Faculty Development: Faculty Development Sessions

SoTL Series Session 3: Designing Effective SoTL Projects: A Systematic Approach to Enhancing Teaching and Learning

Do you need guidance in designing your SoTL research project?  

The scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) is a systematic, evidence-based approach to improving teaching and learning. Examples are comparing assessment results, administering student surveys, and practicing a different instructional approach. A SoTL project is no different from a research project in your discipline, but practicing SoTL research helps you to assess better what is working in your courses and publish your findings. This session will help you to design a preliminary research plan for a SoTL project.

Objectives: 

1. Consider at least one idea for a SoTL research project.

2. Design a preliminary approach for a SoTL research project.

Presenters: Dr. Melony Shemberger, Professor of Journalism and Mass Communications
                     Dr. Jana Hackathorn, Professor and Chair, Psychology
                     Heather Johnston, Academic Coordinator of English as a Second Language

When: Wednesday, November 13, 2:00 - 2:50 p.m.

Where: Face-to-Face at Waterfield Library, Room 211 or Via Zoom

Bring: Your laptop, and possible ideas to begin designing your SoTL project!

Refreshments will be provided for those who register to attend in person.

Register: https://forms.gle/XuCUwwahqPZUAsz37

SoTL Series Session 4: Time to Share: Joining the SoTL Conversation 

Where do I present or publish my SoTL work?  

You are working on a SoTL project, or you have completed one. What’s next? Submitting it for a conference or publication to make it truly SoTL! In this session, we will examine the conversation around the scholarship of teaching and learning and include discussion on how to identify where, when, and how to share your work in the field.

Objectives: 

1. Consider methods of sharing SoTL research.

2. Identify conferences and publications that focus on SoTL research

Presenters: Megan Wilson, Research and Instruction Librarian
                     Dr. Melony Shemberger, Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication   

When: Thursday, December 5, 9:30 a.m. - 10:20 a.m.
Where: Face-to-Face at Waterfield Library, Room 211 or Via Zoom

Register: https://forms.gle/XuCUwwahqPZUAsz37

  ANNOUNCEMENTS  

The Career Services Office is involved with NACE (The National Association of Colleges and Employers). Faculty and staff have been asked for their input on the attitudes and behaviors of integration of career readiness into curriculum. If Murray State University receives enough participation in this survey, we will have access to a free report of the findings.

Last spring, the National Association of Colleges and Employer (NACE), the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) and the Society for Experiential Education (SEE) released the report, Faculty Attitudes and Behaviors: The Integration of Career Readiness Into the Curriculum, highlighting data from our joint survey that demonstrate the many ways faculty support career readiness.

We are expanding on and deepening this work, and this fall 2024 we are conducting a study to better understand how faculty and staff are connecting experiential learning and high-impact learning practices with career preparation for students. NACE, AAC&U, and SEE will utilize findings to inform a deeper understanding of current practices involving experiential learning/high-impact practices linked to career preparation, as well as to create resources and programs to promote innovation for faculty, staff, and institutions of higher education.

Survey Link: https://nace.iad1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2reCAewuy4VkY2a

• The survey should take less than 8 minutes to complete.
• Your responses are saved every time you advance to the next page.
• You can leave and return to the survey where you left off as long as you use the same computer or device.
• The survey will remain open throughout fall 2024 until December 31, 2024, although we encourage completion of the survey as soon as possible!

Please be sure to add your name and email at the end of the survey, if you would like to enter drawings for five (5) prizes of $100 Amazon gift cards. We will notify the winners in early January 2025.

Confidentiality of the data: NACE and AAC&U and SEE will keep your responses confidential. Individual responses will be aggregated and summarized.

Are you interested in learning about being a Canvas Certified Educator (CCE)? Do you need additional help to make your course stronger and amp up your instructional techniques?

Good news! Our very own Dr. Melony Shemberger is a Canvas Certified Educator! She now helps facilitate courses in the CCE program and can help you!

Contact: Dr. Melony Shemberger
                Department of Journalism and Mass Communications
                211 Wilson Hall
                270-809-6874
                mshemberger@murraystate.edu

  WORKSHOPS   

INSTRUCTIONAL SKILLS WORKSHOP

Are you interested in refining your teaching in a small setting with feedback from peers?

If so, you will want to join the Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW) program. Over four days, through an experiential learning-centered instructional program, you will engage with asynchronous lessons then come together synchronously on Zoom to teach a 10-minute mini-lesson to peer colleagues.
 
The program is designed to expand your reflective practice, enhance your teaching, and develop your feedback skills. The underlying principles of the workshop are participatory learning, diversity of learning, adult learning, and the building of learning communities in classrooms. A handbook of resources is provided to augment the workshop. Upon completion, you receive a certificate that is recognized internationally at prestigious institutions and organizations.
 
Since 1979, the ISW has been supporting post secondary educators in enhancing their teaching in a respectful learning environment. Your facilitators have over 16 years experience as ISW facilitators and trainers (training other facilitators) and are skilled at creating a learning environment that is supportive and engaging.
 
You can be at any stage in your career to benefit from this program. Admittance into the program will be on a first come basis. If you register and the program is full, you will be notified you are on a waitlist.

Please don't hesitate to forward this email to colleagues at your institution so that they can take advantage of this great program. 
 
