Teaching News - September

We’re excited to begin a new academic year and welcome you to fall term! We write with Fall 2022 Course Planning Resources and invitations that we hope may be of value to you in the weeks ahead. Specifically, you’ll find several ready-to-go resources that you’re warmly welcome to adapt and use a:

  • Syllabus “Starter” as both a website and an accessible Word document
  • Substantively updated “Report Absences Here” module that directs student communications about absences to a single place in Canvas, highlights key campus dates and deadlines, and prompts students to develop plans for make-up work
  • Customizable Welcome module to orient students to the organization and content of your course and connect students to you, one another, and academic and non-academic supports on campus
  • Customizable Academic Integrity module to engage students with questions around what academic integrity is and why it matters—both to UO, and to them

You’ll have seen in Acting Provost Janet Woodruff-Borden's message her attention to academic policies, especially a new Senate-legislated, reason-neutral Attendance and Engagement policy that’s meant to provide a “more level playing field for students and faculty by eliminating the need for any verification of student absences, and applying course absence policies equally to all students.” You’ll find these policies reflected in our Fall Resources.    

Gearing up for fall

GE Day of Teaching 

The Teaching Engagement Program is pleased to host the annual GE Day of Teaching in person this year. Sessions will include Teaching as the Sole Instructor, Leading Discussion Sections, Leading Labs, Canvas Features and Tools, and a Teaching Insights Forum. We invite all graduate students to join us. The schedule and program information are found here, and you can register here.  

Getting Your Canvas Course Ready for Fall 

Two sessions are available:

  • Tuesday, Sept 20, 2:00 to 3:00pm or
  • Thursday, Sept 22, 10:00 to 11:00am
  • Location: PLC 72 
  • Register here 

Prepare your Canvas course for Fall in 10 basic steps! Bring your laptop and join UO Online and Canvas Support Services as we will walk you through these steps. Participants will leave with a great start on their Canvas course.   

Tea & Teaching Talk: Drop-In 

  • Thursday, September 22
  • Drop in between 12pm and 3pm
  • Location: Outside the EMU on the east side (if raining, EMU ground floor) 

You’re always welcome to talk with TEP and UO Online by setting up a consultation. But on the 22nd, we hope you’ll bring your mug and let us offer you tea during this drop-in session. Do you have a section of your syllabus that you’d like a second set of eyes on, or a new assignment you’re excited about and want to talk through? Stop by the table with the TEP sign just outside the east side of the EMU with any teaching-related questions or ideas.  

Walk-in Canvas Support 

  • Monday through Friday
  • 9:00am to 4:00pm
  • Location: PLC 68 

Have a specific Canvas question, or just need a hand setting up your Canvas course site this fall? We’re available to help—no appointment necessary. You’ll find us on the garden level of PLC.  

New resource: Panopto guides to support your students

UO Online offers new how-to guides to support your students’ use of Panopto this term, including instructions for troubleshooting video access issues, recording videos both with or without PowerPoint slides, and submitting a video or podcast as an assignment in Canvas. If you use Panopto for course assignments, consider sharing direct links to these resources as part of your assignment instructions: 

Start the Term with Teaching Events 

Science Teaching Journal Club 

  • Thursdays
  • 9:00 to 9:50am
  • Location: LISB 217 OR via Zoom 
  • Learn more 

Assessment is a necessary part of teaching and learning; it’s how we know if our students are achieving our learning objectives and how we gather information needed to improve our teaching. To be helpful, assessment must be equitable and should draw on a variety of data sources, but this can be challenging to achieve in practice. Join us this term as we examine ways of assessing our students more equitably and discuss strategies and data sources useful for assessing our own teaching. 

UO Online Explores: Discussion Charters and Peer Culture 

  • Friday, October 7
  • 1:00-2:30 pm
  • Knight Library DREAM Lab  
  • Register here

 This workshop explores how we can create spaces for our students to work together democratically and define what the norms should be in their online discussions. This event will give you a chance to hear from your colleagues and practice creating a discussion charter.  

Teaching in Neurodiverse Contexts 

What we’ll offer: This webinar-stye session will introduce and clarify:  

  • Key terms and concepts like neurodivergent, neurotypical, neurodiverse and neurodiversity paradigm 
  • Why neurodiversity matters when it comes to teaching and learning (according to student voices, additional data, and our own reflections) 
  • The difference between accommodation and a universal design approach (and why both are important) 
  • General principles--from UDL and other frameworks--and some example practices to use in course design and teaching 

Who might attend: all instructors and staff are welcome (including, of course, those of us who are neurodivergent). If these concepts and considerations are newer to you, or if the questions above are of interest (even if you’re familiar with them), we hope you will join us! While this session is more introductory and informational, we will also offer a discussion-based session and an application-based session in fall and winter terms on this topic.  
 

Consultations: Contact Us!

TEP and UO Online are here to support you in your teaching. Request an individual consultation.