Please Note: Effective August 30, 2011, the main office for the Center for Teaching and Faculty Development is located in Administration Building 452.

Eight Specific Steps Faculty Can Take for Making Your Courses Accessible
Make textbook decisions as early as possible and before any established campus deadline for textbook adoptions. Request an electronic version and/or additional desk copy of your textbooks. Use publishers who offer electronic copies. Caption all videos used for instruction and provide transcripts for audio-only materials. Provide students with alternative methods to receive lecture materials, including posting lecture notes online, providing transcripts, etc. Be open to communicating with students about their learning styles and using multiple instructional methods to address their needs....
accessibility, learning, student learning, teaching, teaching tips, Universal Design for Learning
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Five Tips for Wrapping Up a Course
By Margaret Walsh, Ph.D. The ending of a course deserves greater attention than it typically receives. While we have thoroughly ritualized the start of a new semester, often somewhere between weeks 11 and 14 what seemed like reasonable plans are regretfully sidelined and we launch into catch-up overdrive. Keep these tips in mind when considering the end of a course. Catching up, reflections, and new directions. Avoid the end-of-semester crunch problem by putting an “open” date on your course outline. Building in time for catching up about two-thirds of the way through a course takes the...
continued learning, end of semester, ending a course, learning, teaching, teaching tips
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My Online Course is Ready ... Now What?
You've carefully prepared your online course -- sometimes with help from others (e.g., instructional designer, multimedia specialist, or librarian). But ultimately, when it's time to offer the course, it's all up to you. How can you successfully guide your students' learning when you can't see the vacant look of confusion or the familiar glimmer of realization as they construct their learning? The successful online instructor recognizes the four distinct roles he or she must assume to guide students' learning in an online course: Pedagogical: Naturally, serving as the content area specialist...
course design, learning, online course, online teaching, teaching, teaching tips
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Seven Tips for a Positive Online Learning Experience
(reprinted from Faculty Focus, December 28, 2009) By Errol Craig Sull Here are a few tips to ensure your students have a positive online learning experience. Personal introductions. By using the personal introductions of students, an instructor can get to know his/her students better, thus allowing interaction with individual students in a more personal manner. When students see that the instructor is reaching out to them on a personal basis, it helps establish a rapport and put the student at ease. Constant presence in the classroom. When students see that the instructor is very active and...
learning, online, online course, online teaching, student engagement, student learning, teaching, teaching tips
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Six Tips for Effective Writing Groups
By Kathryn Linder By offering students a supportive group for writing assignments and research projects, students can form strong learning communities and feel less isolated when they see others around them struggling to generate ideas, craft thesis statements, or write creative transitions. Allowing students to develop friendships around writing is one way to help them to see writing—often viewed as a chore to procrastinate until the last minute—in a more positive light. Based on my experience of using writing groups over several years, here are six tips to help create effective writing...
course design, learning, small groups, student engagement, student writing, teaching, teaching tips
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Top Ten Tips for Addressing Sensitive Topics and Maintaining Civility in the Classroom
Create a classroom environment that from the first day sets ground rules for discussion and makes it clear that all students are included in the work of the class. Make sure you make all students feel connected to each other, the class, and the topic, and establish strong expectations about the content and manner of communication. Recognize the diversity of opinions and backgrounds of your students. Learning takes place from exposure to a wide variety of views. Be open to all perspectives, and ask students to voice their points responsibly. Add a statement to your syllabus. Explain any...
classroom civility, emotional stress, learning, sensitive topics, student behavior, teaching, teaching tips, top ten list
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Top Ten Tips for Helping Students Overcome Presentation Fear
From the Collective Wisdom of the CTFD Advisory Board Oral presentations are a standard component of pedagogy and assessment, yet are sheer personal torture for many students. Their fear of public performance also renders a presentation less effective as a learning rubric. Fortunately, there are techniques available to help you help your student cope with hesitancy and fear in the face of public presentation. Make sure that there is no physical or emotional disability to be considered for accommodation. Build up to the solo presentations by having more than one per semester, and make them...
coping, emotional stress, learning, student fear, student learning, student presentations, teaching, teaching tips, top ten list
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Make your course concepts accessible for all your students. Find out how easy it is to implement UDL in all of your courses with these resources.

In-Depth Pedagogy

A robust collection of modules and tutorials on a variety of important teaching topics, designed for deeper support of pedagogical issues.

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Quick tips and suggestions on a wide variety of teaching issues, from how to get the most out of the first day of class to effective student engagement techniques ... for the busy faculty member, delivered to your screen!

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