The Teaching & Learning Center

Do you implement or want to implement alternative grading strategies in your course? Are you looking for ideas, strategies, and support? Join our group to share experiences and details of the various alternative grading possibilities such as

• mastery grading,
• specifications grading,
• standards-based grading, and
• ungrading.

These varied approaches can be used in different contexts to ensure a course's assessment supports and aligns with student learning. Alternative grading approaches seek to transform the way we evaluate student work, shifting the emphasis from traditional measures of performance to fostering a mindset of learning which acknowledges that mistakes are an integral component of an educational journey.   

Participating in the group will ensure exposure to resources and opportunities to promote alternative grading strategies with peers at various WCU and external venues. The group provides support and guidance for faculty at any stage in the alternative grading journey from beginner to experienced. You can join at any time. 

Meetings are the second Friday of every month from 10:00 am to 11:00 am, with both an in-person option in Anderson 125 or an online option via Zoom. 

Register For Meeting Invites and FLC Notifications

For questions or additional information, please contact the TLC at tlc@wcupa.edu.

The Teaching and Learning Center (TLC), and the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP), invite applications for the third cohort of a Faculty Learning Community focused on the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). Grounded in the teacher-scholar model, the FLC offers an opportunity to connect teaching and research by using your own teaching practice as a site for inquiry to better understand students' learning experiences and outcomes.

This new format of the FLC builds on what we have learned from previous cohorts and has been revised to better support faculty in this work. This is a 3 semester (Fall 2026 to Fall 2027) program. Participants who complete the full program will receive a $1,000 stipend to recognize sustained engagement in this work. 

Faculty in previous cohorts have explored questions such as:  

• What happens when I change what students do at the beginning of a class session?  
• How do different approaches to content delivery influence student engagement and performance?
• How does this tool or technology support student skill development?  
• How do changes in course structure affect students' sense of belonging and participation?

Have you found yourself wondering: Is this pedagogical strategy helping students learn in the ways I intended? How are students experiencing it? This FLC is an opportunity to explore those questions.  Participants work in a small, interdisciplinary cohort to investigate a teaching challenge, examine the effectiveness of a pedagogical approach designed to address it, and share what they learn with colleagues at WCU and beyond.

This program is ideal for faculty who have developed or are developing a pedagogical approach to address a specific challenge in their teaching and have questions about its effectiveness in addressing that challenge. Projects should not already have IRB approval, as the research design will be developed during the program. 

Program Structure 

Based on previous cohorts, we expect that participants will move through the program at different paces. The structure is designed to support this, allowing participants to begin collecting data once IRB approval is received while continuing to develop their work within the cohort.

• Fall 2026: Refine the pedagogical approach you have developed or are developing to address a specific teaching challenge, develop a research plan to assess effectiveness of the approach, and submit an IRB application 
• Spring 2027: Implement the approach and collect evidence from your course, beginning once IRB approval is received
• Fall 2027: Analyze and interpret findings, refine the pedagogical approach based on results, and develop dissemination materials for sharing findings through internal and external forums.

Expectations 

• Commit to attending all scheduled meetings and dedicating time between meetings to develop, implement, and reflect on your project. Meeting dates and times for Fall 26:  
  • September 21, 10 – 12pm
  • October 19, 10 – 12pm
  • November 9, 10 – 12pm
  • December 7, 10 – 12pm
• Submit an IRB application
• Implement and examine a pedagogical approach in your course
• Disseminate results across internal and external platforms and forums 

Application Process

Complete an Application Form

All materials are due by Wednesday, September 9, 2026

Upload a project description (1 page maximum, single-spaced) in response to this prompt:

Tell us about a teaching challenge you have identified and a pedagogical approach you have developed or are developing to address it. Describe the course or learning context in which you would like to implement the approach. What are you hoping it will accomplish? What questions do you have about its effectiveness in addressing the challenge and its impact on student learning, experiences, and outcomes? 

You do not need a fully developed research plan. The program will provide support for developing the research design and IRB application. 

Questions about the FLC or the application process should be directed to tlc@wcupa.edu.

Do you implement or want to implement instructional activities that incorporate generative artificial intelligence? Are you looking for ideas, strategies, and support? Join our group to share experiences and details of various types of AI activity implementations. 

Participating in the group will ensure exposure to resources and opportunities to discuss Gen AI in pedagogy with peers at WCU. The group provides support and guidance for faculty at any stage in the generative AI integration journey from beginner to experienced. You can join at any time.

Meetings are once a month on Friday from 11:00 am to Noon with an in-person option and a Zoom option. All are welcome at any time. 

Register for Meeting Invites and FLC Notifications

Our campus reflects the diversity of our world. Students bring varied backgrounds, experiences, aspirations, and talents to our classrooms, along with differing needs for navigating academia and achieving success. As instructors, we can support this diversity by creating learning environments where every student thrives. Inclusive teaching is key to this goal. This approach recognizes our students' diverse needs, celebrates their unique identities and experiences, and focuses on reducing barriers while providing targeted support to enhance learning. 

We invite all faculty members who are interested in improving their inclusive teaching methods and promoting equitable learning outcomes to apply for the 2025-26 Diversity and Inclusion Faculty Learning Community (DI FLC). This year-long program will take place via Zoom during the Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 semesters. By participating in the FLC, you will join a multidisciplinary group of faculty members who will collaborate to explore and enhance equitable and inclusive teaching practices. In its sixth year, the FLC has had 49 participants across the WCU campus. Our goal is to create supportive and inclusive learning environments where all students feel a strong sense of belonging. We encourage you to watch our video to hear experiences and reflections from previous participants of the DI FLC.

Faculty engage in readings, discussion, case studies, and workshop activities to increase skill, knowledge in promoting diverse and inclusive learning environments. Six meetings (three per semester) allow faculty to work with peers to increase understandings. Faculty will have the opportunity to steer and construct topics and guidelines.

Topics Covered:

• Course content and planning
  • Assumptions about students
  • Fairness in the classroom
  • Strategies for creating an inclusive syllabus
  • Rules for respectful dialogues and discussions
  • Use of “evidence” and respect for “other ways of knowing”
  • Unconscious bias, personal bias, institutionalized bias, and stereotype threat
• Handling conflicts and challenges
  • Emic/etic voices in course materials
  • Microaggressions and microinterventions
  • Navigating discomfort, shame, and difficult conversations
  • Cultural competence, cultural humility, cultural sensitivity, and other theories for promoting inclusivity
  • How faculty can respond to awareness of both students’ and their own bias

Each participant of the FLC will receive a stipend of $500 for the year. 

The FLC is open to all faculty at WCU (adjuncts welcome!). 

The deadline for WCU faculty interested in participating in this FLC in the 2025-26 academic year to submit applications is Wednesday, September 17.

FLC Participant Expectations:

Attend a minimum of five of the six FLC virtual meetings during the academic year, taking place Thursdays from 5:30-8pm on the following dates:

• October 9, 2025 
• November 6, 2025
• December 4, 2025
• February 5, 2026
• March 5, 2026
• April 16, 2026

Actively contribute to FLC discussions, complete readings to prepare, and produce syllabi or lesson plans incorporating guidelines 
Contribute resources, such as articles and readings, and substantive discussion