Innovations | Volume 1 | Spring 2022

Volume 1 | Spring 2022

a publication of the Walker Center for Teaching and Learning

The Walker Center for Teaching and Learning (WCTL) recently began a video series on INNOVATIONS IN TEACHING that highlights some of the amazing things our faculty are doing both inside and outside of the traditional classroom. Visit our Innovation in Teaching YouTube channel to check out these videos.

We hope these videos will inspire others to experiment with teaching innovations in their own courses. If you would like to nominate someone to be featured in a spotlight videos (including yourself!), please contact Chris Johnson, senior instructional developer with WTCL, at christopher-d-johnson@utc.edu.

Many of our Innovations in Teaching videos will feature past Walker Center grant recipients, and we encourage interested instructors to apply for funding to support their own innovative teaching endeavors. Please visit our Funding Opportunities webpage to learn more.

The Walker Center for Teaching and Learning aims to promote teaching excellence and innovation that cultivates student engagement, learning, and success.

We offer a large variety of programs, services, and support to full-time and adjunct faculty at UTC, including: Faculty Development Opportunities - Pedagogy Workshops/Sessions - Online/Hybrid Course Design, - Development and Delivery - Quality Matters Workshops - Accessibility Workshops - Book Clubs - Summer Cohorts - Instructional Excellence Conference - Teaching and Learning Institute (TLI) - Faculty Fellows Program Development - Faculty Fellows Course Development - (Cohort) - Faculty Hikes - New Faculty Orientation - Adjunct Faculty Orientation Learning Technology Integration, Training and Support Assistance with the Quality Matters Certification Process

FROM THE INTERIM DIRECTOR

Jennifer A. Glaab, M.S. Interim Director Walker Center for Teaching and Learning

My goal as interim director of the Walker Center for Teaching and Learning is to increase the availability of teaching and learning resources, to provide new and exciting faculty development opportunities, and to bring to UTC up-to-date learning technologies to support interactive and innovative teaching methods.

We have recently launched our video series, Innovations in Teaching, to highlight UTC faculty teaching innovations.

We now possess an institutional subscription to three Magna Publications, including The Teaching Professor newsletter, the 20-Minute Mentor Commons on-demand video presentations, and the Monday Morning Mentor video presentation series. A new faculty fellow in course development program has recently been established and new learning technologies are available including: DesignPlus Tools for Canvas, Poll Everywhere (coming soon), and H5P (coming soon).

We hope that this newsletter will inspire you to experiment with innovative teaching strategies and new learning technologies in your classes. I encourage you to connect with our faculty support services and to participate in the many faculty development opportunities we offer, including workshops, book clubs, and the Instructional Excellence Conference on May 10.

Development of Accessible Course Materials Implementation of Pedagogical Techniques and Strategies Instructional Design and Development Services Small Group Instructional Diagnosis Classroom Observations Peer Review of Teaching Online Course Reviews Syllabus Support Online Course and Programs Development Experiential Learning Consultations

Walker Center for Teaching and Learning Location: 433 Library Hours: Monday–Friday 8 a.m.–5 p.m.

Phone: (423) 425-4188 Email: wctl@utc.edu Web: utc.edu/wctl Canvas and Learning Technology Support: utclearn@utc.edu

When Academic Curiosity Dies...

HOW TO REVIVE THE INQUISITIVE MIND? David Pleins, assistant director of the Walker Center for Teaching and Learning

A

Susan Engel, The Hungry Mind (Harvard University Press, 2015) Jose Vazquez, Curiosity: Activating Internal Student Motivation when Teaching Online (YouTube Video) Bruce Yeany, Homemade Science: Big High Low Track

lthough kids at age four will drive you wild with questions, most young people have their academic curiosity driven out of them by the time they reach high school.

Is there no hope?

It helps to recognize that kids actually do remain curious, just usually not about academics. The high school gossip engine— fueled by social media—is filled with budding “anthropologists” who interrogate their informants, gather juicy stories, sift the data, make judgments and disseminate their findings. The trouble is they are more curious about Emma and Liam than they are about Einstein and Wittgenstein.

Can we revive their academic curiosity?

In a brief but thought-provoking video on curiosity, Jose Vazquez, Ph.D, an economics professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, offers food for thought.

Vazquez opens his talk by showing us

a video clip of a science teacher who is demonstrating a race between two ball bearings on different wooden tracks: one track is long and straight and descends from a bit of height, the other track curves up-anddown like a roller coaster. Which ball bearing will get to the finish line first?

