Education Commons^™

Exploring Open Education Advocacy: Stakeholder Strategies To Build A Campus Culture Of “Open”, Nancy Henke, Molly Jameson, Ethan Roth

University Libraries Faculty Publications

Awareness of OER is essential to understanding and implementing open and equitable pedagogical practices. However, what if a campus requires more education about the “what” and “why” of OER to then spark discussions about open pedagogy? And how does an institution build a campus culture of open education when stakeholders have different degrees of investment in its implementation? OER advocacy efforts may differ significantly depending on an individual’s position within the academic hierarchy and their job responsibilities.

This panel featured three different OER advocates – an undergraduate student, a faculty librarian, and a program administrator – as they shared their …

Examining Attitudes Towards Scientific Research, Charles Ian Johnston

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Undergraduate students are often anxious about participating in a research experience. In this study, students conducted research as part of their introductory biology course and were then surveyed using the Attitudes toward Research Scale, to understand their views on research. Students were surveyed at the beginning and end of the semester, and their scores in five attitudinal categories were compared. The attitudes examined were usefulness of research, positive attitudes towards research, relevance of research, difficulty of research and anxiety towards research. We hypothesized that participation in research as part of a course would improve students’ attitude toward research. Initial analysis …

The Deaf Experience In National Parks With An Emphasis On Rocky Mountain National Park, Madeline Dannewitz

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This research investigated the experiences of Deaf visitors to the Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP). The little research available focuses on how the National Park Service and its workers interact with Deaf people. Conversely, this study investigated the experiences of Deaf people and their perspective regarding interacting with the park and its members. A study regarding Deaf visitors in Yosemite National Park found that many were invisible to its employees. The desire from the Deaf community and lack of research shows the significance of this study. This analysis is crucial to the human experience as quality of life is improved …

Value Beyond Cost Savings: Unlocking Diversity, Equity And Inclusion With Open Educational Resources, Nancy Henke

Libraries Workshops & Webinars

The cost savings offered by the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) have garnered significant attention. As free teaching, learning, and research materials, OER reduce financial barriers to education by eliminating textbook costs. However, fewer people are aware that OER also contribute to a more inclusive learning environment. This session explores the value of OER beyond financial benefits, delving into how OER, as free and accessible resources, play a role in building an inclusive educational landscape. From embracing diverse perspectives in content creation to providing the opportunity to tailor course materials to students’ specific needs, this presentation uncovers the many …

Content Area Language And Literacy, Saadia Ali, Margaret A. Berg

Open Textbooks & Reviews

Content Area Literacy courses have long been a requirement in teacher education programs for pre-service teachers for the secondary level and, sometimes, for the elementary level. The 2020 World-class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) Framework takes a genre approach that aligns well with the traditional Content Area Literacy courses in teacher preparation programs. WIDA argues for an educational approach that fosters (a) equity of opportunity and access, (b) integration of content and language, (c) collaboration among stakeholders, and (d) a functional approach to language development. This textbook examines the elements that make up the Simple View of Reading with adjustments …

Learning To Put People First: Cultural Humility, Funds Of Knowledge, And Information Literacy Instruction With First-Generation Students, Darren Ilett

University Libraries Faculty Publications

In this critical self-reflective essay, I first share key learning moments in my development as a teacher librarian dedicated to pursuing more inclusive and equitable information literacy instruction. In these moments, first-generation students gave me the invaluable gift of sharing with me the harm I was causing them by emphasizing course content and behavior policing over people and relationships. Next, I use the lenses of cultural humility and funds of knowledge to reflect critically on those moments. Finally, I share ways I have changed my professional praxis as a consequence.

"We're Gonna Figure This Out": First-Generation Students And Academic Libraries, Juliann Couture, Jimena Bretón, Emily Dommermuth, Natasha Floersch, Darren Ilett, Kristine Nowak, Lindsay Roberts, Renae Watson

University Libraries Faculty Publications

Although extensive research has looked at first-generation college students’ experiences, very little has examined the role of the library. This article reports the results of an asset-based exploratory study understanding the experiences of first-generation college students at three universities. Key findings of this study focus on themes of self-advocacy, sense of belonging, library customization, and integration of the library with the larger campus. This article discusses these key themes in the context of improving library services and spaces, ultimately providing more inclusive resources for all student groups. Implications and recommendations for professional practice are discussed.

Adopting Oer Across The University, Cassendra M. Bergstrom, Molly Desjardins, B. Bailie Peterson, Angela Steele

Teaching and Assessment Symposium Recordings

In this presentation, four faculty members from across disciplines will present their experience adopting open educational resources and open pedagogical practices in their Fall 2019 courses. The presentation will share the benefits and challenges of OER, methods for overcoming challenges, student perceptions of OER, and highlights from each course.

