Subscribe to RSS Feed (Opens in New Window)

Schedule
2014
Thursday, May 29th
9:15 AM

Partnering with Students

Dr. Peter Felten, Elon University

Dolan School of Business Dining Room (104A)

9:15 AM - 12:00 PM

Research demonstrates the importance of student engagement in learning. Faculty and colleges encourage that in diverse ways, including everything from undergraduate research to writing-intensive and community-based courses. What happens when go further, inviting students to join us in pedagogical planning and in research into how undergraduates learn? This interactive session will explore practical questions about and approaches to student-faculty partnerships in teaching and learning.

1:15 PM

Blogging Beyond Blackboard for Deeper Learning

Marie Hume, Sacred Heart University
Pilar Munday, Sacred Heart University

Dolan School of Business

1:15 PM - 2:15 PM

This presentation describes the integration of interactive technology into the undergraduate English and Foreign Language curriculum by utilizing blogging to deepen student learning. It will address how blogging, as a pedagogical tool, holds the potential to encourage active student engagement with text, with instructor and with peers, while helping to develop important critical thinking skills and reflective learning practices essential to empowering autonomous learners. Students engage in both internal and external debate about content and the platform for sharing it, while deciding about what is significant to include in the blog and how to develop an appropriate and creative post. Constructivist theorists such as Piaget and Vygotsky have largely influenced previous educational experiences of the current cohort of university students. Therefore, the use of available interactive technologies, such as blogging, which engage students in metacognitive and self-directed learning, will enable instructors to meet the challenges of teaching this generation of college students while aligning pedagogy with the highest orders of thinking identified in Bloom’s Taxonomy. Blogging on an external platform, in particular, allows for an authentic audience, greater flexibility to express creativity and skill development beyond digital writing - all identified as important 21st century skills. The blogs are a permanent repository of student work that provides for a wider sharing of knowledge beyond the confines of a Learning Management System such as Blackboard or Angel.

1:15 PM

CTL as Community of Practice for Mentoring: A Case Study

Patricia Calderwood, Fairfield University
Suzanna Klaf, Fairfield University

Dolan School of Business

1:15 PM - 2:15 PM

Centers for Teaching and Learning (CTL) have become important arenas of faculty development in teaching and scholarship on many campuses, educating and supporting faculty to become more expert in all aspects of teaching, and to become scholars of teaching and learning. We analyzed our CTL activity to discern how it fits a model for integrated mentoring within a community of practice (Smith, Calderwood, Dohm & Gill Lopez, (2013), the situated context for faculty work and for faculty development activity. The center facilitated dyadic, network and co-mentoring activity across its offerings, infused throughout the 3 conceptual models of faculty work predominant on our campus, with network building and co-mentoring relationships predominating. This study adds the notion of mentoring leadership to Smith et al.’s structural-functional model. Implications for CTL’s are that mentoring within a Community of Practice Framework is appealing and empowering to faculty and professional staff, economically sound and organizationally sustainable.

1:15 PM

Engaging Students in Virtual Classroom Spaces: Using Blackboard Collaborate for Teaching & Learning

Eileen O'Shea, Fairfield University
Mary Murphy, Fairfield University
Mary Kleps, Fairfield University

Dolan School of Business

1:15 PM - 2:15 PM

During this session participants will learn about the teaching and learning benefits of an online collaboration platform. The presenters will briefly share their experiences using Blackboard Collaborate in teaching nontraditional learners. This hands-on session will be conducted in its entirety using Blackboard Collaborate. All participants will have the opportunity to actively participate in this virtual classroom, interact with the presenters and peers within the session, and reflect on how virtual classrooms could apply to their teaching and learning practices. The session will be archived for later access and review.

2:30 PM

Becoming a Professional Agent of Change: The Use of Reflective Activities

Tara J. Glennon, Quinnipiac University
Francine Seruya, Quinnipiac University

Dolan School of Business

2:30 PM - 3:30 PM

Implementing online learning activities which are strategically designed to create agents of change requires planning and analysis by the faculty. This session will illustrate how the occupational therapy faculty at Quinnipiac University designed a series of reflective learning activities in a developmental- humanistic sequence to engage students in this process. The overarching theme focuses on how to be an effective agent of change within your profession and the communities within which you hope to serve.

