Pedagogical Discussion Calendar

To register for these Pedagogical Discussions, please go to MC Learns. Except where noted, all of these Pedagogical Discussions align with the Academic Master Plan Goal GROW — Offer meaningful professional development for all employees by embracing broadened perspectives in scholarship.

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September 30, 2020, 4:00 to 5:00 PM

Title: Supporting Students in Their Technology Comfort Zone

Facilitator:  Corinne Smith

Description: Technology is a part of the modern college classroom. Whether the instructional delivery is face-to-face or online (or some combination of both), students are expected to use technology in their learning process. Submitting assignments, accessing online resources and communicating via email are necessary skills for all Montgomery College students. However, not all Montgomery College students come to the classroom at the same technology skill level. What do you do when your students don’t have the skills needed to navigate those technology requirements? What strategies can you use to help your students navigate their challenges using technology? Join this faculty round-table to share your experiences, best practices and learn from your peers.

Outcomes:  By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

* Identify common technology challenges students bring to the classroom
* Identify strategies for helping students navigate technology challenges
* Describe best practices for integrating technology into your teaching and classroom environments

Aligns with Academic Master Plan Goal F:  Grow

Strategy 2:  Create Professional Development opportunities for faculty, and instructional staff to enhance currency in discipline content, scholarship, pedagogy, and workforce alignment.

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October 9, 2020, 2:00 to 3:00 PM

Title:   Making Meaning through Questions:  Targeted Questions in the College Classroom

Facilitator:  Philip Bonner

Description: Questioning and discussion are key elements of pedagogy that work in tandem to advance learning and move students from passive participants to active constructors of meaning.  By refining the questions asked in class, instructors can develop students’ critical thinking skills and better meet the learning objectives for their courses.  Moreover, by teaching learners to ask more focused and nuanced questions, instructors will assist students in developing a skill that will serve them throughout their academic and professional careers.

Outcomes:   By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

• Identify different types of questions and how they align with Bloom’s Taxonomy.
• Use questioning to expand student learning experiences and evaluate learning.
• Ask questions to generate curiosity and spark meaningful in-class conversations.
• Incorporate more targeted questions into their lessons.

Aligns with Academic Master Plan Goal F:  Grow

Strategy 2:  Create Professional Development opportunities for faculty, and instructional staff to enhance currency in discipline content, scholarship, pedagogy, and workforce alignment.

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October 23, 2020, 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Title:  Are Google and Social Media Scrambling the Academic Mind?

Facilitator:  Michele Knight

Description:  It’s very clear that Google has changed the way that we think.  We no longer feel the need to store certain types of information in our brain, rather, we rely on our phones, or google because we know that we can call that information up at will.  This leaves us more room to become experts in our fields, and masters of our hobbies.   This concept is referred to as transactive memory.  This is not new but is akin to asking an expert friend how to complete a task before the age of google.  Our dwindling ability to remember important things is called the Google Effect.

A fascinating academic study of the effects of google on our minds is presented here:   https://science.sciencemag.org/content/333/6043/776.full. (Full text of article can be found here)  http://vermontcomplexsystems.org/share/papershredder/google-effects-on-memory.pdf Even more relevant to our lives being employed at Montgomery College, is what is this doing to our Academic Minds?  In the Chronicle’s How Google Scrambled the Academic Mind,  https://www.chronicle.com/article/How-Google-Scrambled-the/246382 Timothy Messer-Kruse muses on the impact that google has had on the organization and retrieval of academic knowledge.   With the digitization of library materials, he argues that more happened than just moving these materials from one medium to another.   Rather he argues that the use of boolean search terms has even changed the act of learning from “studying” to searching.  He ponders the dangers of a world where academic knowledge is not organized according to a sensible taxonomical scheme but organized by metadata, and whether this actually changes the way we construct knowledge or even impairs our ability to ponder the concepts of gaps in knowledge, and the new knowledge that needs creating. In Social media Imperils Scholarship https://www.chronicle.com/interactives/20190602-smith, Justin Smith contemplates the dangers of social media encroaching on legitimate academic research and whether the temptation to generate research that generates likes, and viral sharing will impact the type of knowledge that scholars attempt to create.  Join me for this Pedagogical Discussion and contemplate the impact this rewiring of our brains is having on teaching and learning and the collegiate atmosphere.

Outcomes:  By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to …

• Personally reflect on the way that you acquired knowledge before the introduction of google and social media.
• Personally reflect on the way that you acquire knowledge now that google and social media are embedded into your life.
• Discuss some of the benefits of google and social media on teaching and learning
• Describe the challenges that the “google” effect poses when it comes to teaching
• Ponder some of the broader changes google and social media have on the integrity of the research and publication of academic knowledge.

Aligns with Academic Master Plan Goal F:  Grow

Strategy 2:  Create Professional Development opportunities for faculty, and instructional staff to enhance currency in discipline content, scholarship, pedagogy, and workforce alignment.

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November 06, 2020, 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Title:  Adaptive Learning Brings Promise to the Landscape of Future Education

Facilitator:  Alison (Qing) Yu

Description:  According to the 2018 NMC Horizon Report, adaptive learning technology will be an emergent trend in higher education. Adaptive learning is also supported pedagogically by the principle of instructional systematic design. In this session, we will introduce the concept of adaptive learning and how it benefits the teaching and learning process. We will walk through examples of how other institutions have started to implement adaptive learning tools to enrich students’ learning goals and academic success. Information will be provided about how to locate adaptive learning resources and adaptive learning technologies such as apps. Participants will be able to:

Outcomes:  Explain the concept of adaptive learning Identify the benefits of adaptive learning Locate adaptive learning related resources and technology tools

Aligns with Academic Master Plan Goal F:  Grow

Strategy 2:  Create Professional Development opportunities for faculty, and instructional staff to enhance currency in discipline content, scholarship, pedagogy, and workforce alignment.

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December 14, 2020, 10:00 to 11:00 a.m.

Title:  Reflection on Teaching Perspectives 

Facilitator:  Angela Lanier

Description: The end of the semester is a time not only administer exams and submit final grades but also to reflect on our work as instructors. One tool to help us reflect on our work is the Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI).  The TPI is a 45-item survey that helps practitioners identify their teaching orientation in one of five categories: Transmission, Apprentice, Developmental, Nurturing, and Social Reform. Prior to the session, participants should take the Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI), review a summary of the five perspectives.  During the session, we will discuss our results and exchange ideas for applying TPI results to our practice. Participants can access the TPI and a summary of the five perspectives via the following links: http://www.teachingperspectives.com/tpi/ and https://achesandjoints.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/five-perspectives-on-teaching.pdf.

Outcomes:

• Compare their TIP results with prior beliefs about their teaching perspectives
• Reflect on how their teaching perspective has shown up in their teaching
• Brainstorm ideas for using what they have learned about their perspective(s) to innovate in the classroom

Aligns with Academic Master Plan Goal F:  Grow

Strategy 2:  Create Professional Development opportunities for faculty, and instructional staff to enhance currency in discipline content, scholarship, pedagogy, and workforce alignment.