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Center for Teaching Excellence

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Events Calendar

*Special Notice*

In order for attendees to personally track their current registrations and attendance at CTE workshops and events, CTE requires that registrants create an account in our registration system and login to register.  If you have an existing training account with the Division of Human Resources, Office of Organizational and Professional Development, you do not need to create an account. You can login using your HR training username and password. By logging in to register for CTE events, your complete record for both CTE and HR trainings will be available in a single location with a single account and login. 

How to Check Your Progress?

Did you know you can personally track your current registrations and attendance at CTE workshops and events?  Participants with a CTE training account can check their progress online. View and print training record.

Professional Development Programming Recommendation

The Center for Teaching Excellence invites your recommendations for presenters and programming for the enhancement of the quality of teaching and learning at USC. This is an opportunity to share your ideas and suggestions for professional development programming. Your input will help us tailor experiences that meet the needs of USC faculty/instructors. Please share your nominations and ideas.

  
You can choose to use the Calendar View     of  CTE events if you prefer.


Click on the "+" sign next to each event to see description.

November 2023

Join us for the 3rd module of Career Champions. In this session we'll learn about the career competencies employers are looking for within our students and how to incorporate those into our academic lessons, student employment, internships, etc. You'll also know how to help students see these competencies within themselves and how to advocate their talents, abilities, and experiences.  Register

This is an elective session for a certificate of completion in Integrative and Experiential Learning.

To achieve optimal student learning and integrity in an academic environment, it is essential that instructors understand the importance of maintaining their students' interest and cultivate intellectual autonomy. It is through intellectual autonomy that students can begin to internalize the associated values of integrity and take responsibility over their own learning (Twomey et al., 2009). In the contemporary era of higher education, behaviors connected to cheating and plagiarism have made it a bigger challenge in guiding students to reach the level of intellectual autonomy that instructors would hope for.

Given the new norms and nuances of essay mills and contract cheating, the economics and consumerism related to academic dishonesty continues to expand. In this presentation, attendees will explore how effective teaching and learning strategies will assist in responding to what has become a pedagogical enterprise. Additionally, through these strategies, attendees will improve their teaching and student learning by creating a sense of community and becoming more transparent in their communication with students.

This is an elective session for a certificate of completion in Fostering Proactive Learning Environments.  Register

The South Carolina Honors College is the top ranked public honors college in the nation. The college has achieved this recognition through having one of the most robust honors curriculums in the country and working with talented faculty to offer amazing courses. If you've ever wondered how to offer an honors course, what kinds of honors courses are offered at USC, or what makes for an honors experience, then we want to talk to you!

This presentation will explore these questions by introducing the South Carolina Honors College and the defining characteristics of its students, curriculum, and beyond the classroom opportunities. The session will be a valuable resource for faculty looking to propose and develop an honors course; additionally, it is an opportunity for faculty who have taught honors to learn more about the honors curriculum, unique resources, and how they can hone their approach to honors education. Register

Faculty job postings regularly request a diversity statement, in addition to teaching and research statements. These written essays from job applicants help faculty search committees identify candidates who have the skills, experience, and/or willingness to engage in activities that enhance campus diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts.

How do you approach writing a diversity statement? What should it say? What can be included - research, teaching, and service experiences and activities, or values, views, and future goals? What are search committees looking for, and what if you haven't experienced any issues personally? This workshop will help guide you in exploring your personal experiences and help you determine what to emphasize and include in your statement. You will learn what aspects of faculty life and academia contribute to an institution's DEI mission, and how best to illustrate your personal commitment to such DEI goals using the various facets of your own experiences.

This is a working webinar, requiring that you do some reflective writing in advance of the workshop, so that the workshop can include individual writing, group discussion, and feedback. Participants will leave with an outline of their statement and guidance to continue crafting it.

You DO have a story to tell. Learn how to write a Diversity Statement that stands out!  Register

Graduate teaching assistants and instructors are defined as much by their character as they are by academic achievements. This workshop aims to empower Carolinians to be responsible teaching assistants and instructors that uphold the core values of our academic community.

What does it mean to be a teaching assistant and an instructor held at the high standard of ethical behavior? In this workshop, we will discuss preconceptions, misconceptions, and proper perceptions and interactions among faculty and teaching assistants. The framework of self-determination theory will be used to help participants explore their motivations and both intrinsic and extrinsic factors influencing their behaviors. We will explore ways to encourage student inquiry and inclusion in learning, and ways to articulate the problem space between students and instructor(s) by discussing strategies that foster student connections in what otherwise might feel like a competitive environment. Helpful techniques, such as embedded correction that model correct terms during both in-person or email conversations, and soliciting feedback from both instructors and students, can help each be better understood.  Register

This workshop is designed to familiarize participants with Blackboard’s Ultra Course View. eLearning Services will demonstrate how instructors can navigate an Ultra course, communicate with students, add content, find and utilize tools available in Blackboard, and grade assignments.  Register

There are more than a million international students in the U.S. contributing about $38 billion to the economy in the last year, thus making international student mobility and education the 6th largest service export of the U.S. As true as those numbers might be, ample research shows that these students find it difficult to acculturate to the U.S. in many lived experiential aspects such as facing basic needs insecurities, and an inability to feel a sense of belonging on campus and the wider community.

This session will look at core facets of the Intersectionality framework (1991) by civil rights advocate Kimberlé Crenshaw in addition to other adjoining theories and perspectives while decluttering the monolithic treatment of international students in literature, research, and praxis.

Participants will be challenged to think critically about how they see international students currently and how a more humane reimagination is possible.

This is an elective session for a certificate of completion in Teaching Towards Inclusive Excellence.  Register

In this session, the focus will be on the common accessibility issues in digital content and some tips for addressing them. The presenter will outline a little statement about how the Anthology tool Ally can help ease the process of increasing digital accessibility.

This webinar is facilitated by Anthology, Blackboard Learn's parent company.  Register

One of the most critical elements of the mentor-mentee relationship is having a shared understanding of what the objectives of the relationship are. When challenges arise in the relationship, it is likely because there has been a misunderstanding about what the expected objectives of the relationship are. Additionally, relationships and their expectations change over time as the mentee grows, meaning that frequent and consistent adjustment of the expectations of mentors and mentees is required for mentorship to be successful.

