Matt’s Notes
Hey there! We are back… with our second episode within four days… you will find this one to be more… current… than the previous episode… inasmuch as I haven’t run away to Kelowna during production… YET…
Today is our first in an open-ended series on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)… and we’re taking a deep dive on the latest Journal on Centers for Teaching and Learning! Please click on the link and follow along!
So… for me… the biggest change lately has been going vegan for the first time… and giving up cannabis and alcohol for the first time in forever… so… unless somebody tells me that caffeinated beverages are harmful to animals… I’ve hit my quota… for quitting things…
To that end, I can’t recommend Dr. Melanie Joy’s excellent book Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows strongly enough.
This is a case where a close friend recommended something… and I was ready for it! And to the extent that I am capable of influencing anyone else… even just my kids… it will be with the view to try and help mitigate some small amount of animal suffering… because, make no mistake, farmed animals are sentient beings whose natural preference for survival… SHOULD trump our preference for certain flavors and textures of flesh-food…
Inasmuch as I’m trying to be more consistent… I’m seeking greater alignment between my actions and my beliefs… in a whole range of areas…
My kids are happy I’m no longer smoking and drinking. Straight up. And they are… amenable… to the plant-based offerings at their Dad’s house…
Consistency between belief and action is exactly what your local Teaching and Learning Centre can help with… their business is to help you turn your pedagogical ideas into practical strategies and approaches to immediately benefit you and your students…
We heart teaching and learning centres… in case that wasn’t obvious…
Doug’s Notes
Loving Centres of Teaching & Learning: Reviewing new literature
All of the notes below are drawn from:
Journal on Centers for Teaching and Learning
Vol 14 (2022), Published March 1, 2023
The CTL Assessing CTL
I am a big fan of the laid out recipe book approach to this endeavour. Not a big fan of this image and I will explain why during the podcast.
We were prompted to write this article for a variety of reasons:
- clear interest among the educational development/CTL community for additional and holistic approaches to center assessment
- need for assessment evidence that can demonstrate relevance and achievements to executive administrators and other stakeholders
- the challenge of interpreting and assigning meaning to common data collected by many CTLs
- the need for center assessment models that are efficient and adaptable to the highly varied expectations and structures of CTLs
- The need for an affirmative response to criticisms of CTL reliance on participation counts and satisfaction surveys
Unit Liaisons, Distributed Responsibility for Visibility, Brief SITE Information Sessions, & Visibility with Administrators.
Linse, R. A., & Hood, L. N. (2022). Building a strategic plan that guides assessment: A case study from a teaching and learning center.Journal on Centers for Teaching and Learning, 14, 4-38.
You had me at narrative! I love this practice they explore.
The collection and analysis of rich, context-driven narratives, capturing multiple voices and experiences, can offer a complementary approach to the way educational developers understand, evidence, and communicate their value and the nature of their work to diverse audiences.
Raffoul, J., Loy, K., Hoessler, C., Kolomitro, K., Ives, C., & Groen, J. (2022). Use of Narratives to Communicate Value in Educational Development. Journal on Centers for Teaching and Learning, 14.
Power User = Hallway Champion
Emergency transition to online learning (ETOL) sounds more academic than pandemic pivot.
CTL staff who worked with power users reported an increase in workload rather than a decrease … CTL staff reported that power users often asked more detailed, in depth questions, while non-power users were more likely to accept the suggestions of the CTL staff member.
CTL staff often had to educate power users on best practice and campus and federal policies during the ETOL. Thus, it appears that the filtered informal learning provided by power users needs additional filtration through the reinforcement of best practices and online policy guidelines.
Lash, P., Russell, L., & Morgan, R. (2022). Power Users and the CTL. Journal on Centers for Teaching and Learning, 14.
An interesting look at how the pandemic pivot impacted TLCs.
We describe nine metrics considered key indicators of webpage effectiveness when used in combination.
- Traffic
- Users
- Sessions
- Sources
- Medium
- Pages
- Pages per session
- Average session duration
- Bounce rate
TLCs must continue to monitor faculty engagement and their changing support needs, and continue to adjust their approaches to offer in- formation and professional development opportunities as necessary with the end goal of enhancing student experiences and outcomes.
Stoesz, B. (2022). Using Google Analytics to Measure Engagement with a Teaching and Learning Centre During COVID-19. Journal on Centers for Teaching and Learning, 14.
I dislike the term “thin slicing”. It usually has negative connotations.
How can educational developers best formatively assess impacts of their services? Standard practices tend to rely on indirect measures, such as counts of participants and feedback surveys.
Hershock, C., Stimson, J., Pottmeyer, L. O., Melville, M. C., Harrell, J., Weiss, E. D., … & Adams, A. (2022). Thin-Sliced Embedded Direct Assessment (T-SEDA). Journal on Centers for Teaching and Learning, 14.
Dr. Doug Reid
Pi Day is just a fake holiday created by math companies to sell more math.
Word of the Podcast
Narrative: I love me a good narrative.
Question of the Podcast
If you could tell post-secondary educators one thing about education, what would it be?
Phew!! That was lit! We are grateful you joined us, and can’t wait to do it all again really soon…
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