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Conference Schedule

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You can find a detailed list of our conference schedule below by clicking each tab:

8:45am-9:00am

Words of Welcome

Ferlin McGaskey, Director of Professional Development, Teaching and Learning Innovation

Diane Kelly, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs

9:00am-10:00am

Morning Plenary Session: Relationship Rich Education— How Human Connections Drive Student Success

Dr. Peter Felten, 2023 Innovative Teaching and Learning Conference Keynote Speaker

“Decades of research demonstrate that the quality of student-faculty, student-staff, and student-student interactions are foundational to engaging, inclusive, and meaningful learning in higher education. Drawing on more than 400 interviews with students, faculty, and staff across U.S. higher education– including dozens for a forthcoming student guide to cultivating relationship-rich experiences. This session will explore interpersonal connections as a flexible, scalable, equitable, and humane approach to teaching and learning.”

10:10am-11:00am

High Impact Practices

(Roundtable)

Un-Learning to Re-Learn: The City as the Experiential Learning Classroom, A Discussion of the Framework and the Collaborative Journey of Neighborhood Mentors, Community Partners, and Undergraduate Students

Presented By: Alysa Handelman, Callie Henline, Isaiah Franco, Tunde Balogun, Morgan Roddy, Nathan Faulstich, and Arnise Wright, Wofford University, Tony Thomas, Northside Development Group, Freddie Douglas, Highland Neighborhood Wanda Cheeks-Holmes, City of Spartanburg’s Parks and Recreation, Toni Sutton, South Converse Neighborhood Association, Kayla Hill, United Way of the Piedmont, and Live Healthy Spartanburg

This roundtable introduces the framework of Wofford’s year-long community sustainability seminar in which students are tasked with collaboratively designing and implementing sustainable programming in partnership with local organizations and neighborhood mentors. Our processes of working together are grounded in Paulo Freire’s pedagogies of Popular Education, in which we work to make learning and engagement a partnership versus a hierarchy. Community partners, mentors, and Wofford sustainability students will share reflections on their learning journeys and the ways our partnerships have framed them. We will collaboratively reflect on the strengths, challenges, and future directions of our partnerships and invite session participants to ask questions and share other models as we (re)imagine the power of experiential learning when our classroom is the city and community residents and mentors are fellow teachers, learners, and collaborators.

10:10am-11:00am

Strategies that Foster Student Success and Well-Being

(Regular Presentation)

A Human-Centered Design Approach to Curriculum Revision

Presented By: Teresa Stephens, Medical University of South Carolina

This presentation will focus on a Human-Centered Design approach to a complete curriculum revision process for a fully online RN to BSN program. Our project, a component of an academic-practice partnership, explored the individual nurse-learner as the central focus in a systematic process, recognizing the shift in nursing education from episodic to transformative and collaborative care. The purpose of this project was to identify the unique needs of the associate degree new graduate nurse who is transitioning to practice while simultaneously completing a fully online RNBSN program and becoming socialized as a member of an interprofessional team.

10:10am-11:00am

High Impact Practices

(Regular Presentation)

Sprinting Towards Innovation: Utilizing Innovation Sprints for Experiential Learning

Presented By: Jessica Kruger, Hadar Borden, and Michelle Zafron, University of Buffalo

Innovation sprints are experiential learning opportunities that are tailored to the content of the curriculum. The sprints are designed to provide students a chance to practice their critical thinking and problem solving, and influence and persuade team members, by leveraging digital technology tools for oral and written presentations, all in an environment that emphasizes teamwork and collaboration. Innovation sprints provide students with a means to develop a broad range of knowledge and skills that lead to greater appreciation and articulation of career trajectory opportunities. This presentation will discuss the application and outcomes of implementing sprints in both undergraduate and graduate courses.

10:10am-11:00am

Inclusive Teaching Pedagogy

(Regular Presentation)

Supporting Autistic Students in the Classroom

Presented By: Evelyn Chiang

College instructors can enact intentional strategies to support autistic students in the classroom. Many of these strategies, as evidenced through a Universal Design for Learning approach, benefit their neurotypical peers as well. By understanding potential differences in communication, sensory experiences, processing time, and executive functioning, instructors can provide alternatives to traditional classroom practices that unintentionally present barriers to learning and engagement.

