Office of Teaching and Learning
 Fall Newsletter 2014
In This Issue
Dr. Susan Zvacek
Fall IE Workshop
Lunch & Learns
Canvas Transition
Online Course Update
Active Classroom Opens
------------------------
Quick Links

DU Assessment  

 

 

Find us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Visit our blog

------------------------
DU Assessment Software Redesigned

DU has used a web-based application to support academic program assessment since 2011. This application, developed in-house by OTL staff members, was completely rewritten over the summer based upon user feedback.

In addition to supporting integrated assessment plans and assessment reports, DU Assessment can collect assessment data. Last year over 10,000 assignments were completed through this software program.

Learn more about Program Assessment at DU
------------------------
Need Help with Video, Audio or Images?


 
You may see the value of adding multimedia materials (video, audio or graphics) in your courses. However, you may not be comfortable creating and editing such materials. Thankfully, the  Digital Media Center located on the main floor of the Anderson Academic Commons can help.

Learn more! 

------------------------
There is still time to schedule your mid-course Student Feedback Session!

 A few yeas ago the OTL began offering mid-course student feedback sessions, and the service has grown in popularity each quarter!

These sessions, designed to collect large amounts of detailed feedback from students in a short amount of time, focus on a course's strengths and suggestions for improvement.

Sessions are best conducted mid-way through a course so students have enough time to experience the course and instructors have enough time to make use of the feedback. Schedule a session today!
 
Or, find other ways to gather mid-course feedback from your students. 
 
------------------------

OTL Contacts


OTL Helpdesk
[email protected]
303-871-2084
Academic Technology
 
Canvas/Blackboard
Alex Karklins
Ryan Shiba
 
DU CourseMedia
Alex Karklins
Alex Martinez
 
DU VideoManager
Alex Martinez


DU Portfolio

Alex Karklins
Carrie Lorenz
 
Clickers (Student-Response Systems)
Ryan Shiba

 

Lecture Capture
Alex Karklins

Adobe Connect

DU Assessment
Kim Hosler

Adobe Tools and Services
Joseph Labrecque
 
Faculty Technology Lab
Alex Karklins

Cheryl Jackson 

 

Graphics, Audio, and Video Production

Joseph Labrecque 

 

Mobile and Desktop Software Projects
Joseph Labrecque

ECTD (Electronic Capstone, Theses and Dissertations)
Alex Martinez
Gary Taylor

UTS Help Desk
303-871-4700

Teaching Resources

Workshops/Seminars
Bridget Arend
Kathy Keairns
 
Teaching Resources and Consultations
Bridget Arend
Virginia Pitts
Kim Hosler
 
Online Teaching
Kathy Keairns
Ryan Shiba
Kim Hosler

Hybrid Teaching

Virginia Pitts

Funding Opportunities

Faculty Grants

Cheryl Jackson
Introducing Dr. Susan Zvacek: The new Associate Provost for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning   
 
Dr. Zvacek will be joining the University of Denver on October 1, 2014.

Susan was the Senior Director of Teaching Excellence and Learning Technologies at Fort Hays State University, in Kansas, and previously worked at the University of Kansas and Old Dominion University. 

 

Susan just returned from Portugal, where she was a Fulbright Specialist at the University of Porto twice during the past six months leading workshops and teaching courses on innovative teaching strategies for engineering education. She has been a Fulbright Senior Lecturer at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic and has an impressive list of published papers, presentations, keynote addresses, and workshops that address teaching in the digital age, self-regulated learning, distance learning, assessment, accreditation, instructional design, collaborative learning, faculty development, and classroom architectural design, among other topics.    

 

Read more and help us welcome Dr. Susan Zvacek!  

 

----------------------------------------------------------------

Fall Workshop    

   

Engaging Faculty in Inclusive Excellence

Facilitated by: Chayla Haynes, Assistant Professor, University of Northern Colorado 

Tuesday, October 28, 2:00-3:30 pm
The Loft, Anderson Academic Commons

This interactive workshop aims to both expose faculty to teaching practices that promote inequitable educational outcomes among college students based on race and equip faculty with the skills to implement behaviors (i.e., specific course design formats and pedagogical choices) in their classrooms that link inclusion to teacher excellence. Participants are encouraged to come to the workshop ready to engage in the type of discussion and group activity that fosters deep learning, reflexivity, and the co-construction of knowledge.  

