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Wednesday, May 31
9 - 11 a.m.
- Writing Prompts to Foster Classroom Creativity
Chris Gillen, Professor of Biology, Kenyon College
Alexandra Bradner, Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Kenyon College- Writing in response to prompts encourages students to engage actively with course content, to approach it from their own perspective, and to connect it to their personal interests. Moreover, writing during class may become particularly valuable as AI writing tools become more prevalent. In this hands-on workshop, we will examine how writing in the science classroom can foster creativity, deepen learning, improve communication, and promote inclusion.
Members of Kenyon College’s Science and Nature Writing Initiative will share writing prompts and associated classroom strategies that can be adapted to a variety of disciplines and learning settings. These writing activities require only small chunks of class time, so can be put into practice without major course redesign.
The workshop will provide opportunities for participants to explore how writing prompts might work in their classrooms. We will practice writing in response to sample prompts; we will develop new prompts for use in our own teaching and mentoring; and we will exchange ideas and feedback with each other.
- Writing in response to prompts encourages students to engage actively with course content, to approach it from their own perspective, and to connect it to their personal interests. Moreover, writing during class may become particularly valuable as AI writing tools become more prevalent. In this hands-on workshop, we will examine how writing in the science classroom can foster creativity, deepen learning, improve communication, and promote inclusion.
11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
- Creative Classrooms: Alternative Design and Assessment
Caitlyn Deeter, Educational Technology Associate, The College of Wooster- College courses don't have to be tedious — for you or your students! Reimagining your assessments (without reinventing the wheel) can not only create more accessible assignments but can allow you to think further outside the box. Start with an understanding of Cheater's Exams, and gamified assignments, look at the inclusion of a personalized classroom, and then get really creative with a gamified course design — it's easier than you think! Small changes can have a big impact on the experience of both you and your students as you move through the semester — why not get a little alternative and have some fun?
1:30 - 2:30 p.m.
- Keynote - The Burden is Your Gift: Pedagogical Lessons from Black Campus Life
Antar Tichavakunda, University of California, Santa Barbara
2:40 - 3:40 p.m.
- (Re)placing the Podium: Mediated Public Speaking as an Inclusive Practice
Jennifer Abbott, Professor of Rhetoric, Wabash College
Jordin Clark Visiting Assistant Professor of Rhetoric, Wabash College- Faculty at small liberal arts colleges have typically preferred for students to deliver class presentations in-person. Yet, this insistence ignores the prominence of mediated speech and presumes a one-size fits all model for student success. In our public speaking classes, we allowed students to record 1-2 speeches. Knowing our limitations in teaching mediated forms of delivery, we collaborated with our campus’ Educational Technologist, who introduced students to video editing. While he highlighted an institutionally available educational technology (Adobe Premiere Rush), students utilized any technology they wished. Many students opted to submit a recorded presentation. Though we feared the recordings would be poorer quality than in-person speeches, we discovered they often exceeded our expectations for three reasons. First, they allowed students to use their imagination and creativity with visual styles (including camera work, settings, and even animation), audio samples, and editing. Second, with editing and increased control, recordings offered students with significant communication apprehension or speech impairments an option to succeed, making the assignment more inclusive and equitable. Third, students afterwards reported feeling more intrinsically motivated to produce high-quality recordings compared to speaking in-person. In our presentation we will discuss the benefits of working with staff to encourage an array of approaches to public presentations that may or may not be a faculty members’ specialty; outline how video recordings offer flexibility, creativity, and inclusivity within public speaking; and open conversation to discuss further affordances and limitations of extending traditional speaking platforms toward mediated forms.
- Editing Wikipedia: Addressing Equity Gaps in the World’s Most Popular Encyclopedia
Katie Holt, Associate Professor of History; Latin American Studies Department Chair; Women's, Gender & Sexuality Studies Co-Chair; The College of Wooster
Emily Armour, Educational Technologist: Learning & Pedagogy Specialist, The College of Wooster- The English Wikipedia has more than 6 million articles, which might seem relatively complete, but subjects related to historically marginalized and underrepresented populations, regions, and topic areas need constant updating and expansion. You and your students can play a critical role in editing Wikipedia to ensure it is up-to-date, reliable, and above all, equitable.
