Schedule

Experiential learning projects offer students an opportunity to help real world “clients” through hands-on learning. The positive outcomes of these projects may include the service provided to these clients, as well as the acquisition of work experience and the development of practical skills for students. Hence, the augmentation of standard classroom curricula through the inclusion of such projects can be beneficial to students and the community at large. This research explores a number of approaches to orchestrating experiential learning projects. Instructors reflect on past projects and offer guidance for the successful integration of such assignments with traditional teaching approaches.

This presentation will describe several projects used in my Consumer Behavior course that involve participant observation and student self-reflection as modes of experiential learning. Settings for these transformative learning experiences are embedded in the local community and include professional sporting events and the county fair. Applying Kolb’s (1984) model of experiential learning, I will discuss how these activities correspond with the four stages of the holistic learning process and share insights regarding the effectiveness, further refinement, and future study of this pedagogical approach. I will also discuss ideas for its application to other classes, disciplines, and settings.

This research looks at the effects of using a mastery approach to chapter quizzes in D2L. Under this approach, students were able to complete an unlimited number of 12 item quizzes that are randomly generated from a test bank with the highest score counting as their grade. This research compares test scores and quiz scores of students using the mastery quizzes versus when the students had a fixed number of attempts at completing the same quiz items. Analysis of results indicate that mastery quizzes have a significant impact, but only for assessing of learning beyond the rote level.

There were many theories that we all had to endure in graduate school: study the theory, apply the theory, and move on to the next chapter. Andragogy was one of those theories (in my theory courses, at least) that was not given proper attention nor recognized for its prospective value in today’s college classroom. Andragogy is an old buzzword that if revisited and revamped for today’s adult learner, has great potential. In my presentation, I will encourage my colleagues to revisit Knowles’ (seemingly archaic theory) and work together on how we can revitalize his framework to better meet the learning needs of adult students.

The majority of the nation’s historically black colleges and universities cam into existence after the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. Religious organizations built many of them with states taking over this task in later years. Passage f the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and other momentous Civil Rights legislation in the 1960s designed to prohibit discriminatory conduct and “eliminate the vestiges of segregation and discrimination,” guaranteed equal rights in principle for African-Americans and other minorities. We propose to examine the effectiveness of at least one HBCU by looking at the entrance scores, exit scores, retention and graduation rates. It is our contention that upon closer examination of the data that one will find that HBCUs are much more successful in fostering teaching and learning as seen in these date. We are also proposing that we will examine other similar schools to evaluate their success rates.

Unlike traditional courses mostly offered in classrooms, service learning integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection. Since 2012, we have incorporated service learning in our classes. Initially we started a fund raising project to encourage students participate in helping the Japan Tsunami. The project turned to be very successful and students highly valued the learning experience, which encourages us to continue adopting service learning in classes. We introduce the project methods used and results achieved. Then we discuss how the service learning projects enhances academic coursework as well as improves students’ social skills, self-efficacy, and sense of social responsibility.

Studies have shown that graduating medical and physician assistant (PA) students demonstrate limited competency in the interpretation of electrocardiograms (ECGs). The authors of these studies recognize a need to improve training techniques in ECG interpretation. The purpose of this project is to determine if utilizing an ECG Perceptual Adaptive Learning Module™ (PALM) for ECG interpretation training would improve PA student ECG interpretation. The data indicates our students improved interpretation competency and timing after completing the ECG PALM. Therefore, the use of PALMs may be used to increase student mastery of medical competencies and furthermore, expanded to other disciplines.

Intentional faculty mentoring is crucial for both new and experienced faculty members to ensure long-term success in their career. Such mentoring ideally includes both cross-disciplinary categories of guidance and discipline-specific categories so that newly hired faculty members make a smooth transition to the institution (and to the career itself) and more experienced faculty members receive input for the new situations they will inevitably encounter. After we equip attendees with principles gleaned from a faculty survey given at Atlanta Metropolitan State College, attendees will apply those approaches to several scenarios and discuss their results.

This current generation of students has grown up in a world of virtual communication, and is constantly “on” and connected. They embrace the digital world fearlessly for socializing and learning. Knowing this, instructors, serving as facilitators of their learning, can use open source technologies, such as blogging, as a pedagogical tool, to create opportunities for research, for building community and for enhancing their classroom experiences. Research has shown that learning improves when students are engaged as active participants in their learning environment, researching, making and sharing relevant information and consolidating new knowledge to advance specific course objectives and learning outcomes.
Keywords: Blogging, Community, Critical Thinking, Enhancing Classroom experiences, Open source tools, Student Interaction.

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Retreat at Perimeter College supports faculty through individual research projects. This presentation will detail the institutional integration of SoTL and the development of Perimeter College’s SoTL retreat. This retreat supports faculty in the research process, provides support and direction on different types of teaching innovations, and impact on student learning. Session attendees will explore the opportunities for and obstacles to SoTL integration at their own institutions in small groups. Attendees and presenters will then collaboratively analyze commonalities and differences across institutions and work to create a list of best practices for integrating SoTL.

The learning styles movement has been embraced by many instructors in an effort to respond to learning differences among students despite a lack of scientific evidence to support the idea. As instructors seek to help students capitalize on their individual cognitive differences, other well-researched constructs like metacognition may prove to be more useful in the classroom. In this session presenters and attendees will examine research on learning styles and metacognition, reflect on their own thinking, and share ideas for incorporating metacognition into the college classroom.

This presentation is designed to deliver best practices for engaging millennial students in progressively diverse and evolving classrooms. In an increasingly interconnected world, classroom diversity is evident through our great mix of students, and inclusion is the ability to foster an environment that allows that great mix of students to effectively learn together.