 

Register here 

----------------------------------------------------------------

October Lunch & Learn Series     

   

This fall the OTL will offer a series of "Lunch and Learn" sessions on various topics related to teaching and learning. Bring your lunch and your curiosity and join us for one or all of the sessions!

 

Methods for Encouraging Self-directed Learning: Assignment Wrappers
Facilitated by: Bridget Arend
Wednesday, October 8, 12:00-1:00 pm
OTL Conference Room (AAC Rm 345)

 

"Wrappers" are short handouts or surveys that students complete along with an assignment or exam. The wrapper focuses on the learning process rather than on the content itself. In this session we will look at a number of assignment wrapper examples and discuss methods for using them effectively. If you've already used wrappers in your course, please contact [email protected] before the session.


Register here  

 

How Research on Learning Can Inform Our Teaching
Facilitated by: Virginia Pitts
Wednesday, October 15, 12:00-1:00 pm
OTL Conference Room (AAC Rm 345)

 

In this interactive workshop, we'll discuss some key research-based perspectives on how people learn that can be used as "tools to think with" when it comes to designing and facilitating learning experiences for our students.  An initial 20-minute presentation on these research-based perspectives will be followed by an opportunity for faculty to discuss how these perspectives might apply to their own work with students.

 

Register here  

 

Using Canvas for Assessment
Facilitated by: Rob Flaherty & Ryan Shiba
Tuesday, October 21, 12:00-1:00 pm
OTL Conference Room (AAC Rm 345)

 

This workshop/roundtable event explores the tools available in the Canvas system for building program assessment into the evaluation of course assignments.  Learn how outcomes can be designated and then aggregated at the program level as part of your assessment plan.  An initial overview will be followed by a Q&A discussion that can focus on the needs of individual programs.  This initial conversation will help the Office of Teaching and Learning identify current and future needs for assistance in this area.

 

Register here

 

Assessment as Scholarship
Facilitated by: Rob Flaherty
Wednesday, October 29 12:00-1:00 pm
OTL Conference Room (AAC Rm 345)

 

Serious assessment projects can provide opportunities to present or publish the findings.  Come and talk about ways to translate your work in assessment into additions to your vitae.  Topics may include:  Working with the IRB, where to publish or present, and the scholarship of teaching and learning.

 

Register here 

 

----------------------------------------------------------------
Canvas Transition 

Canvas will replace Blackboard as DU's new Learning Management System (LMS) over the 2014-2015 academic year. This fall, 24% of all courses at DU are being offered through Canvas and we hope that more than 50% of courses will be on Canvas by Winter quarter.

Below are some resources you may find helpful during this transition period. 
 

Canvas User Guides

Online documentation site for students and instructors developed by Canvas. 

 

DU Canvas Instructor Tutorial

Self-paced tutorial within Canvas customized for DU instructors.

 

DU Canvas Student Orientation 

Browse through the student orientation and make sure to provide your students with a link to the Canvas Student Orientation within your syllabus and/or Canvas Course.

 

Search for Canvas in the OTL Knowledge Base 

Includes FAQs, tech support, and information on external tools.
 
Watch for further workshops to be scheduled during the Winter break! 
----------------------------------------------------------------

Online Courses Expanding: Students Report Benefits            

 

DU has been offering online courses through University College for several years, and the number of online course offerings within our traditional academic programs is expanding, especially during summer term. Over 165 DU instructors, representing almost every academic unit on campus, have successfully completed the OTL's Teaching Online Workshop, an intensive online workshop designed to prepare faculty members to teach an online course.

 

During the 2014 summer term, DU offered 80 fully online undergraduate courses to over 950 students. At the end of the summer, 254 students (26%) responded to a survey about their experiences in their online course(s). The majority of students who completed the survey reported they learned a great deal in their online course (78%) and that they would take another online class at DU (85%).

 

Learn more about what students have to say about online learning at DU.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------
Active Learning Classroom now open!



Through a collaboration between the OTL, University Libraries, the University Architect's Office and the University Project Management Team, Sturm 133 and 134 were transformed into a new large classroom.

The new Sturm 134 classroom has amazing features that facilitate active learning, complete with movable furniture, multiple LCD flat panel displays and whiteboards, and power sources for laptops and other mobile technology.

Classes with larger enrollments (45-80 students) that involve a significant amount of active, hands-on group work will benefit from this fabulous learning environment.

Learn more about this classroom and how to schedule it for your classes!

 

----------------------------------------------------------------