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Welcome to our September 2023 Newsletter!
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Scene from the Duran Duran show in Sacramento last month.
My family first got cable television in 1983. As soon as it was installed, my older sister grabbed the remote and found MTV. Our living room suddenly filled with the sights and sounds of Duran Duran’s “Hungry Like the Wolf.” The video is . . . let’s just say, a problematic colonial fantasy. Nevertheless, my eight-year-old self was completely entranced and I developed an instant crush on lead singer Simon Le Bon.
A few weeks ago, I got to see Duran Duran in concert, fulfilling a dream forty years in the making. Shortly after, I met up with a former SJSU student, now in her late 20s, and told her how much fun I had seeing them perform. She smiled politely, then asked, “Who’s Duran Duran?” Oof. I felt like that meme of Matt Damon aging at the end of Saving Private Ryan.
I have been on a highly sentimental musical kick these days, having discovered The Origin of Pop as a Genre, 1976-1996, an epic, seventeen-hour playlist that takes you from ABBA to TLC in five distinct phases. If you were living in the US during those years and old enough to form memories, you will recognize many of these songs. Listening from start to finish, I recalled everything from roller skating with my best friend (“Karma Chameleon”) to college parties where I danced all night (“Girls & Boys”). To my surprise, I even caught myself belting out the lyrics of songs I had once deeply despised (“All That She Wants”).
So, as the early, honeymoon weeks of the semester come to an end, my question to you is: What is the music that gets you “Into the Groove”? Accompanies you when you have to stay up “All Night Long” to finish grading exams? Helps you make “The Promise” to meet that grant deadline? Assists you in managing the “Emotions” of committee work? Boomer, Gen X, Millennial, or Gen Z: Whatever your jam is, use it to find a little bit of joy each day as we settle into the rhythm of another busy semester.
Sincerely,
Magdalena L. Barrera
Vice Provost for Faculty Success
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Updates from the Center for Faculty
Development and eCampus
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As the semester settles into perhaps a more easy, predictable rhythm, we’d like to remind you to have a look at your instructor-specific Course Equity Portal. The Course Equity Portal (CEP) is a tool that you can use to examine equity gaps (differences in grades of D, F, WU, and NC between students who are from historically underserved racial/ethnic groups (Black, Latinx, American Indian, Alaska Native) and their peers, those who receive Pell grants or not, those who are first-generation students or not, or by gender) in the courses you teach. Knowing about and looking at such gaps can help you to understand and address them in your courses. (Note: Your individual portal is viewable only by you.)
The goal of the Course Equity Portal is to empower you to critically examine outcome data from courses you’ve taught, reflect on what this information means within the context of your courses, and learn what actions you might take to create a more inclusive and equitable learning environment for your students. These actions can be a series of small changes implemented over a period of time or can be a complete redesign of a course. The “What Actions Can I Take” section of the Course Equity Portal will help guide you to resources that can help you determine what changes you might make to give all students in your courses the opportunity to be successful. Please contact the Center for Faculty Development if you would like to confidentially discuss what you’re seeing in the Course Equity Portal or brainstorm next steps (whether for your own instruction or to engage your peers in learning communities or other programming).
You are also welcome to explore the resources for inclusive and equity-minded pedagogy available to you as a result of our institutional membership in the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). Joining as an individual member provides you with access to benefits such as: a complimentary subscription to Liberal Education, access to research that covers a wide range of topics and issues and provides timely evidence to support student success, advance equity, and advocate for liberal education, access to resources and models for equity-minded global learning for all, support for the integration of civic engagement into campus curricular and co-curricular initiatives, and more.
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To claim your AAC&U Individual Membership:
- Visit the AAC&U main website at: www.aacu.org
- Click on “My Account” in the upper right-hand corner of the page.
- Then click on Create Account at the top.
- You will be asked to search their database to make sure you do not already have a record. If you do, then they would be glad to update it. If you need any assistance, contact AAC&U’s Membership Team at (202) 387-3760 (press #1 for Membership) or email <memberservices@aacu.org>
- If you do not already have a record in their database, then you will be asked to complete a series of questions. Be sure to affiliate your membership with San José State University.
- Once joined, you can explore all the many member benefits, including resources related to Open Educational Resources (OER), ePortfolios, and civic engagement.
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On September 27 at 2:00 p.m., join eCampus for an enlightening webinar dedicated to harnessing the full potential of the Canvas LMS through the lens of the SAMR Model. Whether you're a seasoned educator or new to digital platforms, the SAMR Model provides a transformative framework for integrating technology into teaching. Dive deep into practical examples, see real-time demonstrations, and discover how to escalate from Substitution to Redefinition with Canvas features. Empower your teaching journey by leveraging technology to create immersive, dynamic, and impactful learning experiences. Don't miss this unique opportunity to elevate your Canvas course design and engage students like never before! Register now!
