2014 Teaching, Research, & Technology Workshops Session Descriptions Archive

Session Descriptions By Day:

  • Wednesday, August 13th

  • Thursday, August 14th

  • Wednesday, August 20th

Teaching Research and Technology Workshops logo

Wednesday, August 13th

9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.: Coffee and Breakfast (MGC 200)

Start your day off with breakfast, network with colleagues, and learn about/sign up for Fall 2014 Instructional Technology Workshops

9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Classroom Audio Visual Demonstration (Library 115)

AV Staff

Learn how to connect your laptop to the projector and how to play audio and video in a standard AU classroom.

10:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.: EARLY MORNING SESSIONS

101: Strategies for Active Learning (MGC 200)

Elizabeth (Betsy) Cohn (SIS)

Lecturing and discussion are fine, but it’s hard to get our students’ attention in an over-stimulated world. Active learning exercises in the classroom, and short assignments incorporated into your syllabus, can focus student attention on your course and improve their learning. We explore several active learning exercises for the classroom such as: first-day-of-class quotes; Pause2Reflect (P2R); brainstorming; ticket out the door; syn-nap; Socratic circle (fishbowl); stir the class; mind mapping; one-minute lecture; and super-sentence. I will explain assignments I have successfully used such as: two-page briefs; roundtable discussions; and blogs, and faculty will share their ideas.

102: Introduction to Citation Management Software Tools: EndNote, Mendeley, and Zotero (Library 115)

Mindy Ford (Library), Olivia Ivey (Library) & Jenise Overmier (Library)

Learn about using citation management software programs to help organize and cite your research citations. We will discuss the pros and cons to using EndNote, Mendeley, and Zotero, and help researchers get started with using any of them. It is recommended that you bring your own research laptop (if applicable) so you can download and start using the program of your choice. Three librarians will be there for one-on-one assistance setting up and using any of these three programs.

103: Resources and Strategies for Creating Maps in Teaching and Research (MCG 203/205)

Stefan Kramer (Library), Jim Lee (CTRL)

This session will discuss the growing campus resources and support for digital map creation. It will cover how to introduce effective map-making into class assignments and how to get support for creating maps in publications, whether you are new or experienced users. Among the packages available on campus, we will briefly cover ArcGIS, Google Earth, and map-making using statistical packages.

104: Introduction to Blackboard (Library 306)

Anton Shimkevitch (Library)

In this Introduction to Blackboard workshop, faculty will practice with the document management, the communication, and the online discussion features of Blackboard.
• Learn how to upload content such as Word documents, images, and PDF files
• Link to multimedia such as YouTube clips
• Add an audio clip to your course
• Create announcements
• Send e-mail to students
• Locate a roster of students
• Use a group blog or Discussion Board questions to provoke discussions about the readings before class
• Submit requests for e-reserves

105: Introduction to Recording with Panopto (Anderson B-12)

Katie Kassof (Library)

This session will prepare you to use Panopto to record your classes, mini-lectures, student presentations and more! Not only will you learn the technical aspects of the software, but also how to integrate this technology into your class effectively, which situations will work best for capture and how to use it as a teaching tool rather than a record keeper. Please bring your own laptop for this session.

12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.: LUNCH AND PRESENTATION: Increasing Research Impact at AU (MGC 4 & 5)

Jonathan G. Tubman (Office of the Provost)

Jonathan G. Tubman, Vice Provost for Research and Dean of Graduate Studies, will lead a discussion of the key draft recommendations from AU’s 2013-2014 High Impact Research Task Force.
1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.: EARLY AFTERNOON SESSIONS

201: Enhancing Teaching through Peer Observation (MGC 200)

Marilyn Goldhammer (CTRL & SETH)

Peer Observation is one of the ways in which faculty move “beyond SETs” to enhance instruction and provide meaningful feedback to faculty. This session focuses on ways to create and implement peer observation within your school or department.

202: The Mobile Professor Toolkit: Ten Options for Everyone (MGC 203/205)

Laura March (CTRL)

This session introduces ten mobile tools that instructors can add to their pedagogical repertoire. No prior knowledge of mobile tools or specific technological ability is required for session participants, as this workshop focuses on options for everyone. Selected apps will be simple enough to understand for first-time mobile users and have plenty of free online documentation and help available. Faculty that attend this session will be able to incorporate new mobile tools into their coursework, grading, and other academic activities.

