Lehigh University - Faculty Development

2006 Activity Report: Director of Faculty Development

Submitted by Greg Reihman, Ph.D.

One's work in faculty development most often involves one-on-one meetings with individual faculty. As a result, one's successes are often best seen in stories describing moments of transformation (some of which I try to relate in my Lehigh Lab Notes column). Other successes are private, outcomes of confidential consultations. However, for the purposes of this document, I have offered a list of activities I consider integral to the success of our program and, where possible, I include quantifiable results.

a. Implemented and Expanded the Lehigh Lab Forum

I designed, promoted, and facilitated sessions for our second year of the Lehigh Lab Forum. These events advance the Lehigh Lab's mission of fostering excellence and innovation in teaching, learning, and research. To bring Lab activities to a broad audience of faculty and staff, I offered a wide variety of events, including presentations of new instructional technologies; focused conversations about teaching; roundtables on the educational role of libraries, computing, and new media; discussions about student learning; and so forth. We held thirteen Forum events in 2006 (see appendix below for details of these and other events)

b. Created ITaLLIC: Innovations in Teaching Large Lecture Introductory Courses

I developed this project to help spur innovations in how we teach large lecture courses. Funded with LTS special projects support, this project included a six-session faculty development seminar that I facilitated and curriculum development grants for the six faculty participants. Result: eight courses that significantly reconsidered the role of instructional technologies, eventually deploying clickers, MapleTA, video production, and podcasting.

c. Assumed responsibility for Lehigh’s Writing Across the Curriculum program

Asked to take on responsibility for the Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) program at Lehigh, I organized the search for a new WAC coordinator, made a successful hire, and worked closely with the new coordinator to begin reinvigorating WAC at Lehigh. WAC adds significant new component to faculty development at Lehigh and, for me, means direct supervisory responsibility of a new staff position.

d. Secured a $20K donation for Faculty Development from an Alumni Donor

Worked with the Development Office to cultivate a relationship with an alumni donor, resulting in a $20K donation earmarked for faculty development.

e. Built new relationships across campus

Study Abroad: Co-developed a Study Abroad/Faculty Development Grant program.
Graduate Research Committee. Collaborated on a new “Enhancement to Graduate Teacher Development” proposal.
First-year Writing Program, Writing and Math Center, and the Rauch Center for Business Communications. Planned for the upcoming reintroduction of a Writing Across the Curriculum Program
Corporate and Foundation Relations. Met to discuss possible grant opportunities.
Office of Development. Met to discuss donor relations and possible faculty development donations.

f. Strengthened existing relationships across campus

Office of the Provost: worked closely on various task forces and initiatives.
ArtsLehigh: co-hosted five events, including a Lehigh Lab forum on “Teaching Visual Literacy” and a four-session series on “Beauty and Utility: Envisioning Interdisciplinary Bridges”
Global Citizenship: co-facilitated the Global Citizenship faculty seminar; participated in the Global Citizenship Best Practices Conference; helped initiate uses of teleconferencing to connect students to international peers.
Office of Research: planned orientation sessions and workshops on scholarly writing and productivity.
Office of Institutional Research: discussed ways to improve student response rates to online course evaluations.
Dean of Students: worked together on Academic Integrity topics and New Faculty Orientation; co-hosted a faculty development session on understanding millennial students.
Graduate Life: conducted two Teaching Assistant Orientation sessions and several follow-up sessions.

g. Increased faculty contacts and faculty participation
I have met or worked with 266 of our 433 faculty (61%, up from 50% in 2005). Also, 164 out of 433 have attended at least one faculty development event (~38%, up from ~30% in 2005).

h. Served on the following committees

Middle States Accreditation ‘Technology Support for a Learning-Centered Mission’ Subcommittee. Met weekly with a core group of this committee to plan the committee’s work and met with the whole committee to prepare for the Middle States accreditation report and visit.
Philosophy Department Search Committee. Participated in the search for a new faculty member in Philosophy, attended talks, dinners, interviews, etc. for five candidates.
Writing Across the Curriculum Search Committee. Chaired the committee for the hire of the new WAC coordinator.
Mentoring Task Force: Organized various events for pre-tenure faculty, including three new workshops: “Thriving as a Faculty Member at Lehigh,” “Engaging Your Audience: Enhancing Physical and Vocal Effectiveness in the Classroom” and “Panel and Q&A on Tenure at Lehigh.”
Grading Standards Task Force: helped develop an survey instrument to gauge faculty perceptions of grading standards; working towards a plan to help articulate and maintain grading standards across campus.
Academic Integrity Task Force: worked with the two Deputy Provosts, the Dean of Students Office, a Library representative and student representatives to coordinate Lehigh’s efforts to reinforce the message of academic integrity. Helped design a new website that integrates Lehigh’s various academic integrity resources.
Innovative Teaching Task Force: planned a faculty seminar on teaching large lecture courses that ran in spring 06.
Distance Education Steering Committee: working on a strategic review of Lehigh’s distance education programs.
High Performance Computing Committee: contributed to discussions about increasing faculty involvement and promoting HPC on campus
Disability Advisory Committee: Met to discuss the role faculty can play in ensuring appropriate access to education.