10:10am-11:00am

Emerging Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)

(Regular Presentation)

Faculty Stories of Appreciating UDL Implementation through Intentional and Innovative Course Redesign Practices

Presented By: Annjanette Bennar and Stephen Campbell, Goodwin University

Appreciative inquiry is a strength-based lens for reflecting on practice through discovering what is working well, dreaming what could be, designing what should be, and delivering what will be. This session will explore how an appreciative inquiry model was used as a lens for examining the implementation of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and in two very different college courses. The presenters will share their findings and reflections on the appreciative inquiry process to address learner variability by modifying their courses to increase student success.

10:10am-11:00am

Technology Innovations that Foster Deeper Learning

(Regular Presentation)

Reframing the Culture of Teaching into a Culture of Learning: e-Portfolios as a Reflective Education Model

Presented By: Amy Hall and Angela Haynes, University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Clinical educators have begun to focus on how to support students to be reflective, competent practitioners. Periodontal faculty developed a case-based e-portfolio system using the Bulb e-platform to facilitate a collaborative, reflective learning space for students to deepen learning through constructing case presentations, organizing professional development documents, and sharing research. Using principles of Backward Design, this learner-centered portfolio offers a chance for early recognition of learning gaps, provides consistent, timely feedback, and promotes learning long after the clinical encounters. This portfolio system offers a model for any discipline hoping to integrate professional development with program content.

10:10am 11:00am

High Impact Practices

(Regular Presentation)

Engaging Diverse Students in Action Research

Presented By: Janine Al-Aseer and Jordan Shields, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

In this session, you will learn high-impact practices to engage students across academic programs in action research. We will share our faculty experience working with undergraduate and graduate students and community partners to evaluate the implementation of a community-based education program. In this session, we will explore new, unique, and nontraditional approaches to action research within a service-learning context. Participants can expect to emerge with innovative skills and new ways of thinking about community-engaged research. This session is for those looking to think outside the box to engage students in enhanced learning and to better serve communities.

10:10am-11:00am

Strategies that Foster Student Success and Well-Being

(Regular Presentation)

Socially Just Leadership Practices to Enhance Student Learning and Success in Postsecondary Education

Presented By: Charlene Lewis, Knox County Schools

How do postsecondary institutions understand the competences/skills needed to improve the emotional and social intelligence of educators to provide critical and creative learning to students? Participants will examine how effective socially just leadership practices will enrich student learning and success in postsecondary education.

10:10am-12:00pm

Technology Innovations that

Foster Deeper Learning

(Workshop Presentation)

Using Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) to Enhance Online Learning and Engagement

Presented By: Adam Brimer, Brian Stevens, and Jason Greenway, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) is a powerful (and free!) web streaming tool that allows you to enhance the delivery and effectiveness of your online classes. Learn how to use the platform from experts in Technology-Enhanced Education in the Haslam College of Business who have proven and successful track records using it in online education. Additionally, you’ll learn best practices for teaching online using this powerful tool. Attendees will be given customizable video files that can be used with OBS to enhance the delivery of your own online classes.

10:10am-12:00pm

Technology Innovations that

Foster Deeper Learning

(Workshop Presentation)

Let’s Chat about ChatGPT – Ahead of the Game

Presented By: Laurie Coker and Elizabeth Gross, Sam Houston State University; Ayra Sundbom, North Carolina Wesleyan University

ChatGPT is an AI that provides a novel tool for learning and teaching across disciplines. ChatGPT uses natural language processing technology to generate text based on user input. How can we leverage its unique power? Through the lens of effective instructional design and a brief history of AI, participants will engage in dialogue about the uses of ChatGPT in teaching and learning practice. In a workshop format, participants will collaborate to explore innovative uses of ChatGPT for deeper learning in various topics. Participants will come away with actionable strategies and plans for immediate application.

