TEACHING TIPS

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

Today is election day and you may be wondering how to prepare yourself and your students for what comes next. If you haven't already, please be sure to read the Election Resources and Support email to faculty that was sent by utlc@uncg.edu yesterday morning. For students, the Office of Leadership and Civic Engagement is partnering with the Office of Intercultural Engagement to offer the What’s Now? What’s Next? event on Thursday, November 7th, 11:30am-1pm, in EUC Alexander, lunch provided. This event is available for students to process the election results. Trained dialogue facilitators and counselors will be on hand, so please consider sharing this with students.

The UTLC has written a Teaching During and Post Election blog post to provide context for how emotions impact learning, strategies for approaching teaching, and important reminders about available campus resources to support students and faculty alike. We strongly encourage you to read the full post, but here are a few teaching tips highlights to keep in mind:

• Lighten the Load: The week of the election is likely to be the most difficult for students to engage and stay focused. Plan or reorganize your course content during this week to focus on application of concepts already learned. It is likely that new content will not be retained during this week.

• Provide Space: Depending on your subject matter, consider how you can provide students with the opportunity to process or acknowledge the emotion of the moment. Providing time during election week for students to independently reflect on what they are feeling can be helpful. You may be able to provide space for students to share with each other, but it is okay if you do not have the space or capacity in your course. Simply providing space for students to acknowledge their emotion can be helpful.

• Connecting to Your Content: Depending on your subject matter, you may be able to connect the moment to your course content. This can provide students with an academically detached outlet. Academic detachment is often our first space of learning, it is when we focus on the scholarship of an idea and not our personal emotions, such as “what does the literature tell us about…” or “what do scholars say about…” Academic detachment can help students remove their personal feelings and focus on something concrete that is outside of themselves as a starting place.

UTLC FEATURED ANNOUNCEMENTS

Check out the latest updates and offerings from the UTLC.

The emergence and proliferation of Generative AI tools has impacted higher education in a myriad of ways. This anonymous survey aims to understand UNCG instructors' current use, knowledge, understanding, and attitudes toward Generative AI. Responses will inform strategies for supporting faculty with resources and professional development related to Generative AI in teaching and learning. Please complete this short survey (5-10 minutes) to provide your insights and feedback so that we can improve the support available to instructors at UNCG to ultimately enhance student success!

The UTLC is excited to announce that we are now enrolling for the Spring 2025 cohort of the Auburn Teaching with AI Canvas course. This self-paced course takes 5-7 hours to complete and consists of 5 modules with engaging learning content, activities, and discussions. Participants who complete each of the discussion posts will earn the AI Experimenter badge. Completing this course is a great way to gain familiarity with AI tools, explore ethical considerations, and adjust course and assessment design. Space is limited so register today, and email utlc@uncg.edu with any questions.

The Alumni Teaching Excellence Awards recognize outstanding faculty members who have made a significant impact on student learning, mentorship, and overall educational excellence at UNCG. These awards honor faculty who demonstrate a strong commitment to teaching and who have earned the respect and admiration of their students, colleagues, and alumni. Access the nomination form to learn more about the award categories and eligibility criteria. The deadline to nominate is November 15, 2024.

All faculty and staff must complete a mandatory Title IX training by December 13. Last week, you should have received an email from Vector Solutions (email listed as @safecolleges.com). The email subject line would appear as "UNCG Approved Vector Solutions Training for Faculty and Staff."  Title IX is a federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance. As required by the 2024 Federal regulations, adopted August 1, 2024, all active University faculty and staff are required to complete Title IX training upon hiring and annually thereafter. 

If you cannot locate your email invitation, you can login to the Vector Solutions portal directly using this link and using your UNCG email address as your username. If you have completed previous Vector Solutions trainings (i.e. DiversityEdu), you may need to reset your account password. If you have questions about this training, please contact Tina Chestnut, coordinator of Title IX, or if you need technical assistance with the Vector Solutions platform, please contact the UTLC. 

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.

• 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.

• Level Up: Mental Health Education & Training | Help foster a culture of care by engaging in trainings for suicide prevention, Mental Health First Aid, Spartan well-being, and more.
• UNCG Libraries Webinars | Research and Application Webinar Series (Spring 2024 recordings) | Zotero Webinar Series (recordings)
• New to Teaching | Access this Canvas site to learn about how students learn, preparing for class, grading, office hours, engagement, active learning, and more.
• Safe and Trans Zone Training on Canvas | Enroll in this self-paced online course to complete Safe Zone 1.0, 2.0, and Trans Zone if you cannot attend an in-person workshop.
• Web Accessibility 101 | This asynchronous, self-paced course focuses on the fundamentals of making online content accessible.

Upcoming Events, Training, and Workshops

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