Sessions by Demand

The Teaching and Learning Commons partners with other units to provide customized sessions on a variety of topics. Sessions can be designed to uniquely meet your needs, based on staff availability. For this reason, we typically recommend at least 10-14 days advance notice. A commitment of at least 4 attendees is requested.

Below is a sample of what we offer. You can select the length of the session you would like. For example, you can go with a short 15-20 minute overview and inspiration session or choose a longer session that ranges from 60-90 minutes.

Accessibility in Advance

PRESENTED BY: CHRYS DEAN, Senior Instructional Designer, Teaching and Learning Commons

This session provides an overview of accessibility information for building online courses. It focuses on accessibility requirements and resources available to help instructors.

Request Accessibility in Advance Session

Assessment Essentials #1: Getting Started with Assessment

What is it we’re assessing and why?

PRESENTED BY: ROBYNN SHANNON, Director of Curriculum Development, and LOU SLIMAK, Associate Provost for Curriculum and Assessment

This session will introduce you to the fundamentals of assessing student learning (what and why) and dispel common misconceptions about assessment, before moving on to an interactive, hands-on activity. The short introductory presentation will cover assessment at course, program, and institutional levels, assessment as a key step in backward, integrated course design, and using assessment results to improve learning.

Request Getting Started with Assessment Session

Assessment Essentials #2: Building Better Courses

How can I improve student learning in my courses?

PRESENTED BY: ROBYNN SHANNON, Director of Curriculum Development, and LOU SLIMAK, Associate Provost for Curriculum and Assessment

This session will begin with a short exploration of how courses can become more “learning-centered” through the principles of alignment of learning outcomes, activities, and assessment. You will be invited to contribute your own experiences to a discussion of using assessment results to improve learning. The session will conclude with interactive, hands-on activities, for which participants are encouraged to bring a syllabus.

Request Building Better Courses Session

Assessment Essentials #3: Refining Your Course-Level Assessments

PRESENTED BY: ROBYNN SHANNON, Director of Curriculum Development, and LOU SLIMAK, Associate Provost for Curriculum and Assessment

Incorporating authentic, embedded assessments of student learning into your courses can be challenging. In this interactive session, you will be introduced to some assessment practices that start them on the road to creating your own embedded assessments. A brief introductory presentation will be followed by a hands-on activity, for which participants are encouraged to bring a syllabus.

Request Refining Your Course-Level Assessments Session

Assessment Essentials #4: Designing Better Assignments

PRESENTED BY: ROBYNN SHANNON, Director of Curriculum Development, and LOU SLIMAK, Associate Provost for Curriculum and Assessment

This session will introduce you to principles for developing assignments that align with learning activities and assessments. You will also be given guidelines for writing effective assignment prompts especially with an eye towards minimizing academic integrity violations. The brief introductory presentation will be followed by a hands-on activity, for which participants are encouraged to bring a writing assignment prompt.

Request Designing Better Assignments Session

Assessment Essentials #5: Connecting Learning in Courses to Learning Across an Entire Program

How can we evaluate progression in learning through the program?

PRESENTED BY: ROBYNN SHANNON, Director of Curriculum Development, and LOU SLIMAK, Associate Provost for Curriculum and Assessment

Making the leap from course-level to program-level assessment is not as difficult as it may sound. This session will explore what is needed for assessment of academic programs, the logistics of pulling together the pieces, and how assessment results can be used to improve program effectiveness. A hands-on activity on curriculum mapping will follow the presentation, and participants are encouraged to bring either an existing curriculum map or a list of program learning goals/outcomes and a list of courses in the program.

Request Connecting Learning in Courses to Learning Across an Entire Program Session

eBook Overview

PRESENTED BY: CHRYS DEAN, Senior Instructional Designer, Teaching and Learning Commons

This session will provide basic information about eBook formats, reading devices, creation tools, and publishing platform types.

Request eBook Overview Session

Engaging Students in Class

PRESENTED BY: TEACHING AND LEARNING COMMONS

In this session, you will learn new ways and techniques to keep your students engaged in class and to enhance their knowledge and retention.

Request Engaging Students in Class Session

How do I handle an emergency?

