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This week, we are featuring Dr. Crystal Eustice, Assistant Professor of Practice, Academic Adviser, and Internship Coordinator in MSU’s Department of Community Sustainability. Dr. Eustice was recognized via iteach.msu.edu's Thank and Educator Initiative! We encourage MSU community members to nominate high-impact Spartan educators (via our Thank an Educator form) regularly!
Read more about Dr. Eustice’s perspectives below. #iteachmsu's questions are bolded below, followed by her responses!

You were recognized via the Thank an Educator Initiative. In one word, what does being an educator mean to you? 
Leadership
Share with me what this word/quality looks like in your practice?
I use the word “leadership”, because leadership in itself takes many different forms depending on the person and the context. To me, this is what being an educator means as well. To meet students where they are, to be what the students need to learn, to instill curiosity, to guide students in developing new skills... 
Have your ideas on this changed over time? if so how?
Over time, being an educator has shifted from feeling like I always need to know the answer for my students, to allowing the questions (theirs and mine) to guide us in exploring solutions. It’s shifted to me passing leadership in the classroom over to the students as they build confidence and start pursuing answers and activities that guide their own learning.
Tell me more about your educational “setting.” This can include, but not limited to departmental affiliations, community connections, co-instructors, and students. (Aka, where do you work?)
I am faculty member in the Department of Community Sustainability (CSUS) in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. I also serve as an Academic Advisor for 2 of our 3 majors in CSUS, as well as the Internship Coordinator.
What is a challenge you experience in your educator role?
Wearing three hats in my position often creates challenges in terms of how to best engage students in all three areas in authentic ways and build relationships with my students. 
Any particular “solutions” or “best practices” you’ve found that help you support student success at the university despite/in the face of this?
To show students support and engage them, I blend all three roles within my job regardless of what “hat” I’m wearing. Meaning, when I teach, I work to help build students transferable skills that will benefit them as they pursue and take on professional internships. I also work to communicate advising and employment information with students in my role as educator in the classroom, as well as serving as their internship coordinator, and academic advisor. Largely, supporting student success means supporting the whole student, in multiple ways, and making time and space to do so in my various roles.
What are practices you utilize that help you feel successful as an educator?
I seek feedback from my students about their experiences in my courses, as well as their overall experiences at MSU (i.e., in other courses). What’s working for them and what’s not; what resources have been most helpful to them, etcetera. This helps me evaluate and improve my leadership in all three of my roles.

Don't forget to celebrate individuals you see making a difference in teaching, learning, or student success at MSU with #iteachmsu's Thank an Educator initiative. You might just see them appear in the next feature! 

This week, we are featuring Jennifer “Jeno” Rivera, who up until the start of 2023 has been an associate professor in the Department of Community Sustainability and the director of the Bailey Scholars Program. Starting Jan. 1, 2023, Jeno will serve as Michigan State University’s new director for the Institute for Agricultural Technology (IAT. Jeno was recognized via iteach.msu.edu's Thank and Educator Initiative! We encourage MSU community members to nominate high-impact Spartan educators (via our Thank an Educator initiative) regularly!
Read more about Jeno’s perspectives below. #iteachmsu's questions are bolded below, followed by their responses! 

