Kick Off 2023
Kick Off 2023 with professional learning. Through the activities offered over this 10-day conference, we will help you collaborate with other colleagues, engage with leaders, implement culturally responsive teaching practices, and build community.
Badging: NSCC participants who engage in 8 professional learning sessions presented by the Teaching Center and Online Learning between January 4 – 13 will earn the Kick Off 2023 badge.
Workshops have been coded to show connection to Nashville State’s Core Values – Nashville State LEADS, to show which workshops qualify for CRTP credit, and to show which workshops share teaching practices from our ACUE cohorts.
L – Learning
E – Equity Driven
A – Accountability
D – Data-Informed
S – Student-Centered
CRTP – Culturally Responsive Teaching Practices
ACUE – Led by ACUE Cohort member(s) sharing teaching practices learned from ACUE.
Wednesday, January 4, 2023
9 am Convocation
Wednesday, January 4, 2023
1 pm – 2 pm
Moving Forward Through Backwards Design (L, A, S, ACUE)
In this workshop, we will cover what Backwards design is and how to effectively use it to improve our students’ learning experience.
Presenters: Kurstin Bush, Assistant Professor of Education and Program Coordinator and Fellow, The Teaching Center; and Harlan Pease, Associate Professor of English and Communication Studies and Fellow, The Teaching Center
Zoom
Wednesday, January 4, 2023
1 pm – 2 pm
Leveraging the Library (L)
Not only does the library have a ton of great resources for student research, we can also work with you to create online tutorials and learning objects that help students navigate these resources and understand the research process. This presentation will address ways the library can relieve you of the burden of research instruction while providing strategies for reaching your students using a variety of media formats.
Presenter: Maryellen Nash, Instruction Librarian
Zoom
Wednesday, January 4, 2023
2:30 pm Academic Division Meetings
Thursday, January 5, 2023
8:30 am Welcome Back Coffee Chat
Zoom
Thursday, January 5, 2023
9 am – 9:50 am
A Few Strategies on Creating a Civil Learning Environment in Your Classroom (L, S, CRTP, ACUE)
Join us for a discussion on classroom discipline. We will share information and strategies learned from ACUE and share our classroom experiences.
Presenters: Maria Smith, Associate Professor of Mathematics, Fellow, The Teaching Center and Rachel Lewis, Instructor of Biology
Zoom
Thursday, January 5, 2023
10 am – 10:50 am
Old Dogs Have Some Tricks (L, S, ACUE)
Author Stephen King wrote, “Sooner or later, everything old is new again.” Interestingly enough, this can apply to higher education as well as writing novels. Join us for this fun and enlightening session regarding best classroom practices according to senior faculty. Faculty members from all divisions will provide input either in person, by video, or in print.
Presenters: Tammy Ruff, Senior Faculty Affiliate, Psychology and Valerie Belew, Associate Professor, English
Zoom
Thursday, January 5, 2023
11 am – 11:50 am
Creating an Online Course Community from Day 1
Online courses are a great way to reach learners who may not otherwise be able to participate in in-person classes. However, a lack of face-to-face interaction can lead to student disengagement and a sense of isolation. This workshop will introduce tips and techniques for promoting a sense of community and connection with your online students, from the very first day of class. Topics will include promoting instructor presence, designing effective discussions, and some easy-to-implement “course communication hacks” in D2L.
Workshop Organizer: Dr. Anna Everett, Instructional Designer, Online Learning
Zoom
Thursday, January 5, 2023
12 pm – 12:50 pm
Tired of “Did I miss anything?” Require a meeting when a student is absent. (S, ACUE)
We all have an instructor attendance policy in our syllabus, even if it is to say a student’s grade is not directly affected by attendance. In the last year, my instructor attendance policy states a student must initiate a meeting with me (in-person, phone, Zoom) each time they are absent. Now when a student says “Did I miss anything?” I say, “Schedule a meeting and find out.”
Presenter: Jessica Rabb, NSCC 1010 and Biology Faculty
Zoom
Thursday, January 5, 2023
1 – 1:50 pm
Invasion of Phones and Their Impacts on Learning (L, E, A, S, CRTP, ACUE)
Join us for a panel discussion about different approaches to the use of phones in class. We will share research, different approaches that we take, and discuss the positives and negatives that can occur from phones. The goal is not to provide a single answer to the question of phone use by students during class; instead, we plan to show the impacts of different answers to this question from multiple experiences.
