Volume 3, Issue 1o--Published: Thursday, February 8th, 2024

Getting to Know the Center:

Ahhh February–a time when the light returns (even if the groundhog retreats), we celebrate Black History Month, and reminders of love surround us.  At the Center, we know how much you love your students. It shows in the emails of encouragement, the hours of planning, the dedication to engaging feedback, the bravery to listen to your gut to help a student who really needs it, and in the countless other ways you support our students. The Center is here to support you as you do this important work. We’d love to connect with you –just let us know how we can help!

Our Work--The Center and You!

And Speaking of our Lovely Students...Have you seen MATC's Fast Facts Recently?
 

As we go into our Professional Learning opportunities at the upcoming Non-Student Contact Day, reviewing this vital information may be helpful in our work to create classroom environments,  curriculum, and best practices that engage and encompass the experience of our wonderfully diverse students.

TAP, TAP, TAP…Consider this a Friendly Reminder!
Non-Student Contact Day may be  a good time to take action on your Teaching Action Plan (TAP).  More information on the TAP and suggested timelines can be found on The Center’s website.

M3 Professional Development Day
 
On Friday, February 16th, the annual M3 Professional Development Day will be held in person on MATC Campuses from 8am to 11am.  A general session followed by break-out groups for the three primary subject areas of Math, Science, and English Language Art will occur. This day is an opportunity for the faculty from the three participating institutions of MPS, MATC, and UWM to get together, share best practices, and streamline curriculum, assessment, and instructional strategies.
 

MATC Professional Development Opportunities:

MATC offers a wide-range of professional development courses in a variety of delivery modes and durations as part of our efforts to design meaningful professional development that provides just-in-time training opportunities for you to explore what you need when you need it. All of our offerings are free to MATC faculty and eligible for FQAS hours, so that you can plan and develop your own professional development goals and outcomes.  

The Multi-Faceted Nature of Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education

This workshop delves into diversity and inclusion in higher education, examining race, gender, socio-economic status, and more. It covers key concepts like intersectionality and equity, focusing on their impact on student life, curriculum, faculty, and administration. Historical and contemporary challenges in creating inclusive academic environments are explored. The workshop encourages critical analysis of existing practices and devising new strategies for enhancing diversity and inclusion. It aims to equip learners with the skills to foster equitable and inclusive educational settings.

Thursday, 2/15/2024, 1 pm-3 pm, Virtual

Syllabus: Collaborative Approach

The conflict between First Amendment rights and academic freedom is increasingly driving campus protests. How do we respond if someone's free speech undermines someone else's right to feel safe in their academic community? How do we, as teachers, maintain respectful and open-minded classrooms and manage conflicts when they arise? In this focussed discussion we will look at how campuses around the country are trying to find a way of honoring their commitments to diversity in the face of rising challenges and the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Affirmative Action.

Tuesday, 2/20/2024, 12-1:00 pm, Virtual

Creating and Captioning in Yuja
 
This workshop will demonstrate how to create (and import) a recording, and then caption it, using Yuja (MATC’s video editing software).  Yuja will auto-caption your video (captioning is required of any video), and allows you to simply create a link to place in Blackboard for students to view. 
 
Friday, 2/23/2024, 10:30am-12pm, Virtual or Face-to-Face  in The Center for Teaching Excellence (Room M201 of the Downtown Campus)

Equity Statement, About You & About Your Instructor

How does your syllabus promote effective, engaged learning? Begin by building a relationship with your students.  Develop a syllabus that invites students to your classroom and the learning experience. Explain your partnership with the students. Emphasize the students’ role in their successful learning by customizing the About You / About Me sections of your syllabus. View practical examples of syllabi that build relationships.

Tuesday, 2/27/24, 12-1 pm, Virtual

COS Reboot

Are you a Developer for a Course Outcome Summary (COS) that needs to be reviewed and/or edited? This workshop is intended for those who edit the Course Outcome Summary (COS) in WIDS and would like to learn more about writing Learning Objectives, Course Competencies, and Criteria. 

Thursday, 2/29/24, 8:30am-10:30am, Virtual or Face-to-Face  in The Center for Teaching Excellence (Room M201 of the Downtown Campus)

Free Speech and Diversity Discussion
The syllabus template can be used to promote a student-centered approach to building an inclusive and collaborative learning experience.  In this workshop, we will identify ways that students and instructors can use syllabus building to open discussion about classroom policies, deadlines, expectations, and teaching and learning practices.  By welcoming student input, instructors also make room for student concerns and can create engagement, ownerships and a sense of community in the classroom.
 
Thursday, 2/29/24, 1 pm - 2 pm, Virtual

Editing and Embedding Questions in Yuja

This workshop will demonstrate how to edit a recording using Yuja (MATC’s video editing software). It will also address adding questions for the viewer in the recording. 

Friday, 3/1/24, 10:30am-12pm, Virtual or Face-to-Face  in The Center for Teaching Excellence (Room M201 of the Downtown Campus)

Collaboration Connection:

Non-Student Contact Day Activities
 
All full-time faculty are required and part-time faculty are invited to attend the professional learning activities planned for our upcoming NSCD on 2/13.  These activities will take place on the downtown campus and will be in-person face-to-face events only (no virtual option). We are excited to bring our faculty team together as we reflect upon our personal assessment practices and learn about academic technology integration.

Friendly Reminders:

Update from the MATC OER Team:
 
Sign up for ZERD 209 before February 25 (deadline extended), learn about OER, and qualify for a $200 stipend from the state grant to promote OER. We thank everyone who applied for the OER grants - We will be in touch soon about grant winners.

Keeping You Posted:

Our goal with Center Connections is to keep you informed, not only about Center’s work, but to help you navigate other college-wide initiatives that directly impact faculty.

Attendance Taking Reminder:

As you settle in and get your classes going, please remember the importance of entering attendance in Self-Service in a timely fashion for each of your classes.  It's very important that we be able to track attendance for our students as a way to help them succeed: We know that students are more likely to succeed if they're present.  Taking timely attendance is also important because it affects student financial aid and academic standing. For your convenience:

  • This link  contains instructions for entering attendance in Self-Service.
  • This link is a reference guide for attendance reminders and updates

If you have questions about this process, please reach out for assistance.

Additional Professional Development Opportunities:

Generative AI technology has expanded its reach well beyond ChatGPT, offering students and educators opportunities to explore it in pragmatic and ethical use cases. Through well-planned assignments and human-centered interfaces, this technology can be a powerful tool to augment learning, not replace it.
In this webinar, a student panel will discuss innovative applications of AI in higher education and how students are currently using AI.

Inspiration, Research, and Best Practices

Part of The Center’s mission is to keep you informed about current best practices and pedagogical approaches. Each issue of Center Connections includes links that are meant to be engaging, thought-provoking, and applicable to various classroom environments. For information on MATC's free access to Magna Commons publications, please see The Center's website.   Enjoy the rabbit hole!

Here are some books, documentaries, websites, and social media accounts to help you teach Black history in all its complexity.
"If we weigh our educational systems in terms of communication instruction, we find that almost all of the formal attention is given to teaching reading and writing, some is given to speaking and almost none is paid to listening."-Ralph Nichols and Leonard Stephens, Are You Listening?
You form an impression of a student within five seconds of seeing them. This impression is likely to stick even after you interact with them for a while (Ambady et al., 2020). While that thin slice of behavior may or may not provide an accurate read of them, that impression you form and the...

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