Innovations in Pedagogy 2017! @uwg

IiP

Innovations in Pedagogy 2017 Conference Team Elizabeth Ayers Connie Barbour Danilo Baylen Christy Berding Heather Bono Stacey Britton Cynthia Brown Jessica Bucholz Carrie Carmack Kyle Carter Muriel Cormican Maria Doyle Kelly Dyar Kelley Frank Katy Green Kim Green Sandy Hess Robinson Emily Hipchen Kim Holder Farooq Khan Mark Kunkel Rod McCrae Anne Merrem David Mitchell David Newton Keith Pacholl LaDonia Patterson Gregory Payne Beth René Roepnack Sally Richter Lacey Ricks Lisa Robinson Mariana Sanchez Amanda Shoemake Phyllis Snipes Frank Stonier Olivia Uwamahoro Susan Welch

Criminology Nursing Educational Technology and Foundations Nursing Economics Early Childhood through Secondary Education Nursing Literacy and Special Education Mathematics Mathematics Foreign Languages & Literatures Education Abroad Nursing English Literacy and Special Education Management Literacy and Special Education English Economics Chemistry Psychology Center for Teaching & Learning Sport Management, Wellness, & Phys. Ed. Psychology English History Nursing Biology UWG Online Nursing Communication Sciences & Prof. Counseling Nursing Management English Educational Technology and Foundations Early Childhood through Secondary Education Communication Sciences & Prof. Counseling Nursing

Photos used in this program were provided by UWG’s University Communications & Marketing Department and Cher Hendricks (IiP2016 photos)

Innovations in Pedagogy facilitates engaging conversations about best practices in teaching and learning and provides a forum for sharing ideas across disciplinary boundaries. Â

9:15 – 10:15

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PRESENTATION SESSION

ROOM 110

CRITICAL THINKING & REAL WORLD CONNECTIONS

Presentation 1: What a Waste of Time: Taking Risks and Critical Thinking

Josh Dohmen (Philosophy) & Amber Tatham Smith (Student) From the perspective of both teacher and student, we consider resistance to being open and self-critical.

While the push toward critical thinking is promising, we offer cautions about this trend. Specifically, critical thinking is often understood to be thinking about things that (are widely understood to) matter, not a consideration of which things matter. We caution that, in a context where most people refuse to be open, open-mindedness and self-criticism can result in certain dangers to oneself. Apart from these cautions, we offer some tentative solutions and solicit ideas and experiences from those in the audience. We aim to share our stories and recommendations, and then open the floor to discuss similar problems.

Presentation 2: Define “Composition”: Podcasts in the First Year Writing Classroom

Amanda Shoemake (English) The First Year Writing classroom is a unique space. While ENGL 1101 and 1102 are designed to teach college-level thinking and writing, often we fall short of creating connections for our freshman. They fail to see how thinking and writing about films, poems, texts, or even advertisements will be helpful to them in their future courses. In this session, I describe a Podcast project designed to foreground writing as a necessary component of critical thought rather than merely the “exam” at the end of discussion. I discuss the successes and failures of the project with the hope of generating a discussion about this strategy.

WORKSHOP

ROOM 112

Dawn Neely (Music)

CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICES IN EDUCATION

Lisa Gezon (Anthropology)

Contemplative practices are becoming more accepted in Western societies as methods for physical and mental hygiene. They have been found to develop greater empathy and communication skills, improve focus and attention, and reduce stress. In addition, contemplative practices have the ability to assist higher education by engendering an active means of inquiry into both subject and self. During our workshop, we will present a brief discussion of the relevance, appropriateness, and evidence surrounding contemplative practices in education. Each presenter will discuss purposes and practices from his and her own classroom experiences. The audience will have an opportunity to participate in some of these contemplative activities throughout the workshop. Resources will be made available.

WORKSHOP

ROOM 115

I FLIPPED, NOW WHAT? ACTIVITIES TO ENGAGE STUDENTS IN CLASS Jennifer Edelman (Early Childhood through Secondary Education) In a flipped classroom design, students access content through video/audio lectures prior to coming to class.

During class, the instructor spends little to no time lecturing and instead engages students in activities designed to analyze, apply, and evaluate their knowledge of the content. In my experience, the outside-ofclass activities are easy to design. But what do we do with students when we are meeting face to face?

