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Faculty Resources

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From teaching fundamentals to policies, the Faculty Resource page is here to guide you from your first day in the classroom until the day of your retirement. Consider this your first stop in becoming the kind of faculty member who helps students find their way to a bright future and, quite possibly, inspires other faculty members in the process. We hope that you will find this page helpful in your teaching journey, and we welcome any suggestions or additions for its improvement.

Teaching Fundamentals

Need to some teaching wisdom? These resources are for new or current faculty members looking for inspiration and support. 

Teaching Inspiration

Think about how you teach using Blooms Taxonomy.

The Teaching Professor
Collins, H. (2009, May). On Becoming a Teacher. Teaching Professor

Lessons learned in using inquiry-based learning effectively
Gonzalez, J.J. (2013). My journey with Inquiry based learning. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 24 (2), 33-50

Becoming an effective teacher requires becoming self-aware and aware of social context
Cohan, M.  (2009, November/December). Bad apple: The social production and subsequent reeducation of a bad teacher. Change, 32-36.

Creating a syllabus

University syllabus policy

A general overview of the purposes of effective syllabi
Slattery, J. M., & Carlson, J. F. (2005). Preparing an effective syllabus. College Teaching, 53(4), 159-164.

Why beginning to use a more learner-centered tone makes sense
Richmond, A. S., Slattery, J., Morgan, R., Mitchell, N., Morgan, R.K., & Becknell, J. (2016). Can a learner-centered syllabus change students’ perceptions of student-professor rapport and master teacher behaviors? Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, 2(3), 159-168.

Translating learner-centered theory into practice
Richmond, A.S. (2016). Constructing a learner centered syllabus:  One professor’s journey.  IDEA

Students prefer longer syllabi, while syllabus images do not seem to make a difference
Harrington, C. M., & Gabert-Quillen, C. A. (2015). Syllabus length and use of images: An empirical investigation of student perceptions. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, 1(3), 235-243.

Considerations of the advantages and disadvantages of using trigger warnings in the classroom
Boysen, G. A. (2017). Evidence-based answers to questions about trigger warnings for clinically-based distress: A review for teachers. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning In Psychology, 3(2), 163-177.

Strategies to encourage students to use office hours rather than email to contact faculty
Jackson, L. E., & Knupsky, A. (2015). “Weaning off of email”: Encouraging students to use office hours over email to contact professors. College Teaching, 63(4), 183-184.

Laptops and cellphone policies

How are students using cellphones and how can we minimize phone-related distractions?
Berry, M. J., & Westfall, A. (2015). Dial D for distraction: The making and breaking of cell phone policies in the college classroom. College Teaching, 63(2), 62-71

Planning the first and last day

First day of class

Icebreakers
Holbert, R. G. (2015). Beginning with Bingo: An icebreaker to initiate classroom community. College Teaching, 63(4), 181-182

Last day of class
Uhl, C. (2005). The last class. College Teaching, 53(4), 165-166.

Better use of Power Point

Making effective PowerPoint presentations

Students receiving slides without text learned more effectively and rated the course more positively
Holstead, J. (2015). The impact of slide-construction in powerpoint: Student performance and preferences in an upper-level human development course. Scholarship Of Teaching And Learning In Psychology, 1(4), 337-348.

FERPA and confidentiality of student records

Clarion’s policy on confidentiality of student records

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Clarion’s Academic Honesty and Plagiarism Policy

Memo to students on cheating

Reporting academic integrity violations

Plagiarism Quizzes—test to see if students understand what we mean by plagiarism

Teaching Innovation

Looking for a way to enrich your classes? These resources provide tools and information to enhance your teaching.

 Teaching Blogs and Guides

Stephen Chew’s video series on How Students Study and Learn.  Video Topics Include: Developing a Mindset for Successful Learning, Beliefs That Make You Fail…Or Succeed, What Students should Understand About How People Learn, Cognitive Principles for Optimizing Learning, and “I blew the Exam, Now What?”

