WCU's Commons for Teaching and Learning Excellence

Greetings,

There is a tendency in public service to put our heads down and to work for the best in our own domains.  In higher education, this gets particularly easy to do in a month like October.  We are often juggling a number of professional conferences or writing obligations.  We are often thinking about the successful conclusion of this semester and the successful launch of the next. And, it is a time of beauty and transition that gives us moments in the cool air and fall colors to relax after the various sprints that come at the beginning of the year.

It is important to have reminders that all of us are a part of making our university and our world better and that Western Carolina needs your help and wisdom as we wend our way into our next adventures.

In our newsletter this week we highlight some of those opportunities.  We hope that you will be able to join us in our mutual work of learning and service.

We hope that this newsletter will be helpful.  Watch your mailbox in the coming weeks for opportunities to subscribe to specialty newsfeeds that will be more curated and focused.  We would like to get to the point where we only send out information that you want to see. 

As always, we actively seek your input and stand ready to listen and assist.

With thanks for all you do,

Martha Diede, PhD

Director, Coulter Faculty Commons

The CFC is currently undergoing renovations and has temporarily relocated to HL166. Call or email to make an appointment and be certain that we have someone available to help you.  

Student Learning Outcomes Workshops

Specifically addressing methods for understanding and assessing student learning outcomes in both courses and programs, this workshop will focus on articulating and matching program level and course level student outcomes to the curricular structure.  We ask that all participants bring specific materials upon which they can work and suggest that teams of program coordinators and or instructors in similar disciplines come in groups if possible.

November 6, 2017 – Camp 134 – 2:30pm-4:00pm

November 7, 2017 – Camp 134 – 2:30pm-4:00pm

November 28, 2017 – Camp 134 – 2:30pm-4:00pm

November 29, 2017 – Camp 134 – 2:30pm-4:00pm

Assessment of Learning Workshops

This workshop will address best practices in learning assessment specific to SLOs developed earlier.  We suggest bringing a laptop and coming with an object of assessment in mind.

January 24, 2018 – Camp 134 – 2:30pm-4:00pm

January 25, 2018 – Camp 134 – 2:30pm-4:00pm

February 13, 2018 – Camp 134 – 2:30pm-4:00pm

February 14, 2018 – Camp 134 – 2:30pm-4:00pm

These workshops are being coordinated as a combined effort of the Office of Institutional Planning and Effectiveness and the Coulter Faculty Commons.

Additional opportunities for learning about Student Learning Outcomes, Assessment, Assessment Reporting, and Data Analysis can be yours! Contact Office of Institutional Planning and Effectiveness or the Coulter Faculty Commons. Watch for announcements of additional opportunities.

Designing Your Courses for For Honors Students

Come to the second workshop designed particularly for instructors who are teaching Honors College sections or who want to be able to better motivate honors college students more effectively.

October 11, 9:00-10:30

Blue Ridge Conference Center

Contact: 
Jill Nelson Granger
Dean of the Honors College
Western Carolina University
828-227-7383 

Blackboard Updates

Blackboard Course Frameworks

Our new faculty who have been introduced to our new framework for courses have been pleased with a design that allows them autonomy and an easy way to develop course by adding their content in the areas provided. The Framework is based off the Quality Matters Rubric and meets the best practices of course design. This in turn reduces the administrative overhead of developing a course and provides the greatest opportunity for student success.

The Spring 2018 courses have been populated with the new framework and all new courses going forward will have this add automatically. However, if instructors have a course that they would like to copy forward, this can still be accomplished by using the Course Copy request form https://wcu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8IVpBSbhRfvOoEl.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Coulter Faculty Commons at 828-227-2930 or email us at LMSsupport@wcu.edu.

Student Assignment Receipts

The LMS Team gets quite a few questions regarding if students have turned in assignments. With our last upgrade, there is a new feature; the Student Assignment Receipt. This will allow instructors to see what day and time assignments were submitted by a specific student. Below are the steps.

1.       In your course, in the Grade Center and Full Grade Center.

2.       Under the Reports menu, select Student Receipts.

3.       Enter in the specific student username and press the Go button.

Students can also see when they have successfully submitted an assignment through My Grades. If the assignment shows a green circle with a white exclamation point, the assignment was submitted successfully.

If you have any questions, regarding this new feature, please do not hesitate to ask

CFC Intensive Training Sessions on Blackboard Collaborate

Instructors who are working with us to create virtual classroom experiences are reporting success with Blackboard Collaborate when used as a part of their course sessions.  The CFC Learning Management Team is ready to travel to your department or college level meeting to give you an overview of how Collaborate works within Blackboard.   

Mail us at LMSsupport@email.wcu.edu to learn more about Collaborate feel free to browse our instructional videos here.

Remember that Collaborate is a virtual classroom that complies fully with FERPA and all other legal requirements including ADA compliance.  The CFC supports Collaborate.  Skype for Business is the university's current enterprise-level conferencing solution.  Contact IT Help for assistance with Skype.