Participants in this workshop will engage in several sample activities that can be used in a flipped classroom.

We analyze these activities to determine if they encourage critical thinking, reflection, and application of the out-of-class materials. An emphasis on the disciplinary authenticity of activities will be discussed. Participants are invited to bring their ideas for flipped classroom activities so we can all learn from one another. The activities we will engage in are generic enough to be adapted across disciplines, and everyone will leave with new ideas and contacts for engaging their students in a flipped classroom design!

9:15 – 10:15

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WORKSHOP

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DESIGNING LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS TO SUPPORT DIVERSITY & INCLUSION Yves-Rose Porcena (Center for Diversity & Inclusion)

Designing learning environments that attend to students from a range of backgrounds and to their interactions with one another may seem an impossible task in a course of 20 students, much less a course of more than 100. However, there are strategies rooted in research that can help. These strategies are sometimes referred to as “inclusive teaching strategies, culturally responsive teaching, or differentiating instruction,” whereby the instructor strives for “classroom inclusion,” reaching all students in the classroom and not just those who are already engaged. We offer strategies and opportunities for a) linking classroom curriculum to co-curricular engagement, b) bridging the preparation gap with meaningful opportunities, and c) using students’ cultural capital as an engagement tool.

PANEL

I THINK, THEREFORE I AM : EVALUATING THE FIRST YEAR SEMINAR EXPERIMENT

ROOM 106

Janet Donohoe (Honors College, Philosophy) Sal Peralta (Political Science) Anne Gaquere (Chemistry) Participants in this panel will discuss their implementation of a new Honors College Freshman seminar that was designed to help students learn about and adapt to their new environment, develop general skills that will contribute to their success at the University, and help them make the kinds of academic and social connections that are indicators of enhanced retention. The panelists focus on lessons learned—not by the students, but by the faculty. We’ll discuss what worked, what didn’t work, what we will be doing differently this next fall and offer suggestions for those who might be teaching the LEAP pilot first year seminars.

PANEL

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MEETING: A PEDAGOGY OF CONNECTEDNESS

Tom Peterson (Educational Technology & Foundations) Robert Clemente (Teacher) Carl Bruckner (Student) Mileigh Raburn (Student) Morgan Foster (Student) Tommy Smith (Youth) Participants on this panel include a high school teacher, three UWG students, and a youth who comes from a high-risk setting. We examine the meaning of “meeting” as a pedagogical construct that deepens learning and gives both teachers and learners renewed purpose. To help us better understand this process of “meeting,” we will examine a unique intervention program here at UWG that embraces a humanistic and spiritual model that is transforming youth who come from high-risk settings and some of our pre-service education undergraduates. This panel provides an opportunity for further exploration of how meeting and connectedness are a conduit to transforming all participants.

10:30 – 11:30

PRESENTATION SESSION

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METACOGNITION & SELF-REGULATED LEARNING

Presentation 1: Using Learning Tools to Encourage Self-Regulated Learning &

Metacognition Holly Dever (Nursing) & Kelly Dyer (Nursing) Cognitive science has demonstrated that effortful learning is meaningful and deeper, and more persistent, yet students are often unable to determine when they are learning well and when they are not. Further, students often have illusions—or misperceptions—of what they know, and struggling students tend to overestimate confidence and are poorly motivated to change. In this presentation we describe Kuiper’s model of selfregulated learning and describe the learning tools we have implemented to support student success. Although these activities were based on a model used in nursing education, the model was derived from Bandura's tridactic integration of metacognitive self-evaluation, behavioral self-monitoring, and environmental structuring of educational settings and is applicable across disciplines.

Presentation 2: Gauging Students’ Thought Processes while Solving Problems in

Thermodynamics Farooq Khan (Chemistry) & Beth René Roepnack (UWG Online) In this presentation we describe a collaborative effort to develop a novel approach to gauge student learning in advanced chemistry courses. Students used Livescribe Echo Smart Pens (devices that record speech and writing silmutaneously and save this information in PDF files) as they solved difficult problems that required advanced mathematical skills as well as a deep conceptual understanding of scientific principles. Results of this study revealed areas where students struggle the most, which provided rich opportunities for the professor to make small changes in teaching to support student success. We believe this method of gauging problem-solving has uses across all disciplines.

