The Schedule

This workshop will be the practical extension of the keynote.

With the research in mind, faculty will spend time thinking about their current practice, brainstorming with colleagues about changes they can make, and learning strategies to meet students where they are and help them succeed.

Academics often refer to the syllabus as a “contract” between the instructor and the student. It outlines the nuts and bolts of the class, what the students can expect to learn, and required institutional statements.  The syllabus can be the student’s first impression of the class and the instructor. So what is your syllabus saying about you and your class? This session will be a discussion on how syllabi can be a welcoming document to inform students that they are valued and validate their ability to be successful. Equity-minded design, SUNY syllabi requirements, and accessibility best practices will be discussed. Instructors are encouraged to bring a copy of their syllabus for easier self-reflection.

We all know that accessibility is important. What you might not know about is how to make your documents and Blackboard courses accessible. In this session, we’ll show you how students experience documents using screen readers. Next, you will learn how to use heading tags, fonts, and alt-text to make new or existing documents accessible, focusing on Microsoft Word. Finally, we’ll demonstrate how Ally features now available in Blackboard help you provide accessible documents.

This session aims to help faculty better understand, prepare for, and be mindful of the challenges experienced by international students and how to help them navigate the landscape of American higher education, especially at community colleges.

English professor Kerry Curran and Coordinator of Diversity Education and Support Services Timothy Thompson discuss their use of BRAVE dialogues in Academic Writing class discussions and writing assignments. First semester courses, such as English 100, provide an opportunity to introduce dialogues about identity and race, infusing cultural competency into the curriculum from the beginning of the student experience and engaging with as many students as possible. The presentation will conclude with a brainstorming session about how participants might effectively embed a commitment to a diversity of voices into their students’ academic lives.

In this presentation, Dr. Whitecraft will draw upon the works of Hammond, Gorski and Hebb to demonstrate how experiences that are intense, prolonged or repeated will physically change the anatomy and the chemistry of the brain.  We can think of culture as the software that programs the hardware-- the brain.  We will also explore the different parts of the brain to better understand the evolution of the brain and why Maslow must come before Bloom.  Through an understanding of social neuroscience, we will discuss different cultural archetypes and the chemicals that promote or inhibit learning.  Finally, we will share beautiful footage of neurons participating in the re-wiring of the brain as well as culturally responsive practices that promote the growth of new neural networks.

Christian Sisack from Onondaga Community College initiated a partnership with Cornell’s Caroline Levine and TC3’s Anndrea Mathers to provide a semester-long workshop for interested grad students to learn more about faculty positions at community colleges. This session will be a panel discussion with Professor Sisack, Dr. Mathers, and the two current grad students to discuss the structure and benefits to this partnership. Participants will leave with some ideas of how to reach out to nearby grad schools in order to find out ways to prepare the next generation of community college faculty.

Therapeer

This session includes a few computer apps for participants to download and use (to simulate poverty).

Afterwards, we will discuss the learning value and potential use across disciplines and how it pertains to our students

Please download the Global Citizen app before attending - we'll be using it during the session!

Other simulations to try:

• http://playspent.org/

• https://livingwage.mit.edu/

• https://fiscalship.org/

• https://www.usaspending.gov/explorer/budget_function

• HearMe App

• Therapeer

This talk will explore the pedagogical relevance of the concept of "essayism," a term coined by the Austrian writer Robert Musil in the early 20th century and revived in recent years by Brian Dillon in his 2017 book "Essayism: On Form, Feeling, and Nonfiction." I would like to review some of the cases that have been made for the essay as a distinctive mode of inquiry, and as generating an inquiry-driven form that stands in contrast to more standard claim-based forms of writing (based on the Toulmin model, for example). I will argue that the essay, as conceived by Montaigne and his heirs, is best understood as a mode rather than a genre, and that essay writing in the classroom offers students a promising avenue for rethinking problematic binary notions such as private/public, fact/opinion, and subjective/objective. In addition to Montaigne, I will consider notable theorists of the essay (Theodor Adorno, for example) as well modern practitioners of the form (Joan Didion, for example).

