Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion work can be unwieldy, exhausting, and hard to prioritize in the flood of the everyday. It’s essential to learn a
new way to think about DEI work, to make it more actionable and more satisfying so you can see and quantify the differences made in people’s lives.
Consider this your “how to” program! This 20-Minute Mentor provides strategies for narrowing and prioritizing your DEI work, identifying what success looks like, and even finding time to celebrate those successes.
Upon completion of this program, you’ll be able to:
• Identify the struggle in making progress in DEI work
• Follow a multi-step process for narrowing DEI work from a huge multi-generational project into weekly tasks
• Recognize ways to prioritize and celebrate the work
• Keep the process going long term
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion work can be unwieldy, exhausting, and hard to prioritize in the flood of the everyday. It’s essential to learn a
new way to think about DEI work, to make it more actionable and more satisfying so you can see and quantify the differences made in people’s lives.
Consider this your “how to” program! This 20-Minute Mentor provides strategies for narrowing and prioritizing your DEI work, identifying what success looks like, and even finding time to celebrate those successes.
Upon completion of this program, you’ll be able to:
• Identify the struggle in making progress in DEI work
• Follow a multi-step process for narrowing DEI work from a huge multi-generational project into weekly tasks
• Recognize ways to prioritize and celebrate the work
• Keep the process going long term
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion work can be unwieldy, exhausting, and hard to prioritize in the flood of the everyday. It’s essential to learn a
new way to think about DEI work, to make it more actionable and more satisfying so you can see and quantify the differences made in people’s lives.
Consider this your “how to” program! This 20-Minute Mentor provides strategies for narrowing and prioritizing your DEI work, identifying what success looks like, and even finding time to celebrate those successes.
Upon completion of this program, you’ll be able to:
• Identify the struggle in making progress in DEI work
• Follow a multi-step process for narrowing DEI work from a huge multi-generational project into weekly tasks
• Recognize ways to prioritize and celebrate the work
• Keep the process going long term
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion work can be unwieldy, exhausting, and hard to prioritize in the flood of the everyday. It’s essential to learn a
new way to think about DEI work, to make it more actionable and more satisfying so you can see and quantify the differences made in people’s lives.
Consider this your “how to” program! This 20-Minute Mentor provides strategies for narrowing and prioritizing your DEI work, identifying what success looks like, and even finding time to celebrate those successes.
Upon completion of this program, you’ll be able to:
• Identify the struggle in making progress in DEI work
• Follow a multi-step process for narrowing DEI work from a huge multi-generational project into weekly tasks
• Recognize ways to prioritize and celebrate the work
Greetings and salutations, friends and colleagues,
Welcome to April, a month that, in a nod to T.S. Eliot’s epic The Waste Land, an esteemed late colleague of ours – former Director of the Honors Program, Mike Daher – often referred to as “the cruelest month.” Between the tantalizing but not yet fully realized promise of warmer temperatures and the final crunch of winter term – doing all that we can to shepherd as many of our students through to a successful conclusion – it almost seems as if Eliot specifically had a certain community college in Michigan in mind when he penned this line.
As we begin this final leg of the semester, this week’s Monday Morning Mentor focuses on translating strategies from a F2F modality – namely, classroom assessment techniques (CATs) – to the online environment. As usual, this presentation is available on-demand through midnight this Sunday, April 9, and login details are provided below.
Next, here is one last reminder that The Fourth Annual Black Male Retention, Success, and Best Practice Conference will be held at HFC this Friday, April 7, 2023 (8:00-5:00). Once again, we do hope that you can make some time to attend this important event. Programming and registration information is supplied below.
Though it is a bit further off, June will also be upon us sooner than we realize, and recent LAND conference attendees have indicated that “The Grading Conference” is definitely a worthwhile event. It is virtual with a registration fee of only $50, and this year it takes place June 9 and 10. Below, you will find further details.
Finally, once more, please remember that the Michigan, College, University, Partnership (MiCUP) at Lawrence Technological University has been running immersive, in-person sessions for instructors this semester as well, examining how students are learning through authentic scientific experiments in the classroom. Though two of these have already passed, one more remains on Friday, April 21. This final session will be held in the same location as the first two – on HFC’s campus in room J-110. Scott Corp, project coordinator, has provided a flyer for these events, which is posted on the CTEI Moodle hub and is accessible here through this link.
