League of Innovations Conference 2009

League of Innovation - community colleges

Innovations 2009 Conference Reno, NV March 15-18

The League of Innovation Conference is an important opportunity to meet and learn from colleagues in community college education nationwide. Some of my teaching and course development focuses on faculty professional development and student learning. The conference provides an opportunity to learn from and contribute to the important work of this group of educators.

The conference was great. I learned a lot and met many wonderful, inspirational people. I have benefited from the experience and plan to incorporate this new information into my teaching. As I also facilitate workshops and online courses for DeAnza faculty, there will be additional opportunities to share the information with many others who could not attend.

As Foothill-DeAnza District was hosting the event, District faculty and staff were invited to volunteer to work at the event. As a volunteer, I was on duty most of Tuesday, although I was able to get to a couple of sessions at the end of the day with radio in hand.

There were 10-15 sessions in each time slot, so it was not possible to attend all the sessions that were interesting or important. My primary objectives for the conference were

• new ideas - see what others instructors were doing that could be incorporated or adapted to improve my teaching and learning
• technology updates - review vendor offerings
• sharing experiences - DeAnza colleagues, as well as personal accounts
• volunteer, host - FHDA was one of the event hosts so there was an opportunity to talk with other attendees about their conference experience

When we offer the Technology Enhanced Instruction, Technology Supported Learning and Catalyst / Moodle courses for Faculty, it is important to stay current with what other colleges are doing. At the League conference, many sessions were presented by instructors who were working with challenging student populations and over-coming obstacles with innovative practices. These sessions were particularly instructive.

There were a number of sessions that focused on faculty development which particularly interesting. In addition to simply teaching pedagogy, several colleges were very concerned about ensuring that all faculty were engaged in professional development appropriate to their personal needs as well as their subject area and student populations.

My distance learning class - CIS2 Computers and the Internet in Society is unique. Other attendees were interested to learn about the subject, the online delivery and the inclusion of technology for teaching and learning. This was a nice opportunity to demonstrate our leadership in technology and information systems curriculum influenced by our location in the heart of Silicon Valley.

Some of the sessions of particular interest

• Keynote : Minding the Dream: Community Colleges and a Passion for the Possible - Gail Mellow, President, La Guardia Community College, NY - This was a terrific introduction to the conference. Few community colleges have as many challenges as La Guardia Community College, but they do an amazing job of addressing the needs and finding innovative approaches to promote learning and student success. Very inspirational.

• Self-regulated learning (SRL) - refers to specific ways that learners take control of their own learning. It is a cyclical educational process that involves, planning, practice, and evaluation. Examples presented included homework quizzes - questions all from homework which they can use in quiz (if they have them) and English assignments where students get feedback, recognize and learn patterns for problem solving and correcting their own work.

• Building Faculty Capacity Through Peer Coaching - includes self-reflection, portfolio development, an annual action plan, and peer interactions. Faculty commit to improvement in one of 10 areas, and work with others in partnership or groups who are working on same improvement area with a review after 12 months.

• Can You Teach Someone to Be Innovative? Grand Rapids Community College with industry partners and students identified 23 skills possessed by innovators and methods for teaching those skills. They determined the foundation for an innovative mindset and the thinking and behavior inherent in being innovative. This is a really interesting idea and worth including.

• How Do You Know Your Students Are Learning? The purpose of teaching is to improve and expand student learning. But regardless of how well we teach, how do we really know that our students are learning? Instructors from three colleges described specific innovative practices and the evidence of their impact on learning. These could be quite helpful in many content areas.

Sunday

Keynote : Minding the Dream: Community Colleges and a Passion for the Possible

• Gail Mellow, President, La Guardia Community College, NY

no selection, under prepared, adult learners, english not first language

1.5 milion graduate each year from 4 years; 300,000 took a community college course for credit - summer, makeup, special interest, scheduling; 700,000 transfer

Monday

Student-Controlled Learning

Self-regulated learning (SRL) refers to specific ways that learners take control of their own learning. SRL is a metacognitive approach to learning that teaches instructors and students a new way of understanding and managing the learning process. SRL can be used to deliver almost any type of instructional content. It is a cyclical educational process that involves, planning, practice, and evaluation.

• Arlene Floyd, Director, Associate Degree And Tech Prep Programs, Youngstown State University
• John Hudesman, Principal Investigator, Case, City University of New York
• Sara Crosby, Instructor, Case, City University of New York
• Charlotte Skinner, Assistant Professor, Math Physics And Computer Science, Raymond Walters College-University of Cincinnati

.. homework quizzes - questions all from homework which they can use in quiz, students can solve them during text but advantage to having work
.. English - feedback, recognize and learn patterns for problem solving and correcting their own work

Building Faculty Capacity Through Peer Coaching

• Roundtable Discussion 12:30 - 1:30

This session presents the nonevaluative model for peer coaching that was developed at Milwaukee Area Technical College. With the goal of creating a true learning college, this model includes self-reflection, portfolio development, an annual action plan, and peer interactions to move from a traditional clinical model of performance improvement. Information about the peer-coaching model is presented and samples of the documents developed are shared and detailed.