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The Packback team, Hunter and John, along with San Jose State University faculty invite you to a school-wide webinar on 9/19 at 12:00 p.m. to explore the difference between Generative AI and Instructional AI. During this session we will showcase how faculty on campus use Packback’s AI to create engaging class discussions, increase critical thinking skills, and improve writing skills.
After attending this webinar, faculty will learn how to use AI driven coaching and grading support to better prepare students for the real world with tangible soft skills that will set them apart. We will wrap up with an AI activity session and the next steps needed to start adding Packback to spring courses.
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Join us in breaking down barriers to learning by creating accessible PDFs! Begin using Ally in your Canvas course to assist with creating fully accessible course materials!
The SJSU 2-Hour PDF Accessibility Challenge starts on October 1st and only takes 2 hours of your time! Complete the challenge to earn a PDF Accessibility Champion certificate, badge and to be entered in a Gold Points drawing!
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Panopto makes it easy to record and share videos with your students. Plus, the automatic captions only require minor editing and the video player is fully accessible!
Students will also find the following features very useful:
- The search feature searches all spoken words and text displayed visually on the screen
- The video viewer is customizable
- Students can take private notes on the video
- Students can create bookmarks for reference
- Students can use the table of contents (a.k.a. smart chapters) to navigate through the video. Please note: you must edit or disable your table-of-contents before sharing your videos.
Important: All Zoom Cloud recordings will now appear in Panopto. Please see the eCampus Panopto webpage for details.
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At SJSU, we have an ESRI license for both you and your students that provides software that can get used for a range of Geographical Information System related topics, such as visualizing your data on a map.
Here are some resources to help with learning and teaching ArcGIS:
Some of the available ESRI products:
Reach out to eCampus or visit the eCampus ArcGIS web page for information about our campus available licenses and upcoming workshops.
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Take a break from lecturing and present a poll in your class. As opposed to taking notes and learning materials later, including polling gets students actively involved in their learning right away. With results in real time, you can catch questions and confusions right away, go over material again, and make sure that everyone has fully understood the topic before moving on. One effective active learning strategy is to present a topic in a poll, have students discuss their answer with their neighbor or in groups, then present the poll question again, and have them vote again. This active learning technique including discussion with peers, helps solidify understanding.
The use of polling programs promotes inclusivity and creates a classroom of belonging. Polling the entire class eliminates cold calling. It increases participation and permits all voices to be heard, even quiet or less confident students. All students have the opportunity to participate in the poll, which allows are students to feel welcome to contribute. Student names are not displayed on the results screen, encouraging involvement for near or total participation. Anonymous mode is also available for questions of a sensitive nature.
Polling promotes diversity and equity. Hearing peers respond uniquely provides additional perspectives, insights and new approaches to understanding. Diversity in groups can avert bias and foster innovation. Using a variety of question types, including ranking, surveys, and open-ended for a variety of voices, promotes diversity and permits individual learning progress to be checked. Polling helps to provide a positive learning experience for all students and faculty. Learn more about Poll Everywhere from the eCampus website or workshop (professional training).
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September
21: Range Elevation: Candidate packet due
22: Sabbatical: Chair’s Statement sent to candidate
22: Religious Inclusion in Higher Education, 12-1:30 pm, Zoom | Register
27: Public Voices Fellowship, Cohort 4 begins
28: RTP: Dossiers closing and submission date
October
17: Sabbatical: College Committee ranking and evaluation due
20: Range Elevation: Department-level recommendations due
24: RTP: Department-level recommendations due
November
6: RTP: Dossiers move to College-level review
6: Range Elevation: Packets move to College-level review
10: Campus closed
13: Sabbatical: Dean’s recommendation sent to candidate
22: Non-instructional day
23-24 Campus closed
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Why the Emotional Aspects of Learning Matter: “Plenty of evidence-based strategies are described in the teaching and learning literature that allow us to effectively address affective outcomes while still maintaining professionalism in the student-instructor relationship and remaining within our realm of professional expertise.”
Understanding Conference and Journal Article Rejection: “A big part of writing is rejection. Although nothing but time and perspective can really take away the sting of it, understanding how conference and journal article rejection works can . . . [help] you give your next article or conference proposal the best chance possible.”
Let’s Talk About Menopause: “[T]here are about 1.6 million women enrolled in higher education each year who are over the age of 35 (and that number doesn’t include faculty and staff). It’s safe to say that a significant portion of your campus community is in need of support for perimenopause and menopause.”
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Do you have a story, highlight, reading, or tip that you would like to share in this newsletter?
Please reach out anytime to
faculty-success@sjsu.edu
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Contact Us
Magdalena L. Barrera, Ph.D.
Deanna Fassett, Ph.D.
Jennifer Redd, Ph.D.
Follow us on our socials:
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