Starting the Fall of 2022, the IDEAS team had the privilege of facilitating knowledge exchange meetings for an exceptional group of innovative teachers at UMass. We wrapped up the first year of the Instructional Innovation Fellowship at the end of May in Spring 2023. Throughout the 2022-2023 IIF fellowship year, the ten fellows shared a remarkable tapestry of unique approaches, creative ideas, and strategies, to enhance student engagement, participation and learning in their courses.
Note: We begin the second year of the IIF this Fall 2023. Applications for IIF 2023-24 are still open and will close on July 21, 2023. All innovative instructors are encouraged to apply!
In this blog, we want to take a moment to reflect on the IIF year’s presentations. Here is a summary of the innovative teaching methods shared among the group:
- Promoting Inclusive and Welcoming Learning Environments
Every student has a unique learning style, needs, preferences and abilities. While some may thrive in a digital environment, others may find greater success with hands-on activities or verbal interactions. By ensuring that you know what your students need, including making accommodations where necessary, instructors can cater to diverse student classrooms ensuring inclusivity and maximizing students’ potential. Some of the presentations during the fellowship year focused on embracing diversity and fostering inclusion in the classroom in various ways.
Kelsey Whipple shared her approach to creating a safe and welcoming environment. Together with her students, they co-establish classroom agreements and standards that promote fairness and respect for each other in all class interactions. This process is ongoing with multiple points of reflection and modification throughout the semester. In the Physics department, Brokk Toggerson works with the 3D Printing Lab at UMass to create 3D models that help explain difficult content, for example when he teaches magnetism concepts. By having students see and feel the 3D models, he fosters tactile and sensory experiences, allowing students to engage with concepts in a tangible way. This has also proved to be beneficial for students with visual disabilities who have taken his courses in previous semesters.
2. Gamification and Online Tools for Student Collaboration and Engagement
Gamification and online education tools can play a significant role in enhancing student engagement, motivation, and overall learning outcomes.
Li Hou uses two popular virtual game tools, Kahoot and Quizlet, in her language classrooms. Colleen Chase maximizes Slido to create various activities for her classes including quizzes, surveys, polls and a lot more. She also uses Flip, for class self-introductions at the beginning of the semester, video discussions, and quick voice memos. Maddi Hertz showcased the range of features for education that she uses with Miro, including a digital whiteboard, sticky notes, and the ability to embed multimedia content, such as videos and emojis. To promote student engagement, fellows also shared how they use video creation apps and online tools to present course content and facilitate student discussions. Tiarra Cooper creates interactive video presentations using a combination of tools including Prezi and VoiceThread to allow her students to engage with the course content through a reflective question and answer process. In another way of using videos, Susan Boyer presented how she uses ScreenToGif to give students instructions for how to complete specific things for her course or for announcements. ScreenToGif is an easy-to-use tool to record, edit, and save screens as a gif, videos, and other formats.
3. Nurturing Reflection, Critical Thinking Skills, and Project Based Learning
Some of the most exciting presentations for the year emphasized the significance of promoting learning through encouraging students to create their own knowledge. Fellows shared that when students immerse themselves into creating something tangible for the class, like a term project, it sparks their curiosity and provides them with authentic learning experiences.
As an instructor at the Journalism Department, Kelsey Whipple’s goal for co-creating artifacts with students is to promote their creativity through practical learning opportunities. Kelsey has done variations of this in her classes including audio tour, podcasts, and zines. An example of a co-creative podcast project for Kelsey’s course is IT Happened in Amherst, which is available on iTunes and Spotify. Torrey Trust’s co-created content with her students extends its reach beyond the classroom as well. Torrey and her students have collaborated to develop and publish Open Educational Resources (OER) with the goal of sharing knowledge and resources with a wider global education community. Some of the OER projects, including an eBook, Online Tools for Teaching and Learning, have been accessed online by millions of educators worldwide. Jennie Donohue on the other hand, incorporates Canva into her business and marketing class assignments. Her students choose from Canva’s many templates to design and create projects ranging from infographic posters to branded “client” content for social media promotion, video storyboards, and presentations.
To nurture reflection and critical thinking, some instructors like Torrey Trust go even further by letting their students assess their own projects and work through ungrading. This approach helps students focus more on their learning rather than grades.
