Abstracts for 2018 LAANE Conference Break-out Sessions
Abstracts for 2018 LAANE Conference Break-out Sessions
Plagiarism, Paraphrasing, and Language Learning
Presentation Type: Workshop/Interactive Presentation
Can plagiarism be used to facilitate student learning? As a first-year composition teacher of domestic and international students, I have noticed a significant increase in incidents of plagiarism. The reasons differ based on the individual students. Marking an essay as plagiarized and not giving credit for it is a common, appropriate practice, but at the same time, it stops the learning. Teachers need to take further steps in order to facilitate a learning opportunity for students. I will describe different causes for plagiarism in my own classroom and share strategies I have used to help students move beyond plagiarism. The session will include a discussion of participants’ plagiarism experiences both successes and failures.
Why Students Read or Do Not Read in College History Classes: Students’ vs. Professors’ Responses
Presentation Type: Paper/Research Presentation
Reading is one of the ways students gain knowledge to be empowered in class as well as outside of class. Unfortunately, we hear from both students and professors that reading for college classes is not always a positive experience. A Faculty Learning Community of three history and two education professors explored professor and student attitudes toward reading for History classes. In this presentation, I will cover our findings in the areas of perceived value of reading, motivation for reading, obstacles to reading, and textual challenges. I will present practical implications for teaching and tutoring at the college level, including suggestions for both professors and educational support professionals.
Supporting Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Students through Adapted Supplemental Instruction
Presentation Type: Workshop/Interactive Presentation
Successful collaborative learning requires students to work in groups of individuals with different backgrounds, styles, and perspectives. This kind of collaboration may be challenging, especially when group members do not share similar cultural norms or linguistic backgrounds. Middlesex Community College has developed a unique adaptation of the Supplemental Instruction (SI) collaborative learning model. Through SI and professional development for faculty, we have developed an innovative approach to supporting English Language Learners in pre-college and college-level instruction. This approach builds cultural competencies necessary for working with linguistically diverse populations with a special emphasis on Southeast Asian students. In this interactive session, we will share the tools and strategies we have developed in the implementation of our model.
Using Research on Learning to Inform Our Teaching Practice
Presentation Type: Workshop/Interactive Presentation
Over the past twenty years, neuroscience, biology and cognitive science have provided extraordinary insights into human learning. These insights serve as the foundation for a learner-centered teaching process. In this presentation, I will share teaching practices that optimize the opportunity for students to successfully master course learning outcomes. These practices include how to gain and hold a learner’s attention, multisensory instructional practices, teaching using patterns, the best use of lecture, and finally, how to teach for long-term recall. Unless students can use their new learning in meaningful ways when they need it, the hours spent in instruction end up being for naught.
Pedagogy of the Digitally Oppressed: Digital Literacy, Access, and Success
Presentation Type: Paper/Research Presentation
Despite students living in a world where they are rarely without technology, many at-risk youths begin college without the background knowledge necessary to do well in their post-secondary careers. As a result, a divide develops between students who are technologically savvy and those who are not. In this presentation, we will examine the ways academic support staff can better aid these students, including engaging in dialogue with students, providing access to resources, and having follow-up conversations. This presentation will predominantly be in the form of a lecture, with open-ended questions throughout.
Reflective Writing in Mathematics
Presentation Type: Workshop/Interactive Presentation
The reflective notebook is a tool in which students process mathematical concepts by using natural language to explain their work. In this weekly writing assignment, students select a subset of completed homework problems to write about. The session will begin with a statement of underlying philosophy and where this assignment fits into a larger curriculum. Emphasis will be on engaging different modes of learning and the cognitive science behind the design of the assignment. Participants will receive the syllabus from a college algebra class that uses the mathematical notebook. We will review the syllabus, as well as assignment details, schedule, and rubrics for the mathematical notebook.
Scaffolding, Not Remediation
Presentation Type: Workshop/Interactive Presentation
In response to the national trend to eliminate “remedial” writing courses in higher education, UNH Manchester has developed a co-enrollment literacy lab to assist students who self-identify as under prepared for first-year writing courses. In this presentation, we will explain how the course was developed, the scaffolding activities involved, and the kinds of students it serves. I will also share students’ reflections on the course. Most of the presentation time will be devoted to describing, analyzing and engaging in the course’s reading, writing and researching activities designed to give students strategies they can use to meet the demands of college literacy.
Probation Nation: A Round Table Exploration of Benchmark Practices in Academic Probation
Presentation Type: Workshop/Interactive Presentation
This workshop will provide an opportunity for faculty and staff to share ideas on how to best support students on academic probation. Participants will gather in small groups and share their insights and observations. What “best practices” empower students to take charge of their education and move to solid academic standing? By making connections and sharing ideas, participants will learn from one another and generate new institutional approaches to help struggling students help themselves. I will also share research on best practices (some of which we at Curry are considering implementing) for supporting students on academic probation.