i. Deployed New Instructional Technologies

Turnitin. Assumed oversight of Lehigh’s Turnitin account. Hosted faculty development sessions and created web resources. Numbers of instructors using this tool has tripled since it moved under my purview (from 25 to 73) and the number of papers submitted has increased seventeenfold (from 174 to 3013). More importantly, faculty now receive guidance in the effective and appropriate use of this tool.
Clickers: Helped promote the uses of clickers in large lecture courses at Lehigh and worked with the instructional technology team to test various technologies. Am working toward a recommendation for a standard for campus-wide deployment.
ePortfolios: Helped in the process of selecting and acquiring an ePortfolio solution for Lehigh and am helping the IT team to develop pilot projects.
iTunesU: Was part of the process of securing Lehigh’s status as an iTunesU campus and am working with the IT team and faculty to develop pilot projects.
Blackboard: Am part of ongoing testing of new Blackboard teaching tools and upgrades.
SecondLife: I have been exploring pedagogical uses of this online virtual reality space, and used it with my students in my fall philosophy seminar.
Podcasting. Used podcasts extensively in my summer courses (perhaps the first to use iTunes for a course at Lehigh?)

j. Teaching

The Examined Life /Intro to Philosophy
(PHIL 001, summer 06, online 1st session)
Mean ‘overall effectiveness’ teaching evaluation: 5.0/5.0
The Examined Life /Intro to Philosophy
(PHIL 001, summer 06, online 2nd session)
Mean ‘overall effectiveness’ teaching evaluation: 4.8/5.0
Dreams and Realities: Philosophical Constructions of the Real
(PHIL 090, CAS freshman seminar, fall 06).
Mean ‘overall effectiveness’ teaching evaluation: 5.0/5.0

All of these courses went extremely well, giving me ample opportunity to hone my own teaching skills and experiment with new instructional technologies and innovative pedagogical approaches.

k. Teaching consultations and observations

Observed and consulted with numerous faculty, leading to improvements in teaching practice and increased use of instructional technologies.

l. Conference Presentations, Participation, Submissions

The New Media Consortium Online Conference on Personal Broadcasting (April 2006).Presented “Which One When? Choosing among Audio, Video, and Text.”
The New Media Consortium National Conference (Cleveland, OH, June 2006). Presented “Digital Songs, Stories and Histories.”
Cybertools (January2006). “Using Audio to Enhance Instruction” (prepared for presentation, but cancelled due to an automobile accident)
Submitted a proposal to the EDUCAUSE national conference “A Digital Socrates: Philosophy 101, Online and Blended” (not accepted).
Submitted a proposal for the Lilly-East Conference on College Teaching “Improving Student Participation and Enhancing Discussions” (under review)

m. Writing and Scholarly Activity

Published “Categorically Denied: Kant’s Criticism of Chinese Philosophy,” Journal of Chinese Philosophy (published Feb 2006).
Participated in the Global Citizenship faculty seminar (weekly, spring 06).
Participated in the Lehigh University Philosophy Department faculty seminar (weekly, spring and fall 06).
Participated in Lehigh’s Selfridge Lecture and faculty seminar series (led by Philip Kitcher, Columbia University).
Wrote a regular column for the Lehigh Lab Notes,including

"Faculty Developments: On Digital Scholarship: A Visit with Ed Ayers"
"Faculty Developments: Innovations in Teaching Large Lecture Introductory Courses--The ITaLLIC Project"

Submitted an article to the Journal of the History of Philosophy, “Malebranche and Chinese Philosophy: A Reconsideration.” (under review)

n. Consulting with Visitors from Other Colleges

Met with representatives from Bard College and University of Delaware during visits to Lehigh to discuss ways to improve instructional technology usage on their campuses.

o. Grant Application Activity

Contributed to the $1.8M grant application to the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, PI: Neal Simon, Vassie Ware, Biology. (awarded)
Contributed to the application for a USDE grant to improve graduate teacher preparation, PI: Gary DeLeo, Physics (under review).

