UPDATE: the Faculty Fellows 21-22 cohort has been filled.​

ASSETT’s annual call for Faculty Fellows is now open, and we’re excited to be supporting a college-wide initiative to acknowledge and elevate teaching quality! 

Recently, Dean Jim White announced to develop discipline-specific standards and measures for evaluating teaching quality. ASSETT will support this new college-wide initiative by building on the success of the NSF-funded Teaching Quality Framework (TQF) initiative in the Center for STEM Learning: “The Teaching Quality Framework initiative facilitates departmental and campus-wide efforts to provide a richer evaluation of teaching to enhance the value of high-quality teaching and reward scholarly approaches to improving student learning.” 

ASSETT will provide guidance, in consultation with the TQF initiative, through a special offering of its Faculty Fellows program. Faculty Fellows are an interdisciplinary group of Arts & Sciences faculty who come together around a shared interest in exploring new ways to continuously improve the undergraduate learning experience. With support from ASSETT staff, Faculty Fellows serve as mentors, leaders, and liaisons to address needs and challenges within their individual departments. 

In previous years, each Faculty Fellow has proposed and executed a project of interest within their home department. (For example, read our recent spotlight article on Mona Attawa’s Qahwa Arabi Arabic-teaching platform.) The 2021–22 cohort is unique in that all of the fellows will engage in a culminating project focused on the same goal: to lead their departments in constructive conversations and consensus-building to define and document teaching quality. 

Fellowships require a three-semester commitment and include a $3000 professional development award (not to be used as a salary stipend). A cohort of 10 fellows will meet twice-monthly in synchronous Zoom seminars during spring 2021. Leveraging a grassroots faculty learning community approach, they will investigate characteristics of teaching quality, including: 

• goal-oriented, inclusive, and scholarly teaching;

• teaching with technology, including strategies to improve access and accessibility for diverse students;

• multiple measures of evaluation; and

• facilitation techniques for guiding departments in building consensus on these topics. 

During the 2021–22 academic year, the fellows will facilitate the development of teaching quality definitions and scholarly approaches to teaching evaluation within their individual departments.

Department chairs in the College of Arts & Sciences are invited to submit letters of nomination to assett@colorado.edu no later than January 18, 2021. Letters should describe the nominee’s qualifications and capacity to engage their colleagues in developing teaching quality standards as well as conveying the department’s commitment to support their participation for the duration of the program. Additionally, each nominee will be asked to complete a brief online application to describe their interest in serving as a Faculty Fellow and how they could contribute to the overall success of the cohort. 

Tenure-track faculty and senior instructors are eligible, including those who have previously participated in a Faculty Fellows cohort. Further details and submission instructions are available on the . 

Questions about the program or the application process may be directed to the Faculty Fellows facilitators, Amanda McAndrew and Joy Adams.

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Mona Attwa's Qahwa Arabi platform makes learning accessible and appealing for remote students

Mona Attwa, an Arabic instructor in the Department of Asian Languages and Civilizations, for realizing a long-time goal with the production of the online platform Qahwa Arabi. The platform went live on August 23. Mona sought ASSETT’s support for the project as a member of the 2019-2020 Faculty Fellows cohort.

The platform is intended to mimic the casual atmosphere of a coffee shop, but in a digital environment. (Qahwa Arabi means “coffee shop” in Arabic.) Attwa describes it as “a space for students to feel comfortable with learning and being engaged with the [Arabic] language.” And this platform comes just in time as learning has moved online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Qahwa Arabi provides a more authentic way for students to engage with the Arabic language when learning remotely. Further, the platform allows for Arabic to become more accessible and appealing to a wider audience. For example, the platform incorporates many interactive features including audio recordings for proper pronunciation, videos demonstrating how to draw the letters, and flashcards that help students study, test their knowledge, and play matching games. 

Attwa explains that the platform “provides supplementary materials to guide our teaching of Arabic at CU Boulder.” While it’s a big accomplishment to get this far, she is eager to expand the platform, which currently covers the first five weeks of the beginning Arabic course (ARAB 1010). Her eventual goal is to expand its coverage to the entire ten-week introductory curriculum as well as to other courses in the Arabic program. Attawa is also seeking feedback from her current students on how to make Qahwa Arabi even better. 

