Teaching and Learning | Coulter Faculty Commons

Get Ready for Spring with the CFC. January’s Week Zero: Canvas, Syllabi, and More

by Anabel Livengood | Dec 1, 2025 | Blog, Canvas, Faculty Development Workshop, Teaching and Learning

Week Zero: We’ve got you covered for Spring semester

Finalize your spring courses before the semester begins! During Week Zero, the Coulter Faculty Commons has you covered:

Our team will be available for individual consultations all week (both in-person and virtual), and we’ll host focused workshops on Thursday and Friday to help you finalize your course setup.

Join us for:

Canvas Essentials: streamline your gradebook and boost your communication strategies.
AI & the Syllabus: explore ways to address AI thoughtfully in your course policies.
Syllabus & Canvas Clinic (in-person drop-in support): bring your syllabus, assignments, or Canvas questions and get one-on-one help from our team.

Week Zero flyer: Get ready for Spring with the CFC.

Register for Week Zero

All Week (Monday, January 5 – Friday, January 9)

Our team will be available for individual consultations all week to help you get your spring classes ready — wherever you are in the process. Whether you’d like feedback on your syllabus, ideas for new or revised assignments, or a hand with your Canvas setup and gradebook, we’re here to support you. Bring your questions, drafts, or big-picture plans, and we’ll work with you to make sure your course is ready to launch with confidence.

Schedule a consultation directly or email cfc@wcu.edu to set up an in-person or virtual appointment.

Thursday, January 8

Canvas Gradebook Setup & Best Practices – hybrid | 10:00 – 10:45 am
Because your Canvas gradebook is built from your assignments, it’s important to set it up accurately from the start. In this session, we’ll guide you through organizing assignments, applying weights, and setting grading policies correctly. This is a 30-minute demo, followed by a brief Q&A.

AI & Syllabus Policy – hybrid | 11:00 am – noon
Explore ways to address AI thoughtfully in your syllabus. We’ll look at sample policy language, classroom scenarios, and strategies for aligning expectations with your teaching goals. This session is an interactive workshop.

Syllabus & Canvas Clinic – in-person | 1:00 – 3:00 pm
Work side-by-side with CFC consultants to review your syllabus, organize your Canvas materials, and make sure your course is ready for students on day one. This session follows a drop-in consultation format.

Friday, January 9

Syllabus & Canvas Clinic – in-person | 10:00 am – noon
Work side-by-side with CFC consultants to review your syllabus, organize your Canvas materials, and make sure your course is ready for students on day one. This session follows a drop-in consultation format.

Communication in Canvas – hybrid | 1:15 – 2:00 pm
Stay connected with your students with built-in Canvas features. We’ll show you how to use announcements, feedback tools, the syllabus feature, and discussions to build an engaging and communicative course environment.

Opportunities to Learn about Artificial Intelligence

by April Tallant | Nov 4, 2025 | AI, Blog, Classroom, Educational Technology, Faculty Development Workshop, Help Your Students, Learn, Pedagogy, Student Engagement, Teaching and Learning

AI in the WCU Classroom

Join colleagues for an open discussion on using AI in teaching and learning on Tuesday, Nov 18, 3:30-5:00 pm. This two-part program will include sharing strategies for integrating generative AI into instruction and course management, as well as approaches for setting clear expectations around ethical student use. We’ll also consider how to design learning goals that emphasize key human skills. For more information and to register, read the blog post.

