Guest lecture Series
Welcome to CETLA's Guest Lecture Series. Designed for faculty, the series features speakers who can deepen your understanding of learning processes and broaden your repertoire of teaching strategies. Each lecture showcases a Howard University faculty member sharing insights with other Howard faculty gathered at CETLA. To attend future lectures, check your Howard FacNet account for notices. To view a lecture online, click a title or see the abstracts below.
Incorporating Technological Tools & Modeling to ENHANCE Learning
Morris Thomas
January 15th, 2021
This video introduces several technology tools for teaching. The tools presented in this video are appropriate for any instructional modality (i.e. face-to-face, hybrid-blended, and/or online). The ENHANCE Learning Model provides a conceptual framework for incorporating the technology tools for teaching into the learning experience.
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Championing Equal Access for all Learners----Designing Courses for Effective Inclusivity
Glennis Daniels-Bacchus
August 5th, 2020
- Definition of Accessibility
- WCAG
- Accessibility vs Accommodations
- Laws- Legal Landscape
- • Use of technology in the Classroom- Technology Challenges
- Accessibility Concerns
- Addressing Accessibility Issues
- Types of Assistive Technology
- Accessibility Checks
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Instructional Dynamics for Distance Learning: Domains, Design, & Delivery
Morris Thomas, Dion Gnanakkan
July 30th, 2020
"Instructional Dynamics" elements included in instruction that stimulate growth, development, or change within learning experiences. Domain (the environment of the course), the Design (the way course is structured), and Delivery (what occurs during the course)
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Podcasting - A Way to Engage Students!
Candace Lewis
July 23rd, 2020
What is podcasting? A digital audio program that a listener can download from the internet and listen at a time that suits the listener. Podcasting is expected to produce more than $1 billion in revenue by 2021. Estimated 88 million podcast listeners in 2019, with growth projected to more than 160 million by 2023.
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It's All About the Experience: Maintaining Experiential Learning Assignments in Your Virtual Classrooms
Bahiyyah Muhammad
July 22nd, 2020
What is an EXPERIENCE? The fact or state of having been affected by or gained knowledge through direct observation or participation.
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Creating Community and Sustaining Engagement in Online Arts Classes
Nathan Gabriel
July 16th, 2020
- Think hybrid and asynchronous - to promote active learning assignments
- Use the nexus when creating assignments
- Create an attractive and easy way to navigate online classrooms that make students want to be there
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Teaching Visual Art and Studio Courses Online
Michelle Taylor, Raven Featherstone
July 15th, 2020
Virtual Visual Presentation Content is the Art of presenting information in an interesting and engaging way. The goal of successful VV presentation is to Attract, Engage and Encourage students to LEARN. Get the viewer's attention to connect and absorb the information.
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Creating and Developing an Active Online Space that Creates Interactivity between Faculty and Students -- We are All in this Together!
Helen Bond
July 9th, 2020
- Use the Teaching, Learning and Assessment (TLA) process to create active and effective learning in their online classroom
- Configure settings in the learning management system to achieve a higher level of interactivity
- Utilize both synchronous and asynchronous modalities, strategies and tools to further engage learners
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Building Effective Online Learning Communities
Rajni Goel
July 1st, 2020
Being a member of learning community means engaging in reciprocal learning activities, exchanging ideas perspectives and experiences. Learning happens within the community of fellow learners. Vygotsky's theories remind us of how much we learn as social beings within a social context.
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How to Teach a Large Class Online, Challenges and Opportunities -- Grandma's Recipe is the Key!
Rosianna Gray
June 25th, 2020
A simplified definition of metacognition is "thinking about thinking", but metacognition also encompasses the regulation of these thoughts – the ability to change them. It is a step further than simple awareness of thought processes, incorporating the ability to alter thoughts and behaviours. Explicitly teaching learners strategies for metacognition has been shown to lead to improvements in attainment.
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From grid interconnection and microbial factories to COVID-19: How to use STEM databases to enhance how you research and teach
Kimberly Prosper, Jeremy Gunnoe
June 24th, 2020
- How to access the library's website?
- How to find databases by discipline?
- How to create a personalized Library or Bookshelf in Browzine?
- Introduction to LSHSL
- Accessing resources (PubMed, Anatomy Databases, EBP Databases, Scopus, JoVE)
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Howard University and Open Educational Resources: Academic Equity in Action
Angelique Carson, Josh Halpern
June 18th, 2020
Textbook costs increased 88% percent between 2006 and 2016 according to the College Board report. 65% of students said that they had decided against buying a textbook because it was too expensive. 94% of students who had foregone purchasing a textbook were concerned that doing so would hurt their grade in a course.
