Education Commons^™

To Choose Or Not To Choose: Establishing A Correlation Between Choice, Collaboration, And Classroom Engagement, Krisandra Johnson

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Not all 8th-grade students have an outspoken passion for reading; however, most of them do like choices. This action research study establishes a correlation between offering choices in the English Language Arts classroom and increased affective, behavioral, and cognitive engagement. The participants for this research were an 8th-grade class at a Midwest, urban public school. Providing students with reading choices, assignment options, opportunities to collaborate with peers, and multiple assessment forms to choose from demonstrated an increase of not only effective engagement but also cognitive and behavioral. From observations and student data, collaboration, the researcher determines that collaboration is a …

Course Sharing: An Interprofessional Education (Ipe) Perspective, Anita Hazelwood, Jennifer B. Lemoine

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

This presentation will walk participants through the steps in developing interprofessional courses; identifying course offerings, exploring units interested in course sharing, soliciting administrative support, and balancing workloads for faculty. A case study describing the introduction of a legal and ethics course will be presented and results discussed.

Leadership Doesn't Have To Be Lonely: Creating Cross-Institutional Community, Jerry Schnepp, Lisa K. Hanasono, W. John Koolage, Mary-Jon Ludy, M. Elise Radina, Jolie A. Sheffer

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Presenters and participants will build communities of support through engaging in interactive co-writing surrounding shared challenges, opportunities, and solutions for academic administrators as servant leaders.

The First 100 Days As An Academic Department Chair, Dr. Sara Rutledge

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

This session will highlight lessons learned from the presenter’s first 100 days as an academic department chairperson. Topics covered will include: daily operations, faculty, students, alumni, enrollment, retention, academic planning, assessment, accreditation, compliance, governmental relations, articulations, technology, communications, marketing, community engagement, data management, budgeting, reporting, event planning, and initiatives.

Community Transformation: Asian American Community Leaders, Brian Ahn

Adult Education Research Conference

Utilizing in-depth interviews, theories, and concepts in analysis, this study examines how a group of Asian American leaders transformed their community politically, socially, and economically.

In With The Old: Encouraging Archives Use With Innovative Faculty Outreach, Kimberly Veliz, Ronald Rozzell

Kansas Library Association College and University Libraries Section Proceedings

In order to encourage archives usage, an instruction librarian and archivist at a small community college collaborated to design an interactive instruction session for faculty. The session was to use breakout boxes to demonstrate how to incorporate archival materials into classroom activities at an institution wide professional development workshop event. Plans for an in-person breakout box session were scrapped after the COVID-19 Omicron wave forced workshops online. After designing and carrying out an online archives introduction, the session was reconfigured back into an in-person session utilizing breakout boxes. Despite lower-than-expected attendance, the innovative outreach made faculty and staff aware of …

Collaboration In Mathematics Teacher Education: The What, How, And Why Of Mathematical Modeling, Aubrey Neihaus, Amy Bennett

The Advocate

In this paper, we share our collaboration across the disciplines of mathematics and mathematics education to develop and implement a mathematical modeling task for prospective secondary mathematics teachers. Through this collaboration, we identified three key components of mathematical modeling: the what, how, and why. In this paper, we outline these components from the literature and how each framed our development and implementation of the Sprinkler Task in our mathematics content and mathematics methods courses for secondary teachers. These three components show that mathematical modeling is a particularly fruitful space for collaboration between the disciplines of mathematics and …

Redesigning Field Experiences To Support Rural Schools: A Praxis Reflection, Vicki S. Sherbert

Educational Considerations

The on-going social and political climate, with polarizing stances on everything from issues of social justice to mandates for mask-wearing and vaccination, brings non-normative stressors into the lived experiences of students, families, and educators everywhere. These stressors are often magnified in rural communities and schools. Yet, in spite of these challenges, many schools in rural areas have embraced opportunities for creative collaborations which foster connections and celebrate the unique richness of their communities.

This Praxis Reflection describes one such collaboration between a teacher educator at a midwestern university and a rural junior high/senior high school 300 miles west of the …

Education And Entertainment: Developing New Pathways To Student Engagement Through Library Services And Student Life Partnerships, Ruth A. Monnier, Mary Mercer, Anna Stark

Kansas Library Association College and University Libraries Section Proceedings

The COVID-19 pandemic caused higher ed professionals to pivot how they engage students in programs and events. For the 2020-2021 academic year, Pittsburg State University’s Student Life and Library Services created a series of virtual trivia nights. This paper will use the virtual trivia series as a case study to demonstrate the beneficial partnership between Student Life and Library Services at Pittsburg State University. This paper will highlight successes and suggestions on bridging the gap and replicating such a partnership at your institution.

