What is Blended Teaching?

Blended teaching is the practice of integrating both online and in-person teaching methods into a single cohesive course, whereby student learning is continuous between online and in-person course meetings. For this award, we are looking for the strategic combination of online and in-person teaching in which the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. 

Award Eligibility

To be eligible, the criteria listed below in both Course Eligibility and Faculty Eligibility should be met. 

Course Eligibility:

The course section on which the submission is based must meet all of the following criteria.  

• One single (M) or limited attendance (RS) course taught in Fall 2021 or onward. 
• The course on which the submission is based must have a Quality designation.
• All supporting data should reflect on the teaching excellence demonstrated in the section on which the submission is based. 
• The submission should detail the work of a single instructor of record. 
• Limit one submission per faculty member. 

Please note: Starting in 2024, only concluded courses taught with at least a Quality designation for a minimum of one semester will be accepted. In addition, a development course section may not be submitted.   

If you are not sure if your course is eligible for this award, please contact your Instructional Designer for assistance. 

Faculty Eligibility: 

• Hold a full-time (1.0 FTE) 9- or 12-month full-time appointment (tenured, tenure-earning, or non-tenure- earning faculty member; all full-time faculty are eligible). 
•  Not have received this same award within the previous three years. 
• Be the original creator of the course content for the course on which the submission is based. 

For unique teaching situations, please reach out to Amy Sugar for assistance. 

Application Procedures

The faculty review committee will select the strongest evidence-based case for exemplary blended teaching based upon application packets submitted. The Truman Award Packet Submission Review Rubric will guide the committee’s selection.

Application will be via Qualtrics form where you will be asked to submit the following:

1. Course number and section of the “M” or “RS” course with a Quality designation.
2. Instructor narrative
   • The instructor narrative should describe how your blended teaching methods are exemplary. Since this is a teaching award, be sure to include evidence that highlights your methods for exemplary blended teaching. 
   • When constructing your narrative, you must contextualize how the online and in-person course components of your course are blended through the use of activities, assignments, etc. DO NOT treat your online and in-person course portions as two separate entities. We need you to explain the blended teaching methods you use to connect online and in-person student learning. 

3. Supporting evidence/data (can be submitted as documents or explanatory videos):
   1. Blended Teaching Methods
      • Faculty actions in support of blended learning environments that are beyond the static and segmented design of blended courses.
      • Again, highlight the integration of in-person and online components. 
   2. Blended Student Engagement
      • Engagement should be evident holistically across in-person and online course components. 
   3. Learning gains
      • You may refer to this previously recorded session of the Dziuban Award Workshop Series on the topic of providing clear evidence of student learning gains. While this session was recorded specifically for the Dziuban Award, the strategies shared will be relevant to the submission packet for the Truman Award.
   4. Student Satisfaction
      • There are varieties of ways faculty can demonstrate that students were satisfied with their learning experience. The following examples do not encompass all possible lines of evidence, nor are each of these required. Examples to generate ideas: SPoI score; SPoI comments; unsolicited student emails; survey comments; or student feedback from assignments, etc.

Submission Options

Applicants are encouraged to use the Truman Award Packet Submission Review Rubric for a self-evaluation of their packet before submitting.

Option 1: You may submit using the following document templates to expedite your preparations:

Truman_Award_Application_Packet_Template.docx

Option 2: If it is impractical to include all evidence in a single document, please prepare and upload to the Qualtrics form one or more supporting files as appropriate for each of the following categories: student engagement, learning gains, and student satisfaction, and the Blended_Course_Integration_Chart.docx (optional).

Award

The Barbara Truman Award for Excellence in Blended Teaching recipient will receive a $1,000 travel award transferred to the recipient’s academic department for the recipient’s use in professional conference participation. The recipient will be encouraged, but not required, to submit a conference proposal related to her/his online teaching.

The Truman Award recipient will have the option to display a digital badge in the online course for which the submission is based and will be invited to share their award-winning course in a short, Center for Distributed Learning-produced video.

All Applicants will be notified in writing of the outcome.

About Barbara

Dr. Barbara Truman (1962-2021), one of the founders of UCF’s digital learning initiative, established the rigorous and nationally-recognized processes for course design and faculty preparation that still underlie UCF’s high quality blended and online courses. Having supported the design of UCF’s first online courses in 1996 and creating IDL6543 in 1997, Dr. Truman served as Director of Course Development from 1998-2013. Barbara Truman went on to become an award-winning transdisciplinary scholar and practitioner working on immersive, virtual environments with colleagues in the military, industry, and academic sectors.

*Dates are tentative and are subject to update following decisions by the faculty review committee.