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Reimagining the 50 Minute Class - Using Asynchronous and Synchronous Methods to Deliver Online Classes
Andre Farquharson
June 17th, 2020
- Synchronous learning refers to a learning event in which a group of students are engaging in learning at the same time
- Asynchronous learning refers to a learning event in which a students are engaging in learning at different times
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Developing Online Instruction, i.e., What's Pedagogy Got to Do With It!
Ijeoma Njaka
June 11th, 2020
- Review the backwards design approach to course design and learning objectives
- Understand how learning objectives in course planning makes courses more robust and cohesive
- Discuss ways to incorporate and utilize learning objectives in online or hybrid courses
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Copyright and Fair Use - What Every Faculty Member Needs to Know
Kyle K. Courtney
June 10th, 2020
Copyright is the lawful right of an author, artist, composer or other creator to control the use of his or her work by others. Generally speaking, a copyrighted work may not be duplicated, disseminated, or appropriated by others without the creator's permission. The public display or performance of copyrighted works is similarly restricted.
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Where Do I Start? - Learn the best Practices for Locating Information to Support Your Teaching
Rhea Ballard-Thrower, Carrie Hackney, Angelique Carson, Natisha Harper, Tommy Waters
June 4th, 2020
- How to access the Library's website
- How to use Bison Search
- How to log-in from off campus
- How to manage your search results
- How to request materials via CLS or ILL
- How to contact my faculty liaison/subject specialist
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More Than a Grade: Putting Meaningful Assessment into Assignments
Glenn Phillips
June 3rd, 2020
- Session learning outcomes
- Presenter introduction
- A snappy introduction to assessment
- Assessment in your class
- Designing assignments with an eye on assessment
- Sharing/using your data
- Questions and (hopefully) answers
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Transitioning from Emergency Remote Teaching to Online Teaching and Learning
Helen Bond, Youness Karodeh
June 2nd, 2020
Well-planned online learning experiences are meaningfully different from courses offered online in response to a crisis or disaster. Colleges and universities working to maintain instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic should understand those differences when evaluating this emergency remote teaching.
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Student Feedback in Real Time – One Model to Solicit, Analyze, and Engage Meaningfully in the Classroom
Kristina Alayan
November 19th, 2019
This presentation will provide an opportunity to examine one informal model which can be implemented with minimal effort to solicit feedback from students across subjects and curricula. The model can also be easily revised to accommodate different teaching styles. In order to facilitate a lively discussion, attendees are encouraged to bring questions and alternative strategies to share.
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Improving Student Success (Use Every Trick in the Book!)
Christopher Hollinsed, Ph.D.
October 31, 2019
His Story: "This is Chris Hollinsed, now teaching at Howard. I always have your book (Teach Yourself How To Learn," on my syllabus as a recommended book. One of my students actually read it!"
Her Story: "With courses such as Anatomy and Physiology I and Organic Chemistry I, I quickly realized that relying on my techniques and innate intelligence from my high school career was not going to cut it. Unfortunately, I did not get the results that I coveted at the end of the semester. I decided that spring semester was not going to be the same. I finally read "Teach Yourself How to Learn," and it changed everything!"
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Empower Today's Students with Effective Learning Tools: Metacognition is the Key!
Saundra McGuire, Ph.D.
October 22, 2019
This session will focus on the importance of helping students acquire simple, but effective, learning strategies based on cognitive science principles. We will engage in interactive reflection activities that will allow attendees to experience strategies that significantly improve student success by transforming students' attitudes about the meaning of learning.
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Using Classroom Poster Sessions to Promote Student Engagement and Learning
Celeste Malone
April 18, 2019
The ability to communicate effectively is a critical skill for academic and career success. Poster sessions are an effective medium for developing students' communication skills.
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To Grade or Not to Grade: One Faculty Member's Journey to Ungrading (writing, that is)
Patricia Elam
April 23, 2019
I hated my grading life until I learned from a respected colleague that she no longer graded writing. Research shows many instructors (and several institutions) are in agreement. So, I stopped. Let's discuss.
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The Howard University Inside Out Program -- Pedagogy, Student Outcomes and Assessment
Bahiyyah M. Muhammad, Ph.D.
April 9, 2019
The Inside Out Prison Exchange Program was started two decades ago. Yet, Howard University offers the only co-ed courses at a Research Comprehensive HBCU. Classes began during Fall 2014 and currently take place at the D.C. Department of Corrections. Howard University was the first university to offer co-ed secondary courses at the DC Jail.
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Anchoring Learning with Cultural Tools: Using Proverbs and Stories to Enhance Learning Among Diverse Students
Valencia Perry, Ph.D.
