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Berea College

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Faculty and staff members with teaching responsibilities, department chairs, and division chairs, are welcomed to contact Leslie Ortquist-Ahrens to schedule an individual consultation about any teaching and learning topics or about select departmental/divisional needs, particularly as these involve mentoring and faculty development, curriculum development, and other teaching-related issues.
Consultations are available on a wide range of topics related to teaching, learning, professional development, and academic leadership.  Such consultations have focused on: 
<h4>Teaching </h4>
<ul>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1">meeting learners where they are </li>
<li>scaffolding: offering challenge with support</li>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1">exploring new teaching strategies or pedagogies </li>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1">encountering the research on student learning </li>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1">assessing student learning formatively in the classroom </li>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1">giving feedback on student work </li>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1">grading effectively and efficiently </li>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1">using student evaluation feedback as a springboard for making changes </li>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1">redesigning a course  </li>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1">getting feedback on a syllabus or assignment design </li>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1">using active learning strategies </li>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1">designing effective group work </li>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1">starting a scholarship of teaching and learning inquiry </li>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1">preparing teaching materials for promotion and tenure or for post-tenure review </li>
</ul>
<h4>Departmental or divisional leadership / mentoring and supervision </h4>
<ul>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="3" data-aria-posinset="3" data-aria-level="1">serving as a new chair </li>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="3" data-aria-posinset="3" data-aria-level="1">conducting classroom observations and performance consultation </li>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="3" data-aria-posinset="3" data-aria-level="1">supporting and mentoring faculty on different types of contracts (adjunct, limited term appointments, postdoc fellows, tenure-track, tenured faculty) </li>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="3" data-aria-posinset="3" data-aria-level="1">working with pre-tenure faculty members and their peer review teams </li>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="3" data-aria-posinset="3" data-aria-level="1">engaging in and leading curriculum redesign </li>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="3" data-aria-posinset="3" data-aria-level="1">building relationships and managing conflict </li>
</ul>
<h4>Classroom Observations and Feedback </h4>
<h4>Instructors may request a confidential classroom observation if they are interested in formative feedback and about their practice from an experienced and supportive observer.</h4>

