Events

The Ethical Pedagogy short course is an introductory overview of ethical pedagogies as a productive framework. Using these ethical pedagogies as a framework assists instructors in incorporating and engaging in equitable pedagogical practices in their courses. The course includes research-based lessons, workshops and interactive coffee hours, journal activities, and lesson plan/activity development opportunities to support early-career graduate students seeking to diversify and deepen their pedagogy and teaching materials. Upon successfully completing the course, participants will have produced initial teaching materials (e.g., teaching philosophy statement, revised assignment, revised unit, lesson plans, etc.) and earn a certificate of completion.

Facilitated by John Elia and Shannon McClellan Brooks, this course will be conducted in both asynchronous and synchronous Zoom formats and will run from February 10th to March 16th. This non-credit short course requires an application as there are limited spots available. The application deadline is February 3rd, and selected participants will be notified by February 5th. If you have any questions about the application, selection process, or the course in general, please contact John (jre9@psu.edu) or Shannon (sum1423@psu.edu) via email. Apply any time before February 3rd using this link: Microsoft Form

Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact SITE at site@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.

The Targeted Teaching Transformation (T3) program is open to any Penn State instructor(s) of record, working as individuals or in small groups. The T3 program pairs you with an expert coach, who will work with you to identify and meet your teaching transformation goals.

You will receive multiple sessions of individual, one-on-one coaching (in-person and virtual sessions available) which you schedule at your convenience over the semester. You will receive a certificate of completion suitable for inclusion in your Faculty Activity Report upon spending at least 10 hours working towards your project goals together.

Instructors will apply through a short online form. Application deadline is February 21, 2025.
   
Apply here: https://pennstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0pjr3vsWLsjeRn0

This endorsement is part of the Provost Endorsement Program.

This endorsement engages experienced instructors in implementing inclusive and equitable teaching in their current or upcoming course(s).  This program assumes participants already understand the need for inclusive and equitable practices. Eligible participants must have teaching responsibilities in the current or upcoming academic year so that they can most immediately benefit from the content of the program by applying program concepts to their teaching. Participants will revise a syllabus or assignments for future use, reflect on their teaching based on student feedback and peer interactions, and consider how they might cultivate belonging in their courses.  Once participants have registered, they will be added to a Canvas course and connected with a SITE faculty consultant. 

Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact SITE at site@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.

This Universal Design for Learning (UDL) course is self-directed and asynchronous. The course provides an introduction to the rationale for UDL, supporting research, applications of UDL. We welcome instructors and designers who embrace student variability, strive for equity, and seek to empower students. Participants will explore UDL terms, principles, structures, and applications, and ways to adapt teaching practices.

Facilitated by Mary Ann Tobin, this course is a collaboration between the Schreyer Institute and World Campus Online Faculty Development.

Visit the UDL course page at https://www.schreyerinstitute.psu.edu/udl to enroll before April 1, 2025. You will have 60 days to complete the course.

Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact SITE at site@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.

Search committees for faculty positions sometimes ask applicants to provide a statement describing their contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). In this interactive workshop, participants will reflect on their own role and their contributions to advancing DEI, and we’ll explore useful frameworks for conceptualizing and writing DEI statements.

This is a closed event for the requesting college. If you would like a similar event for your department, college, course, or group, please email SITE@psu.edu. 

Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact SITE at site@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.

Decoding the Disciplines, developed by Joan Middendorf and David Pace of Indiana University, is a robust framework that helps instructors teach complex information to their students. In this Schreyer Institute short course for graduate students and postdocs, participants will work through the preliminary steps in the framework: 

--Identifying a concept/skill where many of their students struggle 

--Describing all of the unconscious or automatic steps they take as an expert when dealing with that concept/skill 

--Planning ways to model their expert knowledge for students and to create opportunities for students to practice the target concept/skill 

As participants in the cohort undertake this challenging and rewarding work, they will have guidance and support from Schreyer Institute facilitators Shannon McClellan Brooks and Chas Brua. 

The program will involve 1.5-hour group meetings on Zoom (9:00-10:30 a.m. on March 19, March 26, and April 9). Additionally, individual consultations/conversations with the facilitators will be available between meetings. Participants who participate in all three group meetings and write a Decoding action plan will receive a course completion certificate. 

Space is limited. Please apply at - https://pennstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8Bo8rcMWYvOVVcO by February 21, 2025.  

Applicants will be informed of their application status by February 28. 

Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the access provided, please contact SITE at site@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.

Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship in General Education: A Conversation with the Incoming Editors of the Journal of General Education

Join us for a lively conversation with the incoming co-editors of the Journal of General Education, as well as the head of Penn State University Press (the journal's publisher) to learn more about what scholars are thinking about when it comes to general education practice; what editors are looking for when it comes to general education scholarship, and how your interests might align with those of the journal (and its publisher). You will get a glimpse behind the scenes of a well-established academic journal as well as the opportunity to ask open questions to a panel of experienced journal editors and publishers.