March 28, 2019
Howard University serves a multi-ethnic community in a dynamic setting. Four prevalent diverse groups at Howard University include African-Americans, Afro-Caribbeans, Latinos (of all racial backgrounds), and Africans. These groups are known to use communication patterns that are distinct, and, in many cases, contrastive to those of White American English-speaking groups. As such, there is a need to utilize instructional delivery styles to enhance learning among this diverse group of students, with varying cultural-linguistic backgrounds.
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Practical Strategies for Maximizing Teaching and Learning for New (and Not So New) Faculty
Linda Thompson, Ph.D.
March 19, 2019
>How can service learning, teaching as research, and tenure preparations be incorporated into our courses? Can online platforms like Blackboard really support teaching and enhance learning? I will share a variety of strategies and tips to help maximize student understanding and engagement while supporting faculty scholarship.
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The Relationship Between Culture and Learning in STEM -- Best Practices to Broaden Participation and Student Engagement
Talitha Washington, Ph.D.
February 26, 2019
How do we ensure that our science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses are culturally inclusive? Why have issues with minority participation in STEM not been resolved? Unfortunately, even with our best intentions, our implicit biases impact what we teach and learn. I will share the interplay between culture and in learning STEM, and highlight key reports that inform best practices on how to broaden participation.
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Meeting Our Students at the Crossroad Through the Lens of Faculty and Student Wellness and Properly Providing Student Accommodations
Ayanna Watkins-Northern, Ph.D. & Elaine Heath, Ph.D.
November 13, 2018
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Therapeutic Pedagogy: A Mindful Practice to Address 21st Century Educational Challenges in Higher Education
Gizelle Carr, Ph.D.
October 31, 2017
The concept of therapeutic jurisprudence informs the concept of therapeutic pedagogy. Therapeutic jurisprudence is defined as ways in which mental health and psychological applications inform and shape legal processes, whether in a positive way or negatively. From an aspirational standpoint, the law and mental health operate symbiotically to produce relevant, impactful and just consequences for legally involved persons in a way that does not traumatize, or perhaps more accurately, re-traumatize, Therapeutic pedagogy focuses on the emotional life and psychological well-being of students. Therapeutic pedagogy expands the meaning of education beyond the learning of tasks and procedures and the implementation of program-specific operations, to include moral and ethical imperatives. The guest lecture shows how your teaching can have therapeutic consequences for all students.
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Action Research & Social Justice
Nancy Murphy, NP, Ph.D.
September 27, 2017
Dr. Murphy recently presented the findings of the above study at the Action Research Network of the Americas Conference in Cartagena, Columbia, in June 2017. She had the opportunity to share and learn from community-based educators, nurses, physicians, and social workers, from around the world, many of whom are also “flipping the classroom.” The flipped learning action research study has been extended to explore the question of how flipped learning can contribute to democratizing nurse practitioner student education and promoting knowledge democracy. On the clinical front Dr. Murphy is a seasoned primary care provider and also an HIV specialist. She has been practicing in the field of HIV/AIDS since 1987.
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Mars Student Imaging Project (MSIP)
Catherine Quinlan, Ph.D.
March 27, 2017
Dr. Quinlan presented "Using Mars Student Imaging Project (MSIP) to Help Undergraduates Understand the Nature of Science on Monday, March 27, 2017 at the Center for Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Assessment at CETLA. Judges from the Teaching, Learning, and Technology (TLT) Committee selected Dr. Quinlan as the winner of the Teaching With Technology Award for her work with the Mars Student Imaging Project (MSIP). Using authentic inquiry practices, students explore science concepts while developing the geospatial and computer skills necessary to navigate the Java Mission-planning and Analysis for Remote Sensing (JMARS) software.
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Crowdsourcing: Facilitating Collaborative Pedagogy and Research
Norman Sandridge, Ph.D.
November 14, 2016
Sometimes research projects are too big or too important to tackle by alone. Sometimes, we need to "crowd" up. Are you interested in creating, mobilizing or collaborating with online communities to enhance your research? If so, Professor Norman Sandridge presents a "playbook" for developing collaborative courses and collaborative online research using open sources and the scientific community's most promising form of research "Crowdsourcing." Crowdsourcing can help balance perspectives, validate findings and better inform the results. By referencing two his recent projects, a collaborative online commentary to an ancient text (www.cyropaedia.org) and a course website for leadership in the ancient world (http://scalar.usc.edu/works/sunoikisis-ancient-leadership/index), Professor Sandridge explains how to get started with open-source platforms and other research tools, but primarily how crowd sourcing can inform your research like no other tool or technology.
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Socrates in the Classroom
Aitza M.Haddad Nunez, J.D., LL.M.
