March 2024 Tuesday Tips

5th March 2024

Tuesday Teaching Tip: SoTL Grants and Workshops!

This is a reminder that FDEV is offering support for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). The application is not tedious, but it is due tonight at 11:59 p.m. One question we have received a lot has to do with the approved travel request. Ideally, you have something approved or in process already, but if you do not please apply anyway. We will evaluate all applications we receive. Full details are in the tip from last week and the application is here(opens in new window).

On Friday we are offering a workshop to faculty and staff on an introduction to AI. We brought in Dr. Brett Christie for this work, he has been a national leader in this space and we are fortunate to have him. The workshop is on Friday, March 8th from 12-1:30 p.m. in MLIB 045 and on Zoom(opens in new window). On Tuesday, March 12th we are offering another AI workshop about tools to help with your workflow. Full details are here.

Zach Justus
Director of Faculty Development
Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences
Google Voice/Text: 530-487-4150

If you’d like to comment on this or any other Tuesday Tip, visit the FDEV Blog(opens in new window).
All past Tuesday Tips are curated on the FDEV website.

12th March 2024

Tuesday Teaching Tip: Workshop and Workload

Ever wish you could get some preliminary help grading? Tired of drafting your own slide decks and visuals? Do you daydream about endless question sets to diversify your Canvas quizzes? Trying to prioritize your research, but having trouble putting resources and timelines together? We have a workshop for you! Join us today, March 12th from 12-1:30 p.m. in Selvesters and on Zoom(opens in new window) for an AI workshop about tools to help with your workflow. Visit the FDEV website for full details. This is an investment of time, but it will be worth it. You will get this time back in weeks, if not days, with improvements to workflow and the ability to offload certain tasks to AI tools.

If you are concerned about workload, but currently not interested in AI tools, I have another recommendation. Check out this interesting essay(opens in new window) from Inside Higher Ed from a few weeks ago about “selfish” teaching and scholarship. I was struck by this one excerpt that resonates with my teaching: “we should resist the temptation to teach every chapter of the textbook and instead zoom in on those content areas that best allow us to communicate the processes we want students to understand.”

Zach Justus
Director of Faculty Development
Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences
Google Voice/Text: 530-487-4150

If you’d like to comment on this or any other Tuesday Tip, visit the FDEV Blog(opens in new window).
All past Tuesday Tips are curated on the FDEV website.

26th March 2024

Tuesday Teaching Tip: The Legacy of the Research in Equity, Antiracism, Diversity, and Inclusion (READI) Hub

FDEV Faculty Fellow Dr. Jamie Gunderson sat down with Dr. Alisa Wade and former director Dr. Chiara Ferrari to discuss the history and impact of READI at Chico State in our most recent episode(opens in new window) of the Rise, Teach, Learn podcast. Listening to it compelled me to reflect on the impact this hub has had and will continue to have on Chico State. READI was the vision of my dear friend and predecessor Chiara Ferrari who worked with a group of diverse faculty fellows to make the values of the institution a reality within Faculty Development. The funding for the hub ends this Spring, but I want to highlight a few enduring products of the READI hub that will impact our campus for years. 

First, Faculty Development offers 60+ unique Teaching Guides covering various topics from Black Lives Matter in the Classroom to Gamification. The fellows utilized a universal design for learning framework with an equity emphasis to produce what is now a library of resources. This collection is permanent and we will continue to maintain it moving forward. 

Second, later this semester we will launch a Canvas-based Teaching Certificate program designed to help faculty elevate their teaching practices and provide RTP-friendly verification of completion. 

Third, the READI hub supported an incredible range of faculty programs. This semester we were thrilled to pilot the BIPoC faculty writing group, co-produce programming related to the Book In Common,  and continue supporting the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Teaching workshops. 

I hope you will join me in an enthusiastic thank-you to Chiara, the FDEV staff, and the many READI partners who made this work happen. In doing so we can be thankful for what we have while working to expand the lessons we have learned through partnership and creativity.

Zach Justus
Director of Faculty Development
Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences
Google Voice/Text: 530-487-4150

If you’d like to comment on this or any other Tuesday Tip, visit the FDEV Blog(opens in new window).
All past Tuesday Tips are curated on the FDEV website.