11:10am-12:00pm

High Impact Practices

(Regular Presentation)

Building a Quality Assurance Program to Drive Continuous Online Course Improvement

Presented By: Cristina Emberton, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

After the immediate push for online course modality options in 2020, the need for online course quality assurance was catapulted into necessity across higher education institutions. The department of Online Learning and Academic Programs at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville launched an initiative to develop the Engaged Online Course Rubric (EOCR). This quality assurance guide supports faculty in creating and updating their online courses based on a set of standards designed to reinforce research-based engagement strategies, technology use, regular and substantive interaction, and accessibility standards. This presentation will reveal the coordinated effort from a cohort of experienced online UTK faculty and staff collaboratively reviewed current industry standards and created a custom rubric. We will reveal the collaboration elements, challenges we faced, successes and revelations about the process to finalize a set of 42 standards with annotations and examples. Faculty can utilize access to the quality assurance standards based on optional levels of review. These options will be demonstrated. Forecasted goals for quality assurance will be revealed. Some of these involve course management rubrics, delivery, and degree program quality standards. The presentation audience will have opportunities to ask questions and to discuss their own experience in quality assurance and the challenges they are facing in online course quality.

11:10am 12:00pm

Innovative Practices across Teaching Modalities

(Regular Presentation)

Collaborative Online International Learning Overview and Discussion

Presented By: Rachel Rui, Samara Madrid, Moonhee Cho, Hojung Kim, and Christina Jiminez, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

This workshop’s purpose is to provide an overview of Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), an innovative and inclusive teaching method, and provide a pathway for faculty interested in bringing COIL into their classrooms. COIL connects students and faculty members across the world by creating a shared experience to promote virtual and intercultural learning as part of their coursework. This workshop will start with a brief overview of COIL followed by four examples of COIL courses at UT (University of Tennessee). The audience will then participate in roundtable discussions led by faculty who have experience with COIL.

11:10am 12:00pm

Innovative Practices across Teaching Modalities

(Regular Presentation)

Participatory Action Research: Learning Communities of Quantitative and Qualitative Student Researchers

Presented By: Jennifer Bradham, Alysa Handelsman, Sarah Buckmaster, Drew Wilson, Anthony Tarulli, Mac Gavin, and Miles Havard, Wofford College

Research collaborators, Jennifer Bradham (Environmental Studies) and Alysa Handelsman (Anthropology), have created a learning community with their quantitative methods course (Bradham) and qualitative ethnographic research course (Handelsman). They are engaged in Participatory Action Research, which means they are doing research in collaboration with activist organizations in the Spartanburg community. Their students develop their skill set as researchers by supporting community-driven research projects, and students work across fields to teach each other and to gain hands-on experience putting quantitative data in dialogue with qualitative data and vice versa.

11:10am 12:00pm

Strategies that Foster Student Success and Well-Being

(Regular Presentation)

The Successful Design and Implementation of the Flipped Classroom

Presented By: Mia Romano, Katherine Bevins, and Maria Gallmeier, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

For this presentation, three foreign language coordinators will share the structures and strategies for flipped classroom design and implementation. To start, the presenters will define the flipped classroom and how to build a flipped course across teaching modalities. They will then describe what happens during class sessions, how to get student buy-in, and strategies for successful implementation. They will conclude with continued challenges to implementing a flipped course, and have the participants discuss current or future applicability in their classrooms. The presentation is for instructors whose courses are already flipped, will be flipped soon, or just wish to hear more.

11:10am 12:00pm

Strategies that Foster Student Success and Well-Being

(Regular Presentation)

The Student Cognition Toolbox: Improving Study Strategies Through an Interactive Online Undergraduate Mini-Course

Presented By: Lauren Kordonowy, and Jennifer Calawa, University of New Hampshire

Students often report using ineffective study strategies. In response, we developed an online, open resource: The Student Cognition Toolbox (SCT) mini course. The SCT instructs students about effective study strategies informed by cognitive science and engages them in interactive practice components to facilitate mastery. SCT Modules within the course cover retrieval practice, self-explanation, elaborative interrogation, worked examples, blocking, spacing, and interleaving. After conducting a tour and description of the SCT, we will explore how participants might develop a strategy for incorporating the SCT into courses they teach.

