Now more than ever, students are choosing to take their courses online, often enticed by access, flexibility, and the desire to continue their studies while working and raising families. As institutions and individual faculty members, we can collectively respond to this trend with well-designed courses that are delivered in engaging ways and that leverage evidence-based pedagogies for the virtual learning environment. During this workshop, specific approaches to structuring online courses that align with best practices for quality online teaching are shared. These approaches traverse Learning Management Systems such as Canvas, Blackboard, and D2L. Through hands-on activities, participants are exposed to examples and models that highlight several relevant and engaging delivery methods. The workshop ends with a summary of the next steps via an action plan that details what faculty can specifically do to develop their online courses.
Through four separate workshop modules, participants gain knowledge and skills to build their own HyFlex course using specific learning theories, instructional design models, and assessment frameworks that align with the flexible course modality. This workshop is designed for HyFlex beginners, but will be differentiated to also provide valuable insights to instructors who are already implementing the course modality. The goal of the workshop is to equip participants so they leave confident and satisfied they can effectively and efficiently implement HyFlex within their own courses.
Would you like to explore some strategies for fostering inclusiveness in online pedagogy? A growing body of literature highlights the need for faculty-student and student-student interaction in order to create an inclusive atmosphere and to establish a sense of belonging in the classroom. Differences in communication styles often pose some challenges in class participation, collaboration, and interpretation of information in an online environment. Cultural factors have a significant impact on students’ self-learning, group interaction, and communication styles. By creating an inclusive atmosphere, faculty can promote greater self-awareness, deepen intercultural sensitivity, and encourage meaningful interaction and collaboration among diverse groups. An understanding of diverse communication patterns is critical to the academic success of culturally and linguistically diverse student population.
Have you ever wished you could change your students’ attitudes toward more positive engagement in their learning? YOU CAN! The secret rests in appreciating that all of us have a profound impact upon the emotional state of the students that we engage with every day. Whether interacting with individuals or groups, the neuroscience is clear: The affective domain powerfully impacts student cognition, persistence, motivation, efficacy, and performance. During this multidimensional, highly-interactive, experiential, and fun workshop, participants explore ways to promote positive, enthusiastic, and engaged collaboration with their students. We also explore how to encourage student learning in a manner that maximizes motivation, a sense of inclusion, and improved equity within the learning environment!
Have you been scratching your head about how to rekindle students’ excitement about learning and increase their engagement with your course? This workshop not only expands participants' understanding of intrinsic motivation but also invites them to leverage this knowledge to best support their students. Participants walk away with a repertoire of quick, high-impact strategies that they can immediately implement in their college classrooms to activate autonomy, cultivate confidence, and boost belonging.
In addition to the opportunities and challenges that we experience by working in higher education, for the past two-plus years we have collectively experienced a global pandemic that changed the way that we work and live, often blurring the lines between work and "not work." The workshop facilitator, a behavioral neuroscientist and community college administrator, begins with an introduction to the origins of stress research and how the underlying biological mechanisms of stress impact our behaviors, moods, and health. By understanding that our bodies have evolved to deal with threats acutely, yet we have found ways to activate the same systems chronically, participants explore strategies for disrupting the maladaptive results of chronic stress. They also explore ways to adapt to successive Zoom meetings and sedentary work environments, engage in relaxation techniques and exercise, and plan their days to include self-care.
Everybody is doing it: Companies like Google provide professional development around mindfulness for their employees, professional athletes practice mindfulness, and even the military trains soldiers through mindfulness. A growing body of neuroscience and other research suggests that mindfulness also holds an array of benefits for higher education, including individual benefits (such as increased self-regulation, attention, and creativity) and communal benefits (such as the promise of more inclusive environments). When students are emotionally engaged in the classroom, they have a greater sense of belonging because content connects to their personal lives and academic pursuits. During this workshop, participants learn how to incorporate mindfulness into their classrooms to support student engagement and success.
This workshop introduces participants to the concept of trauma and resilience and allows them to explore their own experiences to provide a better sense of relatability. Learning these key principles can enhance wellbeing and is applicable to everyone. The process of learning can never occur without developing meaningful relationships. During the workshop, participants have the opportunity to learn more about themselves and the students they serve by assessing and understanding their own underlying trauma and vulnerabilities with a series of intentional activities and exercises. By evaluating and analyzing our own adverse childhood experiences, we are able to better empathize with those around us. By breaking down the wall between us and the individuals we work with, we can help them overcome barriers that may be standing in the way of them reaching their full potential. Recognizing this allows for better relationships, increased cognition, and enhanced learning transfer. Participants
This workshop provides participants with concrete tools for teaching critical-thinking skills while covering required course content. By the end of the workshop, participants are able to create lesson plans that enhance critical-thinking skills based on content from any discipline in the humanities or social sciences. Participants also learn how these skills can be easily and accurately measured.
Transforming the classroom environment from teacher-centered to learner-centered can be achieved by questioning traditional lecture and homework methods and integrating engaged-learning activities. This completely changes the classroom dynamics and makes students more responsible for their own learning. Student attendance, engagement, participation, and conceptual understanding sharply increase and result in vastly improved student-learning outcomes and student success. Come explore the possibilities offered by the flipped classroom model, engage with other participants, and leave with a variety of interactive engagement activities that can be implemented immediately.
