Professional Development Programs

The Malone Center for Excellence in Teaching sponsors a number of professional development programs designed to support faculty in the use of evidence-based instructional approaches, to promote the integration of innovative instructional technologies, and to foster students’ academic success. Information about these programs can be found below.

Did you miss a workshop that you were interested in? Resources from workshops prior to Spring 2020 can be accessed on the Past Professional Development Workshops page. Recordings of and handouts from workshops after Spring 2020 are available in the Malone Center’s Instructional Resources Canvas course. If you do not have access to this Canvas course, please email the Malone Center and request access.

Faculty Teaching Exchange

An excellent idea put forward by the Fall 2023 Book Study group, this new program offers Faculty a communication hub to connect with colleagues open to guest observers in their class sessions. Participation and reporting of any results is voluntary; this is a different moment than formal observations as defined by departments and programs. This is an opportunity to share ideas for effective instructional techniques, provide resources for Faculty to find solutions to common challenges in delivery and session design, and provide a way to experience firsthand the courses our students take at UM and how we can reinforce the connections between those courses to best realize the benefits of a Liberal Arts curriculum.

Interested Faculty of all classifications can fill out the form linked below to receive more information, there is no deadline to sign up as enrollment will be ongoing.

Faculty Teaching Exchange Registration

Summer Online Intensives

The Malone Center and campus partners offer compensated summer session online course intensives in specialty topics. All full-time Faculty are eligible to submit applications to register. See below for current offerings and application instructions.

OER Summer Institute, Summer I and II sessions

Thank you to everyone who participated in OER Summer Intensive 2024. Watch this space for Summer 2025 offerings updates

For Faculty interested in exploring the implementation of Open Educational Resources in their courses, this asynchronous course designed and led by Library Faculty member Dr. Sheila Brandt covers resourcing, selection, implementation, and creation of different formats of OER available through campus Library resources as well as open access sources. Enrollment is limited to those who have not previously taken the course, and participation is capped at 10. Participants are eligible for two levels of stipend: those who successfully complete the course will receive $250, and those who commit to implementing an OER in a course that does not currently use an OER in the academic year following the summer intensive will receive an extra $500. To apply for a seat, please prepare a brief statement of intent for your application (250 words max) and complete the linked registration form below.

OER Summer Intensive Registration

Foundations of Prompt Design for Generative AI, Summer II session

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Summer 2024 course, and special thanks to the UM Foundation for expanded stipend resources. Watch this space for Summer 2025 offerings updates.

In this asynchronous six-week course, offered in the Summer II session, participants will learn the foundations of generative AI prompt engineering/design through readings, hands-on exercises, and assignments challenging participants to relate content to their own course learning outcomes. Participants will need to create at least a free account in open-access generative AI apps like ChatGPT or Claude to complete assignments, as well as any other applications specific to their disciplinary needs (i.e.: activating Copilot in Microsoft Edge, Google Gemini, Perplexity, etc).
Upon completion of the course, participants will receive $500 stipends. To apply for a seat, please prepare a brief statement of intent for your application (250 words max) and complete the linked registration form below.

Learning outcomes for participants:

Learn the foundations of how generative AI works and accurately understand its abilities and limitations.
Develop a strategy for continuing education and professional development in generative AI technology integration into teaching and course design.
Apply knowledge to prompt engineering exercises and assignment design for student pre-professional development.
Acquire skills and resources to teach prompt design fundamentals to students and colleagues.

Foundations of Prompt Engineering Registration

TaLON Institute, Fall 2024 “Exploring Universal Design for Learning”

Hybrid starting 6/1/2024, In-Person Clinic Workshop August 9, 2024 from 10AM to 3PM

Thank you to all who participated in TaLON 2024. Watch this space for TaLON 2025 updates.

Universal Design for Learning offers opportunities for learner inclusion and enrichment of the learning experience for all- not just those eligible for official accommodations. This year’s episode in the TaLON Institute annual professional development event series will provide 15 participants with foundational information about UDL principles, instructional design ideas and examples, and key features of a universally accessible course in a Canvas course followed by an in-person (no remote access options, unfortunately) one day workshop with provided lunch and other “compelling snacks” as is the Malone Center brand! The hybrid portion of the institute is asynchronous with no set deadlines, although the preparation materials must be completed to successfully participate in the in-person workshop. Upon submission of the completed workshop product, participants will receive a $400 stipend. All Faculty are eligible to register, including adjunct faculty- those teaching online are particularly encouraged to participate! Registration is first-come-first-served with an option for a waitlist. Any questions about content or access can be emailed to Emily Gill, gille@738628.com. Registration form linked below:

Faculty Activity Report Tools Training

By Appointment

Faculty interested in exploring the Folio archival system in Canvas are invited to message the Director to arrange consultation sessions to learn how to use Canvas Folio for annual activity reporting, promotion journey-mapping, and personal professional artifacts archiving. In these sessions available to both individuals and departmental or program cohorts, Faculty will learn how to set up their Folio profile and portfolio pages, create sections to suit disciplinary and/or program standards, and create networks of related activities across evaluation areas taking advantage of Folio’s options for connecting entries and artifacts. Self-directed instructional materials are available to Faculty through the Instructional Resources Canvas site. Please email Emily Gill at gille@738628.com to express interest and schedule a session in the location and modality of your choice.

Toolbox Talks

Toolbox Talks are the primary professional development series for the Malone Center. These monthly lunch workshops present a how-to guide and hands-on demonstration of an innovative instructional tool or pedagogical theme. Lunch will be provided for in-person participants who register by 10 am the Monday prior to the workshop. Toolbox Talks are the second Wednesday of the month during the regular academic year, 12:00-1:00 p.m.

If you know you want to watch a recording of an event, you may register and select that modality, and we will send you a link to the recording as soon as it is available.

