Teaching in the CTEI

In this final episode of season two, Angela talks with CTEI's new Instructional Technologist, Daniel Martin. In addition to his many talents in digital media and educational technology, Daniel is a pro when it comes to all things video production. Among other topics, Angela and Daniel discuss best practices around video creation, but more importantly, the value of imperfection, authenticity, and teacher presence when using video as an instructional tool. CTEI is delighted to welcome Daniel to our team! 

CTEI also thanks our listeners for supporting our second year of Teaching in the CTEI! As always, if you have topic suggestions or would like to be a guest on our podcast, please reach out to [email protected]. We wish you a healthy and happy holiday season. We'll be back in 2023!

What is neurodivergence? How does it relate to education? Chances are you've heard it referenced in teaching and learning communities, but you may still be unsure about its meaning. In this episode, Angela speaks with Megan Kohler, Lecturer and Learning Designer at the John A. Dutton e-Education Institute at Penn State about neurodivergence, what it is and how educators, fellow students, and institutions can recognize and support such learners. Among other topics, they discuss the unique learning needs and abilities of neurodivergent students and share their personal experiences with neurodivergence. Resources related to neurodivergence are also mentioned, including Nicky Duenkel's article "The Transformative Potential of Creative Assignments in Higher Education" and the recent Stanford Neurodiversity Summit 2022. A big thank you to Megan for joining us for this episode! 

In this episode, Angela speaks with a handful of Instructional Designers working at Rush and various universities throughout the country about their profession. Among other topics, these designers share their passion for their work and the many, often surprising ways they support faculty, from simply helping to lighten the workload when getting a course off the ground to offering insight into creative solutions for teaching problems and course design by applying their expert knowledge of learning tools and online pedagogy. The big takeaway: Your course is still yours. We're just here to help you make it happen and realize your vision! 

A big thank you to our guests:

Peg Checchi: Instructional Designer, Rush University

Cindy Cooper: Instructional Designer, Eastern Kentucky University

Steve Shisley: Instructional Designer, Eastern Kentucky University

Courtney Hebert: Sr. Learning Experience Designer, Louisiana State University

In this episode, Angela speaks with Aleen Shah, MS, PA-C, Assistant Professor in the Department of PA Studies, and Kenya Johnson, PT, MA, CHC, Manager of Student, Professional & Career Development for Undergraduate Studies, about their work in diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the College of Health Sciences (CHS) at Rush University. Aleen also serves as the Chair of the CHS Diversity Committee and Kenya is Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion programming. 

Among other topics, Aleen and Kenya reflect on their training and leadership in The National SEED Project and more generally, how to foster a safe and inclusive classroom where students feel empowered to reflect on their own stories and identities as an integral part of their health sciences education and as future practitioners. Specific suggestions are made for how to update your curriculum with inclusive language and approaches while being mindful of diverse perspectives and experiences.

For more information on the SEED project and other DEI initiatives at Rush, contact Aleen at [email protected] and Kenya at [email protected]. 

In this episode, Angela speaks with Rush University faculty about their experiences taking CTEI's fully online, five-week teacher training course, Online Teaching and Course Design (OTCD). Among other topics, faculty discuss their motivations for taking OTCD, how it helped them with their teaching, and their favorite parts of the course. The key takeaway: make time for OTCD! It's worth it, it's required, and it's what we owe to our students.

We thank our wonderful guests and their thoughtful contributions: Eileen Giardino, Associate Professor, Nurse Anesthesia, College of Nursing; Merima Karastanovic, Interim Program Director and Assistant Professor, Imaging Sciences, College of Health Sciences; and Linda Olson, Department Chair and Program Director for the Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Health Sciences. 

Rush faculty can find the dates of all upcoming sessions on the CTEI website and sign up for the next session, beginning on June 6.

In this episode, Angela speaks with Rush University and guest faculty about how to embrace vulnerability and overcome fear in your teaching practice. With the dizzying rate of change faculty and students have experienced since COVID began, many of us have been forced to rethink how we teach, often by quickly adapting to new technologies or teaching strategies in an effort to connect with and engage our students. In this talk, our guests reflect on the risks they've taken both in the in-person and online classroom, how they did it, and what happened. Hint: it didn't always work out and that's okay! After all, to quote our guest, Professor Lisa Giarda, "you won't know, if you don't try."

Thanks again to our guests and their insightful contributions! They are:

In this first episode of our second season, Angela speaks with two of CTEI's Instructional Designers, Peg Checchi and Laura Smith. They discuss some of the unusual ways they've assisted faculty with their course design and teaching, as well as what they'd like to do to help faculty. Among other topics, a couple of CTEI's relatively new tech tools are discussed, H5P and Canvas Studio, both of which are fully integrated into Canvas. The big takeaway: reach out to [email protected] for all of your teaching and design needs, even the unusual ones. CTEI Instructional Designers are here to help! 

In this final episode of our first season of Teaching in the CTEI, Angela speaks with Dr. Emily Rush, the newest member of CTEI's Instructional Design team. In addition to sharing her wealth of experience in teaching and instructional design, Emily offers some practical recommendations on creating social presence and impactful student learning experiences with minimal faculty effort. Are you looking for ways to promote a sense of community and enhance student motivation and engagement in your course? Well, give this a listen and reach out to CTEI if you'd like some help implementing these suggestions. 

CTEI thanks our listeners for supporting our inaugural year of Teaching in the CTEI! As always, if you have topic suggestions or would like to be a guest on our podcast, please reach out to [email protected]. We wish you a healthy and happy holiday season. We'll be back in 2022!

How well do you know what is and isn't working for your students in your course? What changes could you make now to improve your students' learning experiences in this and future semesters? In this episode, Angela speaks with Dr. Yasmin Cavenagh, Assistant Professor in the Department of Women, Children and Family Nursing, College of Nursing, and Dr. Evguenia (Jenny) Popova, Assistant Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Health Sciences, about how they have used midpoint feedback surveys to gather valuable information and make meaningful changes in real time to their courses. Among other topics, they discuss recommended question types, best practices for administering surveys and sharing results, and changes they've implemented already in their Fall 2021 courses based on student feedback. To assist you in creating your own survey, CTEI has also developed this handy resource, Midpoint Feedback Surveys: A Quick Guide. As always, reach out to CTEI and an Instructional Designer for guidance on this and other teaching strategies and tools. 

You don't have to be an expert to teach well with Canvas! In this episode, Angela leads a conversation with thought leaders (and experts) in online teaching and learning about how to harness the power of Canvas to teach effectively in your online or blended classroom. Among other topics, guests discuss best practices for using Canvas discussion forums, groups, grading, and built-in multimedia tools to create a community of engaged learners. The big takeaway: Embrace imperfection, but don't forget to publish! Guests include:

Dr. Bettyjo Bouchey, MBA, Ed.D., Associate Professor of Business and Management and the Dean of Online Education at National Louis University. Twitter @DRbouchey

Dr. Lisa Bunkowski, Ph.D., Ed.D., Associate Professor of Higher Education Leadership at Texas A&M University-Central Texas, Director of the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning

John Vivolo, MA, Director of Online and Campus Learning Strategies for the Katz School of Science and Health, Yeshiva University, New York City. Twitter @VivoloJohn