Virginia Peninsula Community College held its first in-person faculty colloquium in four years, and it was quite successful.
“We saw a lot of good, we saw a lot of faces, and there was lots of really productive discussion,” said Lynsey LeMay, a geology professor and coordinator for the Center for Teaching and Learning, which organized the event. “I haven’t done a formal evaluation, but just hearing feedback and people sharing with me, they found a lot of value in having the face-to-face discussion. They found it very productive to be in the room with everybody. … It was a lot of active participation and really good dialogue.”
The two-day event was held Jan. 4-5 at the Peninsula Workforce Development Center, and drew more than 50 faculty and staff.
Mary-Ann Winkelmes, founder and director of Transparency in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (TILT), provided the keynote address via Zoom. TILT focuses on improving student success through better teaching practices, although the principles discussed can be used in advising and other departments.
Simply put, it’s making clear to the student what is the purpose of the assignment, what are the required tasks, and what criteria will be used in the evaluation.
“That seems pretty straightforward,” LeMay said. “We should probably be telling our students this.”
However, things often get lost in translation. Winkelmes’ presentation sparked discussions because many in the audience never thought about being so explicit with directions.
“It’s one of those things where I know what I mean. They (the students) probably know what I mean. But when I get their assignments, they obviously didn't know what I meant,” LeMay said.
The wonderful thing, said LeMay, is most teachers already do this in some form, so it doesn’t take much more effort or work.
“We already know why we're doing it and what we expect, but we don't always share that,” she said. “And often it's somewhere within our assignment, but it's not leading the assignment; giving the students the why, and how this fits into other things.”
The research done by Winkelmes shows doing just two assignments a semester this way greatly benefits students and helps with retention.
“It impacts not just the student in that course, but their success within their program and their educational trajectory,” LeMay said.
Again, LeMay stressed using this model doesn’t mean redesigning lesson plans or assignments.
“it's just being a little more transparent, a little more explicit, with students,” LeMay said. “It can have really, really positive gains.”
Other session topics included general education and generative artificial intelligence. Discussions and paired group work also were parts of the event.
“There's been quite a lot of conversation, not just that day, but following,” LeMay said.
For more information, contact LeMay at LeMayL@#vpcc.edu.