You were recognized via the Thank an Educator Initiative. In one word, what does being an educator mean to you?  
Educate 
What does this word/quality looks like in your practice? Have your ideas on this changed over time? If so how?
I believe educators carry the responsibility to educate others. This could be done by teaching; providing interactive experiences, resources, stories; modeling; mentoring; etc. My ideas have not changed that much overtime. Many moons ago I would have just said “teach” without much thought to multiple ways of learning.
Tell us more about your educational “setting.” This can include, but not limited to departmental affiliations, community connections, co-instructors, and students. (AKA, where do you work?)
I have a unique role on campus that I created to foster my interests and develop my strengths. I am the director of the CANR Liberty Hyde Bailey Scholars Program where I get to explore self-directed integrated learning. I am faculty in the CANR department of Community Sustainability and an instructor in the RCAH where I educate others about community engagement. I like to play in the spaces where art and agriculture come together by focusing on the human and social dimensions of AFNR.I believe a lot of these problems can be solved by developing lifelong learners who are educated to create solutions.
What is a challenge you experience in your educator role? Any particular “solutions” or “best practices” you’ve found that help you support student success at the university despite/in the face of this?
A challenge I face is helping students take ownership of their learning and develop a purpose to guide their learning experiences. I have a lot of students who are the “tell me what to do so I can pass your class” students. I hope that by the end of the semester they have developed some of the skill set to determine what they need to do to be successful and to continue learning to align to their purpose (and not align to a job or degree). This is super challenging (but a fun challenge). 
What are practices you utilize that help you feel successful as an educator?
Checking in- I frequently check in with my learners to make sure that they learning experience is going well for all. I also check in with myself. If I feel that I have developed a lesson that is not meeting the learning goals in the way that I had envisions- I question this. I ask why? and how?  a lot. I also reflect on learning by learning with and from my colleagues. I am now shy to seek out guidance from my peers when something is not going well. I think we can all improve.
What topics or ideas about teaching and learning would you like to see discussed on the iteach.msu.edu platform? Why do you think this conversation is needed at MSU?
What faculty can do to enhance student success. This is a missed opportunity to meet the student success goals set established in goals such as the MSU 2030 Strategic Plan. If we think about who students interact with the most during the day, it is their professors. There is so much that we do (or don’t do) that can affect students’ success. However, we are provided little guidance on how to best do this (beyond making a more inclusive syllabus and learning goals). Think about whole student development- academic success is just one piece of a large picture and should not be the only focus.
What are you looking forward to (or excited to be a part of) next semester?
I am transitioning. I think we all need the opportunity to grow and develop so I am transitioning to a position that will let me do just that. I am hoping that I will develop better skills and abilities to be an effective administrator of educational experiences. Sometime when we stay in something too comfortable we miss opportunities to change and create something new.

Don't forget to celebrate individuals you see making a difference in teaching, learning, or student success at MSU with #iteachmsu's Thank an Educator initiative. You might just see them appear in the next feature!

The Collaborative Learning Center supports student success in a variety of ways. Some examples are through our academic success skills workshops, where we teach students how to use the "six strategies of effective learning" in their studies, and through our peer educator training program, where we help peer educators develop more comprehensive techniques to support students both in and out of the classroom. This poster describes the various CLC programs that support student success.

To access a PDF of the "How the Collaborative Learning Center Supports Student Success" poster, click here.
Description of the Poster
HOW THE COLLABORATIVE LEARNING CENTER SUPPORTS STUDENT SUCCESS 
Sam Drake, Jessica Deforest, Sara Morales, Ariel Arnold 
Academic Success Skills Workshops 
Through a variety of workshops and structured study sessions, the CLC can help you get on the path to academic success. Students will learn to set goals, use their time more efficiently, and become better learners. Additionally, students will expand their range of study strategies and learn to analyze course content and assessments in order not just to improve grades, but also to heighten understanding, intellectual development, and long term retention. 
Comments From Students 
“I would recommend this resource to a fellow colleague because I personally came back with a lot of helpful tips that I feel will help me succeed and why wouldn’t I want that for a friend.” – UGS 110 Student 
“I would recommend this resource to a friend because it helped me realize the actual extent of my procrastination, and how that is affecting me. Even now I am getting this worksheet done very quickly after the session and not waiting until later, having to struggle to figure out what was said in the presentation.” – UGS 110 Student 
I would recommend this resource to anyone who is struggling in note taking strategies and processing information in lectures. This was extremely helpful for me, and I think that it would be great for anyone to take! I do not think that there is an instance where I would not recommend this to a friend, because even if you like the note taking strategies that you use, this workshop 
Peer Educator Training  
The CLC provides training and professional development opportunities that are developed to enhance Peer Educators’ skills in supporting their fellow students. Training and professional development opportunities are grounded in research and best practices. Sessions include pedagogy, socio-emotional skills, and university policy and procedures. 
Comments from Students 
I thought this was a great session that should be presented to a wider audience! I think empathy is something that everyone could use a little practice with from time to time – Peer Educator Training Participant 
I really liked the chat back feature. It seems more effective in articulating a response than being asked the same question in person. I liked that the presentation included engaging videos. The polls really helped to express our opinions. The content of the presentation was clear, and I learned a lot. – Peer Educator Training Participant 
Student Interests and Support Survey (SISS) 
The Spartan Interests and Support Survey (SISS) is a university-wide initiative designed to assess how we can best support incoming students. This assessment measures several "non-academic" factors that have been proven to connect to college success. Scores from the assessment will be used to proactively refer students to campus resources and to help us as a university understand what we can do in the future to best support our students. Variables measured are .Positive Self-Concept – Realistic Self-Appraisal, Long Range Goals, Availability Of A Strong Support Person, Non-Traditional Learning, Demonstrated Community Service, Strong Leadership Experience, Navigating the System of Racism (or other “isms”) 
1 in 4: The number of students who indicated that they would most like a job that involves working with people 
15%  The percentage of incoming students who indicated that they did not have a clear plan for their future. 
 
