LEARN Center Workshops 2020-2021

Teaching during a Pandemic: Challenges and Ideas

Monday, August 24 ^th
| 1:00 – 2:00 PM |

Join Andy Browning, Dean of Students office, and Heather Pelzel, LEARN Center director, for a discussion about some of the challenges and opportunities around engaging with our students this semester. We will be discussing some of the questions many of us have about this return, including:

• • How can I use small groups when everyone is six feet apart (or half online!)?
  • Will students be able to hear me when I'm wearing a facemask?
  • What do I do if a student won't wear a mask in class?
  • What do I do if a student gets sick and misses weeks of class?
  • How do I help my students who are experiencing high levels of stress?

In this session, we'll address some of these questions and others that you have and provide resources, tips, and guidance.

A webex link will be sent to registered participants prior to the start of the session.

Facilitator: Dr.  Heather R. Pelzel,  Director, UW-Whitewater LEARN Center

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Webex Breakout Sessions: They're here. Now what?

Monday, October 12 ^th
| Noon – 1:00 PM |

Webex Teams can now facilitate breakout rooms. Breakout rooms support student engagement, group work, and smaller conversations. This workshop will explore some of the strategies to increase the effectiveness of break out sessions: prepare your students, plan your breakouts, and run your sessions. Learn from examples and stories of how they are being used on campus.

Attendees will gain:

• 1. Strategies for planning breakout rooms in your own classes
  2. Tips for facilitating breakout sessions
  3. Apply examples on how breakout teams are being used on campus to your own classes

Facilitator: Ted Witt, Heather Pelzel
Presenters: Christine Hoover, Management; Kirsten Mortimer, LTC

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CSD Accommodations - Quick Tips and Case Reviews

Wednesday, October 21 ^th
| 3:30 PM |

Students are coming to college with more diverse needs than ever and now we are presented with the challenge of maneuvering Virtual/Hybrid instruction. CSD is often asked; How do I keep track of all of the students who request accommodations and extended time? How do I prepare for meeting student’s needs, especially now? How do I handle some difficult accommodation scenarios?

Attendees will gain:

• 1. How to use the Faculty Portal for student accommodation
  2. How to apply the Universal Design Principals when designing curriculum
  3. Review some cases and challenging accommodations

Presenters: Debbie Reuter and Nina Mallory

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Tales from HyFlex

Monday, November 2 ^nd
| 1:30 PM |

Join us today (Monday, 11/2) at 1:30 for a discussion of HyFlex teaching at UW-W this fall. The session will focus on the experiences, challenges and opportunities experienced by Julie Woletz (Management) and Corey Davis (Communication) from teaching in a HyFlex style this semester.

Goals for the session:

• 1. Generate new ideas from a panel of instructors teaching using HyFlex this semester
  2. Discuss challenges related to experiences teaching in a HyFlex style
  3. Brainstorm opportunities to relate to class activities using the HyFlex style

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Attendance and student engagement

Tuesday, November 3 ^th
| 10:00 AM |

This session reviews the top 3-4 concerns disclosed by students via New Student Assessment: Homesickness / Forming Social Connections, attendance, struggling in more than one class, and test anxiety. We will explore methods to use Canvas to gain insights on activity and performance, and discuss methods to provide support to address those student concerns. Learn more about the resources available on campus and online to encourage attendance and engagement.

Attendees will gain:

• 1. Encourage Attendance
  2. Discuss what to look for in student behaviors and characteristics
  3. Identify resources you can refer to when connecting with the student
  4. Explore insights from Canvas

Presenters: Ted Witt, Shane Degan, Allison Prather, Jessica Stein

Tuesday, November 3 ^th
| 10:00 AM |
On Webex

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Using Canvas Discussion Boards to engage students beyond class sessions

Monday, November 16 & Thursday, November 19 ^th
| 9:00 AM |

We are offering two sessions focusing on experiences, challenges and opportunities with Canvas Discussion Boards.

One features a panel of instructors sharing stories about how they have used Canvas discussion boards for innovative and engaging activities on 11/19 at 9am.

The other is a companion session on 11/16 at 9am that is a hands-on "how to" session to create and design discussion boards in Canvas. This active learning lab will explore two different discussion board activities: online discussion debates and multimedia scrapbooks. Participants will write discussion board prompts for their own courses and learn strategies to create more engaging conversations aligned to their course objectives.

Attendees will gain:

• 1. Review techniques to increase community, engagement, and learning leveraging discussion boards.
  2. Discover novel approaches to using discussion boards including debates and multimedia scrapbooks.
  3. Develop a discussion prompt and activity suitable for your own classes in a hands-on exercise

Presenters: Erin Bauer, Music; John Pruitt, English; Heather Pelzel, Biology; Ted Witt; LTC (Moderator); Jon Spike, CoEPS

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Ditching the Traditional Exam?  Design Strategies for Authentic Assessments

Tusday, November 24th
| noon |

Join your faculty colleagues in this interactive workshop that will inspire you to reimagine and justify your current exam practices.  Bring your critical thinking skills and apply them to the questions, “Why are you giving an exam?  Is there another way to discover what your students have learned that doesn’t require an exam?”  Some key drivers for this conversation are the challenges for students to access a suitable at-home exam environment, and the ease and proliferation of cheating in remote courses.

Attendees will gain:

1. Consider approaches for redesigning a traditional exam to be engaging, “less cheatable,” and more revealing of student learning.
2. Redesign and reimagine an exam experience in a pandemic and post-pandemic.  Take an opportunity to evaluate your assessment strategy - if you need exams, why do you need them?
3. Learn about fair grading practices for alternative assessments that are doable for faculty.  What learning do faculty want their students to demonstrate?  Topics to be covered include: rubrics, authentic assessments, product assessments, and performance assessments.

Presenters: Kim Kostka, Steven Girard, Edric Johnson