2015 Teaching, Research, & Technology Workshops Session Descriptions Archive

Library Staff

This workshop will explore how to set up a course in Blackboard, and will cover the features that are most commonly used, including adding items, assignments, discussions, and other features. We will also explore how to customize the menus and tools that faculty and students will most routinely use.

Karen Mitchell (CTRL) & Nikki Lane (CTRL)

Learn how WordPress can allow you to manage and maintain your online content through your very own public website or blog. Blogging can help engage students, facilitate discussions out of the classroom, and foster interest in your subject well after the semester is over. In this workshop, we will look at exciting examples of successful WordPress sites, discuss how to use blogs in the classroom, and provide tools to get started. If you’re interested in building your own website for a course or research purposes, then this is the workshop for you!

Library Staff

Using Collaborate, professors can talk with students, share applications, files and images, and record these sessions for future use. Please join us to learn how Collaborate can help you offer a remote review session or office hours, face a weather emergency, or teach a hybrid class. This workshop will walk you through the steps to launch your own “Live Classroom” in Blackboard, provide an overview of its uses, and hands-on practice with: starting sessions, uploading and managing content, using the White Board, application sharing, adding quizzes, and providing feedback.

Lindsay Murphy (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: (1) Edit and save entirely online; (2) Import your PowerPoint presentations for an easier transformation process; (3) Presentations can be downloaded and edited on your personal computer; (4) Direct multi-embedding capability (i.e. Pictures, YouTube Videos, and Voice Over); and (5) Save presentations as a PDF document for printing.

Kayden Kassof (Library)

This session introduces you to Kaltura, our new media management solution, as well as prepares you to use the new Kaltura CaptureSpace software 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

Brienne Thomson (CTRL)

Encourage discussion and student collaboration through Piazza’s Q&A forum. The layout of Piazza engages students during class through real time updates, anonymity options, and mobile app accessibility. Piazza’s multimedia embedding shows diagrams, images, and videos within the forum, as opposed to linking participants to another site. Piazza eliminates redundant student emails by allowing for both students and instructors to edit answers to perfection. This workshop shows you how to set up a Piazza for your course, use the LaTeX editor to post equations and formulas, embed multimedia, post handouts and homework alongside Q&A, and monitor statistics to track student participation.

Library Staff

In this workshop, we will look in depth at the test, survey, and quiz builder in Blackboard, as well as the grade center. We will look at how faculty can create tests, quizzes, and surveys using multiple question types and how to properly deploy them into areas of a Blackboard course. Additionally, we will explore how to effectively set up and use the grade center in Blackboard. This workshop is designed for faculty and staff who have prior experience using Blackboard and would like to start delivering and grading assessments in Blackboard.

Bill Harder (CTRL)

Sometimes the easiest way to get your point across is with a picture. This workshop focuses on a few easy to use—and fast to learn—tools to produce graphics for use during class. With these tools you can find and graph data, create concept maps and flowcharts, produce interactive maps and timelines, and then package all of the above into an infographic. In addition to exploring ways to create visualizations for your own class presentations, we will also discuss ways to design assignments around all of these tools to get your students thinking more visually.

Library Staff

In this workshop, we will explore how to create and grade with rubrics, setting up course alignments (goals), and using adaptive release. This will be a quick paced workshop that is designed for experienced Blackboard users who want to take their Blackboard skills to the next level. This workshop is designed for faculty and staff who have prior experience using Blackboard.

Brienne Thomson (CTRL)

Looking to engage your students in new and exciting ways both in and out of the classroom? Want to quickly and easily gather information through surveys and polls? Learn how to use tools that take advantage of technology students already have – phones, tablets, and laptops. Tools such as Poll Everywhere and Google Forms let you ask a range of questions, from multiple choice and word answers to click-on-target and sorting, opening up a wide array of possibilities for student engagement and feedback. Learn how to get instant feedback with in-class polls, or collect student information after class with surveys.

Assen Assenov (CTRL), Angel Bogushev (CTRL), Eric Charles (CTRL) & Jim Lee (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 software that we support, including virtual computing lab, high performance cluster, statistical software, mathematical software, programming languages, qualitative research software, geographic information systems software, and online survey software.

Marilyn Goldhammer (CTRL & SETH), Laura March (CTRL) & Anna Olsson (CTRL)

In the first part of this workshop, Marilyn Goldhammer will talk about creating ways to craft a syllabus that conveys course goals, student learning outcomes, and expectations for student mastery. In the second part of this workshop, you will have the opportunity to share ideas and receive input on various aspects of your own syllabus from CTRL staff and peers. Please bring at least one syllabus to this workshop. You may choose to attend one or both parts of this session.

Betsy Cohn (SIS)

It’s hard to get our students’ attention in an over-stimulated world. In conjunction with lecture, active learning exercises in class can focus student attention and deepen learning. You can use active learning exercises such as Pause2Reflect, brainstorming, ticket out the door, one-minute lecture, and super-sentence, without overhauling your syllabus.

Colette Abichaker (CTRL), Laura March (CTRL) & Sara Simmons (CTRL)

Take ownership of your online presence through a personal website or blog. Learn how to use EdSpace, American University’s WordPress platform, to showcase your work. Participants are asked to bring their own laptops that can connect to AU’s wireless system as well as a digital copy of their CV, a headshot image, and PDFs of (or links to) publications.

Kayden Kassof (Library)

This session introduces you to Kaltura, our new media management solution, as well as prepares you to use the new Kaltura CaptureSpace software 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

Library Staff

This workshop will explore how to set up a course in Blackboard, and will cover the features that are most commonly used, including adding items, assignments, discussions, and other features. We will also explore how to customize the menus and tools that faculty and students will most routinely use.

