Trischa Duke. Born teacher. Lifelong learner.

Instructional Designer.

Faculty Developer.

Program Evaluator.

Curriculum Developer.

Project Manager.

Team Leader.

Instructional Designer. Faculty Developer. Program Evaluator. Curriculum Developer. Project Manager. Team Leader.

Intro

With over 30 years of teaching experience in various contexts, I am currently serving as Academic and Professional Development Chair and senior lecturer at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), where I coordinate and teach English for Academic Purposes (EAP), first-year seminars for international students, and writing support courses for the Tutorium @ UIC. In my current role, I oversee curriculum and faculty development as well as academic support services for students enrolled in the Tutorial’s programs. I hold MA degrees in English and in Applied Linguistics/TESOL and am pursuing an EdD in Learning Design and Leadership.

I am an active member of TESOL, ITBE, NCTE, NASPA, AEA, ATD, and UIC United Faculty. I recently completed a three-year term on TESOL International’s Professional Development Council, providing professional expertise to advance TESOL’s strategic goals and activities. I am currently serving a three-year term as a Commissioner for the Commission on English Language Program Accreditation (CEA), promoting excellence in the field of English language administration and teaching through the accreditation of English language programs and institutions worldwide.

Research

My areas of specialization are curriculum and faculty development, program evaluation and accreditation, student success and retention, and academic writing instruction. I have presented and published on these topics and received grants and awards for my work. My current research focuses on post-secondary English language learner development and retention, as well as English as an additional language (EAL) writing and writing instruction. I have recently led a faculty team in investigating international student uptake of instructor writing feedback, with the goal of improving our collective feedback practices to optimize student learning. My dissertation focuses on the evaluation and evidentiary documentation of student learning in the context of specialized disciplinary higher education accreditation.

Vision

Embracing continuous improvement and a growth mindset, I strive to create a culture of excellence by exceeding expectations, leading by example, engaging in reflective practice, and encouraging and supporting my colleagues and students to do the same. I wish to equip both my students and my colleagues with the knowledge and skills they need to reach their academic and professional goals, and to inspire in them the joys of learning and becoming the best version of themselves.

Courses Designed

ELSI 041: English for Academic Purposes I

ELSI 043: English for Academic Purposes II

ELSI 044: English for Academic Purposes II Lab

ELSI 045: Reading for Academic Purposes

ELSI 046: Live Learn Grow: Tutorium Head Start (Pre-freshman Seminar)

ELSI 047: Live Learn Grow: Foundation (Freshman Seminar)

ELSI 048: Live Learn Grow: Bridge (Freshman Seminar)

ELSI 049: Live Learn Grow: Learning Track (Career Accelerator Program)

ELSI 049: Live Learn Grow: Learning Track (UNESCO Global Citizen Course)

ELSI 085: Advanced Professional Skills Lab

ELSI 086: Effective Written Communication

ELSI 087: Approaches to Evidence-Based Writing

Recent Presentations & Publications

  • Integrated Skills: Academic Writing with Sources

    Our team was awarded a grant to develop an Open Education Resources textbook for our English for Academic Purposes II course. I led the team in both the grant-writing process and in the development and implementation of the textbook. (August 2021)

    See textbook and grant documents.

  • English for Academic Purposes: Writing for Success

    I led a second faculty team in designing and developing an Open Education Resource textbook after the success of the first project. This text, focused on writing skills in our English for academic Purposes I course, will soon be expanded to include reading skills and practice. (December 2022)

    See textbook.

  • Scaffolding Independent Think-Aloud Activities

    Co-written with a colleague, this article was recently published in TESOL Connections. It outlines a scaffolded think-aloud approach to foster student development of higher-level critical reading skills and provides resources for instructors to implement classroom-tested strategies. We were invited by TESOL to author this article after we presented on this topic at TESOL International 2023 (December 2023)

    See article.

  • Beyond Editing: Scaffolding Writers' Peer Review Skills with Google Docs

    This conference presentation on using Google Docs as a peer reviewing tool was recorded for the 2021 International TESOL Conference. A colleague and I worked together on developing strategies to foster more effective peer review skills for the students in her EAP I course. (March 2021)

    See recording of presentation.

  • Embracing a Growth Mindset Toward Plagiarism with Developing Writers

    This presentation was given at the 2022 Conference on College Composition and Communication and is also slated for presentation at the 2024 TESOL International Virtual Conference. This presentation represents my rethinking how to handle issues surrounding plagiarism in my classroom and how to more effectively support student writers. (February 2023)

    See recording of presentation.

  • Conference Presentation Proposal Workshop

    I designed, developed, and led a professional development workshop for faculty focused on developing an academic conference proposal. The goals of the workshop include demystifying the proposal writing process and encouraging more faculty to share their professional knowledge and interests with a wider audience. Over 90% of the faculty who attended this voluntary workshop are planning a proposal submission within the next year. (May 2023)

    See presentation slides.

Other Featured Projects

Click on the project titles below to view each project.

