Use NCFR Teaching Resources in Your Classroom
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Update April 1, 2020: NCFR has opened up the following resources free to all through June 30:
- on-demand webinars through 2019
- NCFR conference recordings from 2017, 2018, and 2019
Please also see our new resource collections on topics related to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as:
NCFR has so many creative and excellent teachers as members. As professors, you know myriad ways to teach in the classroom—assigning articles to read, videos to watch and discuss, research papers to write, practice materials to develop, and so much more.
NCFR has a multitude of resources available for you to use in the classroom, which, as the person who oversees NCFR’s content development and academic resources, I want to share with you.
The following sections highlight resources for teaching in the face-to-face or virtual academic classroom, tell you where to find those resources, and provide a few simple ideas for using those resources in your classroom. In future articles, I plan to share more even NCFR resources for members with other professional roles.
Resources Tab on the NCFR Homepage
One of the easiest ways to find resources on the NCFR website is by going to the Resources tab on the homepage or visiting ncfr.org/resources, where you can see the resource categories I highlight here and more.
Resource Collections. This is an ever-growing list of curated materials on timely topics (e.g., immigration) meant to help busy instructors find resources quickly. The collections include a list of NCFR publications, webinars, and conference session video and audio to learn more or teach your students about the topic. Feel free to use the entire collection or the most relevant pieces to you. Collections—including members-only collections—are available at ncfr.org/resource-collections. Note: Collections typically contain articles from the past 5 years, or 2–3 years for topics with large numbers of articles.
Webinars. NCFR’s list of webinars is always expanding! Webinar topics provide professional development and teach new skills around the following ideas:
- research and statistical methods;
- academic teaching;
- Family Life Education methodology; and
- understanding biases and working through differences.
More than 50 webinars are available to watch individually for your own learning or to use in the classroom with your students! We have webinars for use in classes about research methods, statistics, Family Life Education methodology, teaching students how to teach, and general classes that discuss biases and working through differences.
Visit ncfr.org/webinars to see available programs, and be sure to request a classroom use license at ncfr.org/classroom-use to use a webinar in your classroom.
Conference Session Recordings. Instructors also can request a classroom license to use video and audio recordings of past NCFR conference sessions in their classes. To view the available sessions, visit learning.ncfr.org and click on the Conference Sessions tab. NCFR members have free individual access to conference recordings from 2018 going back to 2008! If you attended the 2019 conference or purchased streaming access for 2019, you also have free individual access to 2019 session recordings; free member access begins one year after each conference. To access, visit ncfr.org/2019-recordings and log in to the NCFR website.
NCFR Report Family Focus Articles. Family Focus articles in NCFR Report member magazine share translational research with NCFR members. The articles provide research and research-based implications, often around very timely topics, and they make a nice addition to reading lists in the classroom. Many faculty have used individual articles and entire Family Focus issues in their classroom. New topics are published quarterly. See ncfr.org/family-focus.
Research and Policy Briefs. These briefs provide policymakers at all levels research to make more informed decisions about families. They can also be useful in the policy classroom, for the following:
- discussing policies around particular family policies;
- teaching how to write a brief;
- teaching how to advocate for families (e.g., sending the briefs to legislators); or
- adding to reading lists in courses that discuss these timely topics.
Members may print and share the briefs with their students and others, such as legislators or those who make decisions about families. See ncfr.org/briefs.
Online Resource Library. There are more than 2,600 resources available in NCFR’s online resource library, which you can find at ncfr.org/resource-library. The library contains NCFR materials and other materials curated from other credible sources. I encourage you to use the advanced search feature—filtering by content area and/or resource type—to narrow your search. You can also direct your students to the resource library to help them with assignments.
Using the Resources in Your Classroom
It is important to seek permission or licenses to use some of NCFR’s resource materials:
- For articles published in NCFR’s scholarly journals, NCFR Report, and CFLE Network newsletter for Certified Family Life Educators, due to copyright laws
- For NCFR webinars and conference sessions recordings
Publications/Articles
Please see NCFR’s permissions webpage at ncfr.org/permissions for more information and directions pertaining to publications.
All permissions to use an article from one of the scholarly journals must adhere to fair-use guidelines or go through Copyright Clearance Center to obtain permission to use articles beyond that of fair use.
Request permissions to use articles from NCFR Report or CFLE Network using our web form at ncfr.org/copyright-use. NCFR members are given permission to use the materials in class for free.
Webinars and Conference Recordings
Request a classroom use license at ncfr.org/classroom-use to use a webinar or recording of a past NCFR conference sessions in your classroom.
I hope you find these resources useful for in your classroom (or for your own learning). I am always interested in members’ ideas about the resources you need for teaching and otherwise. Please email me at [email protected] with your ideas. My goal is for NCFR to continuously provide new, useful resources to you.
