Teach to Reach: Maximizing Learning for All Students a Universal Design for Learning short course

Registration for our Spring 2019 course on Universal Design for Learning, Teach to Reach: Maximizing Learning for All Students, is now open!

In the built environment, Universal Design enables each of us to gain unimpeded access to a particular place, whether or not we require some form of accommodation. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) applies a similar set of brain-based, research-backed principles to learning environments, regardless of their format or structure, enabling all students to have multiple ways to engage with course content.

A collaboration between the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence, Student Disability Resources, World Campus, and the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), this non-credit course is open to Penn State faculty of any rank or status, teaching assistants, and post-doctoral instructors from all disciplines and members of the learning design community.

This free, non-credit, entirely asynchronous online course begins on March 11 and ends on April 7. See course description and full details at Teach to Reach: Maximizing Learning for All Students.

Past participants say …

• "I was able to add this information to my understanding of motivation theories. It was a happy intersection!"
• "I know the idea of UDL, but I didn't understand it or have concrete strategies to help me implement the principles in my classroom. Now I have a much fuller understanding, informed by neuroscience research and pedagogy, as well as many resources I can draw upon for more information."
• "I am redesigning and restructuring my syllabus to provide multiple means of engagement and representation. My classes will be more about how best to ensure learning than about how I want to pass information across."
• "Learning about the approaches other people are using is incredibly valuable to me as a spark to my own thinking!"

Enrollment is limited to 20 participants and closes on February 28. Don't delay! Register today at our Events page.

Upcoming Workshops on Scholarly Publications

Ready to publish your research, but wondering where to start? Penn State's Scholarly Communications Outreach Librarian Ana Enriquez has a number of workshops planned this spring to help you protect your own copyright, know when and how fair use applies in your own scholarship, and how to negotiate a contract with a publisher.

Register and mark your calendar for these upcoming events.

• Open Access Basics - This workshop will cover the basics of open access and prepare participants to advocate for open access at Penn State. Register: February 18, 12:15 to 1:00 p.m. (Paterno 103, Mann Assembly Room) or Register: February 26, 12:15 to 1:00 p.m. (Zoom)
• Negotiating Publishing Contracts - This workshop teaches authors how to negotiate publishing contracts for journal articles and monographs. It includes a mock negotiation in which participants can practice applying what we've discussed. Register: February 21, noon to 1:30 p.m. (Zoom)
• The Fair Use Factors: Their History and Application - This is an introductory workshop specifically dedicated to fair use, which is one of the most important and most misunderstood areas of the law when it comes to use of copyrighted material in teaching and research. Register: February 27, 12:20 to 1:10 p.m. (Zoom)

Contact Ana Enriquez for details.

Improv & Pedagogy Faculty Learning Group Announces Spring '19 Meeting Dates

You are invited to join the group to chat about improv & pedagogy—maybe even sample some improv! All session are held in 102 Kern from 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Come for all or part of the festivities, which include a light lunch, discussing improv & pedagogy, and perhaps an improv performance in a fun, no-pressure environment.

Email "yes, and!" to jet26@psu.edu to sign up and for more information.

As a reminder, this Faculty Learning Group is open to anyone in the Penn State system interested in improv and learning.

SRTEs Go Mobile!

This semester students can choose to submit SRTEs using the new mobile friendly web version for phones and tablets. No app download is necessary, upon sign-in students will see this option when they have active SRTEs to complete. Students may find it convenient to respond to open-ended questions using the voice-recognition built into their mobile devices.

 
Screen shot of Mobile SRTE icon.

When students choose the mobile option, they will see only one question at a time, rather than the entire SRTE form on their screens.

The regular web version SRTE is still available for students with laptops or without mobile devices.

Faculty will also be able to use the mobile version to check response rates for courses with active SRTEs. Those faculty who are concerned about response rates will be interested in taking advantage of this new functionality by asking students with mobile devices to complete their SRTEs during class.

Faculty: please remember that if you set aside class time for students to complete the SRTE, you need to leave the room.