Faculty Center for Innovation 2021-2022 Annual Review

FCI Mission

To foster a faculty culture of continuous learning and engagement across Park’s 900 + full-time and adjunct faculty.

When faculty are supported in learning about and implementing new teaching practices, students succeed.

Impact to Park Faculty and Students

• 52 teaching and learning programs offered
• 574 full-time and adjunct faculty participants
• 9,625 on-demand programming views

Programming Topics

• Connected, collaborative learning cultures in the classroom
• Empowering adjunct faculty innovation
• Teaching “contagious kindness” throughout the curriculum
• Digital learning design and teaching skills
• Evidence-based essential teaching practices for on-ground and online teaching
• Faculty research and scholarly writing skills
• Inclusive teaching practices
• Recognizing privilege in the classroom
• Removing barriers to student learning through inclusive syllabi
• Reaching students through student services

Program Formats

• Special interest groups
• Teaching workshops
• Asynchronous resource materials
• Self-paced online learning modules
• Virtual coffeehouses
• Writing retreats
• Park’s refereed academic journal, InSight
• Monthly learning/connection communities for first-year full-time faculty
• Fall and Spring academic conference events held online

Teaching Innovation Fellows Special Interest Group (SIG) Cohorts

FCI Teaching Innovation Fellows Special Interest Group (SIG) Cohorts bring together Park faculty who have similar interests and goals related to their teaching practice; 29 faculty participated in these year-long communities. The 2021-2022 SIG topics are included below, and the videos provide an overview of the impact each SIG had on the Park community.

Creating Connected Communities, led by Teaching Innovation Fellow Sandra Abbey

Contagious Kindness, led by Teaching Innovation Fellow Clarine Jacobs

Empowering Online Adjunct Faculty Innovation, led by Heather Strafaccia and Favor Campbell

*Special thanks to Heather and Favor for stepping in to lead this important topic

Transformative Teaching Exchanges

Transformative Teaching Exchanges are 45- to 60-minute interactive sessions held during the fall semester, are led by the FCI Teaching Innovation Fellows, and are open to all Park faculty. By the end of the discussion, faculty should have instructional teaching and learning practices to consider applying within the classroom. During the Fall 2021 semester, 38 faculty participated in the these exchanges. Click the button below to view the recordings and resources of each session.

Teaching Essentials Modules & Cohort

The Teaching Essentials Modules consist of five fully online, self-paced modules offering faculty practical instructional strategies that may immediately be applied within the classroom. Upon completion of each module, faculty will earn a certificate, and if they choose to complete the entire program, they will be awarded a digital badge. By the end of the 2021-2022 academic year, over 100 faculty have completed one or more of the modules. Click the following buttons below to be taken to each of the Teaching Essentials Modules.

Due to Park faculty feedback to have a social learning component incorporated with the Teaching Essentials Modules, the inaugural Teaching Essentials Cohort was formed. Eight faculty from across the campuses and who teach different modalities completed all five Teaching Essentials Modules and connected throughout the Fall 2021 semester to share their teaching and learning experiences. At the end of the semester, all Park faculty were invited to join in a share out and learn over 15 teaching strategies applied by the Teaching Essentials Cohort. Click the button below to view faculty from the cohort and the resources shared.

Virtual Academic Conference

On March 26th, 2022, Park instructors, faculty, and staff came together for the third annual Virtual Academic Conference to explore best teaching practices at our university. This year's keynote was Dr. Tracie M. Addy, co-author of What Inclusive Instructors Do: Principles and Practices for Excellence in College Teaching. 162 faculty/staff registered for the conference. Based off of Dr. Addy's work, participants reflected upon inclusive practices they already use in the classroom as well as questions they were left with that they wished to continue to explore over the year. Click the button below to view recordings, presentations, and resources - including Park faculty reflections - from the conference.

Fall Faculty Conference

During the 2021 Fall Faculty Conference, three questions were posed to faculty:

1. What skills and competencies will students need in the future?
2. If there were no limits, how could we revolutionize education at Park?
3. How can we enhance the way we organize, teach, and empower student learning at Park? What might this mean for your teaching practice?

Top responses included:

• Experiential application and problem-based learning for students (internships, apprenticeships, external mentoring, hands-on and PBL learning)
• Interdisciplinary/cross-disciplinary collaboration (team teaching and course development, co-sponsored co-curricular activities, "breaking down silos")
• Relevant, accessible, innovative technology to enhance student learning, with the understanding that training - for students and faculty - may be needed to properly utilize available technology
• Consideration of faculty's time (course preparation, workload, advising and student support)

Click the button below to view all Park faculty responses from the cross-disciplinary group collaborations.

2-Minute Mentors

In 2016, FCI developed brief (2-3 minute) recordings with quick tips for the classroom to support Park faculty who have expressed interest in participating in continuous learning but may not have as much time to attend longer sessions. These recordings, known as 2-Minute Mentors, continue to be popular, and during the 2021-2022 academic year alone received over 2,000 views. Click the button below to access all recordings.