September 26, 2016
Aitza M. Haddad Nunez received a B.A. in Political Sciences from University of Puerto Rico in 2007, and J.D. from Inter American University of Puerto Rico Law School in 2010. She then moved to Florida and completed a LL.M. in Comparative Law from University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2011. While UFL, she received a Book Award for her research and contributions to the Selected Problems in Human Rights Course, worked as a Teaching/Office Assistant of the University of Florida LL.M. in Comparative Law Program and as a Research Assistant for Professor Winston P. Nagan, became a researcher and Fellow of the UFL Institute for Human Rights, Peace, and Development, and thanks to Professor Nagan's nomination, became a Junior Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science. Aitza is now a Ph.D. Candidate in the Communication, Culture and Media Studies Program at Howard University, where she has been teaching since 2013, was awarded an Annenberg Honors Program Scholarship on three academic years, was selected as part of the 2014 Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges Cohort, became a member of Howard Media Group, got invited to the Golden Key International Honor Society, and is now working as an adjunct faculty. Aitza have also published numerous articles in different academic and legal journals and internet blogs, and is presently working on a book on international family law dynamics. Her research interests are focused on Human Rights, International Law, International Relations, Family Law, Humanitarian Haw, Public Interest policy, Media Law and Media Policy, and more specifically, on the effects of media in the shaping and sharing of power at the local and the global level.
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My Journey to the Land of Oz SoTL
Alice Thomas, J.D., M.B.A.
April 18, 2016
Professor Alice Thomas takes you on a journey but not to the land of OZ, instead she takes you to the land of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL). In this video, she explores how you too can take the journey and what you might discover there. She embarked on this journey herself in her early years of teaching when she encountered a problem in the classroom, meaning she intentionally taught certain concepts and ideas and students seemingly did not learn them. She began to research scholarly explanations about the problem and to ask others. She learned about students with learning differences, formative and summative assessment, and recalled from her undergraduate experience (i.e., she was a psychology major) that psychology had very specific ideas about how people learn. The more she explored, the more she believed that, in teaching, you should base your teaching choices on scholarly explanations about how students learn, and how your teaching choices impact their learning. She also began to believe that she could be the researcher that provided the scholarly explanations. As a result, she developed her core thesis that teaching should be anchored by two bedrocks, i.e., one—the scholarship of teaching and learning and two – anecdotal teaching experience. She posits that most of your choices should flow from the scholarship of teaching and learning, and a lesser portion from your anecdotal teaching experience. She provides that scholarly teaching combines researched knowledge of what works in teaching and learning, and intentional and meaningful evaluation of the teaching and learning problems. Watch the video and enjoy the journey to the land of SOTL!
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Teaching Millennials
Yuvay Ferguson, Ph.D.
March 9, 2016
Have you found yourself struggling more and more to engage your students—those multi-tasking digital natives who seem more and more distracted in your classroom? Do you find more often than not that their expectations for teaching and learning do not match yours? If so, watch Marketing Professor Yuvay Ferguson's interactive lecture about teaching Millennials, the generation of students who were born in the 1980s and early 1990s and came of age in the new millennium. A Millennial herself, Dr. Ferguson identifies four defining characteristics of the Millennial generation (Generation X) to help faculty teach Millennial students more effectively. Then she concludes with a warning about the next generation of students who are beginning to enter colleges and universities now: Generation Z.
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Effective Advising
Melanie Carter, Ph.D.
October 19, 2015
Speaking to Howard University faculty, Dr. Melanie Carter provides an overview of the advising structures, services, and strategies that support student success at Howard. Although she describes the organization, tools, and resources for advising at Howard in particular, she also discusses the roles and responsibilities of faculty advisors in general, explaining why faculty play such a critical role in the advising process. Given their roles and responsibilities, she lists eleven steps that faculty can take to become effective advisors.
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sTIMULATING ACTIVE LEARNING IN LARGE CLASSES
Lennox Graham, D.M.
March 9, 2015
Teaching a large class can be daunting. Gazing out at a sea of faces, you may wonder how you can possibly reach each student. After all, you can't maintain eye contact or physical proximity with all of your students. Moreover, if the class fills a lecture hall, you can't see whether students are emailing, texting, or sleeping in class. Even if the students are paying attention, it may seem impossible to find enough time for every student to participate. However, in this video, Allied Health professor Lennox Graham assures us that it is possible to engage students in classes of 60 or more students. Citing examples from his own classes, he explains how to engage large classes through the use of teams, student presentations, student co-facilitators, attention-getters, interactive polling, and TV-style games.
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Adaptive Learning
Harry Keeling, PH.D.
November 19, 2014
A revolution in learning is taking place, and it is called "adaptive learning." As Computer Science Professor Harry Keeling points out in this video, more and more adaptive learning technologies are emerging—technologies that can adapt instructional content and delivery to an individual student's needs. In the video, Dr. Keeling explains why such personalized learning applications are needed, how they work, and how both faculty and students can benefit. After describing some of the most popular adaptive learning products on the market, he shares research on the impact of his own adaptive learning application (Assess Track) at Howard University.