11:10am 12:00pm

Inclusive Teaching Pedagogy

(Regular Presentation)

Beyond Belonging: Creating Spaces for First-Generation Students to Flourish

Presented By: Stephanie Foote, John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education

While first-generation students comprise a sizable portion of student enrollment, little attention has been given to pedagogical approaches that can be used to meet the unique needs of these students. This session will focus on strategies and approaches that can be used to go beyond belonging to create truly inclusive academic experiences for first-generation students. Participants will leave the session with ideas they can incorporate immediately into their own courses and resources for continuous course improvement.

11:10am 12:00pm

Inclusive Teaching Pedagogy

(Regular Presentation)

“Diversity is Being Invited to the Party; Inclusion is Being Asked to Dance”: Evidence-Based Strategies for Creating an Inclusive Classroom

Presented By: Lisa Moyer and Skylar Harvey, Auburn University

Feeling included and part of campus culture helps college students navigate their college experience successfully. But research shows that many students feel excluded which puts them at risk for dropping out, mental health problems, and other issues (Faulkner et al. 2021). This interactive presentation will share evidence-based practices that can be put into place immediately and that promote inclusiveness for all types of students. An open dialogue for questions/answers will open and close the session, and resources will be available to all participants after the presentation.

11:10am-12:00pm

Inclusive Teaching Pedagogy

(Regular Presentation)

Open Spaces: Intentional Inclusion in Online Learning

Presented By: Holley Linkous and Barry Regan, Purdue University Global

In this session, we will discuss inclusive teaching practices for the target populations of military and indigenous students in a fully online learning environment. We will present on the learning environment at Purdue Global while narrowing the focus to include students outside the traditional student mold. Participants will learn ways to adapt strategies that cultivate self-directed learning with inclusive practices and understand why this is important for a successful learning experience.

11:10am-12:00pm

Innovative Practices across Teaching Modalities

(Regular Presentation)

Rethinking the Negative Stereotypes of College Student Course Evaluations: Opportunities and Perspectives Offered by Student Feedback

Presented By: Igor Akpovo, Jason Johnston, and Amy Billone, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; Reed Scull, University of Wyoming

In this session, four presenters provide multiple perspectives through which college student teaching evaluations are framed and interpreted: Jason Johnston draws on his experience in administrative leadership. Amy Billone draws from her experience teaching undergraduate students. Igor Akpovo draws from his experience as an instructional designer. Reed Scull draws from his experience teaching graduate students. We bring together our unique and multiple roles to rethink the negative stereotypes often associated with formal end-of-the year college student evaluations. The discussion will center on how to utilize new strategies and perspectives that formal teaching evaluation can offer if a new lens is taken and applied.

12:15pm-12:20pm

Greetings

Chris Lavan, Associate Vice Provost and Executive Director of Teaching and Learning

12:25pm-1:30pm

Afternoon Plenary Session: Learning and Relationships in (and beyond) our Courses

Dr. Peter Felten, 2023 Innovative Teaching and Learning Conference Keynote Speaker

“Our courses – whether face-to-face, online, or something in between – can and should be relationship-rich environments that enhance learning, motivation, and belonging for all students. This interactive workshop will focus on practical, research-informed approaches to cultivate educationally powerful student-student and student-faculty relationships in (and beyond) our courses – without requiring you to devote even more of your time and energy to your students.”

1:45pm – 2:45pm

Technology Innovations that

Foster Deeper Learning

(Poster Presentation)

Rock with it, Sway with it: Using Microsoft Sway to Present Psychological Concepts to Engage Learners

Presented By: Christy Cowan, Carrie Brown, and Linda Knieps, Western Governors University

This presentation will demonstrate the innovative use of Microsoft Sways to increase student engagement with multi-media learning materials. Sways are easy to create and provide engaging learning materials that are accessible and can be readily viewed on mobile devices. This presentation will show you how to design Sways that are engaging and promote learning for students on-the-go. Guidelines for optimizing accessibility will be discussed.

1:45pm – 2:45pm

Emerging Scholarship of

Teaching and Learning (SoTL)

(Poster Presentation)

Assessing the Impact of Drawing in Biology Lecture Classes on Student Learning

Presented By: Stephanie Madison, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Drawings are used in biology to represent structures, processes, and relationships. Drawings can range from completely instructor generated to completely learner generated. For my Scholarship of Teaching and Learning project, I am assessing the impact of drawing in biology lecture classes on student learning. Specifically, I am investigating student understanding of polymerization after having them draw the structures of proteins and nucleic acids and of cellular respiration and photosynthesis after having them draw abstract representations of the processes.