Individual Consultations

Many faculty members find it useful to ask students for feedback about a course at midterm.  The CTL regularly sends a pre-midterm reminder with sample questionnaires, and it also offers an in-class focus group discussion format called the Midterm Assessment of Teaching that many faculty have found powerful for helping them connect with their students’ learning experiences midway through a course.
Sample Midterm Feedback Forms 
<a href="https://teaching.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/sample_midterm_evals.pdf">Sample midterm evaluations</a> (UC Berkeley) 
<a href="https://wp.stolaf.edu/cila/files/2014/08/samples-of-mid-term-assessment-questionnaires.pdf">Sample of midterm assessment</a> questionnaires (St. Olaf) 
<a href="https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/soliciting-and-utilizing-mid-semester-feedback/">Soliciting and utilizing mid-semester feedback</a> (Vanderbilt) 
<a href="https://poorvucenter.yale.edu/Mid-semester-Feedback">Recommendations for the midterm assessment process</a> (Yale) 
The Midterm Assessment of Teaching represents just one approach that can provide valuable information and can help faculty and students target adjustments midway through a course.  Besides providing useful feedback, the intervention signals to students that their perspectives matter and also communicates that they play a critical role in making choices and commitments to their own learning.
<h4>The Process </h4>
Faculty members contact the Center for Teaching and Learning, who sends a trained faculty/staff member to the beginning of a class period around midterm.  During a 30-minute segment of the class, the consultant will gather students’ written comments and focus group feedback in response to questions about their learning in the course: 
<ul>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="2" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1">What about this course helps you learn? </li>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="2" data-aria-posinset="2" data-aria-level="1">What about this course hinders your learning? </li>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="2" data-aria-posinset="3" data-aria-level="1">What suggestions do you have to improve this course so that it better supports learning? </li>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="2" data-aria-posinset="4" data-aria-level="1">What are you doing to help yourself learn in this course? </li>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="2" data-aria-posinset="5" data-aria-level="1">What are you doing that prevents or hinders your learning in this course?</li>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="2" data-aria-posinset="5" data-aria-level="1">What could you do to improve your learning in this course? </li>
</ul>
Typed anonymous results from written comments and focus group feedback provide a point of departure for considering what to adjust in a course or what to communicate to students about instructional choices and elements that can’t be changed.  In a follow up conversation, the consultant provides a sounding board or guidance as the faculty member considers what might represent the best responses to feedback.   
<h4>Faculty Feedback about the Midterm Assessment of Teaching Process </h4>
Instructors who used the midterm assessment of teaching process in 2018-2019 provided anonymous feedback about their experiences.  The process led participants to adjust their courses in response to student feedback in ways that improved students’ experiences, and, as each time the program is assessed, participants commented on the greater value they took from it than from end-of-term IEQs along, in part because there was still time to make adjustments, in part because the feedback was more constructive and specific.  100% of those surveyed in 2018-2019 said they were “extremely likely” (a “5” on a 5-point scale) to recommend the service to colleagues.  See specific responses that provide insights into instructors’ takeaways.
Did the midterm assessment feedback and follow-up consultation help you make positive or constructive changes in the course during the second half of the semester?  (yes, no, unsure) If so, please briefly describe any changes or interventions you tried and what you found. 
In the second half of the term, I removed some of the activity categories that students found frustrating, and they appreciated this gesture of effort on my part to listen to their feedback. Additionally, I replaced or revised many of the problematic activities when teaching the course again this term. For instance, students found pre-packaged Google Earth files difficult to navigate. Rather than giving them the files all in one large folder for the term, I instead provided them each session with only the files/locations they needed to do the activity. I also renamed placemarks to be clearer and re-designed a few of the Google Earth activities completely. Based on the decrease in panicked emails I received before these labs were due compared to last term, I think the new system is working better for the students.  –Faculty feedback, 2018-2019 
I have restructured my classroom so that students of differing mathematical backgrounds work together in groups to help each other. The students previously sat where they liked, so the “math-phobics” sat together and separate from the more experienced students, which enforced the idea that the less experienced students felt that they do not belong. This attitude was one of the main issues in the course, and I was able to fix it.  –Faculty feedback, 2018-2019 
What was most positive about the midterm assessment experience overall? 
Seeing similarities and differences in student experience. The transparency of student response was helpful when coming from a facilitator other than myself. Getting more than one type of evaluation/feedback is very helpful overall. This feedback helps to compliment the IEQ’s which happen at the end of the semester.  –Faculty feedback, 2018-2019 
Overall, it was great to find out that my students think well of me and the class in general. I felt like this was true, but since I’m new to the classroom, it was very useful to have that external validation. While I know that being liked is not the end goal of teaching, I was still very glad to hear that I had developed a rapport with the students. Based on this rapport, I think students have been willing to put in more effort on tricky labs than they maybe otherwise would’ve (though this is a hard claim to assess quantitatively!).  –Faculty feedback, 2018-2019 
Students get a chance to get their voices heard and the instructor can make timely adjustments to the course and instruction. It’s more useful than semester-end IEQs.  –Faculty feedback, 2018-2019 
How would you describe this experience to a colleague? 
I think I would highly recommend the service to someone who is new to teaching or who is teaching a given class for the first time. I think it’s easy to be blind to certain aspects of what’s working or isn’t working, especially when those issues are on a homework assignment. Students may struggle with practical aspects of understanding questions or navigating through files, and this struggle doesn’t always come through when the assignment being graded. Having a neutral environment for them to express their frustration with these aspects was very beneficial. I will definitely utilize this program again in the future.  –Faculty feedback, 2018-2019 
It was extremely effective to have someone with the background and expertise to be able to hold up a mirror to my teaching so that I can admit issues that I need to resolve as I get better at teaching.  –Faculty feedback, 2018-2019