Panelists: Tammy Ruff, Neely Ann Sheucraft, Associate Professor, Communication Studies, Fellow, The Teaching Center; Maria Smith, Associate Professor of Mathematics, Fellow, The Teaching Center; and Kurstin Bush, Assistant Professor of Education and Program Coordinator and Fellow, The Teaching Center
Moderator: Amy Bryant, Associate Professor, Communication Studies, and Director, The Teaching Center
Zoom
Thursday, January 5, 2023
2 – 3:50 pm Spring 2023 Assignment & Gradebook Office Hours AMA
Need personalized help setting up your D2L Assignments or Gradebooks? Stop into our Office Hours and ask us anything. Additional dates and times available by appointment.
Workshop Organizers: Dr. Anna Everett, Hannah Hurdle, Diana Blackburn, and Dr. Jamie Edwards, Online Learning
Zoom
Friday, January 6, 2023
9 – 9:50 am
Embracing Community Cultural Wealth (L, E, A, S, CRTP, ACUE)
In this session, we will introduce the idea of community cultural wealth and how we, as faculty members, might recognize the wealth of knowledge that students bring with them to college. Their community cultural wealth may include aspirational, linguistic, familial, navigational, and/or resistant forms of knowledge. We hope to share ideas and gain ideas from each other about how we can encourage students to recognize and build upon their own knowledge and lead them to recognize the benefits of cultural and social capital that they can gain in college.
Presenters: Ayesha Keller, MSW, Associate Professor of Social Work; Yvonne Simerman, MA, Assistant Professor of Sociology
Zoom
Friday, January 6, 2023
10 – 10:50 am
Clear as Mud: Strategies for Creating D2L Content Students Want to Use (L, E, A, S, CRTP, ACUE)
This session expands the concept of giving clear directions to how we structure and use D2L shells. Specifically, we will look at how to create student-friendly content folders and subfolders and the value of posting assignments in more than one location.
Presenter: Devora Manier, Associate Professor, ESL
Zoom
Friday, January 6, 2023
11 am – 11:50 am
Organizing Group Projects in Online Courses
You may think it is impossible to organize a group project in an online course. Online students have so many different schedules and competing priorities. How can you as an instructor ensure accountability for all group members? This workshop will cover some tips and tricks for setting up and managing group projects in online courses to promote student collaboration and project-based learning. We will go over the pros and cons of the D2L Groups tool, setting up group discussion spaces, and facilitating productive interactions among groups.
Workshop Organizer: Dr. Anna Everett, Instructional Designer, Online Learning
Zoom
Friday, January 6, 2023
12 pm – 12:50 pm
“Skeletons aren’t just for Halloween: Leveraging Skeletal Outlines to increase student engagement, focus, and accuracy while mastering complex content and developing better study skills.” (L, E, A, S, CRTP, ACUE)
During this workshop/presentation I’ll discuss why I started using skeletal outlines in my AP1 and 2 classes, the positive effect on student focus during lecture, and how it helps the students organize large amounts of complex material. The experiment was so successful that I’ve begun using skeletal outline creation as an active learning activity for the students where they create their own outlines and share with other students. Bring your enthusiasm and thinking cap, because I’m going to have a little exercise for everyone who attends.
Presenter: Gracie King, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biology, STEM division
Zoom
Friday, January 6, 2023
1 – 1:50 pm
Moving Forward Through Backwards Design (L, A, S, ACUE)
In this workshop, we will cover what Backwards design is and how to effectively use it to improve our students’ learning experience. Presenters: Kurstin Bush, Assistant Professor of Education and Program Coordinator and Fellow, The Teaching Center; and Harlan Pease, Associate Professor of English and Communication Studies and Fellow, The Teaching Center
Zoom
Monday, January 9
9 am – 9:50 am
The Active Learning Cycle: what it is and why you should consider using it. (L, S, ACUE)
This session will explore what the Active Learning Cycle is, look at some evidence for its efficacy, provide some examples of it at work, and finally workshop some strategies for implementing it in your classes.
