocate for Staff Development.

Evaluating the Process

4CSD is happy to share the booklet, "Evaluating Staff Development," a document that since 1993 has guided the development and evaluation of staff.

NEW Professional Development/Flex Community

To access the Professional Development/FLEX Community: Visit the Vision Resource Center (previously Professional Learning Network) website and register for an account.

Become a Member

Now's your chance to become a 4CSD Member! Enter here to find out how.

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How to Join Members can nominate and receive achievement awards Reduced member rates for annual conference Access the Membership Application Form Online More Information Join the 4CSD Board Interested in becoming a 4CSD board member? You can use the nomination form to express your interest, or to nominate someone else.

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The goals set forth are very ambitious and there is no easy path to reach them. Achieving these goals will require a combination of strategies and the coordinated efforts of tens-of-thousands of individuals both inside and outside the California Community Colleges.
Not only will California need the talent and perseverance of college presidents, administrators, faculty, staff, trustees, and students, it will also need the support and engagement of the Governor, Legislature, University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) systems, workforce development system, K-12 education system, business and labor organizations, philanthropists, and community and civic groups. It will take a sustained effort by the California Community College Chancellor, the Board of Governors, and the entire staff at the system level to lead the charge, support the hard work of the colleges, and help maintain focus and morale. There is no denying this is a tall order, but California and its students deserve no less.

Focus relentlessly on students' end goals.

Getting students to their individual educational goals-whether a degree, certificate, transfer, or specific skill set-should be the explicit focus of the California Community Colleges. More than just offering courses, colleges need to be offering pathways to specific outcomes and providing supports for students to stay on those paths until completion.

Always design and decide with the student in mind.

Colleges need to make it easy for all students, including working adults, to access the courses and services they need. Students should not bear the burden of misaligned policies between education systems.

Pair high expectations with high support.

Students should be encouraged to go "all in" on their education, with support to meet their personal and academic challenges. Assessment and placement practices must be reformed so that students are placed at the highest appropriate course level, with ample supports to help them succeed.

In each of these areas, there are clear steps for the California Community College Chancellor's Office to lead and support the work of the colleges, from modeling the kinds of organizational changes and behaviors expected at the college level to advocating for California Community College students at the highest levels of state government.

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A Vision for Change - Vision for Success

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The goals set forth are very ambitious and there is no easy path to reach them. Achieving these goals will require a combination of strategies and the coordinated efforts of tens-of-thousands of individuals both inside and outside the California Community Colleges.

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ACE Institutional Commitment to Teaching Excellence

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ACE Institutional Commitment to Teaching Excellence

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Flower Darby with James M. Lang

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small teaching online: applying learning science in online classes

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small teaching; online teaching; online instruction; online instructors; book for online instruction; books for online instructors; online learning; blended learning; online and blended learning; higher education; higher education learning; higher education instruction; higher education instructors; online instructional design; small teaching online; james m. lang; flower darby; learning science; science of learning<

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small teaching; online teaching; online instruction; online instructors; book for online instruction; books for online instructors; online learning; blended learning; online and blended learning; higher education; higher education learning; higher education instruction; higher education instructors; online instructional design; small teaching online; james m. lang; flower darby; learning science; science of learning

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small teaching; online teaching; online instruction; online instructors; book for online instruction; books for online instructors; online learning; blended learning; online and blended learning; higher education; higher education learning; higher education instruction; higher education instructors; online instructional design; small teaching online; james m. lang; flower darby; learning science; science of learning

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Small Teaching Online: Applying Learning Science in Online Classes

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Small Teaching Online: Applying Learning Science in Online Classes [Darby, Flower, Lang, James M.] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Small Teaching Online: Applying Learning Science in Online Classes

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James M. Lang

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why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?: and other conversations about race

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ethnic studies - african american studies

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communication - social aspects - united states

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communication and culture - united states

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ethnic studies - african american studies

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intercultural communication - united states

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race awareness in adolescence - united states

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social science / ethnic studies / african american studies

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social science / ethnic studies / american / african american studies

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books about race; books about racism; african american; books on racism; books on race in america; black lives matter books; books on how to talk about race; racial identity books; affirmative action books; books on affirmative action; black history month books; latino books; latina books; latinx books; asian american books; segregation books

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books about race; books about racism; books on racism; books on race in america; black lives matter books; books on how to talk about race; racial identity books; affirmative action books; books on affirmative action; black history month books; african american; latino books; latina books; latinx books; asian american books; segregation books

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social science / ethnic studies / african american studies

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social science / ethnic studies / american / african american studies

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Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race

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Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race [Tatum, Beverly Daniel] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race

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Putting our best book forward

Each Great on Kindle book offers a great reading experience, at a better value than print to keep your wallet happy.

Explore your book, then jump right back to where you left off with Page Flip.

View high quality images that let you zoom in to take a closer look.

Enjoy features only possible in digital - start reading right away, carry your library with you, adjust the font, create shareable notes and highlights, and more.

Discover additional details about the events, people, and places in your book, with Wikipedia integration.

Ask Alexa to read your book with Audible integration or text-to-speech.

