Doing “All the Things”: Leveraging Data, Collaboration, and Evidence-based Design to Transform Gateway Courses
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Doing “All the Things”: Leveraging Data, Collaboration, and Evidence-based Design to Transform Gateway Courses
October 23 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EDT
Dr. Denise Galarza Sepúlveda, Director of the University of Michigan’s Foundational Course Initiative (FCI) at the Center for Research and Teaching
Dr. Heather Rypkema, Head of Learning Analytics at the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT) and Associate Director of FCI, University of Michigan
Dr. Alicia Romero, Lecturer III, Department of Statistics, University of Michigan
Description
Gateway courses play a crucial role at most institutions. They can be students’ only exposure to a discipline, or a make-or-break experience that can alter their chosen career paths. For faculty and instructional teams, teaching these courses can feel like having to do “all the things.” There is the crush of content as they prepare students to succeed in different downstream courses, challenges in integrating active learning and authentic assessments, heavy logistical demands, and structural and resource constraints. Given these issues, the task of redesigning these large gateway courses can feel unmanageable or even impossible for faculty. In this talk, Drs. Galarza Sepúlveda and Rypkema will share a model that addresses the complexity of teaching and learning in these courses with a multifaceted and sustainable approach. This model is exemplified in the University of Michigan’s Foundational Course Initiative (FCI), which provides faculty with the resources, support, and design expertise to help them make high-impact changes while moving away from feeling they have to do “all the things.” Additionally, Dr. Alicia Romero will join the discussion to share her experience teaching the FCI redesigned course for STATS 250. Introduction to Statistics and Data Analysis. They will also discuss FCI’s course reports and provide redesign project examples from an array of FCI-partnering courses, including Physics, Engineering, Earth and Environmental Sciences, and Statistics.
About the Speakers
Denise Galarza Sepúlveda is the Director of the University of Michigan’s Foundational Course Initiative (FCI), which provides faculty with the resources, support, and design expertise needed to create transformative learning experiences in large gateway courses. Dr. Galarza Sepúlveda establishes the program’s strategic priorities, leads partnership recruitment efforts, and manages a talented team of consultants dedicated to redesigning gateway courses. She also contributes strategic direction to the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching as part of its Senior Leadership Team. Before joining CRLT, she served as director of the community-based learning office in the Division of Undergraduate Education at UM’s College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.
Dr. Galarza Sepúlveda received her Master’s degree from Purdue and her Ph.D. from Emory University, both in Spanish. Prior to Michigan, she held a faculty position for twelve years in Lafayette College’s Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. At Lafayette, she also chaired the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program. Throughout her career, she has received curricular design grants, teaching awards, and secured an endowment to support high-impact learning programs.
Dr. Heather Rypkema is Head of Learning Analytics at the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT) at the University of Michigan, as well as an Associate Director with the Foundational Course Initiative (FCI). She earned her Ph.D. in Chemical Physics from Harvard University and held faculty positions in Chemistry and Climate Science before transitioning to her current role at the interface of teaching and data analytics in 2018. She supports course and curricular design efforts through data collection, analysis, and triangulation of databases that include institutional, LMS, instructional technology, and survey data.
Dr. Alicia Romero is a Lecturer III in the Department of Statistics at the University of Michigan, where she leads STATS 250, one of the university’s largest undergraduate courses with more than 2,000 students each semester. She coordinates a large instructional team and has spearheaded major innovations through the Foundational Course Initiative, including the integration of structured group work during lecture. She serves on the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee and advises undergraduate students. In 2024, she was named a finalist for the Provost’s Teaching Innovation Prize.