This is an elective session for the Entering Mentoring certificate of Completion.  Register

This webinar is designed to provide you with easy step-by-step instructions on how to upload course content, create discussion boards for students to engage in, and provide an overview of the types of online assessments available in Learn Ultra Course View.  

This webinar is facilitated by Anthology, Blackboard Learn's parent company.  Register

Now that you’ve moved your existing course to Ultra, what do you do?! In this session, we will discuss the steps to review your course exceptions, reorganize your existing content, and make sure that your course is doing what is best for you and your students.  Register

Improvement science is a dynamic, methodological approach to problem-solving, based on the idea that the performance of some 'system' is a result of its design and operation, not simply a result of individuals' efforts within that system. An improvement science approach can be used to study and improve instructional methods, courses, programs, and processes, among many other contexts. This workshop will introduce participants to the improvement science model and principles, and approaches to improvement will be presented and participants will learn examples of improvement strategies they can begin to use to start to 'get better at getting better' (Bryk et al., 2015).   Register

This intermediate session will provide a deeper dive into setting up grading criteria for assessments, utilizing different types of assessments, and creating gradable assignments in Learn Ultra.

This webinar is facilitated by Anthology, Blackboard Learn's parent company.   Register

Join us for a Mutual Expectations discussion on exploring the topic 'Artificial Intelligence (Al) on the College Campus' in our November session. This session will be a facilitated dialogue amongst participants exploring thoughts on what role Al plays on the college campus. How Al may evolve over time and what role it could play in the classroom, out of the classroom, and how those may differ. As this topic continues to grow across society, it should provide thought-provoking conversation participants.

We’ll have a FREE lunch for everyone! RSVP

Are you equipped to provide accessible content to your students? Bring your laptop to gain hands-on experience to strengthen your answer to that question.

This session will provide a brief overview of disabilities, challenges disabilities cause, and types of assistive technologies students may use to access your content. More importantly, this session provides practical guidance for applying accessibility best practices to your documents.

Attend with your laptop containing your existing documents (e.g., syllabus) and with your head containing an open mind with a touch of curiosity. Together we will resolve a few of the most common and most important accessibility issues. Let's be a team to gain a sense of an accessible experience within this inclusive and safe learning space.

Come with an interest in creating accessible content. Leave with a strong sense that applying accessibility best practices opens the path of better experiences for all your students within our shared digital world.

This is an elective session for a certificate of completion in Teaching Towards Inclusive Excellence. Register

Faculty who are transitioning into a new administrative/teaching role are invited to attend this informative session. Presenters Elizabeth Rollins and Jenny Powell will center equitable practices as they discuss specific examples of working within and across university, elementary school, and community spaces supporting the success of prospective, newly admitted, matriculated, and graduating students.  Register

Have you considered trying the flipped learning approach but aren't quite sure where to start? Have you already attempted the flipped learning approach but felt like you didn't quite achieve the results you were hoping for? Or maybe you've heard about the flipped learning approach and would like to learn more about it. If so, this workshop has been designed with you in mind!

During this session, you will work collaboratively with a small group of your peers to discuss flipped learning, address the benefits and challenges of the flipped approach, and study examples of successful, and not so successful, implementations of the flipped classroom. You will discuss the basics of transforming your existing teaching practices and materials into tools that support flipped learning and identify strategies for overcoming the potential challenges of switching to this model.

This workshop will, of course, be delivered in a flipped format, so be prepared to review instructor-provided material in advance and arrive ready to contribute to group discussions. Register

In this session, we will focus on creating different assessments and assignments in Learn Ultra. We will outline the steps to create an assessment or an assignment, including selecting different options in grade settings.
 
This webinar is facilitated by Anthology, Blackboard Learn's parent company.  Register

The diversity in USC classrooms is rapidly increasing to include students from a range of countries and linguistic backgrounds. With all of the benefits that come from having a global classroom, there are challenges that are presented by this shift. As students try to succeed in a language that they do not natively speak and in a country where cultural differences can be confusing and overwhelming, these challenges often come to light in the classroom.

This session will equip you with strategies for ensuring that your international students successfully learn the material and meet your expectations in the classroom.

This is a required session for a certificate of completion in Teaching Towards Inclusive Excellence.  Register

Discover how utilizing tools within Learn Ultra can encourage meaningful engagement among students between your students and you, and with the content itself! In this session, we’ll examine how to effectively use discussion boards, class conversations, interactive lectures, and other Learn Ultra tools to foster student engagement in your course. We will also explore different ways to promote communication and collaboration among your students to get them involved and to keep them engaged in online classes.

This webinar is facilitated by Anthology, Blackboard Learn's parent company.  Register

This workshop is designed for Blackboard users who are familiar with the new Ultra Course View but want a more intensive look at the Ultra Gradebook. In this 60 minute session, a consultant from eLearning Services will share some best practices and tips & tricks for setting up a Gradebook that works for you. There will be time for questions after a live demo and presentation.  Register

The Virtual Environments Community of Practice is planning ways to integrate virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality into teaching and learning environments at UofSC. Meetings are open to faculty, staff and students.

If you are interested in participating in the Virtual Environments CoP, or would like to be on the email list for further information, please email Charles Andy Schumpert at schumpca@mailbox.sc.edu.  RSVP

Are you looking for a teaching method that empowers students, encourages them to think critically, and isn't a lecture? In this presentation, attendees will learn the value of crafting lessons that enable students to co-construct knowledge and and engage with counter-narratives rather then listening to a lecture. After explaining the theory that drives co-construction and counter-narratives, attendees will see a model of how this process was used in our own classrooms with graduate student pre-service teachers. Then, attendees work with the presenters to discuss ways this method could be used in their own teaching.   Register

This session will take on more of a pedagogical nature to assist in readying your course and yourself to enhance the teaching and learning of your students. The session will coalesce around the lifecycle of each tool including instructor creation and consideration, student completion, instructor grading, and finally the student accessing their grade. Think broadly in terms of groups, assignments, assessments, journals, and discussion boards—how can I make these more effective for me and for my students?