1:45pm – 2:45pm

High Impact Practices

(Poster Presentation)

Exploring Cohort based Research as a High Impact Practice in Teaching

Presented By: Michelle Childs and Christopher Sneed, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Involving undergraduates in research is critical to enrich learning and equip students with transferable skills with broad application. The Summer Undergraduate Research Group Experience (SURGE) is a cohort-based program offered at the University of Tennessee, where students engage in undergraduate research which is faculty-mentored research over the course of eight weeks during Summer. Over the past three summers, twenty-seven students have participated in projects focused on consumer behavior, behavioral economics, marketing, and food access. Best practices and innovative techniques that instructors found to be effective at engaging students in learning and executing research at the post-secondary education level will be presented. Strategies will be presented which can be implemented across disciplines.

1:45pm – 2:45pm

Innovative Practices across Teaching Modalities

(Poster Presentation)

Exploring the Introduction of a Gamified Grading System in an Undergraduate Course to Minimize Stress Due from Novelty

Presented By: Rachel Williams and Jedediah Blanton,

As researchers continue to understand the impact gamified grading has on student motivation and engagement, less is known about the novel effect of the grading system. The purposes of the current study were to (a) understand one teacher’s choice and intentions to integrate a gamified-graded system for an undergraduate elective course, (b) investigate the initial presentations of the grading system (GradeCraft), and (c) observe students’ initial reactions during the first two weeks of the semester. A directed content analysis of multiple artifacts (e.g., instructor interview, class observations, etc.) highlighted barriers around the introduction of a novel grading system.

1:45pm – 2:45pm

Innovative Practices across Teaching Modalities

(Poster Presentation)

Science Instructors’ New Pedagogical Practices after COVID-19 Pandemic

Presented By: Olena James and Anna Lennon, Belmont University

During Spring 2020, instructors had to transform their regular face-to-face classes to online. This shift has allowed instructors to examine online classrooms and their effectiveness. Quality online teaching requires choosing pedagogical practices that help students overcome inherent challenges. It is essential to understand how the rapid shift to online teaching has changed science instructor teaching practices to further develop best teaching practices for online classrooms. This presentation will explore how instructors drew upon their Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) in response to the transitions resulting from COVID-19 to foster new approaches to teach online.

1:45pm – 2:45pm

High Impact Practices

(Poster Presentation)

Immersive Case Studies: Being a Part of the Story

Presented By: Carole Shook, University of Arkansas

Immersive case studies are written or designed in a manner that students feel like they are a part of the case study, experiencing the emotions and environment of the moment. This session will share an example in cybersecurity, and how it was developed. Students can examine, discuss, or write about their assigned role, spend time discussing how the situation felt, detailing what they could do to think about the scenario differently. The session will provide how writing an immersive case study is conducted, student reactions, and improved student outcomes. Immersive case studies work well in most subjects.

1:45pm – 2:45pm

High Impact Practices

(Poster Presentation)

Reframing Student Directed Learning through High Impact Practices in a Composition Classroom

Presented By: Jay McMahan and Gracie Rossie, Walters State Community College

This poster reviews an ongoing TBR grant focused on the HIP (High Impact Practices) of Honors Education implemented in a composition 1020 classroom through a learner-driven capstone project. The poster reviews how the project was scaffolded through low and medium impact assignments, reflections, and presentation. In addition, it reviews sample student artifacts from the pilot. We will review the specific learning challenges we sought to address and qualitative and quantitative findings from the initial semester. Finally, we’ll discuss the process of applying for the grant, preparing, and piloting the class.

