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Summer Salary for Course Redesign and New Workshops on Documenting Pandemic-Era Teaching Activities
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Pandemic-era remote teaching has required instructors to significantly redesign nearly every course offered at UCSC–that’s close to 2000 courses a quarter. From building new or revamped Canvas sites to developing lively engagement strategies, redesigning assessments, and rethinking grading (or ungrading) practices, instructors–in many cases supported by CITL, Online Education, and ITS staff–have put countless hours of work into preparing courses so that students could keep learning, not only on new platforms, but in a time of cascading national, international, and personal crises.
While we know that many faculty members are ready to turn their attention back to their research this Summer, there are also opportunities for Senate and non-Senate faculty who wish to do so to earn Summer salary to initiate or continue the process of course redesign. Planning for these programs has been in the works since well before COVID, but all have been modified using lessons learned over the past year. The team at CITL and Online Education is even more convinced than we were pre-pandemic that research-based course redesign is the most effective tool we have for improving student outcomes at UC Santa Cruz.
During the first Summer Session, CITL will be hosting our first cohort of instructors in Project REAL (Redesigning for Equity and Advancing Learning). Developed by CITL over the past two years in partnership with HSI, IRAPS, and selected faculty, and fully funded by the CPEVC, Project REAL is designed to provide faculty with an intensive, research-based program to engage in comprehensive equity-minded course redesign. This year’s cohort will be limited to STEM courses, particularly STEM gateway courses or courses that play a critical role in the major pathway. Future cohorts will be devoted to non-STEM courses. Instructors can apply individually or in teams, either as multiple instructors of the same course or as instructors in sequential courses in the curriculum. Participants will receive $5000 in Summer Salary and will participate in a 5-week program in course redesign. Applications are due by 10am on May 3rd.
Online Education has once again issued a Call for Proposals to develop asynchronous online and hybrid courses to be offered in Fall 2021. This is the first time hybrid courses–in which students watch pre-recorded lecture videos and spend all of class time engaged in active learning–have been prioritized as part of course redesign at UCSC. This call can accommodate the redesign of existing courses or the design of new ones, either for fully online or for hybrid offerings. Participants will undergo three weeks of supported cohort-based activities to learn about effective course design, followed by three weeks in which they work directly with instructional designers and other teaching staff to refine their courses and assemble their materials. These instructors will receive $4000 in Summer Salary.
Those who wish to make smaller changes to their courses on their own time will be able to access a newly updated version of the online course on Integrated Course Design that was used by many instructors to transition courses for remote instruction, but that can also be used to effectively design or redesign in-person courses for significant learning.
Of course, all of this activity has meant an enormous amount of work for instructors at all levels–work that we want to be sure is recognized in academic personnel reviews. CITL will once again be offering a one-hour presentation (April 22 and May 6) on “Documenting Teaching for the Academic Personnel Process: COVID 19 Edition.” Additionally, on May 3, CITL will present a one-hour presentation on how to conduct effective and equitable Peer Review of Teaching, from actual classroom visits to syllabus review, the use of rubrics, and review of mentoring activities. Details and registration links appear below.
Finally, in collaboration with Online Education, we are preparing by the end of Spring quarter to roll out a protocol for how to incorporate virtual Canvas “site visits” into the departmental personnel process, for those departments that have inquired about how to review these materials effectively and consistently.
We see every day how hard our colleagues are working to transform educational offerings at UC Santa Cruz, even as they maintain UCSC’s reputation for world-class research. In addition to offering professional, research-based support for these transformations in the teaching and learning sphere, we see it as an essential part of our role to advocate for resources and recognition for all the work that goes into ensuring greater equity and improved outcomes for UC Santa Cruz students.
– Jody Greene, CITL Director and AVP for Teaching & Learning
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Project REAL: Redesigning for Equity and Advancing Learning
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Redesign Your STEM Course and Earn Summer Salary
Project REAL provides a facilitated and closely supported opportunity for faculty, starting with STEM faculty, to redesign a course that centers student learning and aims to achieve equitable outcomes.
Join the first cohort this summer!
June 21 - July 23
Applications are due by 10am on May 3.
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Call for Proposals to Develop Online and Hybrid Courses for Fall 2021
The campus seeks proposals from faculty to develop on a voluntary basis asynchronous online and hybrid courses to be offered in Fall 2021 to ensure instructional capacity and quality as we transition back to in-person instruction.
There have been few opportunities at UCSC for funding to develop hybrid courses, and this one has the added benefit of developing courses in cohorts with your colleagues.
Applications are due Monday, April 19.
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Conference on the Uses and Abuses of Data in Higher Education • May 14
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Upcoming Events on Evidence of Teaching Excellence
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Peer Review of Teaching
with Jody Greene, Associate Vice Provost for Teaching & Learning
Monday, May 3 at 3:00 - 4:00 pm
This presentation covers strategies for effective peer review and peer support of teaching development. We regularly engage in peer review of teaching through the academic personnel process, yet we have very little support for or collective conversation about how to review our colleagues with consistency and equity, using practices based in research on effective teaching. When done well, peer review allows us not only to “evaluate” each other’s teaching fairly but also to make peer review useful for developing our collective and individual teaching skills. The workshop is based on resources, protocols, and reviewer templates created with AAC&U funding at other R1 institutions and covers topics ranging from how to effectively review teaching materials such as syllabi and assessments to best practices for classroom “visits” (in person or remotely).
