Jule Wallis / Teaching Portfolio / 1 Jule Wallis Teaching Portfolio Composition Program Department of English au1145@wayne.edu 248-219-9695 Jule Wallis / Teaching Portfolio / 2 CONTENTS TEACHING APPOINTMENTS……………………………………………………………………… 3 PEDAGOGICAL SCHOLARSHIP…………………………………………………………………... 3 RECENT AND UPCOMING PEDAGOGICAL PRESENTATIONS……………………………….. 3-4 ADMINISTRATIVE WORK RELATED TO TEACHING………………………………………….. 4-5 ACADEMIC SERVICE RELATED TO PEDAGOGY………………………………………………. 5-6 ONLINE WORKSHOP WEBSITES FOR CAMPUS WIDE SUPPORT AND DEVELOPMENT……………………………………………………………………………………... 6 RECENT COURSE AND CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT……………………………………… 6-7 COURSES TAUGHT AT WAYNE STATE…………………………………………………………. 7 SAMPLE COURSE SYLLABI AND WEBSITE…………………………………………………….. 7 STATEMENT OF TEACHING PHILOSOPHY……………………………………………………... 8-10 WAYNE STATE STUDENT EVALUATION OF TEACHING (SETs)…………………………… 10 WAYNE STATE COURSES REPRESENATIVE STUDENT COMMENTS……………………… 10-13 APPENDICES APPENDIX A (WRT ZONE NUMBERS)…………………………………………………13-16 APPENDIX B (STUDENT ASSESSMENT OF WRITING)………………………………16-17 APPENDIX C (TRAINING MATERIALS FOR WRT ZONE AND TEACHING CIRCLES)………………………………................................................................................ 18 Jule Wallis / Teaching Portfolio / 3 TEACHING APPOINTMENTS Lecturer, Writing Center Director, Wayne State University Department of English, 2009-present GTA, Wayne State University Department of English, 2008-2009 GTA, Central Michigan University Department of English, 2006-2007 Adjunct, Lake Superior State University Department of English, 2003-2005 PEDAGOGICAL SCHOLARSHIP “Writing Across the Curriculum and Writing to Learn.” Intermediate Composition Chapter of The Wayne Writer (Wayne State University Custom Textbook for ENG 1010, ENG 1020 & ENG 3010) RECENT AND UPCOMING PEDAGOGICAL PRESENTATIONS “Assessment, Integrated Student Services, and Curricular Change: Forging the Trifecta of Student Development.” CCCC Annual Convention, Indianapolis, IN, 2014 “Negotiating Programmatic and Student Vulnerabilities through Writing Assessment.” MLA Annual Convention, Chicago IL, January 2014 “A Layered Tech Approach to Writing Center Work.” MWCA Annual Convention, Skokie, IL, October 2013 “Assessment, Training, and Dialogues: An Examination of ESL Graduate Student Culture, Writing, and Writing Center Objectives.” CCCC 63rd Annual Convention. St. Louis, MO, March 2012 “Second Annual International Crime, Media & Popular Culture Studies Conference: A Cross Disciplinary Exploration.” Indian State University, Indian. September 27-30, 2010 “Performativity, Materiality, and New Media: How Bodies Come to Matter.” Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association 2008 National Conference. San Francisco, CA. March 19-22, 2008 “A Fiskean Reading of Law and Order, SVU.” Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association 2007 National Conference. Boston, MA. April 4-7, 2007 “Negotiating Authority in the Writing Center.” National Council of Peer Tutors in Writing. Ann Arbor, MI, Nov 12-13, 2006 Jule Wallis / Teaching Portfolio / 4 “Online Commenting: A Dialogue Between the Lines.” East Central Writing Centers Association. Alliance, OH. March 15-17, 2006 “Reading Between the Lines: Gender Preference for Passive Voice.” Michigan Writing Centers Association. Grand Rapids, MI. Nov 12-13, 2005 “Passive Voice in the Classroom.” Student Research and Creative Endeavors. Mt. Pleasant, MI April 2023, 2005 ADMINISTRATIVE WORK RELATED TO TEACHING Director of WRT Zone 2009-present Student Support: o More than tripled student appointments from 2009 (1116 total appointments) to 2012 (4572 total appointments) (See Appendix A) o WRT Zone services all WSU students (undergraduate and graduate) Supervisory and Management Responsibilities o Supervise, train and mentor incoming, funded English GTAs (7), advanced GTA tutors (2), paid tutors (9), internships (3), and receptionists (3). o Responsible for management and utilization of WRT Zone budget: $28,000 allocated for paid tutors and $5,000 for supplies. o Received additional funding (Fall 2013) of $10,500 for paid tutors based upon need for additional tutoring hours (drawn from ongoing tracking of student appointments and available tutoring hours) (See Appendix A) o Responsible for day to day administration of the WRT Zone WRT Zone Grant 2013 o Researched, proposed and received eventual approval of a co-authored (Wallis, J., Arnold, J. Gorzelsky, G.) research grant proposal for renovation and integration of writing, research, and technology support within a “one stop” new student center, The WRT Zone o Total grant amount $149,691.05 Data Collection o IRB approved online data collection through Baseline Labs for tracking of student demographics, student needs, and student growth of writing in the WRT Zone (See Appendix B). o Implement assessment of data through Baseline Labs for development and