Upcoming workshops:

September 11, 2024: Learning Canvas Studio

In summer of 2024, UM added Canvas Studio to our suite of Canvas tools and integrations. In this session, you will learn the basics of creating, embedding, and editing video directly into the Canvas LMS using Studio (and how to include Studio as an assignment submission option!). We recommend you BYOLaptop; if you have not been issued a UM laptop, please let the Malone Center know and we can provide you with a loaner to use in the session for hands-on activities.

Session is September 11, 2024 from 12 noon to 1PM, H2 Studio in Hill House, our classroom training space. Options for Faculty to participate: live attendance with provided buffet lunch for those registering before 10AM on Monday, September 9 synchronous remote access via Zoom; and registration until 5PM Tuesday September 10 for anyone wanting live attendance and no lunch. All Toolbox Talks are posted to the Instructional Resources Canvas course for UM Faculty once captioning and video editing is completed.

November 13, 2024: Choosing the Best Whiteboard App

Most UM learning spaces are equipped with technology that offers a digital whiteboard that can capture the class sessions notes in a shareable PDF file, or instructors can use other UM-approved accessible applications for collaborative whiteboard options for interactive instructional activities. Instructional Technology Specialist Lisa Brown will review current options and recommendations for use to solve common instructional challenges.

Session is November 13, 2024 from 12 noon to 1PM, H2 Studio in Hill House, our classroom training space. Options for Faculty to participate: live attendance with provided buffet lunch for those registering before 10AM on Monday, November 11 synchronous remote access via Zoom; and registration until 5PM Tuesday November 12 for anyone wanting live attendance and no lunch. All Toolbox Talks are posted to the Instructional Resources Canvas course for UM Faculty once captioning and video editing is completed.

Faculty Book Club

TBD: Fall 2024 Title Selection, stay tuned!

Spring 2024: The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker

Facilitator: Ms. Emily Gill, MFA, Director Malone Center, EDCP Experience Designer, Assoc. Professor of Theatre

UM takes pride in providing a unique, person-to-person, meaningful learning mentorship through all modalities. In this book study/shared learning experience, participants will revisit the structure of designing gatherings (or different versions of gatherings) to facilitate active, inclusive, and brave spaces for students and colleagues to learn from each other.

To allow for the most people with diverse schedules to participate, there will be two cohorts of this book study:

Cohort 1: Coffee Group. Meeting times are from 8-9:15AM, Tuesday, February 6, and Tuesday, March 12.
Cohort 2: Afternoon Tea Group. Meeting times are from 4-5:30 PM, Thursday, February 20, and Thursday, March 21.

Find out more about this title here.

If you have book suggestions, please email them to Emily Gill at gille@738628.com.

Foundations of Online Instruction

The Foundations of Online Instruction training is designed to familiarize instructors with the fundamental principles of quality distance education in order to prepare them for a variety of distance modalities including fully online, hybrid, and hyflex courses.

The training course consists of three instructional modules:

Module 1: Best Practices contains an overview of best practices in distance education, including pedagogical strategies and course accessibility.
Module 2: Policies provides an introduction to the policies put forth by SACSCOC, ACHE, and others to regulate online and distance courses.
Module 3: Building Your Distance Course introduces you to the instructional design process and allows you to practice applying what you learned in the first two modules to develop materials for a course of your choosing (or modify previously developed materials).

If you are planning to teach a distance education course at the University of Montevallo and you have not already completed Foundations of Online Instruction or the previously offered Teaching Effectively Online, you can register for Foundations of Online Instruction through the following link.

Work-Play-Learn Pop-Up PD

Work-Play-Learn pop-up events offer Faculty (and others) an opportunity to bring their laptop and explore emerging technologies in a casual, individualized, drop-in-style event. These sessions are good companions to other more formal instructional resources for instructional technology, pedagogy, and evolving generative AI technology.

No registration or RSVP is required, please come to Hill House on the specified day at any time in the given period! Fall 2024 dates and times TBD.

Past sessions include:

February 12, 2024. 3:30- 5:00 PM: Bard and Friends

This session will look at recent updates to Google’s Bard product, including image generation and information validation tools, as well as guidelines to help attendees compare Bard’s capabilities to other similar products. Attendees are encouraged to come with a sample research prompt similar to a course assignment (or a portion of a course assignment).

March 18, 2024. 3:30- 5:00 PM: Mid-spring Updates and Summer AI Intensive Information Session

Come to this open house session to try tools and applications in their current form, connect with others with your observations of student engagement with AI technology, and learn about upcoming long-form generative-AI-responsive curriculum design professional development offered by the Malone Center in Summer 2024.

Faculty Research and Teaching Symposium

During this event, we highlight the accomplishments of UM faculty in teaching and creative endeavors. The day will feature faculty research and teaching innovation presentations as well as a capstone keynote address from the 2024-2025 University Scholar. The event’s schedule will be organized around the University’s class schedule to allow faculty, staff, and students to come and go as needed. Please submit your proposals via the link below. For any questions about the format or available presentation amenities, please see this Information Sheet or you can contact Emily Gill at gille@738628.com.

2024 Faculty Research and Teaching Symposium
Wednesday, October 9, 2024
10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
J. A. Brown Room, Carmichael Library

View the 2023 Schedule of Events

New Faculty Orientation and Resources

The Malone Center for Excellence in Teaching hosts a two-day new faculty orientation each fall, which is required for all first-year faculty. New faculty orientation introduces participants to the University’s policies and procedures that are pertinent to teaching faculty. This orientation is followed by regular meetings throughout the first academic year to better acquaint our newest faculty with the UM campus and culture.

For access to the New Faculty resource course on Falcon Learn, please email Director Emily Gill, gille@738628.com