Welcome to Teaching Foundations, a new content series devoted to sharing pedagogy resources responsive to our moment with teaching faculty at SUNY Oneonta. I’m Racheal Fest, and I’m excited to join our campus community this semester, supporting faculty pedagogy in the Teaching, Learning, and Technology Center. I bring a background in critical pedagogy, student success and development, and first-year programs to the center. Here on the TLTC blog, I’ll draw from both my experience in the classroom—since 2009, I’ve taught courses in English and first-year experience at institutions such as the University of Pittsburgh, SUNY Oneonta, and Hartwick College—and my engagement with contemporary research to spotlight established and emerging approaches to teaching and learning in higher education.

In the COVID-19 era, faculty continue to encounter new challenges, explore new modalities, and revisit what seemed, until 2020, tried and true. Given this background, series posts will move between the broader considerations that inform our decisions in the classroom and the practical matters that keep things going every day, asking questions big and small (what values anchor our teaching? how are we going to wrap up class tomorrow?). Along the way, I’ll emphasize research-based practices for student success and for developing inclusive curriculum. Whether you’re a new faculty member or a campus leader hoping to reinvigorate your pedagogy in 2023, we’re hoping you’ll find some inspiration here.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out via Outlook if you have questions or suggestions.