Midterm Assessments of Teaching

We can provide tailored workshops or facilitated sessions for departments or divisions on request.  Past focuses for such workshops / sessions have included: 
<ul>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="4" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1">Helping students read difficult texts / motivating students to do the reading </li>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="4" data-aria-posinset="2" data-aria-level="1">Engaging in curriculum revision . . . . when there’s conflict in the room  </li>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="4" data-aria-posinset="3" data-aria-level="1">Conducting classroom observations of teaching and providing meaningful feedback </li>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="4" data-aria-posinset="3" data-aria-level="1">Mentoring</li>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="4" data-aria-posinset="3" data-aria-level="1">and more</li>
</ul>
For more information, contact the Center for Teaching and Learning.

Workshops and Facilitation 

The CTL fosters and supports many types of participant-driven and faculty-led or co-led communities of practice (CoP) among instructors.  <a href="https://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/">Communities of practice</a> involve groups of practitioners that come together regularly to focus on an area of shared interest and on building collegial relationships among members as they learn together over time (Wenger &amp; Wenger-Trayner, 2015). 
<h3>Faculty Learning Communities</h3>
Most frequently at Berea, instructors work together in <a href="https://miamioh.edu/cte/faculty-staff/flcs/index.html">faculty learning communities</a>, semi-structured cross-disciplinary groups of five to ten participants and one or two facilitators who delve deeply into a teaching-related topic of shared interest over the course of a semester or academic year (Cox, 2004; Cox &amp; Richlin, 2011). Groups meet twice monthly to discuss readings, make connections between their teaching practices and what they are learning, and sometimes to develop one or more activities or projects related to the learning community theme. Such projects may involve a revising a course (or course component), exploring a new pedagogy, building a cross-disciplinary collaboration, or even beginning of a collaborative scholarly research project
 
Past years’ topics:  service-learning; inclusive teaching practices; oral histories in teaching and learning; contemplative practices for education; general teaching development; transparent assignment design; student-faculty partnerships; and general education revision.
<h3>Triads</h3>
A modification of the “<a href="https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/faculty-development/teaching-squares-cross-disciplinary-perspectives/">teaching square</a>,” groups of three instructors commit to meeting periodically across one semester to visit each other’s classrooms or online courses in three rounds and to provide one another with formative feedback and encouragement.  Participants engage in structured reflection on their resultant learning and share this with one another and the CTL.

