Teaching Hub: Post Four, Week Three

icons are by piktochart.com

 Engaging Teaching

feedback: Good stuff.

Faculty can increase student motivation and engagement by providing feedback early and often. Giving students evidence of their progress in the course allows them to stay on track, and/or make informed decisions about accessing additional help (such as Tutoring; see below!), if it’s required. Helpful feedback is:

• Goal-referenced: How am I progressing toward the outcomes?
• Tangible and transparent: How will I know when I’m doing it right?
• Actionable: What can I do to improve?
• User-friendly: Specific and personalized
• Timely: The sooner the better!;
• Ongoing: Starting now, and frequently; and
• Consistent: based on pre-determined standards, such as those found on a rubric.

You can remember these feedback tips by using the mnemonic GTAUTOC: Greg Talks About Underwear To Our Customers. See Seven Keys to Effective Feedback for more information. Speaking of feedback, hook us up with some comments below!

 Learning Technology

We’ve heard your feedback, and are proud to announce Faculty D2L Level Two is NOW available…

In this mastery-level course you will:

1. Spend time thinking and learning about new ways to create and present content in your course pages;
2. Learn and try out the new Virtual Classroom tool and other communication tools; and
3. Learn about rubrics, and badges, and awards… oh my!

You can self-register for Level TWO on D2L, in the Help and Information Widget (yellow-header, right-hand side, scroll ⇓).

 Policies & Procedures

This image has absolutely no Academic Integrity (except for citing the source of the image below). That’s not a picture of Joe Strummer! And those aren’t Joe Strummer lyrics! This is an abomination. Let’s avoid having something like this exist in our world.

Here are some thoughts:

Academic Integrity – What do you do if you find evidence of cheating or plagiarism in your classroom?

Academic integrity in teaching, learning, and research is fundamental to a learning organization. There is an expectation that all faculty, staff, and students adhere to a high standard and that violations (such as cheating and plagiarism) should have serious consequences, but how do we evaluate academic integrity?

Currently, breaches of Academic Integrity at Fleming College are based on a four-strikes-and-you’re-out policy. Breaches of academic integrity are reported by faculty, in writing, to the Registrar. The details are contained in the Academic Regulations Policy 2-201. A new policy is currently in the works and we will update you when that policy is implemented.

image source: http://static.theglobeandmail.ca/98f/migration_catalog/Arts/article4027147.ece/ALTERNATES/w620/Chad+Kroeger

 College Departments

The Tutoring & Academic Skills Centre: An Origin Story

Many years ago (2 or 3 to be exact), there was a Fleming College department known as Learning Support Services, and then it became The Learning Centre. Eventually we all realized that we use the word ‘learning’ too much around here. So much so that it got watered down and no one knows what any of it really means. I mean, like, we’re all learning here, right? It’s a school! We all learned a lesson from that (except for the recently named Learning Design & Support Team, they didn’t get the memo).

Amid all of this drama, was a group of people helping students directly with what they really need. They are the unsung heroes of the college. And now they have a name to suit their hero status: the Tutoring & Academic Skills Centre (If we want, they can be colloquially known as the T.A.S.C. Force). Check out one of our heroes describe their services, and here is the T.A.S.C Force website.

See the Services for Students section next for more information on what they do for students and how you can refer students to them.

  Services for Students

Tutoring & Academic Skills Centre

“When it comes to tutors, the earlier in the semester that you sign up the better. Use them and then lose them.”

-Old East Virginian Proverb

Tutoring. One-on-one or small group help in an area in which the student needs help. A service for students doesn’t get much better than that. But wait, there’s more!

• It’s free (Michael does accept bribes, though);
• It’s for everybody;
• There are one-on-one, or small group sessions;
• Drop-in sessions occur for Math, Writing, Test Prep & Success Strategies; and
• There is additional support for students registered with Accessible Education Services.

So, should your students maybe know about this service? Ummmm, yeah!

• Your students can book an appointment for a tutor online here.
• Or, students may be able to become a tutor themselves here.

In summary, if you tell your students about the T.A.S.C. Force, they will probably think you are a super cool teacher who cares about their success in your course.

 Chatter

A long, long time ago, at the end of August, we began the Teaching Hub on a wing and a prayer. Four posts and 23 days later, here we are ready to take stock of the success of our endeavours. We dug deep into the data and metadata and the data about metadata… In other words, we checked out how many hits and how many comments we had. So, are we successful? The result is a resounding: yes, but also, not yet! See, we’ve had lots of hits, but not much chatter. We are starting to consider making fake accounts with names that sound familiar, but aren’t, and adding some comments. So please let us know about your successes, plans, and aspirations in your teaching. If you do, the next time we see you we will respond with kind words and positive, non-verbal body language. We promise.

 More Information

Looking for more information? Visit the LDS Team website, give us a call at extension 1216, or send us an email: LDSTeam@flemingcollege.ca!