September 2024 Tuesday Tips

3rd September 2024

Tuesday Teaching Tip: Protect Your Time

One of the best parts of Faculty Development is welcoming new tenure-track and lecturer faculty to Chico State. They bring fresh perspectives, interesting experiences, and new life to campus. One of the most important things I share with them is the need to protect their time. Serve on that committee if you want to, take the time to redesign your course, but realize all of the campus commitments take up calendar space that might have been there for taking a walk, having lunch with a friend, or writing a manuscript. I wanted to encourage all of you to be intentional about your commitments. 

This ties in with the application deadline for Fall 2024 Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs). Think of these as opportunities to block off time for something you actually want to get done. Not everything is for everyone, but we think there is something here that matches needs and interests for most of you. We look forward to working with you this semester. 

FLC Opportunities for Fall 2024. All applications are due on 9/3 by 11:59pm.

10th September 2024

Tuesday Teaching Tip: A Quick Guide for Difficult Situations

Most of us have experienced tense situations in classrooms. A discussion gets out of hand, a student is experiencing some sort of trauma, or, in extreme situations you think someone might be a threat to themselves or others. Whether you are on Zoom or in a classroom, it is tough to know what to do in real-time. In recognition of this difficult circumstance and the sometimes complicated nature of University support structures, we have developed an easy reference guide for faculty, a “one-door” system for you to “knock” on when you need help. You may have also seen the guide as the Canvas pop-up last week and we are working on placing it in physical classrooms.

We are trying to simplify the process of getting help for students by directing most traffic and alerts to the Campus Assessment Response and Evaluation (CARE) team. This is a group of professionals on campus at the intersection of mental health, physical health, and overall well-being. 

Associate Vice President Juanita Mottley shared this additional context with me for the message this week. 

Keep a copy of the guide (PDF) handy. We all have a role to play in supporting our students. Let’s take care of each other and our students. If you need help with a situation in your own life don’t hesitate to contact the Employee Assistance Program.

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

All past Tuesday Tips are curated on the FDEV website.

17th September 2024

Tuesday Teaching Tip: Improving Classroom Climate

Last week we announced our funded webinar series on free speech and inclusion (Google Doc). Everyone is welcome to attend every session, but we have 20 paid spots for people to attend all sessions and produce the related deliverables. The application(opens in new window) for these spots is brief and due on 9/20. 

Today’s teaching tip is related to this upcoming webinar series. Dr. Mylien Duong is the Senior Director of Research and Innovation for the Constructive Dialogue Institute. She was a recent guest on the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast for a conversation about Facilitating Contentious Conversations in Your Classroom(opens in new window) (Duong, 2024). Her work in this field is cutting edge and I want to share an abbreviated guide to setting up classroom discussions from her co-authored 2022 piece in Times Higher Education(opens in new window) (the whole thing is worth a read, but this section is an abbreviated quotation from the article).

• Invest time to foster a positive climate. Get to know your students as students and as people.
• Establish ground rules, norms or shared agreements for discussions. Whatever you call them, it’s more effective to co-create these norms with your students rather than simply telling students what they are. 
• Plan discussions. Meaningful exchanges rarely happen spontaneously. Planning for discussions means two things.
• Think through what role you want to play during the discussion. Is your stance one of intentional neutrality? Will you challenge a student’s point of view if you don’t agree? What if you find the point of view offensive? Will you play devil’s advocate? Under what circumstances, if any, will you as facilitator express your own stance on an issue?

The key takeaway from the work of Dr. Duong is that facilitating this sort of dialogue requires planning. We often see poorly planned classroom discussions in YouTube shorts or things that seem expertly constructed during peer observations. The planning work is lost in these snapshots. It can take up class time, it can be challenging, but in the end building community is worth it for an array of reasons–not least among them is the capacity to have meaningful conversations about difficult issues. 

Last thing, just a reminder that this Thursday we are collaborating with Information Security, the Technology and Learning Program, and Student Rights and Responsibilities to offer a workshop on Academic Integrity and AI. It is on Zoom(opens in new window) from 9-11am on Thursday and we will record it.

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

All past Tuesday Tips are curated on the FDEV website.

24th September 2024

Tuesday Teaching Tip: New Research on Student Names

It is week five. There is a robust class discussion, the kind you have been trying to create the space for all semester. A student makes a great point to move the conversation forward and you respond with “Great point! This is the perfect segway to what we are going to cover next…I don’t remember your name, but great job.” Not your best moment.

We have all been there. Remembering student names has always been hard for me, just like it is for so many of us. It is also important to remember names and preferred pronouns to cultivate an inclusive and welcoming classroom which is why this topic has become a somewhat regular tradition for Tuesday Teaching Tips. 

This year I want to emphasize this enduring theme through the work of Michelle Miller whose book A Teacher’s Guide to Learning Student Names(opens in new window) will be available in November (you can pre-order now). Miller’s text is more than a how-to guide, it is rich with research from her background in psycholinguistics. One of the takeaways highlighted in this Chronicle of Higher Education interview(opens in new window) (available with a free account) is that learning names is hard, because it is different from other words. We have to tap into the power of association in an intentional way to actually remember. 

Miller promotes a four step process of attend, say, associate, and retrieve. This is explained in more detail in the interview and explicated much more in her book. It is worth a read as we all have room to improve in this area. 

Finally a reminder, this Friday at 12PM is the kick-off of our Zoom webinar series on Free Speech and Inclusion(opens in new window). We are starting with Free Speech Basics, which should be accessible to everyone. Faculty and staff are welcome to attend any part of the series, we look forward to seeing you soon.

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

All past Tuesday Tips are curated on the FDEV website.