Vanderbilt Center for Teaching—Teaching Guides.  This is the box store of teaching guides.  Almost 100 different titles including: Grading Student Work, Learning Styles, Flipping the Classroom, Team-Based Learning, Peer Review Teaching, JITT- Just In Time Teaching, Increasing Inclusivity in the Classroom, Difficult Dialogs, Lecturing, New Teachers, Motivating Students, and many more… 

Hand in Hand Authored by Clarion faculty, this blog examines timely issues in teaching.

Teaching Professor blog.  This free blog looks at current issues in college teaching.  Sign up for the free weekly newsletter, listen to a free podcast, or create an account to access free reports on relevant faculty topics.  Some products on this web page are ONLY available for purchase.

Inside Higher Ed is an online faculty resource that includes news, opinion, surveys, webcasts and job listings.  You can also sign up for a free subscription and gain access to hundreds of blogs on assorted college teaching issues.

Chronicle of Higher Education (Available through Clarion libraries. Login required.)

High-Impact Practices

Efficacy-based teaching and learning strategies that are beneficial for students from many backgrounds

George Kuh's key work on high impact practices.

Association of American Colleges & Universities' chart on high-impact practices

David Reinhart's essay on high-impact practices in a complex (splintered) culture

Teaching our students to think, learn, and take tests more effectively

Promoting student metacognition

Students given active reading questions learn more effectively and perform better on recall tasks
Fleck, B., Richmond, A. S., Rauer, H. M., Beckman, L., & Lee, A. (2017). Active reading questions as a strategy to support college students’ textbook reading. Scholarship Of Teaching And Learning In Psychology, 3(3), 220-232.

Guiding questions are an effective study method for all students, especially those struggling with reading comprehension
Stiegler-Balfour, J. J., & Benassi, V. A. (2015). Guiding questions promote learning of expository text for less-skilled readers. Scholarship Of Teaching And Learning In Psychology, 1(4), 312-325.

A decision-making model to help students identify problems on tests
Mitchell, M. L., & Slattery, J. M. (2017, Fall). Help for students who “don’t do well on tests.” Eye on Psi Chi, 22(1), 12-15.

Mark Mitchell's Tips for Students

How do we find out what students know?- Student assessment

Writing good multiple choice exam questions

Tips on how to use multiple-choice tests to optimize student learning and performance
Xu, X., Kauer, S., & Tupy, S. (2016). Multiple-choice questions: Tips for optimizing assessment in-seat and online. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, 2(2), 147-158.

Carnegie Mellon Eberly Center Exam wrappers

How testing can promote learning
Brame, C. J., & Biel, R. (2015). Test-enhanced learning: The potential for testing to promote greater learning in undergraduate science courses.” Cell Biology Education—Life Sciences Education, 14, 1-12.

Student-written exam questions have positive outcomes in the classroom
Corrigan, H., & Craciun, G. (2013). Asking the right questions: Using student-written exams as an innovative approach to learning and evaluation. Marketing Education Review, 23 (1), 31-35.

Considering philosophies and strategies of grading
Schinske, J., & Tanner, K.  (2014). Teaching more by grading less (or differently). Cell Biology Education—Life Sciences Education, 13, 159-166.

Early assessments identify students who need more formal and informal help
Kim, A. N., & Shakory, S. (2017). Early, but not intermediate, evaluative feedback predicts cumulative exam scores in large lecture-style post-secondary education classrooms. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, 3(2), 141-150. 

Grading student work

Outcomes and Assessment

Are your students learning?  These resources offer information about assessment and how to use assessment results to improve your course or program.

