TeachingWISE Volume I Issue II

Communities of Teachers & Learners Fall 2017 Volume I Issue II

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A Note from the Director The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning is delighted to present TeachingWISE, a publication on teaching and learning. Our goal is to create community by centering conversations about innovative practices happening at KSU. We aim to feature remarkable educators and students in their own words, sharing what motivates them. Too often teaching becomes a private act, but sharing our stories opens the door to dialogue upon which ongoing enhancement is founded. My heartfelt thanks goes to the educators, CETL staff, and our student writers and designers involved in producing the newsletter.

Michele DiPietro, Executive Director

Table of Contents Inside-Out Prison Exchange ProjectÂŽ

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Year of Russia/Year of India

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Online Teaching Award Winner: Anissa Vega

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The True Cost of Fast Fashion: Sustainable Fashion Awareness Week at KSU

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What is Mechatronics Engineering?

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Graduate Student Sanjoosh Akkineni Goes Above and Beyond

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Regents SoTL Winner: Hillary Steiner

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Thank-A-Teacher

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Inside-Out Prison Exchange Project®

by Micheal Jones

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anja Link, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice, has initiated a groundbreaking project here at Kennesaw State University that aims to "break down the barriers between individuals in the general population and those in the criminal justice system.”

with incarcerated students for a course held in a jail, prison, or other correctional setting. This semesterlong course is grounded in the belief that our society is strengthened when learning is made widely accessible and allows students and incarcerated individuals to encounter one another as equals across social barriers. This program has grown into an international collaboration with students, alumni, and correctional officials that are actively engaged and deeply committed to social justice issues. The practice of bringing KSU students (outside) and incarcerated individuals (inside) together builds a transformative learning experience that addresses crime, justice, and other issues of social concern.

Criminal justice students work closely with incarcerated individuals, and one goal of this project is to educate students about the reality of criminal justice while possibly changing attitudes and perceptions. Link’s KSU students have the opportunity to participate in a learning community that meets in a local prison. During this class, KSU students learn to become more familiar with the lives of the incarcerated and the criminal justice system.

“Train the next generation to be compassionate than simply talking to her students about the issues Rather about the criminal justice system and “We have all broken the law, all of us, that people face how it affects everyone, Dr. Link lets the and not just once,” Link states, and criminal justice system speak directly many of us are “only one accident away or the system will to the students. She wants to offer from being incarcerated.” She says the students an experiential learning not improve.” her common misconceptions about being opportunity to illustrate the issues raised

-Dr. Tanja Link arrested presume that an individual’s in her research on incarceration. She character is flawed in some way. She also points out that applied for and received the CETL funded Holder Award news and social media often present views, opinions, to become a facilitator of the "Inside-Out” project. The and judgements about prisoners that are not necessarily training was one week at a Quaker retreat that included correct. The “Inside-Out” project aims to change these going to a prison and being taught by residents of the perceptions. prison who served as facilitators.

The Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program® is an educational program designed to bring together campusbased college students

The students on both the inside and outside realized that they have more in common with one another than they thought. The "inside" students felt the caring and positive attitudes from the "outside" students as both sides learned together. Being on the inside of a jail gave the KSU students a whole new outlook on how they viewed the criminal justice system.

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Year of Russia/Year of India

by Micheal Jones

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or 32 consecutive years, Kennesaw State University has been hosting an annual country study program where the university hosts a series of guest speakers, conferences, art exhibits and other cultural activities throughout the year. The awardwinning Annual Country Study Program takes a look at a specific country or region over the course of a full academic year with a series of lectures, performances, exhibits, and films.

The program offers a unique opportunity for our campus and community to develop a complex understanding of countries around the world and to build connections across cultures. The "Year Of" program provides the community with a sense of connectability with the world.

Undergraduates have an opportunity to experience a different country every year. The program also allows for the campus to internationalize through the creation of new courses, programs and partnerships.

KSU’s Annual “Year Of” study program began in 1984. All events are free and open to the public, with attendance at program events averaging over 1,500 each year. The program also works with local school districts to provide professional development opportunities and staff development units to area teachers.

Dan Paracka, Director of Academic Initiatives and Professor of Education, is both a teacher and traveler. “I have a lot of experience

working internationally and travelling with faculty and students.”