This session will illustrate the series of activities designed to promote reflection, analysis, and strategic planning of one’s next professional steps. These include reflection of you and how your personal and professional skill sets match the needs of your profession and society as a whole; analysis and rethinking of your own professional identity; the creation of an eportfolio which includes all areas of scholarship (Boyer Model), service, and professional activities; a collection of activities to facilitate the creation of a professional development plan which outlines the specific steps needed to be an agent of change at the local, national, or global level; and the completion of a capstone experience which adds to the body of professional literature.

Participants will engage in a chosen reflective learning activity from the list above, discuss the critical thinking and analysis components of the task, and identify how this activity can be effective in their own online curriculum.

2:30 PM

Designing Authentic Assignments to Engage Students

Joan Clark, Fairfield University
Anita Fernandez, Fairfield University

Dolan School of Business

2:30 PM - 3:30 PM

This session will offer strategies to participants which will empower them to design authentic research assignments that engage students and encourage the development of critical thinking and information literacy skills. The presenters will share and discuss their collaboration at Fairfield University, as a member of the biology faculty and an instructional librarian, to design an authentic assignment on the topic of the regulation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) for an honors course that would incorporate information literacy skills. Participants will have the opportunity to analyze assignments and create their own authentic assignments using the concepts presented.

2:30 PM

Experiences and Difficulties in Assessing Diversity Learning Outcomes in Sociology

Lauren Sardi, Quinnipiac University
Stacy A. Missari, Quinnipiac University

Dolan School of Business

2:30 PM - 3:30 PM

As many colleges and universities across the country are moving toward assessment-based models of teaching, instructors are now being asked to provide greater amounts and types of data to demonstrate the achievement of student learning outcomes in various courses. As Quinnipiac University is no exception, its Sociology Department has been working through a two-year program review in which departmental learning outcomes were created by its members to reflect a number of university-wide learning outcomes. These learning outcomes were established in a number of competency areas such as Communication, Critical Thinking, and Diversity, and they were designed to be differently addressed and built upon across courses at the 100-, 200-, and 300-level. As an instructor of an Introduction to Sociology course during the Fall 2013 semester, I attempted to assess a 100-level course diversity learning outcome using a pre-test/post-test quasi study (N = 32) in which I assigned a WAC-based writing-to-learn (WTL) low-stakes writing assignment that was issued during the first week and last week of class. Students responded in class to the same prompt, and I was able to gather responses for a preliminary round of data collection. Changes from the pre- to post-tests were coded along a four-point scale to reflect excellent, fair, marginal, and poor responses. Results demonstrate that approximately half of the students (n = 18) acquired “excellent” or “fair” responses based on overall development and/or elaboration of response from pre-test. While simple analysis of results demonstrate a surface-level gain in disciplinary knowledge of diversity within a sociological context, difficulties in evaluating such assessment revolve around a number of issues, the most obvious one being how to assess knowledge gained when pre-test responses are already initially strong.

3:45 PM

Collaboration for a Curriculum of Caring

Paula Gill Lopez, Fairfield University
Emily Smith, Fairfield University

Dolan School of Business

3:45 PM - 4:45 PM

The proposed session shares a collaboration among faculty and students from School Psychology and English Education to collaboratively design, teach and evaluate standards-based English curricula that integrates social-emotional learning standards. Presenters will share our emerging collaborative curriculum—and the process we used to create it—and engage in a dialogue around questions and dilemmas that drive our work: How might we collaborate in higher education to prepare P-12 educators and support professionals to engage in collaborative practices that address issues of care? How might we re-imagine content classrooms as places where teachers and school psychologists collaborate to make care a central component of the curriculum, rather than a tangential strand woven in in the wake of unthinkable tragedy? What role might educator preparation programs play in facilitating this type of collaboration? Our presentation shares efforts to proactively and collaboratively create holistic curricula that integrate academic, social and emotional content.

3:45 PM

Digital Media: An Extension of Writing

Laura Marciano, Fairfield University
Michael DeStefano, Fairfield University

3:45 PM - 4:45 PM

We will present on the success of using the social media site Tumblr as a tool in the classroom for students to engage in visual mind mapping, image farming, video and sound sharing, personal and group design, e-portfolios, and digital composition. We will discuss the use of these digital tools as important components to writing personal and academic essays in the 21st Century classroom. We will also discuss issues of access, equity, literacy, and agency, when engaging digital media in the classroom, using both experience and theory in the discussion.