Attwa was first inspired to create this resource in 2016 after attending a workshop focused on incorporating video into the classroom environment. It was then that she noticed a gap in technological resources. She realized that not all platforms are able to be adapted into the Arabic classroom due the nature of the language and script. It was upon this realization that she came up with the idea to develop her own platform on which Arabic instructors, like herself, can upload materials and enhance their courses to help students learn the language better. 

Attwa was able to bring her concept into fruition by collaborating with web developers and graphic designers, thanks to support and funding provided by her partners at ASSETT, ALTEC, TechMark DS (a Boulder-based internet marketing service), and Aman Alchukr, who designed the logo and theme. She expressed her appreciation for her time as a Faculty Fellow, saying that she is grateful for the opportunity to learn from the other members of the program and that ASSETT helped her translate her ambitious ideas into concrete steps so that she could really push forward on this project.

ASSETT is proud to support dedicated faculty who seek to improve learning for our diverse student population. Amanda McAndrew, facilitator of the Faculty Fellows program, readily admits that she was skeptical that this project would come to fruition: “I just thought it would take too much money, but I am so excited to see all that Mona has accomplished. This is one of our top Faculty Fellows projects ever!” 

Kudos to Mona Attwa on this accomplishment! We look forward to seeing future iterations of Qahwa Arabi.

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A call for participation in ASSETT’s Faculty Fellows program will be announced in our November newsletter. We have been busy updating the program and working in collaboration with others in the College of Arts & Sciences to find new ways to meet the needs of the college. 

The ASSETT Faculty Fellows are a collaborative community of A&S faculty who address teaching, learning, and technology challenges within their individual departments. Participants will receive a professional development stipend upon completion of the program requirements.

Please visit our website for more information about this exciting opportunity, including information about our past program and participants. For more details, contact Amanda McAndrew with any questions.

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Front row: Amanda McAndrew (ASSETT, facilitator), Elizabeth Grulke (Math), Karen Jacobs (ENGL), Leilani Arthurs (GEOL), Jennifer Stempien (GEOL) Back row: Sara Myers (ASSETT, facilitator), Elizabeth Anderman (Farrand RAP), Olga Vasile (FRIT), Dawn Colley (PWR), Anthony Abiragi (PWR), Berit Jany (GSLL), Beth Osnes (ASSETT/THRD, facilitator) Not pictured: Adrian Shin (PSCI).

Congratulations to our fourth cohort of ASSETT Faculty Fellows! We are excited to have this distinguished group of ten individuals from a diverse set of departments within the College of Arts & Sciences, including:

• Anthony Abiragi, Program for Writing & Rhetoric
• Elizabeth Anderman, Farrand RAP
• Leilani Arthurs, Geological Sciences
• Dawn Colley, Program for Writing & Rhetoric
• Elizabeth (Boo) Grulke, Mathematics
• Karen Jacobs, English
• Berit Jany, Germanic and Slavic Languages & Literatures
• Adrian Shin, Political Science
• Jennifer Stempien, Geological Sciences
• Olga Vasile, French & Italian

See a complete list and photos of the 2020-2021 fellows.

-- 2017-18 Faculty Fellow

The ASSETT Faculty Fellows Program brings together a community of A&S faculty of all ranks who are committed to the continuous improvement of teaching and learning with technology. Fellows collaborate with ASSETT to provide leadership on issues at the intersection of teaching, learning, and technology. Time and again, faculty in this program laud the opportunity to engage with and learn from colleagues in different disciplines from across the college. 

-- 2017-18 Faculty Fellow

A faculty fellowship begins with a seminar on current pedagogical approaches, with a focus on the role of technology in increasing engagement and improving learning outcomes. They engage with current research and collaborate with each other to identify and develop potential avenues for further exploration. This group has a particular interest in digital pedagogy, instructional design, active learning, Universal Design for Learning, community building, interdisciplinary collaborations, and open education, information and digital literacy through . After the seminar, they return to their departments to develop and organize constructive conversations, workshops, or other projects grounded in evidence-based teaching practices that improve the student learning experience. ASSETT Faculty Fellows also serve as mentors to their colleagues and as liaisons between their departments and ASSETT, to use their unique position to promote ongoing inquiry into digital pedagogy and learning to best serve undergraduate students in the College of Arts and Sciences.

