June 7, 2023. Issue 10, Summer 2023

News from Moody College's

Center for Advancing Teaching Excellence

In the Technology-Enhanced Learning Symposium sponsored by the UT Center for Teaching and Learning, Dr. Art Markman cited a recent student survey on technology. A student observed that “Canvas is the campus.”

Additionally, in her recent paper, Dr. Julie Schell outlined the difference between academic continuity, continuing through a disruption such as the Covid pandemic, and academic resilience. Academic resilience means adapting and growing in the face of disruption (Schell, 2023).

When considering the intersection of the student reality of the digital campus and the critical design need to consistently reach for academic resilience as we face the next educational disruption, CATE is here to help! From our first ever Summer Design Series to fall training events and consultations in between, our team is here to support adaptation and growth as academic resilience partners.

Book a consultation with Mary or Shelly.

Learn more about CATE

Ask CATE

How can we establish a culture of engagement from the first point of contact with students?

Even in the recent past, the first point of contact with most students was when they showed up on campus to the physical classroom. The current true point of first contact with students new to you is digital, even if you teach in-person courses. Whether it is your UT faculty profile or your Canvas course home page, faculty need to be strategically aware and proactive to design for engagement in digital spaces before students access information. Capturing your intentional instructional coaching as course specific elements in your syllabus or your Canvas course helps prepare students to successfully and actively engage in your course.

In a recent journal article, Tualaulelei et al. mapped pedagogical touchpoints against dimensions of online student engagement (Redmond et al., 2018) and found implications for practice that include “purposeful design not just for cognitive and [behavioural] engagement, but also for social, collaborative and emotional engagement” (p. 200). The CATE Summer Design Series aims to support these pedagogical touchpoints. RSVP to dive into designing for a culture of engagement.

News & Events

CATE Summer Design Series

July 18-20 from 10am to noon, synchronous online

Put on your comfy clothes. Prep your favorite indoor or outdoor space with munchies close at hand. Then join our Moody College faculty community to upskill on timely curriculum design considerations. These topics are the result of CATE collaboration with Moody College department and school leadership. We hope you will join us via Zoom for these interactive sessions to demonstrate academic resilience related to student engagement in your curriculum design for fall.

Tuesday, July 18: Facilitating Academic Discourse on Complex Issues

This session will focus on the pedagogical design moves that foster rigorous and informed discussions, whether in-person or online. Participants will consider instructional approaches underpinned by elements of Gee’s (1999) theory of “D”iscourse as a way of coaching students to enact ways of being as emerging communication professionals.

Wednesday, July 19: Academic Integrity and AI

This session will focus on the pedagogical design moves related to supporting students to practice sound academic decision making. The focus is on how to motivate students to present their original work with appropriate use of digital tools as emerging professionals in the field. 

Thursday, July 20: Creating Accessible Courses

This session will focus on the pedagogical design moves related to ensuring that each student has access to your course in forms that are appropriate for their learning needs. The session creates a supportive space to learn about the Ally tool in Canvas and how to remediate any low accessibility issues. 

RSVP here for one or all sessions

ACUE Course

The Association of College and University Educators (ACUE) Course in Effective Online Teaching Practices leads to a nationally recognized teaching credential in evidence-based practices. It is the only college teaching credential recognized by the American Council on Education.

At UT, the ACUE program is led by Dr. Anne Braseby and Dr. Michelle Gaston in the Center for Teaching and Learning. In 2022-2023, two professors from Moody College of Communication joined the cohort and shared in this interview some tips and takeaways from the course they just completed. They are professor Christian McDonald, from the School of Journalism and Media, and professor Mathew McCutchin, from the Stan Richards School of Advertising & Public Relations.

Read the interview

Awards

CATE is really proud of all amazing Moody College Faculty who recently received different awards recognizing their teaching excellence in 2022-2023. Congratulations!!! We also released new videos of the Teaching Award Series with tips and favorite memories from our faculty. Watch them here!

See all faculty award winners

Teaching Spotlights

"The first thing I do is make sure on the first day of class students get their voices in the room, because I want them to be in the room for the rest of the semester. That was a real key pivot for me about student engagement."

Jennifer Barbour, Professor

READ JENNIFER'S SPOTLIGHT

"I really try to get students fully involved in the class because I wasn't a calm student originally. I think the best learning experience comes when students are involved in the course at every level."

Stephanie Menhart, PhD candidate

READ STEPHANIE'S SPOTLIGHT

"Don't be afraid to trial and error and tweak as you go. Learn from your course, take the feedback from your students and know what works and what doesn't. Make changes for the next year."

Cassidy Doucet, PhD candidate

READ CASSIDY'S SPOTLIGHT