Penn State University

Events

Teach to Reach with Universal Design for Learning
Facilitated by Mary Ann Tobin, Associate Research Professor and Lauraine Hawkins, Assistant Professor of Biology, Penn State Mont Alto
Monday, 3/3/2025 to Sunday, 4/6/2025, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Canvas

Mary Ann (portrait)Lauraine (portrait)

In this four-week, entirely asynchronous online course, participants draw upon their own teaching or learning design experience and their existing, basic understanding of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to generate and respond to discussions, create an instructional activity inspired by UDL, and provide feedback on their peers’ activities.

The course is open to faculty of any rank or status, teaching assistants, post-doctoral instructors, and members of the learning design community with existing teaching or learning design experience and a basic understanding of UDL.

Visit https://www.schreyerinstitute.psu.edu/teachtoreach for eligibility requirements.

 

To register, complete our enrollment survey at https://tinyurl.com/RegisterTTR. Participants will be notified via email approximately one week prior to the start of the course.

Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the access provided, please contact SITE at site@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.

Leveraging UDL Options for Accessible Course Design
Facilitated by Sonya Woods, Lead Accessibility Consultant for Penn State World Campus
Thursday, 3/6/2025, 12:15 p.m. - 1:15 p.m.
Via Zoom - Registrants will receive the link prior to the event.

Sonya Woods (Portrait)

In this webinar, we’ll delve into real-world examples, best practices, and practical strategies for seamlessly integrating UDL options into course design to minimize the need for special accommodations and make the course more accessible, empowering both students and instructors.

Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact SITE at site@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.

Writing A Diversity Statement
Facilitated by Beate Brunow, Associate Director, Associate Research Professor and Chas Brua, Associate Research Professor
Tuesday, 3/18/2025, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Via Zoom

Beate Brunow (Portrait)Chas Brua (Portrait)

Search committees for faculty positions sometimes ask applicants to provide a statement describing their contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). In this interactive workshop, participants will reflect on their own role and their contributions to advancing DEI, and we’ll explore useful frameworks for conceptualizing and writing DEI statements.

This is a closed event for the requesting college. If you would like a similar event for your department, college, course, or group, please email SITE@psu.edu

Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact SITE at site@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.

Decoding the Disciplines: A Cohort for Grad Students and Postdocs
Facilitated by Chas Brua, Associate Research Professor and Shannon McClellan Brooks, Graduate Instructional Consultant
Wednesday, 3/19/2025 to Wednesday, 4/9/2025, 9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
Via Zoom

Chas Brua (Portrait)Shannon McClellan Brooks (Portrait)

Decoding the Disciplines, developed by Joan Middendorf and David Pace of Indiana University, is a robust framework that helps instructors teach complex information to their students. In this Schreyer Institute short course for graduate students and postdocs, participants will work through the preliminary steps in the framework: 

--Identifying a concept/skill where many of their students struggle 

--Describing all of the unconscious or automatic steps they take as an expert when dealing with that concept/skill 

--Planning ways to model their expert knowledge for students and to create opportunities for students to practice the target concept/skill 

As participants in the cohort undertake this challenging and rewarding work, they will have guidance and support from Schreyer Institute facilitators Shannon McClellan Brooks and Chas Brua. 

The program will involve 1.5-hour group meetings on Zoom (9:00-10:30 a.m. on March 19, March 26, and April 9). Additionally, individual consultations/conversations with the facilitators will be available between meetings. Participants who participate in all three group meetings and write a Decoding action plan will receive a course completion certificate. 

Space is limited. Please apply at - https://pennstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8Bo8rcMWYvOVVcO by February 21, 2025.  

Applicants will be informed of their application status by February 28. 

Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the access provided, please contact SITE at site@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.

General Education Colloquium
Facilitated by Laura Cruz, Research Professor and Maggie Slattery, Assistant Dean and Director, Office for General Education
Friday, 3/21/2025, 12:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Via Zoom -- Registrants will receive the link prior to the event.

