Active Learning - Drs. Surati and Silverthorn
Attend the seminars in AL plus what to do when AL fails
Seminar on exam Wrapper and Salami method
Item Analysis from examsoft - Dr. M.V. Tejada-Simon
Attend seminar on interpreting item analysis
A visual Classroom observation protocol - Dr. M.V. Tejada-Simon
Seminar describing COPUS and GORP for classroom observation
Attend GORP session for classroom observation
View party from NCFDD and workshop materials
Race and cultural diversity - session 1 to 9 - Coursera, New York Times, Reel, Dr. Arya
Attendance to all 9 sessions on Race and cultural diversity
Writing exam questions and examsoft statistics - Drs. Sherer and Tejada-Simon
Learn how to write higher order exam questions
Learn how to write higher order exam questions and practice session
Team Based Learning - COP, COM, COO, CON, NSM at UH
Four different session on how to implement TBL in the health profession
Attendance to all sessions on how to implement TBL in the health profession
Team Based Learning - University of Florida
Five days on TBL including how to implement virtually
Peer observation of teaching - Dr. M.V. Tejada-Simon
COP Code of Ethical and Professional conduct - 7 years later - Drs. Coyle and Tejada-Simon
Supporting students of color - Dr. D. Stephens
Continuation session on Race and Cultural diversity
Student mental health - Student Wellness Advisory Council (SWAT) Dr. De La Cruz
Presentation of algorithms to determine medical and mental health concerns in students, faculty and staff
Inclusive teaching practices _ Dr. Huang and Johnson (VCU)
Inclusive teaching to build a learning community and sense of belonging
Black students success - Dr. F. Bonner, II
How to deal with stress in the times of Covid-19
Eating our way through the challenges of today - Ms. C. Scott (UH)
Nutrition session on faculty well-being series
Benefits of mindfulness - Dr. B. Smith and Syed Rizvi
Introduction to mindfulness and yoga lab at UH
Overcoming barriers to exercise during CoVid 19 - Dr. J. Carter (OSU)
How to improve our well-being and mental health in this time of crisis by exercising.
Managing careers and caretaking during the pandemic and beyond - NCFDD
How to work on our well-being and mental health when you are a professional and caregiver
Consideration on returning to work - Drs. Tejada-Simon and Hunt
Making the transition smoother by discussing our return to work, considering both, things that we cannot control and things we can control.
Best teaching practices - Drs. Surati, Marwaha, Wollen and Tejada-Simon
Facilitated session by instructors elected by students as good practitioners
Burnout at work, and Maslach inventory + Areas of Worklife survey
2021-2022 Peer Observation of Teaching training
The Peer Observation of Teaching (POT) badge designation represents individuals who acquire first-hand knowledge on the importance of improving instruction and performing a classroom observation with a colleague. Completers are able to discuss the significance of POT, describe how to perform a classroom observation and understand the program from the College of Pharmacy at the University of Houston.
- _Participate in presentation on Peer observation of teaching offered by Faculty Development, COP-UH_ - _Facilitator: Dr. M.V. Tejada-Simon_
Documentary of personal histories (MIT -16) and research data that investigates why female scientists are still a minority in the U.S
Attendance to both sessions of the documentary "Picture a scientist" with participation in a debriefing of the movie. This is part of the Faculty Development series on Race and Diversity.
Co-teaching basic and clinical sciences - Dr. Joanne Willey
Discussion about the importance of integrating basic and clinical sciences and the use of active pedagogies in the health profession's classrooms.
Attendance to the seminar by Dr. Joanne M. Willey, author of a publication in Advances in Medical Education and Practice (2020). She described the model followed in the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra-Northwell, collecting data to compare solo and co-teaching experiences, determining whether interactive co-teaching helps students integrate and learn basic and clinical sciences. Barriers to co-teaching were also addressed.
An impact statement is a short document that explains the significance of your research work. However a lot of institutions are offering faculty and staff members the option to develop an special impact statement for 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 that can be added to the materials prepared for the reappointment, promotion-tenure process, annual review, Faculty performance partnership, post-tenure review, and dossiers that need to go to external reviewers. This will help ensure that efforts and struggles can be recognized.
