FACETs of Teaching at IU

Rather than learning to write, students have been asked to perform writing simulations, artifacts that pass muster measured against surface-level checklists as part of a system rooted in assessment and standardization. They are proficient at creating imitations, but largely inexperienced with the kind of critical thinking which underpins effective writing and sound communication. This Great Conversation features John Paul Kanwit, the IU Bloomington Campus Writing Program Director, and John Warner, author of many books including “Why They Can’t Write: Killing the Five-Paragraph Essay and Other Necessities”. Writing is thinking and is about making choices consistent with the audience, purpose, and message of the piece of writing. The challenge of engaging students as thinkers starts with authentic assignments that require students to wrestle with the choices writers make.​

We all, including our students, come to our daily activities with certain stressors that require some of our limited, mental bandwidth. For our students, bandwidth stealers affect their capacity to learn. Some of our students, however, face higher demands of their bandwidth. Non-majority students, students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and first generation students are more likely to experience conditions that steal bandwidth. In this Great Conversation, Yolanda Treviño, Assistant Vice President for Strategy, Planning, and Assessment at Indiana University, talks with Cia Verschelden, Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs at Malcolm X College and author of Bandwidth Recovery, about strategies to help our students regain lost cognitive resources so they can learn, grow, and live meaningful lives.​

Katie and Dawn are back (sadly not in front of a live audience this time) continuing our conversation about how we learn! In this episode, we debrief our most recent pedagogy conference, chat about how to learn more about our own disciplines, and venture into the future of pedagogy.

Be sure to follow us on Facebook and look for updates on LinkedIn and Instagram!

Show notes: https://provost.gatech.edu/education-commission/discovery-reports/future-pedagogy

Dawn and Katie are reunited on HTTC, and this time (for the first time) they are in front of a live audience! This episode delves into how we as faculty members learn more about teaching, our students, and developments in pedagogy. Hosted by the Facet Associate Faculty and Lecturer Conference in Indianapolis.

Born from 1995-2010, Generation Z makes up the majority of the traditionally-aged college student population. And they’re not the Millennials that came before them. As each generation grows up, there are myths and misunderstanding that follow them. This conversation features Karli Farrel, a current IU student and French Horn performance major in the Jacobs School of Music, who hosts Meghan Grace, a generational researcher, in a dialogue about Generation Z in college. Karli and Meghan discuss challenges Gen Z faces in this age of political polarization, 365/24/7 information overload, and expectation to maintain a “perfect” social media presence. Grace emphasizes the importance of getting to know this generation. The conversation addresses ways faculty can help this generation succeed in the classroom and prepare our Gen Z students for the workplace and meaningful lives after college. ​

The Impact of Instructor Bias on Student Success

Teaching and learning are immersive activities to which both the instructor and the student bring personal attributes and dispositions that can profoundly impact the success – or failure – of their educational endeavor. Recent research has established that one compelling factor influencing attainment levels in student success is the pre-dispositions or attitudes of the instructor. Specifically, if a professor feels a student has limited capability for gaining command of classroom content, that feeling will manifest itself in ways that can – and do – affect student performance and attainment. In this conversation, Mary Murphy will discuss the ground-breaking findings of her research team, and explore ways in which we might engage this new information to create higher quality learning environments in our classrooms everyday – for everyone.

Dr. Lowery-Hart was selected into the inaugural class of the Aspen Presidential Fellowship for Community College Excellence, a rigorous executive leadership program led by the Aspen Institute and the Stanford Educational Leadership Initiative. Dr. Lowery-Hart served as the chair for the Amarillo “No Limits/No Excuses” Partners for Postsecondary Success Collective Impact – a 21 organization collaborative focused on education certificate and degree completion leading to living wage employment. He served as the chair for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Undergraduate Education Advisory Committee charged with evaluating and redesigning the state of Texas general education requirements.

Dr. Lowery-Hart previously served as Vice-President of Academic Affairs for Amarillo College. He was named the National Council of Instructional Administrators Academic Leader of the Year for 2014. He received his Ph.D. from Ohio University; M.A. Texas Tech University; and, B.S. from West Texas State University.

While his calling is education reform, his passion is family. His wife, Tara, sons Christopher and Campbell, daughter, Cadence fill his life with beauty and joy.

From Stigma to Inclusion

Bernice A. Pescosolido is distinguished professor of Sociology at Indiana University and director of the Indiana Consortium for Mental Health Services Research. Professor Pescosolido received a B.A. from the University of Rhode Island in 1974 and a Ph.D. from Yale University in 1982. She has focused her research and teaching on social issues in health, illness, and healing.

Pescosolidos research agenda addresses how social networks connect individuals to their communities and to institutional structures, providing the "wires" through which peoples attitudes and actions are influenced. This agenda encompasses three basic areas: health care services, stigma, and suicide research. In the early 1990s, Pescosolido developed the Network-Episode Model which was designed to focus on how individuals come to recognize, respond to the onset of health problems, and use health care services. Specifically, it has provided new insights to understanding the patterns and pathways to care, adherence to treatment and the outcomes of health care. As a result, she has served on advisory agenda-setting efforts at the NIMH, NCI, NHLBI, NIDRR, OBSSR and presented at congressional briefings.

Bridges and Barriers to Student Persistence

The 21st century campus and classroom can be daunting places for first generation college students. From complicated admissions procedures to complex and confusing financial aid forms, the university culture with which new students are confronted can raise doubts in their minds about whether they can succeed in such an environment, or if they ever belong there. David Yeager and his research team have conducted ground breaking research that asserts that this sense of non-belonging is a compelling factor is student attrition. In this conversation, we discuss how teaching in particular might be leveraged to break down barriers and build bridges to students' heightened sense of belonging, and in turn, their persistence to graduation.

Dr. Jonathan Green became the 15th president of Susquehanna University, the 7th most economically diverse university in the country. Prior to that, he spent six years as provost and dean of the faculty at Illinois Wesleyan University. He previously served as dean of the college and vice president for academic affairs at Sweet Briar College, where he received the 1999 Award for Excellence in Teaching. He states that we don’t have to guess about numbers or demographics of the Freshmen of the future. They are already here. Infants and toddlers today are our college students of the future.