Fall Offerings at the CAE

As we did last spring and summer, the Center continues to offer individual consults not just in course or assignment design, but to trouble-shoot and problem-solve emerging teaching challenges.  Call on us for your technical and pedagogical needs —be they emergent, ongoing, or lingering—at cae@fairfield.edu.  Briefly describe your situation, and we will ensure the consultant best suited to your specific needs returns your email.  To do so, we continue to collaborate with and resource your needs from both the Center and in consultation with Academic Computing.

An MAT is an informal, confidential, and off-the-record way for you to get constructive student feedback on student learning and your teaching. MATs are offered midway through a term, so there is time to make adjustments or improvements based on MAT results. During a 20-minute Zoom MAT, a CAE consultant will guide your students to write anonymous responses to three open-ended questions and discuss their feedback as a whole-class. The student feedback gathered during an MAT is transcribed and shared with faculty during a post-MAT meeting to discuss the results,  brainstorm ways of integrating student feedback into your teaching, and discuss your strategy for following-up with your students. Registration for MATs will occur the first week of October. MATs will take place October 12-23, 2020. Keep your eye out for the faculty announcement in your inbox.

The Center for Academic Excellence is pleased to support the work of faculty colleagues who are regularly getting together to discuss their research and creative activities. We know writing groups support a vibrant aspect of professional development that can get lost in the shuffle of busy semesters, so we are offering to match-make and assemble writing accountability groups. Apply to join a writing group https://www.123formbuilder.com/form-5631042/2021006-writing-groups-fall-2020 by Friday, September 25.

Whether you are in a writing group or not, keep your writing-time protected by joining the CAE and a community of colleagues for a much-needed writing retreat every month during the fall semester. We'll gather via Zoom for either a full morning or full afternoon session of writing, including a kickoff chat to share goals and a wrap-up to share accomplishments and commitments for future writing. You can use the time in between to plan, begin, revise, or complete writing projects (e.g., manuscripts, books, reports, portfolios/dossiers). Or, spend some time writing about your experiences this spring and summer coping with and adjusting to the pandemic. Consult with peers or CAE staff about any stage of your writing process, or use the time for some solo writing. Have your writing materials and tools ready!  Watch for the opportunity to join these Writing Retreats on Today@Fairfield and in Faculty Announcements.

 

The CAE Liaisons support faculty development by facilitating workshops, consulting with faculty about their teaching, conducting mid-semester assessments of teaching (MATs), and serving as a line of communication between schools and the Center. Faculty are encouraged to reach out to any of the liaisons for consultation about their teaching or other faculty development needs. The 2020-2021 liaisons are particularly suited to support your questions about innovative and active learning pedagogies in a variety of modalities, which will be central to successful teaching and learning this year. During the Fall semester, please reach out to any of our liaisons: N. Sila Alan, (DSOB): nalan@fairfield.edu; Josh Elliott (GSEAP): jelliott@fairfield.edu; or Christine Rodriguez (CAS) crodriguez@fairfield.edu.

 

During the 2020-2021 academic year (September–May), CAE faculty liaison Dr. Michael Andreychik will continue in his role as a research consultant for faculty. In this role, Dr. Andreychik will support faculty research by assisting with research design and statistical analysis and interpretation. Although assistance is available for any stage of the research process, in the past Dr. Andreychik has primarily worked with faculty to help design research projects prior to data collection, to develop data analysis plans, and to help with interpretation of results. Given the complexities associated with in-person data collection during the 2020-2021 academic year, this year Dr. Andreychik also anticipates drawing on his own experience with remote data collection to help faculty strategize about ways to conduct research remotely. Because faculty projects differ greatly in scope, population of interest, and aims, much of the work of the consultant will occur in one-on-one or small group consultation with faculty. However, if there are common areas of interest related to research design, a group workshop could be designed and offered. Interested faculty should contact Dr. Andreychik directly at mandreychik@fairfield.edu.

 

 

The CAE Leadership Cohort meets monthly during the year to support leaders (new or newish department chairs, program directors and assistant/associate deans) as they develop their skills in leading and managing departments, programs or schools. The meetings focus on issues that emerge from participants’ work, as well as pressing issues in academic leadership, such as: managing conflict, facilitating faculty mentoring and development; promoting change; hiring new faculty; building community; and facilitating meetings. Together, we jointly problem-solve, discuss best practices, and form a supportive community of leaders across campus. If you are interested in joining the cohort, or would like additional information, please contact Emily Smith by email at esmith@fairfield.edu. Monthly meetings will begin January 2021.

 

In order to support faculty this fall as they combine hybrid and remote instruction, the CAE is inaugurating a new program to provide faculty some formative feedback about their teaching. The Peer Observation of Hybrid and Online Courses program will allow any full or part-time instructor to apply for a confidential consultation with a CAE-trained Peer Faculty Observer, who will confer with the instructor and together develop a plan for “observing” one of four elements of the instructor’s hybrid or online course: Course Goal and Student Learning Objective Design; Student Engagement and Course Activities; Integration of Technology and Tech Tools; or Online Assessments. Coordinated by CAE Faculty Liaison Joshua Elliott and relying on a team of faculty with online and hybrid teaching experience, the observations will involve a pre-observation meeting; one or more agreed-upon observation “events” (which may include providing access to the course in Blackboard, attending live Zoom sessions, viewing digital artifacts, or other activities); and a final meeting to discuss the Peer Observer’s insights and recommendations. The program is intended for formative improvement of teaching and to facilitate the integration of the faculty’s experience of teaching this fall into their overall pedagogical approach.  Faculty can apply for one course observation per semester. Simply fill out the Peer Observation Request form at https://www.123formbuilder.com/form-5631470/2021007-peer-observation-of-hybrid-online-teaching-fall-2020.

Once again this fall, the CAE will be offering its Online Course Design Institute (CDI) in a fully online format. With no scheduled meeting times, participants will benefit from flexibility in completing the assignments and engaging with peers - while at the same experiencing the kind of fully asynchronous learning experience that most online students seek. Taking place over four consecutive weeks, the Online CDI will be run out of Blackboard but will incorporate other tech tools that  help to facilitate engagement and can foster community in the online environment. Applications for the next Online CDI, which begins on Thursday, October 1, can be submitted at https://www.123formbuilder.com/form-5631484/2021008-online-course-design-institute-october-2020 by September 28. Please note that space is limited and that preference is given to faculty developing new courses for the University's Online Graduate Program Strategic Initiative.