When: Monday, December 2 to Thursday, December 5, 2024, 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., Pacific time.
Where: Via Zoom

Register: ITeach: Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW) - ITeach:

Contact for More Information:
Cynthia Korpan, PhD 
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Educational Psychology and Leadership Studies, UVic
Former Director of Teaching Excellence, UVic
Award-winning Educational Developer 2017 (EDC)
Director, ITeach: Certification in Higher Ed Inc. iteachhe.com
Board Director, Society of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE)
Academics Without Borders Volunteer
Associate Editor, Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (CJSoTL)
Committee Member, Graduate Student, Professional Student, and Postdoctoral
Scholar Development Special Interest Group (GPPD SIG) (POD)
ISW Network Workbee Chair
Faculty Member, Institute of New Educational Developers (INED) 2024, Temple University

THE FACULTY DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY

Good news! We have organized the Faculty Development Academy (FDA), a virtual space (via Canvas) for you to access on-demand professional development resources in areas that include, but are not limited to, the following: Strategies for Teaching and Learning, Teaching Well With Technology, Scholarly Activities, Promotion and Tenure, Leadership, Wellbeing and Work-Life Balance.

What else is in this FDA for me?

In this self-paced academy, you have opportunities to do the following:

1. Access on-demand resources (e.g., session recordings and handouts)

2. Reflect on your learning (including personal application or plans to apply what you learned), and earn badges and certificates

Access the FDA featured sessions and more by self-enrolling in the FDA via  Canvas: https://murraystate.instructure.com/enroll/WTGYHH

  SELF-PACED PROFESSIONAL  DEVELOPMENT  

RUBRIC REHAB: DESIGNING AN EFFECTIVE TOOL FOR INSTRUCTORS AND LEARNERS

How would you evaluate the quality of a student's work? If you were to judge a chocolate chip cookie contest, how would you determine the winning cookie? 

Most likely, you would be given a rubric to help you. Just as a rubric is important in deciding the best cookie, a rubric also can be instrumental in assessing a student's work. This micro-learning training will guide you through the main parts of a rubric and how to create a rubric in Canvas. 

Session Objectives:

1. Identify the main parts of a rubric.
2. Apply the elements of a rubric to a student assignment.
3. Create an effective rubric using the Canvas rubric tool.

Presenter:  Dr. Melony Shemberger, Associate Professor, Mass Communication 

When: This is a self-paced multimedia video.

Where: This micro-learning opportunity was created in Adobe Captivate and uploaded in a Canvas course for participants to self-enroll at this link: https://murraystate.instructure.com/enroll/7G3KMT.

ACCESSIBILITY AND USABILITY RESOURCE SITE

Murray State subscribes to Quality Matters (QM), a non-profit organization that is focused on helping faculty with continuous improvement of online and blended courses. 

QM created a research-based rubric to help faculty determine the quality of their online and blended course design. 

The QM rubric standard number 8 indicates that "The course design reflects a
commitment to accessibility and usability for all learners."

To help you meet this standard, the QM community built the Accessibility & Usability Resource Site that addresses key accessibility and usability concerns such as:

• Universal Design
• Alternative Text
• Video captioning
• Accessible MS Office products
• …And more

The resource also includes forums that provide you with the opportunity to connect directly with accessibility experts. It also includes videos with step-by-step guidance to help you increase the accessibility of your course.

• Register for Free Access and help spread the word about this resource.
• Free for Members: Accessibility & Usability Resource Site

If you do not yet have a QM account, please follow the steps below.

1. Click on the MyQM link (located at the bottom of the Quality Matters home page) 
    
2. Enter your Murray State e-mail address.  If you have an existing account, you may sign in or request a new password if needed. Alternatively, you may check "No, I am new here" and follow the prompts to create an account. 

  FDC OPPORTUNITIES, RESOURCES AND SERVICES

Murray State University has subscribed to Quality Matters (QM), a non-profit organization focused on helping faculty with continuous improvement of online and blended courses.

Quality Matters created a research-based rubric to help faculty determine the quality of their online and blended course design.

Subscription Benefits includes (but are not limited to):

• Access to the QM fully-annotated higher education rubric.
• Access to the web-based automated rubric tools, for informal (unofficial/internal/ self) course reviews for the development and improvement of online or blended courses.
• Discounts on QM professional development, official QM-managed course reviews, conferences, and events.
• Ability to create MyQM accounts which gives all faculty and staff access to our tools and resources and their personal QM Activity, including certificates of training and/or course certification.

Access the QM Automated Rubric Tool

Faculty may conduct self-reviews of their online courses using the QM’s self-review tool. These reviews will be seen by only the faculty who conducts the self-reviews (unless the faculty decides to share the reviews).  There is no limit on the number of self-reviews that each faculty may conduct. To access the self-review tool, complete the following steps:

1. Visit www.qualitymatters.org  
2. Create a MyQM account: Click on the MyQM link (located at the bottom left of the Quality Matters home page)
3. Enter your Murray State email address. If you have an existing QM account, you may sign in or request a new password if needed. Alternatively, you may check "No, I am new here" and follow the prompts to create an account.
4. Once your account is created, you may access the self-review tool by clicking on the following links that are located on the left menu: My Tools → Course  Review System, and then select Start a Self-Review (from the bulleted list below the Welcome message).

SMALL GROUP INSTRUCTIONAL FEEDBACK (SGIF)

Need feedback to improve your students’ learning experiences and potentially improve your end-of-course ratings? ​

You might be interested in participating in the FDC's Small Group Instructional Feedback (SGIF).

About SGIF: SGIF provides the opportunity for faculty to work with a facilitator to gather feedback from groups of student in their course (for about 25-30 minutes) about what is helping them learn and what could be improved. It also places extremes student opinions in context which, in turn, increases the validity of students' feedback and improve students' motivation.

Facilitator:  Firm Faith Watson, Director, Faculty Development Center

When:   Midway in the semester 

Register:  https://tinyurl.com/SGIF-Registration

View Flier: https://tinyurl.com/SGIF-Flyer

1-on-1 Consultations

Do you need individual help (e.g., to design your face-to-face, online or blended courses)?

Please reach out to Dr. Firm Faith Watson to arrange one-on-one virtual  consultations at fwatson2@murraystate.edu.