Ellbogen Center for Teaching and Learning

The ECTL offers various options for instructors to work one-on-one with an Instructional Designer. If the assistance you need is not addressed below,  please email wyocourses-inst@uwyo.edu or call us at (307) 766-4847.

Faculty Learning Studio

We offer drop-in support hours every week to consult about a wide range of curriculum and pedagogy questions, explore more advanced uses of WyoCourses, or get a refresher about the basic WyoCourses tools. Drop-in support is open to all UW instructors and no appointment is necessary.

Mondays and Thursdays 2:00-4:00p

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Hosted in the ECTL Zoom Room

Consulting And Class Observations

Teaching and Learning Academies

These day-long events will feature UW educators and ECTL educational developers sharing teaching strategies that have an impact on student learning.

Monday, April 3: Registration is now open! Please visit the T&L Academies webpage for the schedule and registration.  Recordings from previous Teaching and Learning Academies are also available here.

Program Curriculum Mapping Workshops

Curriculum maps will be incorporated into Program Assessment Reports for all undergraduate programs at UW on June 1, 2023. In collaboration with the Office of Academic Affairs, the ECTL is offering a workshop to help programs work through curriculum maps, looking at student learning outcomes (SLOs), courses offered, mapping student learning, and so on. Some programs will be better equipped to complete curriculum maps than others, thus this session will attempt to meet programs where they are in a workshop format where many templates for mapping will be utilized. These workshops are geared to those responsible for program assessment.  

Thursday, April 13 | 10:00-11:30a 

Tuesday, April 25 | 9:00 - 10:30a | Christine Wade (College of Education and Natural Resources)

Wednesday, May 17 | 1:00-2:30p 

Wednesday, May 31 | 1:00-2:30p 

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John P Ellbogen Summer Institute (funded by an endowment from the Ellbogen Foundation)

The Summer Institute is founded on the model of the Great Teachers Movement, which is based on the philosophy that well-facilitated shoptalk is one of the highest forms of professional development. No individual "expert" can match the collective knowledge, experience, wisdom, creativity, and genius of any group of teachers actively involved in their profession. The participants are the "experts" at the retreat.

We are now accepting applications for the 2023 summer institute taking place May 22-24 at the Saratoga Hot Spring Resort.

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Rapid Course Design (WyoCourses) Workshops

This workshop focuses on the MOST ESSENTIAL tools to get your WyoCourses class websites up and running as quickly as possible! This session will give you hands-on assistance setting up the basic functionality for your course.

Registration is closed for this semester.

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Spring Book Discussions

Every other year (odd years), the Ellbogen Center for Teaching & Learning chooses a book relevant to faculty, staff, and administrators of the University of Wyoming to discuss in-depth. Each participant who registers receives a complimentary copy of the book. There are several groups available, each typically capped at 10 participants to provide an environment where conversation and communication can be most effective.  Those who participate in the discussion sessions are often invited to an event with the author the following Fall semester.

Past book choices have been Radical Hope: A Teaching Manifesto by Kevin M. Gannon, and Relationship-Rich Education: How Human Connections Drive Success in College by Peter Felten and Leo M. Lambert. 

Assessment

Let's take some time to talk about assessment! Join the Assessment Faculty Learning Community for engaging conversations and to think with your peers about assessment for student learning at UW. 

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Applications are closed for this semester.

Allies to Accomplices

This learning community is a collaboration between Disability Support Services (DSS) and the Ellbogen Center for Teaching & Learning (ECTL) and is geared toward faculty (tenure-track and non-tenure track). It is designed to build a community of educators desiring, or already committed, to supporting students with disabilities in the classroom. We will use the text Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to be an Ally (Ladau, 2021), to generate conversations about the ways we can create processes, policies, and interpersonal experiences to support the success of students with disabilities.

Register here

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Collaborative Communication

In our hectic schedules, we often do not take the time to slow down to reflect on and think together about our work. The ECTL has been hosting an informal collaborative communication (CC) group for the past four years that does just that. Although slowing down for an hour and a half may seem counterproductive, it can provide us with deeper insights and new ways of viewing challenges and opportunities that may be more sustainable in the long run than when we hurriedly rush to make decisions.  

In this learning community, faculty, staff, administrators, and Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) are invited to join us in thinking together. We learn about and use CC in real-time as we dialogue about topics that naturally arise from the group. This is not problem-solving, group therapy, nor is there a specific agenda, other than reflecting and thinking together through CC dialogue. 

Register here for Spring 2023

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New Faculty

Meet other new faculty from a variety of disciplines, discuss best practices in teaching and learning, share resources and attend social events. Past participants have found these learning communities valuable for improving their teaching practices as well as creating community with others.

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There will be no New Faculty Learning Community this Spring

Graduate Teaching Assistants

This learning community is for Graduate Teaching Assistants. We will use the book, "The Successful TA: A Practical Approach to Effective Teaching" Nomme, K. M., Pollock, C. (2022) as a guide to structure our five meetings together. Building teaching self-efficacy and facilitating the best learning for students is the objective. Each participant will receive a copy of the book. 

Participants who attend four of the five sessions will receive a $250 scholarship. Please note that payment of scholarships can differ depending on the student’s status in the financial aid system. Some students may receive a scholarship deposited to their Banner account, and some may receive compensation paid directly to their bank with taxes taken out. If you have questions about the taxes on your payment, please contact Casey Green in the Tax Office at tax@uwyo.edu or 766-2821.  If you have questions about when your scholarship will be paid, please reference this page: http://www.uwyo.edu/sfa/contact-us/index.html.     

The learning community will be split into two groups, one is offered in an online format via Zoom and the other is in-person at the ECTL. Note: If both dates, times, and meeting styles work for you, select both options and we will assign you to a group.  Space is limited; please complete the application form and answer every question fully to be considered. 

