Call for Proposals — 37th Showcase on Teaching and Learning
The submission deadline is Thursday, March 31.
The 37th Showcase on Teaching and Learning will be held August 17, 2022. This year we will be back in PSU meeting in-person! There will also be opportunities to engage in HyFlex blended sessions. This way faculty can choose how they want to engage in Showcase: live in-person, synchronously online via Zoom, or viewing recorded sessions on their own time. We will be following university COVID-19 policy that is in place at the time of Showcase and will move to a virtual event if necessitated by safety protocols.
Additional Information is on the FCTL Website. For questions, please contact the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning.
Faculty Writing Retreats
Faculty Writing Retreats (in-person and virtual) will help you meet your writing goals for the year. Begin new articles, revise and resubmit, polish your book proposal, complete your last edits, and connect and collaborate with other faculty scholars.
Register through My Learning Connection for any of the following dates. If you register, you may also choose to write along in your office or at home and join our lunchtime roundtable via Zoom. All sessions are in Meyer Library Room 204 and are from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
March 24 (Thursday)
April 8 (Friday)
April 20 (Wednesday)
Monday Morning Mentor
March 21
“What are Active Strategies for Structuring a Synchronous Class?”
Teaching an effective and engaging synchronous online course can be a difficult task. Live synchronous class sessions, where participants are logged in and interacting at the same time, can provide a high-touch element previously missing from online instruction. However, it can be difficult to strategically structure an active learning environment during synchronous instruction.
How do instructors incorporate active learning strategies synchronously?
This 20-Minute Mentor offers a foundational understanding of synchronous instruction and offers several techniques for enhancing synchronous interaction by focusing on lesson planning, enacting, and assessing active strategies.
March 28
“What Are Three Proven Ways to Manage My Online Discussion Board and Actively Engage Students?”
The discussion board is one of the key areas in any online classroom where truly active learning can take place. But it can be a struggle for students and teachers alike to connect—both in terms of logistical day-to-day tasks, and in terms of higher levels of engagement. So how can we avoid burnout and make the discussion board a place where students are eager to go?
This 20-Minute Mentor offers three strategies to help ensure that instructors are modeling high engagement and expectations, making fruitful connections, and sharing expertise on the discussion board to ensure that the content pushes the conversation further.
View Monday Morning Mentor semester schedule
Online Learning Consortium™ Faculty Workshops
The OLC offers an extensive online learning opportunities for education professionals. Below are just a few of the upcoming workshops.
- April 6–8: “Creating an Interactive Syllabus”
- April 25: “Applying UDL Principles to Online Courses to Increase Accessibility & Engagement”
- April 26: “Copyright & Fair Use, Part I: The Fundamentals”
Contact the FCTL for a free Professional Learning Pass to any of these workshops. Visit the link below for more information about these workshops and many others.
Self-Paced FCTL course development boot camps
The resources from the FCTL’s virtual online boot camps are available as a self-paced course development boot camp. This self-paced version will cover many of the same things as the virtual and on-campus boot camps, but you will be participating at your own schedule and can contact the FCTL Instructional Designers at any time during this process. Their contact information is listed in the meet your instructional designers area of the modules.
What’s included in the self-paced course development boot camp
- Best practices related to online courses and teaching
- Different assessment options available in Blackboard
- How to remove potential barriers for students with disabilities
- Strategies to foster community and engagement in the online classroom
- Strategies to prevent student cheating
- Copyright and fair use in distance education
How to find the self-paced boot camp
- Log into Blackboard and select the Community Tab at the top of the page
- Select Academic Community from the My Organizations module
- Once in the site, on the main menu, locate “self-paced course development boot camp” to access the boot camp materials
Free resources for creating blended and online instruction
Check out these resources:
- 100 Mistakes Academic Writers Make…and How to Fix Them
- Resources for Writers: Digital Writing Tools
- Teaching in Higher Ed
- The Scholarly Teacher
- Faculty Focus Home page
- The K. Patricia Cross Academy Techniques Video Library
What is the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning?
The FCTL supports teaching excellence for faculty at all levels. Check out the many support services offered by the FCTL to see how you can benefit.
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