Proactive Academic Coaching: A Study On Why Students Leave College And How To Support Them, Samantha Black, Darren Ilett, Jake Henderson

Teaching and Assessment Symposium Recordings

The purpose of this assessment was to gather data on reasons why students struggle when they get to college and then assess if the Bears First program has helped reduce these barriers. Exit surveys and suspension appeals were used to determine the reasons why students leave or were suspended. A combination of focus groups, individual interviews, and surveys were used to determine the effect that Bears First has had on students in their first semester. Students were also asked about personal and academic experiences with UNC as a whole.

Design Thinking: A Pedagogy For Higher Education?, Amie Cieminski

Teaching and Assessment Symposium Recordings

The design thinking process has been used in various organizations and contexts to devise creative, user-based solutions to complex problems. Design thinking can bridge the gap between theory and practice, support student outcomes such as empathy, reflection, and creativity, and encourage risk-taking and community engagement. The presenter will share design thinking activities and resources as well as share the results of a design thinking unit used in a graduate class to explore the question, "How might we create and lead more equitable schools?" Participants can explore how they might incorporate design thinking as a pedagogy in their courses and content.

Developing Assessment Strategies For A New Undergraduate Program And An Established Doctoral Program, Brent Oja, Yoon Tae Sung, Alan Morse

Teaching and Assessment Symposium Recordings

In order to enhance and better assess the sport administration program's new undergraduate emphasis and current doctoral program, an external consultant was brought to campus. Dr. Chad McEvoy of Northern Illinois University, an alumnus of the doctoral program, visited in August. Dr. McEvoy provided several recommendations that have already been implemented, such as the creation of two new undergraduate courses. We have also begun to revise our assessment of doctoral students via a qualifying examination and yearly interviews. This project is still in progress as we implement other recommendations, and attempt to bring in another consultant.

Implementation Of A Low-Stakes Daily Assessment In A Large Introductory Lac Course, Marian I. Hamilton

Teaching and Assessment Symposium Recordings

Low-stakes assessments contribute to positive classroom culture, increase student confidence and preparation, provide feedback to the professor on common misconceptions, and open up lines of communication between students and professors. Here, I present an example of how Canvas can be leveraged to perform a daily, low-stakes assessment in a medium-to-large LAC introductory course. These daily assessments hold students accountable for attendance and participation without levying harsh penalties for personal circumstances, allow the professor to nimbly address misconceptions in real time, and increase the personal relationship between students and professor in a setting in which it would otherwise be easiest for …

Assessing Student Learning Outcomes In Physical Education K-12 Teaching: A Whole-Program Revision To Meet New Standards And Institutional Learning Outcomes, Jennifer Krause, Brian Dauenhauer, Jaimie Mcmullen, Collin Brooks

Teaching and Assessment Symposium Recordings

The purpose of this project was to evaluate, revise, and align program-level assessments for the Physical Education K-12 Teaching program. Major goals for the project included (a) construction of a program-wide course matrix with SLOs, state and national educator standards, UNC Institutional Learning Outcomes, and course assessments; (b) construction/revision of assessment methods and criteria; and (c) integration of a tagging system within Canvas/LiveText to monitor outcome achievements. This presentation will describe an overview of the process, major updates and changes to the program, and future steps for implementation.

Beliefs About Global Climate Change Among Faculty At The University Of Northern Colorado, Cindy Shellito, Emily A. Holt

Teaching and Assessment Symposium Recordings

A survey was administered to UNC faculty and instructors in Fall 2019 with the aim of assessing faculty beliefs about global climate change and the role that UNC plays in preparing students for the impacts of global climate change in coming years. A majority of survey respondents (n=226) are concerned that climate change will affect the lives of UNC students in the future and that UNC should be doing more to address global climate change and prepare students. We share survey results and faculty suggestions and comments regarding incorporating global climate issues across a broad disciplinary spectrum.

