Mid-Term Support
As you plan for mid-terms and grading, the OTL is here to support you! You can reach out to us with questions or schedule a consultation by contacting OTL staff directly or booking 1:1 time with the OTL Instructional Designer. We also have many asynchronous resources on our Ed-Tech Knowledge Base and our OTL website, including helpful articles in our OTL blog. Visit our post Addressing Bias in Assessment as you prepare to grade your mid-terms to learn strategies for reducing implicit bias in your grading.
Now is also a good time to start thinking about gathering feedback from your students so that you can assess how the class is going, discover any points of confusion, and evaluate aspects of the course that you might be able to adjust to benefit your students. Visit OTL's web page Gathering Student Feedback on Teaching and blog post Designing a Mid-Quarter Student Survey for tips on getting this feedback and following up on it.
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New OTL Blog Post - Empowering Learning Diversity: Applying UDL Principles to ePortfolios
Kellie Ferguson, Faculty Developer of Integrative and Experiential Learning, and Ellen Hogan, Faculty Developer of Instructional Accessibility, explore how the flexibility of ePortfolios allows for the implementation of multiple means of engagement, representation, and action/expression in the new blog post Empowering Learning Diversity: Applying UDL Principles to ePortfolios.
Read how to align with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) guidelines while also learning more about DU's new ePortfolio platform, Digication.
Do you have questions about incorporating ePortfolios into your courses? Visit OTL's Digication and ePortfolio Resources webpage, or book a consultation with Kellie Ferguson. If you have questions about adding UDL principles and ensuring your course is accessible, visit OTL's Instructional Accessibility Course Planning webpage, or book a consultation with Ellen Hogan.
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Share Your Expertise in Upcoming OTL Blog Posts
Calling all creative graders! The Office of Teaching and Learning is working on a series of blog posts about alternative ways of assessing student learning. We are interested to hear about your experiences with alternative assessment practices such as grading contracts, peer review, self-assessment, group tests, un-grading or other approaches. Share your innovative approaches and insights; let us know how they're fostering deeper learning and academic growth in your students. If you're exploring new assessment landscapes, please reach out to Dr. Stephen Riley, Director of Academic Assessment, at [email protected] to be a part of this conversation.
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Faculty Advisor and Mentor Winter Training with the Office of Student Success
Advising and mentoring: we all do it . . . but where does it “count” in our workload? How can we talk about these important roles and the impact they have on student success in a way that is honored in the annual review? Just in time for that process, this workshop will give you the opportunity to consider how you communicate the value of your advising and mentoring and the impact your work has on the university.
Register using the link below, and please contact Dr. Michele Tyson, Director of Faculty Advising, at [email protected] with any questions.
Faculty Advisor and Mentor Winter Training
Friday, February 16, 2:00 - 3:30 p.m.
Anderson Academic Commons 342
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Accepting Applications for Spring 2024 Student-Faculty Partnership Program
Do you wish to better understand your students and how they experience your class? In the Student-Faculty Partnership Program, students and faculty members learn and work together as partners in addressing the question of how we can create more engaging and inclusive learning environments. Now in its 8th year at DU and backed by 20 years of research, this program is premised on the idea that students and faculty members can learn much from each other regarding the experience of teaching and learning, and that it is through dialogue and sharing of different perspectives that this learning can happen.
Participating faculty members will be paired with a student partner for the Spring 2024 quarter. Every week (starting Week 1 and going through Week 8), students observe their faculty partner's class, and they and their faculty partners meet - either virtually or in person - to discuss their respective observations, insights, and wonderings.
We are currently seeking faculty participants who teach undergraduate classes in any format. The application deadline is Thursday, February 22, 2024. To learn more about this program and to apply, please visit our Student-Faculty Partnership Program web page. We are also seeking student participants for this program, particularly students from groups that are under-represented in shaping higher education, so if you know of any undergraduate students whom you would like to recommend, please contact Virginia Pitts.
