Curriculum Innovation Grants – Call is now open!
The FCTL Advisory Council is pleased to announce its Call for Proposals for Curriculum Innovation Grant funding. The purpose of this grant opportunity is to support faculty in advancing teaching and learning practices at Missouri State University.
The call for submissions for Curriculum Innovation Grants opened on September 20, 2021. Submissions will be due on October 31, 2021.
Curriculum Innovation awards provide funding of up to $4,000 per grant. An itemized budget of expenses is part of the application process. Proposals smaller than $4,000 are encouraged to apply.
FCTL Faculty Teaching Awards – Nominations are due January 21, 2022
Nominations will be accepted in the following categories:
- Equity and Inclusion
- Teaching with Technology
- Per-Course Teaching
More information and link to online nomination form
Showcase Fridays
Showcase Fridays are an extension of the annual Showcase on Teaching and Learning providing an opportunity to learn and discuss with colleagues a variety of topics and issues surrounding the science and art of teaching. These may include teaching with Zoom, service-learning pedagogy, strategies for assessment and student feedback, or inclusive teaching.
These sessions will be 11-11:50 a.m. on Fridays.
Links will be available on Blackboard’s Academic Community and will be emailed to faculty each Monday for the sessions that are virtual.
October Sessions:
General Education Reports: Clear and Simple
Date: October 15, 2021
Time: 11:00 – 11:50 a.m.
Facilitators: Tracy Stout and Joseph Williams
Location: Glass Room 486
Gen Ed report due? Have questions about your role as general education coordinator? Curious about the reporting form and evaluation of your course? During this session, members on CGEIP will cover the latest changes to the online form, clear up any misconceptions about what is expected to be reported, plus you will have the opportunity to work on your report before you leave.
Interested in joining an engaged group of scholarly writers? Then check out the Faculty Writing Retreats!
Date: October 22, 2021
Time: 11:00 – 11:50 a.m.
Facilitator: Jonathan Newman
Location: Virtual
Join Jonathan Newman and dedicated faculty authors during a live Writing Retreat. Jonathan and faculty participating in these events will provide a feel for what it is like to attend a Writing Retreat and share benefits of participating and collaborating with other faculty writers.
Integrating a student-centered syllabus to increase student engagement
Date: October 29, 2021
Time: 11:00 – 11:50 a.m.
Facilitator: Stacy Rice
Location: Virtual
Your syllabus will establish the first impression students have of you and your course. Research indicates that a student-centered syllabus which includes an overall tone of engagement and student success will lead to a more positive view of the instructor and the course among students over a traditional syllabus focused on content (Palmer et.al, 2015; Harnish & Bridges, 2011).
November Sessions:
“It’s Showtime!” Take your video recordings to the next level!
Date: November 5, 2021
Time: 11:00 – 11:50 a.m.
Facilitator: Eric Taylor
Location: Virtual
Join Eric Taylor with the FCTL and learn how to improve the quality of your videos with intermediate to advanced editing techniques. In this workshop, we’ll explore basic workflow, transitions, titling, keyframing, and color correction among other elements designed to improve the look and feel of your presentations.
Finding and competing for local, state, and federal grants in your discipline
Date: November 19, 2021
Time: 11:00 – 11:50 a.m.
Facilitators: Rachel McGinnis and Keri Franklin
Location: Virtual
Did you know assistance is available to pursue grant funding opportunities? Join Rachel McGinnis, Director of Research Administration, to learn about resources available for finding grant opportunities and help with submitting a grant. Dr. Keri Franklin, Associate Provost for Public Affairs and Assessment, and a professor in English will discuss tips and resources she found useful in her successful pursuit of $5 million in education grants.
Magna Professional Development opportunities
Magna Summer Enrichment Course
Time is running out on this opportunity! All courses end on September 18th and usually take 20 hours to complete.
Magna Publications is offering online courses on effective college teaching, online teaching practices, flipped instruction, and student engagement. Available courses:
- Developing and Teaching an Online Course
- Start Teaching Online
- Practical Solutions for Flipping your Classroom
- Engaging Students
Complete course descriptions can be found at 2021 Summer Enrichment Courses.
Contact the FCTL@MissouriState.edu if you would like to register for one of these courses.
Are You Interested in Participating in an Online Seminar Directly from Your Office?
MSU has an institutional license to the following on-demand resources.