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Contemplative Pedagogy: Stimulating Mindfulness and Inquiry Through Meditation
Bradford C. Grant, M.Arch, AIA
April 16, 2014
What is "contemplative pedagogy," and how can it improve teaching and learning? Professor Bradford Grant answers these questions in this video, drawing upon his training in architecture, his personal history of meditation, and his experience engaging students in contemplative practices in the classroom. To illustrate the effectiveness of these practices, he invites his audience to participate in exercises designed to facilitate introspection, reflection, and critical inquiry.
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Flipping the classroom
Andre Farquharson, D.D.S.
March 26, 2014
An Associate Professor of Dentistry, Dr. Andre Farquharson can not only pull a tooth, but flip a class. In this video, he explains what "flipping the classroom" means, why he decided to flip one of his classes, and how he did it. In vivid detail, he describes what part of the instruction he moved online and what part of the instruction he changed inside his classroom. Then he compares his students' response to the class format before and after "flipping." Although his experiment proved successful, he closes with suggestions for improving the "flipped" class next time.
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Problem-based learning
Oluwaranti Akiyode, Pharm.D.
Februrary 10, 2014
What is Problem-Based Learning (PBL), and why does it work? You can find the answers in this video by Pharmacy professor Oluwaranti Akiyode. Drawing upon her experience teaching PBL in the College of Pharmacy, she describes the benefits and the challenges of PBL and how she modified PBL to fit the resource constraints of her college. Then, providing lots of concrete examples, she explains how faculty can design, facilitate, and evaluate PBL activities.
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CYBERSECURITY: Protecting yourself and your students
Rajni Goel, Ph.D.
October 10, 2013
Information Security specialist, Professor Rajni Goel, knows what dangers lurk in the cybersphere. That is why she agreed to give this eye-opening lecture. As you watch her video, you will understand the nature and objectives of cybersecurity and discover a host of cyberthreats that threaten faculty and students at universities. Most important, though, you will learn how to protect yourself and your students in an increasingly dangerous world.
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Digital gaming in higher education
Derek Lloyd, Ph.D.
Februrary 19, 2013
COMING SOON
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Instilling Professionalism
Clive Callender, M.D. , F.A.C.S..
November 6, 2012
In 2010, Professor of Surgery Dr. Clive Callender was appointed chair of the College of Medicine’s Task Force on Professionalism (TFOP), a task force charged with fostering a culture of professionalism and developing a curriculum to promote professionalism among students, staff, and faculty. In this video, Dr. Callender shares what that committee learned and achieved. Although he focuses on professionalism in the Health Sciences, he presents the College of Medicine’s experience as an example of what other schools and colleges can do to instill professionalism. For instance, professionalism in patient care in the Health Sciences might translate into professionalism in customer care in Business or client care in Social Work and Law, or listener/viewer care in Communications. In other words, this video reveals how important it is for faculty to instill professionalism in their students, regardless of the career or field.
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Leveraging Social Media to Enhance African American Students' Learning
Ingrid Sturgis M.A..
May 12, 2012
Student use of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Google Docs has skyrocketed in the last ten years. According to Dr. Ingrid Sturgis, Assistant Professor of Journalism, faculty cannot afford to ignore this phenomenon, especially among African American students, who use social media even more than white students. Therefore, in this video, Dr. Sturgis explains which social media African American students prefer and how they use these media. Then she documents the extent to which professors are teaching with social media, pointing out why more professors should incorporate social media in their teaching. To encourage more professors to adopt social media, she concludes with tips and resources for teaching with social media and avoiding the risks.
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Mentoring African American Undergraduate Researchers
Abdul Karim Bangura Ph.D.
April 18, 2012
Studies suggest that African American undergraduates, in particular, benefit from involvement in research. 1 So how can faculty engage African American students in original research? Having successfully mentored dozens of African American undergraduates, Political Science Professor Abdul Karim Bangura explains how other faculty can do the same. After explaining what "counts" as undergraduate research, Dr. Bangura describes the impressive learning outcomes for many of the African American undergraduate researchers he has mentored during his career. Then he explains how other faculty members can also motivate undergraduates to pursue original research and help those students follow through—from formulating a research question to producing a presentation or publication.
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Assessing the impact of high-impact practices on african american students
Dana Williams, Ph.D.
February 15, 2012
According to the Association of American Colleges & Universities, ten active learning practices increase rates of student engagement and retention. These "High Impact Practices" (HIPs) include (1) First-year seminars and experiences, (2) Common intellectual experiences, (3) Learning communities, (4) Writing-intensive courses, (5) Collaborative assignments and projects, (6) Undergraduate research, (7) Diversity and global learning, (8) Service-learning and community-based learning, (9) Internships, and (10) Capstone projects. In this video, English professor Dana Williams, a practitioner of many of these practices, shares data from Howard University to document the impact of HIPs on the predominantly African American undergraduate population at Howard.