Meanwhile, although I close with the samse sentiment each week, it still always seems to bear repeating – please never hesitate to e-mail either or both of us if you have any questions or recommendations.
Upcoming Events
Event
Description
Time/Date
Link
Monday Morning Mentor
How Can I Adapt 5 Popular Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) to the Online Classroom?
Coming off a St. Patrick’s Day weekend, here’s hopin’ that no one is residually feeling…um…shall we just say, too “green.” 😜💚 Speaking of St. Patty’s Day, let’s all congratulate our students and faculty in 5101 for a beautiful Irish-themed buffet, over which Rosemary and I enjoyed a CTEI planning luncheon last Wednesday. Finally, on one last important note, before we get down to CTEI business here in this week’s Digest, we would be remiss if we failed to give a shout-out to HFC’s own men’s basketball team, who, on the heels of a fantastic season, enter the NJCAA National Championship Tournament tomorrow in Danville, IL, as the nation’s #3-seeded team. GO HAWKS!
As for upcoming CTEI programming, this week’s Monday Morning Mentor examines the topic of grading – how to do it more quickly and efficiently while having a more significant impact on student learning. This week’s clip is available today through midnight this Sunday, March 26, and as always, log in details are provided below.
Next, we are delighted to be joined by Tazeen Ayub for our next Teamwork Tuesday, which will occur tomorrow at 2 p.m. Tazeen is a recent recipient of a fellowship with the Detroit Equity Action Lab (DEAL). During this week’s session, she will discuss the great work that she has been doing with this group and share what she has learned. As usual, you can join in on the conversation in-person in the CTEI Hyflex Room (N-01) or via the Zoom link below.
We are also excited to remind you once again that The Fourth Annual Black Male Retention, Success, and Best Practice Conference will be held at HFC on Friday, April 7, 2023 (8:00-5:00). We hope that you can find the time to attend – and possibly even present at – this event. While the call for papers officially expired on March 11, if you wish to offer a talk, there is still a chance that this due date could be extended for another few days – but I would recommend acting fast if you still hope to speak at this conference. Please refer to the additional information supplied below for proposals and event registration.
Meanwhile, Academic Impressions offers a free webcast on March 29 titled Future Trends in Higher Education — Defining the Impact of the Metaverse in Higher Education. More specifics and a registration link are supplied below.
Similarly, though it may seem a long way off, June will be here before we know it, and we have been informed by recent LAND conference attendees that “The Grading Conference” is definitely a worthwhile event. It is virtual with a registration fee of only $50, and this year it takes place on June 9 and 10. Below, you will find further details.
Finally, please remember that the Michigan College, University, Partnership (MiCUP) at Lawrence Technological University will also run immersive in-person sessions for instructors, examining how students learn through authentic scientific experiments in the classroom. Though the first of these has already passed, two more are still upcoming, with the next taking place this Friday, March 24. Both remaining sessions will be held on HFC’s campus in room J-110. Scott Corp, project coordinator, has provided a flyer for these events, posted on the CTEI Moodle hub and accessible here through this link.
As usual, please e-mail either of us if you have any questions or recommendations.
As we begin this final week of classes before spring break, we hope that you and your students are coasting into this midway point of the semester smoothly. Brief programming note: as you might imagine, due to the break next week, you will not see a Digest in your e-mailbox on March 6. “Publication,” of course, will resume on Monday, March 13, which is when you will receive the next edition.
With this in mind, you will find highlights for the next two weeks’ Monday Morning Mentors here this week. To date, however, Magna has only provided the password for the current clip. Accordingly, while I will not distribute a full version of the Digest until after the break, for all who may want to view next week’s MMM, I will send along a brief message solely forwarding the corresponding password once it is provided to me.
This week’s online tutorial explores the question: “What Are 7 Ways to Assess Students in an Ungraded Classroom?” It will be available today through March 5, and all pertinent details are provided below. Then, next week’s video asks, “What Can Engagement in Games Teach Me About Engagement in My Courses?” You will subsequently have access to that clip from midnight on March 6 through midnight on March 12.
Next, please join us tomorrow at 3 p.m. – either virtually or in person – as we host our second Teamwork Tuesday of the semester. This one will focus on the Critical Thinking Institutional Learning Outcome, and it will be led by CASL co-chairs Ruth Haller, Jolie Stepaniak, Deb Zopf and Bob James. More details are available below.