Appendix: Sequential listing of faculty development events for Lehigh instructors in 2006 sponsored, co-sponsored, facilitated, presented at, or supported by the director of faculty development

The type of event is in ALL CAPS, the session title is in “quotation marks,” brief descriptions are provided when appropriate.

1) TA ORIENTATION TEACHING SESSION: “On Effective Teaching”

Tues Jan 10, 10-11 am Maginnes 101

2) CONFERENCE: “Cybertools”

Wed Jan 11, 8:30-3:30, DeSales

3) SEMINAR: Global Citizenship Faculty Seminar

Tues Jan 17 4-6 Maginnes

4) SEMINAR: Global Citizenship Faculty Seminar

Tues Jan 24 4-6 Maginnes 490

5) SEMINAR: Global Citizenship Faculty Seminar

Tues Jan 31 4-6 Maginnes 490

6) SEMINAR: ITaLLIC (Innovations in Teaching Large Lecture Introductory Courses): Meeting 1

Wed Feb 1 2:30-4 TRLC

7) FORUM: “Managing Quizzes and Homework”

Thu Feb 2 12-1 MAG 480

Quizzes and homework often play a crucial role in student learning, but many faculty find themselves frustrated by the amount of time it takes to administer and grade such assessments. Come hear Natalie Foster (Chemistry) and Terry Napier (Mathematics) discuss some tools and techniques they use to more efficiently manage this aspect of teaching. Lunch will be provided, .

8) SEMINAR: Global Citizenship Faculty Seminar

Tues Feb 7 4-6 Maginnes 490

9) FORUM: “Academic Integrity: The Role of Turnitin”

Thu Feb 9 12-1:30 Sinclair Aud.

This session will discuss academic integrity at Lehigh, with a focus on appropriate and effective uses of Turnitin, a web-based tool now available from directly within Blackboard, that detects unoriginal material in written work. Lunch will be provided, . Note: this is a repeat of the session held Fall 2005.

10) FORUM: “What is it and Why Should I Care? EPortfolios”

Wed Feb 15 12-1:30 Media Center Classroom EWFM 379

Come learn what ePortfolios are and how they can be used by you or your students to organize and share information about research, coursework, interests, etc. Lunch will be provided .

11) SEMINAR: Global Citizenship Faculty Seminar

Tues Feb 14 4-6 Maginnes 490

12) SEMINAR: ITaLLIC: Meeting 2

Wed Feb 15 2:30-4, TRLC

13) SEMINAR: Global Citizenship Faculty Seminar

Tues Feb 21 4-6 Maginnes 490

14) WORKSHOP “Faculty and Digital Scholarship Projects”

Tuesday Feb 21 2-3:30

an informal conversation with Ed Ayers and a group (~15) of Lehigh faculty and staff who have been involved in, or may become involved in, digital scholarship projects? We will briefly discuss some of the things our faculty are doing and then have an open conversation, inviting Ayers' advice to those involved in such projects.

15) FORUM: “On Digital Scholarship: Technology and the Professoriate”

Tue Feb 21 4-5 Sinclair Aud.

Ed Ayers (Professor of History and Dean of Arts and Sciences at the University of Virginia) will discuss the opportunities digitization and the Internet offer to the academy to create dynamic sites for research and scholarly publication in the humanities. These technologies have supported the mounting of significant repositories of archives and other primary source materials and made them accessible to scholars worldwide.

16) LECTURE: “Valley of the Shadow: Two Communities in the American Civil War”

Tuesday Feb 21 8 pm

George Harmon Lecture on the Civil War in Whitaker Auditorium. A public lecture co-sponsored by Friends of the Libraries, History Department, and Faculty Development.

17) SEMINAR: Global Citizenship Faculty Seminar

Tues Feb 28 4-6 Maginnes 490

18) SEMINAR: ITaLLIC: Meeting 3

Wed Mar 1 2:30-4, TRLC

19) SEMINAR: Global Citizenship Faculty Seminar

Tues Mar 14 4-6 Maginnes 490

20) SEMINAR: ITaLLIC: Meeting 4

Wed Mar 15 2:30-4, TRLC

21) SEMINAR: Global Citizenship Faculty Seminar

Tues Mar 21 4-6 Maginnes 490

22) FORUM: “Teaching Visual Literacy”

Wed Mar 22 12-1:30 Zoellner Lower Gallery

Silagh White (ArtsLehigh) and Ann Priester (Art & Architecture) will discuss techniques of open-ended questioning that faculty in any discipline can use to engage students and encourage them to think about, discuss, and better understand objects and images. Lunch will be provided .