This webinar is facilitated by Anthology, Blackboard Learn's parent company.   Register

Come develop a deeper understanding of inclusive excellence and why it is central not only to how we prepare students to lead, but also to how we engage all members of our USC community. Learn about the ways in which the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion seeks to operationalize inclusive excellence, as well as how we intend to use our equity and inclusion strategy to track the University's effectiveness in four primary areas: compositional diversity, achievement, engagement and inclusion.

This is a required session for a certificate of completion in Teaching Towards Inclusive Excellence.  Register

Join us at the Center for Teaching Excellence for an interactive Virtual Reality (VR) showcase between 1:10pm and 3:10pm. You will have an opportunity to explore the possibilities of VR in learning environments.  Register

This workshop is designed to familiarize participants with Blackboard’s Ultra Course View. eLearning Services will demonstrate how instructors can navigate an Ultra course, communicate with students, add content, find and utilize tools available in Blackboard, and grade assignments.  Register

Teaching fully online courses requires additional considerations than face-to-face teaching. Course design, development, and delivery are essential for providing students with high-quality and accessible courses. This webinar focuses on three pedagogical principles and frameworks for the design, development, and delivery of online courses. Participants will receive 10 tips for successfully teaching online.

This is an elective session for a certificate of completion in Fostering Proactive Learning Environments.  Register

Engaging in conflict is challenging whether you are an experienced instructor or new to your role. A likely strategy is to ignore the behavior due to our own discomfort, concern over retaliation or fear that our intervention may cause more harm or disruption. Through case study examples this workshop will explore Gerald Amada's research from Coping with Misconduct in the College Classroom and provide participants with tangible strategies to disruptive behavior in a confident and fair manner.

This is a required session for a certificate of completion in Fostering Proactive Learning Environments.  Register

In this session, the focus will be on the common accessibility issues in digital content and some tips for addressing them. The presenter will outline a little statement about how the Anthology tool Ally can help ease the process of increasing digital accessibility.

This webinar is facilitated by Anthology, Blackboard Learn's parent company.  Register

December 2023

Many flipped classroom implementations focus on moving content out of class meeting time, but either continue to lecture in class or apply general active learning techniques instead of maximizing the ability to provide guided learning during class meetings. One way to maximize student engagement is through a project-based approach to teaching. This assessment method is a meaning-based, top-down approach that easily allows students to focus on larger thematic issues instead of just surface level facts and figures.

In this session, we will introduce teaching strategies for both flipped classroom and project-based approaches. We will discuss the benefits of their intersection and examples of how this can be implemented. You will have the opportunity to reflect on your own assessments and course design to consider how you could utilize these approaches.   Register

The Virtual Environments Community of Practice is planning ways to integrate virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality into teaching and learning environments at UofSC. Meetings are open to faculty, staff and students.

If you are interested in participating in the Virtual Environments CoP, or would like to be on the email list for further information, please email Charles Andy Schumpert at schumpca@mailbox.sc.edu.  RSVP

This workshop is designed to familiarize participants with Blackboard’s Ultra Course View. eLearning Services will demonstrate how instructors can navigate an Ultra course, communicate with students, add content, find and utilize tools available in Blackboard, and grade assignments.  Register

The first half of the Support Zone training focuses on providing context for the necessity of faculty and staff being well-versed in recognizing and responding to students experiencing mental health distress. The facilitator will review definitions, national and local statistics about mental health in college students and discuss how stigma affects help-seeking behaviors. The facilitator will also discuss how COVID-19 has exacerbated the aforementioned issues. This session will also cover crisis support protocol, how to recognize signs of distress, warning signs of suicide, non-suicidal self-injury, and how to respond and intervene to a student of concern.

This is a required session for a certificate of completion in Mental Health and Well-being Competency.  Register

This workshop is designed for Blackboard users who are familiar with the new Ultra Course View but want a more intensive look at the Ultra Gradebook. In this 60 minute session, a consultant from eLearning Services will share some best practices and tips & tricks for setting up a Gradebook that works for you. There will be time for questions after a live demo and presentation.  Register

Do you teach a large subset of sophomore students? Energy is always focused on the incoming first-year and graduating students, but what about the students who are somewhere in between? Sophomores or 'second-year' students are considered an incredibly unique population and participants in this presentation will explore current and relevant research related to working with these students to learn about the 'sophomore slump'. Participants will also have the opportunity to discuss support resources and strategies available that are specific to sophomores at the University of South Carolina.

This workshop is an elective session for a certificate of completion in Integrative and Experiential Learning.  Register

The second half of the Support Zone training focuses on participants learning how to refer students of concern experiencing varying levels of distress (mild, moderate and severe), what to do if a student refuses a referral, how to maintain the students' privacy, and how to follow-up with the student. This session includes role-plays and other interactive activities to help participants practice their recently acquired skills. The facilitator will also discuss the how responding to students of concern affects faculty/staff mental health and how to respond accordingly.

This session includes a review of resources specific to faculty/staff needs and tips on dealing with COVID-19 related stressors. Lastly, the facilitator will review campus and community resources to ensure participants have a thorough understanding of what is available to students and when to use each resource.