UNC System Pilot: Student AI Literacy

The UNC System Office is piloting a new AI Foundational Skills program, developed collaboratively by faculty, librarians, and instructional designers across the System, in Spring 2026 to strengthen student AI literacy and workforce readiness. This collaborative initiative gives students practical AI experience and critical evaluation skills while connecting them with industry perspectives. We’re seeking faculty to integrate the training into their courses and provide feedback, which will help refine the program. Faculty will receive a stipend. Interested? Complete this interest form to receive more information. Questions? Contact Dr. Heather McCullough, Director, Learning Technology and Open Education, hamccullough@northcarolina.edu

Engaging Students Through Course-Based Research & Creative Inquiry

by April Tallant | Oct 28, 2025 | Blog, Mentoring, Pedagogy, Research, Student Engagement, Teaching and Learning

As instructors, we make pedagogical choices with the understanding that we may never see the full impact those choices have on students’ learning and growth. One exception I’ve found especially rewarding is integrating undergraduate research as a pedagogical strategy. Through this approach, I’ve been able to see students genuinely activate their curiosity, gain knowledge and understanding, think critically, and articulate their learning. The Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) defines undergraduate research as “a mentored investigation or creative inquiry conducted by undergraduates that seeks to make a scholarly or artistic contribution to knowledge.” WCU is known for offering undergraduate research opportunities through programming, funding, and conferences. For example, WCU’s Research and Scholarship Celebration (RASC), scheduled for March 25-26, 2026, provides the perfect venue for students to showcase their research and creative work. Have you been looking for ways to foster student curiosity and inspire deeper learning? The following assignment ideas invite students to take ownership of their learning and create projects they can proudly present at conferences such as RASC.

Evidence-based policy brief or white paper: Ask students to address wicked problems in your discipline
Creative artifact: Students design artifacts such as a digital exhibit, website, podcast, or short documentary grounded in research
Community engaged research: Students partner with a local organization to solve a practical problem
Computational or simulation-based research: Students compute a data set (or part of one) and analyze it
Student-designed product: Students design a model, system, or tool (physical or digital) informed by research
Cross cultural comparison project: Students compare issues/phenomena across cultures, countries, or global systems
ePortfolio: Students build an ePortfolio over a semester or program, curating their work, reflecting on growth, connecting to future goals
Traditional empirical research: Students analyze secondary data or open data sets
Survey or interview research: Students design and administer a survey or interview protocol to explore aspects of the course that pique their interests

Certainly, the context of your courses, such as the number of enrolled students, will factor in whether undergraduate research as a pedagogical strategy works for you. For more information about undergraduate research as a pedagogical strategy, aligning your student learning outcomes with undergraduate research projects, or scaffolding and assessing research assignments, please stop by the Coulter Faculty Commons at Hunter Library 172, call us at 828.227.7196, or make an appointment. For questions about undergraduate research compliance and human subject compliance, contact the Office of Research Administration at irb@wcu.edu or 828.227.2921. For more information about RASC, contact Suzanne Melton at scmelton@wcu.edu or 828.227.2575.

CFC November Workshops

by Anabel Livengood | Oct 20, 2025 | Blog, Canvas, Event, Faculty Development Workshop, Online Learning, Teaching and Learning

November Workshop Line-Up Is Here!

We’re excited to share our November workshop schedule, designed to help you make the most of your teaching tools before the end of the semester. This month, we’re rotating three focused sessions:

Canvas Grading Tools (Intermediate) – A 30-minute demo of our favorite strategies and features for time-saving tips and smart grading workflows, followed by a brief Q&A.
Canvas Communication Tools (Intermediate) – A 30-minute demo of our favorite strategies and features for keeping students informed and engaged, followed by a brief Q&A.
Online Template Session – The CFC continues to offer training to help you integrate WCU’s online template into your courses.

New this month: All sessions will be offered in a hybrid format — join us in person at Hunter Library 156 or participate virtually via Zoom, whichever fits your schedule best.

If none of the workshop times work for you, we highly recommend our new 4-week asynchronous UDL course, which guides you through applying Universal Design for Learning principles to your own course.

Session Descriptions:

Grading in Canvas: SpeedGrader, Rubrics & Feedback Tools

Simplify your grading workflow while maximizing feedback quality. Learn how to use SpeedGrader, apply rubrics, record video comments, and manage your gradebook with ease.

