annual report 2022-23 Commonwealth Campus instructional designers
A few professional development events and resources from across Penn State are highlighted below:
- Commonwealth Connections: Instructor Days in Fall 2022, 177 participants gathered to hear from 44 faculty presenters. Each Commonwealth Campus was represented by participants and presenters. In Spring 2023, 167 participants listened to 5 faculty panelists and 3 student panelists. All the Commonwealth Campuses were represented by participation.
- Top 5 Universal Design for Learning Series had 5 workshops with 89 participants from 16 Commonwealth Campuses. Of these participants, 7 faculty completed all 5 workshops. The Universal Design Learning Teaching Circle gained 36 faculty members.
- Commonwealth Campus Teaching Support Website provided more robust and varied opportunities for community building and professional development to instructors across the Commonwealth. On average it received 121 visitors per month.
- Pathways to Pedagogy Website connected faculty with appropriate educational technology tools and teaching activities that meet their classroom needs. The site includes case studies associated with those tools and activities. On average it received 229 visitors per month.
- Cross Campus Teaching Circles included 10 groups, led by 12 instructional designers, across disciplines and issues. From across the Commonwealth, 14 campuses were represented by the 64 faculty who joined a circle.
- Teaching Online Program is an asynchronous series of professional development courses focused on best practices for teaching online. This year, an Online Synchronous Module was added to Level 1. Level 3 was launched to promote further refinement of online teaching practices. In the past year, 15 digital badges were awarded to acknowledge mastery of the content.
Instructional designers provided campus specific faculty development, such as the events facilitated by the Center for Teaching Initiatives at Behrend. Regional events were also hosted, like Lehigh Valley's Inclusive Teaching and Learning Symposium and Scranton's badge programs on Canvas, Course Design, and Media Production. Countless one on one consultations were provided to support faculty, and thereby our students and the broader Penn State community.
DYNAMIC LEARNING SPACES
Campus instructional designers explored educational innovation in classrooms, Canvas spaces, and across campuses. A few noteworthy accomplishments include:
- Great Valley Media Studio is a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to faculty recordings with integrated multimedia elements.
- Interactive Classroom Guides show 360 images of Greater Allegheny and Scranton classroom spaces with links to technology instructions and teaching strategies.
- Artificial intelligence in the classroom was discussed on many campuses.
- Liquid Syllabus Workshop demonstrated how to create a meaningful instructor-learner relationship before the first day of classes.
- Virtual Reality Headsets brought together students in a DLC course shared across York, Abington, and Harrisburg campuses.
- Shared Courses Task Force exploring several aspects of Shared Courses across the Commonwealth. A playbook will be developed based on the task force report.
In the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, instructional designers develop their expertise in dynamic learning spaces.
- Dunsworth, Q. Integrating Undergraduate Learning in Engineering and Business to Improve Manufacturing Education. Co-Principal Investigator, 2021 – 2023. National Science Foundation Award #2021303. $299,998.
- Cruz, L. & Dunsworth, Q., & Thompson, C. Learning from Each Other: An Introduction to Teaching Squares. Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence. Virtual online, Penn State University.
Projects to expand knowledge and skill sets were also undertaken. One example is Great Valley's creation of an AI bot to extract pertinent information for our admissions advisors. If the proof of concept is successful, we can open the bot up to students and use the technology to support Commonwealth Campuses.
University Partnerships
Campus instructional designers partnered across the university. Of particular note, designers were actively involved with the Digital Learning Cooperative, Shared Programs, ID-IT Partnership, and University Committees.
Digital Learning Cooperative (DLC) grew by 6 new Gen Ed courses, as funded by the Office of the Vice President of the Commonwealth Campuses and the Office of General Education. We hosted a Gen Ed on the DLC kick-off meeting where the faculty and instructional designers talked about Gen Ed assessment and unique considerations for teaching courses to students from multiple campuses.
Shared Programs continued to see growth with the addition of a Computer Science Program shared on the campuses of Brandywine, Hazleton, and Beaver. Currently there are 12 Shared Programs with 91 faculty involved. Over the past year liaison librarian support was established for Shared Programs. Following a new communication plan, we wrote and distributed 3 email newsletters to the Shared Programs faculty with an average open rate of 56%.
The ID and IT Partnership met 3 times with an average of 33 participants. The Partnership strengthens collaborative relationships as we share best practices where our roles intersect. We hope to encourage creative solutions to common challenges. The following task forces were established: develop pilot projects for new technology; immersive technology; and power rangers to optimize efficiency of common processes.
University Committees support the University’s strategic plan and initiatives. Campus instructional designers are actively involved with the following committees: Penn State Online Coordinating Council; Faculty Engagement Subcommittee of the Penn State Online Coordinating Council; Penn State e-Education Council Subcommittee of the Penn State Online Coordinating Council; Design, Media, and Technology Subcommittee of the Penn State Online Coordinating Council; Digital Pedagogy Subcommittee; Canvas Advisory Group; Kaltura Users Group; Learning Design Liaisons; Learning Design Summer Camp; Campus Learning Design Retreat; Web Liaison; Quality Matters; Accessible Technology and Information Committee; Accessibility Users Group; and Articulate Community Group.
INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN COLLABORATIONS
Community is a defining characteristic of Penn State's campus instructional designers. We meet regularly, work together on projects, and find new ways to support faculty and enhance the learning experiences on our campuses.
In-person retreat was held at the Dreamery in University Park in July 2022. From across the Commonwealth, 22 participants gathered. The goals of the event were to build community with in-person teamwork, determine strengths and aspirations of the group, and identify opportunities to align resources for future cross-campus initiatives through creative activities. These shared projects began: Cross Campus Teaching Circles, ID Onboarding process/resource sharing, and a Repository for Internal Resources.
Our hiring searches are run effectively by sharing resources across the Commonwealth. We worked together on 3 learning designer search committees to successfully hire Elizabeth Park (York), Lee Ann Dickerson (Behrend), and Hudson Tran (Behrend). We also welcomed Jennifer Eichenmiller (Harrisburg) and Danielle Malone (Altoona).
FUTURE GOALS
We are proud of the work we accomplished over the last year, most notably our growing partnerships to better support faculty across all the Commonwealth. We are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead. Below are a few of the areas we will be focusing on in the next academic year:
- Learning Spaces support
- Artificial intelligence faculty development opportunities
- Connecting and collaborating at the in-person Campus Learning Design Retreat
- Expanding resources on Shared Programs website
- Accomplishing goals of ID and IT partnership task forces