1:45pm – 2:45pm

Inclusive Teaching Pedagogy

(Poster Presentation)

Inclusive Pedagogy and an Ethics of Care

Presented By: Michelle Weedman, Knoxville Catholic High School

One of the struggles of inclusive teaching is overcoming deontological pedagogical practices. Because these practices, which tend to emphasize knowledge transference that leads to high performance on standardized tests, tend to function on strategies for acquiring and retaining that information without regard for moral formation necessary for community development. These morally neutral pedagogical approaches create a challenge for inclusive pedagogical strategies. I will argue that the Ethics of Care theory offers a moral framework that builds on traditional aims of education but adds the principle of empathy as a key aim that leads towards community.

3:00pm – 3:50pm

Inclusive Teaching Pedagogy

(Regular Presentation)

Success for All: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Practices that Increase Success for All Students

Presented By: Jessica Osborne, University of Mississippi

Supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion is a critical component of student success, and not just for students within marginalized populations. Understanding student experiences, incorporating inclusive teaching practices, and fostering an inclusive culture are key components of success for all students. This session discusses how DEI tenants and inclusive teaching practices impact student success through a circular relationship: inclusive practices create inclusive communities, fostering student belonging and success. This session includes a brief review of the literature and findings from several studies focused on the connection between student success and DEI efforts.

3:00pm – 3:50pm

High Impact Practices

(Regular Presentation)

From Aloofness to Awareness: Rethinking Assessment Strategies to Increase Student Engagement and Motivation Through Gamification Ungrading

Presented By: Michelle Corvette, Kent State University; Sarah Andreas, Kent State University, Tuscarawas

Sustaining student motivation about learning and engaging them in classrooms can be arduous with various distractions vying for their attention. Implementing gamification ungrading assessment strategies helps transform courses into exciting, challenging, and achievable opportunities for growth. Gamification ungrading is a set of practices that explore students’ self-determination and agency in the course through applied Universal Design Principles emphasizing multiple pathways for success and engagement promoting equity and inclusion for diverse learners. Join us as we explore the possibilities of gamification ungrading to help reduce negative student emotions, increase student focus on learning, and increase students’ actual learning in the classroom.

3:00pm – 3:50pm

Inclusive Teaching Pedagogy

(Regular Presentation)

Engaging Online Learning: Intentionally Supporting Students’ Self-Determination through Inclusive Pedagogy

Presented By: Robert LeGary Jr., Goodwin University

Postsecondary online learning presents challenges with engaging and motivating students actively, collaboratively, and intentionally. This presentation will discuss and share the self-determination strategies that are aligned with the Universal Design for Learning Engagement guidelines to cultivate student choice, collaboration, autonomy and self-regulation through inclusive teaching methods, materials, and assessments in an online learning environment. Recommendations for practice will include inclusive formative assessments, peer review and small group activities, scaffolded assignments, and instructor feedback videos to promote self-determination and motivate online learners.

3:00pm – 3:50pm

Innovative Practices across Teaching Modalities

(Regular Presentation)

Scaffolding Assignments and Group Work to Maximize Learning in a Mini-Term Course

Presented By: Bonnie Daniel, University of Tennessee, Martin

This interactive presentation will provide an overview of how pairing scaffolded assignments with group work enhanced learning in a seven-week, mini-term. Instead of approaching course objectives as discreet units, instructors can scaffold assignments to enable students to build on prior learning and gain confidence with new content over a semester. Likewise, group work in an online course enables student-student interaction to enhance understanding of concepts. Participants will consider classes and/or class assignments that might benefit from this approach and how faculty can incorporate these strategies to accommodate factors such as content type and course size.

3:00pm – 3:50pm

High Impact Practices

(Regular Presentation)

Student/Faculty Partnership: Including Student Perspectives with Pedagogical Goals

Presented By: Daniel Guberman, Kirtee Ramo, Kal Holder, and Kelsey Smart, Purdue University

Student/faculty partnership addresses the emerging centrality of relationships in high-impact practices (Felten & Lambert 2020) and seeks to alter the power dynamic between faculty and students. This approach establishes a partnership to provide faculty members with key insights from a student perspective, enabling productive and inclusive practices to be assessed. Current student partners will share their experiences in partnership, with a focus on the benefits experienced by faculty who engage with it. By reflecting on how to better involve students in learning, participants will understand how a student partnership may benefit them, and what types of pedagogical questions can be explored.