-- 2018-19 Faculty Fellow

Past Faculty Fellows have devised projects that investigate the impact of learning assistants, showcase student writing online, facilitate further faculty learning communities, and presentations of mini teaching tips. Amanda McAndrew and Beth Osnes are the facilitators of Faculty Fellows, with support from Sara Myers. All Faculty Fellows projects and information about how to apply to the program can be found on the ASSETT website. Contact Amanda McAndrew if you have any questions.

-- 2018-19 Faculty Fellow

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The deadline to apply for the 2020–21 cohort of Faculty Fellows has been extended in light of the recent weather-related campus closures. 

To apply, complete the online application and ask your department chair to submit a letter of support no later than December 8, 2019. Further details and submission instructions are available on the . 

Questions about the program or the application process may be directed to Amanda McAndrew, ASSETT’s Faculty Services Portfolio Manager.

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As the faculty advisor for ASSETT, I invite you to consider applying to be a part of the ASSETT’s Faculty Fellows Program's 2020/2021 cohort. As part of this supportive community, you will be with a group working together to explore innovative ways you can reach your course learning objectives.

Being a part of an ASSETT Faculty Fellows group allowed me to get excited about my teaching in a fresh way. The support from the ASSETT staff really helped me discover technological opportunities and solutions that were fun and that deepened my students’ engagement with the material. Currently I am creating an for our Performance for Community Engagement course that I co-teach with Nii Armah Sowah. (Read more about this project in Amanda McAndrew's article on SPLOTs.) Together we are working with our students to create a repository of physical warm-ups, activities, and games that are useful when working with communities.

Our students were incredibly adept at using these tools and enthusiastic about the process. ASSETT staff members were incredibly supportive in helping us design and execute the set-up for this project. By being a part of the ASSETT Faculty Fellows cohort, you will gain the support and encouragement to create new opportunities for your students.

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The ASSETT Faculty Fellows program brings together faculty from the College of Arts & Sciences to promote continuous improvement of the undergraduate learning experience. With support from ASSETT staff, Faculty Fellows serve as mentors, leaders, and liaisons to address needs and challenges within their individual departments. 

Fellowships require a three-semester commitment and include a $3000 professional development award. A cohort of 10 Fellows will participate in a seminar during spring 2020. For AY 2020-21, Fellows will collaborate with ASSETT staff to engage their departments in actively addressing identified teaching, learning, and technology issues.

"The best part of being a Faculty Fellow, to me, has been the wonderful cross-disciplinary discussions with colleagues from across the campus," explains Nicole Jobin, Instructor of History and Associate Director of the Sewall Residential Academic Program. "It made me realize how much we have in common even when our disciplines seem like they are opposites. Talking about ways of promoting or assessing critical thinking or discussing how to assess if our assignments meet learning goals is one kind of conversation between a bunch of people who teach the same subject. It is entirely different in surprising and enlightening ways when you put together a historian, a mathematician, a biologist, and a writing instructor, for instance."

To apply, complete the online application and ask your department chair to submit a letter of support no later than December 1, 2019. Further details and submission instructions are available on the . 

Questions about the program or the application process may be directed to Amanda McAndrew, ASSETT’s Faculty Services Portfolio Manager.

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The 2019 Linguistics Undergraduate Research Award (LURA) blogs have been posted on the Department of Linguistics website. Professor Kira Hall developed the LURA program while participating in the 2017-18 ASSETT Faculty Fellows cohort.

The 17 students honored were nominated for innovative research conducted in an undergraduate linguistics class during the spring 2018 and fall 2018 semesters. They are: Ana Berlova, Kieran Britt, Heraa Hashmi, Jay Hevelone, Gin Quesada Lara, Kyo Lee, Mari Marquardt, Lauren Nelsen, Tansee McReynolds, Timothy Meier, Carolyn Olmsted, Calley Peirce, Amy Sanders, Sophia Six, Camila Soffia, Cameron Sojak, and Mara Strother.