execution of student, faculty and staff support Workshop and Online Student and Faculty Development o Provide workshops (57) for student and faculty ranging from literature reviews to plagiarism and research proposal workshops o Provide online, 2.0 web resource support (17) for student and faculty. Jule Wallis / Teaching Portfolio / 5 o Resources cover syllabi specific resources student tutorials, workshops, and course lectures Online Tutoring o Provide online tutoring in 2010 to better serve non-traditional and commuting students. Through research and training, synchronous tutoring was utilized to better match the mission statement of the WRT Zone. o To date, online tutoring appointments have been utilized by 1022 students. Service Projects for WRT Zone Resources o Web and web presence development: website, blogs, twitter, online tutorials, and materials o Tutorials and handouts for student and faculty o Classroom visits introducing WRT Zone resources o Collection and organization of assignments from faculty for reference during tutoring sessions o Marketing and student organization support English Department GTA Mentor and Trainer 2009-present Work intimately with Composition Director and English Department Director to train and mentor new PhD English Department GTAs. Training and mentoring is directly tied to the Writing Center and to ENG 6001 Practicum coursework (See Appendix C) Bridge Summer Program Summer 2010 Worked with Undergraduate Library and Summer Bridge Program to develop and run preparation for college, writing, research, plagiarism, workshops for at risk students enrolled in a summer long support program for college readiness APEX Coordinator 2011-2013 Worked with the Director of APEX to provide tutor and GSA training, mentoring, and student services to the APEX program and students. ACADEMIC SERVICE RELATED TO PEDAGOGY English Department Composition Committee 2010-present Assessment o Assess 1020 and 3010 course objectives in relationship to student retention o Research pedagogical approaches for better development and implementation of 1010, 1020, and 3010 o Pilot revised WAC/WID version of ENG 3010 Jule Wallis / Teaching Portfolio / 6 o Portfolio norming and grading of ENG 1020 and 3010 for course and department assessment Mentoring o Train, mentor, and develop services, support and observation for new English PhD GTAs o Revised GTA observation form to better prompt pedagogical dialogue between mentor and mentee o Workshops and presentations to new and returning GTAs and adjuncts Curriculum o Oversee and develop curriculum for ENG 1020 and 3010 o Development of ENG 3010 for a Writing Across the Curriculum (WID) and Writing In the Discipline (WID) approach which became one of two required approaches for the new common syllabus for ENG 3010 Teaching Circle Coordinator for ENG 1020 and 3010 2012-present Develop and run teaching circles for GTAs, lecturers, and faculty to implement new common syllabus guidelines and provide support and mentoring for pedagogical approaches (See Appendix C) ONLINE WORKSHOP WEBSITES FOR CAMPUS WIDE SUPPORT AND DEVELOPMENT “APA and Research Workshop”: https://sites.google.com/site/apaandresearchworkshop/ Compiled from various workshops for the Medical Campus for utilization by faculty in their classrooms “Integrating Writing into Coursework:” https://sites.google.com/site/integratingwriting/ Compiled from various workshops for faculty for utilizing Writing to Learn pedagogy “Responding to Student Papers:” https://sites.google.com/site/respondingtostudentwriting/ Complied from various workshops for utilization by faculty in their classroom “Plagiarism Workshop”: https://sites.google.com/site/missionpossiblegraduation/ Compiled from various workshops for utilization by faculty in their classroom RECENT COURSE AND CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT ENG 3010 (Intermediate College Writing), Wayne State University, 2012-present Full redesign with Composition Director and English Department Chair of this general education required course to fulfill the Intermediate Composition requirement (53% of students enroll in ENG 3010 to meet this requirement) Redesign of course based upon two approaches, WAC /WID or Writing About Writing (WAW), in which the WAC/WID approach came from my personal development of ENG 3010 for Jule Wallis / Teaching Portfolio / 7 introducing students to WID and as a link to a disciplinary Writing Intensive course, the last general education writing requirement WSU students must fulfill English 1020 (Introduction to College Writing), Wayne State University, 2007-009 Choice of texts and creation of standardized syllabus for sections of English 1020 taught by new GTAs COURSES TAUGHT AT WAYNE STATE Undergraduate English 1020 (Introduction to College Writing) Three sections Genre and discourse community course that encourages students to begin investigation and writing in academic contexts and