2024 Summer Teaching Institute
Backward Design for Forward Movement: The New Teaching Style and Syllabus Clinic
May 16, 2024
Veterinary Education Center, Room 255
1180 Wire Road
College of Veterinary Medicine
Auburn University
Faculty and graduate students are invited to attend the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine’s 11th annual Summer Teaching Institute to advance educational efforts in the health sciences. The annual professional development seminar presented by the college’s Teaching Enhancement Committee, is scheduled for Thursday, May 16, 2024, on the College of Veterinary Medicine campus. This year’s program, titled Backward Design for Forward Movement, will introduce the new teaching style, backward design, in the morning and the Syllabus Clinic Workshop in the afternoon. The program will be led by representatives from Auburn University’s Biggio Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning.
This event is free of charge; however, registration is required no later than May 9 for planning purposes. Six (6) hours continuing education credit will be provided for pre-registered veterinary participants. Contact Dr. Ryan Gibson, with questions about the program.
* Please bring a printed version of a syllabus from a course you lead (course coordinator) or are a part of (course instructor).
Facilitators
Lindsay Doukopoulos, Ph.D.
Associate Director for Educational Development, The Biggio Center, Auburn University
Lindsay Doukopoulos, Ph.D., serves as the Associate Director for Educational Development in the Biggio Center at Auburn University, Chair of the Southern Regional Faculty and Instructional Developer Consortium, Co-Chair of the POD Network’s Digital Resources and Innovation (DRI) committee, and Host of the POD Network podcast, Centering Centers. She is driven by a commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice, as evidenced by efforts such as her NSF-funded IDEALS (Inclusive Design for Engaged and Active Learning in STEM) project. A creative writer by training, her educational development research focuses on the use of storytelling to create ‘backstage conversations’ and the use of playful pedagogies (and the pedagogy of plays) to inspire joyful, generative change at every level of the institution.
Arlene Godwin, MPA
Graduate Teaching Assistant, The Biggio Center, Auburn University
Arlene Godwin has been an educator for more than 20 years. She is currently a PhD candidate in Educational Leadership at Auburn University, specializing in Administration and Supervision of Curriculum. Her dissertation focuses on the role of teachers in improving academic outcomes and promoting educational resilience among justice-involved students. Arlene works as a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the Biggio Center, where she teaches the “Teaching Excellence” class, which introduces graduate students from across the university to the basics of course design and university teaching. She co-facilitates the Preparing Future Faculty seminar with Dr. Kelley Noll (Nursing), which prepares PhDs and postdocs from colleges across Auburn for academic job searches and careers in academia. In the past, Arlene has also shared her expertise in cultural literacy as an occasional guest speaker on cultural intelligence for the University’s Global Medallion Program. Her insights contributed to the program’s mission of promoting cross-cultural understanding and competence. Arlene is a 2022-2024 Jackson Scholar, and a 2022 and 2023 recipient of the Barlow Family Annual Scholarship. She has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Florida A & M University and a master’s in Public Administration from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Arlene’s diverse educational background reflects a holistic approach to her current research and teaching roles.
Liesl Reiners, Ph.D.
Educational Development Specialist, The Biggio Center, Auburn University
Dr. Liesl Reiners leads academic coaching, curricular design, and leadership development in her role as the Educational Development Specialist at the Biggio Center. Before joining the teaching and learning team, she served as a professionally trained counselor through career coaching, professional development, student support, and academic advising. In 2016, she joined the Harbert College of Business as a career coach and professional development instructor in the Office of Professional and Career Development. Previously, she served as the Student Services Coordinator of Curriculum and Assessment for the College of Veterinary Medicine. Liesl has experience mentoring students both inside and outside of the classroom, facilitating teams and organizations through periods of growth and change, such as the HCoB OPCD Peer Instructors, the HCoB Underclassmen Advisory Council, and a team dedicated to curriculum redesign for the professional development courses. Prior to joining higher education, Liesl served as an educator for Auburn City Schools and coached fellow educators on best practices and professional development as a trainer for the Alabama State Department of Education. Liesl is a Global Career Development Facilitator and a GCDF Instructor. Along with her professional accomplishments, Liesl has served the community through various directing and advising positions. She sat on the Board of Directors for the Auburn Chamber of Commerce, advised the Delta Delta Chapter of AOII, and was a member of the Junior League of Lee County. Liesl is also the proud mother of four children.
DeElla Wiley, M.A., MTPC
Instructional Development Specialist, The Biggio Center, Auburn University
DeElla Wiley is the Instructional Development Specialist at the Biggio Center and holds an M.A. in English Literature and a Master of Technical and Professional Communication degree. She has designed and taught multiple courses at institutions across the southeast and at Auburn. Pre-pandemic, she led a team of instructors and instructional development programs in the Auburn Global program and has also served as an instructor in the Alabama Prison Arts Program. In her current role, she designs and delivers teaching and learning professional development opportunities for Auburn’s academic community. She oversees the design and delivery of Auburn’s “Teaching with AI” course initiative—a project that has helped elevate Auburn University as a leader in teaching with generative AI technology. The course, first offered to Auburn faculty in spring 2023, has been licensed by the SEC and now serves 10,000+ learners from over 80 institutions across the country. In March 2024, the course won UPCEA’s (The Online and Professional Education Association) 2024 Innovation Award. In addition to leading teaching, learning, and design efforts for the Biggio Center, she also contributes to educational development leadership on a regional and national scale through her roles as Vice-Chair of the Southern Regional Faculty and Instructional Development Consortium (SRFIDC) and member of the POD Network’s Digital Resources and Innovation Committee.
Schedule
8:30 – 8:45 a.m.
Registration & Welcome
Backward Design for Forward Movement
8:45 – 10:15 a.m.
The Foundational Framework of Backward Design in Teaching
Description: This session will introduce attendees to the Backward Design Framework through 5 foundational steps that can be used to design everything from a single class session to a full course to an entire curriculum. We will evaluate the research on best practices related to each step and consider examples and case study models. By understanding how to leverage this framework, faculty can approach developing courses, lectures, labs, and clinical rotations through the lens of the learner.
10:15 – 10:30 a.m.
Break
10:30 – 12:30 p.m.
Applying Backward Design to Your Course and/or Lessons
Description: In this session, participants will choose an aspect of their teaching (a course, a series of lectures, a single lecture, lab, or clinical rotation, for example) and work through the backward design steps, get feedback from peers, and provide input on the design of colleagues. Finally, we will practice checking our assessments and activities for alignment with our learning goals and discuss strategies to improve alignment based on the needs of our students, the curriculum, and our own goals.
12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
Lunch
Workshop: Syllabus Clinic
1:00 – 2:30 p.m.
The Four Components Every Syllabus Must Have
Description: In this two-part workshop, participants will receive a checklist and rubric for designing a syllabus and evaluating whether it is content-centered or learner-centered. Participants who do not design the syllabus of the courses they teach will be provided with a framework for checking for alignment between their contact hours/lectures and the course syllabus across the course. We will also examine the research on transparency, its importance to all students, and the special benefits it holds for novice and marginalized students.
2:30 – 2:45 p.m.
Break
2:45 – 4:15 p.m.
Syllabus Clinic: Diagnosis and Treatment
Description: In the second half of our Syllabus Clinic Workshop, participants will review and provide feedback on each other’s syllabi or check for alignment between the course syllabi and individual lectures/ classes taught by different instructors. Our workshop will conclude with a debrief to share what we discover about our own syllabi and class materials by looking at the examples shared by our colleagues and determine our own next steps to elevate our courses, classes, and communication with our students through the refinement and alignment of this all-important design document.