My colleagues and I have incorporated writing and revising Wikipedia articles into a variety of courses and disciplines. Students identify articles that are missing or have equity and diversity gaps. Their assignment is to write and revise accurate, research-based articles with a neutral tone. Using real-time collaborative editing tools while writing for a global audience makes these assignments very powerful.
Faculty wishing to teach with Wikipedia don’t have to be editor experts. Educational technology staff have helped to guide and support faculty and students new to Wikipedia as well as assisted with coordinating edit-a-thon events to promote to campus the students’ efforts towards diversity and representation.
In addition, Wiki Education, a non-profit that hosts the Wikipedia Student Program, provides teaching resources for faculty, trainings for students, and a course Dashboard tool. Wikiedu staff members including their equity outreach coordinator have offered live sessions to recruit new faculty, especially those who teach courses related to race, gender, sexuality, disability and other equity-related disciplines, to teach with Wikipedia. I’ll share how collaborating with campus partners and leveraging Wikiedu resources has enabled me to craft authentic assignments that make an impact.
- The English Wikipedia has more than 6 million articles, which might seem relatively complete, but subjects related to historically marginalized and underrepresented populations, regions, and topic areas need constant updating and expansion. You and your students can play a critical role in editing Wikipedia to ensure it is up-to-date, reliable, and above all, equitable.
- Exploring Students’ Perception of Using a Hyper-video Annotation Tool for Video Discussions in Online Learning Environments
Daeyeoul Lee, Instructional Designer, Rider University
Heeyoung Kim, Director of faculty development, Rider University- Hyper-video annotations include individual notes in video artifacts and collaborative annotations in the form of replies or comments (Blau, Shamir-Inbal, & Yarkoni, 2018; Sauli, Cattaneo, & van der Meij, 2018). Hyper-video has been increasingly utilized in higher education settings. However, there is still limited understanding of best practices for using a hyper-video annotation tool in online learning environments. In this study, Annoto, a hyper-video annotation tool, was integrated into two courses at a private university. Students were asked to participate in video discussions by using Annoto. An open-ended question survey was sent to students who participated in the video discussions right after the week of discussion activity. Thirteen students responded to the survey and the response was coded by using the Constant Comparative Method. The present study identified the following codes: 1) Questions related to video content helped students better understand the material, motivated them to watch the entire video, and better engage with the video. 2) Interesting and easy-to-follow documentary videos helped students motivate themselves to watch the entire video. 3) Interaction with classmates while watching a video helped students develop ideas and get different perspectives from their peers. 4) The ability to see classmates' responses while watching a video helped students construct knowledge and keep them engaged. 5) The comments function in Annoto allowed students to interact with classmates, instructors, and video content, thereby improving student engagement.
Thursday, June 1
9 - 11 a.m.
- Writing What Works
Anna Scanlon, Writing Center Director, Kenyon College
- Faculty have come to the Kenyon writing center director, Anna Scanlon, to ask about ways to be more effective and efficient in supporting the writing of international students. This workshop takes up that idea, looking at how we can clearly and concisely articulate points about student writing to student writers with multi-lingual backgrounds. It focuses on some ways to take advantage of the writing experiences from which they may be coming. To do this work well, we will begin with a conversation about how international student writers experience Kenyon writing assignments.
This workshop will cover strategies for addressing how we can meet student needs both where they are and where we’d like to see them go, by looking at modifying both writing prompts and comments on drafts. It is a hands-on workshop using examples that I will provide both of “fictional” student writing and assignment templates. Also I will encourage faculty participants to bring along assignments and/or prompts they might want to analyze or adjust. Thinking about the perspective of the international student in the classroom also helps us think more inclusively about the language we use and the assignments we produce.