This session will offer a discussion on how to write an impact statement, either related to research or work. Emphasis will be made on the circumstances during Covid-19, that is 2020-21 and 2021-22. Attendance and discussion is required.
Your partnership with Alex PCS mannequin
Alex PCS (Patient Communication Simulator) mannequin demonstration.
Alex PCS mannequin allows students to interact naturally with a digital patient using everyday conversation and interviewing techniques. That allows then to hone their clinical reasoning skills. Alex can be used for a variety of things, including content and coursework teaching and delivery. This might make a positive impact on the students comprehension and retention. This demonstration showed the participants how to use Alex for: 1) Skills labs with small groups of students at a time 2) Skills labs with larger groups of students at a time 3) Didactic courses as part of active learning or demonstrations 4) Assessments like OSCE’s
AACP Scholarship of Teaching and Learning grant guidance
Previous winners and grant reviewers will provide guidance on how to be successful submitting an AACP SoTL grant.
Attendance to this seminar will provide guidance on crafting a quality submission for the AACP SoTL Grant, including a description of the grant (e.g., review criteria, timeline) and suggestions from previous winners and grant reviewers. Moderator Jacqui McLaughlin, PhD, Associate Professor at UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy.
Talking about microaggressions_ Center for Diversity and Inclusion @ UH
Microaggression is defined as a casual degradation of any socially marginalized group. The Center for Diversity and Inclusion at UH facilitates this workshop for the entire Pharmacy academic unit to talk about this "little words with big harm".
Attendance to the workshop led by the CDI at UH on microaggressions. Learning how to spot, call out and avoid microaggressions, which are used for daily verbal, behavioral or environmental insults, whether intentional or not, but that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative attitudes toward marginalized groups.
This EHR Go learning session demonstrated this learning platform, which includes inpatient and community pharmacy with full labeling, realistic patient cases, and interprofessional education opportunities. Additionally, the attendees learned how to use it in the classroom, OSCE's, simulation, and more. Cases range from simple to complex for every pharmacotherapeutic plan. The cases can also be used for class discussions, flipped classroom and more.
Student Accommodations - DART Center @ UH
Accommodations are changes in the way a task is presented, allowing our students with learning, physical, psychological and other needs to complete the same assignments as any other student. The DART Center at UH presented a summary of the accommodations offered at UH, the process for requesting those accommodations, what types are most common, etc.
Attendance to this presentation by the DART center provided with the knowledge to follow the process to ensure equal access to educational opportunities for our students with documented physical, health or learning needs.
Effective relationships and healthy boundaries (Mentoring series)
The Office of Equal Opportunity Services (EOS) training offered a workshop and discussion for the College of Pharmacy faculty about how to engage as mentors with the students, junior faculty and other mentees. This topic is of importance to engage in vital conversations, fostering inclusive environments and complying with UH policies. Additionally, the workshop educated in Workplace Civility, Mentorship & Healthy Boundaries.
Attendance and participation during the Office of Equal Opportunity Services (EOS) workshop. EOS talked about how to foster a diverse and inclusive environment by engaging in community dialogue. The Office of Equal Opportunity Services (EOS) workshop discussed how to engage as mentors with the students, junior faculty and other mentees, how to engage in vital conversations, fostering inclusive environments and complying with UH policies. Additionally, the workshop educated in Workplace Civility, Mentorship & Healthy Boundaries.
Crafting surveys for quality and diverse data collection (Webinar CiPhER)
Surveys are often used to collect information from participants such as demographics, feedback, and perceptions. While surveys are commonplace, survey best practices are not always applied which can impact analysis, synthesis, and application of findings. Thus, it is critically important to apply quality survey design principles and best practices to capture valuable information.
During this program, elements of surveys were reviewed for participants to consider when using surveys development and implementation. Topics covered included determining a target audience for surveys, language for survey items and inclusive demographics, and broad survey programming tips. By the end of this session, participants had concrete strategies for developing and implementing surveys within their focus areas.
Mentoring : Communication and Aligning Expectations _ Optimizing Mentoring Relationships
When mentoring, several skills are important. One of them is effective communication, which involves more than providing information or giving advice. Effective communication requires asking questions, active listening, understanding a mentee's needs, demonstrating a caring attitude, remaining open-minded, aligning expectations from mentor and mentee, and helping solve problems.