Presenter: Harlan Pease, Associate Professor of English and Communication Studies and Fellow, The Teaching Center
Zoom
Monday, January 9
10 am – 10:50 am
Embracing Diversity in Your Classroom: The Implicit Association Test (IAT) (L, E, CRTP, ACUE)
The Implicit Association Test (IAT) aims to measure associations between mental representations and reflects subtle, unconscious influences on our behavior. This seminar will discuss how the test works and what it measures. The seminar will also present examples of student reflections on the IAT in the context of an introductory psychology course.
Presenter: Douglass Godwin, Assistant Professor
Zoom
Monday, January 9
11 am – 11:50 am
What is Required in Teaching an Online Course? Reviewing Communication, Accessibility, and Engagement Requirements
Online courses are excellent for teaching to learners who can’t interact in a classroom or virtual meeting environment, but there are some important distinctions that need to be addressed to abide by federal communication and accessibility laws, accreditation guidelines, and the quality standards adopted by Nashville State’s Office of Online Learning. This workshop will cover proven methods to create instructor presence, student engagement, and promote universal design in the online environment.
Workshop Organizer: Dr. Jamie Edwards, Director of Online Learning
Zoom
Monday, January 9
12 pm – 12:50 pm
Tired of toggling between different technologies during lessons? Learn how to create interactive lessons containing quizzes, polls, videos, collaborate boards, and more with Nearpod. (L, S, ACUE)
Presenter: Roslyn Mize, Associate Professor
Zoom
Monday, January 9
1 pm – 1:50 pm
Introduction to TILT (L, E, A, D, S, CRTP, ACUE)
Back by faculty request! If you have never attended a TILT workshop, join The Teaching Center for the Introduction to TILT workshop. Research indicates that transparent assignment design significantly enhances students’ success, with even greater gains for historically underserved students. This presentation will cover the key principles underlying the Transparency in Learning and Teaching (TILT) framework and provide evidence for its efficacy.
Presenters: Neely Ann Sheucraft, Associate Professor, Communication Studies, Fellow, The Teaching Center; and Amy Bryant, Associate Professor, Communication Studies, and Director, The Teaching Center
Zoom
Monday, January 9
2 pm – 3 pm
Yuja Lecture Capture Tool in D2L
Nashville State’s Office of Online Learning is currently seeking alternate video and lecture capture technology that is both cost-effective and expands beyond our current capabilities to support our institution for all learners. We have invited the team from Yuja to demonstrate their Lecture Capture tool for faculty and staff. Our goals are to seek out innovative technologies and gain feedback from interested faculty members and staff. The Distance Education and Accessibility Committees have reviewed this product and are promoting this demonstration to a wider audience to gauge interest and feedback. Please consider joining this session if you are interested in participating in the review of this potential new technology for Nashville State.
Organized by the Office of Online Learning
Join Zoom Meeting
yuja.zoom.us/j/82597288071?pwd=V…
ID: 82597288071passcode: 235616
Join by phone: 689-278-1000 Passcode: 235616
Tuesday, January 10
9 am – 9:50 am
Make an Impact at NSCC – Become an Impact Player (L, A, D, S, ACUE)
We count on them. We know they will deliver. When it is tough, we turn to them. Impact players engage differently and make a tremendous positive impact on the work, their colleagues, and the organization. This spring, join us as we explore Liz Wiseman’s book, Impact Players: How to take the Lead, Play Bigger, and Multiply Your Impact. In this first session, we will learn about impact players, what makes impact players different, and how we can build impact player skills.
Presenter: Amy Bryant, Associate Professor, Communication Studies, and Director, The Teaching Center
Zoom
Tuesday, January 10
10 am – 10:50 am
Formative Assessments
What are you assessing in your courses and why? What’s summative and what’s formative?
Presenter: Kurstin Bush, Assistant Professor of Education and Program Coordinator and Fellow, The Teaching Center
Zoom
Tuesday, January 10
11 am – 11:50 am
Tutor Talk: An Overview of Learning Center Services
A review of tutoring services, tools, policies, and the ways the Learning Center helps support students outside of the classroom.