203: Qualitative Research Tools: Using NVivo for Research and Teaching (Anderson B-14)

Eric Charles (CTRL) & Jim Lee (CTRL)

CTRL offers support for incorporating NVivo into your teaching and research. NVivo is available to the AU community, and is one of the most popular qualitative research programs in the world. We will show you how to access the software, discuss best practices for class assignments, and tell you how to take advantage of the support we offer.

204: Advanced Blackboard (Library 306)

Anton Shimkevitch (Library)

This workshop will show you how to set up assignments that are linked to the Blackboard Grade Center and how to set up assignments either as individual items or in a category in the Grade Center. You will also practice weighting assignments, downloading assignments, and providing feedback to students through the Grade Center. We may also practice the use of blogs and discussion boards and discuss the pedagogical uses of these features.

205: Piazza: An Alternative to Blackboard’s Discussion Board (Anderson B-12)

Kate Burns (CTRL) & Bill Harder (CTRL)

Encourage discussion and student collaboration through Piazza’s wiki-style Q&A forum. The layout of Piazza engages students during class through real time updates, anonymity options, and mobile app accessibility. Piazza eliminates redundant student emails by allowing for both students and instructors to edit answers to perfection.
• Course Page allows handouts and homework to be posted
• Monitors statistics and gives instructors the ability to track student participation
• LaTeX editor enables equations and formulas to be posted
• Multimedia embedding supports diagrams, images, and videos, letting them be viewed from within the forum, as opposed to linking participants to another site
• Instructors can enable/disable students to post anonymously

3:15 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.: LATE AFTERNOON SESSIONS
301: Integrating Community into the Classroom with the Community Service-Learning Program (CSLP) (MGC 200)

Amanda Choutka (Literature), Alex Hitch (The Latino Student Fund), Lucy Mendez (The Latino Student Fund), Meg Rego (Center for Community Engagement and Service) & Chante Harris (Class of 2015)

Could your students’ education be strengthened through practical application of the theories and skills learned in your course? If so, come explore the Community Service-Learning Program (CSLP); an opportunity for students to earn an additional pass/fail credit associated with your course for completing 40 hours of complementary service-learning work and related reflective projects. Research has indicated that service-learning improves students’ ability to apply lessons to the real world, increases classroom engagement, and facilitates cross-cultural, class, and racial understandings. CSLP is currently available to faculty and students in CAS, SIS, SPA, and Kogod. Learn how you can support students through this program.

302: Introduction to Library Resources and Course Reserves (MGC 203/205)

Donna Femenella (Library), Stefan Kramer (Library) & Jenise Overmier (Library)

Participants will receive a basic introduction to library resources and services for faculty research and instruction. The session will provide an introduction to library tools such as the library website, catalog, major databases, as well as the data visualization platform the library makes available to faculty for publishing their own research data, or to use datasets in coursework. Participants will also learn how to use course reserves to make class materials available to their students. This session is particularly useful for incoming faculty, but anyone wanting to learn more about the library is welcome.

303: Virtual Computing: Accessing Research Software Remotely (Anderson B-12)

Assen Assenov (CTRL) & Angel Bogushev (CTRL)

Research and course work are often delayed because faculty and students do not have easy access to needed software. CTRL supports the Virtual Computing Lab (VCL), which allows members of the AU community to access powerful research software at any time from anywhere with internet access. Join us and we will show you how to access the VCL, discuss best practices using the VCL in class and research contexts, and tell you how to take advantage of CTRL support for the VCL.

304: Introduction to Collaborate (Library 306)

Anton Shimkevitch (Library)

Using Collaborate, the newest web-conferencing product on the market, professors can talk with students in real-time; share applications, files, and images; and record these sessions for future use. Please join us to learn how Collaborate can help you offer a review session or office hours, face a weather emergency, or teach a hybrid class. And with Collaborate, you can also set up groups so that your students can use all the features of Collaborate for their group projects without you in attendance.

Thursday, August 14th

9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Coffee and Breakfast (MGC 200)

Start your day off with breakfast, network with colleagues, and learn about/sign up for Fall 2014 Instructional Technology Workshops

9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Classroom Audio Visual Demonstration (Library 115)

AV Staff

Learn how to connect your laptop to the projector and how to play audio and video in a standard AU classroom.

10:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.: EARLY MORNING SESSIONS
401: Strategies for Improving Student Writing: Three Case Studies (MGC 200)

Declan Fahy (SOC), Rose Shinko (SIS) & Jessica Waters (SPA)

At this session, three faculty members will share their experiences, as well as some tips and strategies on what their departments do to help students improve their writing. Declan Fahy (SOC) will draw on his experience teaching Writing for Communication, a required 200-level SOC course, to describe seven strategies to help students become clear, concise and competent writers for wide audiences. Jessica Waters (SPA) will discuss the connections between excellent research and excellent writing, and will share her experiences with non-traditional writing assignments. Rose Shinko (SIS) will discuss writing in SIS’s First Year Seminars.

402: Hybrid Teaching Models: Past, Present, and Future (MGC 203/205)

Gorky Cruz (CAS-WLC), Jennifer Hoeritz (KSB), Jim Lee (CTRL) & Laura March (CTRL)

This session looks at the use of hybrid teaching and its many modalities (past), the current collection of hybrids underway at AU (present), and new directions for hybrid teaching at AU and in the teaching field (future). We will also discuss training options for faculty that are available on campus. We hope to make this an interactive session and gauge campus community interests and concerns regarding using hybrid teaching models.

403: Quantitative Research Tools: Picking the Right Software for Research and Teaching (Anderson B-12)

Assen Assenov (CTRL) & Angel Bogushev (CTRL)

When you are thinking about doing quantitative research or creating quantitative assignments for your courses, it is important that you pick the right program. CTRL offers support for incorporating many programs into your teaching and research and the most popular general statistical packages are SPSS, STATA, and SAS, which are all available to the AU community. We will show you how to access the software, discuss the pros and cons of selecting each for teaching and research, and tell you how to take advantage of the support we offer.

404: Advanced Blackboard (Library 306)

Anton Shimkevitch (Library)

This workshop will show you how to set up assignments that are linked to the Blackboard Grade Center and how to set up assignments either as individual items or in a category in the Grade Center. You will also practice weighting assignments, downloading assignments, and providing feedback to students through the Grade Center. We may also practice the use of blogs and discussion boards and discuss the pedagogical uses of these features.

12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.: LUNCH AND PRESENTATION: Teaching with Technology Award (MGC 4 & 5)

Deen Freelon (SOC) & Brian Yates (CAS-PSYC)

Professors Brian Yates (CAS-PSYC) and Deen Freelon (SOC), the two winners of the 2014 Teaching with Technology Award, will discuss how they incorporate technology into their teaching.

1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.: EARLY AFTERNOON SESSIONS

501: How They Learn, How We Teach: Research Based Strategies (MGC 200)

Marilyn Goldhammer (CTRL & SETH)

Research on how we take in and process information provides insights on teaching methodology. How does prior knowledge impact what and how students learn? How do students master course content? What types of feedback enhance learning and motivate students? This interactive session will address these issues and offer strategies to consider.

502: Advanced Recording with Panopto (Anderson B-14)

Katie Kassof (Library)

This session will dive deeper into the features Panopto offers. We will explore the Panopto portal and learn how to manage your recordings, move them from class to class, and share them with people outside of your Blackboard class. We will also learn how to use the Editor including trimming, merging, adding or altering bookmarks, and insert hyperlinks into your recordings. Prior to this session, please upload a recording to one of your classes. Please bring your own laptop for this session.

503: High Performance Computing: Understanding and Using AU’s HPC (Anderson B-12)

Assen Assenov (CTRL) & Angel Bogushev (CTRL)

American University has a High Performance Computing (HPC) cluster named Zorro, which allows members of the AU community to use distributed computing solutions for difficult computational problems. We will show you how to gain access to the HPC, discuss the best practices for its use, and tell you how to take advantage of CTRL research support for the HPC.

504: Introduction to Collaborate (Library 306)

Anton Shimkevitch (Library)

Using Collaborate, the newest web-conferencing product on the market, professors can talk with students in real-time; share applications, files, and images; and record these sessions for future use. Please join us to learn how Collaborate can help you offer a review session or office hours, face a weather emergency, or teach a hybrid class. And with Collaborate, you can also set up groups so that your students can use all the features of Collaborate for their group projects without you in attendance.

3:15 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.: LATE AFTERNOON SESSIONS

601: Cultural, Linguistic, and National Diversity in the Classroom (MGC 200)

Senem Bakar (ISSS) & Jawee Perla (ISSS) (Facilitators); Fanta Aw (SIS), Gorky Cruz (CAS-WLC), Pallavi Kumar (SOC) & Jessica Waters (SPA) (Panelists)

This session will explore faculty’s experience in working with international, multicultural, and multilingual students. Faculty will hear from peers on effective ways to harness the diversity that students bring into the classroom, as well as challenge the traditional “deficit” approach to understanding the culture of students’ academic background. This session will also explore ways that students adjust to US standards of academic integrity and approaches to participatory and active learning. The goal of the session is to provide faculty with resources for supporting, engaging, and enhancing the learning of their international students.

