Tri-C Professors Build Online Teaching Skills

Fifteen faculty members taking part in statewide program for community colleges

Fifteen Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C^®) professors are honing their online teaching skills through a specialized course offered by the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE). 

They are among more than 150 faculty members from Ohio community colleges participating in the Effective Online Teaching Practices course. The program began in January and runs through summer. 

The course is designed to help faculty learn and implement equity-promoting, evidence-based teaching practices shown to improve student engagement, persistence, course completion and learning. 

The project grew from a collaboration between the Ohio Association of Community Colleges (OACC) and ACUE. 

“The shift to online learning due to COVID-19 challenged us to deliver an exceptional academic experience in a different way,” said Lindsay English, the College’s vice president of learning and engagement. “Our faculty has led that effort, and — as this course demonstrates — they continue to work on finding new and innovative ways to help students achieve.” 

The program consists of 25 modules separated into four blocks: Creating an Inclusive and Supportive Online Learning Environment; Promoting Active Learning Online; Inspiring Inquiry and Lifelong Learning in Your Online Course; and Designing an Effective Course. 

Equity-promoting teaching practices are among the hundreds of recommended approaches that faculty learn about and develop in ACUE courses, as demonstrated in the organization’s Inclusive and Equitable Teaching Curriculum Crosswalk. 

Faculty will continue teaching classes at Tri-C while taking the course, providing an opportunity to immediately apply what they learn. Upon completion of their course, they will be awarded ACUE’s Certificate in Effective College Instruction — the only nationally recognized college teaching credential endorsed by the American Council on Education. 

The opportunity is offered free of charge to faculty through a partnership between ACUE and OACC’s Success Center as part of the Every Learner Everywhere (ELE) initiative. The course was made possible by Achieving the Dream, an ELE network partner. 

Jack Hershey, president and chief executive officer of the OACC, said the training will teach faculty ways to keep their online courses fresh and impactful. 

“We are working hard to level the playing field to close equity gaps among Ohio students,” Hershey said. “Offering this course to faculty is one more way to do that.”

February 05, 2021

John Horton, 216-987-4281 john.horton@tri-c.edu