Presenter: Dani Bestfelt, Learning Center Coordinator
Zoom
Tuesday, January 10
12 pm – 1 pm
OER: Taking Ownership of Creativity
Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching and learning materials that are created by the community. With open licenses, such as creative commons, OER allows instructors to contribute to this community by customizing existing resources while also providing opportunities for them to create their own materials, adding to this more accessible well of knowledge. This workshop will cover how instructors can embed open licenses into their OER (revised, remixed, or originally created) as well as what the world of OER can look like under an open pedagogical lens where students and instructors are working together to support educational equity and reduce the legacy barriers that make higher education less accessible.
Workshop Organizer: Hannah Hurdle, Instructional Designer, Online Learning
Zoom
Tuesday, January 10
1 pm – 2 pm
Plagiarism: Bad borrowing or inappropriate appropriation?
Plagiarism seems to be occurring more and more frequently, and dealing with it can be challenging under the best of circumstances. To address some of these concerns, this workshop will cover how to read Turn It In reports and make judgment calls regarding plagiarism from those reports when needed. In addition, it will provide some strategies for having conversations with students about plagiarism, why it matters, and how to help students avoid it before it becomes an issue.
Presenter: Harlan Pease, Associate Professor of Communications and English and Teaching Center Fellow
Zoom
Tuesday, January 10
3 – 4 pm
Yuja Panorama Accessibility Tool in D2L
Nashville State’s Office of Online Learning is currently seeking alternate accessibility technology that is both cost-effective and expands beyond our current capabilities to support our institution for all stakeholders. We have invited the team from Yuja to demonstrate their Panorama accessibility tool for faculty. Our goals are to seek out innovative technologies and gain feedback from interested faculty members and staff. The Distance Education and Accessibility Committees have reviewed this product and are promoting this demonstration to a wider audience to gauge interest and feedback. Please consider joining this session if you are interested in participating in the review of this potential new technology for Nashville State.
Organized by the Office of Online Learning
Join Zoom Meeting
yuja.zoom.us/j/82916778128?pwd=c…
ID: 82916778128 passcode: 185975
Join by phone 253-215-8782 passcode: 185975
Wednesday, January 11
9 am – 9:50 am
OE What? Things we learned from creating an OER textbook for COMM 2025 (L, E, D, S, CRTP, ACUE)
In this panel discussion, we will share some insights we learned from developing an OER textbook, but the focus will be on answering questions and open discussion regarding the adoption and/or creation of OER materials.
Presenters: Amy Bryant, Associate Professor, Communication Studies, and Director, The Teaching Center; Harlan Pease, Associate Professor of English and Communication Studies and Fellow, The Teaching Center; and Neely Ann Sheucraft, Associate Professor, Communication Studies, Fellow, The Teaching Center
Zoom
Wednesday, January 11
10 am – 10:50 am
ACUE 2022-2023 Cohort Spring Kick Off (L, E, A, D, S, CRTP)
Moderators: Tammy Ruff, Neely Ann Sheucraft, Associate Professor, Communication Studies, Fellow, The Teaching Center; and Amy Bryant, Associate Professor, Communication Studies, and Director, The Teaching Center
Zoom
Wednesday, January 11
11 am – 11:50 am
Leveraging the Library (L)
Not only does the library have a ton of great resources for student research, we can also work with you to create online tutorials and learning objects that help students navigate these resources and understand the research process. This presentation will address ways the library can relieve you of the burden of research instruction while providing strategies for reaching your students using a variety of media formats.
Presenter: Maryellen Nash, Instruction Librarian
Zoom
Wednesday, January 11
12 pm – 12:50 pm
Accelerated Terms in STEM Courses
Join STEM faculty for a panel discussion about what we’ve learned from past 7-week courses and 5-week courses in STEM and how we are using this information as we plan for the future.
Panelists: Christina Weston, Eli Nettles, Barbra Mullaney, Jeff Green, and Rachel Lewis
Zoom
Wednesday, January 11
1 pm – 2:50 pm
Spring 2023 Assignments & Gradebook Office Hours AMA
Need personalized help setting up your D2L Assignments or Gradebooks? Stop into our Office Hours and ask us anything. Additional dates and times available by appointment.
