Reynolds Community College - Faculty Forum 2021

REYNOLDS COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Faculty Forum 2021 a 3-day virtual event MAY 5–7, 2021

History of the Faculty Forum The Reynolds Faculty Forum, formerly the Reynolds Faculty Symposium, began in 2007 as a forum for School of Humanities & Social Sciences faculty to share original research and innovations in pedagogy with colleagues. After the first couple of years, the event was opened up to all college faculty. This marks its 14th year.

The Reynolds Faculty Forum is a day for faculty to develop professionally, uncover new strategies for their classrooms, and find inspiration in the work of their colleagues. Faculty from across the disciplines have embraced this chance to speak about their passions - projects they have designed and research they have carried out. Attendees enjoy the chance to ask faculty questions or make observations afterwards.

This year the Reynolds Faculty Forum has added two new components: afternoon presentations by faculty who have been participating in an ACUE (Association of College and University Educators) course, an online series of pedagogically sound and innovative training modules, plus a presentation of the My Reynolds Experience essay contest for current students. This annual essay contest provides a powerful way of understanding our students and their personal resilience. The Reynolds Educational Foundation is proud to support this yearly contest and the students who share their stories, revealing lessons from which we all can learn and apply to become better at the work we do.

Faculty Forum Program Wednesday, May 5

Morning Sessions: Keynote

9:30–9:45 a.m.

Welcome by Dr. Dwyer

9:45–10:45 a.m.

Teaching Through a Trauma-Informed Lens Presented by Emily Rosado After a year of navigating remote teaching and learning, what strategies for supporting students should we continue to implement moving forward?

Incorporating trauma-informed instruction can increase student success and model empathy in the classroom.

Professor Emily Rosado started teaching full-time at Montgomery College in 2007 and enjoys exploring themes of social justice in her English, literature, and journalism courses. Her teaching philosophy includes encouraging critical thinking by leading students in researching real-world issues such as worker’s rights, the stigma surrounding mental illness, and implicit bias. Professor Rosado serves on the Board of Directors of EveryMind, a mental health non-profit, and is currently researching generational trauma and education for her doctoral studies.

11–11:45 p.m.

QEP Update Presented by Melissa Brooks This presentation will provide an update on the Reynolds Quality Enhancement Plan: Minding the Gap. Minding the Gap focuses on faculty professional development and closing the educational attainment gaps that exist for Reynolds students.

Melissa Brooks is Program Head and Associate Professor of the Reynolds Paralegal Studies Program. She was a practicing paralegal in cities throughout the country and shifted her professional focus to education 12 years ago. Melissa loves teaching and is dedicated to engaging and enriching the lives of her students.

12–12:30 p.m

Lunch Break

Afternoon Sessions: Inclusive Environments 12:30–1:30 p.m.

We’re all on the Same Page: Applying ACUE Techniques in Biology 102 Presented by Karen Neal In the past, distribution of assessment scores for General Biology 102 could be described as bi-modal: some students had high scores and a great number had low scores, but only a few had scores in the middle range. This meant that the average score didn’t accurately reflect what was happening in the classroom. In the Spring 2020 semester all Biology 102 instruction was modeled after techniques presented in the ACUE training modules. Preliminary data seems to indicate that this semester students are performing at the same level. This trend provides concrete evidence that the new instructional techniques are effective in increasing student success.

Mrs. Karen Neal has been Assistant Professor of Biology for 12 years at Reynolds Community College.

Before coming to Reynolds, her research experience included human genetic disorders, epigenetics in corn and molecular biology. Fun Fact: Mrs. Karen Neal has a piece of the Berlin Wall from her time as an exchange student in Germany.

1:45–2:45 p.m.

ACUE at Reynolds: An Overview of Effective Teaching Practice Presented by Kim Hasley Math bears the stigma of being seen as a subject only an engineer or computer science major can love and/or understand. However, ACUE –informed teaching offers ways to present content in a more exciting and less intimidating way. This presentation will serve as an overview of best practices from the ACUE online modules.

Mrs. Kim Hasley been teaching mathematics for 25 years to students from elementary to college level.

Without losing the rigor of the content, she strives to make her math classroom an environment where students are free to make mistakes so they can learn without fear. Mrs. Hasley has served as Reynolds’s Master Professor for the past year. Fun Fact: Mrs. Kim Hasley comes from a family of math nerds--her sister is an actuary and her brother is an architect. She is also obsessed with gymnastics and follows all college and professional athletes in the sport.

Thursday, May 6

Morning Sessions: Sharing our Research

9:30–9:35 a.m.

Welcome Announcements

9:35–10:10 a.m.

