Focused Discussions II
For work that is best discussed or debated, rather than reported on through a formal presentation, these sessions provide a forum for an extended “roundtable” conversation between an author and a small group of interested colleagues. Summaries of the author’s key ideas, or points of discussion, are used to stimulate and guide the discourse.
Applying Transparent Teaching Practices across the Curriculum
Focused Discussion Chera La Forge, Stephanie Whitehead
This session will focus on efforts to incorporate and assess the Transparency in Teaching and Learning (TILT) framework across several academic disciplines. The TILT project is a nationally award winning educational development project dedicated to fostering student success through the use of transparent teaching practices. Research from the TILT project empirically demonstrates that students, particularly students from historically marginalized backgrounds, are more successful when they have a clear understanding of assignments, the purpose, and criteria for evaluating their work. While beneficial for all students, findings demonstrate that transparent teaching practices are particularly impactful for students from historically marginalized backgrounds. Throughout the focused discussion we will focus on the following: specific methods used to recruit faculty for transparent teaching learning communities and projects and research related to transparent teaching assignments and/or curriculum.
Transition to College : Challenges of Learning Disabilities
Focused Discussion Diane S. Webber
The transition from high school to college presents particularly unique challenges even to the strongest students and to the most experienced teachers. Now, what additional hurdles do you think face students with various learning disabilities, and their instructors? This focused discussion provides an overview of learning disabilities, strategies that facilitate students’ growth, students’ social/emotional issues, and the individual differences that come embedded in students’ learning experiences. The critical, first transitional year requires that we have a clear, holistic understanding of students’ differences and strengths, rights, as well as knowledge of the metacognitive learning process. Our collaborative conversations will include identifying types of feedback and assessments that facilitate learning, recognizing methods of organization and time management, clarifying student and faculty responsibility, exploring scaffolded instruction, and sharing useful assistive technologies that help with reading, writing, and listening. We will discuss how understanding neurodiversity, resilience, and metacognitive awareness can enhance the entire learning and teaching continuum. Our focus will be on learning disability as a neurological disorder that results from a difference in the way a person's brain is "wired." A learning disability can't be cured or fixed; it is a lifelong issue. With the right support and intervention, however, students with learning disabilities can succeed in school and go on to successful, often distinguished careers later in life.
Communities of Practice for Novice Teachers: The Role of Educator Preparation Programs
Focused Discussion Daryl Gordon, Mccarthy Mary Jean
Mentoring and induction support for novice teachers is central to the retention and quality of teachers and to the eventual success of their students (Glassford & Salinitri, 2014; Ingersoll & Strong, 2011; Strong & Ingersoll, 2004). This session will share results of a research project investigating the experience of new teachers in diverse classrooms in New York City and Long Island. Data was collected through a year-long community of practice, which was designed to provide support and professional development to novice teachers and, to inform the continuous improvement of a teacher education program through evaluations of alumni experience in courses and clinical practice. Data from this mixed methods study includes focus groups with novice teachers, surveys, case studies, and data from Annual Professional Performance Reviews. This session will engage participants in a discussion regarding the role of teacher preparation programs in the induction support of new teachers.
Anti-Bias Vision through the Practioner Lens
Focused Discussion Yolanda Carlos
The Twenty-first Century demands social emotional skills that go beyond relationship building; to critically engage and understand our Identity. This presentation will include an overview of the Anti-Bias historical perspective and roots grounded in the work of dedicated early childhood teachers from Pacific Oaks College. The Anti-Bias curriculum is used in schools throughout the United States. Participants will ponder questions, and strategies to use in their ECE settings and work. The discussion focus and deepen the understanding of the importance of Anti-Bias Curriculum as a practice in making children’s lives better and transforming the practioner’ s self-reflective work and understanding of children’s lives in today’s complex world and society.
What's Blog Got to Do with It?: Teaching Multimodal Literacies in Higher Education for Making a Social Difference
Focused Discussion Andrea Ross
Incorporating multimodal literacies in university curricula is critical student success after graduation. This discussion explores knowledge production via inquiry into multimodal expressions in upper-division composition courses. In July 2018 two colleagues and I began testing curriculum for Advanced Composition courses focused on genre awareness and discourse community, using multimodal expressions. Students in three sections of Composition 101 wrote research articles about the genre of professional blogging in their professional discourse community. Next, they conducted research on emerging trends in their intended profession. Using their findings about the professional blog genre, they composed a professional blog about a trend in their field, with the purpose of writing as an expert in their discourse community for a lay-audience. Next, students explored a different multimodal expression; the modes they selected included infographics, podcasts, pamphlets, and videos. Groups presented to the class about their new mode, using audience-purpose analysis. Finally, students composed in their new mode on the same topic as their blog, but with a new intended audience and purpose. Finally, students revised all projects, creating an e-portfolio with a cover memo reflecting on their advancements in rhetorical awareness, processes, genre and mode awareness, research, metacognition, and learning transfer. At this time, we are compiling the results of this semester-long pedagogical experiment. Based on intermediate findings via instructor observation and student feedback, this experiment appears to have been successful in producing enhanced genre awareness, understanding of audience and purpose, and cognizance of real-world applications for strategies and modes studied during the term.
Statistics Is Not Just Math!
Focused Discussion Rikke Bod Lund
In Denmark, high school mathematics is taught as integrated topics, whereas the US has separate classes for the different topics. We have three levels of math in high school – A, B and C. For university admissions, B level has become obligatory in many disciplines such as social sciences, business and economics, and political sciences. The primary reason for this requirement is that statistical knowledge is crucial to understanding research and theory in these disciplines, and B level is the lowest level which covers the necessary statistics. The pedagogical approach to statistics in Danish high schools underplays the importance of statistics. Statistics is taught as a subcategory of math and thus often does not get sufficient coverage to achieve proficiency. Furthermore, due to the way statistics is taught in Denmark, many math teachers lack enthusiasm, confidence and potentially background knowledge in teaching statistics. The result is that the part of statistics that plays an important role across the disciplines and society in general is often downplayed due to either a lack of time or the nature of the curriculum. There is an important relationship between math and statistics and in this day and age where people are presented with statistics every single day – climate change, politics, economics, and fake news – it is ever more important that people gain a clear and holistic understanding of statistics. This focused discussion will discuss the pedagogical pros and cons to statistics being an independent discipline versus being integrated into the mathematics curriculum.
