News

Sign up by Aug. 23 for Foundations in College Teaching program

The six-week Fall 2024 session of the Certificate of Foundations in College Teaching runs Mon., Sept 9 through Fri., Oct. 18 and is open to all Purdue West Lafayette, Purdue in Indianapolis, and Purdue Polytechnic Statewide faculty, graduate students, postdocs, and staff. Register here by Fri., Aug 23. We can accept the first 50 registrants in this semester’s cohort.

Foundations is offered by the Center for Instructional Excellence (CIE). It provides an overview of evidence-based teaching practices and strategies.

The six-week, online program is delivered in a 100 percent asynchronous format. Foundations covers central topics in college teaching and asks participants to reflect on concepts, experiences, and applications at the end of each topic. The program consists of four main modules: Reflecting on Teaching & Learning, Defining and Assessing Student Learning, Creating a Learner-Centered Environment, and Becoming a Scholarly Teacher. Participants should plan to devote approximately three hours during each week of the program. 

What a typical week will look like:

• Engage with content in each unit module. 
• Share a short reflection in a small discussion group. 
• Optional: Join facilitators for weekly Office Hour Discussions.

Questions about the Certificate of Foundations in College Teaching Program may be emailed to Annika Kraft at teachercertificate@purdue.edu.

CIE is a member of Innovative Learning, Purdue’s hub approach to connect instructors in Indianapolis and West Lafayette to the resources they need to engage students, develop courses in any instructional modality, and enhance learning across the University. Members include the Center for Instructional Excellence, Libraries and the School of Information Studies and Purdue University Online. To learn more, visit www.purdue.edu/innovativelearning or email InnovativeLearningTeam@purdue.edu.

Reminder: Export your course content for Purdue Indianapolis

If you are teaching at Purdue in Indianapolis in fall 2024, Innovative Learning recommends that instructors begin at least Step 1 of the three-step process to commence migration of your materials to Brightspace:

1. Export from Canvas.
2. Upload the Canvas file to the Course Migrator Tool.
3. Review your course content in Brightspace.

Lots of support and guidance is available to assist you. 

• Documentation of the step-by-step process (with illustrations) is available here: Migrate Your Course Content from Canvas to Brightspace – Innovative Learning (purdue.edu).
• Virtual drop-in sessions are offered every Monday-Friday and virtual workshops are regularly held. See this schedule to drop-in or register: Brightspace resources for teaching and learning.
• Have questions? Feel free to reach out to InnovativeLearningTeam@purdue.edu at any time for quick answers and documentation.

For questions about the export and migration process, contact InnovativeLearningTeam@purdue.edu.

June Wednesday webinar series offered to faculty teaching at Purdue in Indianapolis

This summer, the Innovative Learning team invites instructors who will teach courses at Purdue in Indianapolis to a series of Wednesday morning webinars designed to answer some of your most burning questions. Please register to attend any or all sessions June 5, 12, 19 and 26, 10-11:30 a.m.

Innovative Learning staff from the Center for Instructional Excellence (CIE), Libraries and the School of Information Studies, and Purdue University Online, along with the Office of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (ODIB) and the Diversity Resource Center (DRC) will share how they facilitate effective and innovative teaching at Purdue University.

The Zoom sessions will begin with a short presentation and then focus on attendee questions. These sessions are a great way for instructors to identify teaching support for this summer and beyond. Register via the hyperlinked title of each session to receive login information (a Purdue email is not required to register).

Session One (June 5): Considerations for Your Purdue Course Syllabus
A syllabus is required for all Purdue courses and guidelines are reviewed and published before each semester. These are research-supported frameworks, not templates or forms. The tone, style, and details vary by instructor and course. This session will review the components of a clear, transparent structure that facilitates a working relationship with a mutual goal of successful learning.

Session Two (June 12): Enhancing Student Accessibility at Purdue
Leslie Miller, CIE faculty accessibility consultant (FAC) and Mandie Greiwe, DRC director, will share with participants the resources available to Purdue instructors regarding student accessibility. We will also have time to discuss any questions or concerns participants may have.

Session Three (June 19): Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at Purdue
In this session, Dan Guberman, CIE assistant director for inclusive pedagogy and provost fellow with ODIB, will share information about opportunities for Purdue instructors, listen to goals of instructors teaching in Indianapolis, and address questions. ODIB supports the entire Purdue community through efforts to create and sustain a welcoming campus where all students, faculty, and staff can excel; increase and retain the number of historically underrepresented and diverse students, faculty, and staff at Purdue; and prepare all students to thrive in our diverse, global environment. 

Session Four (June 26): Tools & Services for Feedback & Assessment of Student Performance
In addition to Brightspace quizzes and assignments, Purdue offers Gradescope for paper-based assessments, peer grading with Circuit, and a robust equation-based assessment tool called Variate. This session will give an overview of the services Purdue provides, with time to discuss your questions and assessment needs.

