Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT)

Online Teaching


  • Synchronous Online Teaching Session (2/1/2021)

    Are you teaching synchronously this term and want to learn and share tips, techniques, success and lessons learned?

    Please sign up to attend this webinar session on Friday, February 5, 2021, 10:30am – 12pm via WebEx (link provided
    on sign up form).

    Sign up here

    Questions? Contact Aura Lippincott (lippincotta@wcsu.edu)

  • Faculty Training for Fall Start! (8/17/2020)

    Faculty Training Sessions – Fall 2020

    Please note that session meeting links will be emailed to you prior to the session dates. Please choose the option at the end of the survey to receive a copy of your workshop sign ups.

    Blackboard Basics: Learn the basics of building your course in Blackboard
    – Thursday, August 20, 9am-11am

    Blackboard Collaborate Ultra: learn about synchronous online meeting using Blackboard’s integrated meeting tool.
    – Thursday, August 20, 1pm-2:30pm

    Blackboard Tests: learn how to create online quizzes and tests in Blackboard
    – Thursday, September 10, 12pm-1pm
    – Tuesday, September 15, 2pm-3pm

    Blackboard Grade Center: learn how to set up and navigate your course gradebook
    – Wednesday, September 23, 12pm-1pm
    – Thursday, October 1, 9am-10am

  • Summer Training for Faculty Teaching Online (6/1/2020)

    Dear Faculty,

    You are invited to register for training sessions taking place June 15-26 and July 13-24. There are a wide variety of times and dates to fit your summer schedules. Workshop descriptions and sign up links are available via the CELT Summer 2020 Workshops page.

    6/23/20 update:
    New Sessions added (June 29-30, July 7-9, and July 27) – Full details on the Summer 2020 Workshops page:

    • Session 12: Blackboard Basics (Track 5 Tech Tools)
    • Session 13: Kaltura Capture (Track 5 Tech Tools)
    • Session 14: Blackboard Ally Accessibility (Track 5 Tech Tool)
    • Session 15 Incorporating Writing into Any Course, Part 1/2 (Track 2 Course Design)
    • Session 16: Designing Rubrics and Providing Feedback for Writing Assignments, Part 2/2 (Track 2 Course Design)
  • CELT Podcast: Dr. Veronica Howard (5/13/2020)

    Open Educational Resources

    Click to listen to the podcast with Dr. Veronica Howard

    Dr. Veronica Howard teaches Intro to Behavioral Analysis (PSY A200) in UAA’s Social Sciences Building.


    In this podcast, Dr. Veronica Howard, our featured speaker from University of Alaska Anchorage, will discuss open educational resources.


    Dr. Veronica Howard is an assistant professor of Psychology at the University of Alaska Anchorage, chair of the UAA textbook affordability committee, and founding member of the Association for Behavior Analysis International’s Open Educational Resources (OER) special interest group. As a first-generation college student, working to find ways to make higher education affordable for all students is a deeply personal mission for Veronica. Veronica’s background is in organizational behavior management and sustainable behavior change, and uses these skills to promote wide-spread adoption and creation of OER materials.

    References

    Howard, V. J. (2019). Open educational resources in behavior analysis. Behavior Analysis in Practice12(4), 839-853.

    Special thanks to Peter Puccio for recording this podcast.

  • CELT Podcast: Dr. Sharon Yamen (5/9/2020)

    Setting Expectations in the Classroom

    Click to listen to the podcast with Dr. Sharon Yamen.


    Sharon Yamen, Esq. is an assistant professor in the division of justice and law at the Ancell School of Business, Western Connecticut State University. She received her J.D. at Hofstra University School of Law. Professor Yamen holds her own practice assisting small business start-ups and has ten plus years of teaching experience. Her research is vast and varied, often pointing out disparities in the law. When not teaching, researching or practicing she can be found exploring the great outdoors.

  • Part 2: Demystifying the digital pedagogy of teaching online (5/5/2020)

    Session recording (requires WCSU login)

    You are invited to CELT online faculty panel discussion… Friday, May 8, 12pm-1pm, via WebEx (WCSU Login required to access WebEx meeting link)

    Please join your colleagues for another thought-provoking conversation about the digital pedagogy of teaching online hosted by the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching.

    This session will focus on fostering online student engagement and learning through fostering community and rapport in the class.  We will discuss a variety of techniques, such as group work, discussion, peer to peer learning and other online course community building techniques. Faculty panelists will share their experience, tips, techniques, and lessons learned on this important and challenging aspect of online learning.

    Hosted by Adam Brewer, CELT Director
    Opening Remarks by Missy Alexander, Provost
    Moderated by Aura Lippincott, Instructional Designer

    Panelists:

    • Maya Aloni, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Psychology
    • Nicole DeRonck, Ph.D., Ed.D., CRC, School Counseling Program Coordinator, Assistant Professor of Counseling, Department of Education & Educational Psychology
    • Sharon Yamen, J.D., Associate Professor, Division of Justice & Law Administration
    • Sharon Young, LCSW, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Social Work
  • CELT Podcast: Dr. Neeta Connally (4/22/2020)

    How being a Researcher can Inform Teaching

    Click to listen to the podcast with Dr. Neeta Connally


    Neeta Pardanani Connally is an associate professor in the Dept. of Biological & Environmental Sciences at Western Connecticut State University (WCSU), where she oversees the WCSU Tickborne Disease Prevention Laboratory. Trained as a medical entomologist, her research focuses upon backyard ecology and prevention of Lyme and other tick-associated diseases in the northeastern United States. Some of Neeta’s recent projects have evaluated integrated tick management tactics for preventing tick bites, assessed the effectiveness of tick-repellent clothing, and investigated the role of human behavior in peridomestic tickborne disease risk.