When I’ve shown this video to groups during presentations, I must admit it’s fun to watch everyone get caught up in the guessing game, most with little interest in or actual mathematical knowledge of Newton’s laws of physics.

The curious question is, “why?” Why do they get so involved in earnestly debating which ball bearing will win, even if the physics textbook hasn’t been cracked in years?

If you want to learn the secret of great teaching and reviving students’ curiosity, you’ll have to watch the video for yourself.

Just click the image below!

CONSIDER THE LEARNERS IN YOUR CLASS

STATE THE LEARNING OBJECTIVES

MAP COURSE CONTENT TO LEARNING OBJECTIVES

LINK TASKS AND ASSESSMENTS TO THE LEARNING OBJECTIVES

EVALUATE AND ADJUST COURSE ACCORDINGLY

It is important to remember that all of your learners are different. Students differ in terms of background, experiences, attitudes, skills, needs, motivation, ability, knowledge, age, gender, beliefs, etc. Take time to understand your students and adjust your lectures and learning materials in ways that are appropriate and meaningful to them.

Consider using surveys, pre-tests, or discussions to get to know your students.

Learning objectives are brief, clear statements about what students should be able to do after completing a learning activity.

At the start of every class, share the learning objectives with your students.

This will help students know what is important to focus on and what is expected of them.

To reinforce key concepts, revisit the learning objectives at the end of the class.

Learning objectives should shape the learning content you include (or exclude) in your course. Take steps to ensure the content you cover maps back to a specific learning objective. If content doesn’t relate to an objective, don’t cover it!

Learning activities and assessments should also be tied to learning objectives. An aligned course ensures students learn what you intend and that you can accurately assess what they learn.

If objectives, activities, and assessments don’t align, a course may be disjointed and ineffective, which leads to frustration and lack of engagement (Kurt, 2020).

In addition to end-ofcourse evaluations, instructors should use regular informal evaluation throughout the course. Student feedback can be used to improve the delivery, content and structure of the course.

Analyze completed assignments and assessments to look for problems with comprehension and instruction. Modify assessments and content delivery as needed. Repeat this process each semester.

ENGAGE YOUR STUDENTS WITH POLL EVERYWHERE Poll Everywhere will soon be integrated into Canvas at no cost to all faculty and students.

Please stay tuned for more information.

Whether you are teaching face-to-face, online, or a hybrid format, keeping students engaged is a challenging task.

With Poll Everywhere, you can create an exciting learning environment that students will want to be in, no matter what your classroom setting looks like.

Using their smartphone or computer, your students can provide instant responses to a multitude of question types. Choose from a variety of activities, including multiple-choice, open-ended questions, live word clouds, clickable images, ranking and competitions.

Poll Everywhere promotes active learning, improving recall and deeper understanding of material, as students

are engaging with the content rather than simply listening to it. While these activities may be knowledge checks, reinforcement of learning materials, or just a discussion prompt, you can display a live view of the incoming responses without any identifying information, so your students feel comfortable providing honest answers.

Poll Everywhere is a learning technology that supports Universal Design for Learning (UDL), as it can assist students who may find it easier to engage by responding digitally.

Consider using Poll Everywhere to create an interactive classroom experience employing an engaging and safe platform for student participation.

DePaul Center for Teaching and Learning. (n.d.)

Aligning Assignments with Learning Goals L. Evans, 12 Instructional Design Best Practices [+ Tips for Success] (2021) S. Kurt, How Can We Align Learning Objectives, Instructional Strategies, and Assessments? (2020) V. Nishioka, Building Connections with Students from Diverse Cultural Backgrounds Through Perspectivetaking (2018) Pearson Education Inc., Objective Design and Instructional Alignment (2016) University of Tennessee Knoxville Teaching & Learning Innovation, Student Learning Outcomes (2021)

A NEW CREATIVE DESIGN TOOL IS AVAILABLE FOR CANVAS Transform your Canvas site quickly into the look and feel of a website.

The Walker Center for Teaching and Learning is pleased to announce the launch of a six-month pilot of Cidi Labs DesignPLUS Tools for Canvas, a design tool that enables you to create visually appealing Canvas pages.

The pilot program runs November-April and will take place inside of a Canvas sandbox.

Training is required.