Attendees will leave with ideas about different types of writing cultures, strategies for addressing student needs from a variety of writing cultures, and resources for further support.
- Faculty have come to the Kenyon writing center director, Anna Scanlon, to ask about ways to be more effective and efficient in supporting the writing of international students. This workshop takes up that idea, looking at how we can clearly and concisely articulate points about student writing to student writers with multi-lingual backgrounds. It focuses on some ways to take advantage of the writing experiences from which they may be coming. To do this work well, we will begin with a conversation about how international student writers experience Kenyon writing assignments.
11:20 a.m. - 12 p.m.
- Student Agency in Learning through a Prospectus Assignment
Simon Garcia, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Kenyon College- A "student prospectus" is a structured, long-term assignment that builds on the "values-affirmation" strategy developed and popularized by social psychologists and educational leaders (e.g. Steele, Cohen, Verschelden). Students reflect on their personal values at the beginning of the semester. After practical instruction on how to express both the meaning and impact of their values, each student drafts narrative statements of their values, abilities, experiences, and aspirations. Throughout the course, they update these statements with examples of their work and behavior in course activities. The instructor assesses these statements on generalized criteria three times throughout the semester, offering each student feedback to make their statements meaningful and compelling to both themselves and others. Through this process the student perceives unconditional affirmation of their values by an authoritative figure, and gradually recognizes the expectations of their instructor; they may also perceive any gap between values and expectations and begin to negotiate. Conversely, the instructor gradually learns more about each student's self perception; they may also detect students' misconceptions about academic or professional success. This assignment can serve as a mechanism to incorporate student agency in their learning process, and as a differentiated assessment of multiple learning objectives. It is compatible with many practices labeled as "ungrading." I have implemented this assignment in chemistry courses taught at both introductory and advanced levels. This presentation will feature examples of instructional activities and related materials used to implement the assignment in an introductory chemistry course.
- Pleasure-Centered Holistic Productivity in Higher Ed: A Liberatory Praxis for Students, Staff and Faculty
Megan Pow Sheldon, Academic Coach and Peer Tutoring Center Coordinator, Champlain College- Well beyond a simplistic approach to "self care" is a land of mischievous, paradoxical work habits in which we center our own multiplicitous needs and desires as a focal point for what we work on, how, when, and why.
Many of us in higher ed — faculty, staff and students — have learned to rely primarily on our intellectual ways of knowing, and our productivity practices follow from there.
In this session, we will consider an alternative: an instinctive, tricksterish (and satisfyingly effective) approach to productivity — one that allows for magnificent achievements while freeing us from allegiance to the grind.
We will posit our own pleasure as a trustworthy set of professional guideposts, and from there we will explore the enlivening impacts of:
- meeting our sensorimotor and nervous system needs (including the need for real rest),
- tuning to our own executive function profile strengths to make our EF "weaknesses" less relevant,
- embracing sovereignty in our professional decision-making, and
- foregrounding our deepest values and tenderest, most visionary aspirations for ourselves and for the world.
All of this moves us toward the radical joy of doing the best work of our lives — as professors, as researchers, as writers, as students, and in other professional contexts — in ways that nourish us deeply, instead of leaving us depleted.
- Well beyond a simplistic approach to "self care" is a land of mischievous, paradoxical work habits in which we center our own multiplicitous needs and desires as a focal point for what we work on, how, when, and why.
1 - 2 p.m.
- Reflect & Connect: Building Social Emotional Learning into the College Classroom
Megan Dinnesen, Assistant Professor of Special Education, Mount St. Joseph University- The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) has identified 3 signature practices for supporting Social Emotional Learning (SEL) in classroom settings. These practices are relevant and recommended for learners of all ages, including adults. Incorporating SEL into classroom routines has benefits including increased academic achievement and decreased emotional stress. College students benefit from participating in classrooms incorporating the three signature practices. This presentation will highlight the first signature practice, Welcoming & Inclusion Activities, and provide examples of how I have incorporated this practice into my teaching and work with pre-service teachers.