602: Measuring Research Impact and Managing your Research Identity (MGC 203/205)

Rachel Borchardt (Library) & Stefan Kramer (Library)

Learn about the tools and metrics used to measure the impact of scholarly research, including Impact Factor, h-index, journal rankings, and more. New and emerging tools, along with more general information about metrics and considerations for different disciplines, will also be discussed. Additionally, participants will learn about the purpose and benefits of Open Researcher and Contributor Identifiers and how to get your own unique author identifier to help manage your scholarly profile. This workshop is especially useful for any faculty preparing a personal research file, particularly pre-tenure faculty. Faculty are encouraged to bring their own laptop.

603: Prezi: Presentations beyond PowerPoint (Anderson B-12)

Kate Burns (CTRL) & Cat Panganiban (CTRL)

Prezi is a virtual whiteboard that turns your linear PowerPoint presentation into an interactive, collaborative, and multi-linear narrative. In Prezi, you are presented with a 3-dimensional canvas to convey your ideas with the ability to zoom in for details and pan wider for broader themes. The long list of PowerPoint slides appears static after you transform your ideas into a visually engaging presentation through Prezi.
The advantages of Prezi are plenty:
• Edit and save entirely online
• Import your PowerPoint presentations for an easier transformation process
• Presentations can be downloaded and edited on your personal computer
• Direct multi-embedding capability (i.e. Pictures, YouTube Videos, and Voice Over)
• Save presentations as a PDF document for printing

604: Introduction to Blackboard (Library 306)

Anton Shimkevitch (Library)

In this Introduction to Blackboard workshop, faculty will practice with the document management, the communication, and the online discussion features of Blackboard.
• Learn how to upload content such as Word documents, images, and PDF files
• Link to multimedia such as YouTube clips
• Add an audio clip to your course
• Create announcements
• Send e-mail to students
• Locate a roster of students
• Use a group blog or Discussion Board questions to provoke discussions about the readings before class
• Submit requests for e-reserves

Wednesday, August 20th

9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Coffee and Breakfast (MGC 200)

Start your day off with breakfast, network with colleagues, and learn about/sign up for Fall 2014 Instructional Technology Workshops

9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Classroom Audio Visual Demonstration (Library 115)

AV Staff

Learn how to connect your laptop to the projector and how to play audio and video in a standard AU classroom.

10:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.: EARLY MORNING SESSIONS
701: Increasing Student Productivity with Experiential Teamwork (MGC 200)

Rhonda Zaharna (SOC)

The rise of “team work” has been one of the most prominent changes in the workplace over the past decade. Increasingly, instructors are assigning group projects to their students. But good teams don’t just happen. There is also a difference between a group of random individuals working independently and creating a synergistic team. This session uses an experiential “teamwork” approach to explain a spectrum of team dynamics and shares strategies instructors can use to help their students create, build, and maintain productive teams.

702: Presentation Design and Delivery (MGC 203/205)

Lucas Regner (CTRL)

The design of your classroom presentation determines what information students deem important. This workshop teaches you principles that are easy to apply when creating your slideshows. We take a closer look at the good, the bad, and the ugly when discussing what design principles effectively communicate the most important pieces of information to the students. We also discuss the different purposes of the slideshow and how the purpose has consequences for the slideshow’s design.

703: Overview of CTRL’s Research Support and Software Training (Anderson B-12)

Assen Assenov (CTRL) & Eric Charles (CTRL)

The Research Support Group (RSG) in CTRL offers a wide variety of support for research and research-related teaching. Come learn about our workshops, in-class tutorials, drop-in consultations, extended consultation sessions, and more. This will also include a brief overview of the programs that we support, including statistical software, mathematical software, programming languages, qualitative research software, geographic information systems software, and online survey software.

704: Introduction to Collaborate (Library 306)

Anton Shimkevitch (Library)

Using Collaborate, the newest web-conferencing product on the market, professors can talk with students in real-time; share applications, files, and images; and record these sessions for future use. Please join us to learn how Collaborate can help you offer a review session or office hours, face a weather emergency, or teach a hybrid class. And with Collaborate, you can also set up groups so that your students can use all the features of Collaborate for their group projects without you in attendance.

