Submitted by: Dan Brown, Emory University

The long-awaited ASPE Center for SP Methodology is now live and available for ASPE members. Communications and Connections Committee Dan Brown interviewed Member Liaison Cory Krebsbach, who spearheaded the launch of the Center.

Dan: So the Center for SP Methodology is live!

Cory: It is.

Dan: Can you talk a little bit about the process for creating it and where the idea came from, and what went into building it?

Cory: The process, I think pretty much started around, well before, 2018 when the idea was was brought to ASPE to develop modules that were created by content experts on SP methodology and the purpose of that was to send those out for outside affiliates to educate people outside of the organization and, out of that process, the Center for SP Methodology was born.

[We saw] the necessity for online programming and also, based on membership surveys... resources that the membership was really hungry for and wanting as something that was beyond just attending conference, because conferences are very rich events... but there really wasn't as much information to access outside of conference, and so out of that the modules were created, and then out of that they were transferred into these online courses, which needed a place to be housed, and so the Center for SP methodology was created as a place to then kind of store all of those things. With the intent of having multiple lessons in courses which would lead to, eventually, a certificate exam.

Dan: So the first few, I guess lessons is the word? The first few lessons have been posted, so talk about what's available as of today (which is June 3rd).

Cory: I think there’s a bit of confusion as far as, like, “What's a module. What's a lesson? What's a course?” What does that all mean? So essentially, the modules are the content that were created... in a learning management system and it forces us to call it a lesson. Essentially, the lesson and the module are the same thing. So the “module lesson” if you want to put those two together. Each of those individual pieces are then stored under a “course.”

So Course 1 in the Center for SP methodology is Fundamentals of SP Methodology and then eventually we'll have, by the end of 2021, ten complete module lessons.

Right now we have the Standards of Best Practice, presented by Karen Lewis; and then we also have a History of SP Methodology presented by Gayle Gliva-McConvey; and we have SP Recruitment and Hiring presented by Gail Furman; and then our most recent module lesson is SP Case Development by Carrie Bohnert.

Dan: Excellent.

Cory: And next month for June, we're anticipating Lisa Steele, who is presenting on training the physical exam for us.

Dan: You've kind of already answered one--are there any other frequently asked questions that people are coming to you with, like the one about the terminology?

Cory: The terminology I think is important. So I think that hopefully that clears things up. But also, I think one thing to remind everyone about is this promised certificate... [to] examine what it is and what it isn't.  So, based on a lot of research and development that had gone into the feasibility of a certification, it was going to be far outside the ASPE financial structure to be able to fully develop a certification.

What we can do is provide a certificate, a certificate of completion if you will... we kind of don't want to call it a “certificate of completion,” but it's a certificate that you've completed the coursework and it gives you the validation that you've gone through the module lessons and demonstrated your knowledge based on that content, you know, with the hope that then with that certificate, people can take that back to their stakeholders and say, “I've participated in this coursework.”

Dan: I didn't know that certificate and certification were such distinct things.

Cory: It's, like the difference between the CHSE from SSH which doesn't offer at this point anything that is specifically geared toward an SP educator. That might happen in the future. I know that there's some research going into it and some information gathering to what that might look like, but this is the first step toward achieving something like that.

Dan: What will be the role of the Center for SP methodology at the Virtual Conference?

Cory: One of the highlights the Center will be providing is that it's going to be utilized in terms of... well, for instance, the Foundations pre-conference course. It's being encouraged that folks, in preparation for attending that pre-conference workshop that they take the History of SP Methodology and the ASPE Standards of Best Practice module lessons. Participants can kind of take it on their own in preparation for that, especially if they're first-time attendees. It could be beneficial to help us provide a framework of what ASPE is and how it's structured.

The other thing is that the learning management system that is essentially running the conference is the same platform that the Center for SP methodology exists in. So while you're attending the conference, you can click over to the Center specifically if you want to take in those modules that are up and running, [and] there's a place for participant feedback in those... it's all kind of a one stop shop for attendees of the conference and then also for the Center.

Dan: Is anything moving to the center that has been a resource that's been available elsewhere on the website?

Cory: So one of the things is webinars; in the past webinars that have been housed on the regular ASPE website are also being housed in the Center for SP methodology space. I see lots of potential in the future for committees that may not have had a clear representation on the website, to have kind of a niche carved out for them to house their resources.

I would love to see a space specifically carved out for the work that I know is being done within ASPE in regard to diversity, equity and inclusion, so that any resources that any SP educator might need could go to that specific spot and go, “This is the spot that I can gather that information... that is going to be a helpful and useful resource to us.” To the same extent, the GTA and MUTA Special Interest group, you know, having a spot that is dedicated to that.

So I see lots of potential for different things that goes beyond this initial foundational coursework. It's just, I think, it's a great expansion of the website, and again, a centralized kind of place for SP educators to... have access to a wide variety of resources that could be very beneficial to them in the future.

Dan: That's great, I'm really excited to see where it goes.

Cory: Me too!

Check out the ASPE Center for SP Methodology here.

Communications and Connections Committee Mission: “To bring high quality reporting of current research, trends, techniques and information regarding SP methodology and other relevant industry articles to the attention of the membership through the web-based ASPE eNews blog.”

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