Register: https://forms.office.com/r/B8bMcRTSns

Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact SITE at site@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.

Focusing on the intersections of accessibility and belonging, participants of this interactive webinar will discover the foundational role of accessibility in fostering a sense of belonging as well as evidence-based pedagogical strategies for making their courses more accessible.

Registration will close 1 hour before the event starts. Registrants will receive a Zoom link at least 1 hour before the event.

Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the access provided, please contact SITE at site@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.

Commonwealth Campus faculty are invited to participate in the Inclusive Syllabus Workshop Series, a professional development opportunity designed to help faculty strengthen their syllabi to better support student engagement and success. Open to faculty of all ranks and lines, the series consists of three one-hour sessions this spring, where participants will explore strategies to promote a growth mindset and cultivate a sense of belonging through their syllabi. Based on research about learning mindsets and social belonging, the series incorporates The First Day Toolkit, an online suite of resources that supports faculty in refining the messages they convey through their syllabi and on the first day of class. This initiative is a collaboration between the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence, the Office of the Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses, Penn State Harrisburg, and the Equity Pedagogy Network.

Registration closed Feb 20, 2025.

Penn State Harrisburg
February 27, 11.45am-1pm, in-person
March 26, 2-3pm (virtual)
April 4, 11.45am-1pm, in-person 

Participants are expected to attend the first and last session in-person. The March 26th session is virtual.

To register, please complete the following brief form: https://pennstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_effkpUgcNWpfZmm

The Inclusive and Ethical Pedagogy Series explores how instructors might implement inclusive and ethical pedagogy, as described in the Elements of Effective Teaching.

Panel Session: Exploring Alternative Approaches to Grading

Join us for a discussion in which a panel of experienced educators will share their alternative approaches to grading, including specifications grading, consultative/collaborative grading, and completion-based grading. This session is ideal for instructors seeking to explore practical ideas for alternative grading methods that promote student growth and align with effective course design. Participants are encouraged to share their own questions and experiences.   

Panelists:

Kati Porter (Biology, Fayette) uses mastery grading in biology courses required for nursing, physical therapy assistant, and pre-med/pre-vet majors. Weekly formative assessments are utilized, allowing students multiple opportunities to demonstrate mastery of each topic. Grades are still given on assignments, but they are not averaged together to determine the final grade. The key idea is that quizzes and assignments are part of the learning process, and they allow for opportunities to improve. The focus is on mastery of the subject, not penalizing students for mistakes they make while learning. If students aren’t doing well initially, they can still improve through continued study and participation in formative assessments.

Matthew Levy (Art History, Behrend) employs specifications grading in his general education art history courses. By using frequent, low-stakes, pass/fail assignments and offering opportunities for revision, Dr. Levy’s approach gives students greater agency in determining their final grades. 

Stacy Sekely (Physical Therapy, Fayette) employs an alternative grading system that is based on the principles of specifications grading, including mastery learning, repeated attempts, and student control over their grades. She tailors her grading approach to the course content and level. In her introductory courses, students must achieve satisfactory scores on all quizzes, exams, and practical skills assessments. Students can earn tokens by engaging in additional learning activities, such as peer tutoring and learning games. These tokens can be redeemed for opportunities to retake assessments. In her upper-level courses, case study assignments are graded as either "satisfactory" or "needs new attempt" based on a rubric, with no partial credit and a few opportunities for resubmissions.

In this session of the Talking about Teaching Series, Leah Hollis, Associate Dean, College of Education, will lead a discussion on how to manage microaggressions from students to faculty and between student peers in the classroom space.

Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the access provided, please contact SITE at site@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.

In this interactive webinar, you will gain access to a research toolkit (including an IRB) that has been developed especially for EDGE (virtual exchange) projects. Using this toolkit, you will be able to take the first steps towards designing and implementing a publishable/presentable teaching and learning scholarship project—starting as soon as this semester

Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact SITE at site@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.

Join this 20-minute workshop to explore practical ways to foster a supportive and engaging classroom environment in the early weeks of the semester. Learn strategies for designing student-centered syllabi, facilitating meaningful introductions, and establishing shared expectations that promote a sense of belonging for all learners.

Registrants will receive a Zoom link at least 45 minutes before the event.

Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact SITE at site@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.

Trying to fit your 15-week course into a much shorter summer session? We can help! This interactive workshop offers strategies you can use to make your summer course an impactful--and less grueling--experience for you and your students. Registration will close 1 hour before the event starts.

Registrants will receive a Zoom link at least 45 minutes before the event.

Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact SITE at site@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.

Focusing on the intersections of accessibility and belonging, participants of this interactive webinar will discover the foundational role of accessibility in fostering a sense of belonging as well as the essentials about creating accessible course materials.

Registration will close 1 hour before the event starts. Registrants will receive a Zoom link at least 1 hour before the event.

Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact SITE at site@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.

Join this 20-minute workshop to discuss how we can use student feedback and reflections as well as perspective taking activities to support an inclusive and welcoming learning environment.

Registration will close 1 hour before the event starts. Registrants will receive a Zoom link at least 1 hour before the event.

Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact SITE at site@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.

Registration will close 1 hour before the event starts. Registrants will receive a Zoom link at least 1 hour before the event.

Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact SITE at site@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.

Commonwealth Campus faculty are invited to participate in the Inclusive Syllabus Workshop Series, a professional development opportunity designed to help faculty strengthen their syllabi to better support student engagement and success. Open to faculty of all ranks and lines, the series consists of three one-hour sessions this spring, where participants will explore strategies to promote a growth mindset and cultivate a sense of belonging through their syllabi. Based on research about learning mindsets and social belonging, the series incorporates The First Day Toolkit, an online suite of resources that supports faculty in refining the messages they convey through their syllabi and on the first day of class. This initiative is a collaboration between the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence, the Office of the Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses, Penn State Harrisburg, and the Equity Pedagogy Network.

Penn State Harrisburg
February 27, 11.45am-1pm, in-person (registration closes Feb 24, 5 pm)
March 26, 2-3pm (virtual)
April 4, 11.45am-1pm, in-person

Participants are expected to attend the first and last session in-person. The March 26th session is virtual.

To register, please complete the following brief form: https://pennstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_effkpUgcNWpfZmm

Digital resources and tools have been part of the learning landscape in higher education for years (e.g., Google Translator, Grammarly, Chegg, Course Hero). Artificial Intelligence (AI) authoring tools have become a significant part of this rapidly changing landscape. In this workshop, we will look at examples of responses to assignments generated by AI tools. We will consider the implications of these outputs for designing assignments that help students learn, and help instructors accurately assess their learning.

This is a closed event customized for the requesting department. If you are interested in a Custom Workshop for your area, contact us at site@psu.edu.

In this interactive workshop, participants will explore strategies for writing a teaching philosophy statement that effectively communicates their goals, practices, and evidence of effectiveness. We will also analyze the strengths and weaknesses of some actual teaching philosophy statements.   

This is a closed event for the requesting department. If you would like a similar event for your department, course, or group, please email SITE@psu.edu.

Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact SITE at site@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.

Whether you’ve already written a syllabus or are just starting your first one, this workshop will help you craft an effective and accessible syllabus document. In this interactive workshop designed especially for graduate students and postdocs, we explore the essential elements of the syllabus document and how they can be made accessible and clear to all students. Additionally, participants will practice tips and tools for improving syllabus design and converse about their own syllabi. 

Registration will close 1 hour before the event starts. Registrants will receive a Zoom link at least 45 minutes before the event. 

Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact SITE at site@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs

IT Accessibility created a repository of accessible Word syllabus templates that you can use to quickly build an accessible syllabus. In this demonstration, participants will learn about the templates and basic accessibility techniques that can be applied to other academic or professional documents.

Registration will close 1 hour before the event starts. Registrants will receive a Zoom link at least 1 hour before the event.

Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact SITE at site@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.

IT Accessibility created a repository of accessible Word syllabus templates that you can use to quickly build an accessible syllabus. In this demonstration, participants will learn about the templates and basic accessibility techniques that can be applied to other academic or professional documents.

Registration will close 1 hour before the event starts. Registrants will receive a Zoom link at least 1 hour before the event.

Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact SITE at site@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.

The Improv and Pedagogy Teaching Community workshops feature small and large group discussions on connections between improv and our teaching, and improv games and exercises facilitated by company members of Happy Valley Improv and Penn State faculty members. These stand-alone, interactive workshops are held in downtown State College at the Blue Brick Theatre, 209 West Calder Way. Lunch will be provided.

Space is limited. Sign-up at https://forms.gle/HHi8d5gwGZRXyAja7.

Questions? Email Andrea McCloskey at avm11@psu.edu.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework of brain-based, research-backed teaching and learning strategies that proactively address learner variability to reduce learning barriers and create inclusive learning experiences. In this interactive, UDL-inspired workshop, participants will be introduced to the UDL framework and explore ways to apply it.

This is a closed event customized for the requesting department. If you are interested in a Custom Workshop for your area, contact us at site@psu.edu.

Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact SITE at site@psu.edu or call 814-863-2599 at least 2 weeks prior to the start of the program to allow sufficient time to effectively meet your access needs.