Student Voice and Experiences: The Role of Support in Education
Presentation Type: Workshop/Interactive Presentation
In the summer of 2018, Goodwin College piloted a cohort, linked learning community with ten students who qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Aid Program (SNAP). Students were enrolled in three courses, ENG 099 (Reading/Writing Connection), PSY 101 (Professionalism and the College Experience), and MATH 097 (Topics in Arithmetic). They wrote educational autobiographies and completed assignments focused on their educational experiences, in particular the support networks that assisted them in their educational journeys. We utilized House (1981) Types of Social Support as a framework to examine student experiences noted in their education autobiographies. In this presentation, we’ll share quotes from the student writing, and each type of support will be discussed through the lens of the student experience. Handouts will highlight assignments and strategies students identified as most effective.
“Teaching Storytelling Through the Lens of Television”
Presentation Type: Demonstration
In Non-Fiction Writing and Fiction Writing, two courses students can take to fulfill our college’s advanced writing requirement, we emphasize storytelling in a distinct and crafted voice. Finding this voice is not easy for students, so we have developed an approach that uses television. We will begin this interactive workshop with an overview of our approach, and then we will move into an abbreviated class activity, showing clips from television shows, connecting them to different storytelling devices, and asking participants to engage as students would. Our goal is for participants to walk away with concrete ideas for their classrooms that can easily be adapted to fit their needs.
“Bored” to “Brilliant”: The Top Ten Metacognitive Learning Strategies for Students
Presentation Type: Workshop/Interactive Presentation
Metacognition is all the buzz in the world of learning assistance. But what does it actually mean and how does it translate into academic success? Further, how do we share information on metacognition with our students and create a buzz around the buzz? Come learn more about the top ten learning strategies—based on the work of Dr. Saundra McGuire and metacognitive theory—that can help bolster student motivation and increase academic confidence and success. In this presentation, I will use a combination of PowerPoint, activity, and discussion. Strategies from McGuire’s book, Teach Students How to Learn, will be supplemented with the personal experiences of the presenter and the audience.
Creating Trans-Inclusive Educational Settings
Presentation Type: Workshop/Interactive Presentation
Over 65% of students agree with the statement, “I’m optimistic about my future.” However, only 30% of transgender students agree. Things don’t just “get better” for these students. How do we make schools a better place for them? This interactive session is an introduction for folks looking to make education institutions more inclusive, empowering spaces for trans students. Using humor, real-life examples, and my own narrative and experiences as an out transgender student-turned-teacher, I hope to cultivate a space of honest curiosity and authentic discussion surrounding an often-intimidating topic. Participants will leave with the understanding of why this work is important and tangible tools in their toolbox for meeting the needs of trans students. These are transferable skills for inclusion that can be used anywhere in one’s life!
Supporting Students with Disabilities: Collaboration between Peer Tutoring and Disability Services
Presentation type: Workshop/Interactive Presentation
Peer Tutoring and Disability Services staff will describe how they collaborate to increase support for students with disabilities, particularly those with executive function challenges. We’ll share our outcome assessment data, the rationale behind our practices, and the nuts and bolts of our collaboration. Some of our strategies are fairly new, and some have been in place for years. All can be easily adapted in a variety of settings. Workshop participants will also be encouraged to share collaborative practices in place on their campuses.
Navigating New Waters: Setting a Course for Transfer Success
Presentation Type: Workshop/Interactive Presentation
Transfer students continue to account for a large portion of college enrollments. How do we offer targeted programing to aid their acclimation to a new institution? After providing a description of the University of New Hampshire at Manchester and the Office of Student Development and Involvement, this presentation will focus on how we built our seven-week online transfer seminar course. This session will cover the experience of designing and participating in a transitional course specifically for transfer students, including our research, collaboration, curriculum, and use of embedded peer mentors. We will share insights from staff and student perspectives.
Let Me Learn Vendor Presentation: Your Students in the Drivers’ Seat: Empowering, Engaging, and Exciting Them through Personalized Learning
Presentation Type: Workshop/Interactive Presentation
“This session equips participants to authentically connect with learners. Participants will complete a learning inventory, develop a Personal Learning Profile, process and decode an instructor’s assignment, and generate personalized learning strategies that carefully direct them in completing it. The Let Me Learn Process®, a holistic advanced learning system, assesses learning behaviors and catalogues one’s metacognition. For the past 25 years, Let Me Learn has reached over 450,000 children and adults as over 75 K-12 schools in the U.S. and almost 35 colleges and universities around the world use the Let Me Learn Process® to improve student achievement and student-teacher communication.”
Please note: Participants will need a device that will be able to connect to Wi-Fi.
Hawkes Learning Vendor Presentation: Implementing Corequisite Courses with Multimodal Learning: A How-to Guide
Presentation Type: Workshop/Interactive Presentation
Do you know where to start when creating your corequisite course? How do you incorporate different modes of learning so that all students stay engaged with the course content? In this session, we’ll walk through popular corequisite implementation models and strategies to gain guidance on how to structure your course. You’ll learn about ways to shape your class into a multimodal learning experience that goes beyond the textbook and utilizes guided notebooks, videos, interactive question banks, and more. Whether you are developing corequisite courses for mathematics or English, Hawkes Learning has course offerings to close the learning gap. Our online co-requisite materials coupled with print resources provide individualized, targeted remediation that meets students where they are and supports them with tangible strategies for success.