3:45 PM

Student Performance in an Introductory Statistics Course: Does Delivery Mode Matter?

Jonathan Haughton, Suffolk University
Alison Kelly, Suffolk University

Dolan School of Business

3:45 PM - 4:45 PM

Approximately 600 undergraduates completed an introductory statistics course in 2013 in one of two learning environments at Suffolk University, a mid-sized “balanced arts and sciences” university in Boston. The comparison group completed the course in a traditional classroom-based environment, whereas the treatment group completed the course in a flipped-hybrid environment, viewing lecture material online prior to once-a-week face-to-face meetings. After controlling for observable differences, students in the hybrid environment performed better on the common final exam; however, there were no significant differences in the final grades or student satisfaction between the two environments.

5:00 PM

Building Community by Creating a Culture of Recognition and Respect through Non-Academic Activities

Henriette M. Pranger, Goodwin College
Kelli Goodkowsky, Goodwin College
Debbie Rajaniemi, Goodwin College

Dolan School of Business

5:00 PM - 6:15 PM

Our poster depicts the collaborative efforts of Goodwin College’s administration and Faculty Senate to build community among faculty through non-academic activities. We hope poster viewers will consider what more they could do at their own institutions to create a culture of recognition and gratitude. Responses to an initial faculty work climate survey lead the Dean and Faculty Senate to review the literature on faculty rewards. They learned that a positive and productive work environment is characterized by respect for faculty contributions (Beer, 2010). Creating and committing time to become acquainted and to support each other’s work contributes to job satisfaction and overall personal well-being (Hargis and Gilbertson, 2010). As a result, the Senate created a Faculty Recognition Committee which manages a new wall to display and acknowledge faculty contributions. The committee organized a Faculty Gratitude Gathering in the fall for full-time faculty and a summer picnic for all faculty members. The College also organizes a community breakfast three times a year for the entire college. The Dean created a research corridor to display faculty and student scholarship. Weekly mailings to the college community highlight and thank faculty members for their individual contributions. The intention behind all these activities is to increase faculty satisfaction with their workplace, which in turn should increase collegiality and create a positive work climate. A positive work climate should empower faculty to focus on teaching and learning and foster relationships and resource sharing across departments. A second faculty climate survey will be administered in the fall to determine the impact of the College’s activities.

5:00 PM

Cuba through the Lens of the Health Sciences

Anna-Maria Aksan, Fairfield University

Dolan School of Business

5:00 PM - 6:15 PM

Students participate in a semester-long interdisciplinary course on Cuba which revolves around a one week trip to Havana halfway through the semester. Prior to travel the course is devoted to learning about Cuban history, US-Cuban relations, and understanding the Cuban economy, culture, and the overall context for the renown Cuban health care system. During the immersion trip students attend lectures by Cuban scholars and professionals related to site visits (health clinics, hospitals, medical and nursing schools). Students also attend cultural events to round out the academic experience. There is daily reflection through guided discussion and individual journaling. Post-travel, students complete an on-going independent research project and incorporate their travel experiences to supplement the literature review.

5:00 PM

Interprofessional Community-Based Service Learning Seminar

Tracy Van Oss, Quinnipiac University
Meghan McCaffrey, Quinnipiac University
Julie Booth, Quinnipiac University

Dolan School of Business

5:00 PM - 6:15 PM

The Interprofessional Community-Based Service Learning Seminars provided students with opportunities to collaborate on a community service learning project by working with, by and from each other. Students from multiple majors participated in a seminar with a focus on health, safety and/or wellness in the local community. Students worked together with various populations beginning with a needs assessment, planning and implementation of a health promotion program, and follow up after the program was completed. Various assignments including a reflection component throughout the experience were completed individually and collaboratively during the weeklong seminar. The feedback from the seminar was positive and there was a desire to shift this seminar to create a credit bearing course offering from the faculty, students, and administrators.