• Evonne Carter, Associate Provost, Academic Affairs, Milwaukee Area Technical College
• Christine Manion, Instructor, English, Milwaukee Area Technical College

.. tenured faculty - commit to improvement in one of approximately 10 areas, work with others in partnership or groups who are working on same improvement area, accountability and review after 12 months, then pick new area or commit to further improvement in same area. Faculty development training available for each of the improvement areas.

SLOw Start, SMART Start: Creating Student Learning Communities

2:30 - 3:30

Story-Centered Introductory Engineering Course Inspires Student's Persistence in STEM Fields

Poster Session 2:30 - 3:30

How Do You Know Your Students Are Learning?

The purpose of teaching is to improve and expand student learning. But regardless of how well we teach, how do we really know that our students are learning? In this session, the author of A Learning College for the 21st Century will set the context, and leaders from three colleges, who are also current students in the Community College Leadership Program at Walden University, will describe specific innovative practices and the evidence of their impact on learning.

• Terry O'Banion, President Emeritus, League for Innovation in the Community College
• Cheryl Hawkins, Associate Dean, Liberal Arts, Schoolcraft College
• Sandra Robertson, Program Head, Business, Thomas Nelson Community College
  ..emphasis on teaching students problem solving skills through work on case studies
• Jennifer Methvin, Vice Chancellor, Academics, University of Arkansas Community College of Hope
  ..all grades were broken into sub-grades for learning outcomes so data can be analyzed to determine how effectively coursework is meeting the learning objectives

Models of Learning Communities: Engaging Students Through Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Roundtable Discussion :00 - 6:00

What We Need to Know to Meet the Sustainability Challenges of the Next Half-Century

• Wes Jackson, President, The Land Institute, KS - One of the Smithsonian’s 35 Who Made a Difference

Tuesday

Web 2.0 Technology and You

Tim Wood and Bob Cormia - Foothill College

Wednesday

Can You Teach Someone to Be Innovative?

Grand Rapids Community College, in partnership with Workforce Innovations in Regional Economic Development CQIN, industry partners, and students identified 23 skills possessed by innovators and methods for teaching those skills. Innovate Now Through Education and Retraining is a flexible and customized curriculum model that establishes a literacy foundation for an innovative mindset and the thinking and behavior inherent in being innovative. The curriculum and custom-designed social networking environment are discussed.

• Liz McCormick, Director, Instructional Technologies, Grand Rapids Community College
• Kay Chitwood, Director, Marketing, Fox Valley Technical College / Wisc-Online

Very interesting - Innovation - broken down into skills in areas of Me, We, Process and Outcomes.

Increasing the STEM Pipeline: Building Seamless Pathways to STEM Careers

9:15 - 10:15

Closing session : Imagine Success

• Kay McClenney, Director, Center for Community College Student Engagement, The University of Texas at Austin, TX

Too many to see them all

• AMSER - Free Online Applied Math and Science Resources for your Classroom

AMSER, a FREE online collection of applied math and science educational resources and services, is funded by NSF and was built specifically for use by those in community and technical colleges. This session demonstrates how educators can utilize AMSER's wide variety of online resources, classroom materials, and useful organizational tools.
Chanda Halderman, Outreach Coordinator, Computer Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison

• Getting Results: Free Online Professional Development for Faculty

Learn how colleges are using Getting Results, a free online faculty development program produced by WGBH-Boston in association with the League for Innovation, featuring video vignettes of community college instructors demonstrating effective teaching strategies. Designed for individuals or faculty cohorts and funded by the NSF, Getting Results targets STEM disciplines, but is applicable to any field.

• Cynthia Wilson, Vice President Learning And Research, League For Innovation, League for Innovation in the Community College
• Allatia Harris, President, Administration, San Jacinto College-North Campus

• HippoCampus and the Promise of Open Educational Resources

Learn about the rapidly evolving Open Educational Resource movement and what it means for teachers and students worldwide. An overview of exemplary projects is offered and the opportunities and challenges facing these efforts are discussed. In particular, the robust educational resources of HippoCampus.org are explored and lessons learned from the project are shared. Discover how you can be a part of HippoCampus.org!

• Gary Lopez, Executive Director, Mite, National Repository of Online Courses (NROC)

• Terri

• Judy

• Uma

miscellaneous

Learning communities, LinC

mostly development or one DevEd and one other

• two courses combined
• back to back but separate - other instructor in course 30 min per week
• two courses in same time slot - combined meeting once a month, shared projects
• just shared projects