Pew Faculty Teaching & Learning Center
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Director's Note
I am attending the POD Network conference this week, focusing more on educational development topics than on teaching per se. I will have more to share at a later date, but here are a few observations and reflection prompts:
1. In one session, we discussed the concept of “facilitator lineage” presented in the book Holding Change. It has me thinking not only about where and from whom I learned facilitation, but also about my “communication lineage.” What has influenced your own communication style and your preferences for communication with colleagues and students? How has your lineage influenced your approach to difficult conversations? I offer these reflection questions to consider on a late fall walk or drive.
2. A laptop, Zoom, and an Owl, a hybrid meeting does not make. We still have a long way to go to ensure accessibility and engagement of remote participants in meetings and classrooms. Speaking of learning spaces, I have refreshed our Classroom Design for Active Learning page in anticipation of upcoming learning opportunities (details below).
3. Collaborative, distributed leadership is a wonderful thing. And it takes continual effort. I am honored to serve in a leadership role in the POD Network and I continue to learn an incredible amount from my colleagues, fellow educational developers from institutions across the country. The Pew FTLC has three searches taking place this fall, so leadership, new voices, and team-building are top of mind for me. A line in the POD Network board meeting discussion guidelines document struck me as noteworthy: Your ideas are like gifts to the group. It is really lovely to be in a room where folks strive continuously to ensure that all voices are heard. How might our colleagues and students receive an invitation framed in such a way?
4. I ran into James Lang, our last Fall Conference keynote speaker. He spoke fondly of his time at GVSU. Seeing him reminded me of some of the solid pieces that he and others have written for The Chronicle of Higher Education. These teaching advice guides can be accessed from this handy page (with a free account) and offer substantive ideas on creating a syllabus, teaching a good first day of class, making your teaching more engaging, improving class discussion, making your teaching more inclusive, being a better online teacher, and more.
Take good care of yourself and those in your sphere-
—Christine Rener
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Calling All Future Learning Community Facilitators!
Propose a Winter 2024 Learning Community
Do you have a topic you are passionate about? Or perhaps something that you're interested in exploring more? What to delve into such a topic with others? Consider leading a Winter 2024 Learning Community!
Learning Communities (LCs) bring faculty and staff together for a 1–2 semester-long conversation on a topic of mutual interest. We will help cover the cost of materials and such, allowing you and your group to focus on the topic at hand an hopefully, on the application of the new knowledge you gain through the LC. Past participants consistently report this experience to be restorative, re-energizing, and beyond beneficial—professionally and personally.
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Strong Start Teaching Institute
January 4, 2024 • 9am–4pm
DCIH 445 (Health Campus)
How can we ensure that students begin their GV career with a strong start? The Strong Start Teaching Institute focuses faculty attention on best practices for engaging students in first year undergraduate courses. Together we will explore resources and examples around four themes:
- Clarity of academic expectations
- Foster a sense of belonging (at GVSU and in our classrooms)
- Familiarity with available student resources
- Active learning strategies that promote student engagement, motivation, and achievement
Whether you are teaching a course for the first time or are looking to strengthen a course to best engage students, we invite you to participate. The in-person and asynchronous components of this Institute will apply to a range of instructor experience levels and disciplines.
Limited to 40 participants. Preference given to adjunct, affiliate, and visiting faculty. Register by December 15, 2023.
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FTLC Faculty Fellow Spotlight
Dr. David Eick
Modern Languages and Literatures
David teaches French at all levels from 101 to Capstone, plus Spanish occasionally and his research area is literature and culture of the French Enlightenment. David would welcome that chance to chat with you and support you in any endeavor. Contact him at eickd@gvsu.edu.
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Active Learning Classroom Workshops
January 2024—Before the Winter Semester Starts!
Mobile furniture. Generous whiteboard space. Dynamic activity possibilities. These hallmark features of an active learning classroom have significant impacts on the ways an instructor plans and utilizes the learning space. Are you currently scheduled to teach in such a classroom next semester? Or would you like to plan ahead for semesters to come? In this hands-on workshop, we will explore an active learning classroom and experiment with a variety of in-class activities. We will draw from educational research around principles of learning and student engagement. Whether you already use collaborative or guided inquiry activities in your courses or are still in exploratory mode, this workshop will also introduce you to helpful course design frameworks and models for making the most of new and redesigned spaces.
Limited to 40 participants. Open to all faculty and staff.
Whether you consider a large class to have 30 or 130 students, come learn about teaching strategies and classroom management techniques that can improve student learning AND make your life easier. We will discuss "small" tasks such as providing opportunities for formative feedback on learning and "large" tasks such as solving problems in groups, sharing methods applicable across a range of disciplines.
Limited to 40 participants. Open to all faculty and staff.
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Sandbox Learning Innovation Grant
Have an idea for an innovative approach to teaching, learning, or student engagement? Need a bit of seed funding? Our Sandbox Grant has you covered! This $500 grant offers exploratory funding to faculty for projects around new teaching strategies, curriculum development, co-curricular learning, student success and mentoring, and more!
Additionally, we have THREE special emphasis Sandbox Grants to consider:
Late Career Special Emphasis Sandbox Grant
Supports faculty in the last five years or so of their careers as they explore a new skill or approach to teaching and learning, deepen assessment practices, engage with community partners etc. This special emphasis Sandbox Grant encourages late career faculty to take fresh risks, explore new pedagogies, and exercise creativity!
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