This was the second mentoring session on a series for Faculty Development. Presented by Dr. Robert Tillman, Director of Faculty Development at Baylor College of Medicine and a National Research Mentoring Network Trained Master facilitator. During this workshop attendees discussed and worked in communication issues, how to align expectations between mentors and mentees, and what does it mean to create and optimal mentoring relationship.
Black History Month - More than a month (documentary)
Celebration of Black History Month 2022 Documentary: More than a month – 54 min (2012)
In this documentary, Shukree Hassan Tilghman sets off on a journey across America asking the question “Should Black History Month be ended?” Tilghman searches to learn more about race and power in contemporary America by interviewing experts at revered organizations around the country in addition to everyday people he meets along the way during his journey. More Than a Month is both an amusing and thought-provoking look at what the treatment of history tells us about race and power in the United States.
Women's History Month - Not done: Women remaking America
This March, we celebrate Women’s history month, with a documentary from PBS entitled NOT DONE: WOMEN REMAKING AMERICA (PBS, 2020)
Attendance to the documentary NOT DONE: Women Remaking America. This is a MAKERS film, that chronicles the seismic eruption of women's organizing from the 2016 election through today and the intersectional fight for equality that has now gone mainstream. Like the movement it documents, this story is told collectively: through the firsthand experiences and narratives of frontline activists, writers, celebrities, artists, and politicians who are remaking culture, policy, and most radically, our notions about gender. Premiering against the backdrop of an unprecedented pandemic and widespread social upheaval, the film looks back on recent milestones in the women’s movement, weaving together a story of major progress with the clear reality that our work is NOT DONE.
Providing feedback to feedforward performance
Feedback is essential to improve performance. The question is how to best provide feedback to upload a benefit for our students.
Attendance to this webinar by CiPHER provided a discussion on the benefits of feedback, some evidence-models to provide feedback, and addressed issues such as level of detail of feedback, impact of grades, and timing of feedback. At the end of this program by CiPHER, participants were able to: 1. Describe the key components of feedback 2. Identify simple, applicable feedback strategies 3. Outline barriers to feedback and how to overcome them
Mentoring: Self-efficacy and Role model of coaching
Self-efficacy can be defined as the confidence we have in our capacity to perform activities that are necessary to result in specific achievements. It also reflects confidence in our capability to apply control over our motivation, behavior, and social environment. In mentoring, modeling self-efficacy through a role model and coaching, allows trainees/mentees to increase their own self-efficacy, leading to a positive effect on their ability to achieve all their goals.
Attendance and participation in the third mentoring workshop led by Dr. Robert Tillman. During this workshop attendees learned about promoting self-efficacy and promoting professional development, by reviewing individualized development plans and using the GROW model in coaching.
From March 15 to April 15 we celebrate Deaf history month by watching a shorter version of the film “Through Deaf Eyes” by Gallaudet University. This is a documentary that explores almost 200 years of Deaf life in America and presents a broad range of perspectives on what it means to be deaf. The film is propelled by the stories of people, both eminent and ordinary, and sheds light on events that have shaped Deaf lives. The documentary is a production of WETA Washington, D.C. and Florentine Films/Hott Productions, in association with Gallaudet University.
Attendance to the Pharmacy lunch and theater showing the documentary Through Deaf Eyes, in honor of Deaf History Month.
Pharmacy lunch and Theater - Jewish History Month: Parallel stories of cruelty
Two parallel stories, Kindertransfer by the British government towards Jewish children in Germany and Kinderlandverschickung by the Nazi regime towards German children. In September 1940, the National Socialist regime launched a program of “Sending Children to the Countryside” (Kinderlandverschickung, or KLV). The main goal was to get children out of cities and away from strategic bombing, much similar to programs carried out in Britain (Kindertransfer) before the WWII was in full swing. But the KLV also served the revolutionary transformation of youth. At KLV-run camps and hostels, children were exposed to paramilitary drills and political indoctrination, often for months on end, well away from the influence of parents, teachers, school principals. The National Socialist Welfare (NSV) was charged with arranging the transportation of children in the first four grades of school; the Hitler Youth took in children in the fifth grade and higher.