PRESENTED BY: UNIVERSITY POLICE

This session describes how the police will respond if a flashpoint occurs. It also explains what is expected of you upon the police's arrival.

Request How do I handle an emergency? Session

i-Clickers

PRESENTED BY: TEACHING AND LEARNING COMMONS

iClicker is an intuitive student response system that is focused on formative assessment. It offers grade integration to eCampus and is a convenient way to track students’ learning in class. As long as instructors create their iClicker courses with “West Virginia University” as the institution, there is no charge to students to activate their connection to iClicker. In this session, you will learn from other instructors who used iClicker to engage students in active learning.

Request i-Clickers Session

Making Assignments More Meaningful: Effective Feedback and Scoring Practices that Won’t Crush You

PRESENTED BY: ROBYNN SHANNON, Director of Curriculum Development

Somewhere between not giving our students adequate feedback on their work and feeling like we’re spending all our time grading papers, there’s a balance. It’s possible to give students feedback that will be effective in helping them improve their learning without burying yourself under a mountain of grading. Robynn Shannon will share tips and guidelines drawn from the teaching and learning literature and her own experiences in a “Writing across the Curriculum” program.

Request Making Assignments More Meaningful: Effective Feedback and Scoring Practices that Won’t Crush You Session

Preparing Your Course for Online Delivery

PRESENTED BY: LYDIA MONG, Senior Instructional Designer, Teaching and Learning Commons

Perhaps you've been teaching in the classroom for years. Now you have to transform your course for online delivery. How will you do this? This session explores the process, which requires thoughtful planning and careful construction with an eye on meeting Quality Matters and accessibility standards.

Request Preparing Your Course for Online Delivery Session

S.M.A.R.T. Content Mapping

PRESENTED BY: BRIAN LAUFFER, Senior Instructional Designer, Teaching and Learning Commons

This session explores best practices for creating measurable and engaging content for your courses. It also covers types of learning in Bloom’s Taxonomy, components of S.M.A.R.T. learning objectives, and methods to develop formative and summative learner-centered activities that directly support those objectives.

Request S.M.A.R.T. Content Mapping Session

It’s the little things: Practices that make your text-based digital materials more accessible

PRESENTED BY: LYDIA MONG, Senior Instructional Designer, Teaching and Learning Commons

Almost all course materials have a digital component — documents, slides, emails, chats, notes — in addition to websites. Making class materials accessible to begin with can eliminate a lot of scrambling when you’re confronted with a student who needs an accommodation. This session will show you some easy, no-cost ways to not only make your text-based materials more accessible for students with disabilities but also aid all learners' cognitive access — BEFORE you start your class.

Request It’s the little things: Practices that make your text-based digital materials more accessible Session

So you’ve got assessment data. Now what?

PRESENTED BY: ROBYNN SHANNON, Director of Curriculum Development

Sometimes the only thing standing in the way of using assessment results for improvement is the challenge of making sense of the data. Data analysis and visualization help to span the gap between collecting assessment information and improving students’ learning experiences. This session will introduce basic principles for data analysis and visualization and tools for doing both in Excel.

Request So you’ve got assessment data. Now what? Session

Teaching Statement

PRESENTED BY: TEACHING AND LEARNING COMMONS

This session explores ways to write a summary of work and teaching. It also discusses what should be included in this statement and how to communicate your philosophy effectively.

Request Teaching Statement Session

Teaching with Google Tools

PRESENTED BY: TEACHING AND LEARNING COMMONS

Google offers many tools that can be used to engage students and teach more effectively. This session is designed to explore different strategies for using Google tools, such as Google Jamboard, Google Docs, and Google Forms to engage both online and face-to-face students.

Request Teaching with Google Tools Session

Your Way or My Way? Understanding Cultural Learning Styles

PRESENTED BY: BENSON NJOROGE, Instructional Designer, Teaching and Learning Commons

Universities continue to be increasingly cosmopolitan, with learners coming from many different countries and cultures to pursue their education. This session explores the nuances and challenges of fostering a supportive learning environment for students from various cultural backgrounds. It endeavors to equip you with the knowledge and tools to better understand and facilitate the learning journey of culturally diverse students.

Request Your Way or My Way? Understanding Cultural Learning Styles Session