Assessment & Planning For The Department Of Geography, Gis, & Sustainability, Chelsie Romulo, Jieun Lee, Karen Barton, James Doerner, Jimmy Dunn, Kathy Johnson, Phil Klein, Jessica Salo

Teaching and Assessment Symposium Recordings

The purpose of this project and requested funding was to support participation in the NAGT traveling workshop. The Dean's office in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences approved the use of funds to support the actual workshop, so the requested funding from the Assessment Mini-Grants program was to provide stipends and food for faculty and students in attendance. The overarching objective of the workshop was to facilitate the collaborative development of ENST curriculum, assessment, and planning. The following were workshop specific goals: Evaluate and Revise ENST Student Learning Outcomes, including:

• Curriculum Mapping
• Alignment with Institutional Learning Outcomes
• Create a …

Call Of The Wild: A Qualitative Analysis Of Goal-Setting Among Biology Undergraduates At A Regional Zoo, Ashley Barbara Heim, Emily A. Holt

Teaching and Assessment Symposium Recordings

Free-choice learning at informal settings among undergraduates is relatively understudied. The purpose of the current study was to qualitatively describe what goals biology students set for themselves during an intervention at a regional zoo, and to describe what types of goals students were able to fulfill during this learning opportunity. Based on student responses on this assessment administered in Fall 2018, we aimed to refine the Goal-Setting Assessment, and give context to our initial findings. Specifically, we intended to refine this assessment so that the items are broad enough to be used both in formal classrooms and out-of-school environments.

Comprehensive Assessment Of A Peer Mentor Program For First-Year Students, Michael Graham, Alexis Hauck, Jordan L. Martell, Emili N. Pickenpaugh, Angela L. Vaughan

Teaching and Assessment Symposium Recordings

College students who engage in first-year programs such as peer mentorship are correlated with higher achievement. Peer mentorship can also have a significant impact on students' feelings of belonging to their campus community. This mixed-methods study will provide a comprehensive assessment of a Class Leader (CL) program. Data will include first-semester outcomes (i.e., first-term GPA; retention) for all students (N ~ 1850) and first-generation students as compared to non-participants, survey responses (n ~ 471) about students' experiences with CLs and perceptions related to the program, and focus group data from students, CLs, and instructors at the end of the semester.

Incorporating Problem-Based Learning In An Undergraduate Allied Health Prerequisite Anatomy And Physiology Course, Alexandra A. Vita, Emily A. Royse, Nicholas A. Pullen

Teaching and Assessment Symposium Recordings

Anatomy and Physiology (A&P) is one of the final biology prerequisites undergraduate students enroll in before progressing in nursing and allied health degree programs. Using design-based research methods to examine our backward design approach, we defined learning objectives for an advanced A&P lab course, created aligned assessments, and are implementing new activities iteratively over four semesters. We are evaluating student learning outcomes using a previously validated homeostasis concept inventory. Our preliminary results suggest that students experience persisting misconceptions about homeostasis despite instruction, but in future semesters, we aim to support student learning of physiology topics through problem-based learning.

English 122 College Composition Pilot Assessment Project, Tara Wood, Marc Santos

Teaching and Assessment Symposium Recordings

In the fall 2019 semester, under the direction of Tara Wood, a new, standardized curriculum was implemented for all sections of ENG 122 College Composition. This new curricular approach is grounded in the transfer and cross-context writing studies research that has emerged in the past decade (e.g. Adler-Kassner and Wardle 2015; Downs and Wardle 2017; Yancey, Robertson, Taczak 2015). Historically, the curricular approach to ENG 122 has floundered with a lack of clear vision and a lack of consistency of delivery. Moreover, to our knowledge, no previous assessment of the curriculum has taken place. Ultimately, this presentation reports on an …

Bibliography Of Online Learning And Teaching Literature Authored By University Of Northern Colorado Faculty, Stephanie Wiegand

University Libraries Faculty Publications

Although not comprehensive, this bibliography offers readers a list of publications authored by members of the University of Northern Colorado faculty regarding online teaching and learning. If you know of additional works that should be added to this bibliography, please contact Stephanie Wiegand at stephanie.wiegand@unco.edu.

Can Summer Philosophy Programs Help Close The Achievement Gap?, Bailie Peterson

Philosophy Faculty Publications

While summer break presents educational and recreational opportunities for some students, students from depressed socioeconomic groups may face significant obstacles in the summer, including learning loss. In general, these students also lack access to a wide range of intrinsic and instrumental benefits attached to the study of philosophy. While there are currently existing philosophy programs, this contribution highlights the connections between summer experiences and the overall achievement gap, while identifying specific practices shown to yield successful summer programs. Philosophy provides an impressive set of benefits, including academic skills and opportunities for personal growth and development. Incorporating best practices while focusing …

Data (Mis) Visualization And Its Impact On Academic Advancement And Public Understanding, Nicole R. Webber, Margarita Shawcross, Dale Edwards, Rob Reinsvold, Jingying Crystal Zhen

Society for the Academic Study of Social Imagery

Cultures across the globe are increasingly visual—whether this be due to the popularity of video streaming, advances in the graphic arts, or the rise of accessible software, apps, and other technologies. In fact, while globalization endures as a prominent force, it seems that the rather universal languages of images and numbers do as well. Visualizations—in particular data visualizations—are valued for their efficiency in communicating messages and their efficacy in spurring emotion and instigating action. This gives such images great power.