Attendance to the short documentary about the Kindertransfer and the Kinderlandverschickung. This is a piece of history not very well know about the effort to save Jewish children in the mist of WWII and in parallel how the National Socialist party separated German children from their families to create soldiers for the regime, during WWII.
DEIA Pharmacy Series - Diversity 101/201
This Diversity 101/201 is an important and foundational workshop that explores the multiple dimensions of diversity and give participants the chance to explore how personal and cultural identities relate to their lived experiences. It also explores intersectionality providing attendees with approaches to working effectively across differences.
Attendance and participation in the Diversity 101/201 workshop by the Center of Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Houston and the College of Pharmacy Faculty Development office.
DEIA Pharmacy Series - Race and Racism part 1
As a refresher of what we explored back in the Summer of 2020, this workshop provided a historical context about race and racism in the United States and their impact on American institutions. It will also explore the concept of being anti-racist.
Attendance to the workshop on Race and Racism part 1 led by the Center for Diversity and Inclusion at UH.
DEIA Pharmacy Series - Race and Racism in Healthcare Part 2
This workshop was presented by Dr. Rosario and Dr. Wollen. This presentation concentrated on the educational/historical part of how/why distrust is engraved in marginalized groups. They shared their personal experience, working with underrepresented communities and challenges, including vaccine hesitancy.
Attendance and participation in the workshop on Race and Racism in healthcare.
DEIA Pharmacy Series - Inclusive Language
This workshop equipped you with inclusive language practices and provided immediately applicable approaches for intentionally engaging in meaningful conversations.
Attendance to the workshop by the Center on Diversity and Inclusion.
DEIA Pharmacy Series - Power and Privilege
In this workshop, participants went deeper into their experiences by exploring how identities and society are informed by experiences of power and privilege, and ways we can become better allies to alleviate barriers.
Attendance and participation in the workshop on power and privilege
Pharmacy Lunch and Theater - JUNE - Pride Month
This month of June we celebrated Pride Month. Pride Month commemorates the Stonewall riots in 1969, where members of the city's LGBT community decided to fight back for their rights, sparking an uprising that would launch a new era of resistance and revolution.
We celebrated pride month by showcasing The Out List (2013), a documentary about being among the LGBT community in modern society, told through interviews with LGBT celebrities and community leaders. Attendance to the viewing as badge earning criteria.
In collaboration with the LGBTQ Resource Center, this workshop was designed to educate on terminology, pronouns, heteronormative privilege, and inclusive practices in support of the LGBTQIA community
Attendance and participation to the session.
This workshop explored the various types of bias that exist, explored how to address bias at work and used the Harvard Implicit Bias tool to help identify personal biases.
Attendance and participation in the implicit bias session
2022-2023 Peer Observation of Teaching Training
- Participate in presentation on Peer observation of teaching offered by Faculty Development, COP-UH - Facilitator: Dr. M.V. Tejada-Simon
DEIA Pharmacy Series - Supporting today's student
This session provided information about the demographics of the UH population, discussed generational differences that can impact daily interactions and discussed how faculty and staff may support student success.
Attendance and participation in the session.
DEIA Pharmacy Series - Ability and Ableism
The College of Pharmacy Faculty Development office, in collaboration with the Center for Diversity and Inclusion, and the Justin Dart Jr. Center for Students with Disabilities (DART center) at the University of Houston, offered this workshop exploring the varied experiences of students with disabilities, ableism, and resources. It described ways to increase inclusivity in the classroom and on campus for our diverse student population.
Attendance and participation to the ability and ableism workshop.
The Fulbright Specialist Program is a unique opportunity that sends U.S. faculty and professionals to serve as expert consultants on curriculum, faculty development, institutional planning, and related subjects at academic institutions abroad for a period of 2 to 6 weeks.
Dr. Samina Salim related her experience as a Fulbright Specialist, from the crafting of the application to the outcomes in Jordan university, as well as the future endeavors as a result of this experience. She also answered questions from the attendees.
