OPID | 2021 Spring Conference on Teaching & Learning

Joshua R. Eyler, Ph.D.

Director of Faculty Development, Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning, University of Mississippi

Friday, April 9
9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. – Fireside Chat

There is a lot of discussion in higher education these days about the science of learning but not a lot of consensus on what kind of science we are talking about or how it can benefit our students. In this talk, I will explore intersections between anthropology, psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and educational research that can yield important insights into student learning. Along the way, we will discuss how this approach to thinking about our teaching can inoculate us from educational fads, can play a role in institutional student success initiatives, and can provide a framework for us to design and test new pedagogies.

Biography

Josh Eyler is Director of Faculty Development and Director of the Thinkforward Quality Enhancement Plan at the University of Mississippi. He previously worked on teaching and learning initiatives at Rice University, Columbus State University, and George Mason University. His research interests include the biological basis of learning, evidence-based pedagogy, and disability studies, and he is the author of How Humans Learn: The Science and Stories behind Effective College Teaching (West Virginia UP, 2018).

Readings

“Q&A with Joshua Eyler on How Humans Learn” by John Warner in Inside Higher Ed https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/just-visiting/qa-joshua-eyler-how-humans-learn

“5 Teaching Tips from How Humans Learn” by Beckie Supiano in the Chronicle of Higher Ed https://www.chronicle.com/article/5-teaching-tips-from-how-humans-learn/ (Subsription only)

(L-R) Dr. Kelly Hogan and Dr. Viji Sathy; Courtesy of Travis Dove, The Chronicle

STEM Teaching Professor, Associate Dean of Instructional Innovation, College of Arts & Sciences

VIJI SATHY, PH.D.

Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, Special Projects Assistant to the Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education

Teaching strategies that emphasize structured active learning can create more equitable classrooms and improve learning for all students. Educational technologies make it possible for instructors to use a variety of inclusive teaching techniques online, such as supporting universal design, creating asynchronous videos, and facilitating synchronous discussions in which everyone participates equitably. After providing a framework for inclusive teaching, Professors Kelly Hogan and Viji Sathy of the University of North Carolina will draw upon their own teaching experiences and educational research to model various technology-based strategies that can be readily implemented with any discipline or class size to help all students achieve their potential in both online and face-to-face formats.

Workshop Objectives

• Explain the inequities that arise in an unstructured learning environment
• Describe techniques that add structure and equity to a classroom
• Brainstorm ways to reduce the inequities in your own courses

Pre-workshop Reading

Advice piece from the Chronicle is an excellent summary of Drs. Hogan and Sathy’s philosophy combined with helpful suggestions. Other readings are located here (scroll to bottom).

Biography

Dr. Kelly Hogan and Dr. Viji Sathy are award-winning instructors with a combined 25+ years in the classroom at the University of North Carolina. They are passionate about student success, equity, and inclusion in the classroom. They have expertise with inclusive techniques and active learning in any size crowd (online and face-to-face), because both teach courses routinely with hundreds of students. On their campus, they lead innovative classroom and diversity administrative initiatives that benefit all students, faculty, and staff. Both are leading the campus in curriculum reforms, bringing course-based undergraduate research experiences and makerspace courses to all disciplines. Kelly and Viji have shared their work with faculty through hands-on workshops at numerous types of institutions. Both are active in the scholarship of teaching and learning in their respective disciplines of biology and statistics, and their work has been featured in a number of national publications such as The Chronicle of Higher Education and the New York Times. They are currently writing a book together.

Social Media:

Twitter: @vijisathy @DrMrsKellyHogan #inclusiveteaching #inclusiveclassrooms

Pronouns and Pronunciation:

Both Drs. Hogan and Sathy use the pronouns she, her, and hers

Dr. Sathy’s name is pronounced Viji (rhymes with Pidgey) Sathy (rhymes with Cathy). You can listen to an audio pronunciation here: http://bit.ly/vijisathy_mp4

Dr. Kaye Whitehead
Photo courtesy  of Afro

Associate Professor of Communication and African, and African American Studies
Loyola University Maryland
President, National Women’s Studies Association

Friday, April 23
9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.

2020: a year that tried but did not break us | Afro

There are moments in your life that are so overwhelming that they take your breath away. Moments that when you look back, you remember every detail like it just happened.

On page 4 of Letters to My Black Sons: Raising Boys in a Post-Racial America (Apprentice House, 2020, 2015)

Dr. Whitehead writes:

Nana,
you once told me that if I ever forgot
who I was, whose I was, or why I was,
I should call because you would always remember.
You then made me promise to teach it all
– with passion, purpose, and promise –
to my boys.
And then.. you made me write it down
and I haven’t stopped writing since.