Effective Institutional Advocacy as an Educational Developer

November 11, 2020

The upheaval created by the COVID-19 pandemic makes it more important than ever that educational developers advocate for effective, equitable policies and practices. Educational developers have knowledge our institutions need. And yet effective, ethical advocacy in our complex institutional settings is no easy proposition. In this highly interactive session, participants will collaboratively engage with narratives of advocacy, reflecting on and generating wisdom to apply as they work to improve practices and policies within their institutions.

Mapping Our Innovation Practices to Reclaim Our Innovation Story

November 11, 2020

On many campuses, a narrative of innovation as large-scale disruptions (e.g., MOOCs) has placed innovation out of reach of many centers' budgets. This interactive workshop will introduce key terminology about innovation in order to reclaim it. Participants will map their innovative practices using tools adapted from the innovation literature as a reflective exercise. We will affirm ways in which we innovate daily and use this new language to tell our innovation story.

Applying Student-Faculty Partnership Lessons in a Negotiated Course Redesign

November 12, 2020

The principles of reciprocity, mutuality, and respect that characterize student-faculty partnerships build civic capacity and increase student agency. Including students in curriculum decisions incorporates these principles of equity and inclusion and deepens learning. This workshop will explore the lessons learned in a student-faculty partnership and examine their application in a sustainability education classroom by inviting students to negotiate the curriculum. Participants will reflect on the challenges and opportunities inherent in enlisting students in course design and consider the student agency that comes from that process.

Professor Burnout: How Do You Identify and Destigmatize Faculty Burnout?

November 12, 2020

Faculty often say they feel burned out. But feeling burned out is not the same as burnout, a workplace syndrome frequently impacting professionals in caring professions, like faculty. And when productivity and reputation are the coin of the realm, burnout can feel like a shameful weakness rather than an opportunity to reassess and grow. In this interactive session, we will define and learn to recognize burnout and apply a framework based in purpose, compassion, connection, and balance to work with burned-out faculty. Participants will leave with extensive resources and a plan for a session on faculty burnout for their campuses.

Getting On the Balcony: Adaptive Leadership and Curriculum Reform

November 12, 2020

Curriculum reform -- typically a high-stakes enterprise -- can be challenging in today's climate. However, the theory of adaptive leadership empowers educational developers to successfully identify, analyze, and address "systemic problems with no ready answers" (Heifetz & Laurie, 1997). A flexible paradigm coined by business and public policy experts, adaptive leadership empowers us to approach curriculum design and development as an "adaptive challenge" (Wolfe, 2015). Using our flagship graduate program's ongoing reform as a case study, our interactive session encourages participants to reflect on their own adaptive challenges and, collaboratively, articulate innovative solutions to common obstacles to organizational change.

Forging Connections Through a Center Needs Assessment Survey

November 12, 2020

In response to a desire to improve the effectiveness of our work, the Center for Teaching Excellence at Miami University created a needs assessment survey targeting faculty perceptions of all its programs and services. The goals were to learn more about whom we are serving, improve awareness and communication, and assess the inclusiveness and overall effectiveness of our offerings. Participants in this interactive session will learn how we designed the survey, what we learned, and then will work together to discuss their campuses' particular faculty development needs and how they might create a survey of their own to address them.

Connecting Through Narratives of Failure to Cultivate Professional Growth

November 11, 2020

Connecting with one another in times of change and challenge is vitally important. While the literature is replete with stories of best practices and success, there is also much to be learned from how we respond to failure. We are two educational developers who embarked on a self-study of failure in our educational development practice. Our analyses led to a framework which has helped us to interpret our experiences of failure and become more nuanced in our practice. Through sharing our stories and framework, we hope to decrease the stigma around narratives of failure and help others to catalyze growth.

A Change Process Facilitation Model for Curriculum Redesign

November 11, 2020

Curriculum redesigns are complex endeavors. When educational developers are invited to support a unit's curricular revision, we enter a network of relationships, histories, and power structures. The success of the project depends as much on our ability to facilitate within these human dynamics as on our facility with learner-centered curriculum design. Our Center for Teaching Excellence and Office of Organizational Excellence have collaborated to develop a new model for curriculum design facilitation that strategically and systematically addresses the human dimensions of curricular change. This workshop introduces participants to key strategies for structuring and facilitating curriculum redesigns as complex change processes.

Observing Critical Teaching Behaviors: What Does Good Teaching Look Like?

November 11, 2020

Educational developers, faculty, and administrators regularly observe teaching and provide formative or evaluative feedback. Many tools are available to guide observers, but rigidly defined guidelines often fail to flexibly encompass disciplinary differences and instructor preferences. The Critical Teaching Behavior (CTB) observation tools are grounded in the CTB framework, developed to help faculty and administrators identify, document, and assess effective teaching behaviors. Peer review guidelines create a structured, transparent process for giving and receiving holistic feedback that identifies teaching strengths and clear goals for development. The CTB observation incorporates self-assessment to promote reflection and integrates faculty voice in the observation process.

Emphasizing the Assets of Adjunct Faculty to Develop Empowering Programs

November 11, 2020

Common narratives surrounding adjunct faculty tend to focus on resources they lack and seldom acknowledge the strengths and benefits of this community. Drawing upon Yosso's theory of cultural capital, roundtable participants will discuss how we might create spaces for adjunct faculty to find and develop power from their own stories, emphasizing the assets they bring to higher education and helping them thrive in a marginalizing environment. By identifying and acknowledging the stories of individual adjunct faculty, we can begin to unpack their assets as dedicated members of the higher education workforce and convert this knowledge into targeted, purposeful development programming.