Paracka says. He has been working for Kennesaw State University for almost 20 years, carrying out administrative work and directing the study abroad office, sharing his knowledge with the world and its students. For the past 15 of those 20 years, he has taken the reins of the program and has loved travelling with teachers and students since then. “To understand the entirety of a country, you have to have an interdisciplinary lense, and that’s what I do with my teaching,” Dr. Paracka says. Nominations for the “Year of” program are made online, and you can choose to nominate any country that hasn’t won through the previous years. Anyone can make a nomination, and now that the nomination process is available online, nominating a country has never been easier.

Last year’s program was the Year of Russia. Year of Russia included programs like the Spring Film Festival that was held on January 30th to February 3rd, a series of talks from panelists including “A Punk Prayer from Moscow to the World: Pussy Riot, Civil Disobedience, and the Digital Age” and so forth, and Russian films and folk music. Paracka mentions that to fully understand a culture, you must learn all sides of the country: political, musical, and cultural.

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Every year, the "Year Of" committee selects a senior graphic designer from KSU to design the annual logo. This year’s logo was designed by student Colette Leima for the 2017-2018 Year of India.

This year for 2017-2018 is going to be the Year of India. India has a very vibrant and rich culture that dates back for centuries. The Year of India will be hosting classes such as Beginners Yoga, as well as an Indian Cinema course focusing on Indian Bollywood films. All students participating in the Year of India and willing to take classes for this program will be eligible for academic credit.

Scholarships are available to help with the cost of tuition and travel.

Online Teaching Award Winner: Anissa Vega

by Tatyana Langley

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his year, two Kennesaw State University professors were recognized by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents with “Awards for Excellence in Teaching.” Anissa Vega, an Associate Professor of Instructional Technology, received the Regents’ Teaching Excellence Award for Online Teaching for the University System of Georgia. The Teaching Excellence Awards honor outstanding teaching that improves student achievement. Vega taught professional development as an Instructional Technology Specialist at Trinity School in Atlanta. She then pursued a doctorate at Georgia State University in Instructional Design and Technology to aid in her development.

assistant teacher by giving all of the best information I can offer, in the best order, with as much guidance and encouragement possible,” Vega says. Students can then go into the system feeling as though they have all the content and opportunities they need to move forward.

Anissa Vega looked forward working at Kennesaw State University. “A job where I get to prepare teachers to serve other teachers. That’s exactly what I wanted to do.” Vega saiys “I identify as a teacher. That’s what I was meant to do.”

Vega was very impressed with KSU’s reputation for teaching excellence. She takes pride in teaching other teachers to always strive to become better teachers.

There is always something new to learn and explore in teaching, and Vega explores this idea every day in her online teaching. She employs digital platforms to create what she likes to call an “assistant teacher.”

That “assistant teacher” is both a teacher and a tool for students to access the classwork and materials 24/7. “I feed into that

provides students and faculty with platform options for communicating with her as well as visual communication through recorded lectures and synchronous sessions. By offering many communication options, Vega’s students are able to see that there is a real person behind the screen and that idea alone can bridge one of the disconnects between online and face-to-face teaching.

There are a variety of reasons as to why students and faculty would prefer an online class to a face-to-face class. The key to effective online teaching is to facilitate many forms of human interaction as an integral part of a teaching routine. Vega makes sure that her students experience genuine human interaction beyond the screen.

“I IDENTIFY AS A TEACHER. THAT’S WHAT I WAS to MEANT TO DO.” She

“When I mess something up, I allow myself to get out there and say ‘Hey! This human made the mistake!”

Vega says, laughing. “My students text me, they call me, they tweet me. Any of these things help us to connect in ways I otherwise don’t get, because we’re not face-to-face.”

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The True Cost of Fast Fashion

event included the film The True Cost (2015) in which the filmmaker Andrew Morgan travels the globe to speak to his audiences about the fashion industry.

by Tatyana Langley

The True Cost features Southeast Asian textile industry workers from India and Bangladesh and U.S. fashion industry workers who run business platforms on fast fashion. The movie brings these individuals to life and challenges viewers to realize that fashion comes at a cost that is much greater than money. In many countries, factory work takes place in deplorable working conditions with underpaid staff workers who have few options for employment.