Meanwhile, a common theme in the Digest this semester – and one that appears to be creeping into many corners of our lives – consists of dissecting the details emerging each week about exponentially unfolding advancements in AI, not the least of which is the large language model (LLM) known as ChatGPT. If you don’t know already, this interface is essentially a “chatbot on steroids” – one that, according to a recent edition of NPR’s 1a, has proven capable of passing both a final licensing exam required to become a medical doctor and the comprehensive exam administered toward the conclusion of the MBA program at the Wharton School of Business. With all of this in mind, Rosemary and I intend to share a series of programming on this topic as it evolves throughout the rest of this semester, into the fall semester and beyond. One such forum takes place this Thursday and is hosted by the company behind Hypothesis, a social/digital annotation application that several of us here at HFC are piloting this semester. Details on how to attend this free, virtual session are supplied below.
Likewise, while it is still a few months off, we have heard from attendees at the recent LAND conference that “The Grading Conference” is also worth your while to attend. It is virtual with a registration fee of only $50, and this year it takes place June 9 and 10. Bellow, you will find further details as well.
Finally, once more, applications for the Library Book Improvement Fund are still being accepted, and this form will remain available on the CTEI Moodle Hub through the March 6 deadline. Any interested parties should complete this document and submit it via e-mail to Ruth Ann Schmitt and/or Tessa Betts. Also, please remember that Michigan, College, University, Partnership (MiCUP) at Lawrence Technological University will be running immersive in-person sessions for instructors as well, examining how students are learning through authentic scientific experiments in the classroom. Though the first of these has already passed, two more are scheduled after spring break, and all of them will be held on HFC’s campus in room J-110. Scott Corp, project coordinator, has provided a flyer for these events, which is posted on the CTEI Moodle hub and here through this link.
Whether it involves catching up on grading or catching some rays in a tropical location, we sincerely hope that you enjoy a safe and peaceful spring break, and as always, we welcome your questions and suggestions. To that end, if you have any to share, please never hesitate to e-mail either or both of us.
Upcoming Events
Event
Description
Time/Date
Link
Monday Morning Mentor
What Are 7 Ways to Assess Students in an Ungraded Classroom?
With just two weeks left until break, it really is beginning to feel a lot like spring around here, isn’t it? I’m reluctant to get too optimistic – we all know just how fickle Michigan weather can be – but I can’t help but hope that the worst is behind us for this winter. Either way, let’s enjoy these mild temperatures while they last. As for the upcoming programming that we have available for you, there is quite a bit, so whether it be coffee, tea or OJ, maybe grab a cup of your favorite morning beverage and settle in for a bit.
To kick things off, this week’s Monday Morning Mentor queries: “Beyond Syllabus Policies: What Strategies Help Students Take Responsibility for Learning?” The link and password below will grant you access to this clip through midnight on Sunday of this week, February 26.
Please also remember that the final event in the Digital Education Days series, a joint project with the University of Michigan – Dearborn and Flint and Mott Community College, takes place this week. We want to thank all those who attended talks during the first two days of the conference – Friday, February 10, and Wednesday, February 15. DED will wrap up tomorrow, February 21, with two separate virtual sessions featuring HFC faculty and executive administration. Melinda DeWitt, Sarah Castillo and Jessica Shamberger will offer a presentation titled “‘Our Thoughts, Our Voices,’ an English language Learner Podcast” while Lori Gonko will engage in a discussion titled “A New Baseline: COVID 19’s Lasting Impact on Enrollment and Student Success Trends.” Let’s, please do our best to show our support to our colleagues by attending these sessions if at all possible. Additional details and registration information for these remaining events are available through the below link.
Similarly, in this hectic week, don’t forget that the Liberal Arts Network for Development virtual conference is upon us now, too, taking place this Wednesday through Friday with a variety of awards being presented to HFC students and faculty this year – not the least of which is the Institutional Award honoring HFC’s Black Male and QUEENS Focus Group (BMQFG). Again, let’s make a great showing by attending as many sessions as possible in solidarity alongside our College’s award recipients. Once more, updates on the restructured format and revised program dates for this conference remain available below. Meanwhile, please also be aware that HFC Graphic Design student Christopher Namyst’s first place award-winning design is featured on the LAND t-shirt, sweatshirt, and swag, so you just might want to pick up one or two of these items too!