For those teaching online, a Quality Matters course template is available, helping you to seamlessly meet nearly half of the Quality Matters standards. Feedback will be gathered at the end of the pilot period, seeking recommendations for future adoption at UTC. To learn more about the DesignPLUS for Canvas tool, click to watch the short video below or visit the DesignPlus Page.

TEACHING MULTIPLE SECTIONS OF THE SAME COURSE? Did you know that you can request to cross-list two or more courses in Canvas?

Courses in the Learning Management System (Canvas) are organized by sections.

Each section is housed inside of a course shell. By default, this is a one-to-one relationship. However, when applicable, you can request to combine multiple sections into one course. Cross-listing can be beneficial to instructors who are teaching multiple sections of the same course. By cross-listing, you can manage your course data in one unified place. Even after cross-listing, you are able to maintain separate due dates for assignments, send announcements to specific sections, etc.

If you would like to cross-list your courses, please visit the Canvas Cross-Listing page for additional information, and submit your request. The deadline to cross-list courses is always the day before the new term begins.

IF YOU’RE CURRENTLY TEACHING ONLINE AT UTC, YOU COULD EARN $1,000 What is the Quality Matters Program?

The Quality Matters program is an internationally-recognized quality assurance organization, which aims to promote and improve the quality of online education and student learning. Quality Matters developed a rubric of course design standards and created a replicable peer-review process that trains and empowers faculty to evaluate courses against these standards, provide guidance for improving the quality of courses, and certifies the quality of online and blended college courses.

Faculty Development Opportunities The Walker Center for Teaching and Learning is dedicated to supporting UTC faculty as they design, develop and deliver high-quality courses for our students. We provide a wide variety of faculty development opportunities related to pedagogy and learning technology designed to enhance teaching and learning at UTC. Check out some of our opportunities listed below.

Visit the Walker Center for Teaching and Learning website to learn more about our upcoming faculty development opportunities.

FACULTY DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES Pedagogical Opportunities:

History of Quality Matters at UTC

- Pedagogy Workshops/Sessions

UTC first subscribed to Quality Matters during the summer of 2015 and by fall 2015 had established an incentive for course redesign and QM certification. The QM Applying the Quality Matters Rubric (APPQMR) workshop was required for all new faculty and all faculty teaching online and hybrid courses.

- Online/Hybrid Course Design, Development and

The Current Policy

- Book Clubs

The APPQMR Workshop is still required for all faculty teaching online and hybrid courses at UTC at this time. If you are currently teaching online or hybrid had have not yet completed this workshop, please register now for the APPQMR Workshop. A $1,000 course incentive is paid upon QM certification. The QM certification is good for five years. If a course is changed more than 20 percent before the five-year mark, the course must go through recertification.

- Summer Cohorts

- Delivery Workshops - Quality Matters Workshops - Accessibility Workshops

- Instructional Excellence Conference - Teaching and Learning Institute (TLI) - Faculty Fellows Program Development - Faculty Fellows Course Development (Cohort) - Faculty Hikes

THE QM CERTIFICATION PROCESS AT UTC

- New Faculty Orientation - Adjunct Faculty Orientation Learning Technology Training:

1

Attend the QM APPQMR Workshop (paid for by the University).

2

Develop a course or redesign a course that meets the Quality Matters rubric standards.

- Proctorio

3

Add your course to a sandbox using the WCTL sandbox request form.

- Kaltura Virtual Classroom

4

Complete a formal self-review in the QM Course Review Management System.

- Unicheck

5

Complete the QM Course Certification Application form.

- Canvas Studio

Once the form is submitted, an approval request will be sent to the department head and dean. Once approved, a senior instructional designer from the Walker Center will review the application and advise the course representative through the certification process. The instructional designer will conduct an internal peer review and make suggestions and recommendations, then the course representative makes final revisions to the course. Once final revisions are made, the QM Coordinator will submit the official QM review application on behalf of the course representative.

The QM Coordinator will guide the course representative throughout the official review. Upon QM certification, the QM Coordinator will initiate the process for payment of the $1,000 incentive.

For more information about Quality Matters, please visit our Quality Matters page or the Quality Matters website.

- Canvas - ZOOM - Kaltura - Portfolium - Ally - Camtasia - DesignPLUS Tools for Canvas

CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR FACULTY DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES.

TEACHING INNOVATION GRANTS

DID YOU KNOW?