Although all media consumers must ultimately be accountable for their own ability to interact responsibly with the visual media, educators …

Review: Educational Psychology, 2nd Ed. (University Of Manitoba), Cassie Bergstrom

Open Textbooks & Reviews

Review of the textbook Educational Psychology - Second Edition originally published on Open Textbook Library (https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/educational-psychology).

Collaborating On Flipped Library Sessions: 8 Best Practices For Faculty & Librarians, Nicole R. Webber, Stephanie Wiegand

University Libraries Faculty Publications

Library instruction varies in format but often manifests in the librarian teaching a single, isolated class session—what librarians refer to as a “one-shot.” Many challenges accompany this traditional format, including time-constraints, disengaged audiences, and little understanding on the part of the student as to how the library instruction integrates with course content. Flipped Learning methods can help counter these challenges even when the overall course is not based on a flipped model. They liberate librarians and faculty from the one-shot model and expand opportunities for library instruction to occur at multiple times in a course, to be delivered virtually or …

Black & White Response In A Gray Area: Faculty And Predatory Publishing, Nicole R. Webber, Stephanie Wiegand

University Libraries Faculty Publications

This study focuses on faculty knowledge, experiences, and attitudes regarding fraudulent journal operations. Many definitions presented to researchers contain two primary aspects to describe these intentional perpetra­tors: 1) the chief motivation to profit monetarily, and 2) the misleading promise of and failure to deliver on indicators of quality, such as peer review. While this definition is simple on its surface, when put into practice it often expands into discussions of poor or unethical practices by journal publishers. It is common to find lists of grievances clarifying acts that signal predatory or unethical practices, which are used to broadly classify jour­nals …

Working Session To Align Learning Outcomes, Class Assignments, And Final Assessments, Wendi Flynn, Aaron Haberman

Teaching, Learning & Assessment

Ready to improve course assignments you’ve already created? Join us for a two-hour working session where you will evaluate and revise your existing course assignments using your course learning outcomes and best practices provided by the session facilitators. This session is structured to have plenty of time for discussion and feedback. You’ll leave this session with revised assignments that are better aligned with your course-level outcomes and assessment best practices.

To maximize the effectiveness of this working session, please bring: 1) a summative assignment (for example, a final exam or term project); 2) a formative assignment (for example, a homework …

How Learning Happens & What It Means For Effective Teaching, Molly Jameson

Teaching, Learning & Assessment

Faculty can be passionate about educating their students, but may not have been trained in how learning actually happens. In this workshop, we will discuss 1) research-based techniques for how students learn, and 2) how to implement those techniques in your classroom. These techniques can increase student motivation and learning; therefore, there is great value in learning about and applying these techniques. During the workshop, participants will have the opportunity to modify their own class unit/lesson, assignment, or activity to incorporate the research-based techniques for how students learn. Please bring a class unit/lesson, assignment, or activity you would like to …

First-Generation Students’ Information Literacy In Everyday Contexts, Darren Ilett

University Libraries Faculty Publications

Historically, much of the Library and Information Science (LIS) literature on first-generation students (FGS) framed them using deficit thinking, emphasising what they lacked to be successful in higher education. In contrast, recent scholarship has turned to asset-based pedagogies, shifting the focus onto the strengths that FGS bring to college. Further, LIS research on FGS has examined how students engage with information solely in academic contexts, such as completing research papers or navigating higher education procedures. The current study contributes to the discussion of asset-based pedagogies by using a funds of knowledge approach to explore the ways in which FGS at …

How Learning Happens And What It Means For Effective Teaching, Molly Jameson

Teaching, Learning & Assessment

This workshop will provide a brief overview of prominent learning theories and their relation to effective teaching. Activities and discussion will center on realistic ways to implement learning theory in your classrooms. Please bring course material you would like to better align with learning theory.

Practical Strategies For Creating Inclusive & Equitable Classrooms, Rashida Banerjee, Lyda Mccartin

Teaching, Learning & Assessment

Creating a learning environment that supports all students can be challenging as there are numerous ways inclusion and exclusion manifest in the classroom; for example, student-student interactions, faculty-student interactions, course content, course policies, and assessment. While inclusive teaching gets a lot of attention on campus, these topics rarely get discussed in a manner that provides practical strategies for instructors to address course participants’ individual and cultural backgrounds and experiences. This panel brings together Dr. Raquel Wright-Mair, Dr. Rashida Banerjee, and Fleurette King, educators guided by the principles of inclusive teaching, to share their practice. Panelists will share how they create …