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African American Student Learning and Engagement in STEM
Kimberley E. Freeman, Ph.D.
November 21, 2011
What individual, instructional, and institutional variables promote the achievement and retention of African American undergraduates who have declared a major in STEM? In this video, that is the research question explored by Dr. Kimberley Freeman, Associate Professor of Educational Psychology and Principal Investigator of the Excellence and Motivation in Education Research Group (EMERG). Analyzing survey responses from 1st-year Howard STEM majors, Dr. Freeman explains why students choose STEM majors at Howard and what motivates 1st-year STEM students to achieve.
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increasing the retention and achievement of african-american college males
Ivory A. Toldson, Ph.D..
October 24, 2011
The media are constantly bombarding the American public with dismal statistics about young black men. In this video, Education Professor Ivory Toldson shows us how many of these statistics distort reality. At the same time, he highlights the statistics that deserve our attention, statistics such as the following: "If all 1,127,170 black males who are currently enrolled in undergraduate programs eventually graduated, the number of total black males with college degrees would increase by 71%, nearly achieving parity with white males." Therefore, Dr. Toldson's research explores not only the factors that motivate black males to enroll in colleges but also the factors that enable them to graduate. These factors, his research reveals, are personal, financial, familial, institutional, and societal. But, above all, his research shows us how secondary schools can better prepare and advise black males before they enroll in college and how college faculty and administrators can better support them once they arrive.
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service learning
Jean
Bailey, Ph.D
.
May 3, 2011
What is service-learning, and how can you incorporate it in your curriculum? This video provides the answers. Dr. Ura Jean Oyemade Bailey draws upon her experience as Graduate Professor of Human Development in the School of Education, where she has designed and supervised multiple service-learning projects in District of Columbia communities. She explains what service-learning is, why it is important, and describes several curricular models of service-learning that faculty can select. Situating service-learning at the intersection of academic courses, experiential learning, and civic learning, she identifies the key components of successful service-learning projects: (1) preparation, (2) action, (3) reflection, and (4) assessment. She also recommends strategies to prompt reflection and cites additional service-learning resources.
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stimulating quantitative reasoning
Adeniran
Adeboye, Ph.D
.
April 21, 2011
Taking viewers back to Ancient Africa, mathematics professor Adeniran Adeboye presents archaeological evidence that early humans engaged in mathematical reasoning. This evidence is just one more reason he contends that every healthy human being has the capacity to learn math. What learners need is an opportunity to discover the fundamentals and to reinforce their learning throughout their school years so that they develop the habit of quantitative reasoning. So what is quantitative reasoning? In this video, Dr. Adeboye demonstrates and defines it, explains why it is critical for success in today’s society, and reveals why schools—primary through college—must engage students in quantitative reasoning to solve real-world problems across the curriculum. “It takes a village” to teach a child to speak, he says, so the same applies to teaching mathematics. Through campus-wide quantitative literacy programs, he insists, America’s college graduates could finally achieve the standards for quantitative reasoning that the Mathematical Association of America recommends. Thus, he concludes his presentation by explaining how colleges can develop and assess quantitative literacy programs—in short, how colleges can turn a campus into a village.
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Cultivating a Culture of Academic Integrity
Kortright Davis, Ph.D.
February 24, 2011
Nationwide more and more faculty are complaining about Internet-age cheating and plagiarizing. Many feel that the problem reflects a crisis in values. If so, how do we instill a sense of academic integrity in our students? How do we create an academic culture that makes cheating, plagiarism, falsification of research, and other unethical practices unthinkable? Professor of Theology Kortright Davis proposes a "re-formation and transformation" of character. After identifying the realities that promote cheating and the cultures that foster it, he reviews definitions of academic integrity. Then he discusses "the patterns of deficits and infelicities" that lead students to cheat and the institutional policies and practices that are designed to deter cheating. However, he explains that policies alone will not suffice. "Cheaters," he insists, "need to be educated away from cheating." So he concludes this video by suggesting ways that faculty as well as administrators can "enlighten, encourage, and energize maturity and honesty."
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Teaching With Facebook
Miles, Reginald, M.A.
January 25, 2011
Facebook in the classroom? Some faculty may scoff at the notion of integrating the social networking website into the curriculum. However, in this video, Reginald Miles, Assistant Professor of Radio, TV, and Film, urges faculty to reconsider the instructional potential of Facebook. Then , step by step, through a series of screencasts, he guides faculty through the process of setting up a Facebook site for classes. He shows faculty how to set up a "teacher profile," establish a group for each class, foster a virtual classroom community, and create an event (such as an assignment). Citing student comments, he reveals how Facebook improved teaching and learning in his classes. For instance, since over 85% of U.S. college students used Facebook in 2010, teaching via Facebook made it easier for his students to access him and the assignments. As a result, he exulted, nearly all of his students submitted their homework on time!
