Teaching News

August 28, 2020

As you look toward fall teaching, the Teaching Engagement Program and UO Online offer many resources to support you. 

We invite faculty who are drawn to help connect and support colleagues in their teaching roles to consider applying to be fellows in a new, stipended Teaching Leaders group. We seek a representative from each school and college and the three divisions of the College of Arts and Sciences. Applications are due September 9.

Please note the upcoming 30-minute course 'tours' by Erin Beck (political science) and Leah Schneider (marketing), which will provide a chance to see into their Canvas courses and discuss concrete decisions they make to support student learning online. Learn more below.

Also, today we launch the new Teaching in Turbulent Times Toolkit

Teaching in These Times

Turbulent Times, Challenging Content, & Difficult Discussions  
As we teach and learn through the COVID pandemic, intense action toward social justice, and the runup to an important, divisive U.S. presidential election, TEP offers new advice on bringing our context into our classes, especially considering remote and online modalities, with its Teaching in Turbulent Times Toolkit.

Supporting Students’ Wellbeing  
To practice talking with students about their mental health, take the evidence-based, 40-minute interactive module At-Risk for Faculty and Staff. You’ll learn to notice signs of distress, use techniques to discuss your concerns, and, if necessary, refer students to appropriate resources. 

Remote Course Builder

Crucial considerations for remote teaching are the organization of your Canvas site; the opportunities you build for connection and interaction; and your plans for providing students with both structure and flexibility. You can construct your fall remote course with these building blocks, including a starter syllabus and ‘welcome module’ that you can customize and import directly into your Canvas site. 

Workshop Invitations

Course 'Tours'
We invite you to a 30-minute tour of a colleague's course. Professors Beck and Schneider will click through their own Canvas sites and share how they address what UO students say matters most for their learning in this COVID context: the organization of the course; opportunities for connection and interaction; and the provision of both structure and flexibility.  

Orientation to Remote Fall Teaching  
Choose one: 
Tuesday, September 8, 1:00 - 2:15 p.m.  
Monday, September 14, 11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. 
https://uoregon.zoom.us/j/99550910284

Looking for a time-saving introduction to the UO policies that govern, teaching practices that elevate, and resources that support remote teaching and learning? During this workshop we’ll share the latest Academic Council expectations and highlight strategies for teaching in Canvas and Zoom, developing synchronous class sessions, engaging your students, and assessing their learning.

GE Day of Teaching with New Technology Session   
Wednesday, September 23 
Learn more and register

The annual GE Day of Teaching helps all graduate student teachers access high-quality training before they enter the classroom and invites them into the vibrant and supported UO teaching community. They will work with TEP, UO faculty, and experienced GE peers to learn inclusive, engaged, and research-led teaching practices so they can begin their UO teaching careers with confidence. This year, we’ll devote time to essential technology tools for fall teaching and strategies for addressing our unprecedented teaching and learning context with students.

Coordinating Teaching Teams 
Friday, October 2, 10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.  
https://uoregon.zoom.us/j/99252870909 

Especially in fall, when lectures and sections/labs may be taught across modalities—including asynchronous online, remote, and face to face for a single course—coordination across faculty and graduate student teams is crucial. Join us for advice about setting explicit expectations, defining roles, working together, and managing new tools and contingencies. Learn more here.  
 
Email tep@uoregon.edu if you’d like to attend as a team and have a shared breakout room prepared for your group.

Your Technology Tools

Information Services offers a side-by-side comparison of Zoom and Microsoft Teams features. Find more technology information and request help through the UO Service Portal.

UO Online has prepared step-by-step documentation for commonly used Canvas tools which is available on the Canvas Instructor Resources site (requires log in using your Duck ID). 

Consultations

TEP and UO Online are here to support you in your teaching. Request an individual consultation. Also, ‘drop-in’ consultations hosted via Zoom are scheduled September 9 to October 2, Wednesdays 9:00 - 11:00 a.m. and Fridays 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. To join us live, simply click here.

Featured Practice: Engagement

In each Teaching News e-mail, we’ll feature a professional, inclusive, engaged, or research-informed teaching practice that matters across remote, face-to-face, and asynchronous online modalities—and tips for how to practically achieve it however you teach.

This time, consider how you’ll plan your remote class to meet Academic Council’s expectation for live course meetings. Ensuring these are engaging, interactive sessions (a research-informed practice) means “chunking” your time into different kinds of activities and giving students time to grapple with challenges together. The good news: “engaging” lesson plans are the most fun for instructors, too! See samples here

Awards

Excellence in Remote Teaching Awards  
The Office of the Provost will give up to 20 Excellence in Remote Teaching Awards to faculty who transformed traditional, face-to-face courses into remote teaching environments in spring 2020 while maintaining the qualities we value at the UO: professional, inclusive, engaged, and research-informed teaching. Please consider nominating yourself or a colleague using this brief nomination form. Each award will include a stipend of $1,000 (plus OPE). Nominations are open through September 1, 2020, and awards will be announced in November.