3:00pm – 3:50pm

Strategies that Foster Student Success and Well-Being

(Regular Presentation)

It Starts with Us

Presented By: Javiette Samuel and Sherley Cruz, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Holistic development is vital for students, faculty, and staff. Today’s students are experiencing high levels of stress and anxiety. Faculty are also under enormous pressure to provide high-quality education while balancing personal and professional lives. Indeed, it is difficult to be fully present, engaged, and available for students if faculty members themselves have unmet needs. While this phenomenon isn’t unique to educators in the Academy, it is exacerbated for underrepresented faculty. Faculty wellness impacts students’ ability to learn and classroom success. This session will demonstrate why faculty wellness informs student wellness and provide tools to improve faculty wellness practices.

3:00pm – 3:50pm

Emerging Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)

(Regular Presentation)

Team-Based Learning and Student Success in Gen Ed and Upper-Level Courses

Presented By: Stacey Floyd and Corri Miller, Tiffin University

This session will present a basic overview of the team-based learning pedagogy and share two different syllabus designs that incorporate team-based learning to semester courses, one first-year writing and one two-hundred-level management. Presenters will show how the TBL (Team Based Learning) pedagogy improved DWF (Drop Withdraw Fail) rates over two years as well as offer specific types of activities.

3:00pm – 3:50pm

Strategies that Foster Student Success and Well-Being

(Regular Presentation)

Establishing a Peer Learning Assistant Program in a Large-Enrollment Science Course

Presented By: Caroline Wienhold, Zachery Rivera, Kate Ward, and Peyton Lollar, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

The General Biology program at UT, Knoxville, recently established a peer learning assistant (PLA) program in its large-enrollment introductory biology courses. Our program pairs former undergraduates with instructors to form collaborative support teams offering peer facilitation during lecture, and peer-led supplementary out-of-class practice sessions. During this presentation, Program Coordinators from Biology and Academic Success, and current PLAs (Peer Learning Assistants), will describe how the program functions for our teaching teams of 14 instructors, 14 PLAs, and 2500 students. We will also share ongoing data collection efforts regarding student participation, student qualitative evaluation of the program, impact on final grades, and instructor feedback.

3:00pm – 4:50pm

Technology Innovations that Foster Deeper Learning

(Workshop Presentation)

Game Design for Creative Learning

Presented By: Laurent Zunino and Cary Staples, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

This workshop proposes a reflection on game design and Gamified Learning. It considers new ways of approaching productive collaboration, creative problem-solving, and analysis of systems during game creation. Participants will investigate the content, reorganize, and prioritize, and identify the required information to be processed in familiar games to create unique juxtapositions. The presenters will share examples of games created with students, discuss the learning benefits, and let the participants work in teams to organize content and create a prototype of their game. No drawing or coding exercises will be required.

3:00pm – 4:50pm

Inclusive Teaching Pedagogy

(Workshop Presentation)

Operationalizing Critical Love in the Classroom

Presented By: Mary McMillan Terry, Jay Bulter, and Francheska Starks, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Critical love theories abound in education research, such as: armed love (Freire, 1998), revolutionary love (Johnson et al., 2018), radical love (Reyes, et al., 2018). These conceptions inform our definition of critical love theory for this workshop. In it, we will explore how this expansive concept can be operationalized in higher education as a tool for addressing the dehumanization of historically marginalized students. Participants will learn critical love praxis (defined as strategies that demonstrate educator critical reflexivity, promote collectivism, and support social justice, and enact care for historically marginalized communities). Participants will practice critical love approaches for classrooms across disciplines.

3:00pm – 4:50pm

High Impact Practices

(Workshop Presentation)

AI Tools in Higher Education and College Writing: Challenges and Opportunities

Presented By: Kirsten Benson, Jason Johnston, Dawn Coleman, Lucy Jewel, Anne Langendorfer, Rosie Sasso, and Shaun McComas, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; John B. Nash, University of Kentucky; Bettyjo Bouchey, National Louis University; Bing Chat (aka “Sydney”)

This roundtable explores the potentially disruptive and revolutionary impacts AI tools may have on higher education and on college-level writing, writing instruction, and how we prepare students to enter the evolving workplace. We will explore the capabilities of ChatGPT and other AI tools; the threats, challenges, and concerns their use presents to higher education, including its mission to prepare students for their future careers; how we might draw upon existing successful approaches to fostering deeper learning to meet those challenges; and where we can go from here.