Research and Writing Group Forming Around
In-Class Polling

Response systems like PollEverywhere are an excellent way to engage your students, to adapt instruction in the moment, to gauge student understanding, and, sometimes, to take attendance and hold students responsible for out-of-class work.  Several of your peers are using PollEverywhere and other polling devices and software in your classes.  The CFC supports the underlying licenses and structures, but we do not have the ability to explore all of the possible creative uses and potential challenges.

In response to a faculty request, we are seeking faculty members who are using polling software in your classes to join a collaborative group and share methods, issues, and possible research and writing tasks in the scholarship of teaching and learning.

Please let Jonathan Wade in the CFC know of your interest.  We would be happy to have you join us.

Finding Copyright-Free Material For Your Courses

A Primer on Creative Commons and Overview of CC Sources for Images

Images in the Creative Commons

Monday, 10/23, 12:15-12:45
Hunter Library 186

Bring your lunch and learn how to avoid copyright infringement by using images in the Creative Commons. This session will focus on how to find and provide proper attribution for creative commons images.

WCU needs your input to help align all of our efforts toward the success of our students and our institution in the coming years.  

The university-wide committee tasked with revising the 2020 Strategic Plan is seeking your input.

There will be at least two more public town halls that are meant as forums for input:

October 10, 9:30am-10:30am, Blue Ridge A

October 17, 6:30pm-7:30pm, Jackson County Public Library Community Room

You can also submit your ideas to the committee by using the "INPUT" form on the strategicplan.wcu.edu website.

Are You Using or Interested in Using R?
WCU User Group Forming

For those of you who haven't met him yet, C.K. is our new research specialist. He's an expert in statistics who is ready to work with you.  He's also serving as the manager for many of the various specialty software packages we have on campus. C.K. is wondering if there is anyone else out there who would like to be part of an R user group.  At this point, he's looking for both experienced users and people with interest.  If you want to know more send an email to C.K. at kchen@wcu.edu.

CFC Presenting at UNC CAUSE Conference

Members of the Coulter Faculty Commons will be presenting at the UNC Cause conference in Greenville, NC from October 2-5, 2017.  

Encouraging, Measuring, and Ensuring Quality in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
Martha Diede, Terry Pollard,  and Jonathan Wade

Empowering First-Generation Students to Succeed
Jack Caldwell and Sue Grider

Global Learning Academy 2017-2018

Global Learning Academy Workshop

Introduction to Curriculum Internationalization
Dr. Hilary Kahn, Assistant Dean for International Education
and Global Initiatives
The University of Indiana, Bloomington

Thursday, October 26, 2017

3:15 to 4:15pm
Camp 134

re information click here, or to reserve a seat, please email Dr. Ling Lebeau.

Please click here to see the GLA Agenda.

Opportunity for Faculty Short-Term Teaching in China (with some funding)

Short-term Teaching in China—2018

Travel, accommodation, and stipend

Contact Ling LeBeau at lglebeau@wcu.edu for inquiry

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More Resources:

CFC Automated Appointments
Quality customer service is our goal at the Coulter Faculty Commons (CFC).  So, in order to serve our faculty better, we have created a new form to request an appointment with any member of our team.  Please click here to request an appointment.

Course Syllabus Template
Trying to write your syllabus? The CFC has the tools and templates for you to help make the process much easier.  The template provides you with all of the required elements along with an outline into which you can fill in all of your course information. To view the syllabus template, along with some other documents you might find useful as you build your course, please click here.

Blackboard Online Help
As the Learning Management System used at WCU, Blackboard enhances the quality of online and face-to-face instruction and is used to monitor, document, and manage online and classroom events and assignments.  The LMS Team at the CFC has put together a handy list of resources for Blackboard, tailored to meet the needs of the WCU Community.

Highlighted Learning Videos on WCU's Panopto Features Page
We've customized the first entry landing page on the Panopto home page.  We'll be putting up-to-date focused videos in this space and changing them monthly, so make sure to take a look and to suggest more content.  To view the videos, please click the link above and log into Panopto.

Provost's List of Faculty Resources
The Office of the Provost provides a considerable amount of helpful information on this web page. Information concerning faculty awards and recognition, support and development, to forums, gender equity, and policy and procedures is available on this site.

CFC Resources Online
The CFC works to keep our main web page updated.  We'd love to have you click in for a visit.  We also have a Faculty Resources Blog where we post additional resources and announcements as we get them.

IT Training Opportunities
The Division of  IT continues to provide training opportunities on Microsoft products for faculty and staff.

CFC Feedback
We would greatly appreciate any feedback you could give us about how we can improve or add to our services.  We regularly monitor all inputs and try to respond to suggestions as quickly as possible. We thank you for taking the time to provide us with your constructive and formative feedback!