PRESENTATION SESSION

ROOM 112

IMPROVING TEACHING: UNDERSTANDING ISSUES AND SETTING GOALS

Presentation 1: Using Phenomenography to Improve Curriculum and Teaching

Tammy McClenny (Nursing) Higher education researchers have advocated using phenomenography as a valid approach to finding solutions to phenomena that may be problematic for students and educators in all academic settings.

Through phenomenographic inquiry, both the student and educator can make sense of what is known, how it is known, and what is needed to generate new knowledge about phenomena. This kind of research can be instrumental in improving educational practices and curricula, not only from the lens of the student, but also from the educator. In this presentation I describe the ways phenomenography can be used to improve both curriculum and teaching across disciplines.

Presentation 2: Setting Goals to Improve Teaching

Robyn Huss (Early Childhood through Secondary Education) In this presentation, I provide an overview of ways faculty can work to improve their face-to-face classroom and/or online teaching methods in a variety of focus areas and at a level of intensity that suits individual needs. This session will introduce a variety of micro-credentials and online teaching tools that can be explored for personal enrichment or developed to document ways faculty are setting and attaining annual goals to improve teaching methods.

10:30 – 11:30

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PRESENTATION SESSION

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SUPPORTING GROUP WORK IN ONLINE CLASSES

Presentation 1: Online Tools to Facilitate Student Collaboration: Reducing Resistance

to Learning in Groups Janet Genz (Biology)

Few announcements in the classroom elicit anxiety and dread in one’s students more than that of group work. Students almost unanimously respond with concerns about the potential for negative impacts on their grade or unpleasant group dynamics. Often, the underlying driver of student resistance to collaborative learning is prior negative experiences. However, it is clear that today’s college graduates must be experience successful interactions with their peers in order to excel in the global and increasingly collaborative workforce. In this presentation, I share strategies for minimizing resistance, increasing buy-in, and managing cohesive and effective student groups in the classroom to help students see the value of, and actively engage in, learning this essential soft skill, focusing on tools that appeal to today’s digital-native student.

Presentation 2: Best Practices for Online Group Projects

Sunil Hazari (Marketing) Faculty teaching online courses commonly use group assignments for activities such as case studies, projects, team reports, and group discussions. Although group work and collaborative learning have been identified as essential components in an online course, students and faculty are more comfortable with using group projects in traditional face-to-face environments. The purpose of the session is to make faculty aware of online group project characteristics as well as logistical challenges that need to be overcome in online courses that use group projects as an essential component. I share practical information that can be used across disciplines to facilitate group processes and meet learning outcomes.

PRESENTATION SESSION

ROOM 121

CONNECTING WITH STUDENTS

Presentation 1: Quiet Students, Quiet Faculty: Supporting Introverted Students and

Faculty Laura Lee Beasley (English)

In this presentation, I describe research on the ways introverted and extroverted students communicate and ways faculty can create classrooms that are inclusive of various communication styles. Presenting strategies about how universities can better support introverted faculty through the broadening of pedagogical values and practices, I describe publications on this topic such as William Pannapacker’s article “Screening Out the Introverts” published by the Chronicle of Higher Education. Pannapacker asks “I wonder how those who tend toward introversion—perhaps the majority of people who aspire to academic careers—have coped with those demands. And what can institutions do to serve their needs more effectively?” I attempt to answer these questions not only for faculty, but for students as well.

Presentation 2: Decolonizing the Psychology Curriculum as a Means to Enhance

African American Students’ Engagement Theo Holt (Psychology)

Research suggests that the absence of social representation from college campuses and curricula might lead to a reduced sense of belonging and high dropout rates among marginalized students. In response to these concerns, I propose an approach to reimagining the academy as a platform for social justice through curriculum and pedagogy development. Specifically, I focus on two strategies: (a) inclusion of Afrocentric content and perspectives, and (b) incorporating a culturally responsive communal learning model. I also suggest ways these strategies can serve to decolonize curriculum and pedagogy in the context of undergraduate psychology courses.