Scholarship Fellows

Based upon Park faculty feedback, FCI also launched the Scholarship Fellows Program during the 2021-2022 academic year. Three pre-tenure full-time faculty were awarded fellowships and provided support, structure, resources, and mentoring to create and submit a scholarly manuscript to a peer-reviewed publication outlet of their choosing at the conclusion of the academic year. The 2021-2022 Scholarship Fellows' research topics are included below, and the videos provide an overview of the impact each study had on the Park community and beyond.

Hoax and Information Literacy, researched by Camille Abdel-Jawad (mentored by Andrea Baer, Instructional Services Librarian/Assistant Professor, University of West Georgia)

Power and Security, researched by Jack MacLennan (mentored by Patrick Jackson, Professor of International Relations, American University)

Combatting Racist Patterns of Thought, researched by Joshua Mugg (mentored by Ron Mallon, Professor of Philosophy and Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology, Washington University in St. Louis)

Scholarship Support & Community

The Center also continued collaborations with ParkWrites and the Faculty Scholarship Circle to co-sponsor monthly Virtual Faculty Writing Retreats, where 78 faculty came together to meet briefly in small groups and create scholarly/writing goals, work on those goals, then rejoin to share accomplishments. Click the button below to view what faculty accomplished during the retreats.

InSight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching

FCI published its 16th volume of Park's academic journal, InSight, during the Fall 2021 semester. The journal has become a renowned scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) publication outlet and had a 26.09% acceptance rate for volume 16. Additionally, InSight was shared on the resources table at the 40th Annual Original Lilly Conference on Teaching, and has received over 8,000 unique views of the journal's articles for the 2021-2022 academic year. Furthermore, while creating volume 16, the journal received support from a student intern who learned editorial practices and publication processes as well as contributed a teaching and learning piece that focused on contract grading.

Finally, in a given academic year, the Editorial Board focuses on two volumes; as the Board wrapped up the 16th volume, the journal began accepting submissions for volume 17 (to be published Fall 2022). According to one of the authors of an accepted manuscript for Fall 2022,

The entire InSight Journal team has been fabulous to collaborate with on this research manuscript.

Click the button below to view additional information regarding InSight, including the current and past volumes.

Virtual Coffeehouses

FCI held its second year of monthly Virtual Coffeehouses for Park faculty to socialize. In an attempt to make the experience feel more as if participants were in different areas, the Center used the collaboration platform, Kumospace, as illustrated below.

FCI Highlights

• Hosted third Virtual Academic Conference with renowned keynote speaker, Dr. Tracie Addy
• The Scholarship Fellows program was implemented so three pre-tenured full-time faculty could focus on their scholarly endeavors
• Based upon internal and external reviewer feedback from FCI's administrative program review, FCI collaborated with Dr. Meghan Bathgate, Director of Educational Program Assessment at the Poorvu Center at Yale University to develop more streamlined assessment for the Center's programs
• Selected to present and represent Park/FCI at the National 2021 POD Conference for innovative programming efforts - presentation topic: "Blending Asynchronous and Synchronous Programming to Optimize a Virtual Collaborative"

Advisory Council's Impact to FCI Programming

• Led college/school faculty focus groups
• Peer reviewed Teaching Innovation Fellows and Scholarship Fellows blinded applications
• Promoted and participated in FCI programs

FCI Impact to Faculty...in Their Own Words

A note about the [Teaching Essentials] courses. This was excellent training and well worth the time investment, thank you. I also appreciate the availability of the course material for review of all or some of the content. Thank you. - Gilbert Adjunct Faculty

I wanted to pass along the news that I have just been invited to give a talk at [a university]. The invite came from a colleague of my mentor...Although correlation does not imply causation, I can’t help but think there is a connection here. So I have to think that the ‘networking’ aspect of this fellowship is really working out. I wanted to let you know. Thanks for working to get this fellowship up and running! - 2021-2022 Scholarship Fellow

I want to let you know that one of the Spark Tank funded projects has recently been accepted as a full paper...at the largest computer education conference in the world. In recent years, the acceptance rate of that conference was less than 35%. Thanks very much from the support of FCI - Former Spark Tank Winner

Erica and her team put together a fantastic Virtual Academic Conference on March 26. The keynote speaker, related presenters and group discussion provided practical, helpful ideas for increasing inclusivity in the classroom. - 2022 Virtual Academic Conference Participant

Impact beyond Park

• Recognition of Virtual Academic Conference by the 2022 keynote on Twitter, and institutions are showing more of an interest in participating in the conference
• Scholarship Fellow presented research at a conference
• External subject matter experts mentored Scholarship Fellows
• Former Spark Tank winner published a paper in the largest symposium for their discipline
• InSight volume 16 was published (CLICK HERE to view journal)
• FCI presented at the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education's 2021 conference
• Park Faculty Presented at the Enhancing Teaching and Learning Conference and Kansas City Professional Development Council core workshops (CLICK HERE to view conference program)
• North Atlantic Treaty Organization and Kansas City Professional Development Council Representation

What a great year, and looking forward to the next!