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hat is the cost of clothing? In the growing “throwaway culture,” fashion cycles are moving faster than ever. The fashion industry is challenged to keep up with the latest trends of fast fashion.

Increasingly, the industry focuses less on the quality of the clothing or working conditions and more on the cost of what is considered affordable to the everyday consumer. Here at Kennesaw State University, students, professors, and alumni are working together to spread awareness and understanding of the true costs of fast fashion. Merriam Webster defines it as "an approach to the design, creation, and marketing of clothing fashions that emphasizes making fashion trends quickly and cheaply available to consumers."

“One in six people in the world works in the global fashion industry. Most of the work is done by humans, not machines, as we would think,” says Nancie Vann, the owner of an upcycling fashion boutique Ecologie Resale & Vintage in Kennesaw.

During her presentation, “Change the World One Shopping Trip at a Time: The Shocking Truth About the Human and Environmental Impact of Your Clothes,” on March 16, Vann explained that the constant battle of “who can make clothes cheaper” is a spiraling war in which no one wins but the big businesses behind it.

From March 14 - 17, Kennesaw State Univesity hosted its first annual Sustainable Fashion Week. Jason Rhodes, Lecturer of Geography at Kennesaw State University, coordinated the week-long series of events. One of the goals was to spread awareness to the public about global waste and industry working conditions and to identify ways to achieve sustainability with small, simple changes in the home. A featured

Vann’s audience learned about an incident in 2013 in which the worst building collapse of the century happened in Rana Plaza. The building was located

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open to all students and requires no prerequisites. In his course, students will learn about the complex world of fast fashion, the working conditions of employees, and consumer behaviors. Rhodes will be educating students and spreading awareness about about the topic to open the lines of communication between the consumer and the producer in the fast fashion world. He is collaborating with Shahidur Rahman, a professor in the Department of Economics and Social Sciences at Brac University in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

This connection will allow an interdisciplinary approach to the class. One class assignment is a video project between the international students and KSU students to collaborate and facilitate dialogue between clothing consumers in Atlanta and clothing producers in Bangladesh.

in the Dhaka District of Bangladesh. The shopping district contained a bank, apartments, and a factory that was built despite warnings not to build a factory at that location. The banks and apartments housed in the building closed immediately after hearing that there were cracks in the building. However, the apartments and the factory remained; the owners ignored the warnings to avoid using the building. Some of the factory managers threatened the workers with a loss in pay if they did not show up to work. The building collapsed one morning, killing over 1,000 people and injuring over 2,000 individuals.

"ONE IN SIX PEOPLE IN THE WORLD WORKS IN THE GLOBAL FASHION INDUSTRY."

Throughout the week, students also learned about the many ways to get involved in fashion sustainability and making steps towards sustainable fashion inside their own home. Jason Rhodes and Nancie Vann, along with other faculty, are working together to organize events and identify actions that would mitigate the costs of fast fashion. Rhodes suggests installing recycling bins for clothes and he is collaborating with architecture professors to make this happen. Some argue that lowwage workshops benefit workers in India or China because they lead to better living conditions and better wages; however, lives are being lost by this worldwide negligence.

In Fall 2017, Rhodes is teaching a “Geography of Clothing” course that more fully explores sustainability. The class is

“The problem with fast fashion also is that we aren’t able to communicate with people who live through this every day,” Rhodes said. This collaboration will generate communication about various issues within the fashion industry and will open Rhodes' class to become a space in which voices from both sides of the fashion industry spectrum, producers and consumers, will openly speak about the subject throughout the semester.

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What is Mechatronics Engineering?

by Micheal Jones

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needs of a rapidly changing workforce, student groups are tasked with designing an operating robotic system as a final project. This semester-long project seems daunting, but the students come into the program with a passion for mechatronics, often interested in building projects like drones and hexapods. Acknowledging that some high schools have more advanced STEM programs than others, McFall invites his students to self-evaluate their understanding of the components of Mechatronics Engineering. He uses their selfassessment of prior knowledge to decide how to form the groups in the class, mixing students with diverse levels of experience in this multidisciplinary field. This approach yields great success as students work together in groups to build a robot.

o the general population, Mechatronics Engineering might not be a well-known discipline, but at KSU, it is becoming a commonly known term. Mechatronics Engineering is a multidisciplinary subject, combining computer science, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering.