Education Matters, but it doesn’t Make a Difference: The Genetics of Education Presented by Bryan Rhodes The twin method is a powerful tool for teasing apart the effects of nature vs nurture. By comparing thousands of pairs of identical and fraternal twins, the percentage of inheritance of a trait can be calculated. These data show that 60% of the differences in educational achievement in individuals in a population is due to genetics, not the environment. Therefore, contrary to former beliefs, genetics matters more than everything else combined in explaining the differences among individuals in educational outcomes.

Dr. Bryan Rhodes has been a Professor of Biology here at Reynolds for 9 years and received his PhD in Zoology from the University of Otago in New Zealand. Fun Fact: Dr. Bryan Rhodes breeds and shows goldfish.

10:15–10:50 a.m.

Master Advisors, Advising Roundtable Discussion Master Advisors: Jesse Miller, David Seward, Sheila Betz, Barbara Lytton, Sylvia Clay, Shalini Upadhyaya, Robin Shepherd Master Advisors want to share their best practices and hear yours as well! Voted best advising tip will be featured in the August 2021 edition of the Advising Gazette.

10:55– 11:30 a.m.

Implementing Game-Based Learning into your Classroom Presented by Robin Shepherd Games can enhance and reinforce content in the courses we teach. In this presentation, we will learn how to smoothly implement games into our classrooms. We will play games, we will be actively engaged, and we will have fun.

Dr. Robin Shepherd is a life traveler, educator, and master Googler. Fun Fact: Dr. Robin Shepherd attended military school and served as the Battalion Adjutant (S-1) her senior year.

11:35 a.m.–12:15 p.m.

Helping Students with Tech. Support: Important information for all Faculty Presented by Kim Evans and Kevin Pruyn-Boule The volume of technology utilized by faculty and students in the past year has increased exponentially. Delivering instruction virtually is more successful when you can provide students with effective technology support resources. In this informational session, we will cover the multitude of resources available at Reynolds to assist students seeking technology support. This information will equip faculty with knowledge of when a Help Desk call, Canvas 24/7 Help, or a Hoonuit video tutorial would benefit a student. Knowing where to find these resources eases the stress of providing technology support and allows faculty to focus on teaching.

Ms. Kim Evans and Mr. Kevin Pruyn Bouley, a.k.a. “K2”, provide technology training and support to Reynolds students, faculty and staff. Possessing over 20 years of combined experience in technology, multimedia and video production, they both train instructional and administrative technologies to those with varying skill levels in a professional manner. Extensive multimedia skills enable them to convey technology assistance, through both the written word and video production. And if you haven’t seen the Tech Training Roundup videos, visit this page on the college intranet!

12:15–12:30 p.m.

Lunch Break

Afternoon Sessions: Active Learning 12:30–1:30 p.m.

Socratic Questioning in the Online Environment Presented by Danette Burnette Using Socratic questioning in any classroom environment can be challenging, but the online environment presents a special range of obstacles. This presentation shares data from a pilot in online anatomy and physiology courses. The Socratic Questioning technique will be discussed along with ideas on implementation, grading, and building critical thinking in online students.

Dr. Danette Burnette has been professor of online anatomy and physiology for over 9 years with a total of teaching in the classroom and online for over 19 years. Fun Fact: Dr. Danette Burnette is the proudly overindulgent owner of a 20-pound pug dog name Roxanne, or Baby Pug.

1:45–2:45 p.m.

Faculty Challenge Grant Report: How Our Experience in a Single-Instructor Learning Community Helped Inform the New ENG 111/EDE 11 Course Presented by Jennifer Hitchcock and Rachel Jasiczek Dr. Jennifer Hitchcock and Dr. Rachel Jasiczek will share data on their experience teaching a single-instructor model for paired ENG 111 and ENF 3 courses during the Fall 2019 semester.

They will discuss how their experiences in the single-instructor model helped guide the English Direct Enrollment team while developing the new ENG 111/EDE 11 pairings. Additionally, Jennifer and Rachel will discuss writing samples and writing behaviors of EDE students to help faculty in other disciplines and advisors better under who our EDE students are and what expectations we can set for college-level writing.

Dr. Jennifer Hitchcock has been teaching ENG and EDE courses at Reynolds since 2018, and prior to joining the Reynolds faculty, she also taught composition courses at Northern Virginia Community College, George Mason University, American University, and Virginia Tech. Jennifer received her Ph.D. in English from Old Dominion University in 2020, and she currently serves as the EDE Team lead. In addition, she also serves on the English Assessment Committee, the Faculty Senate, the General Education Committee, and is the EDE Liaison for the Writing Studio.

Dr. Rachel Jasiczek has taught ENG and EDE courses at Reynolds since August 2018 and currently services as ENG Department Head. She also serves on the English Direct Enrollment committee and uses ACUE best practices in all of her courses.

Friday, May 7

Morning Sessions: Sharing our Research

9:30–9:35 a.m.