Applications are closed for this semester.

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Ungrading

There have been many innovations in education. We have moved from classrooms to Zoom and back again. We have learned to teach  effectively in synchronous and asynchronous, online environments. We have explored and implemented active, team-based, collaborative, project-based, problem-based pedagogy in our classrooms, increasing students’ engagement and learning. We have learned how games and game theory can be used to increase student engagement in class materials. In short, we have transformed education in many ways. How else might we inspire ourselves and our students? What else might we explore? 

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Applications are closed for this semester.

Assessment Activities

Current assessment activities include information on a range of projects and activities recently completed or currently underway to gauge student learning, make improvements, or respond to accountability interests.

National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment. (2021). NILOA Current Assessment Activities

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Digital Teaching and Learning Self-Paced Course

Digital teaching and learning encompasses instructional practices that effectively use technology to strengthen teaching and learning experiences through best practices in pedagogy and andragogy. Digital teaching and learning can incorporate many different techniques, tools, digital content and resources, and applications to support and empower teachers and students, in all educational environments including online, hybrid, and face-to-face. Digital teaching and learning increases equity and access to educational opportunities as well as providing instructors with the knowledge and tools to teach inclusively. 

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Magna 20-Minute Mentor

The ECTL subscribes to the Magna Publications weekly 20-Minute Monday Morning Mentor series. These video-based programs are designed to answer a specific question related to teaching and learning. They deliver actionable insights in highly focused 20-minute presentations designed to fit busy schedules. Note: Our subscription only allows access to the weekly programs during the week they are available (Monday through Sunday) and not before or after.

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Schedule

Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

SoTL (The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning) is defined at UW as "Systematic inquiry into student learning by integrating the experience of teaching and prior scholarship on teaching and learning and making the findings appropriately public. Thus, building a SoTL community which leads to the assessment and enhancement of student learning."  

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New Faculty Programs

Every year we offer and promote educational development opportunism for new instructors in part funded by an endowment by the John P. Ellbogen Foundation.

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Graduate Teaching Assistant Programs

The ECTL recognizes that graduate students play an important part in the UW teaching and learning community. We encourage students to utilize our programs and resources to develop their knowledge, skills, and abilities as instructors. 

Every year we offer and promote educational development opportunities for Graduate Teaching Assistants which are funded through an endowment from the John P. Ellbogen Foundation. 

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Welcome to the ECTL Knowledge Base! 

We have worked hard to develop a limited, curated list of links and resources within this Knowledge Base. You can also find links to other resources in other sections of our ECTL website--so if you can’t find what you’re looking for here, please reach out to us for help: wyocourses-inst@uwyo.edu

1. Best Practices in Pedagogy. This set of pages provides a wealth of resources, designed around five major components that all instructors should be thinking about when they design and deliver courses. Especially for newer teachers, this part of the Knowledge Base should offer both a birds-eye view as well as selected resources for more targeted support.

1. Emergency Course Design. This small set of resources emerged in response to the rapid shift to online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. They provide practical information to help teachers move courses into online teaching environments.
2. Key Teaching Tools. The ECTL supports several key applications for student learning, including WyoCourses, Zoom, VidGrid, and Honorlock. This section of the Knowledge Base provides home-grown resources as well as links to support materials from each company’s website.
   • WyoCourses
   • VidGrid
   • Zoom
   • Honorlock
   • More

Lending Library

The ECTL library provides access to a range of resources about teaching and learning. Our books cover a wide variety of subjects and themes and include many of the most well-liked and well-respected books about teaching and learning. All books are available for checkout and can be shipped to off-campus faculty at their location.

Breakout EDU: Active Learning Tool

Breakout EDU is an active learning tool purchased by the ECTL that is available to UW instructors.

Breakout EDU is an immersive learning games platform that brings collaboration to both remote and in-person learning. Breakout EDU games consist of a combination of physical and digital puzzle elements that must be solved in a set amount of time. Players of all ages are challenged to open the locked Breakout EDU box using critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity.

GTA Handbook

To facilitate your growth as an effective instructor for UW's students, we provide this Graduate Teaching Assistant Handbook as an introduction to your training in pedagogy.  We also provide our students a range of learning opportunities and environments.  Learning takes place in traditional classrooms, studios, and laboratories, and also n the field and in the community.  UW's most effective teachers are constantly learning by testing new strategies and approaches to covey topics to facilitate higher levels of understanding within their students.  Because students learn most effectively when they are actively engaged, university educators learn to employ a range of strategies to facilitate student learning.  In this handbook, you will find a number of these strategies and approaches.  Some will work for you, some will not fit  your particular uses.  Pick and choose wisely, for that is the role of the effective instructional graduate assistant.

Lightboard Studio

Looking to innovate your online teaching delivery style? If the answer is yes, the ECTL Lightboard Studio may be for you! With CARES funding, the Ellbogen Center for Teaching & Learning (ECTL) has acquired a new teaching tool that lets you create innovative, fun and engaging videos. It can be used for lecture as well as supplemental videos.

“Lightboard is a glass chalkboard pumped full of light. It’s for recording video lecture topics. You face toward your viewers, and your writing glows in front of you.” – Professor Michael Peshkin, Northwestern University, Lightboard inventor

Teaching Tips

To facilitate the growth of effective instructors, we have gathered and developed the following strategies and approaches that recognize the responsibility instructors have to provide students a range of learning opportunities and environments. We have also included information about important legal and ethical responsibilities that instructors need to be aware of, career development materials, and other helpful information. 

The ECTL Newsletter

The ECTL Newsletter provides information about what's happening at the ECTL this current month. Hear from our faculty and staff about what we do at the ECTL!