Best Practices and Resources

ISLAB Institutional and Student Learning Advisory Board
Information about Clarion’s assessment system and processes

Assessment Documents and Resources
An overview in best practices in assessment with links to assessment resources

 Learning Outcomes

LEAP Essential Learning Outcomes
From the Association of Colleges and Universities, this outlines evidence-based high-impact practices that increase student retention and student engagement

Clarion University student learning outcomes
What we expect students to know and be able to do when they graduate

Technology Resources

Whether you are teaching online, face-to-face, or in a hybrid course, the resources in this section will enhance technology use and integrating technology into your classes.

 Resources for faculty teaching online

Information about getting an online course approved, copyright issues, and Mediasite Live. 

Clarion Learning Technology Center

The LTC staff provide resources, support and professional development for faculty to assist with the integration of technology and instructional design principles into teaching and learning online and face-to-face.

Clarion Learning Technology Center Workshops

LTC provides online, advanced, and virtual professional development opportunities focused on enriching teaching and learning through the use of technologies, giving both practical “how to” advice and exploring the pedagogy of technology use.

 Faculty D2L Resources

How-to guides and demonstration for setting up the various D2L tools and third party resources

 Student D2L Resources

Check out the guide to D2L for students, as well, to help them navigate D2L

Teaching online certificate course

Information about the required certification course for online teaching 

 Quality Matters Rubric and Standards

Quality Matters standards and best practices for course design when teaching online

Faculty Development

Being a faculty member is more than teaching.  These resources provide information concerning growth in your career.

Research and Grant Opportunities

Information about faculty and faculty-mentored student grant and research opportunities at Clarion University

Institutional Review Board reviews faculty and student research to ensure compliance with standards about human subjects and animal use

The National Science Foundation (NSF) provides detailed assistance in the application process for science and social science grants

Facilitating research at primarily undergraduate institutions is an initiative of NSF known as RUI

National Endowments for the Humanities provides guidance in matching your humanities project to a federal grant.

 National Endowments for the Arts offers links to federal grants covering the arts.

Research Experience for Undergraduate Faculty targets faculty who are interested in mentoring undergraduate research in mathematics. It is especially focused on underrepresented students.

Council on Undergraduate Research One of the main organizations promoting faculty-mentored student research

Ideas for promoting undergraduate research for underserved students in any field

 Promotion and Tenure

 University promotion and tenure guidelines

Faculty evaluation guide

Faculty Wellness

Faculty wellness/Recreation Center

Employee Assistance Program:  a free assessment and referral service for employees and their family members; this includes up to three face-to-face sessions for you and everyone who lives in your house, as well as your parents, adult children, and siblings regardless of where they live.

Policies and Professionalism

You may need assistance navigating the various stages of your career. Allow these resources to guide you.

Curricular policies and processes

This describes how to change curriculum or courses and how to get approval for new courses or programs of study here at Clarion.

 Governance

 Faculty Senate

State/System Resources

PASSHE.  A link to the website for Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education

PASSHE Self Service.  This password protected portal allows you to view your payroll information and benefits participation information, enter leave and sick days, and sign up for account alerts.  Use your Clarion password to enter the site.

PASSHE Employee Benefits.  This summary highlights the health and prescription drug benefits, supplemental benefits, retirement benefits, leave entitlement, and other voluntary benefit programs for State System Employees covered by APSCUF Faculty and Coaches, Nonrepresented, OPEIU, POA, and SPFPA Employees.   

Clarion University Human Resources

Human Resources forms  Frequently used forms including background checks, tuition waiver, direct deposit, evaluation forms, I-9 forms for international faculty as well as forms for new faculty.

Policies

University policies

Academic Integrity and student academic rights and regulations

Clarion Student Code of Conduct

How to report conduct violations: Online educational complaint form

 Retirement

The Association of Pennsylvania State Colleges and Universities Retired Faculty provides detailed information on the steps to retirement and includes instructions for membership in APSCURF. The site offers a handy retirement checklist and a link to the State System's retirement guidelines.

Emeritus status outlines the policies and procedures associated with obtaining emeritus status after retirement. Details on eligibility and privileges are provided.

Last Updated 8/30/22