Teach. Learn. And learn to teach. That’s what the faculty and staff did at the 19th Annual UW-Stevens Point Teaching Conference “Point To The Future! Trends in Teaching and Learning” held in the Dreyfus University Center on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2015. [Photo Gallery]
The Teaching Conference Planning Committee assembled various panel discussions and presentations that demonstrate UW-Stevens Point’s ongoing commitment to quality teaching that leads to student success.
College of Professional Studies faculty presentations included:
- Ready to Use Strategies for Inclusive Learning – Maysee Herr and Kym Buchanan (School of Education)
In our education courses, we face a double challenge. We try to create inclusive classes, and we also prepare K12 teachers to create safe, welcoming classes of their own. Come participate in a highly-interactive workshop and fill your “toolbox” with activities to use with your own students. Hear some of our successes and failures in promoting self-examination, appreciation, and critical thinking about differences. Share your own advice and strategies. - Engaging Tactile Learners: Legos as a Strategy – Mary Jae Kleckner (School of Business & Economics) [Download Presentation]
Students with a strong affinity for hands-on (tactile) learning are frequently expected to shift into visual and auditory learning styles to master course concepts and competencies; however, in contexts for which tactile learning is preferred, these learners often find it difficult to adapt to other styles. This presentation will offer a brief examination of tactile preferences for learning new skills and processing information. Participants will then have an opportunity to “play” with incorporating tactile learning styles into curriculum and assessment by using Lego® building blocks in a sample lesson about writing instructions. Both formative and summative styles of assessment will be explored. - Working with Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders In and Out of the Classroom – Pamela Terrell (School of Communicative Disorders) and Roxanne Schuster
This interactive session will provide insight into the daily social and academic challenges experienced by college students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), including Asperger syndrome. Faculty and staff will learn how to accommodate, and support these students in the classroom while maintaining academic rigor both in and out of the classroom in a variety of social contexts. - Speaking Inclusively – Lyna Matesi (School of Business & Economics)
Language is a powerful tool in establishing and maintaining cultural norms. Educators can often unknowingly be complicit in including and excluding students based on larger cultural patterns of who is in and who is out. As experts, educators are often seen as purveyors of “normal”. This presentation will discuss evidence based techniques that educators can use to verbally create an inclusive classroom environment that expands definitions of who and what is “normal”. The role of language in classroom leadership will be discussed and then used to establish a potential set of best practices for educator experimentation. - Honing the Skill(s) of Teaching – Pat Marinac (School of Education), Tobias Barske, David Hastings
Teacher training takes many forms. In the case of students who want to become certified teachers, they need to go through rigorous training offered predominantly by the School of Education. UWSP faculty, however, are recruited first and foremost for their content expertise. Frequently, faculty never experience any systematic pedagogical training. Despite the opportunities offered through an office such as the Center for Inclusive Learning, adopting a more systematic approach to teacher training could yield much improved results in terms of undergraduate education. - Leveraging Technology for Recruitment and Retention: The Power of Video – Kristi Roth (Center for Collaborative & Interactive Technologies) [Download Presentation]