For questions about the June Wednesday webinar series, contact Tracey Birdwell, CIE assistant director, Purdue in Indianapolis, at tbirdwel@purdue.edu.

Fall 2024 Inclusive Pedagogy FLC to focus on new UDL guidelines

The Inclusive Pedagogy faculty learning community (FLC) for Fall 2024 will focus on the new principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) 3.0 being introduced this year. UDL is a living, dynamic framework for teaching and learning that helps to meet the needs of all learners and reduce barriers to educational opportunities. This semester-long FLC is a hybrid program bringing together on-site participants in West Lafayette and Indianapolis as well as fully remote participants for synchronous weekly meetings. It is open to faculty and instructors teaching in West Lafayette or Indianapolis. Fellows will discuss ways to integrate the new UDL guidelines into teaching practices and evaluate the effectiveness of these practices. Those interested can apply now via this interest form. 

Example topics to be discussed include: 

• What does ‘meeting students where they are’ mean to your teaching and classes? 
• What does multiple means of representation, engagement, and expression mean in the context of your classes? 
• What does learner variability mean to your teaching and classes? 
• What are barriers to learning and how might we eliminate them using the UDL framework?
• How do we measure the effectiveness of new practices or teaching changes and communicate them with others (peers, presentations, and SoTL scholarship)? 
• How do we serve or support a student population in two locations (West Lafayette and Indianapolis)?

Fellows in the Fall 2024 Inclusive Pedagogy program will work toward the following outcomes:

1. Build community while describing and discussing the relationship between elements of UDL and their teaching and learning. 
2. Analyze their teaching in relation to the UDL framework. 
3. Incorporate elements from the UDL framework in their teaching context. 
4. (Optional) Participants will generate scholarship (broadly defined) based on the use of UDL in their teaching practices. 

Fellows selected for the FLC commit to the following: 

1. Regular attendance and participation at weekly synchronous FLC meetings that begin within the first few weeks of Fall 2024 and continue through the end of the semester (times will be determined based on availability of participants). 
2. Engagement with reading, reflection, and other related tasks to prepare for weekly FLC discussions.
3. Develop a plan to incorporate and access takeaways from the FLC into their courses and collaborate on resources for Purdue colleagues.  

Questions about the Fall 2024 Inclusive Pedagogy FLC may be directed to Dan Guberman at dguberma@purdue.edu.

The Inclusive Pedagogy FLC is part of Teaching@Purdue, a program of Innovative Learning, Purdue’s hub approach to connect instructors at West Lafayette and Indianapolis to the resources they need to engage students, develop courses in any instructional modality, and enhance learning across the University. Members include the Center for Instructional Excellence, Libraries and the School of Information Studies, Purdue Online, and Teaching and Learning Technologies. To learn more, visit www.purdue.edu/innovativelearning or email InnovativeLearningTeam@purdue.edu.
For questions and support at your campus, contact:
Purdue Global: Direct teaching-related questions to askctl@purdueglobal.edu. Technical support questions should be directed to TechSupport@purdueglobal.edu or 866-522-7747 (toll-free).
Purdue Fort Wayne: Teaching-related questions should be directed to PFW’s Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT) at celt@pfw.edu, 260-481-6354, or CELT’s website for resources and to request one on one consultations. Technical support questions should be directed to PFW’s IT Services Help Desk helpdesk@pfw.edu or 260-481-6030.
Purdue Northwest: Direct teaching-related questions to the Center for Faculty Excellence at cfe@pnw.edu, 219-989-8328, or CFE’s website. Technical support questions should be directed to The Office of Instructional Technology by email oit@pnw.edu or OIT’s website or through their Virtual Help Desk.

April 29 TLCoP: Conceptualizing, structuring, managing group work assignments

Purdue instructors in West Lafayette and Indianapolis are invited to the final session of the Teaching and Learning Community of Practice (TLCoP) for spring 2024 featuring a showcase of three instructional approaches to group assignments, Mon., April 29, noon-1 p.m. The Zoom session will explore how group work is conceptualized, structured, and managed in Purdue courses, particularly those with large enrollment. Please pre-register to receive connection information.

Collaborative learning strategies like group work are supported by theories and research across curricula, particularly with advances in active learning classroom design, educational technologies, and both onsite and remote connectivity. Recent developments in artificial intelligence may add another affordance to students working together. This session will use several core considerations to guide the conversation:

• Conceptualization – What are the affordances that group work provides in your course? Are they strategies to achieve learning outcomes or embedded directly into those outcomes? How is “group work” defined in your course and assignments? How do you generate new ideas for group work; does artificial intelligence play a role?
• Structuring – How do you make groups? What are the learning outcomes and deliverables of some of your group activities? What are your expectations of the work generated?
• Managing – How do you organize and support your students’ group work? What tools/technologies do you use to facilitate these activities?

