Introduction to Item Analysis of Multiple-Choice Tests Using Excel (Workshop)
Because test scores are typically used to make inferences about student learning, it is important to know how to examine the quality of the items that a test contains. Item analysis is a powerful process that can guide the evaluation of selected-response measures (such as multiple-choice tests). Using these tools, relationships between individual test questions, student groups, and response options are illuminated. A careful examination of this information can then guide test revisions and interpretations of test scores. This hands-on workshop will provide an overview of item analysis techniques, followed by a guided example of item analyses (difficulty, discrimination, and distractor analysis) using Excel.
Keywords: assessment, item analysis, selected-response measures
Area: Teaching (e.g., pedagogy, curriculum, course design, learning)
Facilitators: Caroline Prendergast, University Programs, Center for Assessment and Research Studies; Jeanne Horst, University Programs, Center for Assessment & Research Studies.
Location: To be announced, Workshop 1:00-2:30 PM
What’s Your Class Story? Leading through a Class Lens (Workshop)
Class is woven throughout the academy, yet is rarely discussed in any meaningful way beyond financial capital. Dig deeper into your own class socialization and social class identity to better understand how you navigate class in the academy. Explore various class concepts, ways to recognize and intervene in class related moments, as well as strategies for creating inclusion through a class lens. Participation is limited to 30 attendees. Please register early for this session to secure your seat.
Key words: social class identity, forms of capital, social class concepts, self-reflection, experiencing class, storytelling
Area: Organizational culture and development (e.g., belongingness, networking, inclusivity, reflection, relationships)
Facilitator: dr. becky martinez, May Symposium visiting scholar & plenary speaker, faculty member for the Social Justice Training Institute, a co-lead facilitator for the LeaderShape Institute, a board member with Class Action, former certified trainer for the Anti-Defamation League and the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, and counselor-advocate through Peace over Violence.
Location: To be announced, Workshop 1:00-2:30 PM
Unlearning and Interrupting White Supremacy Culture in the Classroom (Workshop)
While many associate white supremacy with extremists, this workshop examines the ways pervasive white supremacy culture shapes higher education and learning, including classroom and department culture, assignments, interactions, and communication. This workshop will identify key characteristics of white supremacy culture and offer participants opportunities to identify ways that it manifests in our teaching and learning environments, as well as antidotes, strategies, qualities, and commitments for interrupting it. Each participant will leave with frameworks, resources, and ideas for positive transformation; participants are invited (but not required) to bring syllabi, assignments, or learning materials to analyze during the session. Drawing on experiences from faculty from various disciplines and colleges across the university, we seek to collaboratively unlearn, unpack, and interrupt the ways that white supremacy culture and other forms of oppression exclude and harm learners and seek alternative and fluid ways of being and doing that offer access, equity, and justice. The Teaching for Equity & Social Justice Institute at UVA, a joint project between several universities, sparked and inspired not only this workshop, but other interdisciplinary and inter-institutional collaborations.
Keywords: access, equity, and justice, teaching and learning
Area: Teaching (e.g., pedagogy, curriculum, course design, learning)
Facilitators: Daisy Breneman, College of Arts & Letters, Justice Studies; Kara Kavanagh, College of Education, Early, Elementary, and Literacy Education; Mary Beth Cancienne, College of Education, Middle, Secondary, and Mathematics Education.
Location: To be announced, Workshop 1:00-2:30 PM
Cognition and Emotions in the Classroom (Workshop)
What anxieties or negative emotions do instructors perceive in their students? What do instructors see as their role in decreasing negative emotions in the classroom? Can pedagogy and design be improved through the latest understanding of the brain? This session provides an overview of neuro-education research, including how the brain processes information and the impact of emotion on learning. The facilitators will share ideas for incorporating strategies, based in neuro-education research, into course design and the classroom. These strategies will include mindfulness activities, retrieval practices, and metacognitive practices.