10:30 – 11:30

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WORKSHOP

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EFFECTIVE REFLECTIONS: TEACHING STUDENTS HOW TO ENGAGE IN REFLECTIVE EXPRESSION Markesha Henderson (Sport Management, Wellness, & Physical Education) In this interactive workshop, I highlight the pedagogical benefits of reflective expression. Participants will learn different types of reflection experiences they can use in courses, such as reflection essays, journaling, discussions, and reflective observation. I will demonstrate a reflective writing exercise used in an internship course and discuss how this exercise can be used in other courses. Participants will take part in reflection activities as I model different strategies. Finally, I provide various methods that can be used to help students engage in reflective expression.

10TALKS

Making it Real!

Talk 1: Save Time, Increase Student Engagement: Real Discussions

ROOM 122

Beth René Roepnack (UWG Online) Online discussions are important, but they take too much time! Learn how I increased student engagement but decreased my workload by changing my discussion instructions this past term. Students enjoyed the more realistic discussions, engaged with the material more deeply, and appreciated the lack of micromanagement. I share the various iterations of the instructions and show how they impact discussions.

Talk 2: Digital Addiction Awareness for Counselors and Teachers

Julie Chibbaro (Communication Sciences and Professional Counseling) The internet has become part of daily life, providing global communication, access to information and entertainment. However, the use of technology can become compulsive and develop into addictive types of behaviors. In this talk, I discuss the signs of digital addiction, the consequences of digital addiction, and the tools for the fusion of digital addiction awareness into schools.

Talk 3: Public Speaking Techniques Implemented in the Real World

Brent Mayes (Mass Communications) As faculty, I feel we should continuously strive to make our courses as relevant and as parallel to real-world situations as possible so that our students will experience and master concepts that will reflect their professional experiences. In this talk, I demonstrate through examples how I am redesigning assignments to make them more applicable to the real world and more relevant to all majors.

Talk 4: A Radical Approach to Redistributing Power in the Classroom

Mark Kunkel (Psychology) I introduce an approach to teaching and learning that emphasizes proximity, collaboration, and generativity.

After almost 30 years of seeking ways to redistribute power in the classroom, my use of a wireless keyboard and a wearable desk has transformed my teaching. No longer tethered to the stage or to the computer, I bring my embodied presence close to students, even in large and otherwise passively disinterested lecture settings. I describe how my students and I collaborate as I document and archive student participant comments and insights in class notes, emerging generatively from our gathering in ways that would not have happened were we not to have gathered.

LUNCH IN THE ATRIUM @ 11:30!

12:30 – 1:30

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PRESENTATION SESSION

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EXPERIENCES IN FLIPPING

Presentation 1: Team Teaching Pre-Modern World History through Film

Nadya Williams, Gary Van Valen, & Ihor Pidhainy (History) With the goal of optimizing student interest, learning, and engagement in a high DFW rate core, three faculty co-taught HIST 1111 through film in a flipped-classroom format. Students completed primary-source readings and weekly CourseDen quizzes on the reading before coming to class. Class sessions were devoted to watching a film on the civilization or topic for that week, discussing the film in connection to the class readings, and writing an in-class response paper at the end of class. In this session, we present our teaching philosophy and the strategies we employed for student engagement in the course, and we report on the results that indicated improved student learning.

Presentation 2: Flipping 150: A Fusion of F2F/Online Learning in a Flipped 150-

Student Survey Course Sheikh Tijan Drammeh (Political Science) As I pondered how to improve student engagement and enhance the learning experience in a triple-section course of 150 students, a light bulb turned on. Why not harness the best of both worlds—simultaneously harness the best of what the face-to-face classroom and a teacher in the flesh have to offer, blended with the “infinite possibilities” of the virtual/distance/online teaching and learning tools—a fusion of f2f and online learning pedagogy? To make the course even more effective and rewarding, why settle for “classroom only” learning (two hours and thirty minutes per week) when learning could take place “24-7/365”? Therefore, flip the course. In this session, I describe my experience flipping a large enrollment class and provide recommendations for faculty interested in flipping their courses.

PRESENTATION SESSION

ROOM 121

MOVEMENT AND MAPPING TO SUPPORT STUDENT LEARNING

Presentation 1: How the Integration of Movement Has Kept My and My Students

Awake, Aware, and Ready to Learn Anne Merrem (Sport Management, Wellness, and Physical Education) The goal of this talk is to share a simple and effective technique that addresses several educational goals: teaching/learning new material, addressing a variety of learning modalities, increasing retention of the material discussed, and overcoming Monday 8:00 am fatigue. Research has shown that movement in the classroom in 20-minute intervals significantly increases the ability to pay attention for students in K-12 settings. In this session, I describe how I have successfully used these methods in the college classroom.