Next, did I say busy week already? Another workshop that appears to be fairly worthwhile takes place this Thursday, February 23: “Helping Faculty Navigate Top Challenges in This New Blended Learning Environment.” This free, virtual event is sponsored by Fierce Technology with various sessions running from 1 to 4:30 p.m. Additional information is supplied below.
I think I said busy, right? Yet another timely and intriguing workshop sponsored by The Chronicle of Higher Education will also be held on Thursday, February 23, at 2 p.m. It is co-sponsored by Adobe, free to attend and will tackle the subject “From ‘Digital Native’ to Digital Competency.” Please see further details on this below.
Finally, once more, applications for the Library Book Improvement Fund are still being accepted, and this form will remain available on the CTEI Moodle Hub through the March 6 deadline. Any interested parties should complete this document and submit it via e-mail to Ruth Ann Schmitt and/or Tessa Betts. Meanwhile, please also remember that Michigan College, University, Partnership (MiCUP) at Lawrence Technological University will also be running immersive in-person sessions for instructors examining how students are learning through authentic scientific experiments in the classroom. The first of these will take place on February 24. All of them will be held on HFC’s campus in room J-110, and Scott Corp, project coordinator, has provided a flyer for these events, which can now be found on the CTEI Moodle hub and here through this link.
As always, thank you for your time and for participating in the events that interest you. Please also remember that we always appreciate your recommendations and feedback, so if you have any to share, please never hesitate to e-mail either or both of us.
Upcoming Events
Event
Description
Time/Date
Link
Monday Morning Mentor
Beyond Syllabus Policies: What Strategies Help Students Take Responsibility for Learning?
With tomorrow being Valentine’s Day, we certainly hope that you have a special someone with whom you might exchange a gift or two – a significant other, your children or pets, whomever makes you happy and brings joy to your life – but either way, Rosemary and I know that you’re just going to love many of the offerings that we have for you this week. (Ha! See what I did there? Valentine’s Day? Love? Get it? Dad joke…I know… long-time dad here. 😜)
As usual, let’s begin with this week’s Monday Morning Mentor, which, this time around, answers the question, “How Can I Engage Students During a Synchronous Online Class?” The link and password below will grant you access to this clip through midnight on Sunday of this week, February 19.
Next, in our continued efforts to revisit the dialogue opened on mental wellness at January’s PIC, we hope that you might take a few minutes to peruse this recent op/ed piece from Inside Higher Education, which Tony Perry and Pam Stewart both shared with us: “Four Ways Professors Can Balance Self-Care with Accountability.” Once again, please also remember that we have provided a follow-up forum on the CTEI Moodle Hub to facilitate ongoing internal collegial discussions on these issues. We warmly welcome you to engage in this conversation with our colleagues and coworkers.
Meanwhile, Sam Bazzi, math instructor and chairperson of the Online Course Quality Assurance and Evaluation Committee in the School of STEM, will hold an online training session this Thursday at 2 p.m. for faculty in that area who are teaching asynchronously online. Likewise, later this week, Rosemary and I will hold the fourth of six HFC 101 orientation sessions, which are required for all new full-time faculty hires. Further information on all of this is provided below.
Please also remember that the second event in the Digital Education Days series, our collaborative effort with University of Michigan – Dearborn and Flint along with Mott Community College, takes place this week. We want to thank all those who attended the kickoff event last Friday, February 10, an excellent keynote address titled “We Cannot ‘Return to Normal’” presented by Dr. Amy Collier, Associate Provost for Digital Learning at Middlebury College. We want to remind everyone, however, that we still have two days of events remaining in this program – this Wednesday, February 15, and next Tuesday, February 21. Additional details and registration information for these remaining events are available through the link provided below.
Similarly, don’t forget that Liberal Arts Network for Development virtual conference is just one week away now too, and a wide range of awards will be presented to HFC students and faculty this year – including the Institutional Award honoring HFC’s Black Male and QUEENS Focus Group (BMWFG). Accordingly, let’s try to make a great showing of support with our attendance figures. Again, updates on the restructured format and revised program dates for this conference remain available below.
Finally, once more, applications for the Library Book Improvement Fund are still being accepted, and this form will remain available on the CTEI Moodle Hub through the March 6 deadline. Any interested parties should complete this document and submit it via e-mail to Ruth Ann Schmitt and/or Tessa Betts. Meanwhile, please also remember that the Michigan, College, University, Partnership (MiCUP) at Lawrence Technological University will also be running immersive in-person sessions for instructors examining how students are learning through authentic scientific experiments in the classroom. The first of these will take place on February 24. All of them will be held on HFC’s campus in room J-110, and Scott Corp, project coordinator, has provided a flyer for these events, which can now be found on the CTEI Moodle hub and here through this link.
