CELT Call for Teaching Briefs

Teaching Through the Pandemic: Effective Practices from Iowa State University’s Instructors and Online and Hybrid Classrooms

The Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) at Iowa State University (ISU) is accepting proposals for teaching briefs under a common theme of teaching and learning through the pandemic. Teaching briefs will undergo editorial review and be made accessible online as a collection of informative and practical advice on instructional technologies and effective teaching practices employed by ISU’s instructors to support their online and blended/hybrid classrooms during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Specifically, CELT is soliciting teaching briefs that describe how ISU’s instructors addressed rapid transitions of their courses to online and blended/hybrid delivery, lessons learned, and teaching and learning solutions implemented. CELT welcomes submissions about virtual/hybrid classroom implementations of effective engagement strategies, uses of instructional technologies, course design, development and (re)evaluation, and ways to include students and foster diversity and equity in teaching and learning during the pandemic.

Format

Your teaching brief will provide details for a strategy, technology, solution, collaboration, etc. that worked for your teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. A teaching brief is limited to 1,000 words (excluding references and screenshots) and contains the following:

  1. A teaching and learning context (e.g.,course description, level, academic discipline, class size, student characteristics, learning objectives) and one to two teaching and learning challenge(s) that needed to be overcome when switching to hybrid or on-line.
  2. A strategy, technology, solution and/or collaboration that proved to be effective in addressing the teaching and learning challenge(s) you described for your teaching context.
  3. A clear connection to your instructional and/or course learning objectives.
  4. Key takeaways and evidence that helps readers understand the impact on student success as demonstrated by the learning outcomes, course evaluations, student-centered conversations, self-perceptions, etc.
  5. A short statement about the types of contexts where your strategy/innovation may be most appropriate. Type of contexts could include: delivery (synchronous, asynchronous, online, hybrid, etc), course level (undergraduate, graduate, etc.), course-type (large-enrollment, capstone, project-based course, etc.) and disciplines (STEM, humanities, etc.). If the strategy would be applicable to most settings and students, indicate this fact as well. 
  6. Images, links to curated and/or self-developed resources, screenshots. (Optional).

Examples of teaching briefs might describe the following scenarios:

  • You converted your multi-hour proctored multiple-choice exam into a series of smaller, creative unproctored assignments that served to both assess your student progress and achievement.
  • You developed strategies to effectively engage students online and on-site.
  • You provided opportunities for students to engage in difficult conversations either on-line or on-site.
  • You creatively addressed academic integrity before administering your final exam online.
  • You developed and/or adapted anti-racist and inclusive strategies for an online and/or hybrid/blended course.
  • You used team-based learning in which students worked in permanent teams to work on application problems. You worked with the team-leaders using a web-conferencing tool to support teamwork.
  • You employed a Canvas functionality in a creative way.
  • You moved a student undergraduate symposium that was supposed to take place in person to online delivery in Canvas and used the discussion boards to create presentation and panel discussion spaces.
Submission Deadline

Please submit your teaching brief by Friday, December 11, 2020. Tenure and non-tenure track faculty, teaching graduate assistants and postdocs are eligible to submit their teaching briefs. You will be informed about the decision to publish your teaching brief by Friday, January 29, 2021. Briefs will be published by March 1, 2021 with an appropriate announcement in the CELT Teaching Tip.

Questions?

Please contact the editors:

  • Dr.  Ann M. Gansemer-Topf, Associate Professor of Higher Education, CELT Fellow, anngt@iastate.edu
  • Dr. Lesya M. Hassall, CELT, Instructional and Learning Designer, lesya@iastate.edu