News & Blogs
UCI DTEI Welcomes New Pedagogical Wellness Specialist Position Created to Integrate Well-being into Instructional Practices
Coming out of nearly two years of teaching during a pandemic, Andrea Aebersold, Director of Faculty Instructional Development at the Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation (DTEI), knew that faculty were feeling overworked, stressed, and burnt out. Concerned...
A Return to “Normal”: Teaching, Engagement & Mental Health
Spring Quarter 2022 was the first “return to normal” in-person classroom teaching for many of our faculty. However, between the COVID swings and uncertainty in what a “new normal” entails, we continue to face the challenge of student disengagement, feelings of...
High Stakes Assessments vs. Reflective Journaling
Jordan C. Grasso, School of Social Ecology Professors across disciplines often rely on high-stakes summative assessments in multiple-choice or short-answer exams or lengthy final papers. However, these assessments negatively impact students’ ability to learn...
Growth Mindset in Diversity, Equity, Inclusive and Accessibility
Many faculty ask when they should begin implementing DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusivity) in our course development? My answer is "NOW," and I always advise that they consider one more element—Accessibility. In other words, let's use IDEA—Inclusivity,...
Take a Moment for Wellness
School's out, and for me this summer means a moment to step back and just be. I tend to focus on my productivity as a measure of my worthiness, but oh man did the pandemic blow that idea all to bits. I may have to say it in the mirror ten times every morning, but I...
Gauging the Effectiveness of Compassion & Stress Reduction in Classroom
Prof. Joel Veenstra is this month's faculty spotlight. He is an Associate Professor of Teaching from the UCI Claire Trevor School of the Arts’ Department of Drama, where he also serves as the Associate Chair of Production and Co-Head of the Stage Management...
Critical Latinx Pedagogy: Empowering Latinx Students at a Hispanic Serving Institution
Julybeth Murillo, School of Social Sciences Hispanic Serving Institutions Aguilar- Smith states that a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) is a “public and private 2- and 4-year postsecondary institution in which at least a quarter of the institution’s full-time...
Finding Balance
It's a new month so I decided it was time for a new me. I have literally cut my hair once since 2020, so away to the salon I went. In the chair, I happily exclaimed "Chop it all off!" to which my hairdresser responded, "And would you like me to color your gray...
Gamification and the Classroom: A Short Review
Christopher Chacon, School of Humanities In this short review, I will consider the role student motivation plays in the effectiveness of gamification as well as the role gamification plays in enhancing student participation and knowledge retention. I will also...