Awards are contingent on the students' successful submission of 500-1000 word blogs describing the research for which they were nominated. �鶹��Ժ work with their nominating faculty members, GPTIs, or TAs to produce synopses of their research ideas that are both informative and accessible to a wider readership. Hall noted in her project report, submitted in May 2018:

We are pleased to report that the undergraduate blog project not only enhanced the department climate for many of our undergraduate students, it also constituted a major step forward in inspiring undergraduate involvement in the major and in the discipline... [It] advertises our linguistics courses while showcasing the work of our students to the university community and to the public.

The webpage hosting the blogs was designed by linguistics PhD student Kevin Stowe.

For more information about the Faculty Fellows program, contact Amanda McAndrew or visit the ASSETT website.

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Front row: Carrie Vodehnal (ENVS), Alina Van Nelson (FRIT), Blair Young (ASSETT), Nabilah Carlon (CHEM), Mona Attwa (ALC), Lee Roberson (MATH).
Back Row: Amanda McAndrew (ASSETT), Joseph Timmer (MATH), Andy Martin (EBIO/ASSETT), Rachael Simonetta (ENGL), Eliza Smith (FRIT).
Not Pictured: Michael Klymkowsky (MCDB), Becky Flowers (GEOL), June Gruber (PSYC).

Congratulations to our third cohort of ASSETT Faculty Fellows! We are excited to have this distinguished group of ten individuals from a diverse set of departments. See a complete list and photos of the 2019-2020 fellows.

The ASSETT Faculty Fellows Program brings together a community of faculty who are committed to the continuous improvement of teaching and learning with technology. They collaborate with ASSETT to provide leadership on issues at the intersection of teaching, learning, and technology. A faculty fellowship begins with a seminar on current pedagogical approaches, with a focus on the role of technology in increasing engagement and improving learning outcomes. Fellows engage with current research and collaborate with each other to identify and develop potential avenues for further exploration. After the seminar, they return to their departments to develop and organize constructive conversations, workshops, or other projects grounded in evidence-based teaching practices that improve the student learning experience. ASSETT Faculty Fellows also serve as mentors to their colleagues and as liaisons between their departments and ASSETT, to use their unique position to promote ongoing inquiry into digital pedagogy and learning to best serve undergraduate students in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Although I have experience in using learning goals, I gained a deeper understanding and insight on some top level learning goals which can be shared among different disciplines.
-- 2017-18 Faculty Fellow

I am very excited about continuing to be a part of this community. It is great to know that I have a community of supportive colleagues outside of my unit to whom I can go as resources (and I would be the same for them).
-- 2017-18 Faculty Fellow

I’m grateful for the unique opportunity you afford faculty to reflect on and invest in their teaching.
-- 2018-19 Faculty Fellow

Past Faculty Fellows have devised projects that investigate the impact of learning assistants, showcase student writing online, facilitate further faculty learning communities, and presentations of mini teaching tips. All Faculty Fellows projects and information about how to apply to the Faculty Fellows program can be found on the ASSETT website. Contact Amanda McAndrew if you have any questions.

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[back row] Giorgio Corda , Samuel Flaxman, Eve-Lyn Hinckley, David Budd, Brian Zaharatos, Kristopher Karnauskas, Andy Martin, Lonni Pearce, David Paradis, [front row] Jen Walentas Lewon, Jia Shi, Nicole Jobin, Amanda McAndrew, Pamela Harvey, Kira Hall, McKell Carter Carston

Congratulations and welcome to our first cohort of Faculty Fellows. We are excited to have a distinguished group of fourteen individuals, all from different departments, who are committed to continuous improvement of teaching and learning. Faculty Fellows seek to increase collaboration around teaching, learning, and technology challenges in our cohort and their individual departments. We will investigate current pedagogical approaches, identify teaching, learning and technology interests in departments, and develop potential avenues for further exploration. Fellows are participating in a seminar this spring and will develop an approach to investigate identified areas of departmental interest during the 17-18 academic year

"I hope to participate in critical discussions of new technologies and best teaching practices, dialogue with faculty in my department about how we can better serve our students in these areas, and in new work relationships and friendships with faculty across A&S."

~2017 Faculty Fellow

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