23) MENTORING EVENT: “Thriving as a Faculty Member at Lehigh”

Fri Mar 24 12-2

University Center

24) SEMINAR: Global Citizenship Faculty Seminar

Tues Mar 14 4-6 Maginnes 490

25) SEMINAR: ITaLLIC: Meeting 5

Wed Mar 29 2:30-4, TRLC

26) SEMINAR: Global Citizenship Faculty Seminar

Tues Apr 4 4-6 Maginnes 490

27) SEMINAR: Global Citizenship Faculty Seminar

Tues Apr 11 4-6 Maginnes 490

28) FORUM: “Google Scholar and Google Books”

Wed Apr 12 4:10-5:00 MAG 101

Join Brian Davison and Christy Roysdon for an open discussion of Google's latest initiatives and how they affect faculty and students.

29) SEMINAR: Global Citizenship Faculty Seminar

Tues Apr 18 4-6 Maginnes 490

30) SEMINAR: ITaLLIC: Meeting 6

Wed Apr 19 2:30-4, TRLC

31) SEMINAR: Global Citizenship Faculty Seminar

Tues Apr 25 4-6 Maginnes 490

32) CONFERENCE: The New Media Consortium Online Conference on Personal Broadcasting

Tues Apr 26 12-3, TRLC

33) COLLOQUIUM: High Performance Computing Day

Fri April 21

34) TA TEACHING SESSION: “On Effective Teaching”

Tues Aug 22 10-11 am Whittaker 303

35) NEW FACULTY ORIENTATION

Aug 23-24 Maginnes

36) FORUM: “Sound Advice: The Uses of Digital Audio to Enhance Instruction”

Fri Oct 6, 12-1:30 Maginnes 105

Want to hear what some Lehigh faculty are doing with digital audio in their classes? Looking for ways to enhance your classroom by taking advantage of new tools that simplify the production, distribution, and acquisition of digital audio? Curious about how you might use iPods and iTunes? Come join us for a presentation and conversation. Lunch will be provided.

37) BEAUTY AND UTILITY SERIES, pt.1: “Calatrava: Beauty &Utility Drawn Together

Thur Oct 12, 4:30-5:30 p.m. Lower Gallery Zoellner

A talk on “Santiago Calatrava: The Swiss School of Engineering Thought.” This series, co-sponsored with ArtsLehigh, was inspired by filmmaker, Ken Burns’, commencement address at Lehigh which recommended an aesthetic approach to all aspects of life and learning (“make it well, make it to last, and make it beautiful”)

38) FORUM: “Teaching the Millennial Lehigh Student”

Fri Oct 13th, 12-1:30 UC 409

In this forum, we'll discuss ways of bridging the generational gap between faculty and students by discussing the experience and perspectives of current college students--the “millennials.” Who are they? How do they learn? What are their perspectives? How can faculty modify teaching styles to more effectively engage and educate this generation of students? Lunch will be provided.

39) WAC WORKHOP 1: "Writing to Learn: How to Use Writing to Help Students Learn Course Content"

Thu, Oct 19th, 12:00-1:30. EWFM Media Center Classroom

In this workshop, we’ll explore ways that problem-based writing can enhance learning by promoting critical thinking and active engagement in course subject matter. This hands-on workshop will include both informal exploratory writing and formal assignments that call for finished prose. Lunch will be provided .

40) FORUM/BEAUTY&UTILITY SERIES pt.3: “Beauty and Utility: Building Bridges Together”

Wed Oct 18th 4:10-6pm Chandler Ulmann Aud.

Come join in a conversation about a variety of physical and conceptual bridges being built at Lehigh. Tony Viscardi will discuss his work with students in his 'Dream Bridges' course; Tom Peters will discuss his Chinese Bridge project; and Julia Maserjian and Ilhan Citak will discuss 'Digital Bridges,' a 21st century web resource for the study of 19th century bridges. (Part of "Beauty and Utility: Envisioning InterDisciplinary Bridges," an All-University Fourfold Colloquium Open to Faculty, Students, & Staff, co-sponsored by Faculty Development, ArtsLehigh, Asian Studies, LUAG, LTS and the Humanities Center and Art and LTS.)

