Lilly Conference On Evidenced-Based Teaching and Learning, Traverse City, 2014

Presentation:
Ranger, Kim L. and Veenstra, Victoria. (2014) “Informed Learning in Photography: Collaboration through Visual Communication.” 2014 National Lilly Conferences on College and University Teaching & Learning: Traverse City, Refereed.

Via our session, we shared our insights gained from faculty-librarian collaboration in Photography at GVSU with 25 participants.

What I learned / new insights gained: 

"Practicing improvisation as pedagogy" -- explain to students why they have to do the learning (not me the teaching)-they are doing the assignments, not me; they are (or are becoming) the photographer/dancer/PR specialist, etc.

Items to consider for "Interdisciplinary teaching and collaboration:"

• how to handle sharing student evaluations, teaching styles & use of time in class sessions, grading expectations, sit in on a class to observe teaching partner in preparation, assess outcomes to know if student learning was enriched by interdisciplinary team teaching 
• agree on rubrics, norm language between the 2 disciplines; be explicit on expectations for each other in terms of prepping students, class time and content; note how our teaching changed (lecture language, activities, tag-teaming, etc.)

"Exploring unintentional biases and their impact in the classroom:" listen, listen some more, listen again. Don’t rush to connect, empathize, fix, or defend. “Stereotype threat” means that one starts questioning or doubting self; it affects all minorities.

"Meeting student resistance with empathy in the college classroom:"
in library sessions, in order to connect with students’ feelings and perspectives but still be separate, “I didn’t do library research when I was an undergraduate but learned afterward how it helped me save time and write better papers (for better grades); it is important to me that you hve the same opportunity!”

"New science of learning:"

1. students look for meaning and patterns, and stop thinking when they have found something (whatever it is)
2. most effective study techniques:

• high: practice testing, breaking practice or study up into chunks
• moderate: elaborative interrogation (asking questions of oneself about concepts and elaborating on them), explaining concepts to oneself, interweaving practice (connecting concepts to each other)

3. Implementation science: incorporating evidence-based programs or innovations into practice

• builds capacity to sustain innovations
• bridges gap between research and using it or putting plan into action
• learning moment = failure and wish to improve
• goal to change behavior, establish “x” as the norm (even when no one is watching)
• what works:

· diffusion – people talking to others over time
· one-on-one mentors/facilitators/coaches/consultants who show why and how to do it
· people follow the lead of those whom they know and trust
· start with high structure and decrease as skills progress
· keep number of perspectives low at first and increase in complexity
· start with a lower degree of asking learners to connect concepts to their personal lives and increase
· start with small degrees of community and interaction, then increase 

4. National Implementation Research Network core components:

· staff or team selection
· training
· one-on-one mentors/facilitators/coaches/consultants
· support (safety, trust, etc.)
· data systems (collection, analysis, sharing)
· system-wide interventions
· staff performance evaluation

 

5. peer-led team learning (PLTL.org)

· 6-8 people in temas, each team has a peer leader who did well in previous class/training
· cooperation inspires greater efforts to achive than competition or individual striving, results in more positive relationships between team members, and greater psychological health

• mentor qualities:invites people to change, listens, nudges gently, questions, balances, cares, provides avenues for retreat when necessary
• fast idea implementation: idea/innovation is visible, short-term evidence is provided, doesn’t violate previous beliefs, is test-drivable, not tedious, is technically simple, and makes life better for practitioners and clients