This course was set up to be a community service learning offering, however, it also encompassed a unique interprofessional focus unlike any existing service learning course. Learners were introduced to the Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice while learning about each other and the discipline s/he is pursuing in an interactive learning environment. Leaders emerged at various stages of development and implementation of the program. Upon completion of the seminar, the participants’ surveys reflected positive learning experiences both while working collaboratively with student peers and with the community partners.

5:00 PM

Intersections Of Teaching, Learning And Community Service

Stephanie Storms, Fairfield University
Melissa Quan, Fairfield University
Patricia Calderwood, Fairfield University

Dolan School of Business

5:00 PM - 6:15 PM

This poster invites examination of intersections of teaching and student learning outcomes arising from a service-learning course that supports undergraduate students to understand the social construction of teaching and learning, contribute to student learning in local schools and communities with diverse populations, understand the complexities of schooling from multiple insider perspectives, and engage in the process of discerning whether to pursue a career in education.

5:00 PM

The Flipped Literacy Lesson: Putting the responsibility of making meaning back into students’ hands

Robin James, Western Connecticut State University
Jennifer Menniti, Western Connecticut State University
Jessica O'Connell, Western Connecticut State University

Dolan School of Business

5:00 PM - 6:15 PM

This poster session will highlight specific applications of the flipped learning classroom approach to promote active reading in the elementary classroom. Screencasted, annotated lessons, online resources such as Khan Academy, Ted Ed, You Tube, Teacher Tube, Annenberg Media, etc. Teachers seeking student-centered, evidence-based reading strategies as per the ELA Common Core State Standards, will learn about an innovative way to increase depth of comprehension through student ownership of learning. Collaborative, problem based learning will play a key role in the classroom activity component. Classroom based research data demonstrating impact on student learning will be collaboratively analyzed by a research team of graduate students and higher education faculty.

5:00 PM

Twelve Tips for Improving the Effectiveness of Computer-Assisted Instruction

Steve Yavner, Fairfield University

Dolan School of Business

5:00 PM - 6:15 PM

The use of educational technology has a long history in medical education (Ellaway & Masters 2008). The use of web-based learning environments and tools has become pretty much de rigueur in many if not most medical schools today, but often with limited benefit to learners (Cook, 2009). The problem stems, we argue, from only asking, “What works?” and therefore relying on decontextualized evidence to inform the use of technology in complex educational environments. We should instead, we argue, follow the realist mantra of asking, “What works in this context with these learners at this time?” (Wong, Greenhalgh, Westhorp, & Pawson, 2012). Although our research is based on medical education, we believe that our conclusions are applicable to a broad spectrum of teaching and learning. These twelve tips represent a series of principles for the effective implementation (rather than design) of computer-assisted instructional materials.

12 Tips:

  1. Match CAI difficulty to your learners’ developmental level
  2. Minimize extraneous features that can inhibit learning
  3. Balance interactivity with cognitive load
  4. Provide rich feedback and guidance
  5. Maximize learner control and agency in using CAI
  6. Use CAI to enhance learning around as well as within it
  7. Clearly define and communicate the reasons for using CAI
  8. Integrate and make space for the CAI in the curriculum
  9. Be explicit about how using CAI relates to assessment
  10. Address faculty motives and perceptions
  11. Identify and mitigate issues that may diminish the effectiveness of using CAI
  12. Engage in quality monitoring and improvement

5:00 PM

Water: An Interdisciplinary Journey

L. Kraig Steffen, Fairfield University
Peter L. Bayers Dr., Fairfield University

Dolan School of Business

5:00 PM - 6:15 PM

Dr. Bayers and Steffen developed and delivered an interdisciplinary upper division honors course on water in the Fall 2013. Why Water? Why Now? And What did we do? This poster will present an overview of how the course was developed, what we had students do, and how they responded. Water is essential for life. Water can bring horrible death and destruction. Water is both everywhere and invisible in our modern world. This course explored the nature of water as a physical substance (Why does NASA spend millions looking everywhere for it?) and as a metaphor for living. Weaving together political science (who owns water?), literature (Hetch Hetchy, Land of Little Rain, sacred texts), cinema (NOVA-Earth From Space, Rango, others), and field trips to local watersheds, this course challenged students to come to a deeper understanding of how critical water is for human civilization and how viewing it from different perspectives allows for a fuller understanding of its importance. We will describe how the course was structured, challenges we faced, and the student response to this course.