genres for preparation for ENG 3010 and beyond English 3010 (Intermediate Writing: “WAC/WID Entry into the Profession”) Nine sections WAC/WID based course that encourages students to actively learn and practice writing in their discipline to better prepare them for discipline specific coursework and professional and personal success Graduate ENG 6010 (Service Learning for Secondary Education Students) Three sections Integrate WRT Zone and tutoring for service learning that helps students develop a theoretical grounding for working one-on-one with students and practical integration of theory and practice into both tutoring and teaching. SAMPLE COURSE SYLLABI AND WEBSITE The syllabi for many of my recent courses are available online as part of course websites (see below). English 1020 (Introduction to College Writing) My most recent iteration of the course (Summer 2009) used a wiki site available here: http://eng1020spring.pbworks.com/w/page/18902859/Schedule English 3010 (Intermediate Writing: “WAC/WID Entry into the Profession”) My most recent iteration of the course (Fall 2013) used a Google site available here: < https://sites.google.com/site/eng3010013/> English 6010 (Service Learning for Secondary Education Students) My most recent iteration of the course (Winter 2013) used a Google site available here: < https://sites.google.com/site/eng6010winter2012/> Jule Wallis / Teaching Portfolio / 8 STATEMENT OF TEACHING PHILOSOPHY My teaching practices are inextricably tied to my work within writing centers. As both a tutor and eventual director of the Writing Research and Technology Zone (WRT Zone), I began to recognize the necessity of connecting the support students received in tutoring sessions to knowledge and skills gained in their writing courses. Collaboration between both areas supports the needs of individual students (H. Gardner, C. McLoughlin, C. Bereiter). I have found that students must be provided with multiple learning opportunities in order to develop and transfer knowledge in useful and practical ways. By grounding my teaching in writing center theory, I create classrooms focused upon Active Learning Theory. Active learning encourages transfer of knowledge through multiple opportunities for writing that builds upon each other, in particular, scaffolding of assignments. Additionally, through Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) and Writing in the Disciplines (WID) pedagogy, I create discipline-specific writing instruction by implementing low and high stakes writing assignments focused upon academic, professional and personal development. Working together, my approach of active learning and WAC/WID pedagogy cultivate clear connections between writing and research to students’ academic endeavors and beyond. Active learning requires teachers to create classroom activities that are student centered, practical, and easily transferred to new environments. Through scaffolded assignments, students practice writing for both informal and formal purposes. In this context, students are encouraged to see themselves as novices entering into a new field. They are asked to question and play with writing, research, and ideas. For example, I ask students to write an informal research proposal filled with ideas, questions, and concerns. Students begin with an initial investigation into their research topic through research annotations. Next, they write an informal introduction in which I encourage questions and concerns as a side-narrative within their writing. After feedback from me, students build upon their introduction and submit an initial overview of research previously done on their topic. Through in-class and one-on-one conferencing, students revise their proposal a fourth time and begin to move further along into their analysis of research by including a set of research questions they have honed during student/teacher conferences. A fifth and sixth revision, with conferences built in, have students developing a document that matures from a question-riddled draft to a formal research proposal. Students pull ideas and content from their informal writing towards the productions of a formal assignment. In this way, scaffolding builds upon past, current, and future knowledge. Heavily reliant upon writing within and outside of the classroom, my teaching inspires students to view their writing as an ongoing process connected to their role as both personal and academic writers. Equally important to my teaching is the role of writing within one’s own discipline. I began to realize the need for discipline-specific writing instruction through my experiences as the director of the WRT Zone. Students often came to sessions with limited knowledge of the discipline specific writing and research they were expected to deftly manipulate in their Writing Intensive courses. Because of this, students had a incomplete understanding of how to actively participate as