Mellon Communities of Practice 

The CTL offers extensive programming and support for faculty new to the College, and, since 2017, an increasing focus on programming designed for faculty at midcareer. 
<h2>New Faculty Programs </h2>
<h4>New Faculty Orientation </h4>
Just prior to the launch of the academic year, full-time faculty members who are new to Berea are required to attend an intensive two-day orientation designed to help them understand and reflect upon
<ul>
<li>who Berea students are, where they come from, and what assets they bring;</li>
<li>their own identities as individuals as well as instructors, as these will interact with their students’ multiple intersecting identities;</li>
<li>Berea’s <a href="https://next.berea.edu/the-great-commitments">Great Commitments</a>, the eight-part mission that shapes culture, curriculum, and myriad choices for the College and the classroom;</li>
<li>implicit as well as explicit cultural expectations and norms for faculty, and particularly those relevant for new faculty;</li>
<li>teaching effectively: inclusive teaching, active learning, students’ stages of development, equity-mindedness, and more;</li>
<li>preparing for a strong start, with a focus on syllabus development and the first day of class.</li>
</ul>
Participants meet other relatively new faculty (hired in the previous year or so), who share their own impressions of Berea’s student and faculty cultures together with advice about how to succeed in year one. Members of the Academic Affairs Office join the group to extend a welcome.  Finally, a panel of senior faculty members field newcomers’ questions and offer advice, welcome, and encouragement.
<h4>New Faculty Seminar </h4>
Faculty new to Berea may choose to commit to a year-long learning community, the New Faculty Seminar. Participants meet bi-monthly with the CTL Director to explore pedagogies that foster student learning, engagement, and inclusion and help support new faculty members’ own success (and, by extension, that of their students), whether they are employed for a single term or on the tenure track. Through the seminar, each annual cohort builds deep bonds of community and provide mutual support through a shared period of significant transition. New faculty are introduced to recent work in the scholarship of teaching and learning and are also encouraged to participate and contribute to that scholarship, if they so choose.
The New Faculty Seminar serves as a deeper introduction to the College than the Orientation, as well as a chance to explore effective teaching practices with a supportive cohort and an experienced faculty facilitator. The year-long seminar meets twice a month for 90 minutes during fall and spring semesters.  While each cohort defines its own needs and areas of interest for common exploration, groups frequently choose from among the following as areas of focus:
<ul>
<li>informal collaborative exploration and trouble-shooting of common challenges faced by newcomers;</li>
<li>discussion of shared readings about teaching for learning, such as Ambrose, et al. (2010), How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching;</li>
<li>engagement with senior faculty colleagues or visits from staff colleagues to learn more about Berea’s context and effective teaching and professional growth;</li>
<li>reciprocal peer classroom visits;</li>
<li>laying the groundwork for a successful tenure bid.</li>
</ul>
Participants each receive a book allowance to purchase pedagogy books for their personal libraries at the end of the year.
<h2>Midcareer Faculty Development </h2>
Midcareer is a crucial moment for faculty members who often need to reorient, refresh, and recommit when, after an extended period of teaching, scholarship/creative work, and service, they are ready for a new challenge, and as they may experience some level of malaise, a lack of direction, or even a sense of feeling things have grown “stale” (Baldwin, DeZure, Shaw, &amp; Moretto, 2008).  Since 2017, the CTL has engaged a Mellon Faculty Fellow for Midcareer Faculty Development, who, together with the director, has brought midcareer instructors together to build collegial community and to explore developmentally relevant needs.
Past topics:  charting your next career phase; planning your sabbatical.
Requests for future topics and opportunities:  leadership development (for department chairs; for women, etc.); career-phase specific cohort or learning community groups; writing retreats and scholarly collaborations; diversity/inclusion development.

Mellon Career Stage Development Opportunities 

While traditionally May and summer have provided time and space for faculty to engage in extended development opportunities such as multi-day workshops and institutes, the shift to online instruction necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic has led in the 2020-2021 to the development of a series of just-in-time workshops to meet emerging needs during the academic year.  If you have an idea or a request for such a workshop (or resources), contact the Center for Teaching and Learning.
Annual May workshops: Critical Pedagogies, Transparent Assignment Design, and the Writing Institute 
Course (Re)Design for Online Teaching and Learning (April – June 2020 and resource course) 
<h3>Critical Pedagogy Workshops</h3>
Each May, the CTL hosts a three-day Mellon-funded workshop focused on critical pedagogy and developed and delivered by local Berea faculty and staff members. In past years, faculty colleagues have presented on Culturally Responsive Pedagogy (2018) and Critical Race Theory and Education (2019).   
<h3>Transparent Assignment Design Workshop </h3>
Each May, members from the year’s faculty learning community on Transparent Assignment Design, together with the Mellon Transparency Fellows, hold a 2-hour workshop for colleagues on transparent assignment design.  Participants workshop current assignments to learn about recommendations for making them more effective for students. 
<h3>Teaching Writing Institute</h3>
The CTL sometimes sponsors an institute on teaching writing.  The Writing Institute seeks to transform all participants’ thinking, approach to, and practice of teaching college writing.  During the intensive two-week experience, faculty participate themselves in daily experiential, writing-based teaching and learning, as they learn about how to teach writing.  Each participant emerges with a redesigned syllabus and course assignments that aims to produce better student writing and to foster students’ self-efficacy as writers.  During the week of the institute, participants create 1) new assignment sequences for their target course, including a revised major paper assignment (as appropriate); 2) new daily lesson plans; 3) new approaches to student workshops, writing conferences, and assessment; and 4) integrated course plans, resulting in a draft course syllabus.  The institute is co-led by an experienced English faculty member and a co-facilitator from the faculty.
<h3>Course (Re)Design for Online Teaching and Learning (April-June 2020)</h3>
Many years, the summer includes a targeted course (re)design institute. During summer 2020 (April – June), the CTL launched a series of month-long Moodle courses for instructors to learn to teach effectively online, a need emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic and a shift to distance instruction. Access to a dynamic copy of the course with additional resources and links is available for any Berea instructor upon request.