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Documenting Teaching for the Academic Personnel Process–COVID Edition
with Jody Greene, Associate Vice Provost for Teaching & Learning
Thursday, May 6 at 9:00 - 10:00 am
This workshop supports faculty to develop their evidence of excellence in teaching to provide a holistic and representative picture of themselves as educators, both for the personnel review process and for formative self-reflection. Acknowledging the research on limitations of Student Experience of Teaching (SET) data, the workshop provides guidance both for using SET data and for developing additional methods of documenting teaching.
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Upcoming Equity Talks by UCSC Faculty
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Faculty of Color Redefining University Leadership
a talk by Rebecca Covarrubias, Associate Professor of Psychology, and Katherine Quinteros, Psychology Graduate Student
Friday, May 5 at Noon - 1:30 pm
In this talk, we explore how faculty of color (FOC) experience university leadership and how they define leadership. Guided by critical race perspectives in higher education (Patton, 2016), the research team analyzed semi-structured interviews with 16 FOC. FOC noted leadership structures that prioritize Whiteness, value productivity, and utilize authoritarian approaches. FOC promoted leadership practices that prioritize equity, value grassroots efforts, and utilize collaborative approaches. We will discuss implications for re-defining leadership in the academy in ways that reflect the strengths and support the retention of FOC.
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Gender Caregiving and COVID in Academic Life: A Review of Current Research
a talk by UCSC Anthropology Professor Megan Moodie
Friday, May 21 at Noon - 1:30 pm
Since spring 2020, research on the gendered impact of the global Covid-19 pandemic has shown that caregivers, mothers in particular, have faced burdens at home and at work that are impossible to balance. Focusing on the emerging literature on caregivers, especially mothers, in academia, this talk will provide a review of salient research from a variety of fields, including STEM, humanities, and social sciences as well as examine some of the measures that have been proposed–most of which have not been implemented–to lessen the immense pressures on working caregivers in the era of Covid-19.
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Expanding Access: A Research Brief
A new research brief, Expanding access: Minoritized students’ lived experiences with pandemic-era remote learning, authored by Psychology graduate student Samantha Basch with Dr. Rebecca Covarrubias and Dr. Su-hua Wang, explores the experiences of low-income, first-generation and/or students of color at UCSC navigating emergency shifts to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Equity Discussions & Accessible Course Materials
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Friday Equity Discussions
Learn strategies, successes, and challenges from your peers in an informal discussion group held 11am to noon. Upcoming discussion topics: anti-racist pedagogy (April 16); supporting first-gen students (May 7); equity-minded assessment (May 21).
Click here to learn more and add the event to your calendar!
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Make your Course Materials More Accessible
Do you have scanned PDFs or other course material you want to make more accessible? Accessibility Corps can help with remediating PDF documents into a more accessible version. This Online Education team also offers support for captioning on recorded YuJa videos — and more! Please visit this form to learn more information and request services to start making your digital course content even better.
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Summer Session Instructor Guide
If you’re teaching this summer, the Summer Session Office has some specific resources, including a guide, a new “What’s Different in Summer” fact sheet, and a Summer Introduction Module that you can add to your Canvas course.
The Summer Session team is hosting drop-in hours for to address individual instructor's questions.
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New Workshops for Hypothesis and Gradescope
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Grading with Hypothesis Plus Other Workshops
Check out the schedule and register for a Hypothesis workshop
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Get Groovy with Gradescope Grading
Learn how other UC Santa Cruz instructors use Gradescope. We will offer guidance on how to deliver assessments remotely and outline various options to meet your immediate needs. Click here to register.
- Thursday, April 22, 11:30am – 12:30pm PT
- Thursday, June 3, 3pm – 4pm PT
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Share Your Thoughts About Discussion Tools
ITS and Online Education are conducting a short survey to collect faculty input on discussion tools.
Take the survey and find out more about the Discussion Tool Evaluation.
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Daily Open Office Hours & Instructional Design Help
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We love answering your questions about Canvas, YuJa, Zoom, Hypothesis, or any other tools or topics on your mind.
Join us for drop-in office hours here, 2 pm – 3 pm every day
(passcode is ‘help’).
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Are you teaching a course for the first time (or the first time remotely) in the spring? We’d like to help you!
Contact Online Education via email or Slack to work with an instructional designer on planning, design, and technology for your course.
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Online Education’s Inaugural One-Change Challenge: A Resounding Success
Nearly 40 faculty have committed to making one small change to their Spring courses. From the adoption of engagement tools to learning how to use a new feature of Canvas, instructors across campus are working to integrate new practices into their remote pedagogy.
Check out their changes here and keep an eye out for upcoming One-Change Challenges in Summer and Fall Quarters.
Remember: you’re not in this alone–Online Education is here to help you implement the change you take on!
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CONTACT US
Center for Innovations for Teaching and Learning (CITL) • citl@ucsc.edu
Online Education • online@ucsc.edu
Faculty Instructional Technology Center (FITC) • fitc@ucsc.edu
University of California Santa Cruz
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