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Teaching With Humor
Unger, Darian, Ph.D..
November 17, 2010
Business School professor Darian Unger claims that he is not a funny guy. Yet he has earned a reputation for keeping his class laughing—and learning. In this video, he explains why and how. Humor, he states, engages students, and engagement strengthens learning. Moreover, it increases retention while decreasing tension. Citing his "Three R's" of learning—Relevance, Relationship, and Rigor—he demonstrates how humor can make course material relevant, build a positive student-teacher relationship, and maintain rigorous standards for student performance. Challenging misconceptions about humor, he shows faculty that they don't need to be comedians to infuse humor into lectures, slides, or exams. He also indicates how technology such as Blackboard or YouTube can help. Finally, he advises faculty about how to avoid common pitfalls related to teaching with humor.
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case-based teaching
Crooms, Lisa, J. D.
October 13, 2010
Cases are narratives that students explore interactively in order to draw a conclusion, determine a course of action, or to debate issues in a realistic context. Since Case-Based Teaching (CBT) originated in law schools, this video features a professor of law, Lisa Crooms, explaining how to set up a case, how to brief a case, and how to use cases to stimulate and assess student learning. However, CBT has been widely adopted by professors in other professional schools such as medicine and business, and has proved to be a powerful tool for stimulating active learning in the liberal arts and sciences. Therefore, from this video, faculty can learn strategies that can enhance their courses, regardless of the discipline.
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Green teaching
Tharakan, John, Ph.D.
May 4, 2010
In this age of dwindling natural resources, being a "green" teacher has assumed a new and positive meaning. As Engineering Professor John Tharakan explains in this video, universities need more green teachers in order to protect the environment and sustain life on this planet. Citing American University's "Green Teaching" Program, Dr. Tharakan explains how green teaching practices reduce paper use, save energy, and reduce emissions. He, then, describes other green measures faculty can take, including applying for CETLA's Green Teaching Certificate, which is modeled after American University's.
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Internationalizing the Curriculum
Scott, Jr.
Harold, Ph.D
April 14, 2010
Most faculty would agree that they need to equip students for a “flat world,” a world where people everywhere are increasingly connected. However, despite their agreement, some can’t imagine how they could internationalize their courses without straying from the purpose and content. That is why International Affairs scholar Harold Scott, Jr. explains in this video how to internationalize courses across the curriculum. Quoting the learning objectives from diverse syllabi, he demonstrates how faculty can fulfill those objectives by infusing their courses with an international perspective. As a result, he reveals, “students begin to think about where they fit in the global context” and they can more clearly see how to achieve their career goals and intellectual interests in an international arena.
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Avoiding faculty burnout
Livingston,
Ivor, Ph.D
.
March 29, 2010
Sociologist, psychologist, and public health educator, Dr. Ivor Livingston explores faculty burnout from an interdisciplinary perspective. He begins his presentation by defining burnout, identifying its symptoms, and documenting its incidence among faculty. Then, highlighting the role of stress and perception, he explains burnout’s causes and outcomes. Finally, he proposes five stress management strategies that faculty can adopt to avoid burnout: cognitive restructuring, psychosocial adjustments, lifestyle adjustments, situational adjustments, and relaxation experiences.
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Using protfolios to assess student learning
Bond,
Helen, Ph.D
.
February 17, 2010
What is an electronic portfolio? According to Dr. Helen Bond, an Assistant Professor of Education, a portfolio is an “organized and purposeful” collection of information and artifacts, “supported by reflections that document a candidate’s progress.” The portfolio becomes “electronic,” when it is posted online via a website such as a wiki, where students can integrate documents, photos, slide shows, audio, video, and other multimedia. As a result, Dr. Bond argues, an electronic portfolio can provide both faculty and students with a powerful tool for assessing students’ learning. To prove her point, Dr. Bond guides viewers through an array of portfolios, including portfolios in the fields of education, art, law, and medicine. Then she explains how to use standards to develop and assess them. In addition, she cites resources for mastering the wiki technology she and her students use to build them.
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teaching entrepreneurship in any discipline
Lafond,
Anestine, Ph.D
.
November 24, 2009
In this video, Dr. Anestine LaFond explains why entrepreneurship education should not be confined to schools of business. After defining “entrepreneurship,” she argues that entrepreneurial thinking is a key to success across the disciplines and in public and nonprofit organizations as well as in corporations, small businesses, and private practices. Citing examples from Howard University and beyond, she shows how faculty have incorporated entrepreneurship in courses in the liberal arts and sciences as well as the health sciences and fine arts. Then she shares resources for learning more about entrepreneurship and challenges faculty to follow a four-step plan for getting started.