- Faculty of Color Network
Simon Garcia, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Kenyon College
Irene López, Professor of Psychology, Kenyon College- When we ask “what works?” in education, one evidence-based answer is often overlooked: “have a more diverse faculty.” We report findings from a significant and growing body of research on the experiences of faculty of color; and demonstrate an online resource to navigate this literature. Compared with White colleagues, faculty of color are more likely to employ a wide range of pedagogical techniques, including experiential and discussion-based teaching, that prioritize critical thinking skills and consideration of multiple standpoints. They also are more likely to address cultural relevance and diversity-related issues in their subject more readily, and thus help to diversify the curriculum — even though the research shows that discussing such issues may come at a cost and lead to lower course evaluations. Outside of the classroom, students of color tend to rely on faculty of color to be role models and to provide culturally responsive mentoring; while offices tend to rely on them to instantiate institutional diversity and to detect tacit barriers to racial equity. These distinctive contributions require effort that competes with academic productivity and professional expectations, resulting in a “double bind.” At the same time, faculty of color contend with disparate workplace treatment by colleagues and students, which leads to social marginalization and amplifies feelings of invisibility, hypervisibility and exclusion. We have curated a bibliography of these findings at facultyofcolornetwork.com, and we invite teachers and educational leaders to use this literature to inform their action plans. We will solicit participants for feedback on the website’s Action Plan section. We also affirm a message for our fellow faculty of color: “We see you, we hear you, we recognize you — what you do is valuable and should be celebrated.”
- Nonviolence in the Inclusive Classroom
Jeffrey Reed, Jay Byron K. Trippet Assistant Professor of Religion, Wabash College- The philosophy of nonviolence informs pedagogical practices proven to be effective in cultivating equity, inclusion, and justice in college classrooms, especially around subjects requiring difficult dialogue. Powerful nonviolent teaching strategies include shared agreements, circles, the values exercise, and contemplative approaches to learning. Also paramount are frameworks for thinking about the nature of community, the levels and types of conflict, conflict’s inevitability for growth, and conflict de-escalation and resolution. What happens in the classroom becomes a model for students who carry these skills and vision into their campus and communities. I will detail these strategies and their results in courses I have taught in the first-year core experience, gender studies, and religion. I will also speak to the impact nonviolent pedagogy has had on campus beyond the confines of the classroom’s walls building momentum toward sustainability and institutionalization. I will address models of implementing nonviolence in schools used successfully elsewhere and provide resources for further training and faculty or staff professional development.
2:30 - 3 p.m.
- Transforming Institutional Culture: Teaching and Learning Together (TaLT) at Eastern Michigan University
Jeffrey L. Bernstein, Professor of Political Science and Director, Bruce K. Nelson Faculty Development Center, Eastern Michigan University
Sarah M. Ginsberg, Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders and Lead Faculty, Student-Faculty Partnership Initiative, Eastern Michigan University
Jessi Kwek, Undergraduate Assistant, Bruce K. Nelson Faculty Development Center, Eastern Michigan University
Lauren Silvia, Admissions Counselor, Defiance College
- Connecting students and faculty in partnership has long been part of the DNA at our institution. For a regional comprehensive institution, we have been able to provide many students the opportunity to work closely with faculty members in a variety of ways. However, in recent years, COVID and other significant societal upheavals have done damage to these partnerships on campus, as faculty and students sometimes struggle to pursue these relationships in light of the other pressures they face. We discuss a new initiative, which aims to explore and enhance pedagogical partnerships at Eastern Michigan University, called Teaching and Learning Together (TaLT). We will explore the issues that led us to develop TaLT, discuss the literature on this innovation, and talk about the process of implementing this idea on our campus. Our presentation will feature data we have derived from members of our Student/Faculty Learning Community, which will enable us to share what has worked thus far in our initiative. Our presentation will be interactive, as we aim to help participants think about how they might develop, or enhance, partnerships on their campuses, and to leave with some next steps for doing so.