 
This diagram shows the 3 areas in which the CLC supports student success: Academic Success Skills workshops, Students Success Assessment, and Peer Educator Training.  

One of the key areas in D2L is the Content section. While instructors create and organize most of the content, there are three sections that appear automatically at the top: Overview, Bookmarks, and Course Schedule.

"Bookmarks" show pages a student has chosen to save.
"Course Schedule" displays calendar items like quiz due dates.
"Overview" is fully customizable, and it’s the first item students see when they enter the Content area.

Why customize your Overview page?

If left blank, the Overview tab won’t appear for students. But adding anything—text or a file—makes it visible.
A personalized overview sets the tone for your course. It can be as simple as a welcome note or as creative as an infographic-style syllabus.
It offers a central place to greet students, direct them to important materials, or give a visual summary of the course.

How do you customize your Overview?

Go to the Content section of your course.
Click on “Overview” in the left-hand navigation pane.
From here, you have two primary options:

Add a written message (e.g., a welcome note or instructions).
Upload a file using the “Add Attachment” button. Note that PDFs appear in an embedded preview window.
You can also do both—include a message and attach a file.




What can you include?
Your Overview page can be as simple or creative as you’d like. Consider:

A brief, friendly welcome note
A short course description
A link to your syllabus
Instructions on how to get started
A welcome graphic

Using a graphic syllabus:
Want to add a creative, visual element? Some instructors choose to use a graphic syllabus: a visual representation of the course structure, themes, or schedule. These can help students grasp big-picture ideas quickly and may be more engaging than text alone.
To use one:

Search online for "graphic syllabus" to view a variety of examples and instructions

Design a graphic or PDF infographic of your syllabus


Make sure it’s accessible (e.g., clear text, high contrast, screen reader-friendly)


Upload it using “Add Attachment” on the Overview page


Programs you can use to create a graphic syllabus:


Canva – Free and user-friendly with templates for infographics, flyers, and syllabi.


PowerPoint – Familiar to many and great for layout flexibility. Save as PDF.


Google Slides – Web-based alternative to PowerPoint, also exportable to PDF.


Adobe Express – Ideal for polished, visual designs; includes free and paid options.


Piktochart – A tool specifically for infographics; allows for easy drag-and-drop design.


Tip: If you go this route, be sure to link to the Overview in your Welcome Announcement so students see it right away (announcements are located on the homepage).
Learn more about accessible design by reading the article "What a cool syllabus... but is it accessible?" by Teresa Thompson.
Below is a screenshot of my overview page, in which I created an infographic to represent the course. The infographic is an accessible PDF file, so it appears in a preview window that they can scroll through.
 

Final Tips

Preview in Student View to confirm what students will see.
Avoid changes after the course begins, unless necessary, and communicate them clearly.
Some attachments (like "Access Google Workspace") may not display even if added—always test in advance.