Laura Cruz (Portrait)Maggie Slattery (Portrait)

Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship in General Education: A Conversation with the Incoming Editors of the Journal of General Education

Join us for a lively conversation with the incoming co-editors of the Journal of General Education, as well as the head of Penn State University Press (the journal's publisher) to learn more about what scholars are thinking about when it comes to general education practice; what editors are looking for when it comes to general education scholarship, and how your interests might align with those of the journal (and its publisher). You will get a glimpse behind the scenes of a well-established academic journal as well as the opportunity to ask open questions to a panel of experienced journal editors and publishers.

Registerhttps://forms.office.com/r/B8bMcRTSns

Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact SITE at site@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.

Accessibility & Belonging: Pedagogical Strategies
Faciliated by Mary Ann Tobin, Associate Research Professor, Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence, and Jennifer Wagner, Instructional Designer and Accessibility Specialist, Office of the Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses
Tuesday, 3/25/2025, 12:00 p.m. - 1:15 p.m.
Via Zoom -- Registrants will receive the link one hour before the event.

Mary Ann (portrait)Jennifer Wagner (Portrait)

Focusing on the intersections of accessibility and belonging, participants of this interactive webinar will discover the foundational role of accessibility in fostering a sense of belonging as well as evidence-based pedagogical strategies for making their courses more accessible.

Registration will close 1 hour before the event starts. Registrants will receive a Zoom link at least 1 hour before the event.

Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the access provided, please contact SITE at site@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.

Inclusive and Ethical Pedagogy Series: Alternative Approaches to Grading
Facilitated by Elizabeth Seymour, Ph.D, Teaching Professor of Anthropology
Thursday, 3/27/2025, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Via Zoom -- Registrants will receive the link prior to the event.

Elizabeth Seymour (Portrait)Kati Porter (Portrait)Stacy Sekely (Portrait)Matthew Levy (Portrait)

The Inclusive and Ethical Pedagogy Series explores how instructors might implement inclusive and ethical pedagogy, as described in the Elements of Effective Teaching.

Panel Session: Exploring Alternative Approaches to Grading

Join us for a discussion in which a panel of experienced educators will share their alternative approaches to grading, including specifications grading, consultative/collaborative grading, and completion-based grading. This session is ideal for instructors seeking to explore practical ideas for alternative grading methods that promote student growth and align with effective course design. Participants are encouraged to share their own questions and experiences.   

   Panelists:
   Kati Porter (Biology, Fayette) uses mastery grading in biology courses required for nursing, physical therapy assistant, and pre-med/pre-vet majors. Weekly formative assessments are utilized, allowing students multiple opportunities to demonstrate mastery of each topic. Grades are still given on assignments, but they are not averaged together to determine the final grade. The key idea is that quizzes and assignments are part of the learning process, and they allow for opportunities to improve. The focus is on mastery of the subject, not penalizing students for mistakes they make while learning. If students aren’t doing well initially, they can still improve through continued study and participation in formative assessments.

   Matthew Levy (Art History, Behrend) employs specifications grading in his general education art history courses. By using frequent, low-stakes, pass/fail assignments and offering opportunities for revision, Dr. Levy’s approach gives students greater agency in determining their final grades. 

   Stacy Sekely (Physical Therapy, Fayette)

Talking about Microaggressions
Facilitated by Beate Brunow, Associate Director, Associate Research Professor, Larkin Hood, Associate Director, Associate Research Professor, and Leah Hollis, Associate Dean, College of Education
Friday, 3/28/2025, 1:15 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Via Zoom -- Registrants will receive the link one hour before the event.

talking about teaching logo

In this session of the Talking about Teaching Series, Leah Hollis, Associate Dean, College of Education, will lead a discussion on how to manage microaggressions from students to faculty and between student peers in the classroom space.

Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the access provided, please contact SITE at site@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.

Developing Teaching and Learning Research on your EDGE Project
Facilitated by Laura Cruz, Research Professor
Monday, 3/31/2025, 12:15 P.M. - 1:15 P.M.
Via Zoom -- Registrants will receive the link before the event.
Laura (portrait)

In this interactive webinar, you will gain access to a research toolkit (including an IRB) that has been developed especially for EDGE (virtual exchange) projects. Using this toolkit, you will be able to take the first steps towards designing and implementing a publishable/presentable teaching and learning scholarship project—starting as soon as this semester

Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact SITE at site@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.

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