Friday, June 2
9 - 10 a.m.
- Teaching the Digital: Scrolling, Re-mixing and Sampling
Maya Dodd, Associate Professor of Humanities & Languages, FLAME University- What does it mean to study the digital through reading versus scrolling? By immersing students in digital media to reflect on our times, a pedagogical adjustment was also needed for an accompanying understanding of the issues on their terms. The class I recently taught on digital cultures did not mandate textuality (in the way of most Humanities offerings) but instead offered choices to scroll, make and remix. We "read" and made podcasts, YouTube shorts and tweets to immersively listen, watch and react. I know this might seem irresponsible to some (making the readings optional) but it was an experience that factored in distraction, pandemic exhaustion, and a new phase in the attention economy to allow for a reflection of subjectivity in digital cultural choice making.
- Screencast Video for Feedback on Student Writing
David Thompson, Professor of Spanish, Luther College- The purpose of this presentation is to explore how screencast video recordings may improve feedback on student writing in undergraduate humanities courses. Among its many uses, screencasting software allows instructors to produce video recordings as they read and evaluate student writing. Instructors can highlight and mark up passages as they comment on particular features of student writing, and all of this is captured in a short video file that can be shared with students and saved for easy reference. After describing the process of providing screencast video feedback, the presentation will turn to how students engage feedback in this format and the potential contributions of this type of feedback to improve student writing skills.
- Making your Grade Book Work with your Grading Strategy
Emily Armour, Educational Technologist: Learning & Pedagogy Specialist, The College of Wooster
Missy Schen, Director of Educational Assessment, The College of Wooster- Are you a faculty member who is interested in adopting different grading strategies in order to offer more inclusive, creative, or flexible assessments? Perhaps you use your LMS for assignments and assessments and value the transparency and organization of the grade book, but aren’t sure how to implement options such as specifications grading or contract grading. Join us for a discussion of how to monitor student progress with your electronic gradebook and make your grading philosophy work.
10 - 11 a.m.
- Building Classroom Community and Connectedness
Nancy Bostrom, Associate Director of Assessment, Macalester College
Devavani Chatterjea, Professor of Biology, Macalester College
Bethany Miller, Director of Institutional Research and Assessment, Macalester College- Building a sense of community in the classroom supports engaged and effective student learning and bolsters holistic student success.
As we emerged from a year of isolation into a time of reconnection and return to in person learning and teaching, community and connection were even more on our minds. We focused on re-finding, reinforcing and rebuilding “classroom community” students’ sense of connectedness, belonging, and cooperative learning. How are students experiencing community and connectedness in our classrooms? Do students from groups historically excluded from belonging and flourishing in institutions of higher education experience community and connectedness in our classrooms differently? What classroom practices and tools can we use to build more equitable and inclusive classrooms?
We used surveys and facilitated interactive conversations in selected introductory, intermediate, and advanced courses across different academic disciplines at Macalester to hear from 400+ students: How connected to their classroom community did they feel? What can instructors and students do to improve connectedness and community?
We will share our process, results and lessons learned from our pilot project on building strong classroom communities.
- Building a sense of community in the classroom supports engaged and effective student learning and bolsters holistic student success.
1:30 - 3:30 p.m.
- Moodle Based Digital Escape Rooms
Caitlyn Deeter, Educational Technology Associate, The College of Wooster- Giving students a chance to have fun in their assessments, or have an alternative study method, while still moving through course content can be a great way to show their problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Where better to do that than in an escape room?
You won’t need fancy software or even a lot of technical skills to build your own digital escape room. It simply takes the H5P and Lesson plug-ins in Moodle and your students will be ready to get going on their own adventure!
- Giving students a chance to have fun in their assessments, or have an alternative study method, while still moving through course content can be a great way to show their problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Where better to do that than in an escape room?