In closing, we appreciate your patronage and engagement in our offerings while we always welcome your input and suggestions. To that end, please feel free to e-mail either or both of us with any questions or suggestions.
Upcoming Events
Event
Description
Time/Date
Link
Monday Morning Mentor
How Can I Engage Students During a Synchronous Online Class?
Though it may be hard to believe, we will already be a quarter of the way through the semester – and halfway to spring break – by the end of this week. With that in mind, hopefully, your courses have settled into a nice rhythm, and you are establishing some great connections with your students. Meanwhile, this week’s Digest is jampacked with information and opportunities you will find interesting.
First, this week’s Monday Morning Mentor explores the question, “How Can I Structure Class Discussions to Maximize Student Engagement?” As usual, this video will be available through midnight this Sunday, February 5, and you will find the link and password below.
Next, please remember that our first Teamwork Tuesday of the semester will happen tomorrow at 3 p.m. Again, this session will be facilitated by our very own Chelsea Lonsdale and will focus on strategies for designing successful writing assignments for your classes along with the services available to both you and your students through HFC’s Writing Center. Please refer to the details provided below to join us for this valuable virtual discussion.
Tomorrow is a busy day for professional development because, if you recall, The Chronicle of Higher Education will also be hosting the virtual forum “AI Tools for Student Engagement.” Fortunately, this event begins at 2 p.m. and does not conflict with our Teamwork Tuesday session since it will take place an hour earlier. Accordingly, if you are interested in both, you can attend both. While no advanced registration is necessary for the Teamwork Tuesday meeting, specifics on how to sign up for the AI forum are spelled out below.
Meanwhile, as the first of several semester-long opportunities to follow up on our PIC discussion, next Tuesday, February 7, The Chronicle of Higher Education – with support from Timely MD – will hold another virtual forum on a wholly different subject, titled “A Holistic Approach to Campus Mental Health.” This online event will be hosted by staff reporter Kate Hildalgo Bellows and begins at 2 p.m. Advanced registration is required with more information on this all supplied below.
Shifting gears a bit, while you may have already seen her college-wide message last Friday, Ruth Ann Schmitt, Chair of the Library Committee, has asked me to reiterate here that her committee is now accepting applications for the Library Book Improvement Fund. Essentially, this involves simply filling out an application for any materials you would like added to our campus’ holdings and e-mailing it to Ruth Ann and/or Tessa Betts, but further explanation is offered below.
Next, Scott Corp, project coordinator for the Michigan, College, University, Partnership (MiCUP) at Lawrence Technological University, has asked Rosemary and I to promote several upcoming immersive in-person sessions for instructors, which will examine how students are learning through authentic scientific experiments in the classroom. The first of these will take place on February 24. All of them will be held on HFC’s campus in room J-110, and Scott has provided a flyer for these events, which can now be found on the CTEI Moodle hub and here through this link.
Finally, as we are entering February, please remember that we have two major events ahead as this month unfolds, Digital Education Days – a multi-day forum that we are co-hosting with U of M – Dearborn and Flint along with Mott Community College – and the Liberal Arts Network for Development (LAND) Conference. More information for both is provided below, but please pay particularly close attention to the LAND details, since we have finally obtained updates on the restructured format and revised program and dates for this conference.
In closing, Rosemary and I thank you for your continued support and participation in these programs while we welcome your recommendations and feedback. Please always feel free to e-mail either or both of us with any questions or suggestions.
Upcoming Events
Event
Description
Time/Date
Link
Monday Morning Mentor
How Can I Structure Class Discussions to Maximize Student Engagement?
Happy new year, and welcome back, friends and colleagues,
Here’s hoping that your semester is getting off to a wonderful start. Meanwhile, Rosemary and I are excited to share a variety of professional development and support opportunities with you in our first Digest of 2023.
First, let’s begin with one more expression of gratitude to our Professional Issues Conference Committee for facilitating such an excellent program this year: “Where Are We Now? An Assessment on Mental Health.” Given the importance of this subject matter, the PIC committee approached us here in the CTEI last semester with the suggestion that we should endeavor to keep this conversation going after the conference, all throughout the winter term – and we fully agreed. To that end, please scroll down to see how we will follow up and follow through with activities and resources to perpetuate this dialogue in the coming weeks and months.