PlanningThis is the fourth article in our iTeach.MSU playlist for the Spartan Studios Playkit.Teaching a Studios course requires more coordination with co-instructors and/or external partners than standard undergraduate courses. It’s important to begin planning your course early and take this planning seriously in order for your course to be successful. During the planning phase, you will be selecting a course theme, choosing the right challenges for your students, developing your syllabus and learning objectives, thinking about recruiting students, and deciding on your course structure.
▶️Course Theme: Form your class around a theme or challenge that is difficult to solve and benefits from many disciplinary perspectives. The topic or project you already have for your course might already relate to a wicked problem; you may just need to make that explicit by iteratively asking yourself why that topic matters. For example:
▶️Defining the challenge: The course topic needs to be significant enough for students to create a meaningful connection to the project (develop passion and drive outside of obtaining a grade, or the “Gravity” in our model), while still being focused enough for students to make progress on their projects within the time and resource confines of a semester course. Striking this balance is important for students to feel connected to the project while also feeling empowered to make a tangible difference. Students should have the agency to shape what their solutions to these problems look like, but you’ll need your judgement to balance between the course’s gravity and the depth of focus on these problems. Ask yourself “what project goals will matter to my students and our partners but be achievable in one semester?” Ultimately, your students’ deliverables (what they create in the course, which can range from a plan, a prototype, or a finished product) will depend on the mix of specific students and majors who show up for the class. 

Too broad:

 worldwide food waste (too intractable and disputed)

Too narrow:

students’ personal food waste is too high (not enough impact)
campus is not aware of MSU’s anaerobic digester (pre-existing solution) 

“Just right”:

food waste on MSU's campus (increase awareness and track campaign’s success)
food waste at a grocery store (partner with a local business)
food waste at the individual level within our community (partner with the municipal government)


▶️Future potential: Consider a course theme with the potential for repeat offerings. The local solutions produced by the class one semester can be built on in the following semesters, or you can emphasize different facets of the problem each semester. Think about how to maintain community partnerships for those longer-term projects (see Partnerships, our next article next in the playlist). Consider roles for students interested in continuing to participate in the course; for example, by returning as learning assistants to mentor teams of enrolled students, or encouraging local partners to create internships or job opportunities.
▶️Attracting students to the course

Recruiting students to a new course is a challenge. Incorporate and prioritize your recruitment strategies as early as possible in your course planning.
If your course will be co-listed in multiple departments, one model for a Studio is “bring your own students”: each faculty member promotes the course in their department and “brings” their own set of students (for example, 4 instructors each bring 15 students from their own discipline). This works for classes where a larger number of students still fits the scope of the project(s).
Another option is to use interdepartmental listings. Any potential to list as a general education requirement (IAH, ISB, ISS) should be taken advantage of, as you can reach a larger pool of interested students. Be aware that obtaining approval for a new gen ed requirement can take up to a year. 

🔧Advisors of participating departments/majors should be made aware of the course offering and can be valuable assets in advertising the course. A compelling course description and interesting project are important draw factors as well. Ask your advisors to share the course description with the campus-wide advisor network to reach interested students in other departments. 
▶️Create Learning Objectives. Consider whether these will be uniform or vary for students in different majors, and what goals the disciplines may share together. Learning objectives can be explicitly flexible (i.e. "gain a skill specific to your own career goals"). Other learning objectives can relate to working on interdisciplinary teams or manage relationships with community partners. Experiential courses can include content learning objectives; if these are uniform, they should be achievable by all students, regardless of their major.
🔧Bloom’s taxonomy is a well-known framework for describing educational goals. It’s a great resource for writing learning objectives. 
▶️Planning Iterative Sprints. Project-based learning benefits from phases of iterative design. One model for Studios courses, described in (Heinrich et al. 2020) is to divide the semester into a content delivery phase followed by applied project work broken up into iterative production weeks, known as sprints, with student reflections. At each completed phase of the sprint, student teams present their prototypes and receive feedback from classmates, instructors, and/or community partners.
🔧Course schedule template for Spartan Studios courses including orientation (burn-in), project training, sequential sprints, and final reflection phases.




Weeks 1-4


Week 5


Weeks 6-8


Weeks 9-11


Weeks 12-14


Week 15




Orientation, content delivery (burn-in)


How to run a project in project-based learning


Sprint 1: Project plan, execution, reflection 


Sprint 2: Apply lessons to project, execution, reflection


Sprint 3: Apply lessons to project, execution, reflection


Submit final project, reflect on course experience





▶️Setting expectations for students. Setting course expectations for students should start at the course listing/department advising and continue with the syllabus, the first few class periods, and periodically throughout the course. The experiential framework of the course and the method of assessment may be jarring for students - they have been trained in traditional education styles for nearly their entire lives. 

Mention in the course description that this is an experiential course.
Clearly explain the experiential approach and assessment style to your students.