This is a required session for a certificate of completion in Mental Health and Well-being Competency. Register

January 2024

Learn how to set up Blackboard assignments and SafeAssign plagiarism detection.  Register

Grading assignments in the new, streamlined Ultra Course View for Blackboard is more flexible and intuitive than ever before. In this workshop, participants will view a live demo and receive tips and tricks for grading in Ultra courses. There will also be time for questions.   Register

Panopto is an all-in-one video management platform built into Blackboard. In this session, attendees will learn how to create and manage video learning content in Panopto that can be easily integrated into Blackboard courses. Register

This workshop is designed to familiarize participants with Blackboard’s Ultra Course View. eLearning Services will demonstrate how instructors can navigate an Ultra course, communicate with students, add content, find and utilize tools available in Blackboard, and grade assignments.  Register

Blackboard offers many ways to engage your students using a variety of collaboration tools. Learn how to use some of these tools to encourage your students to communicate and collaborate in an effective and creative way.   Register

Blackboard Ultra Course View (UCV) is the newest version of the Blackboard Learning Management System. With new improvements being made monthly to Ultra Course View there are exciting changes which instructors may not have seen. This is a short presentation about the most recent updates that have occurred in Blackboard Ultra Course View and will include information on how to stay up to date on future improvements. Register

This workshop is designed to familiarize participants with Blackboard’s Ultra Course View. eLearning Services will demonstrate how instructors can navigate an Ultra course, communicate with students, add content, find and utilize tools available in Blackboard, and grade assignments.  Register

Grading assignments in the new, streamlined Ultra Course View for Blackboard is more flexible and intuitive than ever before. In this workshop, participants will view a live demo and receive tips and tricks for grading in Ultra courses. There will also be time for questions.   Register

Blackboard Ultra Course View (UCV) is the newest version of the Blackboard Learning Management System. With new improvements being made monthly to Ultra Course View there are exciting changes which instructors may not have seen. This is a short presentation about the most recent updates that have occurred in Blackboard Ultra Course View and will include information on how to stay up to date on future improvements. Register

Panopto is an all-in-one video management platform built into Blackboard. In this session, attendees will learn how to create and manage video learning content in Panopto that can be easily integrated into Blackboard courses. Register

In this session you will learn simple instructional techniques that benefit all users, technology tools that can be used to provide specific accommodations, and resources that are available to meet accommodation needs.  Register

Come develop a deeper understanding of inclusive excellence and why it is central not only to how we prepare students to lead, but also to how we engage all members of our USC community. Learn about the ways in which the Office of Access and Opportunity seeks to operationalize inclusive excellence, as well as how the office intends to use its equity and inclusion strategy to track the University's effectiveness in four primary areas: compositional diversity, achievement, engagement and inclusion.

This is a required session for a certificate of completion in Teaching Towards Inclusive Excellence.  Register

For instructors, classroom discussions may seem difficult to facilitate effectively. Asking 'good' questions that are thought-provoking and lead to robust, in-depth discussion and student engagement requires thoughtful planning and preparation. In this workshop, effective methodologies for planning a discussion and best practices for facilitating student responses will be explored and modeled.  Register

Come develop a deeper understanding of inclusive excellence and why it is central not only to how we prepare students to lead, but also to how we engage all members of our USC community. Learn about the ways in which the Office of Access and Opportunity seeks to operationalize inclusive excellence, as well as how the office intends to use its equity and inclusion strategy to track the University's effectiveness in four primary areas: compositional diversity, achievement, engagement and inclusion.

This is a required session for a certificate of completion in Teaching Towards Inclusive Excellence.  Register

In the classroom, providing students with instruction is the primary focus of the classroom leader. But what gets lost in the process is the development and care of students. Sometimes, what gets lost is the importance of classroom culture. While both worlds are usually kept apart in terms of importance, The Greenprint, the focus of this workshop, will focus on how this program and philosophy blend both social-emotional learning and how building classroom culture impacts and drives the learning culture.

Participants will get a chance to partake in the central elements of The Greenprint and how the classroom works: community, positive reinforcement/goals, social skills, emotional regulation, and doing work with fidelity. The session will conclude with questions from the participants and an emotional regulation activity used to close out the classroom day.  Register

When you think of your favorite teacher, what images or words come to mind? How would you describe your own teaching persona in comparison? Good teachers exhibit a “teaching persona” that is a balance between their authentic self and professional self. Thinking about this facet of teaching is important for new instructors, as it helps them find a personal classroom management style that’s right for them while effectively promoting student learning; at the same time, it can be a helpful reflective exercise for more experienced instructors.

This workshop will provide you with directed, interactive guidance and recommendations on developing specific aspects of your teaching persona and style, along with helpful advice for any who are still learning to become comfortable in front of a classroom.  Register

This workshop, the first in the series, will provide participants the opportunity to establish the group dynamics essential to successfully developing mentorship ability. Participants will have the opportunity to develop their own philosophy of mentoring as a part of the program and prepare for upcoming workshops within the Entering Mentoring sequence.

This is a required session for theEntering Mentoringcertificate of Completion.  Register

Clearly articulating classroom expectations helps to set the foundation for a mutually beneficial course. Research shows that persistence and retention is connected to student's sense of belonging. Furthermore, students who engage in quality interactions with faculty are retained at a higher rate (Astin 1977, 1993). As a faculty member, it is important to assist in developing this sense of belonging and aid in students persistence and retention. This session will cover pedagogical strategies and ways to negotiate positive norms within your classroom to assist you in developing a meaningful academic environment.

This is a required session for a certificate of completion in Fostering Proactive Learning Environments. Register

This workshop is designed for Blackboard users who are familiar with the new Ultra Course View but want a more intensive look at the Ultra Gradebook. In this 60 minute session, a consultant from eLearning Services will share some best practices and tips & tricks for setting up a Gradebook that works for you. There will be time for questions after a live demo and presentation.  Register

The Virtual Environments Community of Practice is planning ways to integrate virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality into teaching and learning environments at UofSC. Meetings are open to faculty, staff and students.

If you are interested in participating in the Virtual Environments CoP, or would like to be on the email list for further information, please email Charles Andy Schumpert at schumpca@mailbox.sc.edu.  RSVP

This workshop is designed to familiarize participants with Blackboard’s Ultra Course View. eLearning Services will demonstrate how instructors can navigate an Ultra course, communicate with students, add content, find and utilize tools available in Blackboard, and grade assignments.  Register

Through Recovery Ally workshops, Gamecock Recovery strives to empower students, faculty and staff to make campus more accepting, engaging, and supportive of students in recovery from substance use disorder. Learn to confront myths about substance use disorder, support someone in early recovery, and advocate for a recovery-oriented campus culture.

Using a recovery oriented systems of care model, faculty and staff sessions focus on conveying campus norms in the classroom and building recovery-supportive workplaces.