Evaluation Plan

I collaboratively developed this evaluation plan with a classmate for ERAM 550 Program Evaluation. The plan outlines a systematic formative evaluation of courses that I have developed and oversee in my current role as Academic Chair at UIC. The goal of the evaluation plan is to measure the effectiveness of our program’s English for Academic Purposes courses in preparing students for their for-credit composition courses and how the courses might be improved. (Spring 2024)

Assessment Project

This presentation provides an overview of an assessment project undertaken in 2019 to identify potential causes of low pass rates in our program’s English for Academic Purposes courses. In order to address the issue, placement processes were revised to increase transparency and faculty input and to include a robust placement verification process. (Fall 2023)

DEI Initiative

When our department crafted its DEI statement, I advocated for and led a departmental self-study of what we are currently doing to align with our beliefs and what we need to do. The results of this initiative can be seen in my draft of our plan, which provides a roadmap for our efforts toward being more diverse, equitable, and inclusive. (Spring 2023)

Grant Proposal

I led our department in submitting a grant proposal for the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Short Term English Language Program for international visiting scholars. Our submission made it to the final stages of the selection process, and though we were not awarded the grant, we learned a lot from the process. We are eager to hone our proposal and resubmit at the next opportunity as well as to seek out other opportunities for expanding our program offerings. (Fall 2022)

Writing Tutor Training Materials

A colleague and I collaborated to develop and implement initial and ongoing training for embedded and one-on-one tutors in our program’s English for Academic Purposes courses. This folder contains several of the materials we developed to support both tutors and the teachers working with them in the classroom. (January 2020)

Instructional Design Portfolio

I created this portfolio in partial fulfillment of EPOL 472 Instructional and Training System Design and EPOL 483 Learning Technologies. The portfolio, which includes several team design case studies, an instructional design project, and a learning technologies presentation, highlights my design thinking, collaborative process, and recent growth in instructional design and learning technology knowledge and skills. (December 2023)

Committee Organization & Leadership

In response to departmental needs and my own goal to provide targeted professional development opportunities for our team, I developed a volunteer committee structure to foster leadership skills and to encourage team members from various programs to work together in new ways toward a common goal. I am currently serving as chair of the Tutorium Professional Development Committee. The attached document outlines our committee structure and highlights some of our current committee initiatives. (Spring 2023)

CG Scholar Module

In this module created for a graduate course on interpretive methods, I explore six paradigms of writing using Cope and Kalantzis’ (2020) transpositional grammar in order to better understand both the range of perspectives on writing in general and how they relate to what I know and practice in my own writing instruction. (Summer 2023)

Cross-Cultural Collaborative Learning Module

This collaborative freshman seminar module paired students from our program with freshmen in UIC’s Liberal Arts and Sciences program to explore various resources on campus together as a means of foster cross-cultural connections. (piloted Fall 2021)

Academic Paper

In this paper written for UIC’s Special Topics in Curriculum and Instruction: Language and Identity course, I report my findings concerning how a learner’s lived experiences contribute to their identity as a student in a different cultural context and how international students negotiate membership in an academic community of practice in the U.S. (May 2016)

Curriculum Guide

As a part of developing and managing the various courses that comprise UIC’s Accelerator Program, I authored and maintained a comprehensive curriculum guide outlining key information about the program and its courses. (updated August 2023)

Course Design Overview

This course design overview proposal for an asynchronous graduate-level introduction to marketing course demonstrates how I apply my design thinking to course development, including a sample module design map; the application of various design theories including backward design, ADDIE, Gagne’s 9 Events of Instruction, Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy, and Mayer’s Principles of Multimedia Learning; and strategies for increasing learner engagement, ensuring accessibility, inclusion, and ease of use, and working with subject matter experts. (March 2024)

Research Proposal

I submitted this research proposal to the CATE Action Research Scholars initiative. I will lead our faculty team in this project, which focuses on determining effective means of delivering writing feedback in order to facilitate student revision of writing and improve overall student writing skills. (March 2022)

Faculty Peer Observation Initiative

I led a cross-departmental faculty team in developing guidelines and resources for peer observation among instructors in an effort to support the sharing of practice within our program and encourage self-awareness about the impact of one’s teaching method in order to effect change. Our peer observation initiative focuses on teachers’ individual needs by allowing instructors to observe each other’s practice and to have the opportunity to both learn from others’ process and offer constructive feedback to peers. (October 2019)

Academic Program Review Guide & Sample Program Review

In compliance with accreditation standards, I developed a comprehensive annual programmatic review for the Accelerator Program. This plan reviews program curriculum, assessment practices, student achievement, and students services. The linked document includes both the plan and a sample annual review based on it. (Spring 2023)

Curriculum Vitae

I’ve held a variety of professional teaching and administrative positions in Chicago and in my native Louisiana. My education spans from English literature and secondary education to applied linguistics, curriculum and instruction, and instructional design. I am currently enrolled in the Learning Design and Leadership EdD program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, with an anticipated completion date of May 2026.