Guided Pathways is a framework for systemic examination of the student experience, with the goal of transforming into a student-centered environment focusing on improving student success.  MVCC began using this framework to increase student success in 2017.  In this session we will briefly describe the Guided Pathways process at MVCC.  The goals of this session will be to discuss how the Guided Pathways framework can be used to inform course design, classroom interactions, and teaching strategies.  Emphasis will be placed on Universal Design for Learning, active learning, and equity-based strategies that can be used in the classroom.

This is part one of a two part series - the second session is offered from 1:30 - 2:30.

Do you feel like your words aren’t working?

Are your students struggling with navigating your remote classroom?

Are you fielding MANY questions for things you think you’ve clearly addressed?

Maybe a more creative approach can help! Put your student’s experience first.

• Create a well-designed course structure using design

• Distill information and organize it

• Implement visual communication 

• Create “buy-in”

• Practice applied learning to engage students in activities

Backwards Design for Student and Organizational Success: As student demographics continue to become more diverse nationally, supporting these changes in the student body is crucial to organizational success. Backward Design (UbD) is an intentional method of designing an educational curriculum by setting goals before choosing instructional methods and forms of assessment. In support of innovative pedagogical practices, institutions can be deliberate about incorporating new classroom strategies that support student learning acquisition as well as supporting multiple means of learning expression. In this session, faculty will be taught the three stages of backwards design including identifying results, determining acceptable evidence, and the alignment of instruction to support desired outcomes. In an effort to display evidence of student learning necessary for institutional accreditation, Backwards Design is an excellent tool for the higher education arena.

This session is designed for instructors of all disciplines who include writing assignments in their courses. We will look at how our assignments can either maintain or challenge the ways white supremacy has normalized certain norms and expectations, and we think through how we can achieve the learning goals for our students in culturally responsive ways. Drawing on the work of Ibram Kendi, Asao Inuoe, John Warner, John Marsh, bell hooks, and others, this session will provide participants time to think through our primary goals and general habits as instructors. Participants will leave with several ideas for how to reimagine their assignments, and several resources to continue the work.

Covid-19 has presented challenges to both teaching and learning, especially as it pertains to building a classroom community supportive of student success. Mainly, professors teaching at a college level may find difficulty in holding student participation and building community, by converting in-person lectures to an online environment. Instead, learning and teaching in a Covid-19 space, has presented an opportunity to rethink how we can teach and help students form community and encourage their success, in both in-person and online environments. Problem-based learning (PBL) provides a model that works well in both an in-person, and online format. This roundtable discussion would center on successes and challenges of teaching courses that have infused aspects of PBL into course syllabi. Implications for utilizing this style of teaching and learning for both in-person and online learning will also be discussed.

If you have ever thought about internationalizing your course(s) but didn't know where or how to start, then this session is for you! Participants will learn the foundation of building an internationalized course, including: developing a deeper understanding of internationalization and its importance, examining examples of internationalized courses, and integrating global content into a course to enhance or support activities or assignments, assessments, and overall student learning outcomes. Participants will be introduced to a variety of resources and methods. All academic subjects and levels are welcome to attend, especially those with courses that are "difficult" to internationalize!

ADHD affects many community college students, and includes difficulties with executive functions like self-activation, figuring out the proper steps and order to complete complex projects, and properly gauging time and energy. Executive functions are necessary for effective online learning. Come learn some easy ways to set-up and work with online classes to help better direct these functions, which help not only those with ADHD, but everybody who takes your class, and maybe even the person running it!

This is part two of a two part series.

Do you feel like your words aren’t working?

Are your students struggling with navigating your remote classroom?

Are you fielding MANY questions for things you think you’ve clearly addressed?

Maybe a more creative approach can help! Put your student’s experience first.

• Create a well-designed course structure using design

• Distill information and organize it

• Implement visual communication 

• Create “buy-in”

• Practice applied learning to engage students in activities