Hispanic Heritage Month - Pharmacy lunch and theater
September 15 to October 15 is Hispanic Heritage month. For this Pharmacy lunch and theater we saw a PBS documentary: Latino Americans – episode 4: The new Latinos, learning about the story of the big waves of Hispanics and Latinos that made it into the USA, why they left, their difficulties to adjust, racial discrimination and resilience to succeed.
Attendance to this Hispanic Heritage Month Pharmacy lunch and theater.
Connecting with the classroom: #1 Curriculum design at UHCOP
This first session of the connecting with the classroom series and led by Dr. Liz Coyle described how UH College of Pharmacy developed and launched a new and revamped curriculum using the backward design. It was also described the steps taken to fulfill accreditation by designing a Programmatic assessment plan (PAP), Professional program students learning outcomes (PPSLOs) with an assessment plant, Assessment of student learning, PharmD program and foundational aspects of student learning.
Attendance and participation to this seminar on curriculum design at UHCOP.
Connecting with the classroom: #2 Course design and review at UHCOP
This second session of the connecting with the classroom series went over the process of developing new courses and reviewing other courses at UHCOP. The involvement of the Office of Assessment, Assessment Committee, Curriculum committee, Course coordinators and teaching teams was highlighted. It was also described the steps needed to pre-approve and fully approve a course, as well as the systematic procedure for reviewing the courses after delivery, having in mind the next iterations and further curriculum improvement.
Attendance and participation in the seminar on course design and review at UHCOP
Connecting with the classroom: #3 Courses/modules current practices
This third session of the connecting with the classroom series took the format of a Townhall, going over the process and logistics of our courses from the point of view of coordinators and teaching team. Current practices were described and best practices were discussed, as well as room for improvements.
Attendance and participation to the seminar on classes and modules current practices.
Pharmacy lunch and Theater - November, Native American Heritage Month
This November 2022 we saw a compilation of documentaries related to the Native American boarding schools issue. American Indian boarding schools, also known more recently as American Indian residential schools, were established in the United States from the mid 17th to the early 20th centuries with a primary objective of "civilizing" or assimilating Native American children and youth into Euro-American culture. There were more than 350 government-funded, and often church-run, Native American Boarding schools across the US. Native American children were forcibly abducted by government agents, sent to schools hundreds of miles away, and beaten, starved, or otherwise abused when they spoke their native languages. The documentary relates investigations into abuse at Native American Boarding Schools going back to 19th Century, and the discovery of graves in their yards.
Attendance and participation in the pharmacy lunch and theater.
Connecting with the classroom: #4 Curricular dieting - CiPHER
A big discussion on health professions education has focused on perceived curricular “hoarding".” For clinician-educators, these are negative descriptions of something we’ve worked so hard to create! This is the bloating of the curriculum, with content and material outdated or no longer relevant. The academic community as a whole needs to work together to diagnose the syndrome of curricular hoarding/bloating, treat the symptoms and prevent it, using healthier educational strategies.
Attendance to the CiPHER seminar by Dr. Brock, Associate Dean for education in the University of Colorado.
Professional development: #1 Communication_Communicating online and with media
On December 2nd we had a communications and personal branding expert, Sahar Paz, for a workshop dedicated to your voice and professional persona. From your LinkedIn profile to preparing to speak at a conference or to the media, you walked away from this event equipped to: 1) Update your LinkedIn profile so it represents your accomplishments; 2) Post to your social media profiles to position yourself strategically; 3) Engage new connections on LinkedIn with confidence, and 4) Tell stories at conferences and during media interviews that meet your goals. Additionally you come out with an optimized LinkedIn profile.
Attendance and participation during this entire day workshop with Sahar Paz.
Connecting with the classroom: #5 Course Coordinators responsibilities
This fifth session of the connecting with the classroom series went over the process and logistics of our course coordination. We revised the newly developed handbook for coordinators, discussing their roles and responsibilities.
Attendance and participation in the seminar on course coordinators roles and responsibilities
Professional development: #2 Communication_ Interviewing and Communicating with the media at UH
A second session on interviewing and communicating with the media while at UH. Our communications director, Mr. Chip Lambert led this discussion with the participation of UH media relations
Attendance and participation to this seminar
Connecting with the classroom: #6 Educational learning goals and objectives_dimensions of learning
This sixth session of the connecting with the classroom series discussed the difference between educational goals and objectives, why they are important in the curriculum and courses and the link to dimensions of learning. We revised several learning taxonomies and discussed their relevance in our Pharmacy curriculum.