Kevin McFall, an Associate Professor of Mechatronics Engineering, says the program is highly practical, including labs in nearly every course. “We have all the toys,” says McFall.

With his background in electronics, coding, and mechanical engineering, McFall developed a simple definition of mechatronics that is easily accessible to those who are unfamiliar with it. He uses a three-part description to simplify the definition of Mechatronics Engineering to his students. He describes “Sense” as a sensor to get information about the environment. He describes “Think” as how the system makes a decision based on the information that was gathered. The final step is “Act,” which he describes as taking an action in real life.

Demonstrations of the Mechatronics senior design projects are held at the end of the semester on the Marietta campus. This event features different robotics like sixlegged hexapods and self-parking cars. These senior design projects apply the basics of Mechatronics Engineering to create projects that are useful in everyday life.

From their senior design projects, students are well equipped to seek careers in industrial automation and advanced manufacturing.

McFall continues to challenge his students to take an interest in Mechatronics Engineering to create cutting-edge technologies that will change the world.

In the introductory course, MTRE 1000, McFall immediately engages students to create a fully functional mechatronics system by the end of the class.

He wastes no time helping his students understand how mechatronics works. Because students need hands-on experience in mechatronics to meet the

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Graduate Student Sanjoosh Akkineni Goes Above and Beyond

by Micheal Jones

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anjoosh Akkineni, the president of the Graduate Student Association and a doctoral student in Analytics and Data Science, stepped on the KSU campus with a mission. He wanted to transform the Graduate Student Association (GSA). Guided by a leadership philosophy that highlights the strengths of the people around him, he focused on creating a diverse executive board, facilitating graduate research, and boosting participation in the GSA.

events. Meetings now feature speakers from business, industry, the arts, and other disciplines who address the transition from graduate school to the work force. Events focus on welcoming graduate students and recognizing them with awards at the end of the semester. From these efforts, the number of attendees at GSA Friday evening events rose from only a dozen students to 40-100.

As the association grows, Akkineni ensures that everyone is welcome by keeping a diverse executive board.

Diversity brings many perspectives to the association.

Additionally, a primary goal of the association is to provide travel funding to graduate students to attend academic conferences. This support gives the graduate students “wings” to conduct research and enhances KSU’s reputation as well, according to Akkineni. KSU’s graduate students have received prestigious awards from graduate research that has people wondering what is happening at Kennesaw State University. With the hard work of the Graduate Student Association, KSU will become known for its graduate research.

The recipient of the KSU’s Graduate Student Involvement Award 2016-2017, Akkineni, has found that networking is a productive way to elevate the graduate student experience and expand the Graduate Student Association.

Initially, Akkineni faced difficulties like low turnout and low participation from the graduate students, but changing his marketing strategy made a big difference.

Participation at events held by the Association ranged between 15-20 people when he stepped into the role of graduate student representative 2015. At first, he thought that the more flyers he printed, the more students would come to the events, but attendance didn’t improve.

To save money, he decided to switch to social media as a platform to get students involved. He made other changes as well, like reaching out to program directors and community leaders to support the GSA’s meetings and

Other than research, Akkineni points out that another major aspect of graduate studies is networking. He stresses that graduate students should network with all the people that they can while here at KSU. They should actively seek relationships with mentors, collaborators, and peers. Akkineni came to the Kennesaw State University from India in the Fall of 2015 and since then he has been building professional relationships. In addition to building his network and the GSA, he has learned that knowing what resources are available can be very helpful to the graduate experience.

While in the executive meetings of the Graduate Student Association, Akkineni utilizes the board member’s strengths and not his own. This leadership strategy has propelled the GSA to what it is today. He wants the association to continue to grow and move forward to the next level, to attract new graduate students, and continue to compete with other universities in graduate research.

With the strong foundation he has put in place, the GSA should have no problem with making that happen.

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Regents SoTL Winner: Hillary Steiner

by Micheal Jones

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illary Hettinger Steiner has always been interested in how students learn. As an Associate Professor in First-Year and Transition Studies, Steiner knows that first-year students benefit from understanding metacognition as a means to understanding their own path to learning. According to Steiner, a clear understanding of metacognition helps students learn how to study at the college level, gives them more control over their learning, and ultimately improves their chances for success.

