Workshops

Workshop Presenter: Brian Sato, Professor of Teaching (UCI)

There are a variety of opportunities, both local and national, for teaching faculty to obtain funding to pursue their education research and teaching interests. In this workshop, we will explore the range of grant opportunities, what such funds can be leveraged for, discuss budget construction, talk through potential pitfalls in the submission process, and walk through the construction of a rough grant outline based on each participant’s interests. This will also enable attendees to receive feedback on their ideas, and ideally, lead to a new grant submission in the near future!

By the end of this workshop, participants will:

• Gain familiarity with relevant funding agencies

• Have a grant structure that can be leveraged for future grant submissions

• Learn about the grant submission process at UC campuses

• Construct an outline for a relevant grant idea (and possibly identify collaborators!)

Workshop Presenter: Renée Link, Professor of Teaching (UCI)

Letter grades should represent learning outcomes a student has achieved. Specifications grading makes grading more transparent than traditional points-based grading systems, but designing and implementing a full or partial specifications grading system for a course may seem daunting. Here, we present a structure for how to design a specifications grading system regardless of the course discipline, course type (lecture, lab, etc.), student enrollment, and level of support (by teaching assistants, learning assistants, graders, etc). Attendees should bring their course learning outcomes to the session. This work was created in collaboration with Kate J. McKnelly and William J. Howitz.

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Describe the different ways to connect letter grade bundles to course LOs in specifications grading systems.

2. List the six components of specifications grading systems and explain which components can be incorporated into a course independently of the others.

3. Evaluate how to introduce opportunities for students to revise/resubmit/retake assignments while managing the time needed to spend grading.

Lisa McDonnell & Claire Meaders, UC San Diego

Conducting DBER studies are valuable to expand our knowledge of teaching and learning as well as for informing our teaching. As teaching professors we are uniquely positioned to link our knowledge of pedagogy within our discipline with our scholarly work. In order to conduct a sound study we must be familiar with the various experimental design and analysis methods in DBER. In this workshop we will explore how theoretical frameworks can inform our DBER studies and analysis, compare qualitative and quantitative design methods, and how to analyze different types of data, and identify strong versus weak experimental designs. Participants will spend time applying their understanding of DBER experimental design during the workshop developing their own DBER study, and brainstorm how to design studies that cut across institutions, and share with one another to receive feedback. We will also discuss different options for publishing and what to consider when preparing work for publication.

After attending this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Identify different types of DBER experimental designs, and identify the pros and cons of each

• Recognize how a theoretical framework can inform a study

• Describe different data analysis methods, and the limitations of these methods

• Design a DBER study and give feedback to peers on their DBER studies

• Formulate a DBER research question, and identify relevant design methods and analyses to address the research question

Workshop Presenter: Erik Arevalo, Postdoctoral Scholar (UC San Diego), Alegra Eroy-Reveles, Associate Teaching Professor (UC Santa Cruz), and Stanley Lo, Teaching Professor (UC San Diego)

The process of hiring teaching faculty, just like those of any search committees, can be riddled with biases. In this workshop, we will explore literature examples and the collective wisdom from recent UC teaching faculty search committees to discuss practices for different stages of teaching faculty hiring from writing the job advertisement and formatting the search committee to reading the application materials to interviewing candidates. Together, we will identify potentially inclusive practices that can be adapted to different departments based on each participant’s contexts.

By the end of this workshop, participants will:

1. Gain familiarity with relevant literature on biases in faculty hiring

2. Develop a list of potentially inclusive practices to be leveraged for future searches

3. Learn about teaching faculty hiring processes at different UC campuses and departments

Workshop Presenter: Petra Kranzfelder, Assistant Teaching Professor (UCM) & Adriana Signorini

Center for Engaged Teaching and Learning (UCM)

One essential component of student-centered teaching is to engage students actively with the

course material. Instructor discourse moves can engage students in the construction,

justification, and evaluation of knowledge as opposed to simply providing factual knowledge.

They can provide opportunities to empower students to talk in class about science content. The

Classroom Discourse Observation Protocol (CDOP) (Kranzfelder et al. 2019, 2020) is a tool for

characterizing instructor discourse moves from observational data in undergraduate STEM

learning environments. In this interactive workshop, participants will solve a scenario

implementing student-centered instructor discourse moves and design an activity to integrate

select discourse moves in their science teaching. Additionally, we will provide tips for

collaborating with your Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) to enact training for observers

to implement new classroom observation protocols, like CDOP, at your institution.

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Compare teacher- and student-centered instructor discourse moves.

2. Gain familiarity with CDOP by practicing the instructor discourse moves.

3. Design a class activity that encourages student-centered instructor discourse moves.

4. Formulate a plan for bringing a new classroom observation protocol to their institution.