Attendance and participation to the seminar
Connecting with the classroom:#7 How to write educational objectives
As a follow up to our session on January 6th, during this workshop we continued discussing how to develop and write proper learning objectives for your lectures, with a more practical approach than the previous session.
Attendance and participation in the writing learning objectives workshop
Connecting with the classroom: #8 Classroom managment
During this workshop we started sharing how is our interaction with the classroom, describing our personal philosophy on how to manage the classroom from day one on.
Attendance and participation to this workshop
Connecting with the classroom: #9 Learning management systems
In this workshop Mr. Paul Boyle described the transition from Blackboard to Canvas as our new management system for instruction. He described the main features necessary to place our courses/modules using the new Canvas.
Connecting with the classroom: #10 Classroom practices: AL tools (gamification, questioning and humor)
This workshop presented classroom practices meant to increase student engagement while allowing for formative assessment and instructor reflection. It covered several tools of interest to the faculty according to the survey “honing your instruction techniques”. The workshop discussed active learning and dynamic lecturing, video using Flip, discussion boards with Padlet and Jamboard, formative assessment using gaming (WisCOnline, Hotpotatoes, IamPuzzle), and also teaching using humor.
Attendance and participation in the workshop
Connecting with the classroom: #11 The ins and out of PollEverywhere
In this session, Dr. Aditi Marwaha explained the very many uses of PollEverywhere as student checkpoints during lectures, formative assessment, instructor reflection, reports and value for scholarly work.
Attendance and participation in the seminar
Connecting with the classroom: #12 Escape room for health education
This workshop presented a type of classroom practice very appropriate for integrating classroom content. Escape rooms are a kind of active learning and dynamic formative assessment method that is gaining popularity for health education.
Attendance and participation in this workshop
Connecting with the classroom: #13 Gamification in health education (Dr. Turpin, COM)
In this session, Dr. Turpin described how she uses gamification as a form of individual or group assessment, and how she implements those games during lectures, obtaining reports and value for scholarly work.
Attendance and participation to the workshop
Connecting with the classroom: #14 Socratic questioning
Dr. Julianna Fernandez described and discussed examples on how Socratic questioning can be used in the classroom, and its usefulness in health education with emphasis in Pharmacy.
Connecting with the classroom: #15 Exam policies for coordinators
In this session we discussed the basic duties of course coordinators in relation to course assessments, as well as the challenges that students, technology tools and instructional team present to carry a course from the beginning to the end of the semester
Connecting with the classroom: #16 Assessments - Writing test questions
Part 1. In this sessions we discussed the basics on how to write good test questions, specially multiple choice questions. Additionally, we went deeper and also discussed the importance of well-designed questions to assess students, and key elements (clarity, simplicity, alignment with LOs, etc…), advantages and limitations of MCQs (mostly used by all of us), types of MCQs related to Blooms taxonomy, constructing effective answer choices (good distractors).
2023-2024 Peer Observation of Teaching Training
Cohort #3 for Peer observation of teaching training session and best practices/tips discussion. The Peer Observation of Teaching (POT) badge designation represents individuals who acquire first-hand knowledge on the importance of improving instruction and performing a classroom observation with a colleague. Completers are able to discuss the significance of POT, describe how to perform a classroom observation and understand the program from the College of Pharmacy at the University of Houston.
Connecting with the classroom: #17 Assessments - Writing integrated questions and providing rationale
Part 2. In this sessions we discussed the basics on other type of questions. We also discussed assessment fairness and bias in our questions, as well as how to review and revise questions, providing rationale. Finally to learned about how to write integrated questions that match our curriculum objectives. Many examples were provided and faculty discussed the format and question intention as relates to curriculum integration.
Attendance and participation to the session
Connecting with the classroom: #18 Assessments - Providing feedback using reports
In this session we discussed multiple ways to provide feedback for our own assessments as well as feedback to our students after examinations. We navigated examsoft, its report capabilities and how to use them to improve our questions/course, provide exam analysis, and student feedback. We discussed summary reports, item analysis, feedback/notes reports, exam taker results (including how to provide the <70% list to your instructors), category reports, strengths and opportunities, and performance reports.