This is a required session for a certificate of completion in Mental Health and Well-being Competency.  Register

Do you have a desire to help your learners become more engaged and motivated to do well? Join us to learn how to create positive, engaging learning environments where learners “show up” in every meaning of the word. Together, we will explore specific strategies that you as an instructor can use to engage learners from the first class and maintain that engagement throughout the semester. You will have the opportunity to plan strategies and learning activities that can enhance engagement for all learners in many contexts, including small classrooms, large lecture halls, or online.  Register

Learn to question your assumptions about what students know and?explicitly identify the knowledge and skills you want them to acquire when completing library research assignments. [In this session, participants will explore common challenges students face when conducting library research and identify best practices for designing assignments that require or encourage the use of library resources. Participants will also have the opportunity to learn about ways in which faculty can partner with librarians to support student success. By creating research assignments with specific learning outcomes that are clear to your students, you can improve the experience for everyone involved.

This is a required session for a certificate of completion in Teaching with the Library.  Register

In this session, we will show you how to create and organize what you need to get started in the new Ultra courses. You will be able to create learning modules, folders, documents, and assignments, as well as set up a basic gradebook. You will have time for practice with guidance from our eLearning Services and Center for Teaching Excellence Teams.  Register

Do you have an existing Blackboard course that you want to transition to the new Ultra Course View? In this session, we will discuss the things you need to consider before deciding how to convert your course to the new version. We will consider your existing structure, tools, and assignments. We will also discuss the next steps to take to make sure you can continue to support your students through Blackboard!  Register

While student learning is assessed in its most basic form via grades, those grades should only be the end product of a series of measures implemented in a class that assess what students are actually “learning with understanding”. Effective assessments that promote real, deep learning are formative, engaging students in the moment or helping them understand the relevance of their learning.

This session will explore how well-designed assessments can improve student learning, specifically how instructors can ensure students achieve different levels of cognitive thinking and knowledge development through intentional assessment design. A variety of strategies and examples will be discussed along with other important considerations in assessment development.  
Register

February 2024

During their time at USC, our undergraduate students enroll in courses, participate in cocurricular engagements, hold down jobs while preparing themselves for their future careers, engage with the community, and manage their own personal challenges (AAC&U/Carnegie Foundation, 2004), but how do they make sense of these varied experiences and realize how they all interconnect? Integrative learning provides students with strategies to make connections between these within and beyond the classroom activities to help them apply their skills to new and complex problems and challenges.

This presentation explores teaching strategies and philosophies that encourage students to engage in activities beyond the classroom and then have students relate those experiences to their courses and curriculum. We will review current research and practices on integrative and experiential learning and how the Center for Integrative and Experiential Learning supports IL and EL, including the impactful role of our Quality Enhancement Plan, Experience by Design. Participants will discuss strategies for encouraging students to reflect and make interdisciplinary connections between their experiences within and beyond the classroom to promote creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving.

This workshop is a required session for a certificate of completion in Integrative and Experiential Learning.  Register

Creating an environment of integrity within the classroom truly takes a village. Faculty, administrators, and students all play a role in maintaining an ethical campus community. This workshop will explore preventative tools to address classroom roadblocks.

This is a required session for a certificate of completion in Fostering Proactive Learning Environments.  Register

Are you equipped to provide accessible content that meets the needs of all your students? Come prepared to gain hands-on experience of applying digital accessibility best practices during this session.

This workshop will provide guidance for applying accessibility practices to your documents appropriately and how to prevent potential barriers people experience due to disabilities. An overview of disabilities and the challenges they cause will be provided including types of assistive technologies (AT) that help alleviate those challenges.

Artificial intelligence (AI) will be touched on related to its part in developing accessible content. You will also learn about integrated automated accessibility tools in Microsoft and Blackboard platforms that can identify accessibility issues and provide guidance to resolve them.

Attend with curiosity to help lead towards innovative and inclusive content design strategies. Leave with a strong sense of applying accessibility best practices that opens the path of better experiences for all your students within our shared digital world.  Register

Now that you’ve moved your existing course to Ultra, what do you do?! In this session, we will discuss the steps to review your course exceptions, reorganize your existing content, and make sure that your course is doing what is best for you and your students.   Register

This workshop is designed to familiarize participants with Blackboard’s Ultra Course View. eLearning Services will demonstrate how instructors can navigate an Ultra course, communicate with students, add content, find and utilize tools available in Blackboard, and grade assignments.  Register

This presentation focuses on the benefits of incorporating artificial intelligence into lesson plans and course content. This new technology spans across disciplines and has an infinite amount of possibilities for its users. It is important that rather than shying away from artificial intelligence we as educators add it to the vast toolkit at our disposal to better prepare our students to become competitive global citizens. This presentation will provide tangible examples of how to incorporate AI in your classroom, discuss some pitfalls to avoid with AI and share information from the viewpoint of the Office of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity. Register

The Resilience in the Classroom training is a 50-minute training that focuses on three major components of resilience:

  • Self-compassion
  • Dealing with failure, and coping skills, and
  • How to incorporate these components into the classroom.

Resilience is associated with academic success and psychological well-being. This session will help instructors identify how they can strengthen students' resilience and help them adapt to change and hardships by integrating these core competencies into their curriculum.

This is a required session for a certificate of completion in Mental Health and Well-being Competency.  Register

Whether you are new to teaching or not, we all have things about teaching that give us stress or that take more time than we would like. In this workshop, we will strive for effective student learning while being kind to ourselves and our own time. We will discuss sources of teaching anxiety and you will leave with strategies that you can use for effective planning and feedback.  Register

While many universities are carving out safe spaces on campus for LGBTQ+ students, the classroom remains a vulnerable place for many students. This workshop will discuss ways faculty can support in promoting LGBTQ+ student success.

This is an elective session for a certificate of completion in Teaching Towards Inclusive Excellence.  Register

A teaching philosophy statement provides a concise description of an instructor's perspective on teaching, student learning, methodologies, and implementation, and institutions typically request a teaching philosophy statement from applicants for faculty positions and as part of the tenure and promotion process.