Following are invited speakers. Please bring your ideas and questions for discussion.

Beatriz Castro, lecturer in the Department of Biological Sciences, supervises the recitation component of BIOL203 and 204, Human Anatomy and Physiology I and II, respectively, with more than 1,000 students. Students work in groups of four to five to answer applied questions about the lecture content. She will share the multiple steps in her process, which provides opportunities for discussion of cases and submission of answers to a quiz as a group.

Kate Zipay, assistant professor in the Organizational Behavior and Human Resources area at the Mitchell E. Daniels School of Business, will share how she uses group work starting with the first few weeks of class to help develop a class culture of connection, trust, and support. This includes relying on each other for “What did I miss?”-type questions. Students also work in class in groups on module assessments, completing the assessments as a group to facilitate conversation, healthy disagreement, social responsibility, and coordination.

Lindsay Hamm, assistant teaching professor in the Department of Sociology and the College of Liberal Arts Cornerstone program, will talk about technology she uses to facilitate student interactions and multiple check-ins. She is continually exploring how to form and support teams in her large courses.

All members of Purdue West Lafayette and Indianapolis instructional communities are encouraged to pre-register to receive the Zoom connection information.

TLCoP is a program of Innovative Learning, Purdue West Lafayette’s hub approach to connect instructors in West Lafayette and Indianapolis to the resources they need to engage students, develop courses in any instructional modality, and enhance learning across the University. Members include the Center for Instructional Excellence, Libraries and the School of Information Studies and Purdue University Online. To learn more, visit www.purdue.edu/innovativelearning or email InnovativeLearningTeam@purdue.edu.

April 2 workshop offers research findings, applications in engaging students with GenAI

Faculty and instructors from Purdue’s West Lafayette and Indianapolis campuses are invited to register for an onsite workshop Tues., April 2, 1-2 p.m., during which members of the Innovation Hub Artificial Intelligence (AI) research project will present their results and provide applications for working with generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and large language models (LLM) in Purdue classrooms. The session will be held in the Krannert Center (KCTR 100).

Activities of the workshop are based on the results of the Innovation Hub grant that explored student and faculty perceptions of GenAI tools from 11 different colleges at Purdue. Lakshmy Mohandas, principal investigator, and her project team will share insights from surveys and interviews. The team also includes Lindsay Hamm, artificial intelligence innovation fellow, and members of Innovative Learning.

These results will be applied to hands-on demonstrations and interactive opportunities for participants to experience the capabilities of GenAI and LLMs like ChatGPT and Purdue’s new Copilot with Data Protection in a controlled environment. Participants are also welcome to share their instructional strategies and experiences with AI tools. The objective of the workshop is to better equip faculty and instructors to navigate the challenges and opportunities presented by these tools in the classroom and consider how they might be effectively integrated into teaching practices to support student achievement of learning outcomes. 

Participants are encouraged to bring devices to practice with the featured AI tools. Refreshments will be provided.

Among the topics to be addressed are:
-Prompting strategies to get acceptable output from GenAI tools.
-Creating prompts, practice questions, and examples for students
-Ideas for active engagement with students regarding GenAI
-Considerations for assignments, lectures and syllabi

For more information on the grant or the workshop, contact Lakshmy Mohandas at lmohanda@purdue.edu.

Register at: https://purdue.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6fddnlGWjvppp1c or by scanning the QR code below. 

Innovative Learning is Purdue West Lafayette’s hub approach to connect Purdue West Lafayette and Purdue in Indianapolis instructors to the resources they need to engage students, develop courses in any instructional modality, and enhance learning across the University. Other members include Libraries and the School of Information Studies, Purdue Online, and Teaching and Learning Technologies. To learn more, visit www.purdue.edu/innovativelearning or email InnovativeLearningTeam@purdue.edu.
For questions and support at your campus, contact:
Purdue Global: Direct teaching-related questions to askctl@purdueglobal.edu. Technical support questions should be directed to TechSupport@purdueglobal.edu or 866-522-7747 (toll-free).
Purdue Fort Wayne: Teaching-related questions should be directed to PFW’s Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT) at celt@pfw.edu, 260-481-6354, or CELT’s website for resources and to request one on one consultations. Technical support questions should be directed to PFW’s IT Services Help Desk helpdesk@pfw.edu or 260-481-6030.
Purdue Northwest: Direct teaching-related questions to the Center for Faculty Excellence at cfe@pnw.edu, 219-989-8328, or CFE’s website. Technical support questions should be directed to The Customer Service Center (CSC) at csc@pnw.edu, 219-989-2888, or CSC’s website.