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The Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning & Leadership Newsletter
April 2025
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In the Spotlight: Dr. Leila Walker
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This month, we interviewed Dr. Leila Walker, the Humanities and Digital Scholarship Librarian at Queens College and the leader of the Open
Educational Resources Faculty Fellowship to learn more about Open Educational Resources (OER), examples of OER implementation at QC and beyond, and OER’s overall effect on classroom and community engagement and collaboration.
CETLL: Can you explain what open educational resources means? What is the difference between OER and Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC)
courses?
Dr. Walker: The simple answer is, [Open Educational Resources
are] free educational resources that make the economic barriers to academic success much less. It does the work of social justice in that manner, but they’re distinct from zero textbook cost materials in the sense that they’re not just free, they’re also
openly licensed. Materials like Youtube videos or articles in the library databases, those are freely available to our students and community to use, print, read, and download. But you can’t modify those resources.
What’s really special about open educational resources is that their creators have granted anyone, anywhere the right to modify, update
these materials, make collaborative projects with students, to adapt these resources for their own specific classroom. If a free textbook [without an open license] goes out of date, you would have to write an entirely new one in order to actually update it
within the restrictions of copyright. But an openly licensed textbook that’s freely available on the internet, when it goes out of date, anyone who wants to can take that resource and update it. It’s perpetually renewable, which I really love. And it also
creates these fantastic opportunities for us as educators to include our students in the public creation of knowledge.
Please click here to read the full interview.
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This semester, CETLL launched a new monthly series, Pedagogy
Pop-Ups: a space for faculty to engage in peer-based discussion about teaching and learning at QC. At the February meeting we had a vibrant discussion about ways to talk about Generative AI with our students, with support from insightful presentations
by Lindsey Albracht (English) and S.E. Hackney (GSLIS). In March, our discussion focused on expanding student engagement in and beyond the classroom with innovative presentations by Iva Burdett (Chemistry), Melissa Lovitz (FNES), and Christopher Williams
(English and Provost’s Faculty Fellow 2023-2024).
Please join us for our upcoming pop-up: Incorporating Open Educational Resources (OER) Into Our Courses, with faculty presenters
Caitlin Colban-Waldron (GSLIS), Seth Lehman (Mathematics), and Tina Pagano (Psychology). At this pop-up, we will talk about strategies faculty have used to bring accessible open educational
resources (OER) into their courses, how they have organized these materials to meet learning objectives, and what impacts OER has had on faculty and students’ experiences in the classroom. We invite you to join the conversation! Bring your questions, concerns,
tools, and stories!
The meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2025 from 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. in Kiely Hall 111A and on Zoom.
Link to Register: forms.office.com/r/cVhVqqfysX
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From left: Susan Davis (ACSM), François Pierre-Louis (Political Science), Schiro Withanachchi (BALA),
Kate Pechenkina (Dean of Social Sciences), Soniya Munshi (CETLL/Urban Studies)
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On March 26th, CETLL hosted a panel discussion about faculty service on the way to tenure, promotion to Associate Professor, and CCE. The
speakers on the panel included Susan Davis (Professor, Music), Kate Pechenkina (Dean of Social Sciences), François Pierre-Louis (Chair and Professor, Political Science) and Schiro Withanachchi (Director and Lecturer, BALA). The discussion included guidance
on how faculty may approach questions of service, ways that service activities are considered in the tenure and promotion processes, and how to document this work so that it is recognized. CETLL will share a summary of the main takeaways from the panel; please
stay tuned!
Please save the date for the next Faculty Service workshop that will center faculty who plan to apply for Full Professor. The event
will take place on Wednesday,
May 14th, 2025. Confirmed speakers include Susan Davis (Professor of Music), Maria de Longoria (Associate Provost for Academic and Faculty Affairs), Stephen Grover (Associate Professor and Chair of
Philosophy), Daniel Weinstein (Professor and Dean, Math and Natural Sciences).
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Pedagogies of Writing:
Giving Feedback on Writing to Motivate Student Revision
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Revision can be a daunting task for any writer. What does it mean to improve a draft? How can we as instructors encourage effective revision
practices?
In this workshop,
Lindsey Albracht, Co-Director of First Year Writing and Part-Time Instruction and Rebecca Suzuki, Lecturer in English and Multilingualism Specialist, will discuss innovative ways that instructors may provide feedback that motivate students to revise their
text. Examples include compassionate writing responses, defining and clarifying revision expectations, having students annotate their first drafts, assigning community-engaged projects, conferencing, and incorporating creative writing techniques. Open to
all instructors who teach classes with a writing component.
The workshop will be held on Monday, April 28th, 2025 from 12:15 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. in the President’s Conference Room #1 (RO 527/Library).
Please register here: forms.office.com/r/tJQ92EDhRs
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Teaching & Learning Showcase
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CETLL is excited to announce the return of the Teaching
and Learning Showcase!
Join us to learn from, share, and engage with innovative, equitable, and student-centered pedagogical practices and projects at Queens
College.
Date: May 2, 2025
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Location: Muyskens Conference Room (The Summit)
Register at forms.office.com/r/iYAkfMkt5J
Breakfast and lunch will be provided so please register by April 28.
Please stay tuned for the complete list of QC faculty presenters and presentations!
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Pedagogies of Place: A Faculty Development Workshop About Teaching in Queens
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Organized and facilitated by CETLL, Lindsey Albracht (English), Eric
Goldfischer (Urban Studies), Soniya Munshi (CETLL/Urban Studies), and Amy Wan (English)
Co-sponsored by the QC Library’s OER Initiative, funded by N.Y.S. Open Educational Resources Grant
Dates: June 10th, 11th, and 12th, 2025
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Where: Queens College campus; location TBD
This three day in-person workshop invites QC faculty to deepen our understanding of the place we call Queens, as a campus and as a set
of communities and neighborhoods. Drawing from interdisciplinary approaches to place-based education and pedagogies of writing, we will explore how critical and reflective engagement with our local contexts can inform our teaching practices. The sessions
will include a mix of hands-on activities, hearing from different people across campus, and time to work on projects.
Who should apply?
This workshop is open to all faculty members at Queens College. No expertise or previous training is necessary, and all
disciplines are welcome. The seminar will be a chance to talk about teaching and learn from peers; it will be welcoming to all participants who are interested in being more comfortable with their teaching.
We especially encourage pre-tenure/CCE and part-time faculty to apply as well as mid-career faculty who would like the opportunity to re-engage
with their teaching.
Please visit CETLL’s site to learn more about the workshop and requirements for participation: https://www.qc.cuny.edu/cetll/pedagogies-of-place/
Faculty members that fulfill the workshop commitments will receive a $2,000 stipend and a certificate of completion.
Apply for the workshop here: forms.office.com/r/fSNqZxp7hm
Applications due 11:59 p.m., April 28
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