VCU's Blackboard system will be upgraded to version 9.1 on May 17, 2012. Most features in release 9.1 will feel familiar, but there are a few changes to the editor and a some enhancements you might want to explore.

The Center for Teaching Excellence has presented a few Blackboard 9.1 Overview sessions on both the Monroe Park Campus and the MCV Campus to assist faculty and staff in becoming familiar with the major changes and new functionality. We recognize that finding time to attend these sessions is not always possible, so we have recorded an overview, which is available online. You may also download the handout for the Bb 9.1 Overview session. Bb9.1 Differences (Spring 2012).docx

Existing courses will be copied over to the new system and the existing content should still be in place. The major changes are in the layout of the editing environment and with a little exploration, current users should be able create, edit and manage content without too much trouble.

Video Tutorials on Demand

VCU has also contracted with Atomic Learning to provide a wealth of short video recordings on a wide range of software, tools, etc. Among these, are tutorials on Blackboard. To access these recordings, go to:

http://go.vcu.edu/atomiclearning

• Login with your VCU EID (if the authentication box appears)


• Browse available training projects


• Select the Blackboard from the pull-down list


• Select version 9.1


• Click Find Tutorials


• Click Application Blackboard 9.1 and select the desired faculty tutorial. (note: student tutorials are also available.


• Identify the tutorial that suits your needs and play the video.

For further technical assistance, contact the Technology Services askIT Help Center.

As always, the CTE is available by appointment to discuss the selection and use of appropriate technologies to enhance your practice.

The Center for Teaching Excellence invites applications for participation in the Online Course Development Initiative for the 2012-2013 academic year. This yearlong program consists of several integrated components that seek to hone faculty expertise through interdisciplinary collaboration, critical reflection, consultation and peer mentoring. Faculty members who engage in the full range of experiences will be in a position to provide guidance and leadership for colleagues within their home school or department related to online teaching and course development. For detailed information and to apply for the Online Course Development Initiative please visit the following website:
http://www.vcu.edu/cte/programs/ocdi/index.html

The CTE has announced a call for proposals for its iPad Pilot Project that will begin in the Fall 2012 semester. To learn more about the project please visit the following website:

http://www.vcu.edu/cte/programs/instructional_technology/I3/iPadPilot.html

The deadline for submission of proposals is 13 April 2012.

Save the Date and Register! The VCU Online Learning Summit is an inaugural event! The Center for Teaching Excellence is sponsoring the first of its kind dialogue about online learning among VCU faculty members. The Summit, held May 14 at the Monroe Campus Student Commons, will be a forum for identifying, sharing and discussing key issues about teaching and learning online. Bill Pelz, our keynote speaker, will describe his Principles of Effective Online Teaching. Following the keynote, a panel of VCU faculty will present topics related to Making the Transition to Teaching Online. These presentations will be followed by a roundtable session where the panelists join a table of audience members to extend the dialogue and discuss more fully the presented topics. After the (free!) lunch, a second group of faculty will present topics focused on Effective Teaching Practice in the Online Environment, followed again by roundtable discussions. The last session will aggregate the day's discussions to see what issues and questions emerged from the dialogue. Go to http://wp.vcu.edu/online-learning-summit to learn more and register!

The most recent iteration of the Preparing to Teach @ VCU Workshop Series was held on the Monroe Park Campus from January 10, 2012 to January 12, 2012, and this post collects workshop materials and supplemental resources related to these sessions:

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

• Teaching and Learning @ VCU
  Facilitators: Phil Edwards and Zachary Goodell
  Workshop materials: Available via Prezi
  Supplemental resources:

  Angelo, T. A., & Cross, K. P. (1993). Teaching Goals Inventory, Self-Scorable Version. In Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers (2nd ed.), pp. 20-22. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Local holdings information available at http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/26807596

  Bain, K. (2004). What the Best College Teachers Do. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Local holdings information available at http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/53044881

  Barr, R. B., & Tagg, J. (1995, November/December). From teaching to learning: A new paradigm for undergraduate education. Change, 27(6), 13-25. Retrieved from EBSCOhost (for VCU affiliates) (or via http://www.maine.edu/pdf/BarrandTagg.pdf)

  Menand, L. (2011, June 6). Live and learn: Why we have college. The New Yorker. Retrieved from The New Yorker website

• How People Learn and Implications for Course and Syllabus Design
  Facilitators: Zachary Goodell and Phil Edwards
  Workshop materials: Available via SlideShare
  Supplemental resources:

  Committee on Developments in the Science of Learning and Committee on Learning Research and Educational Practice, National Research Council. (2000). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. Retrieved from the National Academy Press website

  Gamson, Z. F., & Chickering, A. W. (1987, March). Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. American Association for Higher Education Bulletin, 39(7), 3-7. Retrieved from the AAHEA website

• Engaging Students in Their Learning
  Facilitator: Zachary Goodell
  Workshop materials: Available via SlideShare
  Supplemental resources:

  Fink, L. D. (2003). Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Local holdings information available at http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/51009305

• Assessing and Evaluating Student Learning
  Facilitator: Phil Edwards
  Workshop materials: Available via Prezi
  Supplemental resources:

  Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education (VALUE) project and associated rubrics: http://aacu.org/value/

  Angelo, T. A., & Cross, K. P. (1993). Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Local holdings information available at http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/26807596

• Teaching Large Classes
  Facilitator: Zachary Goodell
  Workshop materials: Available via SlideShare
  Supplemental resources:

  Teaching Large Classes @ VCU resource guide: http://www.vcu.edu/cte/resources/tlc/index.htm

  Bligh, D. A. (2000/[1972]). What's the Use of Lectures? San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Local holdings information available at http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/45731658