A panel of faculty participated in this townhall from the promotion and tenure committee and also recently promoted clinical and research faculty. Member of the P&T committee summarized how the process works for the upcoming faculty, and what is the role of the committee, common issues that you encounter on the preparation of portfolio, and other useful information. Other panelist discussed their experience with the system, how they prepared and organized themselves before/during the process, format for presenting narrative/evidences/others, as well as other useful tips.
Attendance and participation in this townhall
Personal Safety: Response to active shooter and harasement
Pass and recent news of harassment at Universities have had fatal consequences. To be prepared and informed, the University of Houston Police Department presented the steps to follow in case of an active shooter situation at our workplace. Additionally, they talked about how to react in case of harassment by a student or another colleague/person at work.
Attendance and participation in this seminar
Neurodiversity refers to the fact that people might experience the world in many different ways. We learned about what is the difference between neurotypical and neurodivergent, and how we must continue to innovate and support our students and colleagues to improve conversations about neurodiversity and use best practices for inclusion. With the guidance of Dr. Karen Moroski-Rigney from Michigan State University, we addressed this growing challenge in higher education.
Dr. Laura Gutierrez from the office of Research at the University of Houston talked about Responsible conduct of research (RCR). We discussed the practice of scientific investigation with integrity, how scientists should be responsible members of society. Additionally, we discussed data analysis and acquisition, as well as secure and ethical use, finishing with an overview on research misconduct and its consequences.
Connecting with the classroom: #19 Exam review best practices
In this session we described several format for performing exam reviews, specially considering large classes.
Help or Threat: AI in higher education - #1 Introduction to AI (Dr. D Lametti)
Generative artificial intelligence (also called genAI) is artificial intelligence that can generate text, images, codes, audio, video, data and other media, using generative models. GenAI learns patterns and structures that are fed for its training as data and then is capable of generating new data that has similar characteristics to the content fed. While AI has been around us for some time, in November 2022 the release of ChatGPT revolutionized academia. The development and availability of generative AI has raised concerns in many circles and specially in higher education. In this seminar, Dr. Lametti introduced gen AI, its significance to academia, and challenges for higher education.
Help or Threat: AI in higher education - #2 Research, teaching and learning: Plagiarism and learning considerations (Dr. Tejada-Simon)
After learning what genAI is and how the large learning models work we continued our discussion regarding artificial intelligence in higher education and our programs (research and teaching). By using several scenarios related to our disciplines and developed by APS, we were able to reflect where we stand on some of the things our students can do with these language models as a tool (professional and graduate students), and evaluate (as it relates to research, data or writing) whether we believe there is an infringement on integrity (e.g. plagiarism) or/and whether we believe it hinders learning or development of our students/research personnel as professionals. The result of this form was presented depicting the wide range of opinions and views.
Help or Threat: AI in higher education - #3 AI in research training and curriculum design (Mr. L.E. Heuermann)
Mr. Lewis E. Heuermann, an expert in IT and cyber security discussed AI role in research training, curriculum design, student learning and engagement.
Attendance and participation in this webinar
Help or Threat: AI in higher education - #4 Policy changes in the era of AI (Drs. Tejada-Simon and Coyle)
After digging into our current attitudes towards AI's role in education and learning, in this seminar we discussed the need to integrate a transparent policy on its use in our research environment, laboratory compacts, research policies, as well as the College strategy to implement policies into our syllabus, assignments, and classrooms in general.
Attendance and participation in the seminar.
Help or Threat: AI in higher education - #5 Creating AI resistant assignments (Dr. Tejada-Simon)
In this session we were discussing the advancement of AI in higher education and student use. We address possibilities for the creation of AI resistant assignments for our courses, with examples and strategies for implementation.
Attendance and participation in this session
Help or Threat: AI in higher education - #6 Ai and learning goals (Dr. Tejada-Simon)
In this session we were discussing our responsibility to include AI in our learning goals. We addressed possibilities for AI use in our courses, with examples and strategies for implementation, to offer students with new skills required by the employers.