▶️Consider an online Studios experience. Think about how these in-person, collaborative experiences can be translated into an online format during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have supported one online Studios course so far, which included synchronous sessions and independent student work. Students can benefit from work on interdisciplinary experiential projects regardless of the modality in which the course is delivered; additional work is required to design what student-faculty and student-student engagements look like for an online course.
🔧Resources from ASPIRE, MSU’s self-paced asynchronous professional development for online teaching
🔧Online platforms can facilitate student brainstorming. Students can contribute to collaborative documents (Google Docs), slides (Google Slides) or whiteboards (i.e. Mural or Jamboard). These and other tools can support student teams’ virtual design processes and work sessions can be visible to faculty in real-time.
Photo by Kaleidico on Unsplash

We are excited to announce the app for the MSU Spring Conference on Teaching and Learning, powered by Guidebook, is now available. With this resource, you have access to the most up-to-date information as well as networking tools. The Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation is excited to be piloting this platform to make engagement in this year’s Spring Conference on Teaching & Learning easy, interactive, and accessible. 
Conference Registration: Please note the two non-consecutive days of the Spring Conference on Teaching and Learning require two separate registrations.  
Day 1: April 19, 2024: Synchronous, Virtual via Guidebook App/Site
Register for Day 2: May 1, 2024: In-Person, Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center 
After you’ve registered, you’ll receive an email with instructions on accessing the Conference’s Guidebook app, where you can build a personalized schedule, connect with others, add linked materials to your session’s discussion board and more! 
If you have not yet downloaded the App, instructions are included here: 1) On your mobile device get guidebook here. Tap “Download the app” to access the guide on your iOS and Android device.AND /OR2) On your computer, access the conference schedule via guidebook online. 

In-Guide Navigation
Tap on the icon in the top-left corner of the screen to access the navigation menu.
Once the menu bar is open, there are three icons on the right-hand side. You can search for content within the guide using the magnifying glass. The share icon will allow you to share the cover page URL if this is enabled for the guide. Tapping on the arrow circles will download the latest available updates to the guide. 
Learn more about creating an account, signing in and managing your profile in Guidebook’s User Accounts support article.
Navigation
From the menu, you can access the various components of your guide. Guidebook provides a few different tools to help you get the most out of your event experience.
The guide builder may have named the menu items differently or used different icons for your guide than what you see in these examples. Tap on the menu items to explore everything in the guide.
Day 1 Info - Virtual
Here users will find information about accessing zoom and zoom best practices.
Day 2 Info - In Person
Here users will find information about parking at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center as well as the floorplan (map). Now that you know what’s happening and when you need to know where to go. You can tap on a location on the floor plan to see what sessions are happening there. 
Schedule and Speaker Info
You can find everything you need to know about sessions in the Schedule. Tap on the dates at the top of the screen to navigate through the schedule. Tap on a session name to get more details. NOTE: you'll need to swipe (on mobile) or advance through the calendar to see the two dates of MSU's Spring Conference-- April 19, 2024 and May 1, 2024.Accessing virtual zoom presentations for the April 19th, Day 1, of the conference, please use the Guidebook App. 

use the public Guidebook Link (shared via email) 
go to the conference schedule in the left menu
click on the session you're interested in attending
when the session opens, you'll see a Blue zoom logo box with a "play icon"
if you want to add a reminder to your outlook calendar you can click the download button and an .ics file will be added to your computer's downloads
at the time of your event, click the play icon - write your name and MSU email, and click log in 

you can choose to open zoom within Guidebook or "launch zoom"


zoom will open

You may see colorful dots on some sessions. These indicate schedule tracks, which are tags for sessions according to topic, intended audience, etc.
Below the session description text, you may see links to other items in the guide, surveys, PDFs, and/or website as additional resources.
If YouTube, Vimeo, or Twitch videos have been added to the session, you can play these in the header of the session details page.      My Schedule
When exploring the schedule, you will see plus sign symbols next to session titles when viewing a schedule overview. Tap on the plus sign (+) to add a session to your My Schedule.
If you tap on a schedule session name to learn more about it, you will have the option to Add to My Schedule at the bottom of the screen. Tap this button to add the session to your My Schedule.
If the guide-builder has set space limitations and enabled registration for sessions, you will be required to log in to your account before you can add sessions to your My Schedule.
You can also create your own schedule items by tapping on My Schedule feature in the app and tapping on the plus sign (+) near the top-right corner. Add your personal session details, and click Save.
Personal schedules can be created and shared with others via My Schedule, learn more in Guidebook’s article on meeting booking.  
My Notes
You can access Notes from the Notes menu item in a guide. You can also tap Create note or the note symbol from any schedule session or list item.
All notes are stored locally on your device. Tap on a note to edit, delete, or export/share it. 

