The Appalachian College Association’s Center for Teaching & Learning serves as a forum for faculty and staff members to learn about and share innovative practices in pedagogy, student development, and student support with their colleagues across the ACA. The Center aspires to cultivate student-centered, evidence-based, innovative, and inclusive approaches to teaching and learning and to foster a culture of excellence in the scholarship of teaching and learning among the consortium’s faculty and staff.
The CTL functions as a “co-op” for ACA educators to share and learn from one another. Our work is dependent on members of the ACA actively contributing to this resource for others to then use. Submitting to these various areas is simple, as all contributions are templated and easy to use. In addition to these website resources, the Center hosts webinars and other webcasts (normally presented/facilitated by faculty and staff from member institutions) on important topics or themes related to our work as educators in the context of Appalachia.
Spring 2025 CTL Webinars
February 27, 2025, at 10:00 am (eastern) View the Presentation
We Are Non-Renewable Resources and other Inconvenient Truths: What It Means for Today's Instructors to Teach Today's Students
Dr. Lindsay Masland, Executive Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning and Professor of Psychology at Appalachian State University
Over the past few years, college instructors have been surprised, confused, and occasionally outraged by the students who show up in our classrooms. Lamentations over missing skills, low attendance rates, and disappointing work quality are center stage in many pedagogical discussions. Not surprisingly, the recommended antidote is to double down on our use of student-centered teaching. In our quest to be student-centered, though, we can end up making choices that can overwhelm us with their unsustainability. In this workshop, we'll discuss how centering our own contexts and needs in pedagogical decision-making provides fertile ground for sustainable, effective teaching that benefits both our students and ourselves.
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Thursday, March 27, 12:00 - 1:00 pm (eastern) Register to Attend
Constructivism in the Classroom: Increasing Student Engagement
Dr. Brittany Goetting, Assistant Professor of History (University of Pikeville)
It can be challenging to consistently engage students in the classroom. Constructivism, the theory that learners construct knowledge rather than just passively take in information, is an approach that can encourage student-led learning. It argues that learning is an active process and that the knowledge one attains is both personal and socially constructed. Constructivism especially highlights interaction - active engagement with the learning material, with the instructor, and with fellow students.
This presentation explores constructivist applications in the college classroom to encourage student participation - enhancing students’ involvement in their own learning process. In examining constructivism’s meaning and its applications in the classroom, webinar participants will explore several cooperative learning strategies, such as jig sawing, inquiry-based learning, and place-based learning.
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Thursday, April 10, 10:00 - 11:00 am (eastern) Register to Attend
Using Perusall to Foster Engagement in Critical Reading and Discussion
Dr. Lana Whited, Professor of English & Williams Distinguished Teaching Chair (Ferrum College)
A recent study found that sixty-two percent of college students report spending an hour or less daily on reading assignments, and only six percent say they spend two hours or more. Another study found that almost ninety percent of respondents say they believe “they could receive a C or better without completing any of the assigned readings” (Baier et al). Most undergraduate faculty across institutional types would likely agree that getting students to arrive for class prepared for discussion is a major challenge in higher education. But despite a well-established body of traditional scholarship on this topic, motivating student reading is not an area of pedagogy that has seen much innovation–until recently.
The Perusall Interactive Reading platform was created by Harvard's engineering faculty in 2015 and facilitates access to texts of various types (written, video, image, etc.) in a collaborative format similar to social media, allowing all participants to see the comments and questions of other participants, including the instructor. The platform’s algorithm scores student interaction with the texts based on four criteria (completing the full assignment, meeting deadlines, quality of student comments, and thoroughness, including pacing and distribution of comments throughout a text); additionally, it has some accessibility features and a relatively new peer workshop assignment capability. Webinar participants will hear about the platform’s features, its numerous benefits for both online and in-person instruction, and student response to using it.
The CTL's Fall 2024 Webinar Series Emphasizing Engagement
The ACA's Center for Teaching & Learning's Fall Webinar Series emphasized the theme of Engagement - in the classroom, on campus, with faculty and staff, and in the broader community. Our first session was postponed due to Hurricane Helene, and we expect to provide that presentation in the spring semester. Recordings of our other two webinars are now available for viewing - click on the titles below.
Monday, November 4, 11:30 am – 12:45 pm (eastern)
Panel Presentation: Three ACA Members’ Innovative Community Engagement Programs
Thursday, November 21, 11:00 – 11:55 am; Discussion 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Sarah Wessel, Student, Lee University
Other ACA Professional Development Opportunities
The Center for Teaching & Learning is pleased to collaborate with other ACA program initiatives that support faculty and staff professional development and pedagogical improvement and innovation. These programs provide development and other supports related to teaching and learning, including webinars, tutorials, and other learning opportunities.
Appalachian Colleges Collaborating for Equity (ACCE). The ACCE webinar series - designed by ACA folks and intended for ACA folks - concern timely and relevant professional development topics for faculty and institutional leaders of all ranks. These accessible presentations are recorded and made available.
Open Appalachia: Open & Affordable Resources. Open Appalachia shares webinars, tutorials, and other resources for faculty looking to integrate (or create) open educational resources for their classes or other learning experiences. Open Appalachia held its second annual OAR day-long virtual conference on February 14, 2025, and you can view these presentations.