41) BEAUTY&UTILITY SERIES pt. 3: Dedication of rebar sculpture, designed and built by Tony Viscardi and students, plus screening of Ken Burn’s “Brooklyn Bridge” and NOVA “Chinese Bridge”

Thu Oct 19, 4:30- 4:45 p.m.

42) FORUM: “Conferencing Tools”

Wed Oct 25 12-1:30 Rauch 85

Want to collaborate with distant colleagues more simply? Want to bring a speaker to campus without flying them in? Come learn about various conferencing tools available to you and see specific examples of how they are being put to use by others at Lehigh. Lunch will be provided.

43) WORKSHOP: WAC WORKSHOP2:"Improve Student Writing Through Effective Feedback"

Thu, Nov 2nd, 12:00-1:30. EWFM Media Center Classroom

What kinds of feedback work best to improve student writing? Do I have to "correct" every "mistake"? How do I help students without overwhelming and discouraging them—and consuming too much of my own valuable time? If you’ve struggled with these and similar questions, join us for this workshop. Lunch will be provided.

44) FORUM: “You are Here: Scholarship & Geographical Information Systems”

Thurs Nov 9 4:00 Sinclair Aud

Learn how Lehigh faculty, staff, and students are using GIS software and databases to enhance science and social science research. Environmental Initiative Computing Consultant Mike Chupa will coordinate talks about three cutting edge projects. (Co-sponsored with the LTS Friends of the Libraries)

45) WORKSHOP: “Engaging Your Audience: Enhancing Physical and Vocal Effectiveness in the Classroom,” Session 2

Fri Nov 10 2-4:00 Coppee 101

This session, conduced by Lehigh theater department's Pam Pepper, will focus on helping faculty learn some basic performance skills in order to strengthen our classroom presence. These interactive workshops offer a fun, low-stress, effective way to acquire some fundamental skills used by theater professionals that will be helpful for any instructor, whether of small seminars or large lectures. It's best if you sign up for both workshops, but if you can only make one, please come anyway! We're capped at 20, so please sign up asap (by Wednesday 11/8 at the latest).

46) FORUM: “Diversity in the Classroom/Teaching Diverse Classes”

Tues Nov 14th, 4:00-5:30 Location Maginnes 101

This Forum will focus on the issue of diversity in the classroom. We will specifically focus on the way that all classes provide opportunities to increase awareness of diversity and multicultural issues. This includes the way we treat students, the types of examples and cases you use in class, and the way we deal in class with highly charged issues such as racism and sexism. Lunch will be provided. (Co-sponsored with Lehigh's Joint Multicultural Program)

47) WORKSHOP "Getting Started with iTunesU"

Fri Nov 17th, 2006 12:00 - 1:30 p.m. EWFM Library, Media Center Classroom

This event will provide you with the opportunity to discuss your podcasting ideas and receive specific information about how to create and make available your podcasts using the iTunesU program.

48) WORKSHOP: WAC Workshop3:"Time-Saving Measures and Effective Assignments in the Writing-Intensive Course."

Thu Nov 16th, 12:00-1:30. EWFM Media Center Classroom

Open to everyone, this workshop may be of special interest to faculty teaching Writing Intensive courses in the spring. We’ll take up some of the central concerns that arise in the WI course, with a special focus on the importance of a purposeful and coherent sequence of well-crafted assignments. Lunch will be provided.

49) WORKSHOP: “Engaging Your Audience: Enhancing Physical and Vocal Effectiveness in the Classroom” Session 2

Fri Nov 17 2-4:00 room TBD

50) FORUM: “Digital Songs, Stories, and Histories”

Fri Dec 1st 12-1:30 location TBD; optional visit to the Digital Media Studio 1:30-2:30); optional visit to the Digital Media Studio 1:30-2:30

How can we best teach students to use new media to explain, argue, and persuade? How can our courses tap the talents of digital librarians and media specialists? “Digital Songs, Stories, and Histories,” a first-year writing course wrought in the Lehigh Lab, answered these questions by bringing together a professor, a digital librarian, and a new Digital Media Studio.

51) BEAUTY&UTILITY SERIES #4: “Envisioning Interdisciplinary Bridges Series: Celebration of Student work.”

Fri Dec 8 4:30

An end-of-semester celebration of interdisciplinary courses that bridged aspects of art, design, and technology.

52) MENTORING EVENT: “Panel and Q&A on Tenure at Lehigh”

Th Dec 14 4-6 pm

University Center 303