NIU Graduate Teaching Assistant Program Schedule

How to Avoid (and, if Necessary, Prevail in) Grade Appeals

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:20:36 -0500

Monday, November 30, 2009 from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm, Holmes Student Center, Room 505
Grade appeals can be time consuming for you, your chairperson, and your colleagues. But knowing what to do and who to contact can assist everyone involved. This interactive workshop will share suggested grading scales and methods, syllabus wordings, strategies to use during the semester, and how to most successfully respond to grade disputes should they arise. Tim Griffin has experience with hundreds of grade disputes at NIU and reflecting on these will identify proactive strategies that faculty can use to reduce the probability and frequency of appeals. Advanced registration is required. Register Now!

Clickers in the Classroom

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:26:24 -0600

Tuesday, December 1, 2009 from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm
Faculty can use the eInstruction CPS personal response system (clickers) in conjunction with Blackboard to create an interactive learning experience. Faculty can use CPS in the classroom to engage students and provide them with instant feedback. Student assessment results can then be uploaded to Blackboard. This workshop is designed to explore the instructional possibilities of the CPS clicker system and its integration with Blackboard. Advanced registration is required. Register Now!

NEW Blackboard Grade Submission Tool Preview

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:26:23 -0600

**ONLINE** Wednesday, December 2, 2009 from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
At the request and under the guidance of NIU faculty, ITS has been working throughout the summer and fall 2009 to develop and pilot a building block for Blackboard that will allow faculty to publish grades from the Blackboard Grade Center directly to MyNIU. Faculty who use the Blackboard Grade Center to calculate final grades will be able to choose to export final grades from Blackboard instead of manually entering grades in MyNIU, saving time and reducing the opportunity for data entry errors. After submitting grades using this new tool, faculty will have to login to MyNIU to view the final grades and post them officially. This online workshop will preview this new Blackboard Grade Submission Tool, which will be available for submitting grades at the end of the Fall 2009 semester. Advanced registration is required. Register Now!

Blackboard Open Lab

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:26:21 -0600

Monday, December 7, 2009 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm, Adams Hall, Room 323
Open lab provides an excellent opportunity for faculty, staff and TAs to ask specific questions about Blackboard and other teaching-related technologies. Staff from Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center will be on hand to individually address your specific questions about using Blackboard and other instructional technologies. No advanced registration required.

Developing Discussion Board Assignments for Large Classes in Blackboard (N>40)

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:26:21 -0600

Wednesday, December 9, 2009 from 10:00 am to 11:30 am
The Blackboard Discussion Board continues to gain popularity as a tool supporting asynchronous collaboration in both blended and entirely online courses. Although used as a tool for facilitating communication between and among students and faculty, this practice may have certain limitations. In this workshop, strategies to use discussion boards for large classes (N>40) will be discussed. Topics will include the process of conceptualizing discussion board assignments, logistics, scheduling, expediting grading, and use of exemplars and rubrics. Advanced registration is required. Register Now!

Using PowerPoint to Engage and Motivate Students

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:26:20 -0600

Thursday, December 10, 2009 from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm
Now that you have used PowerPoint to outline lectures and visually present information, learn how to create dynamic presentations that transform your teaching. PowerPoint can motivate and engage students by using simple yet effective techniques that do not require special technical skills. In this hands-on workshop, participants will construct a progressive series of PowerPoint slides that will illustrate a number of engaging and focused strategies beyond simple projection of lecture notes. Advanced registration is necessary. Register Now!

End-of-Semester Considerations for Your Blackboard Course

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:26:19 -0600

Friday, December 11, 2009 from 10:00 am to 11:30 am
Once the semester is over and all course materials are organized and posted in Blackboard, faculty can take steps to preserve the course for future use. While courses are not deleted for about 15 months, certain parts of each course, such as the gradebook, should be downloaded and saved. This session will cover the save and copy features available through the Blackboard interface and offer suggestions for what types of activities faculty should routinely follow at the end of an academic term. Advanced registration is required. Register Now!

NEW Submitting Final Grades Automatically from Blackboard to MyNIU

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:26:18 -0600

Monday, December 14, 2009 from 10:00 am to 11:00 am
Beginning with the fall 2009 semester, NIU faculty will be able to use the new Blackboard Grade Submission Tool to publish grades from the Blackboard Grade Center directly to MyNIU, saving time and reducing the opportunity for data entry errors. After submitting grades using this new tool, faculty will have to login to MyNIU to view the final grades and post them officially. This hands-on workshop will demonstrate the new Blackboard Grade Submission Tool and provide faculty who have been using the Blackboard Grade Center with step-by-step assistance in submitting their final grades from Blackboard to MyNIU. Staff from ITS and the Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center will be on hand to individually address questions and provide assistance. Advanced registration is required. Register Now!

Blackboard I: Introduction to Blackboard

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:26:17 -0600

Thursday, December 17, 2009 from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm
Learn the basics of creating and developing a course in Blackboard, NIU's Web Course Management System. Participants will get an overview of course layout and navigation, have an opportunity to place materials in a sample course, and also get assistance with requesting their own Blackboard courses. Advanced registration is required. Register Now!

Learner-centered Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Feedback = Student Success

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 10:02:45 -0500

Workshop by Amy Driscoll, Ph.D., Consulting Scholar with the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and Senior Scholar at Portland State University
Executive Director, Office of Assessment and Quality Enhancement
Texas Christian University
Thursday, January 7, 2010, 8:00 am to 4:00 pm
Sky Room, Holmes Student Center
This workshop will integrate components of curriculum pedagogy and assessment with research on learner-centered education such as service learning, collaborative learning, project-based approaches, and learning outcome-based assessment. Examples and models of practice will be provided and learner-centered processes will be tailored for immediate use within a collaborative faculty/staff community directed to student success. Faculty are invited to bring their syllabus and program materials to apply a lens of learner-centeredness to the curriculum content, the pedagogical strategies, and assessment approaches used to promote student success in their courses and programs. Advanced registration is required. For registration or more information, please click here.