Institute for Faculty Development

Advancing teaching excellence at Vanguard University through culturally-responsive teaching

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Better work, better world

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Inclusion, belonging, and wellbeing as the focus of Industrial-Organizational Psychology This year, I was participating in Society for Industrial-Organizational Psychology (SIOP) conference presenting as SIOP’s 2022 Ensuring Inclusive Environments and Cultures Champion. No pressure, huh? The field of I/O traditionally catered to those privileged – when I was in graduate school, circa 2000, this was…Read More

Notes from the Journal of a Reluctant Remote Instructor

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When the pandemic “officially” hit in March 2020, the administration worked quickly in an attempt to negotiate how best to navigate the last six weeks of the semester. Faculty received a series of notifications during the last week before Spring Break, one of which informed us that we’d be extending the break by one week,…Read More

The Anatomy of a Hyflex Assignment – Simplicity is Key

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For instructors who have been reluctant to try Hyflex teaching, sometimes taking “baby steps” and simply seeing a real-life example from an actual class can be the key to trying something new in one’s teaching. Perhaps, after taking a peek at how a standard discussion-based in-person class meeting can be converted into an asynchronous assignment,…Read More

Reflections on Four Semesters of Hyflex Teaching

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During the summer of 2020, I redesigned four of my courses as Hyflex courses. While there’s no denying that this was a gargantuan undertaking, I did it because Hyflex seemed like it was an approach that could be highly beneficial for students and professors alike during a pandemic that would potentially span multiple semesters. What…Read More

Ode to HyFlex: Self-Confessions from an Education Tech Nerd

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Dear HyFlex: I thought I knew everything there was to know about education technology until I entered the world of HyFlex. As someone who gets excited and eager to use the latest and greatest in ed tech, I found new and surprising things about HyFlex that truly provided some major “aha” moments. One personal problem…Read More

Society for Pentecostal Studies 2021

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As was the case for many professional conferences in the past year, the Society for Pentecostal Studies met online for its annual event.  A few participants did make the trip to The King’s University in Southlake, Texas, but the vast majority of attendees participated virtually from the comfort and security of their own offices or…Read More

2021 CCCU Women’s Leadership Development Institute

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Last week, I had the privilege of attending CCCU’s Women’s Leadership Development Institute at Cedar Springs in Washington. This group of women are leaders at institutions around the country and were chosen to participate in a four day training with resource leaders who have a wealth of experience in Christian Higher Education. Here, I share…Read More

Implicit bias in research and allyship: Scientists are not immune

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As organizational science increasingly explores diversity topics, some growing pains and misunderstandings are inevitable. Working and conducting research with any group in which one does not have a membership requires considerable preparation, specific skillsets (e.g., ensuring translation accuracy in cross-cultural research; ensuring participatory research), as well as cultural knowledge and humility in checking for own…Read More

Culturally-Responsive Teaching and Theology in the ‘Gender Moment’

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Teaching Human Sexuality for 38 years to undergraduates certainly becomes a challenge of how to straddle an age divide, but also a ‘cultural divide’ at many levels. For one, every culture group understands and treats human sexuality differently—some being quite open to sexual discourse and practices, while others remaining very closed to sexual discourse and…Read More

Western Psychological Association (WPA) Annual Conference

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The Western Psychological Association (WPA) was founded in 1921 and their annual conference attempts to bring students, professors, and practitioners of psychology together for professional, scientific, and educational exchange. It is a regional event that gathers psychologist from school throughout the western region of the United States (i.e. UCLA, Biola, UC Davis, UNLV.) Due to…Read More

The Power of Mobiles for STEAM Learning

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Realizing that one of the most joyful blessings God has given me is great and generous mentors throughout my life, I have a strong desire to mentor students through scholarly work.  However, here at Vanguard University, the Early Childhood Program is fully online and at an undergraduate level, so it is somewhat challenging to conduct…Read More

2020 California Association of Colleges of Nursing Conference

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This October, I was privileged to attend the California Association of Colleges of Nursing conference. This year it was a virtual event.  The focus was on serving our students by becoming informed about diverse populations. The Keynote speaker discussed white privilege and she gave some examples of things “white” people say that highlight their privilege. …Read More

Notes From The 2020 Costume Pedagogy Conference

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This conference was originally designed to be a one-day meeting in New York City.  Due to Covid-19, it developed into an 8-plus hour meeting spread over two weekends and the two-week break in-between. There were around seventy participants from all over the country.  Chloe Chapin from Harvard, Christianne Meyers, and Sydney were the major organizers of…Read More