What, then, is your teaching philosophy? What should your write or include? This is a working webinar, where we will discuss best practices and strategies for composing the statement, incorporating time for individual brainstorming on components, group discussion and feedback, and theme development, concluding with recommendations and resources. Participants will leave with an outline of their statement themes, opening paragraph, and guidelines to continue crafting it.

For you and other participants to benefit the most in the time available, this webinar requires that you do some reflective writing in advance of the session.  Register

This workshop is designed for Blackboard users who are familiar with the new Ultra Course View but want a more intensive look at the Ultra Gradebook. In this 60 minute session, a consultant from eLearning Services will share some best practices and tips & tricks for setting up a Gradebook that works for you. There will be time for questions after a live demo and presentation.  Register

The presentation will provide tips and suggestions for weaving DEI and inclusive teaching practices throughout the curriculum, focusing on medical, healthcare, and clinical teaching. A focus will be placed on diversifying pictures, models, and scenarios used for class learning and creating inclusive assessment strategies focused on the social determinants of health, health literacy, and patient advocacy.

This is an elective session for a certificate of completion in Teaching Towards Inclusive Excellence.  Register

Diversity, in many dimensions, creates opportunities in a mentoring relationship, but diversity can also be a source of challenges for mentors and mentees. Learning to identify, reflect upon, learn from, and engage with people who are different from ourselves is essential for fostering an effective mentoring relationship and a broader intellectual community. This workshop will help you increase your own understanding of the role of diversity on mentor/mentee interactions, recognize the impact of conscious and unconscious preconceptions, biases, and prejudices, and identify concrete strategies for addressing issues of equity and inclusion.

This is an elective session for the Entering Mentoring certificate of Completion.  Register

Technology misuse in the classroom has become so pervasive that we must rethink whether our energies should be spent fighting it or whether to work with students on a new paradigm. Yet struggles around technology are also the most obvious symptom of a much larger problem of many students' inability to focus and the value many of them hold for multitasking.

This is an elective session for a certificate of completion in Fostering Proactive Learning Environments.  Register

Student engagement is crucial for learning! Studies have demonstrated that using virtual reality in education can boost student engagement, enhance attitudes toward the subject, and even lead to enhanced student performance. In this session, the presenters will explore the various benefits of using virtual reality in the classroom, along with the easiest ways to get started using virtual reality in education. They will demonstrate some virtual reality experiences with a Meta Quest 2 headset so participants will not only hear about virtual reality, they'll get to experience it for themselves.  Register

Job postings in higher education may request some kind of statement outlining your contributions to inclusivity and diversity, in addition to teaching and research statements. These written essays help search committees identify candidates who have the skills, experience, and/or capacity to engage in activities that enhance campus inclusivity efforts.

How do you approach writing such a statement? What should be included - research, teaching, and service experiences / activities, or values, views, and future goals? What are search committees looking for? This webinar will provide guidance in exploring your personal experiences to help you determine what to emphasize and include in your statement, and how best to illustrate your personal commitment to an institution’s mission and goals.

This is a working webinar, requiring that you do some reflective writing in advance, so that all participants can benefit from a richer group discussion. Register

Have you considered trying the flipped learning approach but aren't quite sure where to start? Have you already attempted the flipped learning approach but felt like you didn't quite achieve the results you were hoping for? Or maybe you've heard about the flipped learning approach and would like to learn more about it. If so, this workshop has been designed with you in mind!

During this session, you will work collaboratively with a small group of your peers to discuss flipped learning, address the benefits and challenges of the flipped approach, and study examples of successful, and not so successful, implementations of the flipped classroom. You will discuss the basics of transforming your existing teaching practices and materials into tools that support flipped learning and identify strategies for overcoming the potential challenges of switching to this model.

This workshop will, of course, be delivered in a flipped format, so be prepared to review instructor-provided material in advance and arrive ready to contribute to group discussions.  Register

The first half of the Support Zone training focuses on providing context for the necessity of faculty and staff being well-versed in recognizing and responding to students experiencing mental health distress. The facilitator will review definitions, national and local statistics about mental health in college students and discuss how stigma affects help-seeking behaviors. The facilitator will also discuss how COVID-19 has exacerbated the aforementioned issues. This session will also cover crisis support protocol, how to recognize signs of distress, warning signs of suicide, non-suicidal self-injury, and how to respond and intervene to a student of concern.

This is a required session for a certificate of completion in Mental Health and Well-being Competency.  Register

This workshop is designed to familiarize participants with Blackboard’s Ultra Course View. eLearning Services will demonstrate how instructors can navigate an Ultra course, communicate with students, add content, find and utilize tools available in Blackboard, and grade assignments.  Register

The Virtual Environments Community of Practice is planning ways to integrate virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality into teaching and learning environments at UofSC. Meetings are open to faculty, staff and students.

If you are interested in participating in the Virtual Environments CoP, or would like to be on the email list for further information, please email Charles Andy Schumpert at schumpca@mailbox.sc.edu.  RSVP

In this introductory workshop, participants will learn how publishing models affect students’ abilities to access affordable course materials and how libraries can acquire learning resources for the classroom. Workshop facilitators will demonstrate how to use the library to provide affordable and equitable access to course materials through e-reserves, purchasing, video streaming, and open educational resources.

This is a required session for a certificate of completion in Teaching with the Library.  Register

Utilizing integrative learning principles, the presenters will share examples of how high impact practice (HIP) characteristics are incorporated across different disciplines and identify classroom assessment techniques (CATs) that can be applied across a variety of academic settings. Participants will have opportunities to share examples of reflection and integrative learning principles in the design of assignments and appropriate assessment methods for their classroom.

This workshop is a required session for a certificate of completion in Integrative and Experiential Learning.  Register

The second half of the Support Zone training focuses on participants learning how to refer students of concern experiencing varying levels of distress (mild, moderate and severe), what to do if a student refuses a referral, how to maintain the students' privacy, and how to follow-up with the student. This session includes role-plays and other interactive activities to help participants practice their recently acquired skills. The facilitator will also discuss the how responding to students of concern affects faculty/staff mental health and how to respond accordingly.