The export/share button looks like on Apple devices.
The export/share button looks like on Android devices.

You can also export/share all of your notes from the Notes menu item screen.
To be able to export/share your notes, sharing must be enabled in your guide under Guide Details > Privacy. 
Share, Connect, Grow
The Interact feed is a great place to see what’s going on at your event. Read announcements, post pictures, find popular sessions, and have discussions with fellow attendees all in one place. 
If you choose to log in, your profile will be public and you will show in the Connect list. You’ll be given suggested connections based on the interests you filled in upon onboarding (if the guide creator has set any). You can add a picture and modify your profile (if you would like to share information) and chat with other attendees. When you are checked in to a guide you can be invited to meet other users using Meeting Booking.
Center for Teaching and Learning Innovation (CTLI)
This area links users to more information about the CTLI, hosting organization for the Spring Conference, and the basic web version of conference information.
Notifications
Any notifications that have been sent to this guide will show in the Notifications feature. If you have signed in to the guide, notifications can be sent directly to you by the guide builder. 

Make your D2L course feel more inviting by personalizing the banner at the top of your course homepage. You can select a relevant image- either from the D2L library or your own.
You can also edit the text within the banner. Maybe you just want to modify the course name so it's more meaningful (e.g., not an abbreviated name, as it sometimes defaults to). You can also welcome each student by name.
Why customize your banner?

It helps students quickly recognize your course by using relevant visuals or clear course names.
You can create a welcoming, personal tone from the moment students enter the course.
Adding a student's name using a personalization code can increase their sense of connection.

How do you customize your banner?

Go to the course homepage of the course that you would like to modify.
Locate the banner at the top and click on the menu icon (represented by three dots) on the upper right corner of the banner.
A menu will appear with 

Change Image
Customize banner text
Remove this banner




To change the banner image:

Click "Change image" to choose a different one or upload your own.
Use the search bar to find an image by keyword (e.g., "forest," "cells," "books"). 
Or, click on the "upload" button (top right) to add your own banner image. Tip: Make sure your image is wide enough to look good as a banner.

To edit the banner text:

Click "Customize banner text" to change the text in the banner- this does not change the name at the top of the page or on the D2L homepage. It just changes the text in the banner.
Replace the default course name with a clearer or friendlier title.
You can also use a code to welcome students by name, such as the banner below.



Use this code to insert the student’s first name: {FirstName}
The text for the banner in this example is: Welcome to ISB 204, {FirstName}!





To remove the banner:
If the banner feels too busy or distracting, you can select “Remove This Banner” from the same menu.
Repeat for each course:
Custom banners are course-specific, so you’ll need to update them individually for each course.
However, if you copy a course from a previous semester, the banner, including both the image and the text, will carry over automatically. Just make sure it’s still relevant before the new semester begins.
 
 

2025's National Day of Racial Healing will occur on Tuesday, January 21. The American Association of Colleges and Universities has called on colleges and universities to "engage in activities, events, or strategies that promote healing, foster engagement around issues of racism, bias, inequity, and injustice, and build an equitable and just society where all individuals can thrive" as part of the National Racial Day of Healing. The National Day of Racial Healing is "a time to contemplate our shared values and create the blueprint together for #HowWeHeal from the effects of racism. Launched in 2017, it is an opportunity to bring [all] people together and inspire collective action to build common ground for a more just and equitable world." As part of this commitment, educators may consider engaging in events during the week, participate in the #HowWeHeal hashtag, and bringing awareness to the day with students. Some activities and events within the MSU and Lansing community includes: 

Read the #HowWeHeal Conversation Guide
Watch the "Changing the Narrative" series
Attend the MSU's 2025 MLK Student Symposium
Attend Lansing's Beloved Community Week
Attend MSU Libraries' Social Justice Film and Discussion on: Fannie Lou Hamer's America