Department/College/UnitSocial Sciences Division
Student Affairs and Success

TitleInstructional Designer
Continuing Lecturer

AffiliationFaculty

Other UCSC Campus AffiliationTeaching & Learning Center (TLC)

Primary Office LocationMcHenry Library
1364

Additional Location(s)Rachel Carson College 310

Office HoursCurrent office hours signups: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Nv97YDF60ZK8bNmKdG5-5NrJdg9VDjRsWH68dAEiU1E/edit#gid=0

Mail StopTeaching & Learning Center

Biography, Education and Training

Megan McNamara (any pronouns) is an instructional designer with expertise in large lecture course development, online and in-person pedagogies, equitable and accessible design, academic integrity, and flipped classroom/active learning techniques. She particularly enjoys partnering with faculty who are seeking to enhance belonging and engagement in their courses.

In addition to her work with the TLC, Megan serves as a Continuing Lecturer delivering a variety of popular courses in the Sociology major at UCSC. She holds a a Ph.D. in Sociology and Masters degrees in Sociology and in Cultural Anthropology. In her off time, she hikes prodigiously and runs a cat and kitten sanctuary.

Summary of Expertise

Areas of Pedagogical Interest/Expertise

·       Inclusive teaching with humor and kindness

·       Equity in higher education (especially in online/remote settings)

·       Universal Design for Learning

·       Engagement in large lecture courses

·       Humanized course design practices

·       Flipped/hybrid classroom approaches

·       Technology and accessibility in education

·       Trauma-informed teaching

·       Anti-racist pedagogies

Instructional Design Experience

·       Instructional Design Consultant (UC Santa Cruz Online Education, September 2020-present)

·       Co-creator and facilitator: Integrated Course Design for Hybrid Instruction (UC Santa Cruz Online Education, 2021)

·       Lead Facilitator: Teaching for Equity Graduate Certificate (UC Santa Cruz Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning, 2021)

·       Faculty Fellow, Online Education US Santa Cruz (Summer 2020)

·       Co-Instructor: Teaching for Equity Graduate Certificate (UC Santa Cruz Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning, 2020)

·       2018-2019 Faculty Fellow, UC Santa Cruz Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning

Teaching Interests

Sociology of:

• Emotions
• Sexuality and Gender
• Social Inequality
• Deviance/Conformity
• Labor/Work/Occupations
• Race/Ethnicity

And...

• Introduction to Sociology
• Classical Sociological Theory
• Social Psychology

Awards, Honors and Grants

UCSC Committee on Teaching: Excellence in Teaching Award (2019-2020)

UCSC Disability Resource Center: Disability Champion Award (2020-2021)

UCSC Online Education Course Development Grants (2019, 2021)

Selected Publications

"My Students Started a Discord -- Now What?" (Inside Higher Education, April 21, 2021)

"It's Not Them, It's You: How to Write Small Group Activity Prompts that Actually Work" (Teaching Professor Newsletter, September 19, 2022)

Selected Recordings

Megan McNamara’s Fall 2020 Welcome