  McManus, D. A. (2005). Leaving the Lectern: Cooperative Learning and the Critical First Days of Students Working in Groups. Bolton, MA: Anker. Local holdings information available at http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/57283745

• Making Student Thinking Visible: Teaching with Classroom Response Systems
  Facilitator: Zachary Goodell
  Workshop materials: Available via SlideShare
  Supplemental resources:

  Bruff, D. (2009). Teaching with Classroom Response Systems: Creating Active Learning Environments. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Local holdings information available at http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/244060858

• Facilitating Group Discussions
  Facilitator: Phil Edwards
  Workshop materials: Available via Prezi
  Supplemental resources:

  Brookfield, S. D., & Preskill, S. (2005). Discussion as a Way of Teaching: Tools and Techniques for Democratic Classrooms (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Local holdings information available at http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/58789081

  Nash, R. J., Bradley, D. L., & Chickering, A. W. (2008). How to Talk about Hot Topics on Campus: From Polarization to Moral Conversation. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco. Local holdings information available at http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/166873037

• Working with Students One-on-One: Laboratory, Practicum, and Studio Settings
  Facilitator: Phil Edwards
  Workshop materials: Available via Prezi
  Supplemental resources:

  Dorman, J., Smith, M., O'Brien, S., Freisem, K. (2007). Teaching in lab settings. In C. Ross & J. Dunphy (Eds.), Strategies for Teaching Assistant and International Teaching Assistant Development: Beyond Microteaching, pp. 52-56. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Local holdings information available via http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/152580740

  Kane, S. K., Hannah, J., Edwards, P. M., & Dorman, J. (2007). Teaching in computer classrooms. In C. Ross & J. Dunphy (Eds.), Strategies for Teaching Assistant and International Teaching Assistant Development: Beyond Microteaching, pp. 48-51. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Local holdings information available via http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/152580740

  Wisker, G. (2005). The Good Supervisor: Supervising Postgraduate and Undergraduate Research for Doctoral Theses and Dissertations. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Local holdings information available at http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/56198602

• Promoting Critical Thinking in Your Classroom
  Facilitator: Zachary Goodell
  Workshop materials: Available via SlideShare
  Supplemental resources:

  Nosich, G. M. (2012). Learning to Think Things Through: A Guide to Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum (4th Ed.). Boston: Pearson. Local holdings information available at http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/693750946

• The Affective Domain: The Role of Emotions in Teaching and Learning
  Facilitator: Zachary Goodell
  Workshop materials: Available via SlideShare
  Supplemental resources:

  Anderson, L. W., Krathwohl, D. R. (2001). A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. New York: Longman. Local holdings information available at http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/44811619

  Perry, W. G., Jr. (1998/[ca. 1970]. Forms of Ethical and Intellectual Development in the College Years: A Scheme. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. Local holdings information available at http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/76870

• Motivating and Supporting Students in Collaborative Work
  Facilitator: Phil Edwards
  Workshop materials: Available via Prezi
  Supplemental resources:

  Barkley, E. F., Cross, K. P., & Major, C. H. (2005). Collaborative Learning Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Local holdings information available at http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/55877704

  Docan-Morgan, T. (2011). "Everything changed": Relational turning point events in college teacher-student relationships from teachers' perspectives. Communication Education, 60(1), 20-50. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2010.497223

• Scholarly Teaching: A Model for Evidence-Based Decision Making for Teachers
  Facilitators: Zachary Goodell and Phil Edwards
  Workshop materials: Available via SlideShare
  Supplemental resources:

  Additional questions to inspire reflection on teaching and learning, sources of evidence of teaching effectiveness, and communicating one's approach to teaching and learning to others, etc. available via Prezi

  Kaplan, M., Meizlish, D. S., O'Neal, C., & Wright, M. C. (2008). A research-based rubric for developing statements of teaching philosophy. In D. R. Robertson (Ed.), To Improve the Academy, 26, 242-262. Local holdings information available at http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/246991429

  Seldin, P., Miller, J. E., & Seldin, C. A. (2010). The Teaching Portfolio: A Practical Guide to Improved Performance and Promotion/Tenure Decisions (4th ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Local holdings information available at http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/705738902

  Weimer, M. (2010). Inspired College Teaching: A Career-Long Resource for Professional Growth. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Local holdings information available at http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/460050781

Please feel free to direct any questions about these materials or the Workshop Series to Zachary Goodell (zggoodel@vcu.edu) or Phil Edwards (pmedwards@vcu.edu).

The Center for Teaching Excellence is pleased to announce the recipients of funding from the CTE Small Grants Program for the 2011-2012 award cycle:

• Dina Bangdel (School of the Arts--Department of Art History), Developing Effective Teaching Practices in Art History: Graduate Teaching Associate (GTA) Enhancement Workshops
• Corin H. Hewitt (School of the Arts--Department of Sculpture and Extended Media), Chromotheater - A Course in the Theater of Color
• Heather A. Jones (College of Humanities and Sciences--Department of Psychology), Using Bug-in-the-Ear Technology to Improve Graduate Student Therapist Skills
• Christian A. Mason (College of Humanities and Sciences--Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics), Rethinking Precalculus: An Inverted Classroom
• Bernard K. Means (School of World Studies--Anthropology), Virtual Artifact Curation and Archaeological Field Schools: Three-Dimensional Digital Data Collection for Artifact Analysis and Interpretation
• Kristin E. Reed (University College--Focused Inquiry), Inside Out Richmond
• Rebecca A. Segal (College of Humanities and Sciences--Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics), Implementation of Skills Support in Lon-CAPA for Math 141: College Algebra
• Amy Rector Verrelli (School of World Studies--Anthropology), Active Learning and Student Engagement in Biological Anthropology