Association of College and University Educators (ACUE):

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Great teaching is at the heart of student success. The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning partnered with the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE) to provide a targeted initiative aimed at providing support for educators and faculty to learn about and apply proven teaching techniques.  The goal of these courses is to prepare college instructors to use research-based techniques that help students succeed. Participate in these 8-week courses with a cohort of colleagues from CU Denver.  Knowledgeable CETL Faculty Fellows will facilitate the online course and will structure a teaching community to provide wrap-around support, an essential element of this program.​

Educators and faculty who complete the requirements for each course earn a micro-credential. Those who complete all four micro-credentials within each track earn the full ACUE Certificate in Effective College Instruction or Effective Online College Instruction. The micro-credentials are nationally recognized and endorsed by the American Council on Education (ACE).

Those who complete the requirements for both of the tracks, the Effective Teaching Practices course, and the Effective Online Teaching Practices course, can earn an Advanced Certificate in Effective College Instruction.

ACUE Microcredentials We Offer:

Designing Student-Centered Courses

Learn evidence-based practices for designing powerful learning outcomes, aligning all aspects of your course to support students in meeting those outcomes, and planning a course introduction and welcome that ensures students are prepared to start strong in your course.

Designing Student-Centered Courses addresses the pedagogical approaches, as well as some technical basics, to help you design your course and course materials that support student success. Please note that this is the same course as the micro-credential course entitled, Designing Student-Centered Courses. The course materials cover both in-classroom and online course design.

This course is organized around six competencies and takes approximately eight weeks to complete. You will learn with a cohort of CU Denver faculty members, co-facilitated by CU Denver CETL faculty fellows, with whom you will share insights, ideas, and be guided toward examining your own current practices, and offered examples of classroom implementation

• Establishing Powerful Learning Outcomes
• Aligning Assessments with Course Outcomes
• Aligning Activities and Assignments with Course Outcomes
• Developing Fair, Consistent, and Transparent Grading
• Practices Developing and Using Rubrics and Checklists
• Preparing an Effective Syllabus

Value: $600 – if accepted to participate, this course tuition will be paid by the CETL

Creating An Inclusive And Supportive Learning Environment

Learn how to engage underprepared students, embrace diversity in your classroom, provide useful feedback, and more—in both the classroom and online learning environment.

Creating an Inclusive and Supportive Learning Environment will provide you with practices to enable you to create an optimal environment to support learning—including how to increase student engagement, embrace diversity and help students persist in meeting academic challenges.

This course is organized around six competencies and takes approximately eight weeks to complete. You will learn with a cohort of CU Denver faculty members, co-facilitated by CU Denver CETL faculty fellows, with whom you will share insights, ideas, and be guided toward examining your own current practices, and offered examples of classroom implementation

• Welcoming Students to Learning
• Promoting Civil Learning
• Engaging Underprepared Students
• Helping Students Persist
• Embracing Diversity
• Checking for Student Understanding
• Providing Useful Feedback

Value: $600 – if accepted to participate, this course tuition will be paid by the CETL

Inspiring Inquiry And Preparing Lifelong Learners

Hone in on your ability to motivate your students, provide clarity of expectations, develop self-directed learners, and more—in both the classroom and online learning environment.

Inspiring Inquiry and Preparing Lifelong Learners addresses practices from motivating students to using visualization tools that deepen learning and help students take greater ownership of their own learning.

This course is organized around six competencies and takes approximately eight weeks to complete. You will learn with a cohort of CU Denver faculty members, co-facilitated by CU Denver CETL faculty fellows, with whom you will share insights, ideas, and be guided toward examining your own current practices, and offered examples of classroom implementation

• Motivating Your Students
• Providing Clear Directions and Explanations in Your Courses
• Integrating Visualization Tool
• Using Data and Feedback to Improve Teaching
• Using Advanced Questioning
• Developing Self-Directed Learners

Value: $600 – if accepted to participate, this course tuition will be paid by the CETL

Promoting Active Learning 

Learn proven active learning techniques to engage students, plan and facilitate discussions, and more—in both the classroom and online learning environment.

Promoting Active Learning will provide you with practices to more actively engage your students in varied learning formats including small- and large-group activities, discussions, and micro-lectures.

This course is an ideal way to expand the impact of technology and instructional support offices and promote effective instruction that leads to stronger student outcomes.

This course is organized around six competencies and takes approximately eight weeks to complete. You will learn with a cohort of CU Denver faculty members, co-facilitated by CU Denver CETL faculty fellows, with whom you will share insights, ideas, and be guided toward examining your own current practices, and offered examples of classroom implementation

• Developing Effective Modules and Micro lectures
• Teaching Powerful Note-taking
• Using Groups to Ensure Active Learning
• Using the Active Learning Cycle in Courses
• Planning Effective Discussions
• Facilitating Engaging Discussions

Value: $600 – if accepted to participate, this course tuition will be paid by the CETL.

NEW! Inclusive Teaching for Equitable Learning

As educators, we can work to create inclusive environments with equitable learning opportunities to ensure that every student has the opportunities necessary to succeed.

This microcredential provides instructors with proven strategies to create a more equitable and just learning environment. Equity-promoting teaching practices are among the hundreds of recommended approaches that faculty learn about and develop in all ACUE programs, as demonstrated in ACUE’s Inclusive and Equitable Teaching Curriculum Crosswalk.

Microcredential Course Modules:

• Managing the Impact of Bias
• Reducing Microaggressions in Learning Environments
• Addressing Imposter Phenomenon and Stereotype Threat
• Creating Inclusive Learning Environments
• Designing Equity-Centered Courses

Value: $600 – if accepted to participate, this course tuition will be paid by the CETL

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