For several years the University has been engaged in a process to revitalize its core curriculum, and now a revitalized core is being readied for a phased implementation starting with new first-year students in the fall of 2021. Newly appointed core director Andrew Guest, psychological sciences, has posted an update on the revitalization process on the Teaching & Learning Community Blog under the Core Matters heading. This post includes an explanation of the logic for moving forward despite the unusual times we find ourselves in. There is also a new pilots.up.edu page for the Core Curriculum where key documents are available to UP saculty and staff looking for information about the core curriculum. Please also feel free to direct any core questions to Guest at guesta@up.edu, and look for more updates throughout the year.
08-31-2020
Teaching Tip of the Week From the TLC: Know Where to Go for Teaching Help
With the new school year officially and remotely launched, this is a good time to make sure you know where to find answers for your teaching and learning questions, especially those related to remote instruction. Colleagues were busy throughout summer leading workshops for each other, testing out new digital tools, and sharing wisdom about self-care. This first Teaching Tip of the Week points you toward those resources, each one worth lots of poking around in while you enjoy a triple shot latte:
Moodle Basecamp for Hybrid & Online Teaching. In addition to the tools and advice, the interactive forums are live, a great way to join in conversations and pose questions about teaching online.
TLC website: The Teaching & Learning Collaborative houses practical peer-produced videos, dozens of teaching tips, links to how-to tutorials and inspirational shots in the arm to renew your dedication to your craft.
Campus Coaches: we have talented and generous colleagues willing to chat with you about tools, confidence and course design. Add your name! Suggest a friend!
TLC is listening! If there is a topic or type of support that you are not seeing, let us know, and that will be remedied. Contact Karen Eifler (eifler@up.edu) with suggestions. And no, making a suggestion does not automatically mean you will be asked to lead it…but we can’t provide the right support until we know it’s missing. Please don’t suffer in silence!
Writing Center Ready to Help Writers Online This Fall
After a successful test run in the spring, the Writing Center is gearing up for a fully remote fall, and the center is counting on UP faculty to get the word out that writing assistants (WAs) are ready and able to help UP writers throughout the term. WAs can help writers from all disciplines, at all levels, and at any stage of the process, including brainstorming ideas, understanding assignments, outlining, and revising.
Online appointments can be made through the appointment scheduler. When it’s time for the meeting, students simply click on “Meet online” and the 30- or 60-minute appointment will happen over Zoom. Students can also email writing@up.edu to request an appointment time outside of regularly scheduled available times.
New this year, the center is offering a limited number of “dedicated writing assistants” to work directly with writing-intensive courses. If you’re interested in having a writing assistant assigned to your course (to introduce the Writing Center to your students, meet with you to talk over assignments and expectations, and serve as the go-to writing assistant for any student from your class), please reach out to Writing Center Director Molly Hiro (hiro@up.edu) for more details.
One of the best means of getting students to bring their work-in-progress to the Writing Center is for faculty themselves to encourage them to do so (some professors require at least one visit; some give extra credit to students for using our services). When talking to your students about the UP Writing Center, you might keep in mind the following:
- The center’s goal is not just to inspire better papers, but create better writers. This means writing assistants don’t “fix” papers; they work with students to improve their overall writing skills for this and future tasks.
- Writing assistance isn’t just for students with major grammar or mechanical problems. Instead, the focus is on higher-order concepts such as argument, organization, development, and other areas. Even accomplished writers can make progress on their work in a half-hour session.
- While writing assistants represent most majors as well as the professional schools, they are trained in a semester-long course to work with students from any discipline.
- You may have found that your students weren’t able to find appointment times in past semesters, especially in early fall as we await the newly trained writing assistants to come on staff. That problem has been fixed this semester; the new writing assistants are prepared to begin working earlier in the term—so reassure students that if they want writing help, they should be able to get it!
- When a student meets with a writing assistant to discuss a paper for your course, you’ll get a copy of the conference report—a brief summary of what the student and writing assistant worked on (this is an easy way of keeping track of who visited the WC for assigning extra credit).
- An effective way to familiarize your students with the Writing Center and to demonstrate your support for the center’s services is to invite a writing assistant to drop in to your online classroom to give a 5-10 minute presentation during the first few weeks of the semester. Email writing@up.edu with the day and time of the class you’d like a writing assistant to visit and the center will get back to you shortly.
- Lastly, remember that all Moodle pages have a link to the Writing Center—see the top left corner, under “Learning Resources.”
To foster student writing integrity at UP (i.e., find cases of plagiarism when they occur), consider using the Turnitin function through your class Moodle page. Instructions for using this paper-authentication software can be found 0n the Learning Commons website.
All of your students should possess a common writing handbook—The Pocket Cengage Handbook—as it’s required in their two writing-embedded courses. The Cengage Handbook helps keep our campus on the same page when it comes to grammar, punctuation, citation styles, and basic expectations for essay writing across the university. If you need a desk copy of this reference, please contact the Writing Center director by the second week of the semester.
“As the director of the Writing Program and the Writing Center, I am happy to be a point of contact on all writing-related matters this semester,” says Molly Hiro, English. “Need insight on crafting better writing prompts? Resources for integrating writing instruction into your class-time? Help with language to use when evaluating student writing? I may not have all the answers, but feel free to try me!”
Contact Hiro at hiro@up.edu.
Clark Library: Services in Fall 2020
The Clark Library is ready for fall! Please visit our Fall 2020 guide for all the details. Our online resources are available 24/7 from any location and we are expanding services to deliver book chapters and articles to those who cannot come to campus. Our librarians and library staff continue to offer support through chat, phone, email, and online meetings. Print books and media are now available as well – please place a hold on the items you want for pick up during our service desk hours. For those less familiar with the library, please see our online Library Orientation and, as always, contact us with any questions.