4:00pm – 4:50pm

Emerging Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)

(Regular Presentation)

Case Study Exams Decreased Test Anxiety in a General Biology Class

Presented By: Daiane S. Alves, Bella Marks, Austin Windsor, and Christopher Kilgore, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Students often experience feelings of anxiety when completing summative assessments in the classroom. We investigated how student anxiety levels might be affected if a quiz was delivered in a case study format, rather than traditional assessments. Students volunteered to complete a short survey that asked them to quantify their anxiety levels during previous quizzes and the case study quiz. It was found that students reported lower anxiety levels during the case study quiz compared to previous quizzes. This finding supports the idea that students have a more positive learning experience if case studies are utilized more frequently.

4:00pm – 4:50pm

Inclusive Teaching Pedagogy

(Regular Presentation)

(Don’t) Let Them Speak: Breaking Everyday Oppressive Language Use in Higher Education

Presented By: Genesia Bowling-Kilgore and Katie Williams, University of Pikeville

Use of oppressive based language in the teaching and learning process causes harm to students by micro-assaulting them based on their visible and invisible identities. Language can be, and should be, utilized to empower, focus on strengths, honor history, and respect contemporary context. Educators play a key role in this process through modeling anti-oppressive language. This session will help the educator take inventory of their own language use and provide examples of best practices in how to avoid the use of oppression-based language.

4:00pm – 4:50pm

Strategies that Foster Student Success and Well-Being

(Regular Presentation)

Wellness@Walters: A Division-Wide Wellness Initiative to Support Student Success

Presented By: Whitney Jarnigan, Terry Rawlinson, and Jacquelyn Larson, Walters State Community College

In this session, you will learn about Wellness@Walters, a division-wide initiative developed to educate students about wellness and engage them in activities that promote overall well-being. We describe the program’s rationale, based on an eight-pillar model and the implementation process. You will also hear from two professors who planned and carried out wellness activities in their classes. As a result of participating in this session, we hope you will gain knowledge about how to help students and you become healthier, happier, and more likely to achieve academic and career goals.

4:00pm – 4:50pm

Strategies that Foster Student Success and Well-Being

(Regular Presentation)

Four Ways of Communication to Promote Equity

Presented By: Hakem Oliver, Mason High School

Four ways of communication include verbal, body language, written, and energy. We are going to break down each communication avenue through role-playing. In this session, learners will be able to build communication skills that will provide students with an equitable experience. The diversity tools presented in this experience will enhance the culture of your campus.

4:00pm – 4:50pm

High Impact Practices

(Regular Presentation)

Interact-to-Innovate: Incorporating Deliberative Pedagogy for High Impact Curriculums

Presented By: Windy Lawrence and Michelle Duvall, University of Houston, Downtown

In 2016, I designed an innovative, pedagogical framework, “Interact-to-Innovate (I-to-I),” which incorporates the best practices in deliberative pedagogy and public action into a high-impact curriculum. For my presentation, I will present the piloted framework and our learnings from adapting it over five years, in six different disciplines across my university. The intended audience is post-secondary educators interested in effective, high-impact practices. The main points include an introduction to deliberative pedagogy as a high impact practice, description of the “I-to-I” framework and its development, discussion of assessment methods and findings, and suggestions for strategies to implement across disciplines.

4:00pm – 4:50pm

Strategies that Foster Student Success and Well-Being

(Roundtable Presentation)

Ungrading as a Pedagogical Approach to Support Students

Presented By: Heather Leslie, University of San Diego and Tyler Watts, Southern Wesleyan University

While student well-being and success have always been important in higher education, the COVID pandemic heightened awareness of students’ struggles in overall well-being and the direct link to student success. This round table will focus on ungrading and its emergence as a pedagogical approach that can support student well-being and success in the classroom. The aim of the roundtable will be to explore how ungrading can reduce student anxiety, shift the focus from grades to learning (providing a safe space to make mistakes), and provide more opportunity for reflection and metacognition (thus realizing the personal value in each course).