    Neeta’s research has been funded by federal grants from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and she has been a CDC TickNET project contributor in partnership with the Connecticut Emerging Infections Program since 2007. Neeta served on the U.S. Health and Human Services Tick-Borne Disease Working Group as a member of the Tick Biology, Ecology, and Control Subcommittee in 2019, and as a member of the Disease Vectors, Surveillance, and Prevention subcommittee in 2018. She was also appointed
    to the Science and Technology Committee of the 2020 CT Governor’s Council on Climate Change.

    Neeta has been recognized for her research and outreach efforts, receiving the Connecticut State University Board of Regents system-wide Faculty Research Award in 2020, the Connecticut Campus Compact Community Engaged Scholar Award in 2015, and the Connecticut State University Board of Regents Faculty Research Award for WCSU in 2014. She holds a B.S. in animal biology from Louisiana Tech University, a Master of Science in Public Health from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and a Ph.D. from the University of Rhode Island. Prior to joining the WCSU faculty, Neeta was an Associate Research Scientist at the Yale School of Public Health.

  • CELT Panel: Demystifying the digital pedagogy of teaching online (4/16/2020)

    Watch the recording (requires WCSU login)

    4/17/2020 With four weeks of emergency remote teaching behind you, are you looking to take your online teaching to the next level? Are you new to online, or have some experience, but want to learn “how others are doing it?” As we have all moved to remote teaching, what are some lessons learned that we can apply to the rest of the semester and beyond? During this session, faculty panelists – from brand new to experienced practitioners – will share their experiences, lessons learned, “aha” moments, and the challenges and rewards of online teaching. Learn about what is involved in planning, preparing and facilitating an online course. Gain insights on how this modality is different from (and the same) as on-ground teaching. Learn valuable lessons, tips and tricks from those who have already tried (with or without success).

    Hosted by Adam Brewer, Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. Moderated by Aura Lippincott, Instructional Designer

    Panelists:

    • Eileen Campbell, EdD, APRN, ACNS-BC, Assistant Professor, Undergraduate Coordinator, Department of Nursing
    • Bruce Dunbar, MA, Adjunct Professor, Photography, Department of Art
    • Kristin A. Giamanco, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences
    • Stephanie Kuhn, PhD, Assistant Professor, Coordinator ABA Program, Department of Education
  • CELT Podcast: Dr. Caitlin Faas (3/30/2020)

    Self-Care in the Time of Coronavirus

    Click to listen to the podcast with Dr. Caitlin Faas


    Caitlin Faas is an associate professor and department chair of psychology at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, MD. She earned her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Science from Virginia Tech with a specialization in child and adolescent development. Her research has focused on emerging adulthood and educational outcomes. She is also a certified life and weight coach through The Life Coach School. Follow her work at http://www.drcaitlinfaas.com/

  • CELT Podcast: Dr. Mirari Elcoro (3/24/2020)

    Bringing the Laboratory (Live or Virtual) into the Classroom

    Click to listen to the podcast with Dr. Mirari Elcoro


    In this podcast, Dr. Mirari Elcoro, our featured speaker from Framingham State University, will discuss her scholarship of teaching and learning. She will narrate her development and motivation for evaluating and disseminating the effects of bringing the laboratory (live or virtual) into the classroom. Lastly, she will highlight her current project aimed at identifying best practices for facilitating effective studying habits for students.


    Dr. Mirari Elcoro is an Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychology and Philosophy at Framingham State University. She obtained a doctorate degree in Psychology, with focus in Behavior Analysis, from West Virginia University. She is a Governor’s Teaching Fellow from the Institute of Higher Education at the University of Georgia, and has been nominated to the Georgia Regents’ Excellence in Teaching Award by Armstrong State University (Savannah, GA) where she taught for nine years. She is also a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA-D). Dr. Elcoro serves in the editorial board of the Mexican Journal of Behavior Analysis.

    As a teacher scholar, Dr. Elcoro is passionate and invested in the scholarship of teaching and learning. She studies teaching as one of her scholarship interests. Her interest in not only in the behavior of teaching, but also in the academic and professional behaviors of her students (e.g., studying). Several of her projects focus on improving engagement in the classroom. One recent project, titled Bringing the Laboratory into the Classroom, is aimed at improving the understanding and appreciation of scientific concepts in the psychology classroom. She is also currently involved in examining the use of guided notes in undergraduate education.

    Within the experimental analysis of behavior Dr. Elcoro is interested in the study of temporal control, delay of reinforcement, behavioral pharmacology, and resurgence of operant behavior. Dr. Elcoro is also interested in the intersections between behavior analysis and neuroscience. She co-founded the minor in Neuroscience at Armstrong State University and currently teaches in the Minor in Neuroscience at Framingham State University.

    Publications in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning:

    Elcoro, M., Broughton, K., & Hebert, L. Guided notes in undergraduate instruction. International Journal of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Under Revision (Revise & Resubmit). Working on Revisions.

    Elcoro, M. & McCarley, N. (2015). This old thing? Using old laboratory equipment to enhance psychology courses. Teaching of Psychology, 42(1), 69-72. doi:10.1177/0098628314562681

    Elcoro, M., & Trundle, M. B. (2013). Student preferences for live versus virtual rats in a learning course. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 7 (1), 1-13. Retrieved from http://academics.georgiasouthern.edu/ijsotl/v7n1.html

    Elcoro, M. & Eagle, J. (2011). Efecto de la kava-kava en la conducta agresiva de peces betta splendens: una técnica para la práctica de laboratorio de pregrado en Psicología. [Effects of kava-kava on aggressive behavior of Siamese fighting fish: A laboratory research project for psychology undergraduates]. Analogías del Comportamiento, 12, 73-90.

    Special thanks to Peter Puccio for recording this podcast.