Best Practices – Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Getting Your Course Certified for Quality: Best Practices for Instructors

Do you want to provide the best possible learning experience for your students, and be acknowledged for it? Quality Matters (QM) Certification is a marker of excellence that highlights courses that are engaging, accessible, and aligned to students’ needs. In this hands-on workshop, the speakers will guide participants through a selection of the review criteria used during the QM certification process by assessing an example course in Canvas. Since many of the QM criteria are flexible, participants will be able to explore different ways the standards can be met, both in the sample course and in their own teaching. At the end, participants will be able to apply the QM rubric to review and reflect on one of their own courses. Since there are over 40 standards in the full QM rubric, this offering will focus on the presentation of instructional materials in an online course.

Presenters: Abbey Elder & Emma Hartman

Abbey Elder is the Open Access & Scholarly Communication Librarian for ISU, where she manages campus initiatives for open access and open education. In addition to her institutional work, Abbey serves as the Statewide Open Education Coordinator for the Board of Regents on the Iowa Open Education Action Team, where she collaborates with colleges to develop and assess programs that support open education across the state of Iowa.

Emma Hartman is the Digital Resource Specialist at the Iowa State University Bookstore. She manages the student booklist and assists in the running of the Immediate Access program. In addition, Emma is a member of the campus’s Open & Affordable Education Committee, where members from all different positions on campus develop and promote affordable course materials options at Iowa State University

If you need a reasonable accommodation, you may find more information on the University Human Resources Disability Accommodation page. For graduate student assistants and undergraduate students, please get in touch with Student Accessibility Services.

** After you’ve RSVP’d, please take a moment to add this event to your personal calendar.

Teaching with Technology Learning Community

The purpose of the Teaching with Technology Learning Community is to share campus best practices to improve online teaching and learning; see how others are using the University Learning Management System (LMS) to create innovative learning experiences, inform the campus about existing and new web-based instructional technologies, participate in new technology testing and evaluation; and to leverage LMS expertise, experience, and training resources across campus.

Teaching with Technology Learning Community

We are excited to learn about innovations in teaching and learning happening across campus. If you are interested in sharing your own experience using technology or learning tools in the classroom, please contact celt-help@iastate.edu.



If you need a reasonable accommodation, you may find more information on the University Human Resources Disability Accommodation page. For graduate student assistants and undergraduate students, please get in touch with Student Accessibility Services.

** After you’ve RSVP’d, please take a moment to add this event to your personal calendar.

Teaching with Technology Learning Community

A Culture of Gratitude: Best Practices for Promotion and Tenure

Michael Bugeja’s presentation, “A Culture of Gratitude: Best Practices for Promotion and Tenure,” discusses the difference between gratification and gratitude in the advancement process, covering such basics as shared governance, annual reviews, awards, mentorship and P&T practices. He also shares best practices in creating a viable dossier, identifying themes that affirm your trajectory and impact of your scholarship. Finally, he discusses the chair’s and candidate’s responsibilities with regard to mentorship, creating a communal “grateful” experience that enhances departmental morale.

Michael Bugeja, distinguished professor of liberal arts and sciences, teaches media ethics and technology and social change at the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, Iowa State University of Science and Technology. Dr. Bugeja’s research has been published in Journalism Quarterly, Journalism and Mass Communication Educator, Journalism Educator, Journal of Mass Media Ethics, New Media and Society, Journal of Communication, American Journalism, American Communication Journal, and other scholarly publications. He twice won the Clifford Christians Award for research in media ethics. Dr. Bugeja is a columnist at Poynter Institute and Iowa Capital Dispatch and writes regularly for The Des Moines Register. He has published in or contributed interviews about media ethics and technology in American Journalism Review, Associated Press, Business Week, Chronicle of Higher Education, Christian Science Monitor, Columbia Journalism Review, The Economist, Editor & Publisher, Forbes, The Ecologist (UK), The Futurist, International Herald Tribune, Newsday, Newsweek, New York Times, New Yorker, Washington Post, Toronto Globe and Mail, The Guardian (UK), USA Today, and other media.

He also has published 24 books across genres, including three books by Oxford University Press: Interpersonal Divide: Searching for Community in a Technological Age; Interpersonal Divide in the Age of the Machine; and Living Ethics Across Media Platforms. He has twice won the distinguished Clifford Christians Award for Research in Media Ethics. His latest work is Living Media Ethics: Across Platforms, Routledge/Taylor & Francis, 2019.

In 2019, Dr. Bugeja received Iowa State’s highest academic title of distinguished professor for his contributions to media ethics and technology.

Note: This Event Will Be Recorded

Workshop, Back to Basics: Tips to Provide a Student-Centric Environment with Christina Campbell

Ever wonder how to incorporate evidence-based teaching strategies that support student learning and well-being? This workshop will provide the attendee with five best practices along with supporting recommendations. Utilizing active learning strategies, participants will develop an individualized plan of action to effectively promote student success in their “classroom.” This event will be facilitated by Christina Campbell.