Faculty in Residence
The Center for Teaching Excellence is excited to announce its Faculty in Residence Program. By providing faculty and staff with unprecedented access to some of Xavier's most talented and experienced teachers, this program is designed to encourage critical reflection on classroom teaching while supporting the intellectual community of the entire university.
The Faculty in Residence periodically opens his or her class to faculty observers. After each class, the Faculty in Residence will be available for a discussion of the class with the observers. This program offers the opportunity to observe the class of another faculty member from one's own or a different discipline, and to discuss with other faculty members some of the teaching strategies, methods and practices already being used by some of Xavier's most talented teachers.
2024 Faculty in Residence:
Dr. Hanna Wetzel
Assistant Professor, Biology
The Faculty In Residence Observation Schedule is below, or use this link:
(If you would like to observe Dr. Wetzel's class, please scroll down and register in form below.)
Friday Sep. 6
Students will be applying the basic pharmacology learned in the previous module to come up with a ‘guilty’ or ‘innocent’ verdict for a real life (anonymized) DUI case. They will be asked to provide expert testimony based on the individual’s toxicology results. Non-science faculty would make excellent ‘jurors’ for students to communicate the pharmacological evidence!
Pedagogy featured: interdisciplinary application of scientific concepts, engaging in difficult conversations, respectfully disagreeing, communicating technical topics to lay audiences
Wednesday Oct. 2
Students will work in groups to analyze and discuss medical case studies related to previous course content. As this course uses a form of specifications grading, students will likely be preparing for different assessments at this point and thus focusing on different aspects of the case studies within each group. This requires groups to work as a team to make sure that everyone is getting what they need out of the discussions and ensuring that nobody is left behind.
Pedagogy featured: practical implementation of specifications grading, medical application of basic science
Friday Oct. 18
We will be debriefing from a guest speaker (a Xavier graduate who is now a community pharmacist studying type II diabetes). I will be ensuring that students got the information for the SLO’s from the guest speaker while they discuss and analyze medical case studies. As this course uses a form of specifications grading, students will likely be preparing for different assessments at this point and thus focusing on different aspects of the case studies within each group. This requires groups to work as a team to make sure that everyone is getting what they need out of the discussions and ensuring that nobody is left behind.
Pedagogy featured: practical implementation of specifications grading, medical application of basic science, ensuring SLO coverage from a guest speaker
Friday Nov. 1
Each group (about 5 students) will be asked to construct and submit a rubric that I will use to score their final writing projects. They will be given blank templates and a list of elements of good writing from a book, but are free to add elements or remove some. By doing this, students are given ownership over their writing. They are being asked, many for the first time, to analyze what good writing is and what their expectations for themselves are before they being writing. Groups will be asked to consider the weight of each element on their rubric. For example, which is more important, good writing or solid scientific content? I will then ask them to consider equity issues in scholarly writing and make sure that their rubric accounts for people with different cultural linguistic backgrounds.
Pedagogy featured: Student autonomy, student ownership of work, equity in writing assessment, student autonomy in writing
Wednesday Nov. 6
We will be learning about the pharmacology opioid use disorder in the historical context of the opioid epidemic. Students will be asked to critically evaluate why each opioid contributed to the epidemic and discuss the pharmacology of the drugs available to treat opioid use disorder. Special attention will be given to the language we use when we talk about this sensitive topic (examples include the stigma and emotions associated with words like addition, addict, misuse, and diversion, as well as the recent switch from ‘medication-assisted treatment’ to ‘medications for opioid use disorder’).
Pedagogy featured: engaging with controversial topics, discussion of difficult topics, respectfully disagreeing, interdisciplinary application of science, discussions of equity in healthcare, discussions on the power and importance of language
Monday Dec. 2
Students will engage in structured peer review of their final papers for the course. We will work on providing constructive feedback in a kind and productive way. They will be asked to use the rubrics they generated in groups previously, which asks them to again critically analyze the elements of good writing in an equitable way.
Pedagogy featured: structured peer review, equity in writing assessment, student ownership over writing, student autonomy in writing
Register for observation:
Previous CTE Faculty in Residence
In fall 2023, Kristen Renzi (English) Taught her ENGL 366 "Feminist Theory" as the CTE Faculty in Residence.
In fall 2022, Bryan Buechner (Marketing) Taught his MKTG 330-"Retail Marketing" as the CTE Faculty in Residence.
In fall 2019, Stephen Yandell (English) Taught his Core 100-"FYS: Dowling, Lucas and Disney: Passion as Career" as the CTE Faculty in Residence.
In fall 2018, Adam Clark (Theology) taught his THEO 322-"Black Theology" as the CTE Faculty in Residence.
In fall 2017, Stephen Skiles (Theatre) taught his THTR 102-"Acting I" as the CTE Faculty in Residence.
In fall 2016, Dr. Amy Whipple (History) taught her HIST 140-"Britain:Sherlock to Britpop" as the CTE Faculty in Residence.
In fall 2015, Dr. Rashmi Assudani (Management and Entrepreneurship) showcased her course ENTR/MGMT 305 - Creativity and Innovation as the CTE Faculty in Residence.
In fall 2014, Dr. Kandi Stinson (Sociology) taught SOCI 101 " Introduction to Sociology" as the CTE Faculty in Residence.
In fall 2013, Ann Marie Tracey (Accountancy and Business Law) taught BLAW 300 "Legal Environment of Business" as the CTE Faculty in Residence.
For fall 2012, the CTE Faculty in Residence Program featured Dr. Jen Robbins (Biology) and her course, BIOL 130 "Introduction to Life Sciences for K-8 Education Majors"
For 2011, the CTE Faculty in Residence Program featured a team-taught course by Dr. Marco Fatuzzo (Physics) and Father Joseph Bracken, S.J. (Theology), "Our Universe: In the Beginning."
The CTE's inaugural Faculty in Residence in 2010 was Dr. E. Paul Colella, Professor of Philosophy and director of the Philosophy, Politics and the Public honors program, with the course, " Freud and Philosophy."