Welcome to the weekly UTLC Newsletter supporting teaching and learning at UNCG.

TEACHING TIPS

This section is full of timely and evidence-based practices to apply in your teaching.

This week's tips are about motivating students through goal setting, which is a great practice to use regardless of your course delivery format!

• Why set goals. Working with students to set well-defined and personally meaningful goals is a critical step in developing motivated, self-directed learners. Trunk (2023) states that, “goals could include achieving a certain GPA, mastering specific subjects, or acquiring relevant skills for their desired profession. By setting measurable and achievable objectives, students can effectively monitor their progress and make necessary adjustments to their study plans.” Learning about our students’ goals is also a great way to tailor content and instruction so that they are more likely to see relevance and make connections between the current material and their other courses or future career (Fox, 2011; Wieman, 2013). 
• When to set goals. Goal setting can take place at any point; however, some recommended times would be at the beginning of the academic term or at the start of a new project or unit/module. While goal setting often takes place at the beginning of an experience, it is important to incorporate progress checks along the way. This helps students to develop their metacognitive and reflective skills by assessing their progress on their way to meeting a goal, and communicating with their support network to adjust as needed. Building this process into existing assignments is a great way for students to see the importance of engaging in this practice so they are more likely to do it on their own in the future. 
• How to set goals. It is incredibly important to scaffold the process of goal setting by providing frameworks and modeling examples (and non-examples) for students. While many students will say their goal is to achieve an “A” in their classes, Nist-Olejnik and Holschuh (2007) tell students, “If you are concerned only with the grade you’ll earn, you’ll find that you are working to please the professor instead of learning to please yourself. . . . ” (p. 48). We can help students to create more meaningful goals for themselves by using either the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) goals or Skip Downing’s DAPPS (Dated, Achievable, Personal, Positive, and Specific) framework. Both models a great way to help students reflect on their personal, academic, and/or career goals so they can chart a course for success.

As a quick reminder, pronouns are now showing up in multiple UNCG services including Outlook and Canvas. Learn more about how to add pronouns via UNCGenie for faculty, staff, and students.

UTLC FEATURED ANNOUNCEMENTS

Check out the latest updates and offerings from the UTLC.

ACUE is a multi-week course that introduces effective teaching strategies and highlights the benefits of reflective teaching practice. Complete all four courses to receive the American Council of Education (ACE) Certificate in Effective College Teaching. Joining in October is the last chance to complete the full certificate, so don't wait! You can also sign up for the stand-alone Fostering a Culture of Belonging course using the ACUE Portal link below. Contact Dr. Laura Pipe (lmpipe@uncg.edu) with any questions.

Reminder | Nominations Open for Alumni Teaching Excellence Awards through September 1, 2023

To recognize outstanding teaching and demonstrate our commitment to teaching excellence, the University presents three annual awards to UNCG faculty members; the UNC System also presents an award for teaching excellence to a UNCG faculty member each year. Faculty, staff, students, and alumni are eligible to nominate. For more information, visit our website (please note we are in the process of updating our documentation to reflect the recent change to "Professional Track" faculty)

ITS Learning Technology's team of instructional designers, instructional technology consultants, and multimedia specialists work with faculty to develop innovative and impactful courses. Together, we can:   

• Prepare and support your teaching through consultation and workshops   
• Adapt your instructional content for online, hybrid, or HyFlex delivery   
• Create multimedia elements to enrich your course
• Apply Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles    

Request a consultation and let’s get started! 

Level 1: The UTLC conducts this 8-week, online course to help instructors develop an online course to teach at UNCG. Each week, the course facilitator logs into your Canvas site to provide feedback on your course design. This course counts as initial professional development credit for online teaching at UNCG.

Level 2: Need continuing education credit for teaching online? The UTLC is offering an updated, self-paced version of this training that can be completed in less than 4 hours. Use this link to access this course in Canvas to get started. If you have any questions, reach out to Amy Brown (albro25@uncg.edu).

FACULTY ENGAGEMENT & DEVELOPMENT

Check out these upcoming opportunities from the UTLC and other partners on campus. Additional training opportunities are available at workshops.uncg.edu.

Ongoing Opportunities

• DiversityEDU | This online module through Canvas offers faculty and staff skills-based development in areas of equity and diversity. 
• Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Institute on Canvas | This virtual, self-paced experience dives into difficult dialogues, foundations of equity pedagogy, and deep exploration of cultural responsive teaching.

• Indigenous Safe Space Project on Canvas | This student-led initiative helps to prepare the campus community with basic skills for supporting our Indigenous and Native students.

• UNCG Libraries Fall 2023 Webinars | Research and Application Webinar Series (registration and recordings) | Zotero Webinar Series (recordings)
• *New* New to Teaching | Access this Canvas site to learn about how students learn, preparing for class, grading, office hours, engagement, active learning, and more.
• Web Accessibility 101 | This asynchronous, self-paced course focuses on the fundamentals of making online content accessible.

Upcoming Events, Training, and Workshops

MINERVA MENTIONS

This segment features instructors who exemplify excellence and innovation in teaching at UNCG.

We are pleased to announce our next nominee, Marcus Perkins! Click the image below to read the nominee's Words of Wisdom. Note: this year's profiles are created using Microsoft Sway. After clicking the link, scroll down using your mouse or keyboard to advance through the presentation.

To nominate yourself or a colleague, please complete the form at go.uncg.edu/minerva-mentions.

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