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“Servingness” Through Culturally Sustaining Learning Design

“Servingness” Through Culturally Sustaining Learning Design

Last month, CSUCI celebrated our designation as a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) and our identity as a community rich in cultural wealth and knowledge. In federal law, the HSI designation is for institutions that enroll a Hispanic-identifying population at a certain numerical threshold (25% or more full-time equivalent enrollment in undergraduate programs). Beyond that enrollment figure, […]

Success with Assignment Grace Periods

Success with Assignment Grace Periods

I have had a consistent late policy since I began teaching: no late assignments accepted. It seems harsh, but I believed I was teaching my students responsibility, promptness, structure, and other life skills to help them be successful in their future careers. Teaching in the Health Sciences, after all, my students will be working in […]

Creating a “Fun” Zoom Learning Environment

Creating a “Fun” Zoom Learning Environment

Teaching in a virtual environment can be challenging. When logging in to teach a synchronous Zoom session, many of my students and myself, have already spent hours that day staring at the screens of digital devices. They probably do not want to spend an hour or more listening to a boring lecture. I successfully used […]

Are You There? Give Me Some Love ❤️!! Increasing Students’ Nonverbal Engagement in Zoom Synchronous Sessions

Are You There? Give Me Some Love ❤️!! Increasing Students’ Nonverbal Engagement in Zoom Synchronous Sessions

As instructors, we have come a long way since the March 2020 #greatpivot – survival mode in Spring to get our students to the finish line and naïve optimism for the Fall since we had summer to prepare. It is finally now, in Spring ’21, after a full year of intensive online teaching, that I am gaining […]

Assessment for Humans

Assessment for Humans

As we shifted to remote teaching this spring, we have (hopefully) been reminded to think about humanizing online learning, which Michelle Pacansky-Brock has conceptualized as encompassing not only facilitation (creating a lively, approachable presence that cultivates empathy and awareness) but also course design. Okay, I thought, I’m human. I can humanize. Yeah, well, I’m also […]

Redefining Success During COVID-19

Redefining Success During COVID-19

I’ve always considered myself a stickler for things such as due dates and required attendance and really didn’t see how the move to online instruction would be any different.  When the announcement came that we were moving to online instruction and all face to face classes needed to go virtual, I took the time to […]

How to Be Effective in Covid-19 Online Teaching & Free Teaching Tools

How to Be Effective in Covid-19 Online Teaching & Free Teaching Tools

While I want to acknowledge that accessibility issues exist, I love online learning, because it is accessible to those with physical or practical challenges to education. Social distancing regulations due to covid-19 are causing many of us to have these challenges right now, but many people face everyday physical and practical challenges. I learned most […]

In Their Own Voices: First Year Student Reflections on Transitioning to College, Part Two

In Their Own Voices: First Year Student Reflections on Transitioning to College, Part Two

We received such positive feedback on part one of this series and understand that folks are eager for the sequel. Below, we continue to share what we learned from first-year composition students at CSUCI as they interviewed one another about their experiences. What fears did you have about college that turned out not to be […]

In Their Own Voices: First-Year Student Reflections on Transitioning to College, Part One

In Their Own Voices: First-Year Student Reflections on Transitioning to College, Part One

As 2019 Teaching and Learning Innovations Fellows, we set out to look more closely at how we could better support students’ transitions from high school to college writing and propel students to success at the university and beyond. As part of this work, we asked students in our first-year composition courses to interview one another, […]

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