Presentation 2: Incorporating Concept Mapping as a Note Taking Strategy

Erin Duckett (Biology), Runeshia Parker (Student), & Danilo M. Baylen (Educational Technology & Foundations) Students entering college are often shocked to receive failing grades on the first exam of large, lecture style biology classrooms. They usually do not know the science content they studied and have difficulty retaining and recalling information. They are often overwhelmed by the amount of material covered and struggle to identify key concepts from the diverse amount of material. Many students also simply do not know how to organize and understand their notes taken during lecture. In this session, we describe our use of concept mapping in a freshman biology course and provide results of our research on this topic. The incorporation of concept mapping serves as a tool to provide students with a template for not only organizing their notes but also for understanding and making connections among the material covered.

12:30 – 1:30

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SESSION

ROOM 122

BOOK CLUBS & JOURNALING & STUDENT LEARNING (OH MY!)

Presentation 1: Go Clubbing and Turn Up: Book Club Style, Two Ways

Amber Smallwood (Sociology/Mass Communications), Emily McKendry Smith (Sociology), & Jennifer Weber (Sociology) Faculty in Sociology and Mass Communications experimented with book clubs across three courses, including graduate and undergraduate courses. In this presentation we share how we structured the book clubs, provide an overview student and faculty participation and responses, and explore benefits including diverse perspectives and more sophisticated inter- and intra-disciplinary discussions. The book clubs aided students in making connections across the curriculum and connecting course material to lived experiences; when faculty joined student in book club participation, faculty indicated that they benefited through staying engaged in their discipline by reading new works, as well as creating an intellectual community with peers.

Presentation 2: Developing a Student Journal Reading Group

Logan Leslie (Chemistry) A common challenge for faculty is getting undergraduate students to engage with material outside of familiar contexts and when it is integrated with other concepts that they have not encountered in the classroom. To enrich the experiences of students who were interested in such engagement, I created a journal reading group. In this session, I discuss three key features that were critical to maintaining the effective functioning of the group: good rapport building, article choice based on what concepts students are currently working on in their classes, and encouraging interest through choice of topics in articles. I provide specific examples of how students engaged with the material and describe times when I provided enrichment opportunities based on information that would surpass their current classroom understanding.

PANEL

ROOM 106

SUCCESSFULLY INTEGRATING SUSTAINABILITY ACROSS THE CURRICULUM Ashley Dycus (English) Melanie Hildebrandt (Economics) Stacey Britton (Early Childhood through Secondary Education) Winston Tripp (Sociology) Chris Berg (Geosciences)

Sustainability is an important topic in higher education today; however, it is one that is often met with anxiety about how to integrate sustainability meaningfully into course material while still staying true to the course’s main focus. Panelists from five colleges will discuss how sustainability has been implemented into their courses—through either a single activity or larger course project—and its effects on the success of the course as a whole in terms of student engagement and academic performance. In addition, panelists will share examples of specific projects and assignments from their courses, discuss their correlation with course material and objectives, and identify the ways in which these benefited students and the course itself.

WORKSHOP

ROOM 112

#teachingfails: BUILDING ON A BAD DAY Emily Hipchen (English) In this workshop, we’ll focus on the way in which having and handling bad teaching days—talking them over and supporting ourselves and others in working with them—can build communities and create learning opportunities. Workshop activities include describing a challenging teaching day, sorting the problems we identify, and engaging in self-reflection and self-talk.

12:30 – 1:30

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WORKSHOP

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SOCRATES AND PLATO AS CO-TEACHERS IN THE CLASSROOM James J. Dillon (Psychology)

This workshop presents a lively and accessible course outline for using Platonic dialogues and the ancient figure of Socrates to teach our modern college courses. Socrates is among the world’s most engaging and effective teachers. He is also regarded as one of the founding figures of the liberal arts tradition, and perhaps one who would have had serious problems with the didactic teaching methods and sterile textbooks of today’s college classrooms. The workshop will show how encountering Socrates and his strange method, and engaging Plato’s dialogues can help professors achieve many of the laudable course goals they have for their students. The workshop will focus on how to use original source material in undergraduate classes, how to facilitate a “seminar” discussion, and how to promote deep reading, writing, and speaking skills through the Socratic Method.

