The Center for Teaching & Learning

Message From the CTL Director

Faculty Focused:

• 7 Curriculum Makeover Lessons
• Teaching Doesn't Need to be Perfect
• Unraveling Faculty Burnout
  

Student Centered:

• Elusive Civil Classroom
• Redefining Class Participation
  
• See Why Others Think Differently
  

Equity Emphasized:

• Support for Racial Justice & Equity
• Leaders with Disabilities
• Tea for Teaching: Our Stories
• Immersion in Native Languages
• Land Acknowledgement Statement
  

Tuned Up:

• MacGyver of iTech: Ally
  
• Online Skywalker: OLC
  

• Dear Margaret Hood

Scheduled:

• 10/13: Online Learning Consortium
• 10/14: Ally Overview
  
• 10/21: Capstones Experiences
  
• 11/4: Global Learning (COIL)
  

Dear Colleagues,

Thank you to everyone who attended the internship focused CTL event in September with guest presenters, Michael True and Bre Harwood. If you would like to receive a copy of True’s best practices for internships, please contact Lisa Littlefield in the Career Center. Also, a recording of the remarks are available on the CTL Blackboard site. In keeping with the focus on High-Impact Practices (HIPs), Dr. Michelle Gricus will offer a workshop on Capstone experiences on Friday, October 21st from 3:00-4:30 pm in Coblentz Seminar room. Both in-person and online attendance are welcome! Furthermore, I am looking forward to working with the CTL Advisory Committee regarding the development of a strategic plan for the 2023-2024 academic year. As always, please contact me if you have any ideas or suggestions about future CTL programming/content.

Sincerely,

Paige Eager

"So if you are rethinking your gen-ed requirements, or even just mulling programmatic changes, here are seven hard-earned lessons — things we did that you should and shouldn’t do — to help you meet the many challenges that await you in curriculum reform." Click here to read these seven lessons learned from a curriculum makeover.

"Cathy N. Davidson and Christina Katopodis describe a slew of evidence-based strategies that instructors can use to make their classes more active and participatory. ... [They also] write about what to do when those strategies seem insufficient, when students aren’t engaged and class doesn’t gel. “We can all learn from ‘teaching fails,’”... It can be hard to give up the goal of perfection, but learning requires a bit of failure — for professors as well as for students." Click here to keep reading.

"Pope-Ruark’s road back from burnout wasn’t direct or easy. It involved raw conversations with senior colleagues, taking a medical leave and ultimately changing jobs. But her retelling of that journey, and what she learned along the way, is an essential read for faculty members who may be struggling and the administrators who care about them. It’s also a warning to institutions that value or appear to value faculty productivity over faculty well-being." Read Pope-Ruark's interview here.

"For professors who want their students to understand one another’s viewpoints and use them to develop their own, making sure all students feel comfortable speaking in the classroom is a lot easier said than done. ... Two-dozen professors put their heads together on productive classroom discussions. They landed in different places." Click here to read professors' experiences and suggestions for encouraging civil classroom discussions.

"Mark Sample used to get an uncomfortable feeling near the end of every semester. He graded his students on participation, but what was he really measuring? ... “One of the key takeaways,” he said, “is to understand that engagement doesn’t have to be this performative thing they do. It can be this genuine activity that somehow dovetails with their own personality and interests, that lets them enter into the class conversation and ideas in a way that is true to their own personality and interests.”" Keep reading here.

"Whether it’s examining books by inflammatory authors, diving into the debate around immigration, or asking students on opposite sides of the gun-control debate to craft public policy, these professors teach undergraduates how to think critically about divisive topics, examine their own biases, and better understand why some people think differently than they do. These courses are increasingly important, advocates say, given that the spaces in which people can deliberate are shrinking. ... Here are four examples of courses designed to help students do just that, in an era when productive debates appear to be happening less often." Click here to keep reading.

The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) condemns all forms of systemic racism, bias, and aggression against Black people, indigenous peoples, people of color, and those of marginalized genders, as well as discrimination based on socioeconomic status. We understand that excellence in teaching, by definition, must reflect our shared humanity and promote inclusive practices such as:

• being conscious of biases, racial abuse, micro-aggressions, and those who are minimized or left out;
• understanding and supporting those underrepresented in our Hood community; and
• promoting ways to actively foster equity, diversity and inclusion in our classrooms, research, and publications.

The CTL is determined to raise awareness of all those who have been systematically oppressed and call upon Hood faculty to join us in this commitment to create a more inclusive world. As members of the CTL Advisory Board, we stand united and affirm that Black Lives Matter.

"Have you ever worked for a president, provost or vice president with an apparent disability, or encountered leaders with disabilities in any space in higher education? Probably not, but of course, this does not necessarily mean that leaders with disabilities do not exist. Rather, it more likely means that if a leader lives with a disability, they hide it." Keep reading here.

"Students do not always recognize the expertise of faculty who do not match their cultural stereotype of what a professor looks like. In this episode, Sarah Mayes-Tang joins us to discuss how she has used personal narratives to address these student biases." Click here to listen to episode 256 of the Tea for Teaching Podcast.