Student Preferences For Group Size In A Language Development Course, Joshua Cohen

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Student preferences for group size were investigated. Pre- and post-study surveys, student written comments, and teacher observations were used to record changes in attitude and perception of group work while learning English over an eight-week period. In this study, I observed how arrangement impacted my students’ impressions of individual, pair, and group activities. My purpose for focusing on student configuration was twofold: firstly, I wanted to learn more about my students’ preferences for group size, and secondly; I wanted to find out whether certain combinations of students affected their perceptions of learning more than others.

Facilitating Communication With Diverse Teams, Maryjane Lewitt

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Non- hierarchical communication structures are associated with greater clarity across all levels. These structures can be implemented in a variety of ways under different circumstances. A variety of communication processes should be implemented to improve communication with individualizing the technique to the type of information being communicated.

Revealed: Secret Ingredients In The Chairperson’S Recipe For Assessment, Ryan Chung, Frederick Burrack, Kelva Hunger

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Academic chairpersons often experience frustration or lack of support when helping faculty/staff develop and administer assessment processes. This session will provide information and strategies on how to effectively guide program assessment processes.

Using Accreditation To Build Teamwork In A Department, David A. Line

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

The additional demands of the accreditation process provide a unique opportunity for program chairs to develop positive relationships between administration, staff, and faculty. This best practice presentation will look at the accreditation process from the perspective of the support staff and utilizing the accreditation process as a team building exercise.

Engaging College Communities In Collaborative Strategic Planning, Dawn Shinew, Brian Campbell, Tracy Huziak-Clark, Christina Lunceford, Trinka Messenheimer, Mary Murray, Patrick Pauken, Ray Schneider, Mark Seals, Maureen Wilson, Deborah Wooldridge

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Strategic planning is often met with skepticism. Too often, this process goes nowhere and changes nothing. The leadership team from Bowling Green State University’s College of Education and Human Development share a collaborative strategic process focused on building a common college identity, concrete actions, and a collective sense of accountability.

Collaborative Autonomy: Exploring The Professional Freedom Of Three Science Teachers, Michael Ralph, Darian Robbins, Stephen Young, Laurence Woodruff

Educational Considerations

Education reform efforts must support and protect professional autonomy for classroom teachers. When policymakers attempt to make systemic change in ways that reduce the professional autonomy of educators, student learning suffers. Teachers need the freedom to identify their professional goals, seek resources and collaboration opportunities in pursuit of those goals, and act on feedback regarding their progress in meeting those goals. We present three stories from teachers who share a department engaged in collaborative autonomy. These accounts provide guidance for how professional autonomy can be defended by those pursuing systemic change.

Redesigning Your Role As Department Chair, Ann Tate Dean, Kimberly A. Delauro, Dawn Eaton Dr.

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

At San Jacinto College, the role of the department chair has changed significantly from the traditional model. The new structure allows for efficient communication, enhanced supervision, long-range planning, proactive problem-solving, faculty development, and innovative projects while also being more engaged in strategic initiatives and student success initiatives.

Collaborative College Leadership, Maureen E. Wilson, Dawn M. Shinew, Brian M. Campbell, Trinka E. Messenheimer, Mary M. Murray, Patrick D. Pauken, Mark A. Seals, Deborah G. Wooldridge

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

With the collaborative leadership style of a new dean, the Dean’s Executive Council (associate deans, school directors, chair) in the BGSU College of Education and Human Development transformed operations of the team and our work with college faculty. This has reenergized the college and garnered substantial faculty support and engagement.

Advocating For Your Department During A School Merger: The Chair Perspective, Mark Urtel, Amanda Cecil

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

This presentation will foster discussion and reflection on best practices in advocating for your department during an academic restructuring; to ensure growth and continued success.

Facilitating Collaboration Through A Co-Teaching Field Experience, Mark S. Montgomery, Adam Akerson

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

This article describes an action research project in which two teacher educators implemented a co-teaching field experience with pre-service teacher candidates acting as co-teachers to facilitate collaboration among peers. The goal of the action research was to better meet the needs of pre-service teacher candidates and continually develop their ability to grow as reflective and collaborative future teaching educators. To increase collaboration, co-teaching models were implemented in an early field experience. Teaching activities and assignments provided opportunities for collaboration as co-teachers and as members of a teaching community. Data collection and observations indicate peer-to-peer co-teaching helped create a collaborative atmosphere …

The Loneliness Of A Solitary Dissertation Writer: Avoiding Isolation Through A Writing Community, Heh Youn Shin, Carol Rogers-Shaw, Colleen Unroe, Xiaoqiao Zhang

Adult Education Research Conference

The purpose of this literature review is to examine how various elements of writing groups, collaboration, and peer mentoring help doctoral students overcome obstacles and complete the dissertation process.