This session includes a review of resources specific to faculty/staff needs and tips on dealing with COVID-19 related stressors. Lastly, the facilitator will review campus and community resources to ensure participants have a thorough understanding of what is available to students and when to use each resource.

This is a required session for a certificate of completion in Mental Health and Well-being Competency.  Register

In an increasingly diverse and interconnected world, the importance of allyship in education cannot be overstated. This presentation seeks to address the critical issue of fragility in allyship when working with or teaching students from marginalized communities. Fragility can manifest as discomfort, defensiveness, or avoidance when confronting issues related to race, gender, socioeconomic status, or other forms of marginalization. Such fragility not only hinders meaningful progress but also perpetuates systemic inequalities.

This presentation will explore strategies and insights aimed at dismantling fragility and fostering robust allyship within educational contexts.

This is an elective session for a certificate of completion in Teaching Towards Inclusive Excellence.  Register

In this session we will discuss the academic misconduct trends we are seeing online and in person with our students. Additionally, we will discuss how to identify and address these common violations while maintaining a productive instructor/student relationship.

This is a required session for a certificate of completion in Fostering Proactive Learning Environments.  Register

March 2024

This workshop is designed to familiarize participants with Blackboard’s Ultra Course View. eLearning Services will demonstrate how instructors can navigate an Ultra course, communicate with students, add content, find and utilize tools available in Blackboard, and grade assignments.  Register

Determining whether mentees understand core concepts about the research they are doing is critical to a productive mentoring relationship, but it is surprisingly difficult to do. Developing strategies to assess how well mentees understand the purpose of their research, the principles underpinning their research and experimental techniques, and the context of their work is an important part of becoming an effective mentor. Moreover, it is important for mentors to be able to identify causes for confusion among mentees and strategies to address misunderstandings.

This is a required session for the Entering Mentoring certificate of Completion.  Register

This workshop is designed for Blackboard users who are familiar with the new Ultra Course View but want a more intensive look at the Ultra Gradebook. In this 60 minute session, a consultant from eLearning Services will share some best practices and tips & tricks for setting up a Gradebook that works for you. There will be time for questions after a live demo and presentation.  Register

Introduce your students to the integrative environment of digital projects without overwhelming yourself. A digital project assignment can be a web site, database, podcast, or any multimedia platform. This type of assignment can draw students into the class but can be cumbersome for the teacher. Drawing on faculty experiences and twenty years of managing USC Libraries’ Digital Collections, this presentation will help you understand how to set up and manage such an assignment so that you can all enjoy learning and collaborating and not lose sight of the main topic. Learn about the Libraries services so you can take full advantage of them. If this talk piques your interest, the Library offers in depth online, workshops on many of the tools mentioned in this overview.

This is an elective session for a certificate of completion in Teaching with the Library.  Register

Though scholars understand primary sources as the foundation of original research, in truth, few students are accustomed to reading historical documents and even fewer are familiar with their material forms. Teaching students to both read and see primary sources as historical objects can sometimes be cumbersome. Even so, the intimacy of handling historical material, whatever its medium or genre, helps students feel more connected to the past and the topics discussed in their coursework. As Matthew Kirschenbaum emphasizes, the importance of knowing “how textual things work” better teaches students to “see the text as a social artifact.” This workshop will help faculty learn how to teach students that the topics they discuss in class are products of a specific time and place generated by people that may have had a shared horizon of expectations that is different from our own historical moment.

This will be a workshop that takes place in the Hollings Library. Faculty will have the opportunity to work with artifacts that align with their own teaching and will be able to workshop ideas with peers across related disciplines and library faculty who specialize in teaching with primary sources.

This is an elective session for a certificate of completion in Teaching with the Library.  Register

The first half of the Support Zone training focuses on providing context for the necessity of faculty and staff being well-versed in recognizing and responding to students experiencing mental health distress. The facilitator will review definitions, national and local statistics about mental health in college students and discuss how stigma affects help-seeking behaviors. The facilitator will also discuss how COVID-19 has exacerbated the aforementioned issues. This session will also cover crisis support protocol, how to recognize signs of distress, warning signs of suicide, non-suicidal self-injury, and how to respond and intervene to a student of concern.

This is a required session for a certificate of completion in Mental Health and Well-being Competency.  Register

Through Recovery Ally workshops, Gamecock Recovery strives to empower students, faculty and staff to make campus more accepting, engaging, and supportive of students in recovery from substance use disorder. Learn to confront myths about substance use disorder, support someone in early recovery, and advocate for a recovery-oriented campus culture.

Using a recovery oriented systems of care model, faculty and staff sessions focus on conveying campus norms in the classroom and building recovery-supportive workplaces.

This is a required session for a certificate of completion in Mental Health and Well-being Competency.  Register

The second half of the Support Zone training focuses on participants learning how to refer students of concern experiencing varying levels of distress (mild, moderate and severe), what to do if a student refuses a referral, how to maintain the students' privacy, and how to follow-up with the student. This session includes role-plays and other interactive activities to help participants practice their recently acquired skills. The facilitator will also discuss the how responding to students of concern affects faculty/staff mental health and how to respond accordingly.

This session includes a review of resources specific to faculty/staff needs and tips on dealing with COVID-19 related stressors. Lastly, the facilitator will review campus and community resources to ensure participants have a thorough understanding of what is available to students and when to use each resource.

This is a required session for a certificate of completion in Mental Health and Well-being Competency.  Register

The Virtual Environments Community of Practice is planning ways to integrate virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality into teaching and learning environments at UofSC. Meetings are open to faculty, staff and students.