"The University of Minnesota is offering student housing for residents who want to immerse themselves in learning Ojibwe or Dakota, two Native languages at risk of extinction. ... Tribal colleges have long offered Indigenous language programs, but efforts to revitalize these languages have recently proliferated at nontribal colleges and universities across the country." Click here to read more about students are "living in the language".

The CTL would like to share Hood College's "Land Acknowledgement Statement" for faculty/staff to voluntarily consider putting on syllabi and/or stating verbally in class, presentations, or before guest speakers. The premise for this statement was in large part researched by Mary Atwell of the Library: "Hood College was established on lands in harmony with tribes of the Algonquian and Iroquois language families. Many tribes, including the Piscataway, Susquehannock, and Tuscarora tribes passed through and resided in this region. Hood College recognizes this past and offers humble respect to the indigenous peoples of the past, present, and future connected to this place."

This summer, IT in conjunction with Blackboard Support, enabled the new Ally tool on Blackboard. Ally is an accessibility tool that gives faculty awareness of how accessible their course content is and provides instructions and examples to help make said content more accessible. For students, Ally provides instant accessibility format alternatives for posted course content inside Blackboard. IT will enable the Ally tool on all course sites starting on October 10, 2022 at 10 AM. Once enabled, faculty can see how their content scores and use the guides in Ally to make any accessibility changes they feel are needed. For students in their courses, they will simply see the Ally alternative formats icon next to their content and can use it or ignore it if they choose. To be clear, the Ally tool is a passive application that makes no changes to existing content and only offers suggestions or alternative formats. Students do not have access to content scores and only faculty have access to this information. Please use the resources provided below for more information about the Ally tool: Ally Overview | Getting Started Guide for Faculty (PDF) IT will offer two virtual trainings on Friday, October 14, 2022 at 2PM and 3PM. Please use these links if you would like to attend one of these training opportunities: October 14, 2022 at 2:00–3:00PM (Zoom link) | October 14, 2022 at 3:00–4:00PM (Zoom link)

Greetings from the Online Skywalker! As you know, I love to share online teaching resources and materials for you to incorporate into your classes. Hood College is part of the Online Learning Consortium (OCL), and we have access to many resources on its webpage. Mary McIlquham, Partnership Manager of OCL, is connecting with us through Zoom on Thursday, October 13, from 1:00-2:00pm to provide a membership overview for all of us. She is also the person that will offer support in utilizing our benefits. This workshop is an excellent opportunity to ask questions, clarify concerns, and establish a personal connection with Mary. After that, you can open an account with OCL and start benefiting from all the available resources. As I always say, I am one email away if you have a question!

Do you have a question about technology or teaching? Send an email to CTL@hood.edu, and on every Friday, we'll answer the question most broadly applicable across departments. When you email your question, let us know if you'd like to remain anonymous, use a fun sign-off moniker of your choosing (akin to the Dear Abby column), or list your name. All questions welcomed!

Capstones are culminating experiences that help students make deep connections with their learning. Capstone projects can come in many forms and contribute to an intellectually challenging senior experience. In this workshop, participants will learn the ingredients of successful capstone experiences and have opportunities to discuss options for creating or revising a capstone course to reflect integrated learning in their discipline. Join the Center for Teaching and Learning at 3pm on Friday, October 21st in Coblentz Seminar Room to learn from this workshop.

This November 4th, please join Howard Community College staff and faculty to learn more about how they are using COIL to enhance Global Learning. They will share their knowledge of best practices in Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), including COIL basics, partnership development, and project examples. The presenters are: Mary Allen, Director, International Education; Amelia Yongue, English Professor and Chair of World Languages; and Dr. Yang Yu, Geography Professor and Acting Associate Dean of Social Sciences and Teacher Education. This event will be be presented in-person and live online via Zoom from 3:00-4:30 pm in Coblentz Seminar Room. Refreshments will be provided in-person. Click here to learn more about COIL and plan to attend this event.

The CTL now has a dedicated bookshelf space in the Library Commons for CTL resources and materials! Feel free to check out these books and return them when you are finished. If you would like the CTL to order other materials to increase our repository, please contact Hilary Stipelman with your request.

• Paige Eager, Professor of Political Science, Dean of the Faculty, & Director of the CTL
• April Boulton, Associate Professor of Biology & Dean of Graduate School
  
• Catherine Breneman, Assistant Professor of Social Work
• Michelle Gricus, Assistant Professor of Social Work
  
• Suzanne E. Hiller, Assistant Professor of Education
• Akia Jackson, Director of the Writing Center
• Elizabeth Mackessy-Lloyd, Assistant Professor of Nursing
• Jessica McManus, Assistant Professor of Psychology
• Heather Mitchell-Buck, Assistant Professor of English; Coordinator of Digital Learning
• Katherine Orloff, Associate Professor of Journalism
• Atiya Smith, Assistant Professor of Psychology & Counseling
• Marisel Torres-Crespo, Associate Professor of Education; Coordinator of Online Instruction
• Jill Tysse, Assistant Professor of Mathematics
• Jeff Welsh, Director of Instructional Technology in the IT division
• Kerri Easterbrook, Graduate Assistant for the CTL

Email: CTL@hood.edu
Website: www.hood.edu/CTL
Location: Hood College, Rosemont Avenue, Frederick, MD, USA
Phone: (301) 663-3131