Meanwhile, though the Monday Morning Mentor will not return for a few weeks, please refer to the at-a-glance schedule below for several other fine upcoming partner activities. There you will find a few ongoing programs from last semester and some new options that have just been added. These new offerings include a virtual workshop focusing on metacognition for STEM (but applicable to all) students, the summer Hyflex Collaborative Conference, and February’s Digital Education Days – a multi-day, virtual event jointly sponsored by HFC, University of Michigan – Dearborn, and Flint, and Mott Community College.
Finally, if you’re anything like me, your conversations with friends, family, and colleagues have recently been replete with discussion of the latest AI technology, ChatGPT. In case you haven’t heard about this new online interface, it can produce writing that can actually pass as human-generated on just about any topic. This brief New York Times piece discusses ChatGPT further while also linking to an Ezra Klein podcast featuring Gary Marcus, “an emeritus professor of psychology and neural science at N.Y.U.” Though Dr. Marcus, “has become one of the leading voices of A.I. skepticism,” he is not at all “anti-AI” but has, instead, actually invested in this involving technology himself. Nonetheless, despite all of the potential benefits that AI may hold for humankind, this technology has drastic and immediate implications for educators due to its tremendous potential for illicit use by students. With this in mind, you might also want to take a few moments to review this recent Faculty Focus article: What Are We Doing About AI Essays?
In closing, we hope that you will find at least one or two of the offerings presented here to be of interest, and as always, we welcome your suggestions and input. Please just e-mail us with any recommendations or questions. In the meantime, again, best wishes for a strong start to the term!
Upcoming Events
CTEI Event
Description
Time/Date
Link
Partner Activity: Teach STEM Students How to Learn: Metacognition Is the Key!**
Saundra McGuire, Ph.D. Presentation Sponsored by ReBUILDetroit and College of Health Professions & McAuley School of Nursing Professional Development
*Denotes a sponsored CTEI event that qualifies for AFO reimbursement.
**Denotes a partner activity that may qualify for AFO reimbursement.Please see your area representative for further information.
Professional Issues Conference: Follow-Up Resources and Activities
On the CTEI Moodle Hub, you will now find follow-up materials related to this year’s conference theme: “Where Are We Now? An Assessment on Mental Health.” Currently, these include (a) links to videos, readings, and presentations pertaining to the conference, (b) a Wellness Wheel self-assessment instrument, (c) information on student support offered through the SAFE@HFC committee/initiative, and (d) a discussion board on which we invite staff and faculty to continue this dialogue virtually and indefinitely. In the coming weeks, we invite you to post to this board thoughts and observations occurring to you as a result of the conference and/or if you work in an area of the College for which you would like to further promote mental well-being resources for students, please reach out to us, and we will be happy to grow this repository by sharing your materials there.
Meanwhile, although the Wellness Wheel activity is one designed to be completed individually if you are interested in following up on this assessment tool and further exploring the topic of mental health in general with a group, the CTEI will be organizing a discussion or two later this semester with one of our very own mental health professionals. Stay tuned – more information will follow soon.
Partner Activity: Teach STEM Students How to Learn: Metacognition Is the Key!
Presenter Dr. Saundra Yancy McGuire is the Director Emerita of the Center for Academic Success and retired Assistant Vice Chancellor and Professor of Chemistry at LSU. Before joining LSU, she spent eleven years at Cornell University, where she received the coveted Clark Distinguished Teaching Award. She has delivered keynote addresses or presented workshops at over 400 institutions in 46 states and ten countries.
All students admitted to an institution can succeed in STEM courses. However, most do not have adequate learning strategies and resort to memorizing information just before tests. This interactive workshop will introduce faculty to cognitive science research-based learning strategies that will help all students experience meaningful, transferable learning. The session will focus on ways to teach STEM students simple yet powerful learning strategies to ensure success in STEM courses.
These techniques can be used within any content area, so please do not hesitate to attend – even if you are not in a STEM field. If interested, please register here by January 31. Questions? Please contact Dr. Jahzara D. E. Mayes, otoojm@udmercy.edu.