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.

John Bracht (CAS-BIO), Maria De Jesus (SIS) & Sonya Grier (KSB-MKTG)

Professors John Bracht (CAS-BIO) and Sonya Grier (KSB-MKTG), the two winners of the 2015 Teaching with Technology Award, will discuss how they incorporate technology into their teaching. Professor Maria De Jesus (SIS), the winner of the 2014 Teaching with Research Award, will discuss how she integrates research into her teaching.

Watch the recording.

Marilyn Goldhammer (CTRL & SETH)

The research continues to remind us that today’s college students are more stressed, anxious, and prone to depression than previous cohorts. As faculty, how can we be sensitive to the level of stress our students are experiencing and how can we provide appropriate classroom support? This will be an interactive, discussion based workshop.

Lindsay Murphy (CTRL), Meg Bentley (CAS-BIO), Sarah Frances Knight (CAS-BIO) & Chris Tudge (CAS-BIO)

Open Educational Resources (OERs) can offer advantages over traditionally copyrighted classroom resources including reduced costs for students and greater flexibility for instructors. Open American offers several supports for faculty interested in exploring OER — from using OERs to supplement existing textbooks to redesigning an entire course to use only OER, for which faculty can apply for a $1,000 grant (for more information, see http://www.american.edu/ctrl/Open-Educational-Resources-Grants.cfm). You will learn about the OER landscape, OER licenses, and some of the OER projects underway at American.

Bill Harder (CTRL)

Sometimes the easiest way to get your point across is with a picture. This workshop focuses on a few easy to use—and fast to learn—tools to produce graphics for use during class. With these tools you can find and graph data, create concept maps and flowcharts, produce interactive maps and timelines, and then package all of the above into an infographic. In addition to exploring ways to create visualizations for your own class presentations, we will also discuss ways to design assignments around all of these tools to get your students thinking more visually.

Library Staff

This will be a quick paced workshop that is designed for experienced Blackboard users who want to learn about the more advanced features within Blackboard. We will explore the grade center in depth, as well as how to create and grade with rubrics, setting up course alignments (goals), and using adaptive release. This will be a quick paced workshop designed to take your Blackboard skills to the next level.

Camille Lepre (University Communications)

If we publish research, who sees it? When is the right time to amplify our work beyond the research paper to influence our fields and inspire prospective students, policy makers, the nation or possibly the world at large? This session will discuss ways we can have a greater impact and communicate beyond the classroom, beyond meetings with colleagues and beyond campus events when we have something to add to the wider conversation about a topic or issue.

John Hyman (CAS-LIT) & Lyn Stallings (Office of the Provost)

At this session, two faculty members will share some useful tips for easing the pain of grading by using rubrics along with effective response strategies and assignments. John Hyman, the director of the AU College Writing Program, will suggest a phenomenology of grading (and receiving those grades) by posing a question or two: What do teachers see themselves doing in responding to student work? How do students parse those responses? Lyn Stallings, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies, will discuss her experience with developing rubrics for evaluating mathematics and writing in mathematics. How did these tools evolve? What are possible strategies for allowing students to develop their mathematical skills and receive “credit” for their progress? From the perspective of Undergraduate Studies, what role do rubrics serve to better inform students of their standing as they progress through a course?

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 ORCID IDs, 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.

Brienne Thomson (CTRL)

Encourage discussion and student collaboration through Piazza’s Q&A forum. The layout of Piazza engages students during class through real time updates, anonymity options, and mobile app accessibility. Piazza’s multimedia embedding shows diagrams, images, and videos within the forum, as opposed to linking participants to another site. Piazza eliminates redundant student emails by allowing for both students and instructors to edit answers to perfection. This workshop shows you how to set up a Piazza for your course, use the LaTeX editor to post equations and formulas, embed multimedia, post handouts and homework alongside Q&A, and monitor statistics to track student participation.

Library Staff

Using Collaborate, professors can talk with students, share applications, files and images, and record these sessions for future use. Please join us to learn how Collaborate can help you offer a remote review session or office hours, face a weather emergency, or teach a hybrid class. This workshop will walk you through the steps to launch your own “Live Classroom” in Blackboard, provide an overview of its uses, and hands-on practice with: starting sessions, uploading and managing content, using the White Board, application sharing, adding quizzes, and providing feedback.

J. Paul Johnson (University Communications)

This op-ed workshop will provide pointers for op-ed writing from capitalizing on a news hook, structuring the argument, and winning the attention of op-ed editors. The discussion will also include how University Communications can help to place your op-ed and take you through the process. The session will also dissect an op-ed and explain why op-eds do not need to necessarily appear in print.

Fanta Aw (OCL & SIS) & Marilyn Goldhammer (CTRL & SETH)

Our changing student demographics require culturally responsive pedagogy for effective teaching and learning. This workshop will help faculty identify tools for creating inclusive classrooms by examining micro-aggressions and implicit bias, reducing stereotype threats, ensuring diverse perspectives, managing difficult conversations, including diversity and inclusion statements on syllabi and assessing the relevance of course materials.

Kelly Alexander (University Communications) & Helen Dodson (CAS)

Our media training workshop is designed to help you focus and target your message specifically for today’s news media. We show you how to maximize your coverage in print, broadcast and Web news media…and avoid the interview pitfalls along the way! Discussion will include the essential dos and don’ts when giving an interview and an opportunity to participate in or observe a simulated on-camera interview that will be critiqued for a helpful feedback experience. Discover how to flush out a news hook and position yourself as an expert with the media.