Help or threat- AI in higher education: #7 Streamlining faculty work with AI
In this session, we explored the integration of AI into our daily responsibilities. We discussed various possibilities for utilizing AI in our faculty duties and chores, providing examples and strategies for implementation. The goal was to streamline our work and make everyday tasks more efficient.
2024-2025 Peer teaching observation and feedback
Cohort #5 for Peer observation of teaching training session and best practices/tips discussion. The Peer Observation of Teaching (POT) badge designation represents individuals who acquire first-hand knowledge on the importance of improving instruction and performing a classroom observation with a colleague. Completers are able to discuss the significance of POT, describe how to perform a classroom observation and understand the program from the College of Pharmacy at the University of Houston.
Attendance and participation to this training session
Understanding generational differences with students and coworkers
This session presented the characteristics of different generations currently in the workforce. We discussed the differences and how to learn from each other. We culminated the session with a talk from Lindsey Pollak regarding this topic. Faculty and staff worked together in this seminar.
Faculty Ally: Exploring the Ombudsperson’s Role in Institutional Conflict and Resolution
Dr. Richard Bond has held the role of Ombudsperson at the University of Houston for many years. In this seminar, we had a townhall regarding the role and responsibilities of this role within the University and towards the faculty.
Attendance and participation in this townhall.
Effectively supporting neurodiversity learner's success
Everyone experiences and interacts with the world in a variety of ways. No two brains function just alike. We learned how to foster and support the diversity of human cognition within your classroom or research team. In this workshop, you had the opportunity to identify the role of executive functions (EFs) in thinking and getting things done, discerned your own and others' strong and weaker EFs, and identified tangible support for your learner/employee EFs in your context.
Participation and attendance to this workshop
Unintended challenges and opportunities of active learning courses that lead to differential impacts on students (Dr. Sara Brownell)
Dr. Sara Brownell related her research on how active learning can present challenges for a variety of students with different identities (including students with disabilities, students with anxiety, LGBTQ students, and religious students)
Time Management and Productivity #1. How is your personal time management?
This series discussed how to be more productive at work by implementing good time management strategies. It included practical productivity tips and tricks. During this first workshop, attendees worked on several self-reflection exercises and forward thinking to discover their personal time management and productivity profile.
Communication and Professional Development: Communicating Online and with Media
Ms. Sahar Paz, an expert in communication and branding, led this workshop for faculty. Attendees worked on their LinkedIn profiles, finalize their LinkedIn profile, learn how to use AI to help them describe how they want to be seen, and learned about new interesting platforms for professionals (Clubhouse, Glassdoor, Xing…).
Dr. Divya Varkey led a workshop on emotional intelligence, emotional fitness and avoiding burnout.
2025-2026 Peer observation of teaching and feedback
2025-2026 Peer observation of teaching and feedback badge image
Following the policies and program from the College of Pharmacy, this session presented a training chance for the faculty in the 2025-2026 cohort.
Non-traditional students in a Generation Z classroom
Summary of the focus groups sessions conducted by Drs. Williams and Tejada-Simon with Pharmacy non-traditional students to collect observations, impressions, challenges and suggestions for improvement.
Time Management and Productivity #2. The importance of wellness
This session described the importance of incorporating wellness habits to achieve a good level of productivity and be capable of effective time management. We described strategies and tools to achieve this in our daily job.
Fulbright Programs - How to apply for the scholars or specialist programs
Dr. Tejada-Simon presented the steps to apply for the Fulbright Specialist program, as well as the process after being selected. Drs. Tejada-Simon, Williams, Salim, and Aparasu related their experience as Fulbright Specialists, from the crafting of the application to the outcomes in their institutions, as well as the future endeavors as a result of this experience. They also answered questions from the attendees.
This was a faculty session on Growth Mindset in Academia, a practical, research-informed conversation about how we can strengthen resilience and performance in teaching, scholarship, service, and leadership, led by our own Dr. Shane Tolleson. Dr. Tolleson shared his own interest in this topic as well as strategies and examples grounded in real academic contexts. A growth mindset can help you in many ways, like how to reframe rejection, critical feedback, and “not yet” moments as part of the academic process; give you language and habits that promote persistence and continuous improvement; and provide simple practices to apply the growth mindset with learners and within faculty teams.