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white fragility: why it's so hard for white people to talk about racism

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child care and upbringing: advice for parents

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relationships and families: advice and issues

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social science / discrimination & race relations

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social science / ethnic studies / general

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social science/anthropology - cultural & social

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social discrimination and equal treatment

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white supremacy; white privilege; white tears; social justice; whiteness; sociology; anthropology; civil rights; inclusion; equity; diversity; racism; bias; discrimination; social psychology; feminism; law; family; relationships; sociology books; empathy; kindness; culture; current best sellers; best sellers; african american authors; race in america; race relations; racial justice; african american books; activism; new york times bestsellers 2020; black lives matter; anti racist; anti-racist; antiracist; criminal justice

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social science / discrimination & race relations

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social science / ethnic studies / general

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social science/anthropology - cultural & social

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child care and upbringing: advice for parents

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relationships and families: advice and issues

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social discrimination and equal treatment

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White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism

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White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism [DiAngelo, Robin, Dyson, Michael Eric] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism

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Putting our best book forward

Each Great on Kindle book offers a great reading experience, at a better value than print to keep your wallet happy.

Explore your book, then jump right back to where you left off with Page Flip.

View high quality images that let you zoom in to take a closer look.

Enjoy features only possible in digital - start reading right away, carry your library with you, adjust the font, create shareable notes and highlights, and more.

Discover additional details about the events, people, and places in your book, with Wikipedia integration.

Ask Alexa to read your book with Audible integration or text-to-speech.

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the inner work of racial justice: healing ourselves and transforming our communities through mindfulness

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mind & spirit / mindfulness & meditation

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social science / discrimination & race relations

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social science/anthropology - cultural & social

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social discrimination and equal treatment

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self healing books for women; trauma; healing; white fragility; unconscious bias; motivational books; white supremacy; whiteness; social justice; resilience book; intersectionality; racism; mindfulness; racism in america; inequality; race; psychology; meditation; police brutality; meditation books; anti racism; books on anti racism; books on race; anti racism books; conversations about race; human rights; civil rights; white privilege; how to be anti racist; antiracist; racial healing handbook; spirituality; buddhism; happiness

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mind & spirit / mindfulness & meditation

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social science / discrimination & race relations

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social science/anthropology - cultural & social

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social discrimination and equal treatment

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The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness

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The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness [Magee, Rhonda V., Kabat-Zinn, Jon] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Inner Work of Racial Justice: Healing Ourselves and Transforming Our Communities Through Mindfulness

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Basic Skills Master Plan

The Basic Skills Master Plan was created through the efforts of FLIT (Faculty Led Inquiry Team) with support from the Basic Skills Initiative Steering Committee (BSISC) and the Student Access and Success Committee (SASC).  The mission of FLIT was to 1) facilitate discussions with students, faculty, and staff about the obstacles preventing student success and the best ways to support students; 2) research best practices and how other community colleges are helping students to succeed when encountering similar obstacles; and 3) create recommendations based on the internal and external research to expedite the learning of the Basic Skills Master Plan that would then inform the College’s Strategic Plan, Educational Master Plan, and Student Equity Plan.

Professional Learning Recommendations

Organizational Culture

Encourage Faculty, Staff, and Administrative Excellence

·       develop new-hire training and professional learning programs

·       require intensive training for new hires: faculty, staff, and administration

·       emphasize creating positive student interactions

·       inform hires of student population: their needs and barriers

·       discuss best practices for teaching and working with students in community colleges

·       implement committee mentors and create committee guidelines

·       institutionalize a college hour

·       hire a college hour coordinator to organize weekly activities and events

·       schedule a 1.5-hour weekly block without classes

Cultivate an Inclusive Campus

·       provide professional learning for faculty, staff, and administrators to facilitate the learning of strategies that will create an inclusive campus and comfortable learning environment

·       evaluate assessment tests and testing environments for triggers of stereotype threat and test anxiety

Supplemental Support Programs

Create the Educational Support Program

·       offer faculty release time for professional learning

·       provide stipends for the professional learning of Educational Support Professionals

Expand and Specialize Counseling

·       With the counseling department chair, determine which counselors should have specialized areas and how to designate time for training and learning

Learning Education Programs

Implement Multiple Measures for Placement

·       provide professional learning around multiple measures

Innovate the Math Sequence and Offerings

·       implement a faculty orientation and professional learning focused on working with basic skills students and departmental standards

·       connect the Math Peer Tutoring programs in the math department and in the Learning Center to enhance collaboration and coordination of services.

·       decide on selection criteria, training, and policies for peer tutors collectively through discussions between both the math Department and the Learning Center

·       create a norming committee comprised of both full-time and part-time math faculty to norm the exit skills for each math course and align exit skills with the New Common Assessment

·       create a professional learning plan for current and future faculty to ensure quality and adherence to standard exit skills

·       develop and implement a new-hire orientation

·       research professional learning opportunities, such as conferences and other math programs that are of interest to the Math Department

·       work with the Professional Learning Faculty Facilitator to schedule professional learning opportunities on and off campus

Innovate the English Sequence and Offerings

·       Implement a faculty orientation and professional learning focused on working with basic skills students and departmental standards

·       Develop and implement new hire orientations for each level of the sequence

·       Research professional learning opportunities

·       Work with the Professional Learning Faculty Facilitator to schedule professional learning opportunities on and off campus

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Professional learning communities tend serve to two broad purposes: (1) improving the skills and knowledge of educators through collaborative study, expertise exchange, and professional dialogue, and (2) improving the educational aspirations, achievement, and attainment of students through stronger leadership and teaching. Professional learning communities often function as a form of action research—i.e., as a way to continually question, reevaluate, refine, and improve teaching strategies and knowledge. Meetings are goal-driven exchanges facilitated by educators who have been trained to lead professional learning communities.

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Our Mission
The Yale Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning promotes equitable and engaged teaching throughout the University, and supports students across the curriculum as they take ownership of their learning. As part of a world-class research institution, we provide training, consultations, and resources designed to make teaching and learning more public and collaborative, so that every Yale instructor experiences the satisfaction that results from teaching well, and every student develops the critical reflection that marks deep and independent learning.