If you are interested in participating in the Virtual Environments CoP, or would like to be on the email list for further information, please email Charles Andy Schumpert at schumpca@mailbox.sc.edu.  RSVP

This presentation focuses on the benefits of incorporating artificial intelligence into lesson plans and course content. This new technology spans across disciplines and has an infinite amount of possibilities for its users. It is important that rather than shying away from artificial intelligence we as educators add it to the vast toolkit at our disposal to better prepare our students to become competitive global citizens. This presentation will provide tangible examples of how to incorporate AI in your classroom, discuss some pitfalls to avoid with AI and share information from the viewpoint of the Office of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity.  Register

This workshop is designed to familiarize participants with Blackboard’s Ultra Course View. eLearning Services will demonstrate how instructors can navigate an Ultra course, communicate with students, add content, find and utilize tools available in Blackboard, and grade assignments.  Register

You'll feel more comfortable in the classroom when you understand how copyright applies to course materials. Come explore how to use freely available, licensed, and copyrighted materials in instruction and on Blackboard. We’ll discuss the practical applications of fair use and other exceptions and limitations. Finally, we’ll examine how the library can assist you with posting materials for your class.

This is an elective session for a certificate of completion in Teaching with the Library.  Register

It’s time to start thinking about your upcoming course! Have you already started planning your syllabus and have ideas but don't know where to start? Or are you feeling mired down in syllabus details, feeling like you're missing a prime opportunity to rethink and revise certain sections? You're not alone - and we're here to help! Join other instructors as we break down the components of the syllabus using the backwards design model: the role of learning outcomes and how to craft them, developing quality learning activities, formulating the appropriate assessment, and determining the most effective teaching methodology. Other tips and advice for syllabus development, including required and recommended components, along with examples of good and bad syllabus construction, will be discussed.  Register

In this session, we will show you how to create and organize what you need to get started in the new Ultra courses. You will be able to create learning modules, folders, documents, and assignments, as well as set up a basic gradebook. You will have time for practice with guidance from our eLearning Services and Center for Teaching Excellence Teams.  Register

The Resilience in the Classroom training is a 50-minute training that focuses on three major components of resilience:

  • Self-compassion
  • Dealing with failure, and coping skills, and
  • How to incorporate these components into the classroom.

Resilience is associated with academic success and psychological well-being. This session will help instructors identify how they can strengthen students' resilience and help them adapt to change and hardships by integrating these core competencies into their curriculum.

This is a required session for a certificate of completion in Mental Health and Well-being Competency.  Register

Do you have an existing Blackboard course that you want to transition to the new Ultra Course View? In this session, we will discuss the things you need to consider before deciding how to convert your course to the new version. We will consider your existing structure, tools, and assignments. We will also discuss the next steps to take to make sure you can continue to support your students through Blackboard!  Register

April 2024

A goal of most mentoring situations is to enable the mentee to identify and achieve both academic and professional objectives. Though learning to do disciplinary research is an important academic outcome in research mentoring relationships, there are many other outcomes that will influence a mentee’s future career. Mentors should consciously consider and support their mentees to achieve these other outcomes.

This is an elective session for theEntering Mentoringcertificate of Completion.  Register

Now that you’ve moved your existing course to Ultra, what do you do?! In this session, we will discuss the steps to review your course exceptions, reorganize your existing content, and make sure that your course is doing what is best for you and your students.   Register

Student engagement is crucial for learning! Studies have demonstrated that using virtual reality in education can boost student engagement, enhance attitudes toward the subject, and even lead to enhanced student performance. In this session, the presenters will explore the various benefits of using virtual reality in the classroom, along with the easiest ways to get started using virtual reality in education. They will demonstrate some virtual reality experiences with a Meta Quest 2 headset so participants will not only hear about virtual reality, they'll get to experience it for themselves.  Register

We often hear the term 'politically correct' or 'PC' to describe when individuals feel they have to change their terminology to not offend another person. However, this presentation will challenge us to move away 'politically correct' terms and focus more on inclusive, validating terms, phrases, and descriptors for different groups. The focus will be on exploring how inclusive language in the classroom when teaching, discussing students/faculty, and when creating materials can transform how students absorb information, feel welcomed and safe, and embrace diversity. This introductory presentation will focus on defining marginalized population, person-first language, and addressing some of our implicit bias & stereotypes when communicating about/with diverse populations.

This is an elective session for a certificate of completion in Teaching Towards Inclusive Excellence.  Register

Smartphones are ubiquitous tools nowadays as 85% of people now own a smartphone. Smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices are undoubtedly something most of us rely on every day, but did you know that a lot of their tools and features can be great for accessibility as well? This session will highlight some common features and apps on our mobile devices that you can customize and optimize to assist with an individual's digital accessibility needs. We'll also dive into how virtual assistants and mobile apps can assist people with disabilities in their daily lives.   Register

Are you ready to transform your assessment methods and unleash the power of technology to enhance student learning? In this webinar, we will delve into the world of Generative Artificial Intelligence, a powerful technology that can generate text, translate languages, write different creative content, and answer your questions with human-like responses. With prompt engineering, the art of crafting effective instructions for generative AI, you will discover how to design prompts that elicit thoughtful responses. Discover how to generate assessments that align with your course learning outcomes to foster creativity, critical thinking, and personalized learning experiences.  Register

Engaging in conflict is challenging whether you are an experienced instructor or new to your role. A common strategy is to ignore the behavior due to our own discomfort, concern over retaliation or fear that our intervention may cause more harm or disruption. We will identify what our fears are about classroom disruption and use case study examples to practice strategies to stretch participants' comfort zones. This workshop will also explore Gerald Amada's research from Coping with Misconduct in the College Classroom and provide participants with tangible strategies to prevent and respectfully address disruptive behavior.

This is a required session for a certificate of completion in Fostering Proactive Learning Environments.  Register

Reflecting upon your mentoring relationships is a vital part of becoming a more effective mentor. This is especially important immediately following a mentor-mentee training sequence like Entering Mentoring as it allows you to consider how to implement changes in your mentoring practice based on the training you have received. The ability and practice of reflecting on your mentoring at regular intervals is strongly encouraged.

This is a required session for the Entering Mentoring certificate of Completion.  Register

The Virtual Environments Community of Practice is planning ways to integrate virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality into teaching and learning environments at UofSC. Meetings are open to faculty, staff and students.

If you are interested in participating in the Virtual Environments CoP, or would like to be on the email list for further information, please email Charles Andy Schumpert at schumpca@mailbox.sc.edu.  RSVP


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