Responding To The Needs Of Early Career Sets Through Educator Preparation Programs, Jeongae Kang, Shantel Farnan, Tamara Lynn

The Advocate

Effective collaboration between special education teachers (SETs) and general educator teachers (GETs) is critical to better serve diverse students in the general education classroom. However, multiple areas of needs reported by early career SETs indicate that achieving the goal of effective collaboration is challenging. With a better understanding of the early experiences of SETs and their specific needs, GETs would be more suited to support early career SETs and increase effective partnerships across diverse educational settings. This article identified the needs of beginning SETs and discussed the directions of educator preparation programs in response of the reported needs.

Experiences And Perceptions Of University Students And General And Special Educator Teacher Preparation Faculty Engaged In Collaboration And Co-Teaching Practices, Leila A. Ricci, Joan Fingon

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

General and special education faculty modeling co-teaching practices in teacher preparation programs can promote collaboration among future K-12 teachers serving children with diverse needs. This article describes the experiences and perceptions of 59 university students enrolled in teacher preparation reading courses with sessions co-taught by general education and special education faculty members at a large, Hispanic serving public urban university in Southern California. The courses included lessons on co-planning, co-instructing, and co-assessing in reading jointly taught by the general education and special education professors; class readings and activities on collaboration and co-teaching; and the opportunity for university students to co-plan …

We Did It! A Collaborative Collection Development Project At The Ku And Ksu Libraries, Lea H. Currie, Mira Greene

Kansas Library Association College and University Libraries Section Proceedings

For many years, the KU and KSU Libraries have looked for a method of combining their resources to create a collaborative collection development project. When KSU joined YBP as their main book vendor, it became evident that such a project might get off the ground since KU Libraries were longtime customers of YBP. Since Proquest was the main vendor for e-books for both schools and YBP sold e-books from Proquest, KU and KSU decided to approach their e-book specialist with Proquest to find out if a collaborative demand-driven (DDA) e-book project was possible. Proquest negotiated with the publishers the two …

Tackling The Bullies In Academe, Jorg Waltje Phd, Laura Trujillo-Jenks Phd

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Severely hurtful and undermining behavior is on the increase at university campuses, partly due to the widespread jealousy and competition that is naturally prevalent in higher education. This interactive workshop will provide strategies for chairs who have to deal with difficult faculty, but it will also point out ways to create a departmental atmosphere of civility and collegiality in which bullies cannot thrive. We will use case studies to analyze realistic scenarios that can later be used by chairpersons to encourage discussions on plans of action and solutions in their home departments.

Founding Chair, Meet New Chair: Collaborating Through Chair Successions, James F. Konopack Phd, Christopher Hirschler Phd

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

Challenges abound for new chairs, including the responsibility of [re]shaping the department’s vision. This can be doubly challenging when the founding chair moves into the dean’s office. In this session, founding chair and new chair share their story and facilitate discussion about a collaborative leadership transition.

Creating A Sustainable Interdisciplinary Humanities Department, Lucia Ortiz, Kate Edney, Raffaele Florio

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

A trend at smaller colleges and universities is reconfiguring several small departments into a single, larger department. The leadership team—undergraduate chair, graduate program director, associate dean—of a Department of Humanities in its second year, will discuss the lessons learned over one year of breaking down silos across disciplines and degree levels.

Federal Lab To Boost K-State 2025 Initiative, Trevor Davis

Seek

As the National Bio and Agro-defense Facility building rises, so will Kansas State University’s reputation.

In The Middle Of It All, Erinn Barcomb-Peterson

Seek

Kansas has a lot going for it to make unmanned aircraft systems an economic home run. Nine billion people to feed in 2050. Diminishing water supplies. A changing climate. Meeting such grand challenges seems possible to those who have unmanned aircraft systems in their toolkit.

Cooperative Innovation, Cheryl May

Seek

Partnerships among the university, industry and entrepreneurs come together in the Greater Kansas City metro area.

Inter-Departmental Collaboration To Enhance Programs And Meet Community Needs, Gale B. Rice Phd.,Ccc-Slp, Mary Beth Ohlms M.Ed., Carmen Russell Phd.Ccc-Slp, Jamie Vandycke Phd.

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

This interactive session will describe how three academic departments shared their resources and expertise to enhance program quality by giving their students opportunities to collaborate with both faculty and students of different disciplines while meeting the needs of under-represented community groups in a camp context.