dynamic researchers and writers in their discipline. It was in these moments that students failed to see how their writing and research connected to their academic careers. As a result, they often felt cheated and angry. Acknowledging students’ concerns and needs, I began to develop a WAC/WID based classroom that provided students with opportunities to move from general to discipline specific writing instruction. Consistent with my pedagogical use of active learning and scaffolding, I have created assignments that provide students with opportunities to investigate and practice discipline specific writing both through high and low stakes assignments in order to connect writing and learning to students’ individual needs. Jule Wallis / Teaching Portfolio / 9 For instance, in ENG 3010 I ask students to interview professionals in their field, thus establishing personal connections between their coursework and prospective profession. The assignment begins with low stakes writing through the drafting of emails and interview questions in class. The informal, low stakes writing class work leads to formal email requests and eventual interview of a professional within the student’s field of study. Students compile their interview research to write a qualitative, reflective analysis of writing, research, genre, communication, lexis, and persona in their discipline. After completion of the assignment, students have a better understanding of how to successfully become active members of their chosen field. By bridging the gap between their professional expectations and knowledge of their chosen career, students are able to make better-informed decisions regarding their field, and on occasion, a student even chooses to consider an alternative academic focus. Regardless of the outcome, this semester-long research proposal provides students with invaluable insight into the power of investigative writing and research within their own field, and it helps to underscore the position of writing as both discipline specific and interdisciplinary. Students are able to make connections between what they had previously understood to be disparate fields and contexts. This invariably leads to increased understanding and success within their disciplines. Additionally, once students begin to understand the “rules” of their field, they are able to “break” those rules in order to make connections between disciplines, academic discourses, and professional and personal writing and research. A newfound familiarity with discipline specific rules, and the ability personalize them for their own purposes, inspires confidence within students as they begin to find a voice in a new discursive community. My pedagogical approach encourages student success in many forms. Based upon the growing demand and success of students who took my WAC/WID ENG 3010, in concert with a programmatic assessment of ENG 3010, there was a department wide curriculum re-evaluation of ENG 3010 and a subsequent common pedagogical implementation of my WAC/WID focus for ENG 3010. On a more personal level, through my use of active learning and discipline specific writing instruction, students see the practical application of the writing and research they completed in my courses. For example, student proposals have been submitted and accepted for research grant funding (Rafatt Dallo-Chemistry, Tajwar KhanPhysics, Tarick El-Baba-Biology), internships (Kyungjin Kim-Pricewaterhouse Coopers, Sali KestoPricewaterhouse Coopers, Jerrold Soward-WSU research assistance in Chemistry, Tarick El-Baba-WSU research assistance in Biology) , scholarships (Amber Height-Hamm; Sara Mahmood- Wilfred Kean Memorial Scholarship, R. Gene Richter, Hamm Scholarship; Shayan Momin-Irvine D. Reid, Academy of Scholars), Fulbright (Shayan Momin), and Graduate work (Amber Height-Business, Layal AbbadiPsychology, Resa Waldecker-Library Sciences, Phil Zivku-Psychology, Chantel Fornier-Chemistry, Sali Kesto-Business). I am also quite humbled by my students’ ongoing contact, emails, requests for support, and visits to the WRT Zone. I feel that their continued engagement with me and with the WRT Zone best speaks to their newfound and ongoing belief that writing is not static; that it has a myriad of possibilities and contexts inside and outside of a classroom. When active learning, discipline specific writing, and student success are at the forefront of student learning, only then are students able to find validity and transferability of writing knowledge and skills to all aspects of their lives. Within my classes students realize that active learning and discipline specific writing works for them on a personal level. For them, writing becomes meaningful, ongoing, and multidimensional. This acknowledgement that my teaching transfers beyond the classroom to students’ lives in relevant and personalized ways fulfills my dreams as a teacher and justifies the validity of my