Workshop Organizers: Dr. Anna Everett, Hannah Hurdle, Diana Blackburn, and Dr. Jamie Edwards, Online Learning
Zoom
Wednesday, January 11
1 – 1:45 pm
Proctoring with Respondus Lockdown Browser and Monitor|
The team from Respondus will be presenting their workshop on Respondus Lockdown Browser and Monitor. If you are interested in utilizing online proctoring tools in D2L to help curtail cheating on quizzes and exams, this workshop will be of interest. The team from Respondus will showcase the capabilities and functions of the Respondus Lockdown and Monitor tools from setup to viewing student submissions. Please register in advance for this workshop using this registration link for participants: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8594366049587023885
Organized by the Office of Online Learning
Thursday, January 12
9 am – 9:50 am
Three Big Things I learned from the Small Teaching Online PLC (L, E, D, S, CRTP, ACUE)
In this session, we will share three key takeaways for improving our teaching we learned from the Small Teaching Online Professional Learning Community.
Presenters: Kurstin Bush, Assistant Professor of Education and Program Coordinator and Fellow, The Teaching Center; and Harlan Pease, Associate Professor of English and Communication Studies and Fellow, The Teaching Center
Zoom
Thursday, January 12, 2023
10 am – 10:50 am
Discover your innovation style through the Basadur Profile (L, A, D, ACUE)
The Basadur Innovation Profile Inventory measures your unique blend of preferences for the four stages of the innovation process: generating, conceptualizing, optimizing, implementing. This workshop is for new employees to Nashville State and/or those who have not yet completed the profile.
Session requires completion of profile before workshop. Please register to attend and receive access to link for profile: https://forms.gle/uADdbLFedEi88FT26. Completion of profile must occur before 5 pm on Tuesday, January 10.
Presenter: Donna Whitehouse, MHA, OTR, Healthcare Professions and Fellow, The Teaching Center
Zoom
Thursday, January 12, 2023
11 am – 11:50 am
Tips on Checking for Student Understanding (L, S, ACUE)
Join us for a discussion on checking for student understanding. We will share information and strategies learned from ACUE and share our classroom experiences.
Presenters: Maria Smith, Associate Professor of Mathematics and Fellow, The Teaching Center; and Melissa Fleck, Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education
Zoom
Thursday, January 12, 2023
12 pm – 12:50 pm
Dare to Lead (L, A, S, CRTP, ACUE)
Join us for the first of an 8-session professional learning series on Daring Leadership. We will read, apply, discuss, and work through Brene Brown’s Dare to Lead book. During this series, we will learn to build courage, rumble with vulnerability, live in our values, braving trust, learn to rise, and build a culture of daring leadership. Join us for session 1 – no pre-reading required!
Presenters: Neely Ann Sheucraft, Associate Professor, Communication Studies, Fellow, The Teaching Center; and Amy Bryant, Associate Professor, Communication Studies, and Director, The Teaching Center
Zoom
Thursday, January 12, 2023
1 pm – 2:50 pm
Spring 2023 Accessibility Office Hours
Need personalized help with accessibility in your course? Stop into our Office Hours for help. Additional dates and times available by appointment.
Workshop Organizers: Dr. Anna Everett, Hannah Hurdle, and Dr. Jamie Edwards, Online Learning
Zoom
Friday, January 13, 2023
9 am – 9:50 am
Giving Students Meaningful Feedback (L, S, CRTP, ACUE)
Let’s look at some research-based suggestions for providing better feedback to students and how to get them to incorporate our suggestions.
Presenter: Kurstin Bush, Assistant Professor of Education and Program Coordinator and Fellow, The Teaching Center
Zoom
Friday, January 13, 2023
10 am – 10:30 am
Kick Off 2023 Closing and Reflection
Kick Off 2023 is coming to an end. Join The Teaching Center as we reflect over what we’ve learned during this conference and prepare to kick off a great first week of classes.
Moderators: Neely Ann Sheucraft, Associate Professor, Communication Studies, Fellow, The Teaching Center; and Amy Bryant, Associate Professor, Communication Studies, and Director, The Teaching Center
Zoom