What connections have you made today with colleagues?

What are you learning today that you might incorporate in your classes?

What do you still have questions about? Where might you find answers?

Hint: the CTL can help!

1:45 – 2:45

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PRESENTATION SESSION

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HIGH IMPACT PRACTICES

Presentation 1: How to be H.I.P.: Strategies for Integrating High Impact Practices

Markesha Henderson (Sport Management, Wellness, & Phys. Ed.) & David Newton (English) High Impact Educational Practices (HIPs) are advanced pedagogical techniques and programs that engage and challenge students to help them achieve essential learning outcomes. HIPs can take a variety of forms including first year experience, learning communities, study abroad, internships, and undergraduate research. While HIPs are beneficial for student learning and development, they demand a considerable amount of time and effort, and some programs may struggle with the feasibility of integrating such practices in their program or academic unit. This session will provide an overview of various HIPs and the LEAP West! steering committee’s progress toward a campus plan for supporting implementation of HIPs at UWG. We address barriers to creating HIPs and provide strategies and resources for successful integration.

Presentation 2: Interdisciplinary Study Abroad: Engaging Students in Active Learning

and Fostering Student Tolerance and Empathy for Diverse Nations Mikhail Beznosov (Political Science) The goal of this presentation is to share my strategy for developing an interdisciplinary study abroad program that includes one or more interdisciplinary courses. In this session, I will describe ways interdisciplinary courses can intoduce students to societal problems from a variety of perspectives and help them rise above a tendency to keep preconceived notions. I draw on my personal experience in demonstrating that one of the most effective methods of instructor-student engagement is using study abroad. Study abroad experiences can remove the formal barrier between a student and an instructor that may play a discouraging role in a regular on-campus learning environment.

PRESENTATION SESSION

ROOM 110

CREATIVE PROJECTS AND STUDENT LEARNING

Presentation 1: #LookWhatILearned: Using Social Media for Student Learning Celeste Lee (Sociology) Given the increased presence of social media in our day-to-day lives and the amount of time that millennials/young adults spend on social media sites, it is imperative that college professors seek new ways to engage social media in their curriculum. Doing so could lead to better student engagement and ultimately enhance student learning. My presentation will provide one example of how professors may reimagine the role of social media in the classroom. This presentation will illuminate the ways in which social media can become both a text/subject specific reference and a platform for submitting assignments.

Presentation 2: Assessment of Student Comprehension and Understanding of Theoretical Concepts through Aesthetics and the Creative Process Christy Berding (Nursing), Cynthia Brown (Nursing), & Sally Richter (Nursing) Creation of inspired aesthetic projects by students is a unique method for assessment and intervention that lets the student to know oneself and others in a meaningful way. In this session, we describe how the use of reflection and incorporation of creativity can allow students to look at a concept through a different lens, helping them to engage in its meaning and foster deeper understanding. Further, we explain how engaging the creative process through music, art, poetry, or other artistic expressions fosters innovative thinking, which can assist with problem solving and knowledge development.

1:45 – 2:45

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PRESENTATION SESSION

ROOM 112

LET’S GET MATHY

Presentation 1: The Joys and Perils of Using an Online Assessment Tool to Support

Student Learning Scott Sykes (Mathematics) In this presentation, I describe the math department's use of ALEKS (Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces) software to support student learning. ALEKS is an assessment and learning system that creates a unique path through the course content for each student based on their score on a course pretest. ALEKS came with a steep learning curve for students and faculty alike, and while the tool is powerful, there are lessons learned that will be beneficial to other faculty considering similar tools or who are interested in standardizing assessments.

Presentation 2: Pre-Service Teachers’ Understanding of Arithmetic Principles

Veena Paliwal (Mathematics) In this session, I describe a study designed to promote understanding and use of arithmetic properties among sixty-five pre-service teachers enrolled in two Foundations of Numbers classes. The intervention involved introducing various models to promote conceptual understanding of the arithmetic properties and using them as a problem-solving tool. Pre-service teachers received intervention in the classroom through the use of manipulatives, mathematical models, and word problems aimed at developing conceptual understanding. I describe results of this study, which indicated increased learning and self-confidence.