In her capacity as the Associate Director of Learning Communities, Steiner takes an integrative learning approach to improve student success. Integrative learning involves making connections between courses so students understand how the information they are learning is linked with information in other classes and with the real world.

Most recently, Steiner’s Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) was recognized by the University System of Georgia’s Board of Regents. She received the Regents’ SoTL Award for the scope and impact of her research on student learning. She joins several KSU professors who have won this award, along with her mentor and colleague Tom Pusateri, Associate Director of CETL. While she acknowledges that this award was a “milestone in her career,” Steiner truly enjoys her work. She encourages her students to follow what they love and what makes them happy. Her enthusiasm for teaching is evident when she describes learning as a unique process and acknowledges that teaching is about recognizing the individual needs of our KSU students.

When she arrived at Kennesaw State University, after earning her doctorate in educational psychology at University of Georgia, Steiner appreciated the university’s emphasis on scholarship and teaching, which allowed her to focus on SoTL research and projects.

Within KSU’s innovative climate and a First-Year and Transition Studies department dedicated to improving retention, Steiner found an environment in which her “research, teaching, and service” on metacognition and integrative learning pedagogies “all coincide.”

Although she is humble about her work and achievements, she has been recognized by several awards.

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Thank-a-Teacher Kennesaw State makes it possible to express gratitude to those professors who have made an impact on a student's college education. With our Thank-a-Teacher program, students can write a thank you note about how the professor helped their learning and contributed to their success.

Students submit these letters through cetl.kennesaw.edu. The submissions are approved by a committee, and a letter from CETL is sent to the professor.

Dr. Brown,

Professor VandeVen, Thank you for guiding us through the murky waters of an online course, filled with independent labs, group labs, and independent research, and bringing us out on the other side with a much more robust understanding of how our field is impacted directly by the law. And you did it with such grace and humor! It was a privilege to study with you this final semester. Thank you for your dedication!

- Pat Garner

When I first started taking your course last fall, I was unsure of the methods you used to teach. About three lectures in, I realized that you were going above and beyond to deliver the message we as students needed for success. I did not take the time to say thank you in class as I should have. You shared several life experiences and those were profound in helping me understand the concepts in your class. In the end, I discovered that you were one of the best instructors I have had in my academic career. As I was completing this semesters surveys, I saw this link and wanted to take the time to let you know that you made a difference and I am grateful to you for doing so. Thank you for being so dedicated to developing our minds in ways that help us want to learn more. I wish you the best! Your influence has enriched my life and educational career.

These words do not quite go far enough to express my true thanks, but I hope they help convey the message.

- Roy Sosby

Dr. Haddad, I want to thank you for a great Java 1 course. This course was impeccably designed to produce excellent programmers. The lectures were clean and informative, and the assignments developed strong problem-solving skills. I appreciated how the labs and assignments progressively nurtured a problem-solving mindset through a soft introduction in Java foundation. These problem-solving concepts will prove invaluable, no matter what programming language I choose to continue.

And though my degree does not require further programming courses, you have sparked my interest in Java, and I will continue on to CS 1302. This course has opened opportunities for my future career, but more importantly has increased my confidence in programming and in myself. I sincerely thank you for your time and efforts.

-Jinsik

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How to Get Involved in Our Next Issue

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eachingWISE features teaching and learning stories across disciplines, campuses, and communities at Kennesaw State University. We are interested in campus events, places, projects, and people who are engaged in scholarly teaching and learning. This publication is dedicated to sharing stories, pedagogies, and strategies that improve teaching and learning for all faculty and students at KSU. We invite your suggestions to improve the scope and impact of this publication.

Please visit cetl.kennesaw.edu to learn more.

Contributing Staff Writers

Micheal Jones Tatyana Langley

Designer/Editor Katie Brackett Photographer

Taylor Power

Student Advisor

Linda Stewart

MAPW Graduate Estafany Palacio Student and CETL Intern

CETL 3211 Campus Loop Road, MD 5400 Kennesaw, GA 30144 Phone: 470-578-6410 CETL@kennesaw.edu cetl.kennesaw.edu

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