Keywords: neuro-education, mindfulness, metacognition
Area: Teaching (e.g., pedagogy, curriculum, course design, learning)
Facilitators: Nicole Wilson, JMU Libraries; Elaine Kaye, JMU Libraries
Location: To be announced, Workshop 1:00-2:30 PM
Incorporating Career Readiness into Your Curriculum (Workshop)
The National Association of Colleges and Employers defines “career readiness” as the attainment and demonstration of requisite competencies (critical thinking, oral/written communication, and more) that broadly prepare college graduates for a successful transition into the workplace. Learn how Career & Academic Planning can partner with you in making JMU students prepared for their post-grad adventures. Through this interactive workshop, we will introduce you to Handshake, JMU's job/internship search platform, and brainstorm new ways to include the career competencies into your curriculum.
Attendees will need to have laptops or tablets to participate in this workshop.
Keywords: Handshake, student career readiness
Area: Teaching (e.g., pedagogy, curriculum, course design, learning)
Facilitators: Dominique Rodriguez, Student Affairs and University Planning, Career & Academic Planning; Carolyn Smith, Student Affairs and University Planning, Career & Academic Planning.
Location: To be announced, Workshop 1:00-2:30 PM
Career Planning for Non-Tenure-Track Faculty (Workshop)
This workshop invites faculty who have part-time, adjunct, visiting, renewable-term, or other non-tenure-track appointments to plan their careers. Participants will engage in a series of activities to help them identify the values that drive their work and derive career goals from these values. The workshop will end with a conversation about next steps and how to achieve them.
Keywords: career planning, part-time faculty, RTA faculty
Area: Career Planning (e.g., professional advancement, career development, work-life integration, mentoring, milestones)
Facilitators: Andreas Broscheid, CFI and College of Arts & Letters, Political Science.
Location: To be announced, Workshop 1:00-2:30 PM
Moral Moments: Asking Eight Key Questions in Daily Life (Workshop)
“Moral moments” happen every day, but we often do not recognize them. There is a way to help us attend to the moral dimension of situations: practice asking Eight Key Questions (8KQ) in daily life. This session introduces a simple, 8KQ-centered, awareness-raising exercise that can be added to any course with ethics or ethical reasoning as a learning outcome.
Keywords: ethical reasoning, 8KQ
Area: Teaching (e.g., pedagogy, curriculum, course design, learning)
Facilitators: Christian Early, Ethical Reasoning in Action, Philosophy and Religion.
Location: To be announced, Workshop 1:00-2:30 PM
Service-Learning Course (Re)Design: Steps, Goals, and Considerations (Workshop)
Incorporating Service-Learning and Community Engagement (SLCE) into your courses is a powerful pedagogical tool, but it can sometimes feel like stumbling into the deep end of a pool. To make this process less daunting and more rewarding, Community Service-Learning has developed a multi-step guide that walks faculty through the various considerations and actions involved in integrating SLCE into one’s pedagogy. In this session, participants will be introduced to the guide and practice using it to design or reimagine a course.
Keywords: service-learning, community engagement, pedagogy, high impact learning
Area: Teaching (e.g., pedagogy, curriculum, course design, learning)
Facilitators: Steve Grande, Student Affairs and University Planning, Community Service-Learning; Jamie Williams, Student Affairs and University Planning, Community Service-Learning.
Location: To be announced, Workshop 1:00-2:30 PM
Ensuring Inclusion Is Inclusive (Workshop)
In creating an inclusive culture, it is too easy to create a new exclusive culture. Real inclusivity—inclusion of people, places, practices, thinking—can be an unrealistic or unwelcome state. This session will explore the exclusivity of inclusion as well as some factors to consider when determining if our culture of inclusion is inclusive. The session will also offer an opportunity to identify and address barriers as well as facilitators of true inclusivity.
Keywords: inclusion, exclusivity, exclusivity
Area: Organizational culture and development (e.g., belongingness, networking, inclusivity, reflection, relationships)
Facilitators: Cheryl Beverly, College of Education, Learning, Technology and Leadership Education.