- The Teaching Professor– access great articles and practical, evidence-based insights on strategies for creating a better learning environment. This online newsletter has been a trusted guide for educators for more than 30 years. Editor Dr. Maryellen Weimer has over 25 years of experience in college teaching. She has authored a number of books and is a highly regarded proponent of effective teaching practices.
- Magna Commons– a content library of on-demand versions of many of Magna’s most popular Magna Online Seminars, covering a broad range of topics of interest to faculty and administrators.
- 20-Minute Mentor– a content library of on-demand versions of Magna’s popular 20-Minute Mentor programs, covering a broad range of faculty development topics. (See below).
Access these resources by activating your Magna subscription through the Academic Community located in Blackboard. Select the Academic Community from the Community tab in Blackboard, and from the Academic Community’s main menu, select Magna Subscriptions located under Professional Learning. Follow the instructions provided to activate your subscription.
Monday Morning Mentor
These sessions will become available on Monday mornings. Through your Magna subscription, the program will be available for on-demand viewing for one full week.
October sessions
October 11
How Can I Teach Soft Skills to Better Prepare Students for the Workplace?
This Magna 20-Minute Mentor discusses core power skills which include: teamwork, communication, positive attitude, critical thinking, professionalism, and time management. You’ll also learn a four-phase approach to integrating soft-skill education into a curriculum and how to design related activities to unleash the full potential of your students.
October 18
How Can I Encourage Students to Stay Connected with Course Content After Class?
Learn techniques you can use to deepen student understanding of course material—after class is over—that you presented in the classroom. These techniques include creating reflection videos and cartoon making, among others.
October 25
How Can I Effectively Move Peer Reviews Online?
For online teachers who need to engage students in a peer view of written assignments, this 20-Minute Mentor details specific instructions of how to accomplish this online, as well as what technology tools are best suited for this process.
November sessions
November 1
How Can I Develop Opportunity-minded Learners?
It’s essential that students begin to think about value creation before graduating. When students graduate, they will ultimately be creating value for somebody in their careers. How can instructors best prepare these students for a meaningful career beyond skill-based content?
November 8
How Can I Manage the Disconnect Between Faculty and Student Perceptions of Rigor to Increase Learning?
You can’t dispel students’ misperceptions about difficult coursework if you’re unaware of what these misperceptions are. This program discusses common mismatched definitions of rigor and strategies for bridging the divide between teacher definitions and student definitions. By leveraging these strategies, you’ll be better able to improve students’ motivation and build stronger classroom connections.
November 15
How Can I Help Students Who Are Struggling with Online Learning?
While some students excel when taking online courses, many find online learning challenging and have difficulties keeping up with required readings, course activities, and assessments. Students may struggle in online courses because they mistakenly believe online education is easier than face-to-face, they have poor study habits, or they lack planning, organization, and time management skills.
November 22
How Can I Grade in Less Time with Greater Impact? * – TBA
November 29
What are the Differences Between Synchronous and Asynchronous Teaching, and How Do I Best Choose the Format for My Online Class?
Online instruction has become a multifaceted experience. Instructors can select their platform, course design, and now, their instructional format. Online courses can be taught either synchronously, where learning occurs at a specified time and date, or asynchronously, where students can complete course content on their own time. How do instructors know when to teach synchronously or asynchronously?
For information on all sessions for this semester, see Fall 2021 Schedule
Go to the Academic Community to activate your subscription and view the complete schedule. Passwords will be provided weekly.
Online Learning Consortium™ Faculty Workshops in October and November
The OLC offers an extensive online learning opportunities for education professionals. Check out the workshops available in September and beyond.
October courses
- Blended Learning: Applying Best Practices into Course Design – Oct 4 – Oct 30
- New to Online, Essentials Part I: Getting Started – Oct 11 – Oct 17, Nov 8 – Nov 14, Dec 6 – Dec 12
- Designing Courses with a Multimodal Approach – Oct 11 – Oct 17
- Getting Started with Hybrid-Flexible (HyFlex) Course Design – Oct 11 – Oct 17, Nov 29 – Dec 5
- Creating Infographics for Learning, Oct 25 – Oct 31
- Designing Game-Based Learning, Oct 25 – Oct 31
- Exploring Interactive Video Tool, Oct 27 – Oct 29
November courses
- Fundamentals: Engaging Learners in Online Discussions – Nov 8 – Nov 14
- Fundamentals: Increasing Interaction & Engagement – Nov 8 – Nov 14
- Copyright & Fair Use, Part II: Court Decisions to “Best Practices” – Nov 9
- New to Online Essentials
- Part 1: Getting Started Nov 8 – Nov 14
- Part II: Converting Your Course Nov 15 – Nov 21
- Part III: Course Design Basics Nov 29 – Dec 5
- Applying UDL Principles to Online Courses to Increase Accessibility & Engagement – Nov 29 – Dec 5
- Creating Effective Assessment – Nov 29 – Dec 5
Curriculum Innovation Mini Grants
There is now additional funding available for Curriculum innovation mini grants. Awards are limited up to $1,200 per grant application.
