See below for this year's pre-conference sessions schedule, Tuesday Nov 3-4, 2-5pm. Click here to learn more and register.
Decoding the Disciplines: Helping Students Succeed in STEM Courses
Monday, November 2, 2020, 2:00–5:00 p.m. EST. The disruption of K-12 education by COVID-19 will produce a generation of college students with major skills deficits that will be felt most strongly among low-income and minority students in STEM courses. Decoding the Disciplines (Decoding) provides a strategic framework for systematically addressing this challenge. Participants in this workshop will be introduced to Decoding, see examples of its application to topics such as interpreting verbal statements in mathematics problems and understanding graphs in various STEM disciplines, and apply the process to a bottleneck from their own courses.
Leslie Cameron, Professor of Psychology—Carthage College; David Pace, Professor Emeritus of History—Indiana University Bloomington; and Peter Riegler, Professor of Computer Science—Ostfalia Hochschule fur angewandte Wissenschaften
Democratizing STEM Higher Education Through Contemplative Practices
Tuesday, November 3, 2020, 2:30–5:30 p.m. EST. This workshop provides an immersive introduction to contemplative practices to support STEM educators in creating learning environments that leverage mindful, affective, and embodied ways of knowing. Participants will engage with a toolkit of contemplative practices, including sensory and visual meditation, deep listening, beholding, contemplative movement, and critical reflection, which will equip them to reimagine how they promote students’ capacity for self-awareness and reflection in their own learning contexts. These strategies allow the co-creation of environments that are inclusive of all ways of knowing and being.
Madhvi J. Venkatesh, Lecturer and Associate Director of Graduate Education, Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology—Harvard Medical School; and Yevgeniya V. Zastavker, Professor of Physics and Education—Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Experience the Difference: A Virtual Approach to Leadership Development
Wednesday, November 4, 2020, 2:00–5:00 p.m. EST. Join PKAL STEM Leadership Institute (SLI) leaders and mentors in experiential learning exercises (ELEs) designed for a virtual environment to develop leaders of inclusive and systemic change in STEM higher education. This interactive session uses ELEs to engage participants and help them experience and understand how an ELE can be used in a virtual format to explore various aspects of leadership, team building, and inclusivity. This workshop will enhance your ability to use virtual experiential learning approaches to develop leadership capacity in others, encouraging participation of all in STEM fields.
William B. Davis, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education—Washington State University; Allison Leone, Director, Tucker Leadership Lab—William Jewell College; Mary Majerus, Professor of Mathematics—Westminster College; and Brandon E. Schwab, Associate Provost for Academic Affairs—Western Carolina University