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Coming Soon: Get a Student's Perspective
Would you like to get a student’s perspective/input on some aspect of your teaching, but aren’t able to participate in the Spring quarter partnership program? This Spring, we hope to pilot a “spin-off” of the existing partnership program that involves a shorter-term engagement with a student consultant/reviewer. Through this program (tentatively titled “Get a Student’s Perspective”) you might invite a student to simply:
- Review your syllabus and give feedback, or …
- Share their thoughts/input on an activity you are planning, or …
- Observe just one or two of your class sessions and take observation notes, or …
- Run a focus group/feedback session with the students in your class to learn more about their experience, or …
- Test out/give feedback on your adoption of a new educational technology, or …
- Provide their input/perspective on some other aspect of a course you are teaching or planning!
To help us gauge interest, if you think you might be interested in participating in this pilot (which would involve a short-term/one-time consultation with a student, rather than a quarter-long engagement), please fill out this brief survey indicating your interest and we will follow up with you!
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Call for Faculty Volunteers: Assessment and Accreditation Committee
The Office of Teaching and Learning invites dedicated faculty members to join the newly formed Assessment and Accreditation Committee. This committee will play a vital role in advancing the University's strategic initiative of helping students and faculty thrive through reflection on the teaching and learning process, ultimately contributing to our mission of being a great private university dedicated to the public good.
Committee Purpose
The Assessment and Accreditation Committee serves two primary purposes: fostering continuous improvement through ongoing assessment practices and reflection; and maintaining the university’s ongoing positive accreditation standing with the Higher Learning Commission. Members will collaborate on critical tasks such as preparing for the accreditation review, optimizing assessment reporting methods, and fostering cross-disciplinary dialogue about assessment matters.
Requirements and Benefits
Committee membership requires monthly meetings during the academic year and approximately one hour of additional weekly work to prepare, collaborate, and contribute directly to the committee's goals. In return, you will gain valuable insights into assessment and accreditation practices, develop leadership skills, and forge meaningful collaborations with colleagues across disciplines. Serving on this committee signifies your commitment to the University's dedication to continuous improvement and excellence. To thrive in this role, you should possess a strong dedication to student and faculty growth, excellent communication and collaboration skills, and the ability to work effectively in a team. Relevant experience with assessment practices in your discipline is advantageous, although not a requirement.
To Apply
To express your interest in serving on the Assessment and Accreditation Committee, please send an email that includes a brief description of your reasons for wanting to serve on the committee to Dr. Stephen Riley, Director of Academic Assessment, at [email protected].
Applications are accepted until February 16, 2024.
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Warren and Judy Self University Writing Program Awards for Diversity, Access, and Inclusion in Teaching
Thanks to a generous gift from the Hatherly family, the University Writing Program is offering two Warren and Judy Self Diversity, Access, and Inclusion Teaching Awards. These awards are designed to recognize faculty (teaching and/or tenure line) who have demonstrated excellence in creating diverse, accessible, and inclusive classrooms through content, materials, writing assignments, and pedagogical practices.
One Warren and Judy Self Diversity, Access, and Inclusion Teaching Award will be awarded to a faculty member within the Writing Program, and one will be awarded to a DU faculty member outside of the Writing Program but teaching undergraduate courses. Two winning faculty from teaching and/or tenure lines will be awarded $2,500 and will be featured in the University Writing Program and Office of Teaching and Learning publications.
To be considered for an award, an applicant must be nominated by their department chair/head or program director. The nominator will collaborate with the nominee to compile and submit requested materials for consideration. The items will demonstrate how the nominee’s teaching is illustrative of diverse, accessible and inclusive content, materials, writing assignments, and pedagogical practices. Evidence of such practices should be presented from multiple perspectives--the applicant’s perspective, observations or letters by others, and information from students.
Nominees should plan to submit application materials by February 25, 2024.
In your application packet, please include the following:
- A cover letter with a narrative that explains the application contents.
- A letter of support (from the person who has nominated you).
- Materials that exemplify diverse and inclusive teaching practices with annotations to explain how and why this work fits this award.
- Any student feedback/comments/letters that support your nomination.
Only completed packets will be considered. Awardees will be announced in late March or early April 2024.
Learn more and submit materials - Self Teaching Award Submission
If you have any questions, please direct them to Sheila Carter-Tod ([email protected]), Executive Director of the University Writing Program or Richard Colby ([email protected]), Director of First-Year Writing, University Writing Program.
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