Welcome Announcements

9:35–10:10 a.m.

Entropy: What’s in a Name?

Presented by John Ochab The term “entropy” has created much controversy over the past hundred years on its interpretation, or miss-interpretation. In a book by Dr. Ariah Ben-Naim (Hebrew University), entitled “Entropy and the Second Law”, the author attempts to explain the meaning of entropy, to guide readers in its understanding, and to show how it relates to Shannon’s Measure of Information, of Uncertainty, and to the Second Law of Thermodynamics. In this talk I want to share some of the ideas presented in this book in order to remove any speculative interpretations of the term “entropy”.

Dr. John Ochab was born in suburban Boston. He received a B.A. in Biology and worked in biochemical research of the brain before changing career paths, obtaining M.A and Ph.D. degrees in physics, working in the semiconductor industry, and later turning to teaching. Fun Fact: Dr. John Ochab likes to play his Slingerland drum set on occasion and to hike VA trails with his wife, Helen, on weekends. Over the past three years, he has developed a keen interest in the foundation of quantum mechanics and other areas of theoretical physics.

10:15–10:50 a.m.

Online Engagement Tools: Zippity Zoom Presented by Elizabeth Benson & Kathy Larue This interactive presentation will share a number of free online engagement platforms and will demonstrate integrating them in Zoom and online asynchronous courses to engage students with course content and other learners.

Dr. Beth Bensen began working at Reynolds in January 2007. She is currently an English Professor and has been teaching distance learning courses for 13 years. She has also facilitated TOTAL workshops. Her research interests include multimodal composing, visual and digital rhetoric, and twenty-first century literacy practices, each of which has informed her online pedagogy and teaching practices. Additionally, she is a QM Reviewer and an ACCUE credentialed instructor.

Ms. Kathy Larue teaches CHD and EDU courses. She had been at Reynolds full time for 11 years and was an adjunct instructor for nine years before that. She completed ACUE with the second cohort and is a QM peer reviewer. She was skeptical of teaching in Zoom, but embraced the challenge and has enjoyed discovering ways to keep students engaged in a remote setting.

10:55–11:30 a.m.

Women Artists and the Holocaust Presented by Renee Garris By studying women artists from the Holocaust, we glimpse a world viewed through the eyes of survivors. Some of these women were not artists before World War II, while others looked to art to describe the unimaginable. The world will never fully grasp the enormity of the lost talent due to imprisonment or death of some of Europe’s most creative women. From architecture to photography, painting to sculpture, only a lucky few survived the almost total destruction of artistic pursuits during the Third Reich.

Ms. Renee Garris has been adjunct professor at Reynolds and now teaches full time at Germanna Community College. Her academic research interests include women’s roles in 20th century culture from World World I through the Vietnam era. Fun Fact: Ms. Renee Garris’s favorite snacks are dill pickles and potato chips. She also loves hot yoga.

11:35 a.m.–12 p.m.

Winners of the Reynolds student essay contest will share their winning essays.

Presented by Marianne McGhee

12–12:30 p.m.

Lunch Break

Afternoon Sessions: Engaging Courses 12:30–1:30 p.m.

Inclusive Teaching in the STEM Classroom Presented by Deborah Neely-Fisher This talk will present compelling evidence from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) on the value of Inclusive Teaching in STEM. Data from the ACUE modules plus personal teaching experience suggest that building an inclusive classroom environment not only motivates students to learn but also gives them the confidence to succeed.

These data suggest that students are more motivated to learn when we take the time to meet them, learn about them as individuals, and use hands-on activities to build community.

Ms. Deborah Neely-Fisher is a 30+ year veteran in the introductory biology classroom. She is an advocate for science education and inclusive teaching. Fun Fact: Ms. Deborah Neely-Fisher is a workaholic.

Seriously.

1:45–2:45 p.m.

Place-Based Student Research: A Richmond African American Google Tour Presented by Steven Brandon Building on the place-based pedagogy developed in the NEH grant Transforming the Humanities, this presentation shares a student researched, service-learning project in which students are developing a Richmond African American Google tour. The audience will receive a quick intro to Google Tour Builder, to place-based service learning, and to the Richmond African American Tour entries written by students. The aim of the presentation will be to offer attendees guide for incorporating place-based service learning projects into their own teaching.

Dr. Steve Brandon has taught at Reynolds for twelve years and continues to love the students, Reynolds, and the college’s mission. He teaches at both Parham and Downtown, and he teaching English from pre111 developmental courses to 200 level literature surveys; currently, he is working with the Early College Academy, the Advanced College Academy, and the Direct Enrollment pilot. Fun Fact: Dr. Steve Brandon had lost 100 plus pounds, gained it back, and has now returned to a sustainable, healthy diet and lifestyle.