True to Life Virtual Classroom Experience
Tim Flowers, Christoph Maier, Gary Stoudt, Amanda Faust, Francisco Alarcon, Shelly Bouchat, Charles Lamb, Kara Romance, and Veronica
Paz
Our teaching circle has the goal of exploring the potential of emerging
technology when teaching and sharing mathematics and computer science. Having
students engage with mathematics, modeling, simulation, and computer
programming in new and interesting ways is a core mission of our department.
Our teaching circle is constantly looking to explore new ways to have our
students engage with mathematical and computer programming concepts. Through
funding of this mini-grant our teaching circle will explore the creation of
3D-Virtual Reality content for use as a teaching tool. Here our strategy will
be two tiered: We aim to explore the mathematical and programming concepts used
to create virtual content, and we wish to explore how this virtual content can
be used to enhance how we share concepts and ideas.
Developing
Effective Teacher Training for the IUP Digital Storytelling Project
Mike Sell,
Rachel Schiera, Dan Weinstein, Olivia Maderer, Eric Wentz, Zainab Younas, Zeeshan Siddique
The Digital
Storytelling Project is a Digital Humanities educational outreach program that
teaches middle- and high-school students to create interactive digital
“storygames.” Since 2015, the DSP has worked with over 500 students in 3 school
districts. This year, we will expand into 6 more. We intend to build the DSP
into a statewide program by 2024. To respond effectively to present and future
DSP growth, we need to build a teacher-training program. Our teaching circle
would enable us to gain knowledge about gameful learning, gather data from
participating teachers and students, and provide opportunity to draft a
teacher-training program.
Integrating
Digital Design and Rapid Prototyping into the Classroom
Sharon Massey,
Sean Derry, Holly Travis, Ben Ford, Rick Adkins
This teaching
circle will investigate strategies for integrating digital design and
fabrication into the classroom. We will use Rhino 3D software to create digital
files for rapid prototyping using a laser cutter, 3D printer, and CNC mill,
with a focus on planning introductory projects for students and methods for
instruction and assessment. These new technologies are becoming more widely
available, and it is vital that our students are trained in their use. This teaching
circle is open to any faculty member who is interested in including digital
design and rapid prototyping in their curriculum.
Creation of an Introductory Anthropology Open Educational
Resource (OER)
A. Palmiotto, L. Homsey-Messer, A. Adams, B. Ford, A.
Poole, W. Chadwick
Anthropology faculty are
developing an OER for the Department’s introductory, four-field course,
Contemporary Anthropology (ANTH 110). Enrolling ~500 students/semester, the
class serves as a Social Science elective within the Liberal Studies curriculum
and a requirement for the new Cultural Competencies certificate. Although OERs
abound for specific Anthropology subfields, such as Cultural and Biological
Anthropology, there is surprisingly no OER dedicated to an introductory
four-field class, a paucity which the IUP Anthropology Department plans to
remedy. The mini-grant funds will be
used to recruit professional anthropologists to contribute case studies
highlighting their research and student reviewers to provide feedback during
development.
Best
Practices for Creating EDI Opportunities Within Classroom and Campus Pedagogy
Carrie J. Cole, Robert
Gretta, Ethan Hollinger, Rachel Desoto Jackson, Brian Jones, Michael Schwartz
This project will
examine best practices for integrating guest artists/speakers with an EDI focus
into both classroom curriculum and the university community. Our teaching
circle strives to implement continued strategies to meet and surpass our
departmental diversity goals in the classroom through curriculum, alumni
involvement, and guest speakers. We are creating opportunities for queer
artists within our departmental curriculum while expanding accessibility to the
campus community. This project will invite department alumni and drag artist,
Kyah Hawk, to our campus in Spring 2019 for classroom visits, a potential Six
O’Clock Series workshop, or another university wide forum and/or performance.
Resources for Fostering Diversity and Inclusion in Any Classroom
Anne Kondo, Veronica Paz, Nancy Pipkin Hutchinson, Jon
Lewis, Ben Rafoth, Jennifer Perillo, Mary Stewart, Melanie Duncan, David
Chambers, Rachel Jackson
The
objectives of the Teaching Circle “Fostering Diversity and Inclusion in Any
Classroom” are to help faculty learn to address diversity and inclusion in
classrooms where such topics are not traditionally “content.” We will also
discuss ways to incorporate inclusive language into our syllabi. We requested
funds to purchase 10 copies of the book Courageous Conversations about Race,
by Glenn E. Singleton, to serve as a starting point for our conversations. We will
share the results of our discussions with the wider IUP campus community.
Improving Simulation-Based
Learning at IUP through Expert Feedback
Pao
Ying Hsiao, Johanna Boothby, Lori Lombard, Erin Clark, Rachel DeSoto-Jackson, Nicole
Clark
Since fall 2017, the disciplines of nursing,
food and nutrition, speech-language pathology, and theater have completed at
least one interdisciplinary simulation experience per semester utilizing a
traditional simulation approach.
Recently, our cross-disciplinary teaching circle has been exploring the
use of Forum Theatre as a theoretical framework for our interprofessional
simulation. In an effort to effectively
apply this framework to our existing interprofessional simulations, we are
seeking expert feedback from the simulation certified faculty from Robert
Morris University (RMU). Obtaining
feedback from these certified professionals will enhance our teach circle goals
of developing and integrating simulation to increase student learning.