iDevelop – NSCC’s Faculty Professional Development eNewsletter (12/14/2015)

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 (ITD) and the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment (CTLA).

20 Minute Online Professional Development
The Monday Morning Mentor series, professional development in twenty minute snippets, will kick off for the spring semester on January 25, 2016 with How Do Master Teachers Create a Positive Classroom? More information will be available in an upcoming issue of iDevelop. The presentation and supplemental materials can be accessed at https://sites.google.com/a/northshore.edu/mmm/.

The complete spring schedule of Monday Morning Mentor sessions is available at http://nscclets.blogspot.com/2015/12/20-minute-mentor-online-faculty.html.

Other Professional Development Opportunities

• SEQuEL (Southeastern-Massachusetts Quantitative Engagement & Literacy) Event. A day-long event that supports authentic curriculum, effective and innovative practices, and student success in quantitative literacy across the curriculum. Faculty and staff from the region are invited to attend, present, and share. When: Thursday, January 14, 2016, 8:30am - 2:30pm, at Bridgewater State University. Registration is free to attend the event. For more information: http://webhost.bridgew.edu/msalomone/quacprogram_com/sequel/.

MSC Initiative
NSCC is once again participating in the Multi-State Collaborative (MSC) initiative. You may recall that last year a number of you submitted student artifacts (e.g., essays, journal entries, and quantitative papers) to examine the validity of the AAC&U rubrics in written communication, quantitative literacy, and critical thinking.

The MSC is continuing to test these rubrics and has requested additional artifacts (e.g., essays, journal entries, and quantitative papers) in the following areas:

• written communication
• quantitative literacy
• critical thinking
• civic engagement

We received a small grant to stipend faculty interested in participating. Depending upon the level of faculty participation, these stipends will be somewhere in the range of $50-$100 per faculty member. The process is entirely voluntary and is intended to assess the rubrics only, not the student work or scope of the assignment. If you are willing to partake, here's what the MSC would need:

• A completed Assignment Cover Sheet
• Your assignment sheet that generated the artifact
• 10-12 student artifacts (e.g., essays, journal entries, and quantitative papers) that demonstrate written communication, quantitative literacy, critical thinking, or civic engagement. These artifacts should be at least 3 pages in length. All names and identifying features will be scrubbed. No releases from students are needed for this project.

Please let Chris Bednar know if you are willing to participate. We would need the materials by December 20, 2015. Thanks!


The CTLA Extension
The CTLA is launching a Google Site with information related to teaching, learning, and assessment. We are calling it "The CTLA Extension." We envision continuing to add content as the site develops. For now, you will find some resources related to the following areas:

• Instructional Strategies
• Assessment
• The Faculty Fellowship
• The Professional Days

Here is the link: https://sites.google.com/a/northshore.edu/the-ctla-extension/home.

Stay Updated on Professional Development
To stay current on professional development opportunities offered by Instructional Technology and Design over the winter break and during the spring semester, be sure to:

• Read the Learning, Education, Technology and Support (LETS) Blog at http://nscclets.blogspot.com/. ITD’s goal with this blog is to provide an informative and useful resource for faculty and staff by highlighting events, spotlighting projects, and presenting current information around instructional technology while also providing a growing pool of resources, recommendations, tools, and materials for teaching and learning purposes.
• "Like" the North Shore Community College Academic Technology Page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/myNSCC.acadtech. On the Academic Technology Facebook page, AT provides information about upcoming professional development opportunities, links to interesting articles on integrating technology into the teaching and learning environment, and presents tips on using the various instructional technology resources.

This will be the last issue of iDevelop for the fall semester. We will publish the first one of the spring semester on January 18, 2016. We hope you have enjoyed this weekly eNewsletter and would love your input. Please let us know if you have any feedback on the format, content, and resources or if there is anything else you would like to see in the eNewsletter.

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