Are you passionate about experiential learning? Do you want to give your undergraduate students a class to remember and an experience they’ll never forget? Take a look at our Teaching Innovation Grants.

Consumer Reports Buying Guide

The Walker Center for Teaching and Learning at UTC offers three types of grants to help faculty take their undergraduate classes to the next level: Classroom Mini-Grants award $300 to faculty that aim to immediately incorporate innovative elements in their teaching.

High-Impact Practices Grants award up to $2,000 to faculty that aim to develop high-impact practices in their classrooms which have significant, positive effects on student learning outcomes and engagement.

HIP Matching Funds provide up to $500 for recipients who previously used the High-Impact Practices Grant in a sustainable manner.

Grant applications are reviewed monthly. Applications are due on the first day of every month (with exceptions for weekends and holidays). Visit the WCTL Teaching Innovation Grants webpage for more information and apply today!

The UTC library offers free access to 40+ popular magazines online via your UTC Library account using Flipster. Some of the magazines you can view online include:

Real Simple Sports Illustrated New Yorker Bon Appetit TIME Forbes GQ Vogue Poetry Climbing Car & Driver Runners World Advocate Rolling Stone Popular Science National Geographic To see the full list of titles and for more information about accessing the Flipster website, please click here.

THINKACHIEVE GRADUATE STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

MIGUEL MARISCAL Every semester, students can earn the distinction of being ThinkAchieve graduates. These graduates have completed hundreds of hours of experiential learning recognized by UTC as having realistic responsibility while in a mentored relationship and critically reflecting on their experiences. Each graduate submits a senior synthesis, usually in the form of an e-portfolio, which serves as an opportunity for them to articulate the significance of their UTC experience both in written and visual format.

One ThinkAchieve graduate in spring 2021 was MIGUEL MARISCAL, a mechanical engineering student. Click here to see photos and descriptions of

Miguel’s experiences in a class designing and creating a wheelchair-accessible table for a local elementary school student, assisting with opening the new UTC Mechatronics Laboratory, giving leadership to the Hispanic Outreach and Leadership Association student group, and participating in a broad variety of campus and community events.

Miguel’s strong and quiet leadership presence and his portfolio can serve as an example to other students pursuing ThinkAchieve Graduate recognition to express the value and meaning of the learning experiences in and beyond the classroom at UTC. For more information about the ThinkAchieve program, click here.

One of the best parts of a new semester is the clean slate of your empty Canvas shell. Mmmm, spring fresh!

If you plan to use copied content, consider doing a little bit of spring cleaning and get things shipshape.

Start by going into your empty spring shell and clicking on “Import Course Content” on the top right, and then choosing “Copy a Canvas Course.” This option allows you to bring in content from previous courses. Go ahead and choose “ALL CONTENT,” then you can delete what you do not need. You can also either choose to pull over no dates at all or forward the dates to this year (which makes it easier to edit).

Our first concern with spring cleaning is going to be looking at the first impression your course makes on students.

Once the content is all copied over, click “Home” on the light blue course menu. Here are a few items to consider for this view:

4 After you refresh the home screen, look at your

Modules. Note: You might want to change to Student View for this part! Are the Modules ready for students or are there some out of order or even unnecessary items showing? Follow this checklist:



Check for a “Getting Started” module, and make sure it is showing at the top of the list.

Make sure it includes introductory items for the first day/week of class, and it is labeled so that students will know to click there first.



Make sure your modules have clear titles and/or text headings inside them.



Modules which you do not plan to use can be deleted. Contact WCTL to save any items inside the modules that you’d like to keep outside of any class shells.



See how modules flow for your students by weeks, by chapters or by type of content (all PPT together, all readings together, all assignments together, etc.). If you label by “Units” with smaller modules inside, check to see they are in the same order as they will fall in the semester.

1 Do you want your students’ first impression of your

class to be the current landing page, or do you want a new view? If you would prefer something else as your “home” setting, you can choose either “Syllabus,” “Modules,” or create a simple homepage. If you are not sure how to edit your landing spot, here are some further steps: Creating a Canvas Homepage Instructions

2 Do you need help adding an image of your textbook cover or a photo relating to your class? Email us at utclearn@utc.edu, and just say you need help with creating a Canvas homepage.

3 Do you still need/want all of the current items on your (light blue) course menu, or do you want to change them? You can change them under the settings menu (bottom-most choice) > Navigation Tab.

The Walker Center for Teaching and Learning staff are available to help you with getting your Canvas shell ready for spring. We would be happy to hear from you via email (utclearn@utc.edu), phone (423-425-4188), in person (433 Library), or on Zoom.

CANVAS TIPS ADD ADDITIONAL TIME TO AN EXAM OR QUIZ IN PROGRESS Go to moderate this quiz, then click the ‘pie’ for the quiz in progress. (This will not let a student back in once the quiz has been submitted. It is for a quiz in progress.)

Click on the quiz you need to adjust. Open the “Moderate Quiz” page in the top right corner of the quiz assignment in progress. The students’ remaining time will display next to a clock icon. To extend time on the quiz, click the clock icon. Canvas will show you what time the quiz began and what time it is scheduled to end.

CONFERENCE CORNER University of Tennessee Knoxville’s Third Annual Innovative Teaching and Learning Conference: Transforming the World through Innovative Teaching and Learning March 29, 2022 | Virtual | Website University of Tennessee Chattanooga’s Instructional Excellence Conference EQUITY BY DESIGN: TRANSFORMATIVE LEARNING AT UTC May 10, 2022 | Virtual | Website This year’s conference features a morning keynote address and workshop by Dr. Katie Novak (UPenn), an internationally recognized education consultant, author, graduate instructor, and a former assistant superintendent of schools in Massachusetts. Novak’s numerous books include UDL Now! A Teacher’s Guide to Applying Universal Design for Learning in Today’s Classrooms; Innovate Inside the Box (with George Couros); and Equity by Design: Delivering on the Power and Promise of UDL (with Mirko Chardin).

STUDENT SUBMISSIONS FOR ASSIGNMENTS Students do receive a confirmation message when they have successfully submitted their assignment as shown in the image below. It is recommended that students look for this message after submitting an assignment to make sure everything submitted correctly.

The conference will include an afternoon series of micro-talks by UTC faculty on their recent teaching innovations related to student success, equity, inclusion and diversity.

To access the presenter application form (due by April 26), follow this link: IEC Micro-Talk Proposals For further information contact: David-Pleins@utc.edu Lilly Conferences: Evidence-Based Teaching & Learning April 2022 | Online | Website The Lilly Conference Series provides opportunities for the presentation of the scholarship of teaching and learning.

We invite administrators, graduate students, and faculty to join us at a Lilly event to exchange ideas and build a repertoire of skills that can be put to immediate use.

The Teaching Professor Conference June 3-5, 2022 | Atlanta, Georgia | Website

HIDING THE COURSE SUMMARY Faculty can easily hide the course summary that displays on the syllabus tool from the student view. Click to edit the Syllabus tool page and click the button to deselect “show course summary.” Once you save, you will no longer see the course summary listed.

The Teaching Professor Conference is the place for educators who are passionate about the art and science of teaching. It’s an exhilarating three-day event focused on the latest research-based, classroom-tested best practices to enhance your knowledge and drive ever-better outcomes for the students you teach.

SUNY Empire State College’s Seventh Annual Learning and Innovative Technology (LIT) Conference July 22, 2022 | Free - Virtual | Website This conference is designed for educators of all types, including K-12 teachers, higher-education faculty and students, technologists, librarians, and anyone else interested in the use of technologies in education. You’ll walk away from this conference with new and fresh ideas to bring back to your school and classroom.

For a listing of education conferences, please visit the Bizzabo.com Education Events Guide.

Are you looking for ways to promote your classroom as an inclusive and welcoming environment for your students?

The College of Arts and Sciences invites all UTC faculty to embrace inclusive teaching practices with The Syllabus Challenge, a two-hour virtual workshop led by Kim Case, director of faculty success in the Office of the Provost at Virginia Commonwealth University.

In this interactive session, Case will share strategies to foster a sense of belonging among students in the classroom.

Participants will examine sample learning goals and their own syllabi, assignments and assessments using Case’s tool, The Syllabus Challenge. Through these activities, faculty will discover how small changes can significantly reduce the equity gap in the classroom.

Dr. Kim Case drkimcase.com

Space is limited, so register in advance to reserve your spot for this free event. Complete the workshop by Friday, February 12, 2022. This workshop counts toward your professional development credits.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18 1 - 3 P.M. ONLINE ONLY REGISTER HERE BY FEB. 12 presented by the

College of Arts and Sciences