Sponsored Event: Digital Education Days
The Digital Education Days virtual conference will be held on three days in February 2023: Friday the 10th, Wednesday the 15th, and Tuesday the 21st. This year the conference is loosely organized around the theme “Rising and Revising: Rethinking the Future of Digital Education.” For the first time, the conference brings together faculty from UM-Dearborn, UM-Flint, Henry Ford College, and Mott Community College to share best practices and explore new opportunities that enhance teaching and learning in the digital realm. More information about the conference, including online registration forms, can be found here.
Partner Event: MCSS/ATD Roundtable Discussion Series
MCSS is partnering with ATD to present “Equity-Minded Teaching Practices for Gateway Courses,” a series of roundtable discussions for faculty teaching foundational courses. The topic for December will be “Equitizing Your Syllabi.” Participants should plan to have a syllabus available for a course they are either teaching or preparing to teach. Please see the MCCA Events Page for registration for all dates.
The HyFlex Learning Community team has been partnering with colleagues from AATLAS (Academy for the Advancement of Teaching, Leadership, and Schools) in the School of Education, University at Albany (part of the SUNY system) and at Hunter College, New York (part of the CUNY system) to plan the first-ever HyFlex-focused conference for June 2023. The result? A collaborative one-day event that brings together both higher education and K12 educators to share what they have learned about supporting hybrid and flexible learning over the past few years and to shape plans for research, resources, and faculty preparation across the education spectrum.
Please visit the conference website for general information, a Call for Proposals for presentations, sponsorship opportunities, and registration for the June 26 event, which will be offered both onsite Albany, NY and online.
Partner Event: ACUE’s Online Microcredentialing
As the Association of College and University Educator’s website indicates: “ACUE’s open enrollment courses are designed for all higher education faculty — tenured faculty, adjunct instructors, and even graduate students. Through our unique learning design, each microcredential allows faculty to gain foundational knowledge, implement evidence-based practices, reflect on your implementation, and refine your practice based on feedback. Faculty who complete all microcredentials earn the full ACUE Certificate in Effective College Instruction, endorsed by the American Council on Education (ACE).”
ACUE’s site also specifies that these open-enrollment micro-courses are:
Delivered fully online
Offered throughout the year
Short courses that build to an ACUE Certificate in Effective College Instruction
Endorsed by the American Council on Education
Delivered through a facilitated faculty learning community
Designed for all types of faculty
Suited for an online or classroom learning environment
You can find more information on this partner resource here.
Partner Event: NISOD Online Professional Development Events
Throughout the fall semester, NISOD will offer online professional development opportunities ranging from webinars to workshops to conferences touching upon topics broadly varying from Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Justice to Teaching Critical Thinking and Rationality in Science and Math Courses. You will find more information on how to participate in these virtual events here.
I may be the one behind the times here but this surprised me when I learned it last night. (Edit: I am. It is a 5 month old feature). You can now allow Zoom participants to choose their own break out room.
Here is what setting that up looks like (you just have to check one box if you are already used to using break out rooms).
This is a long overdue feature that I can definitely see using in a number of ways. Two come to mind immediately. I can see this being useful at the end of a class to let students work together on different items. Or, if you are hosting a tutoring session you could have areas for quiet study and for collaboration.
Sometime in the next couple months I will choose between Socrative, Wooclap, and Microsoft Forms for quizzing in my fall classes. Any of these will work in either face-to-face or remote settings. I would use them differently and less often in a face-to-face setting.
I decided to give Wooclap another try now that you can put LaTeX (a typesetting language convenient for mathematics) to enter equations in the questions. Wooclap has a large number of question types. My current quizzing produce, Socrative, had only 3 types of question, but a good math editor. Microsoft Forms has a lot of question types and captures responses very well, but the live display is not great.
Students can answer Wooclap questions through a browser of their choice. Links to your questions (and QR codes) are provided and customizable. If you are rich you can also have the students answer through text (plans costs go from around $84 US/year to $180 US/year for texting and a few other features.)
Here is what I will try in calculus next week:
There is a free version of Wooclap. The biggest drawback to the free version is that you cannot ask more than two questions in a single event. You could create multiple events.
The first level of paid subscription allows as many questions as you would like in a single event. It does not allow a lot of background customization or removal of the wooclap branding.
At HFC we do not have access to the Microsoft store otherwise we could import Wooclap questions into PowerPoint and Teams instead of having to upload PowerPoint presentations into Wooclap.
I know from posting in my personal blog that Wooclap searches for their name in social media so I’ll expect a comment sometime tomorrow . . . Seriously though they were very positive and responsive that time so I may learn of features I did not find by just trying the software without support.
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