Concurrent Session A

10 - 10:45 a.m.

Click the hyperlinked title to join the session.

A1 Technologies for Connecting Students With Instructors/ Peers and With Content

Teaching an online course? Or do you want to use online technologies in your face-to-face course? The deeper and more personal the connections we have with our students, the more motivated they are to learn. And the more students participate in their own learning, the better it “will stick.” This session will focus on student interactions with peers, instructors and the content. Discover and share ideas on how integrating technology tools and techniques will increase connections and interactions with our students and provide them with opportunities to strengthen their interactions with the content.

Karen Gray, Adjunct Faculty, Education, Cuyahoga Community College

At the end of this session, attendees will be able to:

1. Identify technology options to increase students’ connections with their instructors and peers

2. Identify technology options to increase online students’ engagement with content

3. Select from a variety of technologies and determine which options work best for teaching and learning

A2 Reengaging Students With Their Peers: Strategies for Addressing COVID-Era Social Habits

Following the pandemic and the return to the classroom, students’ expectations of peer review, class discussion and collaborative work shifted drastically. Students have struggled to connect with each other and may feel a sense of “awkwardness” while interacting with their peers. This presentation addresses this issue, as student-to-student interaction is important for their sense of validation, connection and success. Strategies covered in this session include the following: utilizing icebreakers, incorporating regular collaborative work, altering peer review practices, representing diverse identities through course material selection, engaging students in discourse and setting clear social expectations for class discussion. The presentation will be followed by a discussion with the audience.

Katie Laskowski, Adjunct Faculty, English, Cuyahoga Community College

At the end of this session, attendees will be able to:

1. Recognize how the pandemic has impacted students’ interactions with one another for in-person or blended classes

2. Identify collaborative work and discussion strategies that make students feel more comfortable working with their peers

3. Understand the benefits of a peer learning model

A3 Transformation During Crisis: Building Resilience and Self - Efficacy Through Transformative Coaching

Life can be messy, and it can be difficult to know where the boundaries exist. Staff and faculty are hesitant to get “too involved” in between students’ academic and personal lives. Transformative coaching builds a bridge. During this interactive coaching session, we will share preliminary findings of a pilot project that was developed to offer evidenced-based coaching services and remediation plans for nursing students at risk for not achieving program completion and/or a first-time pass score of the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) for registered nurses. The foundational concepts of transformative coaching align internal motivation with external behavior and provide a framework that benefits all disciplines, academic programs, and individuals. Participants will be equipped with coaching strategies for the classroom.

Susan Morris, Adjunct Faculty, Nursing, Southern State Community College

At the end of this session, attendees will be able to:

1. Define the four pillars of transformative coaching and identify one coaching intervention that can be implemented in their classroom

2. Identify four support layers that insulate student success and one area they would like to impact

3. Identify support strategies to address risk factors before they become a barrier, and address existing barriers that impact academic success

A4 Fall in Love With Reflective Writing

How do we help our students process what they’ve learned? How do we help students analyze material and utilize it in their daily lives? Through reflection! Reflective writing allows students to engage with material and texts in a low-stakes way, to think about how to add new knowledge to previous knowledge, to incorporate new information into the future and to acknowledge what questions they may have. Reflective writing helps faculty understand what students are taking away from classes, how they’re preparing for exams and papers, and how faculty can assist in those processes. Faculty can feel more confident about what is happening in their classrooms and in their students’ learning. In this session, we’ll work on when and how to incorporate reflective writing, as well as language to use while crafting these assignments.

Donna Hunt, Adjunct Faculty, English, Lorain County Community College

At the end of this session, attendees will be able to:

1. Use varied techniques for reflection in the classroom

2. Apply reflection questions to their specific disciplines and classes

3. Develop a plan for including reflection and incorporating that information and data into their course design