As part of the $2.2 million dollars DU is committing over the next year to support expert teaching in complex times, OTL is expanding some of its existing services, as well as adding new staff and services. Of the Six Paths to Teaching Innovation, OTL is principally administering three: #1: Direct support from the Office of Teaching and Learning, #2: Peer Teaching Mentors and Consultants, and the training related to #5: Classroom Assistants for HyFlex and Large Courses. Please see the information below for more details about these programs and information about how to access assistance, and see Investing in Faculty: Supporting Teaching Enhancements on the VPFA web site for more information about this important initiative.
Initiative 1: Direct support from the Office of Teaching and Learning
The OTL received additional funding to enhance our services in the areas: of faculty stipends, personnel additions, GTA training, and graduate-level classroom support.
Faculty participating in our signature programs, Teaching Online Short Course and the Hyflex Course Design Institute will be eligible for stipends following completion of the course and submission of select deliverables.
- Teaching Online Short Course: $300 upon completion of course review with an OTL instructional designer. Contact Terri Johnson for questions.
- Hyflex Course Design Institute: $500 upon completion of the Alignment Table and Self-assessment Rubric. Contact Dr. Virginia Pitts for questions.
See our calendar; more opportunities for these courses will be added soon.
The OTL is in the process of hiring five instructional designers to assist in the design and building of Canvas courses for all modalities. Because DU is going paperless this fall, ALL courses are required to have a robust Canvas presence. IDs can work 1:1 with individual faculty or schedule small group sessions to ensure best practice is considered for the Canvas portion of your course whether it is all online or supporting a course with an in-person component.
Our staff page will be updated to reflect these hires. The OTL will be working closely with Associate Deans and other stakeholders to assist in utilizing this expertise effectively. Contact Terri Johnson or Heather Tobin for questions.
The Office of Teaching and Learning is proud to offer the Foundations in Teaching and Learning Graduate Teaching Assistant Canvas Course. This fully online, asynchronous, self-paced Canvas course is available to all GTAs at the University of Denver.
Foundations in Teaching and Learning Graduate Teaching Assistant Canvas Course overview:
- Develop your professional identity through a pedagogical foundation to foster inclusive, intellectually stimulating, and dynamic learning environments.
- Develop your use of Canvas LMS, Zoom, Kaltura, and Kanopy to support classroom discussions, feedback sessions, and more.
- Develop your understanding of inclusive course design, classroom management (online and f2f), assessment, and evaluation techniques.
This course is available now. Contact Leslie Cramblet Alvarez or Dr. Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave for more information or to enroll a GTA.
The OTL will be piloting a special graduate-level teaching support program. A small subset of non-GTA graduate level students that also participate in the Foundations of Teaching and Learning course, (10 students) will be hired as student employees by the OTL, designated “Partners in Pedagogy” to receive additional training, be paired with selected faculty, and participate in ongoing mentoring with OTL staff over the course of the fall term.
Selection criteria for Partners in Pedagogy support will involve 1) class size, 2) current support, 3) topic-area considerations. Priority for Partners in Pedagogy pairs will be given to large online courses (tier 1: excess of 100 students; tier 2: excess of 50 students), faculty without TA/GTA support, and lastly courses in which the content can be defined as sensitive or controversial (dealing with race/class/gender, historically marginalized groups, etc.).
For more information, contact Dr. Valentina Iturbe-LaGrave, or Leslie Cramblet Alvarez.
Initiative 2: Peer Teaching Mentors and Consultants
Peer Mentoring Leader and Consultants
The OTL will play a support role in identifying a Peer Mentoring Leader through a RFP process currently under development. The leader, once identified, will create a process for recruiting a team of peer mentors. This effort will be primarily faculty-driven with support from the OTL. The RFP for the Peer Mentoring Leader will be announced publicly and all phases of program implementation will be communicated through OTL newsletters and other outlets as the process is finalized.
Questions may be directed to Leslie Cramblet Alvarez.
Initiative 5: Classroom Assistants for HyFlex and Large Courses
The Classroom Assistant Program will be housed at the unit level with each unit being allocated funding to hire, supervise, and assign graduate or undergraduate students to hyflex and/or other high-need courses. While assignments and supervision will remain at the unit level, the OTL in collaboration with IT Campus Partnerships, will provide required training for Classroom Assistants. Talk to your dean for more information about how this is being handled in your unit.
Classroom Assistant Training Canvas training is available now and synchronous training will be announced soon. See our calendar. Contact Lindsey Kline or Leslie Cramblet Alvarez to enroll CAs hired by your unit. See our calendar for dates and information about the synchronous training component.