PRESENTATION SESSION

ROOM 115

TECHNOLOGY TOOLS IN THE CLASSROOM

Presentation 1: What Do You Mean I Missed that Deadline?!?

Phyllis Snipes & Dawn Putney (Educational Technology & Foundations) Oftentimes students in both online and face-to-face environments miss assignment deadlines, misinterpret instructions, or submit work that is not even related to course objectives. The purpose of this session is to introduce attendees to exciting, productive, and creative ways to remind students of important course information. Engaging students through colorful and entertaining online announcements can be more productive than adding deadlines to online calendars, burying details in printed announcements, or making pleas for students to complete work on time. Participants in this session will be given print examples of online newsletters created with the online tools demonstrated along with a handy bookmark with descriptive details about each website reviewed.

Presentation 2: Tips on How to Use the User Progress Tool in CourseDen to

Personalize Grading Mary Beth Slone (Educational Technology & Foundations)

The User Progress tool in CourseDen is being underutilized by faculty mainly due to their lack of knowledge about how the tool can be helpful to them. In this presentation, I demonstrate how to (1) access the User Progress tool in CourseDen, (2) access the User Progress tool while in the assignments dropbox during individualized grading, and (3) use the User Progress tool to determine if students are accessing content.

CourseDen can be used successfully with all types of delivery methods (i.e. f2f, hybrid, online). Using the User Progress tool allows for more personalized grading and keeping up with the progress of your students.

1:45 – 2:45

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PRESENTATION SESSION

ROOM 218

WORKING WITH ADULTS—IT’S DIFFERENT!

Presentation 1: Wooing the Adult Learner

Viviene H. Wood (Sociology) When we consider that the adult learner comes with a wealth of prior learning and experiences, we also must acknowledge that they also come with specific needs. They may be intimated by younger students and reluctant to reach out for help. Yet, this population has high expectations. Typically, they do not want to socialize or be involved in campus events. They do, however, want to be appreciated, encouraged, and listened to, and they want to network with others in their classes. They desire to contribute and to excel. In this session, I describe the unique needs of the adult learner and offer suggestions about how best to meet them where they are and support their learning.

Presentation 2: Mentoring Doctoral Students: Finding Common Ground

Rita Mahmoud (Nursing) As a faculty member whose second language is English, mentoring doctoral students can be challenging. In this presentation, I describe strategies I've used successfully to support students moving into the dissertation phase of their studies. These strategies include asserting competency, supporting students' competence and confidence, connecting with students by finding common ground, identifying each other's strengths and weaknesses, and sharing and understanding each other's unique perspectives.

WORKSHOP

ROOM 122

NEWS LITERACY IN THE CLASSROOM: A LIVE REPORT & INVITATION TO ACTIVE INQUIRY FROM A FACULTY LEARNING COMMUNITY Andrea G. Stanfield, Andrea Baer, & Jean Cook (Ingram Library) Kathleen Barrett (Political Science) The importance of evaluating news sources has become increasingly apparent, amidst heightened distrust in news media and increased political polarization. To help address the need for expanding news literacy education, UWG’s first Faculty Learning Community has explored how news literacy impacts various disciplines and how to create classroom conversations around reading, understanding, and evaluating the news. In this interactive workshop, we share our exploration of teaching news literacy and describe key takeaways from the experience. Participants will be invited to consider the significance of news literacy to their own disciplines and teaching.

WORKSHOP

ROOM 121

TILT! MAKING ASSIGNMENTS TRANSPARENT Team Awesome

Based on work from the Transparency in Learning and Teaching Project (TILT) at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, we explain how to make an assignment more transparent by clearly defining its purpose, the tasks students will perform, and the criteria for success. We provide examples of assignments that have been made transparent in these ways. We report research results that reveal how using transparent assignments can positively affect student learning. Ample time will be provided for participants to work in small groups to discuss ways they can build transparency into their assignments, and then to share their ideas with the larger group. Faculty from across all disciplines will find this session helpful for learning how to make course assignments transparent to students, which can lead to an increased sense of belonging, selfconfidence, and retention.

Looking for a great teaching and learning conference that’s close to home and that you can apply for funding to attend?

This year, UWG took 18 faculty to the USG Teaching & Learning Conference in Athens. Join us next year!

April 2017 ~ Athens, GA