Programs and Resources

FORT is WPI’s foundational micro-course on pedagogy, primarily intended for faculty new to WPI as they transition to teaching in 7-week terms. This self-paced online professional development is bundled with resources and consultation with instructional designers while planning, implementing, and reflecting on their first WPI course. To recognize a range of prior teaching experience and needs, participants choose which modules to explore in the following areas:  

• Writing learning outcomes 
• Assessment  
• Activities and course structure
• Setting expectations & course facilitation in 7 weeks  
• Managing your faculty workload 
• Introduction to WPI resources and support for faculty and students

Enrollment also includes consultation with our instructional designers during the first term of teaching and a reflective de-briefing.  

To accommodate a range of faculty needs and constraints, we provide a range of options for completing FORT during the first year. Faculty can elect to participate with a summer or fall cohort of colleagues (online and asynchronous) to build community across disciplines. Alternatively, they can complete independently at a time of their choosing.

• Summer cohort begins July 8, 2024: New faculty teaching in the fall semester are encouraged and supported to enroll in FORT during the summer if their schedule allows. Details and instructions are sent by email.
• Fall cohort begins October 21, 2024: This is a good option for new faculty teaching for the first time in the spring semester. Details and instructions are sent by email in A-term.
• Self-guided, self-paced option: Faculty can complete FORT at any time during their first year that’s most convenient. Those who want to begin preparing fall courses before the summer cohort launches on July 8 can also use this option. Use this link to self-enroll.   

Project Advising 101 is an interactive workshop in August, spread across two days, to introduce early career faculty in all departments to practical tools and strategies for successful advising of MQPs and IQPs. It is hosted and delivered annually by the Morgan Teaching and Learning Center, Center for Project-Based Learning, and Global School. We recommend that all faculty complete this workshop sometime during their second or third year at WPI or before advising their first MQP or IQP on their own. All early career faculty are notified about this workshop during the summer, and it is usually held about one week before the start of A-term. 

Anticipated dates for 2024:

• Wednesday, August 14, 1:30 pm - 5 pm 
• Thursday, August 15, 1:30 pm - 5 pm 

Many studies have found that one of the most powerful influences on student persistence in college is individual attention from faculty members. One of many ways in which WPI faculty historically have shown their commitment to high quality education and student success is by defining undergraduate academic advising as part of our teaching roles. Toward that end, an annual training program designed and delivered by faculty, for faculty, is organized by the Committee on Advising and Student Life (CASL), Office of Academic Advising, and the Morgan Center, just in time for Academic Advising Day in February. This is a great opportunity for newer faculty to learn more about the what, why, and how of campus-wide degree requirements so they can help students navigate and tailor their education to meet their goals. Details about program date and time are announced by email in Morgan Center newsletters and with announcements and event listings in the WPI Today daily compendium. 

WPI’s Instructional Design team creates and facilitates modular pedagogy micro-courses in areas of interest and need that cut across departments and programs. The following micro-courses are available at this time: Faculty on Ramp to Teaching at WPI, Inclusive Syllabi, Design of Online Courses, and Delivery of Online Courses for Student Engagement. For more information, contact Senior Instructional Designer Caitlin Keller.

This seminar and workshop series, often accompanied by lunch, promotes campus-wide dialogue and community-building on a range of teaching and learning topics and initiatives.  Some gatherings showcase teaching innovations of broad interest across disciplines, whether in the planning stage, work-in-progress, or completed. These include reports from faculty learning communities and professional learning communities looking to welcome others into their community of practice. Other gatherings introduce or disseminate particular teaching tools, methods, or resources, or might explore teaching and learning implications of particular policies.  Outside speakers are also recruited to present on topics of strategic interest on our campus. Food for Thought gatherings are announced by email in Morgan Center newsletters and with announcements and event listings in the WPI Today daily compendium. All faculty, staff, and students are welcome to present and to attend. 

The Institute on Teaching with Writing is an intensive experience in which WPI faculty from across campus learn about the principles and philosophy of writing in and across the disciplines, and in which they develop tools for assigning, teaching, and responding to student writing in their courses or projects.  Participants are provided with brief, recommended readings before each of four, half-day workshops that are spread across one or two weeks.  On each workshop day, time is set aside for group discussion and for informative presentations and sharing of best practices. On non-workshop days, participants are encouraged to explore the recommended reading and develop materials for their own teaching, allowing for immediate application of the concepts and tools learned in the workshops.  The Institute has been offered annually or biennially for almost 10 years, usually in late May, early June, or mid-August. For more information about the next offering or to express interest, contact Prof. Lorraine Higgins. 

This document provides templates and examples of class conversations and other communications that faculty and staff can use to support students, and each other, in the days following distressing national or local events and tragedies. 

This repository includes course and project advising syllabus toolkits with example statements that faculty can tailor to their own style and needs. We also provide a number of templates for mid-course feedback surveys and broader advice on assessing your teaching and documenting teaching effectiveness. Materials used or distributed at our core programs and events are also archived on this site, including recordings in some cases. WPI community members can self-enroll in the site using this link.

This collection of about 400 titles offers evidence-based teaching ideas along with research and practice foundations for education-related and faculty-related initiatives. The collection can be browsed in person on the third floor of Gordon Library, just outside the Gordon Conference Room, and books can be checked out for loan at the library main desk. The collection can also be browsed and searched online as one of the Gordon Library’s Featured/Discovery Collections. Topics include: course design; assessment, evaluation, grading and ungrading; universal design for learning; online and distance education; learning sciences; STEM education; faculty careers and mentorship; equity and social justice in higher education; intercultural learning; scholarship of teaching and learning and educational research; cultural, organizational, and leadership studies of higher education; and more. 

Launched at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, this Microsoft Teams site remains a space for crowd-sourcing perspectives, suggestions, expertise, and resources from faculty and staff colleagues across campus. There are multiple channels on various teaching topics, such as accessibility and inclusion, large enrollment classes, lab-based courses, and strategies for reducing student stress. WPI community members can join the team using this link.