New Instructor Orientation

Welcome to teaching at Penn State! Good teaching involves planning, lots of it and at every level.The online New Instructor Orientation (NIO) is a self-directed short-course administered through Canvas, Penn State's course management system.

The NIO is a series of pages that describe the basic university resources, contact information, teaching and learning information, and student information that all instructors, who are new to Penn State, or who are new to teaching, might find useful. Anyone who is teaching at Penn State is welcome to register for the course and use the material as they wish.

Schedule

The Spring 2025 course will run for approximately 6 weeks beginning Monday, January 13, 2025 through Friday, February 28, 2025.

Penn State is part of the 45-university CIRTL Network , which focuses on developing the teaching abilities of the next generation of college faculty. Graduate students and postdocs can attain the Penn State CIRTL Teaching Certificate by completing various courses, short courses, workshops, and projects at Penn State and via the larger CIRTL Network. Participation in the Schreyer Institute's New Instructor Orientation (NIO) fulfills 6 of the 18 learning objectives required for the Associate (introductory) level of the Penn State CIRTL Teaching Certificate:

1. Describe Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and its key elements
2. Reflect on and incorporate constructive feedback related to teaching
3. Define evidence-based teaching
4. Discuss learning strategies (e.g. spaced practice, retrieval practice, elaboration, ...)
5. Describe and evaluate objectives, activities and assessments and their alignment
6. Define and give examples of active learning

Registered participants will receive:

• Immediate registration confirmation
• An email, within two business days, containing Canvas access information

Register for Spring 2025.