12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.: LUNCH AND PRESENTATION: Teaching with Research Award and Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award (MGC 4 & 5)

W. Joseph Campbell (SOC), Teresa Larkin (CAS-PHYS) & Edmund Stazyk (SPA-PUAD)

Professors W. Joseph Campbell (SOC) and Edmund Stazyk (SPA-PUAD), the two winners of the 2013 Teaching with Research Award, will discuss how they integrate research into their teaching, and Professor Teresa Larkin (CAS-PHYS), winner of the 2013 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award, will discuss her research on pedagogy and assessment in STEM education for college students.

1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.: EARLY AFTERNOON SESSIONS
801: Encouraging Discussion, Participation, and Enthusiasm in Class (MGC 200)

Chris Palmer (SOC)

To develop a vibrant, productive and memorable course, professors must continually work on inspiring students to become enthusiastic and motivated learners. Such students are engaged, active participants in their own learning. This session will provide you with tips on how to inspire and engage your students at various stages of developing and teaching your class, from the syllabus design, to your classroom atmosphere and interactions, and beyond the classroom. By the end of the workshop, participants should have tangible ideas on how to engage their students.

802: Everything You Wanted to Know About Online Learning but Were Afraid to Ask (MGC 203/205)

Jim Lee (CTRL) & Laura March (CTRL)

This session provides information on two events of importance for faculty online instruction. First, we will answer questions on the upcoming CTRL online training course and what is covered in the course. Second, we will describe the outlines and timing of the call for proposals for spring 2015 training and teaching online in summer 2015.

803: Piazza: An Alternative to Blackboard’s Discussion Board (Anderson B-12)

Kate Burns (CTRL) & Erica Dixon (CTRL)

Encourage discussion and student collaboration through Piazza’s wiki-style Q&A forum. The layout of Piazza engages students during class through real time updates, anonymity options, and mobile app accessibility. Piazza eliminates redundant student emails by allowing for both students and instructors to edit answers to perfection.
• Course Page allows handouts and homework to be posted
• Monitors statistics and gives instructors the ability to track student participation
• LaTeX editor enables equations and formulas to be posted
• Multimedia embedding supports diagrams, images, and videos, letting them be viewed from within the forum, as opposed to linking participants to another site
• Instructors can enable/disable students to post anonymously

804: Introduction to Blackboard (Library 306)

Anton Shimkevitch (Library)

In this Introduction to Blackboard workshop, faculty will practice with the document management, the communication, and the online discussion features of Blackboard.
• Learn how to upload content such as Word documents, images, and PDF files
• Link to multimedia such as YouTube clips
• Add an audio clip to your course
• Create announcements
• Send e-mail to students
• Locate a roster of students
• Use a group blog or Discussion Board questions to provoke discussions about the readings before class
• Submit requests for e-reserves

3:15 p.m – 4:45 p.m.: LATE AFTERNOON SESSIONS
901: Creating an Effective Syllabus (MGC 200)

Marilyn Goldhammer (CTRL & SETH)

A well-crafted syllabus provides students with a blueprint for your course: what they will learn and how you will measure their competency. Explore ways to further engage students by connecting your assignments, class activities, and grading policy to overall course goals and student learning outcomes.

902: Setting Up a Grading System (MGC 203/205)

Kyle Brannon (SOC), Pallavi Kumar (SOC) & Christine Lawrence (SOC)

Do you struggle with how to provide consistent and fair grades? Do you wonder if you grade too easily or too harshly? Do you worry about grading creative work that may involve more subjective analysis? This session will discuss various grading techniques and how to provide guidelines for useful feedback. We will also consider how to use grades to meet the learning objectives of your course. Specific grading rubrics will be considered that can help provide a foundation for student success with an assignment and the course.

903: Survey Research Tools: Qualtrics for Research and Teaching (Anderson B-12)

Eric Charles (CTRL) & Rubie Peters (CTRL)

CTRL offers support for incorporating Qualtrics into your teaching and research. Qualtrics is available to the AU community, and is one of the most popular online survey platforms in the world. We will show you how to access the software, discuss best practices for class assignments, and tell you how to take advantage of the support we offer.

904: Advanced Blackboard (Library 306)

Anton Shimkevitch (Library)

This workshop will show you how to set up assignments that are linked to the Blackboard Grade Center and how to set up assignments either as individual items or in a category in the Grade Center. You will also practice weighting assignments, downloading assignments, and providing feedback to students through the Grade Center. We may also practice the use of blogs and discussion boards and discuss the pedagogical uses of these features.