iDevelop – NSCC’s Faculty Professional Development eNewsletter (3/30/2015)

Welcome to iDevelop, a weekly eNewsletter providing faculty with information about professional development opportunities at NSCC. The intent of this eNewsletter is to spotlight the various professional development events for faculty in one convenient location as well as share best practices, resources and tips related to the teaching practice. iDevelop is being brought to you by Instructional Technology and Design and the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment. 

20 Minute Online Professional Development: How Can I Help Students Develop Critical Thinking Skills?
The Monday Morning Mentor series will be available over the spring semester to bring you professional development in twenty minute snippets. The topic for the week of March 30th is How Can I Help Students Develop Critical Thinking Skills? The presentation is available Monday at 10:00am and is accessible through Sunday of that week. For information on accessing the presentation and supplemental materials, please view the email version of iDevelop or the Bulletin notice.

More information about this session (including description, topics, and learning goals) is available at http://www.magnapubs.com/online/mentor/how-can-i-help-students-develop-critical-thinking-skills-3139-1.html. The spring schedule of Monday Morning Mentor sessions is available at http://nscclets.blogspot.com/2015/01/20-minute-mentor-online-faculty.html.  
  

Other Professional Development Opportunities

• All NSCC faculty who are interested in learning more about how Service-Learning or CAS can help them and their students are welcome to the CTLA on this Thursday, April 2 at 2:15pm for refreshments and shared learning. It's going to be a fantastic workshop! 
• NSCC faculty, are you interested in learning more about what assessment means to your institution and to the state? Consider traveling to the AMCOA (Advancing a Massachusetts Culture of Assessment) conference in Boxborough, Massachusetts). It's free, friendly, informative and fun. You can check out the schedule and event details at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2015-annual-amcoa-conference-tickets-16106865067. Space is limited!
• Starting in summer 2015, Blackboard Learn will be available for NSCC faculty members teaching a face-to-face course that uses the learning management system as a supplement. ANGEL will no longer be available. If you teach a summer or fall course and currently use ANGEL, we will be offering a series of Blackboard Learn workshops throughout the spring and summer. If you would like to get a jump start on learning how to use Blackboard Learn, we encourage you to sign up for any of these workshops. To view the complete schedule of workshop sessions (with descriptions) and to RSVP, please visit this web site: http://goo.gl/UIkoUk.

 

Resources

• Helping Your Students Develop Critical Thinking Skills
  http://ideaedu.org/sites/default/files/IDEA_Paper_37.pdf
• Questions Provoking Critical Thinking
  http://www.brown.edu/about/administration/sheridan-center/teaching-learning/effective-classroom-practices/discussions-seminars/questions
• Teaching Critical Thinking through Online Discussion
  http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eqm0048.pdf

    
Share your Teaching Strategies
How do you promote and encourage critical thinking in your classes? Please send your teaching strategies to itd@northshore.edu and we will share them in the upcoming issues of iDevelop. 

iDevelop is being brought to you by Instructional Technology and Design and the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment.  If you have any professional development events, best practices, resources or tips to share with other faculty, please send them our way.  Also, we would love your input on this eNewsletter.

Thank you,
Instructional Technology and Design and the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment