Instructional Support

The Center provides a variety of support services for classroom teaching.

Videotaping

Upon request, the Center will arrange to videotape your class to allow you to “see yourself in action” as a teacher.  Videotaping is completely confidential;  the tapes become your property for your sole use. 

Instructional Design

In partnership with the Monroe Library, Writing Across the Curriculum, and other faculty support units on campus, the Center offers help—through one-on-one consulting as well as workshops-- in all phases of instructional design, including research resources, pedagogy, assignment design, and assessment tools.

  • Developing assignments to promote improved critical thinking
  • Incorporating Jesuit reflection into writing and discussion assignments
  • Designing and team-teaching first-year seminars and linked courses
  • Using writing and revision as learning tools in the classroom
  • Planning, creating, and teaching online courses
  • Using service learning projects to integrate knowledge
  • Devising student-centered courses and projects
  • Creating active learning in the classroom
  • Creating virtual learning environments for courses
  • Using the web for delivery of course material

Technology Support

The Center provides direct support by:

  • Creating podcasts of lectures and classes for distance instruction
  • Building course blogs and wikis
  • Maintaining and helping with the university’s Blackboard system
     

Assessment Support

The Center is committed not only to enocouraging innnovation but also to measuring its success-- that is, its impact on classroom practices, course design, and student learning.  To support the Center sponsors throughtout the year a series of "Measure What You Treasure" workshops for faculty and staff.  These workshops familiarize participants with the University-wide assessment data available through the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Research and develop their skills in assessing their own courses, departmental and college programs, and new initiatives.

AY 2011-2012 Measure What you Treasure Workshops

Faculty Teaching Faculty

The Center draws on the rich expertise of Loyola faculty to promote the enhancement of teaching and classroom innovation.  Although we occasionally bring in outside experts to speak on specialized topics, we believe that our talented faculty learn best from the opportunity to share their best practices with one another.  Faculty who participate in informal discussions and workshops led by their colleagues express enthusiasm over the quality and value of these experiences.

The Faculty Academy

Our largest enhancement program is the Faculty Academy,  in which teachers preparing to teach First-Year Seminars meet throughout the spring semester to discuss successful teaching techniques,  assignments, and syllabi. Academy leaders are experienced First-Year Seminar faculty who shape an extensive program of readings and young adult cognitive development, developmental learning, writing-to-learn, teaching critical thinking through problem-solving, writing, and discussion, experiential learning, and teaching innovation through technology, incorporating Jesuit values, and working with Student Affairs staff on co-curricular programming.

The Faculty Academy meets once per month from February through April and then for a full week in mid-May.  During the Academy, participants complete a course syllabus and assessment plan.

Click here to see the Faculty Academy syllabus.

Handouts

Luncheons and Brown-Bag Discussions

Throughout the academic year, the Center hosts frequent brown bag discussion sessions for faculty members teaching First-Year Seminars. These sessions give faculty the chance to share questions and problems, exchange effective assignments, and brainstorm about ways to improve seminars-in-progress.

At mid-term each semester, all First-Year Seminar faculty attend a luncheon in which they share the strengths and challenges of their courses to that point and discuss ways to recalibrate syllabi and assignments for the rest of the semester.

Workshops

Each Friday during the fall semester and on many Fridays during the spring, the Center offers faculty-led workshops on a variety of topics. Workshops meet from 3:30 – 5 or 5:30 with  wine and hors d’oeurves. Many of these workshops are offered under the auspices of the New Faculty Seminar.  Others are open to the faculty campus wide.  Our workshops include the following:

  • Teaching Critical Thinking
  • Writing proposals for internal and external grants
  • Applying for Marquette Fellowships
  • Loyola’s Common Curriculum
  • Scholarly Communications and Open Access
  • Service Learning
  • Ignatian Pedagogy
  • Developing Online/Hybrid Courses

Webinars

The Office of Student Affairs is offering a series of professional development webinars during the spring 2012 semester.  These are free and open to the campus community.

  • Campus Violence: Mistakes in Assessment and Prevention
  • Clery Act Update: What You Need to Know
  • Exceptional Front-Line Customer Service in Higher Education
  • Less Pain, More Gain: Best Practices for More Effective Meetings
  • Teachable Moments: Managing Aggressive and Overly Involved Parents

Click here for more information on dates and times