4. The synergy of Non-Tech and Tech Strategies in Teaching
With so many educational technology advancements happening, it is easy to overlook the power of combining non-tech and tech tools in teaching. However, as some of the IIF fellows have shared, it’s crucial to emphasize the remarkable synergy that arises when instructors seamlessly integrate both approaches.
When Brokk switched from digital iClickers, he incorporates analogue and non-tech tools such as mini boards, markers, voting papers, and erasers that encourage students to engage in more hands-on activities. Brokk uses response cards and mini-whiteboards for example, to have students write down or show their answers before a guided discussion. In another example of seamlessly integrating non-tech and tech tools in teaching, Kelsey expanded the learning environment to outside of the classroom, literally. Kelsey has found The University Museum of Contemporary Art (UMCA) as an innovative and fun alternative education place for her students. Kelsey visits the Museum with her students, encouraging them to critically analyze/read art within the lens of the course subject, then write their reflections online or share them in group discussions. With support from the UMCA staff, she has also designed scavenger hunts as part of the learning visits. Kelsey and Brokk noted that new technologies and traditional tools are mutually enhancing and enriching, amplifying their impact on student learning.
5. Maximizing Tools within the Learning Management Systems
One of the significant advantages of UMass LMSs (Moodle, Blackboard or Canvas) is its flexibility, allowing instructors to customize and personalize the learning experience for their students. By leveraging the LMS’s features, such as discussion forums, interactive modules/sections, and multimedia integration, some fellow tailor content, and activities to meet the course objectives.
Tiarra Cooper, presented on how she uses Moodle’s collaboration tool, Wiki, for various activities including book sign ups (students sharing what they would like to read in the class), collaborative notetaking and mid-term check ins. By having students contribute to a wiki as a shared place for course information, the wiki serves as a centralized repository for resources students need. Similarly, Susan shared how she is maximizing various Canvas tools in her Business School classes. Among many things she loves in this new LMS at UMass, the Canvas Calendar stands out as a powerful tool that brings structure and organization to her teaching process. The Calendar shows her and the students important deadlines such as assignment due dates, and class events. Susan notes that the centralized nature of the calendar ensures that every student has a comprehensive snapshot of the course. This has minimized confusion and allowed both she and her students to organize and manage the course effectively.
6. Harnessing the Power of social media and AI
Many instructors are now leaning into the power of social media and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in their teaching. appreciation for the subject matter.
Elizabeth Mikesch incorporated ChatGPT as a resource that her writing class students could use to generate the first drafts of their cover letters and resumes. She also used this exercise to talk with her students about digital literacy and ethics in writing. Elizabeth shared that the students had meaningful contributions about the limitations and ethical considerations of language models such as ChatGPT, developed a deeper understanding of technology’s role in writing, and also learned to navigate AI tools responsibly. Social Media apps, just like AI, can also provide a dynamic and interactive space to engage students in the learning process. IIF fellows presented on how they are going beyond social media’s conventional use for personal interactions, to engage students in their classes. Jennie Donohue promotes discussion through Live Twitter Chat in her public communication and marketing course. In a live twitter chat her students gain direct access to Public Relations (the industry Jennie’s students are preparing for) experts, professionals, and organizations. Jennie has managed to bridge the gap between the classroom and the professional world through Twitter. Embracing the social media app Tik Tok in teaching Chinese language, Li Hou curates TikTok’s vast library of user-generated content to share the ones that reflect authentic Chinese language usage, including slang, idioms, and colloquial expressions. This exposure enhances learners’ understanding of context, cultural nuances, and improves their listening and comprehension skills. She also encourages her students to create their own content to develop fluency, vocabulary and pronunciation skills.
As instructors continue to explore the potential of Chat GPT and other language models, as well as Social Media Apps, the main message we heard from the fellows was that it is crucial to recognize their role as tools that augment students’ learning experiences and foster their growth as confident learners.
Closing One Chapter and Looking Ahead
While the first year of the IIF has ended, knowledge and experiences shared and gained will continue to ripple through UMass classrooms, benefiting many students. The presentations from the IIF fellows were nothing short of inspiring; from embracing diversity and using technology to nurturing critical thinking skills and fostering student choice. The IDEAS team wishes the best for these innovative instructors as they continue affecting student learning in positive ways. To learn more about all the projects and presentations highlighted here, check out our list of blog posts on IIF 2023-2024 presentations!