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understanding the role of african american english at the university
Taylor,
Orlando, Ph.D
.
October 6, 2009
In this video, Professor of Communication Dr. Orlando Taylor defines African American English (AAE) and dispels common misconceptions about it. After providing examples of AAE’s vocabulary and syntax, he concludes that AAE is a legitimate tongue, but AAE-speakers still need to master Standard English. However, he insists, Standard English does not mean "white English.” In fact, he advocates the use of what he calls "African American Standard English" and calls on educators to abandon the traditional “Correction Model” of pedagogy for a “Bidialectal Model” that promotes “code-switching” between AAE and Standard English. He also urges university researchers to develop an evidence -based pedagogy for empowering AAE-speakers to master the standard.
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effective listening
Lyndrey
Niles, Ph.D
.
April 22, 2009
According to Dr. Lyndrey Niles, Professor Emeritus of Communication, when we communicate, we spend nearly 45% of our time listening rather than speaking, reading, or writing. Yet, he observes, “we spend the most time learning how to write,” and “we spend the least amount of time learning to listen.” Dr. Niles attributes this irony to the assumption that we automatically listen when we hear. But since listening requires concentration, he warns, “Because you are hearing, you’re not necessarily listening.” Therefore, in this video, Dr. Niles identifies common barriers to effective listening, strategies faculty and students can adopt to listen better, and strategies that faculty can use during their lectures to help students listen more effectively.
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developing critical readers
Richard
Wright, Ph.D
.
March 25, 2009
According to Dr. Richard Wright, Professor of Linguistics, “you must become a reader of the world before you can become a reader of the word.” In other words, to read texts critically, students must think about the world critically. How can teachers help students develop such a “critical consciousness”? In this video Dr. Wright, explains how faculty can adopt a “critical pedagogy” that will help students approach the word and the world with a sense of personal agency and a questioning mind. Noting that “every text is biased,” he presents strategies that faculty can share with students so that their students can recognize an author’s purpose, tone, and perspective. In short, he shows us how to teach students to “read between the lines.”
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improving students' study skills
Sharon
Fletcher, M.A.
February 18, 2009
According to Professor Sharon Fletcher from the Center for Academic Reinforcement, study skills encompass a wide variety of techniques that help students succeed in school. These techniques include global strategies such as goal-setting and time management as well as discrete skills such as note-taking and textbook reading. In this video, Professor Fletcher identifies useful study skills, providing concrete examples that faculty can easily incorporate in their pedagogy. She concludes the video with a set of exercises to help students think critically—one of the most important study skills of all.
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"READING" AND "WRITING" VISUAL MESSAGES
Alfred Smith, MFA.
November 19, 2008
Many commentators say that we are living in a visual world—a world where analyzing and creating images is as important as reading and writing text. If that is the case, how do we prepare our students to think critically about visual communication? How can we help them “read” visual messages and incorporate them effectively in assignments? And how can we incorporate visuals effectively in our teaching? In this video, Art Professor Alfred Smith attempts to answer these questions by, first, explaining the physiology of perceiving images and, then, illustrating how “picture-writers” use line, light, perspective, and space to communicate through images. Then, he challenges the audience to use their understanding of these tools to “read” the positive and negative messages in a series of photos from the 2008 presidential campaign. At the end of the video, he discusses with his audience how selecting appropriate images can enhance their teaching.
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using drama as a teaching tool
Kim
Bey, Ph.D.
October 28, 2008
In
this video, Assistant Professor of Acting and Voice, Dr. Kim Bey,
argues that drama is not just for the stage and screen.
It can play an important role in the classroom—regardless of
the level or discipline.
Citing the value of integrating all arts in education, Dr. Bey
explains how drama, in particular, helps students learn in multiple
ways—visual, aural, tactile, and kinesthetic.
Through a group exercise and classroom examples, she
demonstrates how faculty can use dramatic tools such as point of
view, diction, monologue, role-playing, and body language to engage
students in learning a subject.
Likewise, she points out how faculty can use
performance-based assessments to evaluate that learning.
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increasing student retention
Anette
Davis, Ph.D.
September 28, 2008
Nearly half of American college freshmen never graduate, especially African Americans, Dr. Annette Davis announces in this video. Yet faculty members can reverse this trend, she maintains. Drawing upon her experience in teaching and counseling, she explains why so many students drop out and how faculty can identify these at-risk students before they disappear. Best of all, she suggests concrete steps that faculty advisors and classroom teachers can take to help students succeed.
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