Tuesday, Nov 18 | 10:00 – 10:45 am

Wednesday, Nov 19 | 2:00 – 2:45 pm

Communication in Canvas: Be Present, Be Heard

Stay connected with your students with built-in Canvas features. We’ll show you how to use announcements, feedback tools, the syllabus feature, and discussions to build an engaging and communicative course environment.

Tuesday, Nov 18 | 9:00 – 9:45 am

Wednesday, Nov 19 | 3:00 – 3:45 pm

Online Course Template Training

The Online Course Template is designed to enhance consistency, support, and engagement for both students and instructors. We will support faculty to adapt the template to fit their course needs while maintaining a cohesive structure across WCU.

Wednesday, Nov 19 | 9:00 – 10:30 am

Thursday, Nov 20 | 1:00 – 2:30 pm

Register for Canvas Workshops

Microlearning Made Simple: What It Is and How to Do It

by April Tallant | Sep 30, 2025 | Blog, CFC Insider, Educational Technology, Online Learning, Pedagogy, Student Engagement, Teaching and Learning

Microlearning is a pedagogy that works well in both in-person and online courses. While definitions of microlearning vary, there is at least some consensus on the benefits and how to approach it. At its core, microlearning delivers content in short, small chunks that can be accessed on demand. Other benefits include reduced cognitive load for students, better knowledge retention, improved learning outcomes, and student engagement.

Here are some tips for incorporating microlearning into your classes:

Focus on one objective or concept. Determine the goal so you can structure the lesson and select the best medium given your objective.
Use one medium (videos are the most common) with multiple learning elements. Examples of learning elements include visuals, audio, quizzes, slideshows, PDFs, and links. PowerPoint is a nice medium because you can include video, visuals, and link out to PDFs and quizzes.
Keep it short and focused. Research indicates 30 seconds to up to 15 minutes, and if you are using video, bear in mind that videos longer than 9 minutes results in a drop in viewer attention.
Make it interactive. Enhance videos by embedding 1–2 quiz questions directly into them (for example, you can do this directly in Panopto), or by using slides that prompt students to guess an answer, then click to reveal the correct response on the following slide.

It’s fun to explore ways to integrate microlearning into courses. For in-person classes, one effective approach is to assign a microlearning module as homework before class. This helps students prepare for an active learning experience when the class meets. In online courses, microlearning can be used as either standalone modules or be embedded within larger units.

If you’d like to explore microlearning further, consider stopping by the CFC to chat or schedule a consultation with one of our educational developers.

References

Balasundaram, S., Mathew, J., & Nair. S. (2024). Microlearning and learning performance in higher education: A post-test control group study. Journal of Learning for Development 11(1), 1-14.

Denojean-Mairet, M., López-Pernas, S., Agbo, F. J., & Tedre, M. (2024). A literature review on the integration of microlearning and social media. Smart Learning Environments, 11(1), 46.

Kohnke, L. (2021). Optimizing microlearning for mobile learning. In Corbeil, J.R., B.H. Khan, & M.E. Corbeil (Eds.), Microlearning in the digital age [pre-print]. Routledge.

NC State Teaching Resources (n.d.). Micro-learning with digital tools. Available at: https://teaching-resources.delta.ncsu.edu/micro-learning-with-digital-tools/

Thillainadesan, J., Le Couteur, D. G., Haq, I., & Wilkinson, T. J. (2022). When I say… microlearning. Medical education, 56(8), 791–792.

Professional Development Opportunity from Association of College and University Educators (ACUE)

by April Tallant | Sep 16, 2025 | Blog, Pedagogy, Teaching and Learning

WCU faculty, graduate students, and instructional staff are all eligible to receive no-cost access to the ACUE self-paced course, Effective Teaching 101: Starting the Semester Strong. It is suitable for those teaching in person, online, or hybrid formats and designed to equip participants with five essential evidence-based teaching practices that enhance teaching and positively impact student success. This self-paced course takes less than 8 hours to complete. A digital badge will be provided upon successful completion.

Project Kitty Hawk, in partnership with the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE), is excited to offer this professional development opportunity as part of their commitment to instructional excellence and student success.