HENDERSON – To best serve its students, Nevada State College continues its commitment in providing its faculty professional development programs to enhance their online instruction through the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE) Effective Online Teaching program as well as Nevada State College’s Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence’s (CTLE) Best Practices in Online Teaching Certification course.
Since the onset of the pandemic, the majority of professional development has been focused on topics related to online teaching, the science of learning and instructional technology. Of Nevada State’s 112 fulltime faculty members, 84 percent have engaged in at least one or more CTLE professional development offerings this year.
“The transition to online instruction happened very quickly leaving many of our professors who have never taught online courses feeling uncomfortable,” said Vickie Shields, PhD, provost and executive vice president of Nevada State College. “In order to foster a successful learning environment, we have arranged professional development opportunities to bolster each of our professor’s skills and confidence with online instruction which will positively affect the accomplishments of our students.”
As Nevada’s only four-year state college, the executive leadership at Nevada State College has made a strong effort and commitment to ensuring the quality of online courses by providing faculty opportunities to enhance their online instruction knowledge and skillset through two certification courses that allow them to become more comfortable in their new online role.
“Our professors are hungry and ready to know how to be better instructors in the online environment,” said Chris Garrett, director of the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence and co-facilitator for Nevada State College’s ACUE course. “Both of these professional development programs (the ACUE and the CTLE Certification course) promotes best practices for effective online teaching and also provides examples of excellent online course design.”
The Associations of College and University Educators is a national organization that prepares, credentials and provides continuous support to faculty in the use of evidence-based teaching practices that promote student engagement, graduation obtainment, career readiness and deeper levels of learning – all designed to refine educators’ teachings.
Professors participate in a 25-module course that provides information and tools that will enhance their online teaching practices an. All courses were designed in partnership with online teaching and learning experts to empower faculty to be successful online instructors.
In addition to ACUE’s program, Nevada State College developed its own online training course called, Best Practices in Online Teaching Certification Course. This 12-to-15-hour self-paced course focuses on key aspects of online teaching including organization, learning design, accessibility and technology tools, instructor presence, and assessment.
“The CTLE Best Practices in Online Teaching is an awesome crash course for faculty not accustomed to online teaching, and a great review for those with the online experience,” said Hon-Vu Q. Duong, M.D., senior lecturer of neurosciences, anatomy and physiology at Nevada State College.
For more information regarding Nevada State College including the variety of academic programs, student and faculty resources, visit www.nsc.edu.
ABOUT NEVADA STATE COLLEGE
Nevada State College, a four-year public institution, is a member of the Nevada System of Higher Education. Nevada State places a special emphasis on the advancement of a diverse and largely under-served student population. Located on a developing 512-acre campus in the foothills of Henderson, Nevada, the college was established in 2002 as a new tier in the state system between the research universities and the two-year colleges and, as such, is Nevada’s only state college. Nevada State College is the second fastest-growing college in the country and the fastest growing in Nevada. It currently has more than 5,500 students and more than 800 full- and part-time employees. For more information, visit https://nsc.edu [nsc.edu].
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