pedagogy. WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY (2000-2012) STUDENT EVALUATION OF TEACHING (SETs) Numbers listed under “Quality of Instructor” are the “mean” score. Number listed under “Average of all Categories” are the mean of all “mean” scores for questions related to the quality of instructor and of Jule Wallis / Teaching Portfolio / 10 teaching (i.e., all questions under the “Summary Course Evaluation” and “Instructor FeedbackDiagnostic” rubrics on the SET form). The mean of the course ratings for each course taught throughout the year was averaged. For example, all course ratings for ENG 3010 years taught were averaged to represent a higher than average course rating score. Required courses with a score of 12 or higher are exceptional marks. My course ratings for both Intermediate Composition (ENG 3010) and ENG 6010 are above 12. WAYNE STATE COURSES REPRESENTATIVE COMMENTS Representative Comments Chosen Based Upon Effective Overview of Courses andTeacher Approaches, Student Learning, and Usefulness and/or Difficulty of Course ENG 6010 Service Learning for Secondary Education Students Three Sections Jule Wallis / Teaching Portfolio / 11 This class taught me pedagogy and how to APPLY pedagogy to different areas of teaching. I had never been given this background. I always created hypothetical teaching assignments without any real reason for why I created them. Now I feel that I can create assignments that matter Ms. Wallis was the most enthusiastic teacher I have had. She was always there for her students and really wanted her students to learn and apply their knowledge to teaching. Ms. Wallis knew her stuff. I was always amazed at her ability to help every student with his/her projects and she really took the time to work with us individually. I wish there were more students like Ms. Wallis This class was fast paced and quite rigorous. Even so, the course taught me a lot about teaching and tutoring. I plan on working in the writing center as a volunteer next year. That is how valuable the tutoring component was for me as a teacher. Very organized class. Love the Google site and the blog we used. I was able to work ahead if I wanted to, which was key for my busy schedule. Always had multiple steps for assignments and constant feedback. Impossible to fail this class if you worked HARD and completed the assignments. Feedback time was amazing! I don’t know how she managed to give us feedback usually two days after an assignment was due, but she did. Gave us in depth feedback on drafts. She meant what she said when she defined writing as “works in progress.” She was an amazing professor and during a time when I was teaching and going to school, I never dreaded coming to class. She always kept the class going and interesting. Her lectures give great information to the class that is useful and also interesting. Best teacher I've ever had hands down. Really easy to communicate with and down to earth. Will go out of her way to help you. Very flexible and more than fair with your grades. I suggest taking professor Wallis for English 6010 if given a chance Always enthusiastic and more than willing to sit down with students or have individual conferences. I thought the course was the hardest course I have taken yet, but I am glad I did. She is AMAZING! There is seriously no other words to describe her. She’s so understanding and explains her lessons clearly. Best class I've ever taken at Wayne. I wish every professor was like her. English 3010 Intermediate Writing: “WAC/WID Entry into the Profession” Nine sections This course taught me a great deal about writing in my field. Each project taught me something new and each project logically followed each other. Although I do not particularly enjoy writing research, it is an integral part of my future career. The course was laid out very nicely and flowed well logically. Jule Wallis / Teaching Portfolio / 12 She is really a great professor and I am so glad I took her for a writing class because I learned a great deal of how to write research papers in my field which has definitely prepared me for the future. Your encouragement motivated me to work more and better throughout the semester. I also liked how my first project made me think about my future discourse community. This course was very helpful and allowed me to expand my knowledge on the writing specific to my own field. The teaching was great, as was the curriculum. The focus of this class will help me with writing in the future and in my own profession. I really enjoyed this class and learned skills I will use for the rest of my life. Jule Wallis was an incredible professor and was very kind. I enjoyed this class because it helped me better understand the writing done in my discourse! I am so glad I took this class with you because it was relevant to my own career. ALL ENGLISH CLASSES SHOULD BE THIS WAY!!!! We were always given chances for revision. We had to