Location: To be announced, Workshop 1:00-2:30 PM
POGIL 101: Helping Students to Be More Interactive and Collaborative (Extended Workshop)
This workshop introduces Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL), a team and problem-based learning pedagogy. In a POGIL classroom, teams of 3-4 learners work on activities with a particular structure based on learning cycles. Through scripted inquiry and investigation, learners discover concepts and construct their own knowledge. Using assigned team roles and other scaffolding, learners develop process skills and individual responsibility. POGIL is an evidence-based approach that has been shown to improve student performance significantly. We will share POGIL materials for a variety of courses. For more information, see http://pogil.org.
Extended Workshop 1:00-4:00 PM. This in-depth activity is estimated to last 2-3.75 hours and precludes participation in Session Three. The extended time frame is designed to allow participants to delve deeply into complex topics and leave with concrete takeaways.
Keywords: POGIL, team learning, problem-based learning
Area: Teaching (e.g., pedagogy, curriculum, course design, learning)
Facilitators: Dee Weikle, College of Integrated Science and Engineering, Computer Science; Chris Mayfield, College of Integrated Science and Engineering, Computer Science.
Location: To be announced, Extended Workshop 1:00-4:00 PM
Assignment Feedback Workshop (Extended workshop)
Do you have an assignment you would like to receive some feedback on during May Symposium? If so, you might be interested in attending the Assignment Feedback Workshop, based on the SCHEV Assignment Design Charrettes. Participants should come to the workshop with an assignment that they would like to receive some feedback on. Colleagues will review each other’s assignments and exchange feedback. If time allows, participants can make changes and leave with a revised assignment. Participants from all disciplines are welcome.
Extended Workshop 1:00-4:00 PM. This in-depth activity is estimated to last 2-3.75 hours and precludes participation in Session Three. The extended time frame is designed to allow participants to delve deeply into complex topics and leave with concrete takeaways.
Keywords: assignment feedback, assignment design, assignment revision
Area: Teaching (e.g., pedagogy, curriculum, course design, learning)
Facilitators: Kristi Lewis, CFI, Health Sciences.
Location: To be announced, Extended Workshop 1:00-4:00 PM
Bringing Role-Playing and Games to Your Classroom (Extended workshop)
Reacting to the Past is an innovative, research-backed method of bringing integrative active learning into humanities, social science, and STEM classrooms. It harnesses the power of play to get the best from students. This session will focus on examining lots of real games and choosing one to integrate into your classroom. We will think through how to integrate it into your syllabus and teaching schedule and prepare you to reinvigorate your classroom through game playing.
Extended Workshop 1:00-4:00 PM. This in-depth activity is estimated to last 2-3.75 hours and precludes participation in Session Three. The extended time frame is designed to allow participants to delve deeply into complex topics and leave with concrete takeaways.
Keywords: active learning, game-based learning, student-centered learning
Area: Teaching (e.g., pedagogy, curriculum, course design, learning)
Facilitators: Rebecca Brannon, College of Arts & Letters, History.
Location: To be announced, Extended Workshop 1:00-4:00 PM
jmUDESIGN in a Nutshell (Extended workshop)
jmUDESIGN is an annual week-long course design institute offered by the CFI every June. This session will provide an overview of the key ideas behind jmUDESIGN. In the first half, we will focus on crafting a meaningful and inclusive vision for our courses, and discuss the importance of aligning learning objectives with assessments and activities. In the second half, we will focus on the nature of learning itself and what practical strategies we can apply to achieve our course goals. This session is welcome to all instructors, regardless of whether you have attended jmUDESIGN previously (and would like a refresher) or you are completely new to these ideas.
Extended Workshop 1:00-4:00 PM. This in-depth activity is estimated to last 2-3.75 hours and precludes participation in Session Three. The extended time frame is designed to allow participants to delve deeply into complex topics and leave with concrete takeaways.
Keywords: integrated course design, learning objectives, active learning
Area: Teaching (e.g., pedagogy, curriculum, course design, learning)
Facilitators: Michael Kirkpatrick, College of Integrated Science and Engineering, Computer Science; Joshua Streeter, College of Visual and Performing Art, Theatre Education.
Location: To be announced