Mellon Workshops and Institutes 

Student-Faculty Partnerships bring together pairs of students and faculty in a structured program that fosters relationship and encourages dialogue about faculty members’ teaching goals or questions and students’ expertise as learners in classrooms.  Students take a .25 credit course to prepare for the experience and meet one hour weekly with their faculty partners; faculty participants meet monthly with other faculty in the program.
<h3>Program Description</h3>
The Mellon-funded and donor-supported Student-Faculty Partnerships Program works to establish conditions that allow students to become bona fide partners in the teaching equation through a variety of means, including as classroom observers and conversation partners with individual cooperating faculty members.  Students and instructors participate in order to deepen dialogue around diverse experiences of the classroom, to strengthen students’ sense of agency and responsibility for learning, and to foster better learning, a stronger sense of belonging, and greater equity (Cook-Sather, Bovill, &amp; Felten 2014; the <a href="https://www.brynmawr.edu/tli/SaLT-Program">SaLT Program</a> at Bryn Mawr).
<h3>Student Application</h3>
To participate, students must apply and provide recommendations from faculty members and others students. Crucial to success are students’ interest in and commitment to the working within the foundational  values of the program—respect, reciprocity, and responsibility—and a desire to grow and explore building a nontraditional relationship and dialogue with a faculty partner about teaching and learning. 
Students participate in a .25-credit course (the equivalent to a 1-credit course at other institutions); and student partners observe one hour of their faculty partner’s target class each week, assembling and writing up observations, then meeting to discuss these with their faculty partners.   
<h3>Faculty Expression of Interest</h3>
Faculty members engage in a one-hour weekly meeting with their student partners to consider goals for their courses in light of their student partners’ observations, listen to and discuss students’ insights, questions, and recommendations and plan upcoming classes in dialogue with the student partner.  Faculty participants meet monthly in a community of practice with one another and with the program facilitators to discuss their experiences in the program.

Mellon Student-Faculty Partnerships Program

The Mellon grant initiative on <a href="https://tilthighered.com/tiltexamplesandresources">transparent assignment design</a> encourages faculty members to take small but powerful steps toward making their teaching more “transparent” to render the hidden curriculum visible and explicit for all students. This approach has been shown to especially help historically underserved students to experiences stronger feeling of belonging and self-efficacy (Winkelmes 2013; 2016).  The project offers a number of entry points: annual short workshops, semester-long learning communities, and more in-depth research and leadership for two fellows.

Mellon Transparent Assignment Design Project

Professional Writing Retreats are designed to help faculty and staff meet their professional writing goals (typically related to tenure/promotion, dissertation/project completion, or publication) in a supportive environment. Held in a comfortable off-campus venue without internet access, writing retreats allow participants to devote time, energy, and space to writing without distractions. Participants set goals for the day together and reflect on their progress at the end of the session, and lunches and transportation to and from the retreat site are provided. 
The presence of a group of fellow writers has been noted as a positive aspect of previous retreats; the nearness of colleagues working on similar kinds of projects often helps hold participants accountable to their written goals.  Typically, applications are accepted for two retreats each fall; one open to all on-campus faculty and staff, and one for women-identified faculty/staff specifically in response to well-documented gender publication gaps in higher education.