Salisbury University |  Instructional Design & Delivery Newsletter | February 15, 2022

Register for the Teaching and Learning Conference

Registration is now open for the 12th Annual Teaching and Learning Conference to be held virtually 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday, February 18! 

The goal of this conference is to bring together teacher-scholars across campus to share and discuss teaching innovations and best practices. This year, the conference is held virtually with synchronous sessions available for individual registration, with lunch available in the Commons (dining hall) if you are on campus. 

Keynote presenter is Dr. Cynthia Alby, professor of secondary education at Georgia College and co-author of Learning That Matters. Listen to the podcast about their book.

Please visit the 12th Annual Teaching and Learning Conference site for the schedule and to register for virtual sessions. 

Black History Month and Education: bell hooks

Have you ever wondered why bell hooks does not capitalize her name? Or that bell hooks is her scholarly pen name? Born Gloria Jean Watkins, bell hooks took on her great grandmother’s name in her honor and lowercased her name in order to put distance between her name as the author and the scholarship she was producing. Ironically, her choice to lowercase bell hooks generated attention and curiosity from readers, increasing the attention paid to her scholarship. And we are all the better for it!

As we celebrate Black History Month, it is important to reflect how inclusion and diversity in the classroom, as well as the honoring of one’s cultural and family histories and funds of knowledge, supports and strengthens this celebration. Inspired by the seminal work of Paulo Freire, bell hooks began a career focused on how education can become culturally responsive and inclusive to support marginalized students in the school system. In her book Teaching to Transgress, for example, she discusses was to infuse engaged pedagogy in the classroom through feminist, sociocultural and critical lenses. Hers is a call to action to normalize a classroom focused on joy, honored lived experiences and countering suppression through the inclusion and support of diverse identities in the classroom.

Below are some recommended readings to reflect on pedagogical strategies that can be used to support all students of color in the classroom:

Find many other recommendations worth reading and including in classroom spaces and community conversations on the Antiracist Resources Library Guide!

MyClasses Spotlight: Split Names in the Gradebook

As you may already know, Canvas updates monthly to respond to suggestions and requests from users like you to improve the features available in the learning management system (LMS). In this week's newsletter, we wanted to take the time to highlight an updated feature that may be of interest to you. 

Canvas has included the option to split student names into two separate columns, to show first and last name separately, by using the View dropdown menu in the Gradebook.  

When student names are split, the Last Name column includes secondary information (course section) and both columns can still be sorted and reordered. When split names are enabled in the Gradebook, they are displayed in the Gradebook CSV export.

Note: If a user has set a preferred name that is different from their legal name, the legal name is displayed in the Gradebook. 

                Gradebook Names Merged                            Gradebook Names Split

In order to turn on this feature, an admin (a member of the ID&D team) will need to enable it in SU's MyClasses instance of Canvas.

New Quizzes: Partial Credit Option for Matching Questions

Individuals using New Quizzes can now allow partial credit for Matching questions. To modify existing matching questions in New Quizzes assessments or Item Banks, please follow the instructions in ID&D's Modifying Matching Questions for Partial Credit Grading Option article (SU login required).

Belonging and Inclusive Teaching Fellowship Opportunity

SU faculty (full and part time) who are teaching during spring 2022 are invited to participate in the Belonging and Inclusive Teaching Fundamentals Virtual Fellowship. The virtual fellowship invites faculty to explore evidence-based teaching practices that support student engagement and success by shaping the learning environment to recognize and build on the diverse experiences and strengths of all students. Faculty fellows practice inclusive teaching strategies and reflect on their impact. Through learning by doing and experience-sharing within a small cohort of fellows, faculty develop their teaching capabilities with techniques that engage students and help them to feel seen, respected and included as capable partners in the learning process. The fellowship curriculum is designed with a particular focus on race and ethnicity as salient dimensions of social identity for faculty and students. 

• Who is eligible to apply? University System of Maryland faculty who are teaching classes during spring 2022. Lumen Circles work well for any faculty member, in any appointment involving teaching, in any discipline, at any stage of career. To be eligible, USM faculty must be teaching a class during all or part of the time the fellowship is running.
  
  
• When does the fellowship begin? Fellowship circles run for nine weeks from the start date. Upcoming spring 2022 start dates are February 16, February 23 and March 2. Again, to be eligible, applicants should be teaching for at least part of the time the fellowship is running.
  
  
• What is the deadline for applying? Applications for spring will be accepted on a rolling basis up to a few days before each start date. You will have the option of selecting your preferred start date on the submission form.

Visit the USM Belonging Circles application page for more details and for the application submission form.

 Apply for Accessibility Inclusion Fellowship Program

The Maryland Open Source Textbook Initiative (MOST) invites faculty from two-year and four-year colleges and universities to apply for a Spring 2022 Lumen Circles Fellowship focused on Effective Teaching Using OER. Fellows will engage in an OER-focused virtual learning community at no cost to them or to their institutions – all fees are covered by MOST. Faculty must be teaching with OER in at least one course during their time in the Fellowship. 

Circle themes offered to Maryland faculty through MOST include two options: 

• Teaching with OER & OER-enabled Pedagogy (9-week program)

   

• Success Accelerator for OHM or Waymaker Courseware (6-week program)

Please visit the Lumen Circles for MOST webpage to learn more and to apply for a MOST Lumen Circles Fellowship starting in February or March 2022. Questions may be directed to most@usmd.edu.

SU is an Equal Opportunity/AA/Title IX university and provides reasonable accommodation given sufficient notice to the University office or staff sponsoring the event or program. For more information regarding SU’s policies and procedures, please visit www.salisbury.edu/equity.

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