work for it, but it was worth it. I increased my grades and I really learned how to write. I never knew writing was something you learned to do til now. This course was very organized. I love the Google site. It helped me stay organized and reminded me of assignments that were due. She gave us feedback on EVERYTHING! And quick! I always had to wait at least two weeks. She gave us grades and comments in days… You were amazing, made clear presentations, were always happy and there for us. You did not cheat me out of my education! I never felt intimidated to ask even the silliest of questions. You were always so nice and happy. I had a lot of fun in your class and also learned! Crazy! I know what I learned in my class will help me in the future. All information introduced was done so very clearly. I never wondered what was expected of me. Grading was more than fair. Jule gave quick feedback and grading. The comments made about my writing were very helpful and made my work much stronger. The course is very rigorous. It has a lot of work, but it is understandable that a research based English class would be this way. The professor made it manageable and the style of teaching she used was very helpful and helped us all learn in a fun way. Enthusiastic about writing and research and enthusiastic about students and what they have to say and what they need. She has a really helpful teaching style that helped me understand writing by breaking it down into steps. This class definitely improved my skills as a writer. Jule Wallis / Teaching Portfolio / 13 Workload was heavy, but it was relevant and easy to understand. Overall I thought this was a good class. Professor Wallis is a fantastic professor and the class was well organized and easy to understand. The workload wasn’t too heavy throughout the semester and I would definitely recommend taking ENG 3010 with Professor Wallis APPENDIX A WRZ Zone numbers for student appointments (undergraduate, graduate, APEX), online tutoring, development and training from Spring/Summer 2009 to Spring/Summer 2013 Total Hours Winter 2009 9% 8% 7% Undergraduate 808 Graduate 211 16% 60% Online 97 Hours-WC Development 114 Hours-Training 114 Jule Wallis / Teaching Portfolio / 14 Total Hours 2010 6% 5% 8% Undergraduate 2431 6% Graduate 534 13% 62% Online 224 Hours-WC Development 314 Hours-Training 214 Unused 233 Total Hours 2011 3% 5% 7% 4% Undergraduate 3169 1% Graduate 507 11% APEX 31 69% Online 232 Hours-WC Development 314 Hours-Training 214 Hours Over Budget 127 Jule Wallis / Teaching Portfolio / 15 Total Hours 2012 4% 2% 6% Undergraduate 3460 6% 3% Graduate 616 12% APEX 149 67% Online 347 Hours-WC Development 298 Hours-Training 204 Hours Over Budget 104 Total Hours 2013 3% 3% 3% 1% Undergraduate 2481 22% Graduate 826 Online 122 68% Hours-WC Development 97 Hours-Training 97 Hours Over Budget 54 Jule Wallis / Teaching Portfolio / 16 6000 Total Hours By Year 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 Hours Used New Student Hours 2007 2008 2009 2010 214 2011 751 2012 1834 500 948 2204 3717 4517 5074 New Student Hours Hours Used APPENDIX B WRT Zone director utilizes Baseline assessment and SPSS statistical systems to track student perceptions of writing pre and post tutoring sessions. Assessment numbers indicate that after five or more sessions, students begin to self-assess the areas of writing help they need. They begin to develop lexis for writing, research, and revision. This selfassessment grows as students continue to visit the WRT Zone. Undergraduate Writing 120% 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Tutee initial repsonse Tutee response after five plus sessions Jule Wallis / Teaching Portfolio / 17 Master's Student Writing 120% 100% 80% Tutee initial repsonse 60% Tutee response after five plus sessions 40% 20% 0% Analysis Literature Review Methodology Discussion PhD Student Writing 120% 100% 80% Tutee initial repsonse 60% Tutee response after five plus sessions 40% 20% 0% Analysis Literature Review Conclusion Jule Wallis / Teaching Portfolio / 18 APPENDIX C Tutor Training Materials Website developed for tutor training: https://sites.google.com/site/wrtzonetutortraining/ Materials include leadership roles for personal and WRT Zone development, reflection meetings for GTA tutoring and teaching support, tutor training, monthly workshops, etc. Mentor and Teaching Circle Materials Website developed for ENG 3010 teaching circle: http://eng3010teachingcircle.wordpress.com/ o Site encourages a community of practice where instructors can link research, writing, ideas, syllabi and assignment development, questions, concerns, and feedback to each other Website developed for ENG 1020 teaching circle: https://wsu1020tc.wordpress.com/wpadmin/customize.php o Site encourages a community of practice where instructors can link research, writing, ideas, syllabi and assignment development, questions, concerns, and feedback to each other