Curriculum innovation mini-grants support faculty with ‘pivoting’ their courses during the ongoing Coronavirus.
Applicants must complete an application indicating:
- What one change do you want to make to your course? i.e., better engage students with the content, create more engaging video lectures, determine better strategies for blended instruction.
- What do you think might help you with this change? i.e., document camera or other video equipment, digital tools that will engage students, not sure.
- How will you know if you were successful in creating this change? i.e., I will see better scores, I will have more engaging course materials online, my students will be more satisfied with their learning experience.
Submit Curriculum Innovation Mini-Grant Application.
Mini-Grants are one-time funding and faculty should consider ongoing costs such as annual subscription services. Applications will be considered until the funding is depleted.
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.
For Fall 2021, in-person Writing Retreats are back! Register 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.
FCTL Conference Room, Meyer Library Room 204 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Fall 2021 dates:
Friday October 22nd
Friday November 19th
Mon-Tue Dec 20th-21st
Please register through My Learning Connection by searching for “Faculty Writing Retreats Program” and choose the sessions you wish to attend. If you sign up, you are not obliged to stay all day if you have other obligations.
Participants will be sent a form to log their goals and contacted prior to each event with a reminder.
Lunchtime Workshops may feature special topics and/or guest presenters on writing and research productivity.
Morning coffee and catered lunch provided by the Office of the Provost.
For more information or to be put on the mailing list, please contact facultywriting@missouristate.ed
Course Video Sharing for Faculty
The Office of the Provost, the FCTL, and Information Services would like to share some information with faculty about uploading video to Blackboard.
We are recommending video be shared via Microsoft Stream or YouTube. Please see How to Share a Video to Blackboard.
As storage space is at a premium, you are encouraged to remove video files. Here is an article on how to do so How to Remove Video Files from Blackboard.
Blackboard is not a video streaming service and storage is at a premium. Videos need to be stored on a video streaming platform such as Microsoft Stream or YouTube. The links to the videos can be shared within your Blackboard courses. Here is a list of Blackboard best practices Blackboard Best Practices for Faculty.
LinkedIn Learning – Professional Development Opportunity
LinkedIn Learning (LIL) is an on-demand e-learning library now available to all faculty, staff, and students to support your academic efforts. The video content can be assigned to students as stand-alone or built into Blackboard and used as course prerequisites, student remediation, or supplemental material. The extensive library consists of course subjects, soft skills, software programming, technical training, hobby, and passion projects. If needed, LIL can even tailor content specific to your course based on learning objectives.
If faculty and staff are interested in exploring personal career development opportunities or need CEU’s for professional certifications, LIL may also have what you need.
LIL can be accessed on a desktop, tablet, and mobile phone with 24/7 customer service support. Faculty/Staff can activate their free license through the MyMissouristate.edu portal on the Profile/Professional Development channel.
Students will activate their license through the MyMissouristate.edu/Registration/Resources channel.
For instructions in incorporating LinkedIn Learning content into your curriculum, please visit:
https://missouristate.teamdynamix.com/TDClient/1931/Portal/KB/?CategoryID=19029
For all IT-related questions, visit the Team Dynamics ticketing system available at https://missouristate.edu/helpdesk.
Assessment Grants Opportunities
Faculty Assessment of Student Learning Grants are available. The purpose of these grants is to support you, the faculty, in your innovative practices in the assessment of student learning.
Apply today for a $500 Program Assessment Grants to share how your program assesses student learning.
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 (access begins June 1, 2020)
- 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.
Upon completion of each of the activities within the module you will be able to print a certificate of completion.
Contact the FCTL@MissouriState.edu for additional information on any of these opportunities.