I want to thank and congratulate all faculty and academic staff who have worked so hard to make this semester as successful as possible. Alongside numerous staff at the university, the faculty have worked extremely hard to adapt to the new and constantly changing challenges of blended and remote teaching. Thank you all for your efforts.
We are conscious of the time challenges we have all faced since March, yet we also want to capture some of those lessons learned and use them to our mutual benefits during spring term. Before we move fall term teaching to the past tense, we invite you to consider joining us to share with your colleagues what you learned this semester. What worked well? What needs re-alignment? What additional professional development support would be most helpful?
Next week, the Faculty Hub is offering facilitated conversations about our fall term teaching experiences. Please consider if one of them meets your interests and please know that you are welcome to participate for a duration that works for you. We hope that you will find it meaningful to share and learn with your colleagues. We also list below some planning that is under development for January 2021, to help you prepare for spring term.
Faculty Hub Conversation: Teaching FYS
Did you teach an FYS course during the fall semester or are you preparing to teach an FYS course in the spring? Do you have strategies or successes from your experiences this fall to share with colleagues? We invite faculty to come together to share knowledge, practices, success stories, and considerations for remote or blended teaching of FYS courses. Two sessions will be offered:
- Tuesday, December 8 from 4-4:50 p.m. — Open to all with a focus on Remote Teaching. Register for Tuesday’s session here!
- Wednesday, December 9 from 9-9:50 a.m. — Open to all with a focus on Blended Teaching. Register for Wednesday’s session here!
Faculty Hub Conversation: Fall Semester Debrief
Do you have strategies or successes to share from your teaching this fall? Would you like to ask questions and receive feedback from colleagues as you plan your spring courses? Please join faculty from across campus for a semester debrief session in which we will share knowledge, practices, success stories, and considerations for remote or blended teaching. Two sessions will be offered:
- Thursday, December 10 from 3-3:50 p.m. – Open to all with a focus on Remote Teaching. Register for Thursday’s session here!
- Friday, December 11 from 11-11:50 a.m. — Open to all with a focus on Blended Teaching. Register for Friday’s session here!
Can’t make any of these sessions but still want to participate? Please email us to let us know if you would be interested in attending a similar type of session in January or to receive a one-on-one recap with a member of the Faculty Hub.
Descriptions of the Types of Programming Offered by the Faculty Hub
- Conversations: Informal, interdisciplinary conversations (50 minutes) around a topic of shared interest (this is the format for the December sessions noted above).
- Panel Discussions: Short presentations on selected topics (5-10 minutes) by 2-4 faculty members followed by Q&A (20-30 minutes).
- Morning Blend: Informal “coffee break-style” discussions on a topic that impacts teaching and/or scholarship. Each session includes a brief presentation (10-15 minutes) followed by optional discussion time. The Faculty Hub produces a one-page tip sheet to guide you in implementing a strategy or approaches discussed. Visit our website for the recorded presentations and tip sheets from fall term.
- Workshops: Hands-on, interactive sessions (75-90 minutes) that allow participants to take a deeper dive into a specific topic or practice with a teaching approach.
- Faculty Hub Institute: Intensive workshops (full day or multi-session) designed to deepen faculty knowledge and skillsets to help propel their pedagogy and scholarship into the future.
- Consultations: The Faculty Hub is available to provide faculty with personalized support for teaching and scholarship through confidential, individual or small group consultations. Schedule a consultation on our website.
A note about recordings: To maintain opportunities for authentic sharing by colleagues participating in a program, periods of open dialogue are not recorded in our sessions. Most public presentations, invited speakers, and scheduled presentations within the program are recorded and some sessions include handouts, worksheets, or tip sheets which we will share with attendees and anyone else who wishes to use them. We encourage individual or small group consultations if a topic interests you but you cannot attend at the scheduled time.
We are in the planning stages for our January 2021 programming. Here is a quick preview of topics we are working on and the formats for engagement. If you would like to help in a session from this list or suggest another topic, please email us!
- Panels: (1) Alternative Assessment, (2) Social Annotation, and (3) Collaborative Documents
- Conversations: Reflecting on Course Design
- Morning Blends: (1) Course Organization in Bb and (2) The First Day of Class
- Workshops: (1) The Blended Classroom Experience and (2) Zoom Pedagogy
- Institute: Data Visualization with R (register here)